How she ever thought she could make it to their tree in this condition was beyond her. It's only ten minutes away when you walk but for her, right now, it might as well be a marathon away. She is currently leaning up against a tree halfway to their tree, her vision wavering and her ability to stay conscious waning. She knows somewhere in the back of her mind that she can't carry on but her concentration is being used on taking in breath - which has suddenly become much more difficult.
Fred's eyes are trained on the land ahead of him, trying to stop his panicking mind. Before he met Hermione he would never have rushed off without thinking it over, without letting the person squirm for a little bit. Hermione's brought out some of the boy he was before he changed and he knows he has brought out some of the innocent young girl she used to be. Bursting into the clearing, Fred cannot spot Hermione anywhere. Suddenly, a snap of branches behind him makes him whirl around but he doesn't see Hermione.
George struggles to keep up with his twin as he sprints through the woods. He knows this is where Fred goes but he doesn't know what's so important that he's running. Fred hasn't had a sense of urgency in a long time, but now it's pouring off him in waves. Up ahead Fred smashes through a bush and George goes to follow but gets stuck in the same bush. Just as he's wondering if he'll be able to get back if Fred has gone further into the woods, he snaps a load of branches and falls near Fred's feet.
For a minute neither twin moves, both stuck staring at one another. Fred's face doesn't show his shock but George has confusion written all over his. But the staring contest ends abruptly when Fred grabs George by the ear and yanks him up, his face twisted into an angry snarl. George has never feared Fred before, feared for him - yes, but never feared him. Yet right now Fred looks like he rip his jugular out with his teeth and not regret it.
"What are you doing here?" The words are forced through gritted teeth as Fred struggles to control his anger. He doesn't want George to see him or Hermione weak and vulnerable.
"I wanted to see where you were going" Came the stuttered reply from George, his face screwed up in pain.
After a few seconds Fred lets go off his ear but George's relief is only temporary when Fred tells him to go home in a deathly calm voice and turns around and starts running once more. George's relief immediately turns to worry, worry for what the big secret is and what it's doing to Fred.
Fred only has to run for two more minutes in the direction of Hermione's house before he spots her. She's slumped against a tree, her body a complete mess. A canvas of black, blue and dark purple. In the next second he's laying her down and working on her injuries. The most worrying one is the rib that's pierced her left lung, the lung is filling with fluid and he isn't sure how to heal it so he goes on instinct. He wills the rib to move back into the correct position, the fluid to return from where it came from and the lung to stitch itself back together. His reward is Hermione taking a deep breath.
George hears a loud inhale from his left a few seconds after he lost sight of Fred. No matter what he was told he wants his twin back and will do whatever he can to get him back. Yet he isn't prepared for the sight that greets his eyes when he peers around the tree he's been resting on. Fred is crouched over a figure that appears to only be semi-conscious and badly beaten. He goes to call out to Fred when the figure raises its hand and a force strikes him and he is flown backwards into another tree. Vaguely he can hear Fred yell at the figure to stop - that it's only his twin - but the pounding in his head keeps him taking it in.
Hermione saw Fred appear in front of her and knows that he had lain her down on the grass. But breathing is still a struggle and she can't work out why. Yet now she can breath and her vision is no longer blacking out on her. She's about to sit up and thank Fred when another Fred peeks around a tree, but this one has different eyes. Eyes filled with curiosity not pain. Eyes filled with mischief instead of self-hatred. His eyes distract her for a second, the eyes Fred should have, when she realises a stranger is seeing her at her weakest. So she raises her hand and channels her magic to push him back into the tree a few feet behind him. But as soon as Fred notices what happened he yells at her to stop hurting his twin but in her half-conscious and pain-filled state she doesn't really take it in. As she loses the fight to stay awake she sees Fred run over to the other Fred.
Fred can't believe what's just happened. Hermione had just blown George into a tree so hard a sickening crunch could be heard. Trying to stop her before she hurts him anymore Fred yells at her to stop and runs towards his twin, knowing Hermione's worst injuries are healed.
