Hermione was tumbling through air. She was continually rolling and rolling, the momentum of it making her dizzy as her arms reached out, frantically trying to grasp onto something, anything. The speed showed no signs of slowing up until suddenly Hermione hit a wall of air, the force of it cradling her until she was finally dropped on something solid. She landed with a thud, the wind momentarily knocked out of her.
After a few seconds she pushed herself up on her arms, groggily turning her head to the side to determine where she was. It looked like a field of some sorts. There was grass under her fingers and thick clusters of trees all around her. The air was dark and the sky was cloudy, a bright full moon hanging in the inky black.
There was a low groan to Hermione's left.
"Ginny?" Hermione sat up all the way, one hand held to her throbbing head. Her friend sat a few feet from her, looking just as roughed up. Hermione crawled gently toward Ginny, reaching out an arm to grasp the other young woman. Hermione was suddenly possessed with the need to make sure she was real.
"Are you okay?"
"I think so," Ginny said, her throat scratchy from screaming. "Where are the others?"
Hermione whipped her head around, noticing for the first time that the field was dotted with dark figures, all still crouched on the floor.
"We need to group up!" Hermione yelled as loudly as her weakened state would allow. Standing, she reached a hand down to Ginny and helped the other girl up. Slowly, each of the other women stood as well and the group joined in the middle, making up a patchwork circle in the center of the clearing. Feeling in the pocket of her gown, Hermione realized with fear that her wand had somehow disappeared.
"What was that?" Olivia asked. No one answered, each of them equally confused. Scanning the field, Hermione saw a few darkened objects lying on the ground a few yards away. She made her way to the items, realizing with dread what they were.
"What is it?" Parvati called. Hermione picked one up, feeling the weight of the hefty item.
"It's a crossbow," she replied, thick acceptance of the situation hitting her. The other girls rushed over to look for themselves.
"Crossbows," Lavender squeaked. "What do we need crossbows for?"
Her question was interrupted by a loud, unmistakable howl. Hermione knew what it was, knew that a very enthusiastic werewolf was only about one mile away from them.
"Protection," Hermione answered. She felt Ginny shuddered beside her as the other girls huddled closer together, looking more frantically at the remaining weapons on the floor.
"There's only five!" Anastasia said. "What are we going to do with five? There's ten of us!"
Hermione exchanged a look with Ginny. "We share."
Hermione picked one of the crossbows up and shoved it into Anastasia's hands, emphasizing her point. The rest of the girls broke into pairs, sharing one weapon between each.
Hermione loaded an arrow into the cartridge of her weapon, walking toward a nearby tree. She aimed carefully at a center spot on the tree and shot. The arrow flew swiftly through the air, landing more or less in the area she had been aiming for. Hermione walked over to the tree and grasped the arrow, tugging at it. The object wouldn't budge and Hermione realized it was lodged permanently in place. She quickly counted the number of arrows she had left. A few dozen.
"Girls, come take a practice shot," Hermione called to the others. The group walked reluctantly toward her, Parvati, Anastasia, Olivia and Georgiana all lining up. One by one, each girl shot toward the tree Hermione had aimed them at. All but Anastasia was able to hit the tree, and Anastasia missed by only a half a foot.
"Okay, we should move," Hermione said, satisfied. Another howl accentuated her sentence.
"But where do we go?" Ginny asked in a rush.
"Over there," Olivia answered, pointing to a clearing between two thick forests of trees. "It's the only logical path, everywhere else is too dense to find a way out."
Hermione nodded.
"These trials are designed to bring us from test to test," Hermione said solemnly. "Whoever organized this, they want to lead us somewhere."
"To where?" Georgiana asked.
"To whatever's waiting for us."
The girls moved forward then, each of them sticking close to the other. They made a tight cluster and walked at a slow pace, moving between the trees. The moonlight was their only guide and Hermione's eyes were slow to adjust to the dark. Finally, after several minutes of walking, the girls made it to another open field, one side dropping off into a cliff.
"Well, we're here," Anastasia said. "Where's the test?"
"Something's not right," Hermione said.
"Well obviously!" Lavender replied. "This is all wrong! It's not supposed to be like this. We're supposed to sit and wait somewhere and the knight comes in and saves us. It's the boys who are supposed to be crawling through mountains with crossbows!"
"That's it," Hermione said slowly.
"You don't honestly think there was a point somewhere in there?" Ginny asked in agitation.
"Yes, there's something wrong about this whole business."
"Like what?" one of the women asked.
Hermione paused, deep in thought. Think, Hermione, think. The knights, what were their roles in all this?
"Think about it," Hermione said finally. "There's been all this business about the candidates' knights, right?"
The other young women nodded quickly.
"Well, look around. Where are they?"
The group turned their heads from side to side, as if expecting a troupe of men to come rushing in.
"This whole thing has bothered me since the start," Hermione continued. "Everything in my reading portrays the princesses as these great leaders, not some damsels in distress who wait in a tower for their prince to save them. The princess and the knight are supposed to be partners."
"So, what then?" Ginny asked worriedly.
"Did anyone else see the men running toward us, as the vortex was closing?" Olivia asked. Hermione nodded. She remembered all too well that horrific scene.
"You don't suppose any of them came through?"
"What, like jumped in after us?" Parvati asked.
Olivia nodded.
"I saw my Roberto running toward us. I was gone before he reached me, but I know he would have come in after me."
Hermione grimaced. It made sense. But then, why wouldn't they have been brought to the same spot? Perhaps, because the women were placed here first, as they had been sucked in first. The men would arrive once the women were brought somewhere else.
"I think we have to clear the way," Hermione said, finally understanding. "The others can get through as soon as we've completed what we're meant to do here."
"So then, they're just falling?" Georgiana asked quietly. Hermione nodded soberly.
"But my fiancé, Christopher, he was coming after me! He can't be falling through that still!" Georgiana's lady in waiting held out a hand to comfort her friend.
"Hermione," Ginny said quietly, terror in her voice. "I saw Harry running at us. You don't think?"
"Do I think Harry would go crashing through a black hole to get to you?" Hermione replied. "Yes, I think that very much."
Ginny's face drained of color.
"Perhaps the hole wouldn't let him through, though," Hermione said consolingly. "He wouldn't have been coming for me, after all, and the magic is meant for the candidates' knights, right?"
Ginny nodded, not entirely convinced.
"I saw Ron, too," Lavender said in a small voice. "D-do you think he was coming for me, Hermione? I-I don't have anyone else…"
Hermione searched Lavender's face, feeling sorry for the girl. Hermione certainly knew what it was like to stand there and wait for someone, wondering if he would come for you.
"I don't know Lavender," she replied patiently. "I think it's out of our hands. The magic selects them. I think now, what's meant to be will be."
Lavender seemed satisfied with that and moved to take the crossbow from Parvati.
"Okay," the blond girl said. "Let's do it."
"I saw Viktor running," Parvati said suddenly. "Perhaps he was coming in for you, Hermione."
Hermione shouldered her crossbow, taking a step back. It was too overwhelming. Whatever was waiting for her, whoever was coming for her, all she knew was she had to do her best to get through this. It wasn't unlike the other number of times she'd thrown herself into danger with little knowledge of what she was getting herself into.
"So what now?" Olivia asked. Hermione had a hunch and she inched slowly toward the edge of the cliff. As soon as she saw what was waiting for her, she wished she hadn't looked. The others came over to get a look as well. Collectively, they took in the sight of a giant, three-headed monster at the bottom of the cliff.
"What in the name of Merlin is that?" Ginny asked.
"It's a hydra," Hermione said. "I thought they were mythical…it's from Greek legend."
"We can't go near that!" one of the ladies in waiting shouted. "We should just stay here and wait for someone!"
"We can't!" Ginny shouted back. "Didn't you hear Hermione? Our boyfriends are going to keep shooting through space until we do this. We can't leave them there!"
The desperation of the situation hit them all at that, and the girls were silent for a moment.
"How do we get down?" Olivia asked. Hermione pointed to a collection of rocks just off the cliff. Though narrow, it should work well enough as a ladder to let them climb down. Walking over, Hermione began removing her high heel shoes, tossing them aside. The others followed her actions and were soon making their way down the rocks.
Hermione balanced the crossbow between her shoulder and chin as she moved down. It wasn't easy work and her knees and arms kept scraping as she climbed lower. She knew she would see blood once she reached bottom. Above her, she heard one of the girls squeal in fright, but no one stopped moving. Hermione was grateful for it. She shuddered to think what might happen to the young man forced to stay in that black limbo.
After a few more minutes, Hermione was just eight feet from the ground. She closed her eyes tight and let go of the rock, tumbling to the floor. The crossbow sprang from her hands and she scrambled after it, jumping out of the way as Ginny followed with a jump of her own down to the Earth below.
One by one, each of the young women reached the ground. They all looked a bit dirtied and scraped up, but at least they had each made it this far. Behind them, hidden behind a cluster of trees, Hermione heard the steady breathing of the giant hydra. She knew their biggest challenge was still ahead of them.
Hermione motioned with her finger for silence and tiptoed toward the tress. She peeked around to see the body of the hydra, its three heads each looking in a different direction. Behind the beast, Hermione could just make out a small door.
"There's a passageway," Hermione whispered. "We have to make it around the hydra."
"How?" Anastasia whispered back. Hermione shook her head. She had no idea.
"Well, we won't know until we try something," Olivia answered. The girl then turned and walked out from the concealment of the trees to stand ten yards from the monster. As soon as the animal saw her it reared its head back, letting out a scream that shook the trees behind Hermione's back. Suddenly, Olivia's lady in waiting ran out as well to help her friend. The girl snatched the crossbow from Olivia's hand, aiming it at the hydra and piercing its back side.
The beast howled in pain, rearing up on its hind legs in fury. It inched closer to the girls now in a determined fighting stance.
"No!" Hermione yelled, running out to where Olivia and her friend stood. She grabbed the girls and pulled them back behind the trees, panting.
"This doesn't make sense, the Sylvan court wouldn't want us to attack magical creatures," Hermione said in a rush.
"So what do we do?" Pavarti yelled. The hydra's roar was getting louder as it inched closer.
"Why would they give us weapons if they didn't want us to fight?" Ginny asked wildly.
"I don't know! We must need them for something else. I don't know!"
Suddenly, Georgiana stood up from her crouched position, panic written across the girl's face. She turned to run, moving quickly away from the trees and the body of the hydra behind them. Just then, the monster dipped his long tail over the treetops, swinging it like a rope. The tail collided with Georgiana, who flew across the field and back toward the trees. Her body hit a tree trunk with a cold, hard thud.
The other girls rushed to Georgiana's side. She lay in a crumpled heap, blood seeping from one of her temples.
"Is she alive?" Georgiana's friend asked. Hermione looked down at the girl. She didn't look like she was breathing. She placed two fingers at Georgiana's wrist, remembering the lesson her Dad once gave her. Faintly, Hermione felt a soft thump, thump.
"She's alive!"
"How can you tell?" Parvati asked worriedly.
"It's a Muggle trick."
"What do we do with her? We can't leave her here!" Georgiana's companion yelled. As soon as the words came out of the girl's mouth, however, Georgian vanished, disappearing from Hermione's arms. The friend had just enough time to open her mouth in protest before she vanished as well.
"Oh my God!" Lavender squealed.
"Where did they go?" Anastasia asked. "Did they apparate?"
"No," Ginny snapped. "None o f us have wands!"
"I-I think they failed, they failed the test," Hermione said, standing up. "It's why we only needed five crossbows. If one goes, her lady in waiting goes."
Hermione shared a glance with Ginny at that, reaching out to hold her friend's hand for a moment.
"Lavender," Parvati said seriously. "Please, please try not to die."
The roar of the hydra brought them all back to the situation at hand. Hermione, struck by inspiration, tossed the crossbow toward Ginny. The redhead caught it with two hands.
"Stay here!"
Hermione rushed toward the clearing then, holding her hands up in front of her in a sign of surrender. The hydra stilled as he took her in, its eyes slanting as he watched her. The beast lowered its three heads until each was at eye level with Hermione. She felt the warm breath from the hydra's nostrils but forced herself to stand as still as possible.
The animal lowered its heads even farther until they were resting on the ground. Hermione reached one hand out to pat it on one head, running a soothing palm over its skin. From behind the trees, she heard Lavender whisper, "That is so gross."
Hermione continued rubbing her hand along the animal's skin, trailing the neck until she reached the lone arrow that had been shot through its skin. She gave a gentle pull and was shocked when it came easily out, so unlike that first arrow she had tried to remove from the tree. The hydra let out a low moan of appreciation.
"These arrows aren't meant to harm, are they?" Hermione mummered to herself.
"Um, Hermione?" Ginny called. "Can we come out now?"
"Yes, but everyone needs to hide the crossbows in the skirt of their gowns," Hermione called calmly back. "We can't leave them behind, I still think we need them for something. But don't let the hydra see them!"
There was a rustling of skirts and then each of the young women emerged from the trees. The girls walked carefully around the soothed hydra as Hermione continued to rub its skin. Olivia reached the small door behind the animal first, tugging it quietly open. She held the door open as each girl walked through, Ginny going last and waiting in the entry for Hermione. Once each girl had gone, Hermione gently backed away from the hydra, her hands still in front of her, and silently slipped through the door.