To the Death
Thanks for all the reviews! This chapter's probably going to be kind of short, but oh well. :) Hermione's POV. Sorry, I'll do Ron's POV in some of the next chapters. I've got a ton of ideas for Hermione's POV. Enjoy!
Dean's twisted smile grew bigger as Justin stood up, a frightened look on his face. Dean gave a deranged laugh. "You're all just so afraid of me! You're all so weak! Too weak to fight me!" He let out another laugh and pointed the gun at Justin.
"Dean, NO!" A loud BANG exploded through the cave as Justin fell, his head covered in a never ending river of blood. Penelope let out a loud wail of anguish and scrambled over to his bloody body. I sat still, my eyes wide, my mouth open, my stomach turning, and tears falling from my eyes. I couldn't figure out how to process Justin's death.
Dean stood still, watching Penelope sob over Justin's dead body. I looked at him, a look of fury and hatred overtaking my features. The only sounds that could be heard in the cave were Penelope's sobs of anguish.
She took a long, shaking breath. "HOW COULD YOU?" Tears began to fall from my eyes faster. Dean stood still, smiling and swaying, as if listening to music. He smiled at me. With that one smile, I could see the old Dean, even for only a second. With that smile, I was taken back to our days at Hogwarts, I was taken back to the war, I was taken back to a different time, a different dimension.
Dean let out another laugh and pointed the gun at me. I closed my eyes and let the last tears escape from my eyes. Penelope gave another scream, as he cocked the gun. I could practically hear his finger on the trigger as my heart began to quicken.
A loud BANG erupted through the cave. I jumped, holding my breath, waiting for the pain. But no pain came.
I slowly opened my eyes, expecting to see white all around me, expecting to feel weightless, painless, fearless. What I saw shocked me.
Dean stood in front of me, his gun pointed at the hand that was chained to the wall. I slowly turned my head, my heart pounding, expecting to see my hand covered in blood.
The chains that bound me to the wall lay in a crumpled metal heap on the floor next to me. My body began to shake as I slowly looked up at him. "Wha-?"
Dean pointed at the cave entrance and took a heaving breath. "20 seconds." No. He's done this before, why should I trust him?
"No! I don't trust you! You're just going to kill both of us!" He laughed again, making me want to punch him. He shook his head, the same deranged smile stretched upon his face.
"15 seconds. I'm giving you a chance." I sat still, refusing to move. "12 seconds. I'm going to kill you once I hit zero." I glared at him, refusing to leave. I could practically hear Ron screaming at me to move. "9 seconds." Penelope stared at me and got up to leave. It was then, that I decided to move. With blood covered hands, she helped me to my shaking feet.
Dean gave us one last deranged smile. "7 seconds."
Penelope pulled my hand roughly, encouraging me to move. My legs were too weak to sprint away, but Penelope continued to drag me out into the bright sunlight that I had missed dearly. Penelope was blinded by hatred and grief as she ran faster, literally dragging me through the forest.
"Penelope, please! Slow down!" She ignored me and continued to run full speed at the sunset ahead of us. I began to regain a bit of strength and started to keep in time with her frantic steps.
Suddenly a piece of tree bark exploded behind us, narrowly missing the back of my head. Penelope stopped, her brow furrowed and turned to face me. She spoke in a fearful voice. "Is he shooting at us?"
Another explosion of splintered wood erupted behind me. I began to run away, but Penelope stopped me. Ignoring the firing of bullets behind us, she shook my hand. "This is the end of the line."
I opened my mouth in awe. "What? No, I'm not going to leave you! I can't do this alone!" I was shocked. The only person on my side was leaving me.
"Hermione, I have to! I can distract him and you can escape!" Tears slipped down my face in a steady stream. She put her hands on my shoulders. "You are going to win this."
I shook my head, panic searing through me as more bullets exploded behind us. "No! Not without help!"
She let out an exasperated breath and pulled me into a hug. "Good luck, Hermione." With those final words, she ran away, never turning back. My heart pounded as I looked around frantically, planning an escape route.
I heard a scream in the distance followed by 3 gunshots. I began to panic. I took off further into the forest, my heart pounding, my breath coming out in frantic gasps. I could feel my legs begin to regain a bit more strength as I set my eyes on my next destination. There was a lake that seemed to stretch on for miles. If I could just get to the other side of that lake, I would be fine.
My heart pounded in my ears as I sped up my pace. My stomach throbbed painfully, as if begging for me to stop. But I couldn't stop. I refused to stop. Dean was on a shooting rampage right behind me, and I wasn't ready to die. Penelope was right. I had to win this.
As quickly as they came, the bullets stopped. But I wouldn't stop running. This was probably some kind of trap.
The forest became eerily silent as the sun made its final descent into night. There was just enough light for me to at least make it to the lake. I picked up the pace, feeling as if my feet were gliding over the ground. My stomach continued to throb with shooting, stabbing pains, urging me to rest, but I couldn't stop.
I suddenly heard the snap of a tree branch ahead of me. My heart sped up with panic as I increased my pace. I'd never run so much in my life. Then again, I've never had to run so much in my life.
I heard another loud crack right in front of me, a small warning of what I was about to run into. Suddenly, something heavy flew down from the trees, a rope of weeds wrapped around it. I screamed and stopped running, trying to see what it was.
I covered my mouth with both of my hands, fell to my knees and screamed. Tears fell from my eyes as my heart exploded with grief and heartbreak.
Penelope Clearwater hung by her neck, two red X's carved into her eyelids.