Chapter 5-I believe I can Fly

Usual disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Hermione rushed out of the shack, clutching a broom.

"I have to do this. I have to, I'll regret it if I don't." She murmured as the adrenaline drive to protect her friends powered her on the broom. She apparently, temporarily, forgot about her fear of brooms.

Or not…

Oh god, oh god. She trained her eyes on her grip on the broom as she advanced forward. There's no turning back now. With a confident push, she flew right into a failing battle.

She swerved and dived; she pushed and shoved; she rammed and charged; she dodged and flipped. The battle—Death Eaters and Harry/Ginny—is not even sure what hit them. They are too busy fighting each other.

…Which is not Hermione's point.

C'mon, c'mon. Come to me. Follow me, FOLLOW ME! Hermione rammed straight into a DE, snatched his wand and spiked another through the throat with it.

Good aim. She congratulated herself while doubling back into the fight, zooming with her fullest speed possible.

She grabbed another surprised DE and chucked him at others. The rest of the DEs turned their focus and started after Hermione. There were no signs of Bellatrix and her pyromaniac friend. Harry was busy, creating some massive spell power.

Tsk, tsk. He must've drunk some of Fred and George's SuperPower Potion. She thought as she swerved and dived from attacking spells at her.

Uh oh! So…what do I do now?

In order to escape the flood of spells at her, Hermione quickly swerved and flipped and dodged and halted and turned and -

"AHHHH!"

One of the spells caught the back of Hermione's broom and caused it to shoot straight upward!

Suddenly, the realization of Hermione in the air drained in. Frozen in fear and still ascending, she tried to steer yet nothing worked. The spell locked her in place…or was it fear? Below her, the crowd laughed.

Suddenly, one by one, the crowd of 5 took flight. They flew alongside her, throwing spells, taunting her. She couldn't swerve or dodge anymore so she flipped upside down to avoid curses.

"AhhhhAAHH!"

She screamed as a spell jerked her broom to a stomach rumbling stop. Then, it started ascending again, slower this time but still ascending.

"Petrificus Totalus!" One cried and before her instincts reached her brain, the spell hit squarely in her chest.

She slumped forward, tipping off.

Oh god, please don't fall. Don't fall, don't fall.

The Death Eaters laughed and taunted with her. The tilted her broom upward, downward, sideways and back. Hermione was completely petrified with spell and fear.

Aaaahhh!

Her heart pounded faster than her blood could work. Her pulse raced faster than ever. Her stomach rumbled and jumbled harder than a washing machine. A headache formed in her head and racked her brain. Is this the work of a spell?

Abruptly, it stopped.

She panted on her broom, hair flying all over the place and on the verge of vomiting. Tears streamed down her face. She had been unconsciously crying.

But all the while, she made no noise.

The flying Death Eaters were howling with laughter. One sent a Killing Curse her way. It missed her by a hairbreadth. She could feel the heat stinging on the back of her neck.

Silence.

She was still frozen but she could still look sideways. No one's there. Everyone vanished.

Hah! They probably thought I died on the broom. And eww…that's not very pleasant. Huff! Now what do I do?

She waited. Still slumped forward and petrified, she watched as she passed clouds and lone birds, halting every few feet. She watched helplessly as frost formed on her fingers, hair and eyelashes. She slowly felt tired and drained of energy. But she knew to keep her head up and energy saved. She could die right here, right now if she falls asleep.

She shuddered mentally at the haunting thought of no one finding her and dying of hyperthermia and hunger, forever ascending upward.

But she reassured herself. Be sensible, Hermione. She told Ginny of her plans so someone was bound to rescue her. In time, hopefully.

"Where's Hermione?" They gathered in the living room, all eyes on the two survivors.

Harry stayed quiet, fuming silently. Just as Ginny opened her mouth to speak, Bill, Tonks, Remus, and Mr Weasley rushed into the house.

"Gone, all of them gone, not one single person stayed behind, not even the supposedly dead people. Jeez, Harry, how did you slaughter everybody and hide them at the same time?" Bill panted, leaning against the wall post.

"It—"Ginny started but Harry interrupted.

"I don't know what happened but I felt angry. Really angry. Suddenly I felt a power surge and my spells exploded everywhere."

Ginny looked furious. Harry was confused. It was true! Remus looked worried.

"Harry, dear. Are you sure that wasn't Voldemort's anger and power surge?" He asked.

Harry remembered the image of the silhouette of Hermione running into the broom shack.

"No. I'm pretty sure, the anger was mine."

"NO!" Ginny spoke up. "It was Hermione! She flew on a broom and the entire crowd followed her!"

"FLEW? AS IN COURAGEOUSLY SAVING US?Yeah, right, Ginny. Are you sure you're ok? HERMIONE COWARDLY FLED! THAT'S WHAT SHE DID!" Harry shouted.

"Harry! Control yourself! Your best friend is missing!" Remus snapped at him.

"She should be back any second now anyway." Ginny added calmly, clearing ignoring Harry.

So they had nothing else to do but wait. Ron stood by the door. Tonks and Remus patrolled the fields. Bill stalked across the room. Mrs. Weasley forced some hot soup down Harry's and Ginny's throats.

And waited. Ginny stood by the door now. Mr. Weasley, Fred and George patrolled the fields. Bill, Tonks, and Remus whispered quietly at the table. Ron sat next to Harry who stared hard at the ground.

He thought of Hermione. His clouded anger disappeared but his reasonable grudge lingered. He half wanted to never see her again but the other part of him worried for his 5 yeared friend. She's been through so much with him and she absconded from mere Death Eaters. SHE WAS THERE AT THE MINISTRY! SHE HAS BEEN THROUGH WORST!

Then he thought of the Death Eaters. Did they kidnap her? Will they torture her? Will they taunt her? Will HE mess with her mind? Can she take it? Will HE just kill her? A sudden fear washed over him. What will they do to her?

They waited until-

"OK, STOP! We need to do something. We need to find her. Right. Now."
Mr. Weasley rushed in just as Bill rose from the table. It was almost midnight and Hermione hasn't returned for nearly 2 hours.

"I was thinking the same thing." Bill said. "Search the skies? Ginny mentioned a broom."

"Or the fields. She could've fallen. She never was a great flyer." Ginny added.

"Alright, fliers. I need fliers in pairs." Remus ordered. All hands rose up. "And field-searchers."

All hands descended. Remus sighed.

"Mrs. Weasley, would you mind staying home just in case she comes back?"

"Of course." Her face appeared stricken with worry.

"Alright." Remus turned back to the crowd. "Guys, this is not a game. We only have 5 remaining broomsticks. The others are in no condition to fly. I'm going to have to pick. Don't judge me."

"Fred and George, Tonks and Harry, and-"

"Me!" Ginny stood up.

"You fly well?"

"Course. I subbed for seeker last year." And that finalized the fliers. The field searchers are Mr. Weasley, Bill, Remus and Ron. Ron commented, "She couldn't have hung on for more than five minutes."

Just as the gang followed out, Moody appeared.

"Heard the news from Molly. While on my way here, I crossed paths with the same bunch of Death Eaters. They are some new ones, quite easy to torture news of them. Granger girl, ain't it?" He gruffed.

"Yes." Replied a grim Mr. Weasley. "Might as well search the grounds with us. We have no more brooms."

"Nonsense. I brought my own. Granger is strong; she's definitely hanging on somewhere up there." His blue eye rolled up and behind his lids.

Moody let out a low whistle. "My, my. She's up there, quite high." His eye rolled back down. "I have a general direction. My vision clouded up with distance. Northwest, ladies—"

His eyes swirled at Ginny and Tonks.

"—gentlemen—"

He eyed the sullen twins.

"—Potter."

He turned toward Harry.

"Ginny! You're with Nymphadora. I'm flying with Potter!" Moody gruffed. "On the count of three. One—"

Everyone clambered on their brooms. Moody summoned and positioned on his tailored broom.

"—Two—"

"—Three! OFF!"
The flying team rocketed off the ground.