Authors Note: You weren't expecting it this early were you? I've come up with a method. Usually I get find myself distracted and stop because I try to write all my stories at once, instead. I've decided to write them one at a time so Private Intentions will be updated next and of course my new one, Don't Eat The Apple.
Nobody has really read it I guess? Or they just weren't interested enough to read it and review? I dunno but even if it's not particularly your cup of tea, I'd appreciate some feed back just so I know if I just should stop at the first chapter because I don't want to waste my time?
You GUYS. The reviews and messages I got from the last chapter killed me. I'm glad you all loved it so much and loved that little cliff hanger because so far, that was my favorite chapter and I'd been looking forward to writing it since I started the story because I'd literally had an outline made for it forever ago. Anyway, this chapter isn't as crazy fun and interesting as the last one but it's good.
As always, read and review and Private Intentions will be updated within the next week. I've already started it! Look at me being productive.
And like I said, please check out my new one and just let me know if it's even worth pursuing. You guys don't have to be nice, if it sucks just be straight.
This is going on too long, enjoy!
Hermione's mind was spinning, trying to found some sort of ground in all the chaos happening around her. She could faintly hear Greyback chuckling, muttering something but it didn't connect, the only sound was the pounding blood rushing through her ears as she tried to come up with something, anything to save her own skin; however, the shock of Tom's sudden ripping departure was making her chest burn as air began to choke up in her lungs. She shut her eye ignoring the stinging sensation that it brought, her tears brought to a halting stand-still.
Nothing mattered anymore, none of it. Her life, this school, his stupid war, Dumbledore, none of it mattered. She felt her head droop and her body grow limp in defeat. Her pulse felt heavy in her hands and her blood felt cold rushing through her system. Her breathing wouldn't come out like it needed too, leaving her in sudden ragged heaves. Hermione's brain was burning and her chest felt like it was trying to give up, the pain so sudden and endearing, she might have thought she was dying. She felt so stupid, so childish to have put so much in him. So incredibly moronic to have given herself over to him, to have thought any of it was real. A heavy nausea was coming over her and she realized that she might be sick, her entire stomach upheaving on itself.
No. I will not give up. I will not let this kill me. I will not let this stop me. I am more than this, I am Hermione Granger. I am the smartest witch in my age. I do not need a boy to live, to survive, to breath. He does not control me. I have to do something, anything. I need something. Then it hit her, her wand. I need my wand, where is my wand. She opened her eye looking around the room for any trace of her wand. She couldn't say she'd mastered wandless magic, it took masses of concentration which was something she couldn't seem to find at the moment, but she would have to try. Hermione's eyes finally found it, the light colored wood felt like heaven to her burning eye.
Accio Wand! Nothing happened and she stretched her fingers that had lost most of their feeling minute ago, now tingling with pricks of agony. Hermione closed her eyes picturing the long vine wood texture, the intricate vines that weaved comfortably in her hands, the soft grooves that had appeared from where her fingers constantly fit perfectly to it's end. Greyback was walking towards her saying something, her concentration clouding out anything that was happening around her.
"So delicious…stupid girl…put your trust in the wrong person…"
Then she felt something, tugging at the back of her head like a piece of string, and then it strengthened. A heavy thudded tap moving forward like this thick rope being pulled from the back of her head forward, moving out from her body in small surges of energy. Hermione felt Greyback's fingers touch her, squeezing her face again this time his nails digging deeply into her cheeks to the point where she felt a warm liquid running down her chin to her neck. She ignored it, gritting her teeth to push through the sensations around her to picture her wand more vividly, the feeling of when a spell coursed through the energized wood, the spell shooting from its tip, and the feeling was stronger.
Hermione continued to repeat the spell over and over in her head. Accio Wand….Accio Wand….Accio Wand….ACCIO WAND….ACCIO WAND…ACCI-
A loud yell broke her concentration, Greyback's fingers dropping from her face, but not before she heard a clatter and a swishing sound opening her eyes to see her wand flying past Greyback's head into her open hand. Her fingers shaking from the numb feeling as they closed around the grip. She turned her head scrunching her eye to look at see what had caused Greyback to let go and looked down to see that he'd was laying on the ground unconscious.
She shot her head up ignoring the shooting pain in her neck and shoulders to see Ron standing in the door way, his face as white as a ghost while Harry darted past Hermione to run to Ginny's unconscious body.
"Ron….Ron…thank God." There was no way to describe the heavy sense of relief coursing through her, she felt her tears start up again. "Let me down, hurry."
Ron shook his head, as if he were trying to shake his-self back into reality than ran up to Hermione pointing his wand at the rope.
"Incendio!" She heard the rush of flame shoot from his wand before she fell to the floor, her shoulders and arms aching from holding her body weight and her wrist still bleeding.
"Ginny's okay!" She heard Harry's voice from behind her and turned to see Ginny up and looking utterly confused staring around the room.
"What happened?" She asked blinking rapidly.
"Greyback." She set her lips grimly trying to ignore the picture of his hands touching her body but her body shivered. "And then Professor Ridd-"
"He told us to come back and check on you, he said he thought he saw someone coming down into the dungeons. He was tending to a group of students when he sent us. Guess he's not such a prick after all. If he hadn't sent us when he did, Greyback probably would have turned you both." Ron interrupted.
"What?" Hermione looked incredulously at Ron as though she didn't hear him correctly. "Riddle sent you?"
"Yeah, he was very adamant about it, kind of weird, almost like he knew what was happening." Ron's face held some suspicion but dropped when he saw Hermione's face. "What? What's wrong?"
She couldn't speak, her chest was burning again, Hermione wanted nothing more than to just sink her head into her hands and cry out. Cry with relief, with joy, with anything. Of course he sent Ron and Harry, of course. He had to keep his cover, he had to make Greyback think he didn't care…he did care. She had tuned everyone around her out, her mind desperately thanking whoever was listening…he did care…he did care.
"We need to leave before he wakes up."
"You mean we aren't going to kill him?" Ginny spat, her eyes raking over Greyback's unconscious body coldly.
"Hermione, can you stand?" Harry ignored Ginny's question, walking over to hold out a hand.
She grasped his hand and clenched her teeth, her arms and leg burning ferociously but she would have to deal, she didn't plan on being in the room whenever Greyback came too.
"Yeah, let's go." She rolled her head to crack her neck and followed her friends from the room, glancing nervously down the hallway before going back up to the Dungeon.
The battle that was happening above them had stalled, but only lightly. Hermione was grateful to find that there were considerably more bodies of wolves and inferi than there were of students or professors. The professors and ministry members, who had been joined by what looked like half of the ministry of magic were finishing up, fire spouting from their wands to burn the left over inferi and rounding up the remaining wolves who looked as though they'd been through death and back again.
"One of the ministry members was able to get off and call for reinforcements, without them we probably wouldn't have made it." Ron edged along the side of the torn hall.
"I didn't realize I was down there that long." Hermione looked around.
"You weren't, by the time we came back up from the Dungeon the Auror's from the ministry had arrived."
"Miss Granger," She turned slowly taking him in in all his glory. His dress robes were ripped, covered in blood and dust. His face smeared with soot but his eyes were glazed and his focus seemed out of place. His face was short and formal but she could see, she could see the relief in the way his body moved, with each breathe. "It seems your friends are much more helpful than I assumed they would be."
She couldn't speak, every piece of her needing to grab him, to cling to him and not let go. She needed him to hold her, to talk to her and tell her sorry, to explain to her he had done it to save her and himself.
"You're hurt, Miss Granger." He looked her down, his eyes flashing over with a rush of malice before playing his poker face. "Why don't you let me accompany you to the nurse's station while your friends help round the students."
"I-"
"You need to go." Ron spoke for her, finally taking a chance to look her up and down. She had no doubts she looked dreadful. "We'll be fine."
"Come Miss Granger, you look like you're about to fall over." Tom reached forward and his touch burned through her body.
"I'll come find you when I'm done?"
Tom walked her towards the great staircase leading her down the stairs but he didn't say anything and it was starting to drive Hermione crazy, though it probably had something to do with the fact that teachers and Auror's were still walking the school searching for stragglers from the attack. Hermione fought the pounding in her head that was urging her to think back, to think back to the war. The school looked almost the same, portraits hanging down, some ripped down through the canvas. Some of the stone from the bannisters had crumbled off and she even saw looking up that one of the moving staircases had been blasted away, leaving nothing but floating ruins moving back and forth.
"Where are we going?"
"Somewhere private." His voice was clipped and she realized that meant he wanted her to wait so she kept her mouth pursed shut.
They continued moving downstairs until he reached the backside of the dungeons. He pulled her along the hallway looking around the corner as if looking for anyone and then quickly rushed her down the corridor until they reached the entrance to his room which had been completely unharmed. The moment the door shut his arms came around her, squeezing her so tightly she gasped out in pain.
"I should have never left you." His voice was harsh in her ear and she begged herself not to cry again, she had cried enough tonight. "I'm so sorry I did what I did, you have to under-"
"I know." She cut him off, ignoring the pain that it caused her for him to hold her like he was, but she couldn't let go. She needed to feel his touch, needed to know he cared and loved her.
"No you don't." He pulled her away forcing her to look at him. He reached his hand forward stroking the magnificent black and purple bruise along the side of her face and eye softly. "Do you understand how hard it was to walk away? To see him touching you like that and doing that to you? Do you understand what I wanted to do to him? I could've killed him Hermione. I could have mangled him with my fucking hands." His eyes looked wild and Hermione found herself almost frightened.
"Tom-"
"I should have never left you alone…it's all my fault. I'm so sorry," His voice cracked and Hermione felt a pang hit her heart, her stomach dropping to her feet. "I'm so sorry."
Hermione stared at him in pure amazement, his eyes clouding with such a strong emotion of self-pity she had no words for it. It was shocking to see such an emotion from someone who acted as though they didn't know anything but anger and formality. She wanted to reach out and hold him and make it go away, it didn't belong, this emotional breaking Tom, it was wrong. It couldn't have been his fault, he couldn't have known Greyback would come down and find her, would do what he did to her.
"He knows, Tom. He…He…" She couldn't finish the sentence, her body shaking violently at the memory. She had to swallow the fear, the revulsion before she could find the words in her mouth, her tongue swelling and sticking to the roof of her mouth.
Tom's face changed, his angular facing taking on a dark look. The tick in his cheek working wildly and his hands squeezing her so hard it hurt. He pulled away from her roughly, walking over to the small desk with a curved cover that sat against the wall. His body flexed and he grabbed the desk, flinging it up and throwing it so hard against the wall to his right that the top piece of it broke off. His breathing was heavy and wild and Hermione felt herself shrinking back against the door, his anger encasing the room. She could see it swirling around him, pulsing heavy in what felt like sickening hot waves. A sudden gust of wind blew from around them, blowing out the candles that had been lighting the room, throwing things off of his dresser and night stand, tearing the politely made bed to pieces.
"Tom…" Her voice came out in a whisper, working over the fear of his anger she stepped forward placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Tom."
He turned around his body tense with fury, his mouth curled up into a snarl of anger his breaths heaving out of his chest fast and heavy. She could see his fingers were pushing into his palms so roughly that his nails had cut into the skin, blood dripping from his palms onto the floor.
"I knew he knew…I didn't know what he had done to find out…I should have never left you down there. Never." Hermione moved her hand up, ignoring the fact that her wrist and forearms were covered in streaked crack blood, her wrists still shiny from the ropes digging into them. Her face probably looked like she'd been worked over with a baseball bat. "It's all my fault."
"You couldn't have known…you didn't know he would do that. You thought I was safe, you did nothing wrong." Though the image of him walking from the room still felt like a fresh smack to the face.
He didn't speak he just turned away from her, his face filled with disgust.
"We have to leave Tom." Her words were shaky, she was afraid. "We have to get the rest of the Horocruxes."
"We can't just leave Hermione, everyone will look for us."
"Then we can leave tomorrow night. They'll want the students to go home anyway and I don't have anywhere to go."
Tom didn't speak again just stared at her with big eyes, his face going back to its normal blank formal expression except for the small tick in his cheek showing that he was thinking. He looked her up and down and then sighed, a deep sigh that showed how truly tired he was.
"Let me heal you and then we will worry about what we need to do next." His voice sounded more tired than he looked.
It was silent as he sat her down on his bed going to his closet to retrieve a large trunk, the sound of clinking and rattling bottles coming from the inside. He laid it next to her reaching into it to pull out some bottles and little tubes of ointment.
"You'll need to take your dress off, can you do that?" Tom raised a soft brow at her, not questioning her ability to remove the clothes, but her mental state after what had happened.
She felt her body shaking involuntarily but she knew she could trust Tom, he would never hurt her. When she reached up to push the ripped gown down from her shoulders her fingers began to shake so heavily she could scarcely hold onto the fabric. Tom's fingers came down onto hers causing her to jump but she relaxed slightly, letting Tom's gentle fingers push her dress down. His touch was calm and he pulled at her hands urging her to stand up. Hermione stood slowly closing her eyes trying to push the anxiety away as he kindly removed her gown being as careful as he could to not touch her skin too much.
Her dress felt softly to the floor and she nervously pushed her hands over her chest crossing her arms. Tom said nothing, dutifully looking away to respect her needs and wishes and turning back to the suitcase he'd brought out. He grabbed his wand from next to her and came up to her.
"I have to mend the cut on your chest, I'm going to need you to move your hands, Hermione. Just close your eyes." She closed her eyes, her body shivering slightly from the cold air in the dungeon.
She felt Tom's wand slide down the cut on her chest as he whispered incantations. The skin that had been sliced opened by his nail was pulling itself together, the skin tugging softly at her chest and burning slightly when it meshed together closing itself up. She opened her eyes as he pulled away to grab the tube of ointment.
"This will have to go on your eye, there's not really anyway to mend bruises like that with a wand. I'll have to mend the cuts on your wrists but we'll still have to put ointment on them." He put a large dollop of the thick red purple paste onto his fingers rubbing it onto her sealed shut eye.
Hermione watched as his fingers worked on her wrists and her face but found herself staring at his fingers, thinking about the note she'd received. A surge of anger rushed through her body suddenly catching up in her throat and welling up inside her.
"You knew this was going to happen." Her voice was low and cutting.
"What? What are you talking about, Hermione?" His voice sounded honestly confused and slightly annoyed.
"That note-"
"What note? I haven't sent you any note." He had quit working on her hands and was giving her a concerned piqued look. "What did it say?"
She froze in his hands, if he didn't send her the letter, than who did? Who in this school was informed to the point that they knew this attack was going to happen?
"I thought it was from you…it was even in your hand writing…" She trailed off but his face had become imperative.
"Tell me what it said, Hermione!" He grabbed her shoulders shaking her.
"It said I was in danger, it told me to leave!" Her eyes widened at this urgency.
"And you have no idea who delivered it? Did it come by owl?"
"No. It was in my pocket, I thought you'd put it there when you were telling me to come with you before the dance. I thought the note was just you telling me why…"
Tom stood up, his hand running through his hair sending dust flying off onto his shoulders. Pacing the room while Hermione rubbed at the spot where he'd grabbed that he'd slathered with a chunky yellow goop. He walked forward to his bed, grasping one of the four posters angrily.
"What do we do?" She asked racking her head for anything but Tom knew more than her, anything she did was based off of the information that he gave her. He hadn't told her where any of the horocruxes were at and he hadn't told her what any of them were, she was completely helpless without Tom and it honestly made her angry.
"You're right." He finally stood up turning to look at her. "We're going to have to leave."
"But how?"
"We can't leave tonight, it'll bring too much suspicion." She said, repeating his concerns from earlier.
" I need to finish healing you and then you need to go and be back with your friends-"
"You're not leaving me here, you better not send me back to my friends and then take off without saying anything." She growled as he came back over to heal her battered body.
"No, but you need to get back up to your friends before they get suspicious and come looking for you. I don't need the other professors coming down here searching for you to find us alone in my room. There's no doubt they'll send students home. You'll just have to try and convince your friends that you want to stay here or something, will you be able to do that?"
"I don't see why not, they might decide to stay with me though."
"No, they'll want to keep the Potter boy safe, he'll be forced to go to a safe-house. It's my job to keep tabs on the boy and he'll be forced to go somewhere and stay safe." He was finishing her hands, wrapping them in bandages. "Drink this."
He handed her one of the small bottles of potion from his luggage and walked off to his bathroom. Hermione downed the liquid shuddering at the earthy lumpy taste but found herself relaxed immediately when she realized the potion had relieved her body of any of the aches and soreness she'd been feeling from all her injuries. She glanced over to see what Tom was doing and blushed, he was stripping off the tattered dress robes he'd been wearing, and tossing them into the trash bin he had in his bathroom.
She knew she ought to avert her gaze when he walked out, wearing nothing but a pair of briefs but she couldn't seem to pull her eyes away from his body, every inch of it perfectly sculpted, his muscles defined but not defined too much. His smooth skin flawless in every aspect and she found her eyes drawn towards the soft trail of black hair leading from his stomach down into his boxers.
"Do you have anything for me to wear?" She knew it was a stupid question but all she had was her ruined dress which had come to resemble something someone might have worn in prehistoric times, complete with blood and dirt.
"I think I have a teeshirt and a pair of boxers that is if you don't mind walking upstairs in it. I have a cloak you can borrow as well."
Hermione had wrapper herself in one of Tom's long cloaks and was walking around trying to avoid the large groups of ministry members and now what looked like some parents amongst many other wizards she didn't recognize. Hermione peeked into the great hall looking for any spike of Ron or Ginny's bright ginger hair but couldn't seem to find them. She tried her best not to look around at any of the crying students or parents who were grieving over their losses.
She made her way up the staircase into her dormitory which was filled with many of their classmates, sitting around and talking and some crying. She spotted a flash of orange hair and made her way over to her friends.
"Hermione! You look much better." Ron said his eyes lighting up.
"I feel better." She looked down to see what they were doing and they were glancing at the morning edition of the Daily Prophet, the front page covered in a moving picture showing screaming students with professors taking care of the remaining inferi and werewolf counterparts. "That was quick, wasn't it?"
"They must've sent someone over here when the ministry was called in for help." Harry said, reading the article before him.
"Have you heard from anyone about why they came?" She felt her pulse beating heavily, praying that they didn't really know, not yet.
"They think it had something to do with one of Grindlewald's old followers, but they have no idea who. They've been keeping an eye on the more powerful members of the group that they weren't able to put away but as far as they know, they didn't plan it."
"What about Greyback?" Her voice cracked slightly at his name.
"Hermione…" Harry's voice trailed up, giving her that same pity look Tom had given her. "He was gone by the time the ministry got there, he got away."
She took a deep breath, pacing herself. She was going to be away just because he got away didn't mean he was going to come for her again…or at least she hoped that's what that meant.
"They're talking about sending students home tomorrow. They said some can stay and help with the clean-up if they want, but I think everyone is pretty much going home. We'll be going to the Weasley's, you'll come of course?" Harry looked up at her with expectant eyes.
"Well…actually…erm-" She looked away from his stare and pushed her hand up scratching at the back of her knotted hair and then turned back to her friends who were now all staring at her waiting for her response. "I think I want to stay here and help."
"What? Hermione we can't stay here, it's dangerous. You ought to know more than anyone right now, why would you stay here?" Ron was looking at Hermione crazily but Harry's face was strict.
He knows, he knows exactly why I want to stay. He won't tell them, but he knows. His almond shaped green eyes giving her such an all-knowing look that she felt almost naked. Ginny was having the same reaction at Ron but neither Hermione nor Harry noticed because it was almost if they were telepathically having the conversation.
Are you sure this is what you want? There is no going back from this.
I've never been so sure of anything in my entire life.
"Hermione doesn't have to come if she doesn't want too, she'll be needed here. She's smarter than our entire house put together, they could use her skill." Harry said but his eyes still boring holes into hers, his voice rather flat.
She almost felt like he was testing her, as if she were choosing between her friends and Tom, but Harry didn't know. He wouldn't know until it was too late and she hated that she couldn't tell him. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had to hide something from Harry, it'd had to have been her fourth year when she had to hide the challenge from him. She stared at him, biting her lip swallowing the bitter taste she got at the back of her throat from lying to him. Ron was talking but they were still staring each other down, she couldn't help but feel this again was a moment there wasn't going to be coming back from.
"Do you know what all students…?" She wanted to change the subject but she couldn't find it in herself to finish the sentence.
He looked away at her at her question.
"They haven't said yet, I'm not sure I want to know." Ron shook his head. Ginny reached over to pat him on the back softly.
"What about the professors?"
"I heard Lavender say that Professor Flitwick was injured but, I haven't heard anything else. Did you see him down there?"
Hermione stared at Ginny, realizing that she was supposed to have been down in the hospital wing and she hadn't even bothered to peek into the room to back up her story.
"No, it was chaotic, I didn't see anything." She nodded her head, staring down as to hide her pink cheeks.
They all sat there, staring down at the morning edition of the prophet Harry held, watching with some distant sadness as the picture moved, flinching when a student ran past the photo while a spell from some unseen direction hit them in the back.
It must have been near noon when professor McGonagall came up to the room to give the students more information on the situation. She looked rather grim and the sight of her face, which was stricter than she could remember seeing (besides when Dumbledore had supposedly died). The room was more silent than Hermione could bare and the dread and stillness that came about it made her feel sick to her stomach.
"Students," She looked around at them and Hermione saw her eyes had an almost watery look. "There's no good explanation for what happened tonight. Tragedy always seems to strike when you've just found a way away from it, and sometimes that's when we are weakest. Unfortunately for tonight, we've lost some of the lights that made this school bright…" She looked up, as if trying to clear the burn of tears from her eyes. "Due to this attack, we've decided to send you home. Whether or not school will resume has not been decided, students will receive letters in the mail in a short period of time with more information. The train will leave at six tonight, I know it's a short period of time however the ministry was urgent about getting the students home to keep them safe."
The outburst from the students was loud and it shocked Hermione, the room going from a deadening silence to such an outburst of noise, looking around at the students whose hands were raised and shouting a barrage of questions at their professor.
"Enough!" Her voice killed the noise, silencing the students immediately. "Ministry officials will be up shortly to answer any and all questions."
The students took it upon themselves to talk to each other some even asking her questions anyway, Hermione included.
"Professor, Professor please." Hermione even grabbed at her professor's robe to further grab her attention. It worked for McGonagall turned around and gave her such a questioning look it was no wonder her eyebrow didn't disappear off her head.
"Yes, Miss Granger. Have we resulted to child-like basics of getting a teacher's attention?" Hermione blushed but she still made to move forward.
"I thought students were going to be allowed to stay and help."
"Merely a rumor, Miss Granger. I'm afraid all students will be required to go home."
"But-"
"I'm sorry, Miss Granger. I can't change the rules."
She gave Hermione one last seemingly apologetic look before whirling around to walk out of room. She stared after her, her head ticking quickly through idea after idea of how in the world she was going to get out of going home. Unless of course, she just didn't get on the train. Unless of course, she just packed her things and snuck away to Hogsmede, She looked around, thankful the room was in such chaos as she snuck out the portrait to run downstairs to the dungeons.
"It's not a terrible idea, but it's not exactly fail-proof either." Tom shrugged at the idea, his wand making intricate movements at the ruins of the empty corridor they were in. Stones were flying around them placing themselves into their original places, but some lingered. Dark magic wasn't something that could be so easily fixed.
"Well, do you have a better idea?" She kicked at some of the pebbles in front of her feet.
"I didn't say we wouldn't do it, I was just simply stating facts." He turned and gave her a narrowed look. "How do you plan to sneak away without being caught?"
"There's a hidden passage I know very well, I'll be using that. It won't be hard to just slip away." She watched as a column reconstructed itself gracefully in front of her.
"I'm surprised, a girl like you knowing about a secret passage. That's not a bad plan though seeing as though we don't have much of a choice on anything else. You'll just need to be prepared. I'll meet you at the hotel and we'll leave from there, we don't have time to wait anymore."
"Can you tell me where we are going?" Hermione glanced up at him.
"Japan."
"Japan? That's a rather odd location…" She trailed off expecting him to give her more information.
"They're all rather odd locations, makes them a lot harder to find unfortunately. Especially when they're constantly moving around." His voice sounded rather annoyed and his wand flicks became seemingly more complicated. "Normally, I'd ask you to stick around but I'm unfortunately a bit busy. It might be pertinent for you to go upstairs and begin packing and preparing…oh, and I would don some hiking boots if I were you."
"Oh, well it's a good thing I have a pair just laying around." Hermione rolled her eyes and she walked off, a part of her feeling almost miffed at him telling her to go away.
Her walk back upstairs wasn't pleasant, she'd done her best to avoid the great hall on her way to see him but she wasn't so fortunate on her way back due to the fact that there were several professors blocking the way she'd came. It was heart wrenching, which didn't even seem really heavy enough to portray the scene in itself. She wanted nothing more than to run past the room and plug her ears but it was like some muggle car wreck, she couldn't force herself not to look.
The great hall itself was still in a form of shambles and the sight of it almost sent Hermione reeling, the scene so deja-vu that the nausea overwhelmed her. Several families had since arrived, although most of the passed students had been removed, some parents had unfortunately recently arrived. Hermione's body felt frozen, watching as a mother, who'd nearly ran her over coming into the hall, found her son as though he'd been under some sort of motherly radar. Her body throwing itself promptly to the ground shaking so grievously that it looked almost painful, the heavy sobs and gasps that left the woman's body ripped through the hall and Hermione found herself shedding tears, hardly knowing this poor second year boy, but feeling this mother's pain as it if were her own.
Hermione left, unable to watch any longer the feeling of nausea and sheer panic from memories becoming too much. She was too the moving staircases before she realized how aggressively her hands were shaking, her nails clawing at the mud-blood scar on her arm unconsciously. She reached the portrait and realized suddenly that it was wide open, the fat-lady gone from the picture and the frame wide open as if welcoming anyone into the room. The common room was full of students, not all of them Gryffindor which she realized what had happened the last time the school had been attacked, all the commons opening themselves to allow open interaction, allowing for the students to be with each other to bring the school together as much as it could.
"I can't believe we're leaving." Ginny looked around the empty dorm room, the other girls already left to the great hall to leave for the train.
Hermione had desperately tried to linger and tell Ginny she would meet her downstairs but Ginny seemed to be refusing to leave her side.
"Harry will be waiting for you, you know. You don't have to wait here for me, I can make it downstairs on my own." She had already tried this route, but she needed to leave. The trains were going to be leaving within the next two hours and she wanted to be in Hogsmede before the train left. "I can meet you downstairs."
"No, I don't want to leave you alone. I don't think anyone needs to be alone right now."
She had to avoid the urge to roll her eyes but a part of her secretly agreed with her, the last thing anyone needed after something like last night was to be alone, she had learned that very well last year.
"Okay, well I'm pretty much packed. We better go meet the boys, I'm sure they're still waiting in the common room." Hermione tugged on the necklace around her neck that held all her things except for the wand that she'd stuck in the pocket of her jacket.
She'd figured it was probably a very poor idea to dress as if she were going on a hike to leave the school so she'd decided to change whenever she got into the secret passage. She wasn't even actually sure if the secret passage was still even viable, though Harry had used the tunnel in the hump of the one-eyed witch several times their third year and a few times after that, she wasn't quite sure if it had survived the attack on the school last year, or last night for that matter.
Although she did have a backup plan, her disillusionment charm had become rather handy and powerful and she was sure that she would have no troubles using it to sneak her way out of the group and towards the town. However, she'd prefer not having to resort to anything but her original plan because that would probably annoy Tom if things did not go properly.
They found the boys waiting impatiently for them in the common room along with a few other students who seemed to be lingering around as well. She had no choice but to follow her friends downstairs to where the other students were gathered. She'd just have to pretend she left something upstairs, it was the only way to get away.
"Oh crap, I left my wand upstairs in the dorm. I'll be back." She made to move upstairs.
"I'll come with you." Harry spoke almost before she even finished her sentence.
There was that moment of looking at each other, of knowing before she nodded her head and he followed behind her up the steps as though they were going to the dormitory. It was quiet until they reached they reached the statue of the one-eyed witch, there was no point in not letting him know where she was going, she just didn't have to tell him why.
"Is this all going to be worth it, in the end? Can you tell me that? Can you tell me if this is something more than just running off to be with some professor? The Hermione I know would have never have been so…"
"Careless" She leaned against the statue, looking past Harry to where a large chunk of wall was missing showing the night sky, a rather large bird flying by.
"You can't tell me anything?"
"This is bigger than me and you, I want to tell you…so bad." She looked at him and she could feel the words on the very back of her throat. "I need you to trust me."
"I trust you more than anyone, you know that. I'm just afraid for you, because this is so unlike you."
"He knows me…if you knew…"
"I don't want to know about anything you guys do." He shook his head, his face feigning disgust causing them both to laugh but it faded off quickly. "I'll come up with something to tell them, don't worry about that. Can you just, promise to let me know you're alright?"
"I promise." She grabbed him suddenly, holding him as tightly as she could. "Be safe."
"You too and don't do anything Hermione wouldn't do."
She kissed him on the cheek before turning to the witch, tapping it softly on the back with her wand and whispering 'Dissendium' into it's ear before it moved to reveal a tunnel.
Hermione wrapped her jacket more tightly around her arms and kicked her feet, the air was frigid and she still had another five minutes before Tom was supposed to meet her. She'd changed into a pair of thick corduroy pants and had stolen a pair of hiking boots from Lavender (and she didn't feel as bad as she thought she would) and was a little unsure on why she even had a pair. She looked around the building she was standing behind. The village was very quiet, many of the people who lived in it hiding safely in their homes after hearing about the attack on the school. Many of the shops were closed, even The Three Broomsticks door was locked with the windows covered with dark black blinds.
"You look rather cold," Tom's voice made her jump and her wand whipped out in front of her. "I see you also found a pair of boots."
"I…I uhm…I stole them." She looked away from him, her face turning a bright red.
There was a moment of silence, he was looking at her with no expression before a smile cracked and he began to laugh, a sound which she didn't get to hear very often.
"I guess I'll have to watch myself around you now, since you're so bad." He chuckled as he walked up next to her, holding out his elbow formally.
"Let's just go." She rolled her eyes and with that his fingers snapped and she felt her body throw violently into space.
They landed roughly on the ground, Hermione coughing as her chest heaved from the feeling of being suffocated through a rubber tube. She obviously still wasn't as graceful as Tom because she'd landed on her ass a few feet behind him while he straightened the jacket he was wearing on his sleeves, dusting as if he'd actually accumulated dust in their short travel.
She glanced around and she knew exactly where they were, he wasn't going to have to tell her. She'd remembered vividly in grade school when she'd been in history class, their teaching telling them of a place where below one of the biggest mountains in Japan, a forest resided. A forest where people (and she'd come to learn wizards and all creatures alike) would come to walk, come to take their lasts breaths and take their lives. A forest named properly so for the many deaths that took place in it.
"The suicide forest?" Her voice sounded small.
The air surrounding them was dense with fog and the silence was so heavy that every breath and movement from either of them sounded as loud as gunshot. Wherever they had landed was obviously not on a trail or safe-point. The surrounding forestry and greenery was familiar, reminding Hermione of the thick condensed way the Forbidden Forest became as you traveled deeper into it. The light surrounding them was gray and smelled of dirt and moss and something else that she couldn't particularly place, but it had an almost bitter aftertaste too it. The trees surrounding them were covered in moss and large robust mushrooms and vines, but that wasn't what caught her attention.
Above their heads swaying softly as though there were a wind pushing through the trees, and there wasn't, was a molding body. She stared at it in aghast horror, it's head hanging at an unnatural angle from the rope that was tied around its neck. While there were several things that were equally terrifying about the body hanging overhead, it was the eyes that scared her the most. They were wide open, glaring down at them as though they could see every movement they made and while they should have been glassy, glazed over with death, they were as clear as day.
"Tom…" She stood up slowly, edging closer to him.
"A warning, nothing to be concerned with."
She didn't say anything, just continued to stare up at the swinging body.
"Well, off we go then." His voice sounding revoltingly jolly.