A/N: Does not belong to me. Please read and review! I will update again once I get 30 reviews!
Hermione let out an exhilarated laugh. The breeze whipped her hair all around her face, but she didn't mind. For the first time, they weren't running for their lives, they were riding for their lives. And it felt amazing.
Her pony was white with brown splotches, but the first thing Hermione noticed was that it had startling green eyes. She'd immediately dubbed her pony 'Harry'. They company rode to the edge of the wood and slowed down when they reached the Elven Gate to Mirkwood.
"Here lies our path through Mirkwood." Gandalf announced, dismounting from his horse.
"No sign of orcs," Dwalin noticed. "We have luck on our side."
Gandalf glanced behind them, and Hermione turned to see Beorn's giant bear shape amongst the trees.
"Set the ponies loose. Let them return to their master."
"This forest feels…sick." Bilbo glanced around uneasily. "As if a disease lies upon it. Is there no way around?"
Gandalf immediately shot his idea down and wandered a little bit into the forest. Hermione stayed behind to gently pat Harry on the head. Sadly, she turned his reigns free and watched as he galloped off.
"Not my horse! I need it!" Gandalf had rejoined the company at the edge of the forest.
"You're not leaving us?" Bilbo protested.
"I would not do this unless I had to." Gandalf answered firmly.
"You've changed, Bilbo Baggins. You're not the same hobbit as the one who left the shire." Gandalf regarded Bilbo more closely.
Hermione watched with a pained expression as Bilbo fingered the ring in his pocket. She desperately wanted to rip it out of his hands and throw it away, as far away from the hobbit as possible. But she knew that that would only make it easier for Sauron to find it, it was the safest with Bilbo.
The company watched as Gandalf rode away before hesitantly entering the dark forest of Mirkwood.
They trudged through the stifling air of the forest and slowly Hermione began to lose track of time. She stumbled over a tree root and grasped tightly onto Draco's cloak to steady herself. She stomach seemed to have vanished as she stared up at Malfoy with a nauseous look on her face. His face swam before her eyes as she slowly but determinedly shook her head to clear the fog.
"Air…I need air!" Bofur gasped.
Hermione was not the only one who was being affected by the sickness of the forest. Draco had lost all color in his face and his normally shiny blonde hair had lost its gleam. He caught her gaze, and Hermione frowned when his usually penetrating grey eyes had become dull and weary.
"Keep moving!" Thorin commanded.
They company stumbled forward into one another as Nori abruptly stopped.
"The path! It's disappeared!" he exclaimed in terror.
"All of you, look for the path!"
Hermione stumbled around and leaned against a tree. Her lungs were constricting and she fought to take another breath. She tried to raise her wand, but her arm refused to move. Her eyes made out a hazy figure standing in the trees. He had round glasses, wild hair, and…green eyes. Green, not red.
"Harry!" She gasped out, stumbling towards the figure.
"Hermione," he smiled at her. "You must find the path. Be strong, Hermione."
"Harry, are you really here?" Hermione asked, her mind not being able to process his words. She reached out to him, but he backed up a step.
"Hermione, stop. You need to find a way out of here. You are in danger." Harry insisted.
"Please, Harry, don't leave!" She pleaded.
Harry looked at her once more with a proud smile on his face. "You're the brightest witch of our age, 'Mione. Fight. Fight the darkness. Use your brain. Come on!"
Hermione's vision focused, but Harry began to walk away. "Harry!" She screamed. "I'm sorry! Please! Please don't leave me!" She sobbed.
She began to run after him, but arms wrapped around her middle, preventing her from following her best friend. "No!" she fought, writhing in her captor's arms. "Harry! I won't leave you again! I'm sorry! Don't go!"
"Lady Hermione!" It was Kili who was holding her back.
Her desperate attempts to escape died down and she turned around, dry heaving sobs wracking her body, and buried her face in Kili's shoulder. "Harry…" She mumbled incoherently. She shivered, her mind had cleared some, but she was still in shock from seeing her best friend again.
Dori bent down and picked up a tobacco pouch off the ground. "Look, a tobacco pouch. There's Dwarves in these woods."
Bofur plucked the pouch from Dori's hands. "Dwarves from the Blue Mountains, no less. This is exactly the same as mine."
"Because it is yours, do you understand?" Realization dawned on Bilbo's face. "We're going around in circles, we are lost!"
"We are not lost." Thorin insisted. "We keep heading east."
"But which way is the east?" Dwalin burst out. "We've lost the sun!"
The dwarves began arguing with each other; Hermione's head was pounding. "The sun!" She shouted to get the dwarves attention. "Bilbo, quick climb a tree! See if you can find the sun!"
Bilbo had a look of terror on his face, but he determinedly nodded, and grasped a tree branch. Hermione watched him climb up to find the sun, before frowning. It was much too quiet. Oh no…She had forgotten about-
There was a sharp jab in her back, and the world swam before everything went black.
Hermione didn't know how long she was out, but when she awoke, she could only hope that Bilbo was on his way to rescue them. She heard and saw giant shapes shuffling around, and she closed her eyes tightly and steadied her breathing. She couldn't let the spiders know she was awake now. Suddenly one of the spiders let out a shrill scream. Bilbo! Hermione rejoiced. Before she could say anything to the brave little hobbit, he had cut her free and she tumbled to the ground.
She heard grunts and groans around her, and she hastily rose to her feet and pulled out her wand. With quick diffindos she cut the dwarves closest to her free from their sticky constraints. The spiders attacked the company and Hermione gasped when Bilbo began to fight the spiders.
"Fili!" She heard Kili yell. She scrambled to his side and shot a quick stunner towards the spider's eye and watched with satisfaction as it screamed, then rolled over.
"Come on!" Dwalin roared. "Keep up!"
Suddenly a spider landed in front of Thorin who raised his sword, ready to protect his company. More spiders began descending upon the group when the spider before them and many others fell to the ground, dead. The group let out a relieved sigh, then tensed again when Thorin found himself staring at the point of an arrow.
"Do not think I won't kill you, dwarf. It would be my pleasure." The Elf Prince, Legolas, spat.
A loud yell emerged from the trees. "Draco!" Hermione screamed in horror when she realized that it was her blonde ferret.
A/N: Please please please review! Hahaha I feel so greedy, but I really want more reviews! They help improve my writing a lot! Thanks!