To the Death

Thanks for the reviews! Hermione's POV. Kind of a short chapter, but here it is! Enjoy!

A dull ache in my neck awoke me from unconsciousness. My head lulled to the side as my eyes slowly opened. My eyes slowly adjusted to consciousness as I began to sit up. My heart pounded as I gazed upon my surroundings. This was not the forest that I passed out in. I was in a giant cave that seemed to stretch on for miles and miles. My breath quickening, I tried to stand up, but something was stopping me. My left hand was handcuffed to the cave wall.

"Well, finally you're up." The voice of Dean Thomas echoed through the cave. I was filled with instant hopelessness. He was going to kill me. Tears of panic filled my disoriented eyes. I turned to look at him, a witty remark ready to escape my lips, but I noticed something. He was handcuffed too.

"Dean- w-what's going on? Why are we here? Who did this to us?" I asked, my voice choked. My throat was still extremely sore.

"I don't know. Last thing I remember is being strangled by my sister, then I woke up here with you. Did someone strangle you?"

"Yeah, my husband." He gave me a look of pity. I hated that.

"Can't say I'm surprised." He said with a small chuckle that filled me with anger. I scoffed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Anger dripped from my voice as I spoke.

"Well, Ron always seemed the type to beat his wife or even kill her." I was ready to kill him. The only thing keeping me from tackling him was the handcuffs.

"That wasn't Ron." I spoke in the voice of a scolded child. He furrowed his brow.

"Well, if it wasn't him, then who did you see?" I was filled with confusion. Who did I see in the forest? Maybe a boggart? Polyjuice potion? Some kind of hologram?

"Look, just drop it, okay? We need to find a way to get out of here." He gestured to his wrist.

"Already tried. Can't find a key or anything. How do you think we're supposed to get out of here? There's no way out."

I scoffed. "Well, aren't you just a bucket of positivity!" I focused all of my attention on my wrist. I pulled my arm down rapidly. The handcuffs were big enough to fit my wrist through, but small enough to trap it. Squeezing my eyes shut, I prepared for pain as I gripped my arm. I groaned as a squeezing pain overtook my wrist. I pulled my arm down, urging my hand to slip through its barrier. The fat part of the end of my hand turned dark blue as I continued to pull, ignoring the pain. I barely heard Dean speak behind me, I was so focused.

"It's not going to work. You're wasting your time!" I continued to pull. The handcuffs began to feel tighter around my hand as I continued to pull. My hand began to numb. I refused to stop now.

"Hermione, you can't do this!" Dean's voice reached my ears. I seized my pulling and turned to him, a murderous look in my eyes.

I pointed my free hand at him, making my point clear. "Don't tell me what I can't do." My voice dripped with anger as I spoke. He furrowed his brow, an equally murderous look overtaking his features.

"Don't tell me what I can't say." He spoke in the same deadly tone I had. I furrowed my brow at him, and turned back to continue what I was doing.

I didn't understand. Why wasn't this working? My wrists were extremely skinny. I figured I would've been able to get out of here by now. I suddenly heard the sound of metal hitting the cave floor. Happiness spread through me as I looked at my bruised, freed hand. "Dean, I'm free!"

"Great, come help me!" I scrambled over to him without a second thought, my hands grasping his.

"This may sting a little." I said as I began to pull down on his arm… it immediately slipped out. Why were his handcuffs so loose?

Suddenly, before I could react, Dean grabbed my shoulders and turned me around, pushing me roughly into the cave wall. My head made a loud cracking noise as it came in contact with the wall. I groaned, my vision becoming spotted with black dots. I felt my arm being lifted up as I stared at him with disoriented eyes. I heard the clicking noise of the handcuffs, trapping me against the wall once again.

I began to feel better, and realized what had just happened. I looked at my wrist with panicked eyes. I began pulling down on my arm, desperate to free myself again.

Dean slapped me hard across the face and tightened my handcuffs, eliciting a loud scream from me. The handcuffs were now digging into my flesh, surely cutting my skin.

Dean leaned into me, his face inches from mine. I could smell his horrible breath as he spoke to me. "Brightest witch of her age? Hardly. You were stupid enough to believe me. To trust me. That's why you're going to die. You're going to die. Now." With his last word, he slapped me violently across the face, dizzying me again.

He put his hands on the wall and suddenly a loud BOOM echoed through the cave. I looked around frantically, my chest rising and falling rapidly with every panicked breath. Giant rocks were falling from the ceiling of the cave, inches from me. The cave was caving in, and I was trapped inside.

Dean picked up his backpack and began to exit the cave. "DEAN! NO! I HELPED YOU!" I screamed after him, desperate for him to come back and free me. He laughed a maniacal laugh and began to turn out of the cave. "DEAN! PLEASE! PLEASE HELP ME!"

The entrance of the cave piled to the top with rocks, the light of day slowly fading. I shook my arm and pulled it down, desperate to free myself. "Come on. Come on, come on, come on! PLEASE!"

A sudden exploding pain erupted in my stomach. I lost all ability to breathe immediately, my stomach feeling as if all of the bones in it had just incinerated.

With the little light I had, I could see a giant boulder positioned on my stomach, just below my chest, crushing the organs in my stomach. I began to feel dizzy from shock and lack of air. I coughed a wet cough as the remaining amount of light began to disappear.

Blood splattered across the front of the boulder with every cough that escaped my body.

The familiar feeling of unconsciousness began to overtake me as I heard Ron's voice echo in my mind.

"Hermione."