Chapter 2!
Title: 'Time Wasting: Part 1'
Note: Don't worry, you didn't miss anything. This chapter starts at the end and explain how everything got there.
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
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"You're a traveler aren't you?" The gruff voice asked suddenly.
She didn't say anything, she only stood on the spot looking over the rickety counter at the dimly-lit supplies she had come to buy.
"Can I have some powdered moonstone and syrup of hellebore, as well?" She asked with as much confidence as she could fake. She really just wanted to get the ingredients and leave, but the man behind the counter didn't make any move to get either the jar of silver powder or the translucent gourd of purple muck behind him.
"What're you traveling around for?" The large man asked inarticulately.
"Family vacation." She lied with a plain face, not looking at the burly shopkeeper, "If you have a moleskin bag, I'd-"
"I don't think you're telling the truth." The man interrupted with a rude tone quickly.
Her hand in her pocket gripped the handle of her wand nervously.
"We've got a few warnings 'round here that a girl and pair of boys might be wandering the area." The man stated with an edging tone. "Truants." He explained shortly. She knew she should've considered herself lucky that that's all he thought she was: only a truant student from Hogwarts, and not what she really was: a muggle-born truant and accomplice of Harry Potter.
She started running all the possible confusion-jinxes through her head, trying to pick which one would be powerful enough to make this man forget about his suspicions without causing a scene.
The man was already walking around the old counter, breaking the usual setup between seller and buyer, "They said she was a mudblood. That whoever carts her and the boys off to the Ministry would get fifty galleons."
Her brow tensed slightly after he said the last word of the first sentence.
"I just want to buy some supp-" She tried to reason with him one last time, her hand ready to pull out her wand, but she was interrupted.
"I think you should come with me." The man reached out a large hand, about to grab her arm.
She was already mouthing the incantation 'confundus' before she was interrupted again, this time by an unexpected source.
"There you are, beautiful."
She looked over to the doorway at the last man she had expected to be standing there.
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… … … … … … The Night Before… … … … … …
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"We should get back to the tent." Harry suggested. She broke her mile long stare into the direction she had jinxed the snatcher only minutes before to look at Harry and nod swiftly.
Even when they had made it back to the tent, Ronald and Harry still busy talking about building up better protective wards, she couldn't tear her mind away from what had happened.
Only five minutes before she had been sitting in the tent, rereading the little periwinkle book of children's story –which now looked ten years older than it already was since she had been flipping through it so much-, when she heard Ronald shout something.
She had run out of the tent as quickly as possible but she was already behind, Harry and Ronald were running in a single direction. She followed after them, too.
Hermione had actually figured out who exactly they were chasing before the boys did.
They had caught up with him… but she let him go.
Even now, she wasn't sure that if she had been the one to see him tonight, instead of Ronald, whether or not she would've… whether or not she would've done anything.
She didn't like the way that made her feel like a traitor.
She collapsed on her cot, sitting upright, with a sigh. She tried to pay attention to what they were saying, but she couldn't quite focus.
She could still feel that man's breath along her skin. It was only a memory her nerve-endings had randomly decided to remember longer than other sensations, it didn't mean anything more than that…. But it still tickled a little. It was only slightly uncomfortable.
She rubbed her cheek with her cold hand.
The feeling didn't go away.
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She opened her eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the orange morning light filtering gently through the fabric of the tent.
She sat up, a little sore, she was used to that. These cots weren't the most comfortable things to sleep on, but still, she didn't complain.
She tip-toed through the tent as quietly as she could, trying not to wake up the boys. It was normal for her to get up earlier than them. Harry wouldn't be up for a while; it had been his turn last night to guard the tent. She looked over at him, messily wrapped in a loosely knit blanket, his glasses in his hand. Ronald snored loudly at that moment, as if even in his sleep he was still eager to get her attention. She smiled weakly. She felt like she should be doing more for them.
She had forgotten to brace herself before stepping out of the tent. The cold air nipped the inside of her lungs as soon as she took a breath. She realized that the days were getting colder. Her breathing hissed a little in reaction to the sudden chill, she scrunched up her shoulders and crossed her arms over her chest. She took a few steps out of the tent about ready to start a little fire for some sort of warmth. She looked into the trees, aimlessly looking… looking for a sign that their stalker was still around… she couldn't see anything.
She looked away slowly, her shoulders slumping a few inches.
She noticed that their little pile of firewood was a little small.
She decided to get some more.
Just in case.
She knew she didn't really need any firewood to make a small flame to warm her hands… but she found herself putting on her boots and grabbing a thicker jacket out of her purse, ready to look for more firewood, and herbs.
They were running out of monkshood and fluxweed. And if she could find some boom berries, maybe she could make some pepperup for the boys.
She thought through all the responsible reasons, trying to ignore the one particularly irresponsible reason, why she couldn't help but stray away from the tent this morning.
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He woke up numb and warm at the same time.
His chest and arms had heated each other overnight, but his couldn't feel his hands or face.
He grunted a little loudly as he moved his arms, stretching them out, trying to thaw out the stiffness of his muscles which felt like they'd been frozen on the inside despite their warmth. He stretched his legs out too, slumping against the tree as he did.
He rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand, letting the left run along his frozen face.
His normal morning ritual of reacquainting his body with movement was cut short just as he opened his eyes at a peculiar smell.
His sense of smell had always been something of a prideful attribute for him, almost as if he was meant for a life as a hunter, he could pick up on little hints of scents without trying. This time it wasn't a pleasant scent, but it was familiar.
Salty copper.
He quickly sat up.
He hadn't missed it, had he?
He immediately thought some other pack of snatchers had come through here and stolen his prey out from under him, leaving a blood-trail behind. He turned around, facing the shoddy-looking tent. It seemed just as pathetic as usual. No carnage.
Something like relief threatened him, but he was too distracted by that when he saw his right hand.
Browning blood was baking onto his skin in thick trails down his palm and into his sleeve.
"Shit." He cursed quietly to himself as he took a closer look at his hand.
It must've gotten busted the night before, he hadn't even noticed. Even now, he was too numb to feel any pain when he rubbed the palm of his hand against his jacket. But what did stop him from wiping the wound on his hand any harder was a sound.
Leaves crackling.
Footsteps.
Without thinking he immediately stood against the tree he had just slept by, aligning his back with the bark to stay hidden, craning his neck to his right to try and see who it was.
The girl walked into his view without noticing him.
He immediately slouched back down with a silent sigh.
He gave her a second glance over for a moment, eyeing her in a way she definitely wouldn't have liked. She was wearing a baggy jacket and unflattering boots, but he still loved the look of her. He absentmindedly started to play with the ring on his finger as he took a few silent steps closer to her.
"Aren't you supposed to be the smart one of the lot?" He piped up rudely. She spun around to face him. He didn't give her a moment to think through that before he continued. "There're loads of nasty villains in these woods, little girls aren't supposed to go off on their own." He teased.
He didn't fight back the slimy sort of smirk that pulled at his lips when he saw her wide-eyed face again. He was starting to like her face like that too much.
She huffed a breath for a moment, shifting her booted feet awkwardly, her mouth slightly open with surprise, before she could say the first thought in her head.
"You're still here." She stated the obvious.
"Of course I am, lovely. I don't give up easily." He answered truthfully.
She only gave him a look. One that he could tell she tried to make look angry.
She still looked completely nervous.
She racked her brain for words, trying to remember how to talk properly. But every time she came face to face with this man, a man who represented the worst fate her and her friends could succumb to, she always found herself stumbling over her sentences. She really didn't like that.
When she did realize what she wanted to say, to ask, she realized she had already asked him that question several times already.
'Why are you following us?'
He hadn't answered her.
She tried to assume some sort of confidence, some sort of nonchalance. She glanced over the ground, she saw a small patch of valerian sprouts. She really had no use for valerian sprouts, unless she wanted to mix a cauldron of Draught of Living Death… or make treacle fudge…..
She ended up kneeling down to collect some of the sprouts anyways, just so that she wouldn't have to look him in the eye and mess up her words.
"You never answered my questions." She said quietly, but with forced strength.
He smiled.
He saw through her little act.
But he was mostly surprised that in her attempt to distance herself from him, she seemed to actually be striking up a conversation. This girl was starting to make less and less sense... and now he was even more interested.
"You never answered mine."
He pointed out smoothly, leaning against a tree in front of her. She looked up and gave him a delicate sneer. He only looked down at her with a plain face. He wanted to laugh at her… or possibly to reach down and pull that fragile face to his, he wasn't sure right now.
She must've known what was going through his head; she was already walking away before he noticed.
She was heading back to the tent.
He wouldn't be able to talk to her once she's around her boyfriends.
He found himself talking before he intended.
"My team's been –uh- disbanded." His sentence paused at the moment he realized he had probably damaged his aloof image by answering her question so quickly. He had picked a weak word for what had happened, but he didn't need to get into the gruesome details.
She turned back to him, her eyes completely focused on him.
"I'm just keeping my eye on a valuable target… until I get a new team." He explained slowly.
She took a step closer to him.
"How are you going to get a new team?" She asked with a rude curiosity. "You're all by yourself." She added.
He smiled down at her as if she was a child that had just said something foolish.
"You three are the biggest bounty in the wizarding world…. Believe me, other's will come for you."
Her jaw tensed, her eyes grew worried. That seemed to have scared her a little.
He wanted to say more, see how many more expressions he could make her honest face show him, but…
"Hermione?"
The ginger butted in, he was calling for her.
The snatcher's smile turned into an annoyed grimace as he backed away from the girl and out of sight.
She was still staring after him for a moment longer until Ronald came up to her.
"Were you talking just now?" He asked curiously, looking into the trees behind her as if he was expecting some sort of friendly visit from an ally.
"Er, no…" She answered weakly, "I was just talking to myself about the… um… the supplies we need." She covered a little hurriedly, she couldn't stop herself from guiltily adding more, "I was actually planning on going to that town nearby and see if they had anything."
"Oh…" Ron seemed a little confused, "Are you sure that's alright, Hermione?" He asked. "I mean, we just found a snatcher wandering around the forest last night. What if he's still out there?"
Hermione stiffened on the spot. Ron had no idea how right he was.
But, for whatever reason she couldn't think through responsibly she said:
"I don't think so, he didn't look like he was going to stay. I think we scared him off."
"Alright."
Ronald still seemed a little confused. Hermione made her way to the tent, holding the sprouts in a little bag. She was trying to leave the conversation at that.
"How 'bout I go with you just in case he comes back." He offered as he followed after her.
This time she had a responsible answer.
"We can't leave Harry or the tent by himself. You need to stay here and keep watch." She answered as she sorted the plants in the category box they dedicated for herbs.
"Oh, right." He agreed, looking up at the treetops momentarily before he thought of his next words. "Are you really sure you'll be alright, then?"
"Of course. I can take care of myself." She tried to sound confident, but much like she had failed when talking to that man, she didn't sound all that convincing.
Ronald gave her one last worried look, a nod, and then went off to fiddle with the radio again.
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He hadn't been able to hear much of her conversation with that ginger, most of it just sounded like useless tension-filled blabber between two attracted teenagers –he had picked up on a certain vibe between those two… he wasn't a fan of the idea of the girl and that dork ginger together-, but he had heard something he took note of:
'I was actually planning on going to that town nearby and see if they had anything.'
He was really starting to doubt her position as 'the smart one' of the bunch.
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She walked through the trees, paying more attention than usual to every tree, every sound, keeping a look out for the man she had talked to that morning. She kind of hoped she wouldn't run into him again, but her hopes would go unnoticed.
"I wouldn't go any further, love." Said his accented voice.
She didn't stop. She wasn't going to stay around and talk to him only for him to give her strange stares and mock her. Besides, she shouldn't even be talking to him at all. He was the enemy. The fact she didn't turn around and hex him right now was bad enough, talking to him, as if he's a person she could actually want to hold a conversation with, was worse.
"You'll only get trouble." She could tell he was walking behind her, but she didn't know he was enjoying the view.
She only sighed with unrestrained aggravation, "You'd know about trouble, wouldn't you?" She asked without looking for an answer.
"I am trouble."
His voice coiled through the air with a teasing tone.
She didn't think before talking again, but she didn't regret it.
"Then if you're so worried about me, stay away."
She kept walking, her boots mashing the leaves noisily. She waited for some sort of snide remark or retort.
But there was nothing.
She slowed to a stop. She turned around.
He was gone.
She sighed again. This time she didn't realize it was out of disappointment.
She started walking to the town again, her thoughts still on him.
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He ran those words through his head again.
'Then if you're so worried about me, stay away.'
Was she mad?
Or more stupid than anyone could give her credit for?
There's no bleeding way he could be 'worried' about her.
If anything he just wanted to make sure her price wouldn't go down if she turns into damaged goods.
He paced the forest floor with more agitation than he realized.
He doesn't care about her.
Just the galleons she's worth.
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He paused for a moment.
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"Argh." With an angry growl he turned on the spot, his jacket rushing behind him as he started in the direction she had gone.
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Next chapter!