Chp.17: About Heather and Mushrooms
The crescent moon peaked through the clouds and a chilly wind creaked through the bare limbs of the trees outside of Hogsmeade Village.
Four teenagers huddled in a circle, clutching rucksacks. Their cloaks billowed about them in the cold night air, and puffs of frozen breath streamed out of their mouths as they waited in the cold.
The time had come for the four to travel to the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. There, they hoped to find and destroy Voldemort's brand.
Dumbledore had called them to his office earlier that evening and handed Draco a slip of paper that contained the name of a bed and breakfast where they would be staying.
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco waited for Hermione's watch to reach 23:59:00 hours.
As the watch hand clicked closer to their departure time, Hermione motioned to the others.
They gathered round the broken umbrella that lay at their feet.
"Now." Hermione said softly, and they grabbed hold of the tattered fabric.
Draco gulped at the tugging feeling around his middle, and tried to take deep breaths as the Portkey sucked them through space.
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"Oof!" Ron gasped, rubbing his head. The teens were sprawled out in a grassy area. The heather beneath them, while cushioning to their fall, was actually quite scratchy, and Harry sneezed.
Hermione looked around with confusion. They had landed on a small hillside. In the distance, Hermione could make out a loch, its surface choppy from the chill breeze.
"Where the bloody hell are we?" Draco said irritably. "I thought Edinburgh was a true city…not the middle of nowhere."
Hermione shook her head impatiently.
"This isn't Edinburgh, you oaf. Dumbledore must have made a mistake."
"Or maybe…he wanted us to come here for a reason," Harry said thoughtfully.
Ron grumbled under his breath and set about picking several sprigs of heather off his cloak.
Hermione sat watching him blankly.
Draco came up beside her and snaked his arms around her waist. She leaned back against his warm chest and let her breathing pattern adjust to his.
Bliss.
Even on a cold hillside on a gray day, Hermione could feel as though the sun were shining and birds were singing all around her.
Oh gods, I am turning into a complete sap. Focus, Hermione. Focus, she thought fiercely.
Ron's voice broke her from her reviere.
"Oi! What kind of plant is this anyways? It should be dead in this kind of cold."
"Don't be silly Ron. We've landed in heather. It's known to survive temperatures of as low as –38 C. It's really quite an interesting plant…"
Ron rolled his eyes and tuned Hermione out.
"THAT'S IT!" She yelled.
Ron yelped, and turned around. "Sorry Hermione, I didn't mean to…I just…I won't…"
Hermione looked at him as if he had a marble loose.
"What on earth are you going on about? Anyways, as I was saying before Ronald so rudely interrupted me, heather has important healing powers. It is an important ingredient in many medical potions. Dumbledore probably wanted us to have some on hand."
"Hermione, you are a genius!" Harry exclaimed, grabbing several fistfuls of the plant and shoving them into his rucksack.
Draco hugged her middle tightly and laid several kisses across the back of her neck, sending shivers down her spine.
Hermione smacked him lightly, and got up to help Harry collect the heather.
Several moments later, the two sat down again.
"Now," Ron said, "how are we expected to get out of here?"
The four sighed and Hermione shrugged her shoulders.
Suddenly, Harry pointed to a spot slightly to the left of Hermione's shoulder.
"Do you see that, over there?" he asked his friends.
On closer examination, the object Harry had spotted appeared to be a discarded cloak. Draco bent down to pick it up, but Hermione stopped him.
"You don't know what that is. Don't touch it."
"Hermione?" Harry asked.
"What?"
"Does that look like the Hogwarts crest to you?"
Ron bent down to look closer. "Blimey, so it is, mate!"
"I think we may have found our way out of here," Harry said with a wide grin.
"Well, I suppose it's worth a try," Draco said with a shrug.
The four circled the cloak, and simultaneously touched it.
Hermione groaned as she felt the familiar tug around her navel.
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"I will be glad if I never have to do that AGAIN," Draco huffed indignantly.
The four were walking through the winding streets of Edinburgh. The portkey had unceremoniously dropped them in an alleyway in between a pub and a shop. They had shed their thick coats and shrugged into jackets and were now wandering rather aimlessly.
"Draco, hush. We're in a muggle town. Don't talk about magic," Hermione muttered to him under her breath.
"Right. Well. I'm awful hungry. Do you mind if we stop somewhere for food?" he whined.
Hermione shook her head and looked to Harry and Ron. Both of them looked at her with pleading eyes.
"Oh, okay. Let's go see what there is."
They were walking over a bridge , and at the end of it, Hermione turned left.
"Princes Street." She said to herself.
"Right, you lot. Let's look for some food."
As she strode down the busy street, she wrinkled her nose at the McDonalds on her right. Instead, boys trailing after her, continued onward, coming to an abrupt halt in front of a department store.
"Perfect." She said.
Harry looked up at the name of the building they had stopped in front of.
"Marks and Spencer?" He said suspiciously. "Hermione…this is a department store. We don't have time to go shopping."
"No, you idiot. We aren't going in for clothing. We're getting something to eat" She said shaking her head, curls bouncing furiously.
Draco had wandered a little further down the block.
"Hey! I see food!" He exclaimed.
Hermione looked on with amused look as Ron and Harry took off toward the direction of Draco's voice.
Following them, she stepped into the small shop located to the left of the main entrance to Marks and Spencer.
Inside was a small grocery of sorts. Hermione smiled and picked out a serving of Chicken Provencale and a bottled strawberry and banana smoothie.
She got in line, and was soon joined by Harry, Ron, and Draco. While Harry and Draco had chosen sandwiched and bottles of sparkling water with a side of fruit salad, Rons arms were stuffed to bursting with a variety of sweets.
Harry and Hermione helped Ron and Draco to pay for their food, Draco grumbling about how stupid paper money was the whole while, and headed back out onto the street.
The sky was still gray, but did not seem to threaten rain, and so Harry pulled out the enchanted map Dumbledore had given them. Before leaving, Hermione had bewitched the back to appear as a normal Muggle map, rather than a piece of parchment.
"There's a park across the street," Harry announced.
"Great!" Ron exclaimed and began to cross the street.
Hermione grabbed his shoulder. "Ron, you have to wait for the light to change."
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Moments later, the four were sitting along a bench, looking up at Edinburgh castle.
They were silent, each absorbed in their food.
After several moments, Ron held up a small confection shaped like a mushroom.
"You know, I thought these would be gross, but I think I like them even better than chocolate frogs!" He exclaimed.
Draco made a disgusted face at the treat.
"I would never bring myself to eat a sweet in the shape of a fungus," he said snottily.
Ron grinned widely, thought a moment, and then said, "Hey Draco?"
Draco opened his mouth to say, "Yes Roooo-aaaggggggghhhhhhhh"
Harry laughed loudly. Ron had stuffed a mushroom shaped sweet into Draco's open mouth.
Draco spluttered for several moments, then swallowed.
He glared at Ron for a moment.
"You know Ron…I'd have to get back at you for that if it hadn't actually tasted good."
A/N: Sorry about the wait you guys…I could offer many excuses, but I won't. Also, I wouldn't recommend following Harry and Hermione's actions out in the Highlands…there is a hefty fine for taking that heather out of the country. Hope you enjoyed the update, I'll have more out soon, I promise! I really wanted to get this up today, or it won't get done, so I don't have time for individual responses to reviews. If you reviewed, thank you so much, I'll chat about them later!
Elizabeth