CHAPTER FIFTY THREE- Atropa's Help
This time when Hermione came to she was much more alert even though she was angry. "If you think for one sec-" Malfoy began before Atropa cut him off. "Quiet! We did what we had to do to protect our home," she whispered.
"Here are your wands and bag back. Keep them at the ready. It is a day's hike to our destination and I expect total silence and for you to follow my every step. Understood?" Atropa said.
When they were all in agreement thin and nimble Atropa lead them away. Her grace around the trees and rocks stunned Hermione. She was a child of the forest and everything about her showed it.
She knew how to jump over frozen streams with ease, duck quickly under branches and do all this without making a sound. The Malfoys did their best to keep up but their leader was much too agile for them.
Into the afternoon of their hike they came to the end of the forest and into the moorlands. Atropa pulled cloaks out of her bag that were dyed and colored to look like the matching snow and grass on the ground. "Put these on and when I say run, you run," she said.
Once they were all concealed Atropa broke off into a sprint even quicker than Malfoy's. Holding her hand and pulling Hermione along they kept up the best they could with their guide.
Hermione began to ache terribly again but pushed through until they crossed the moor into an arrangement of stones. "Drink this," Atropa said pulling a potion vile out of her bag. "My son Glade came two months too soon. This potion helped me," she whispered.
Malfoy's eyes warned her not to drink the vile but she did anyway. Hermione did not think Atropa or her coven wanted to harm her. Almost instantly the potion eased some of her pain and she was ready to go again.
It was close to sunset when a foul smell crept across the field. "What is that?" Mafloy whispered with disgust. "Death," Atropa answered simply, but concerned. "Wands at the ready," she quietly finished.
The stench was growing stronger when Hermione spotted a mess of blonde hair and a thin body face down in the snow. Her heart panicked at first because it seemed to be the color of Draco and Isola's hair. But when she crept closer, she saw it was more yellow than white and did not shine like her daughter's.
Atropa bent down next to the body with pain written all over her face. She turned over the half frozen corpse and saw a thin blonde man, no older than twenty-seven with a unmoving look of shock upon his face.
Hermione looked down at him and saw he did have similar features to Malfoy. Tall, high cheekbones, and almost the right shade of hair but much longer than Draco's. "Do you know this man?" Malfoy asked.
"His name was Sorrel. A nomad. He took a liking to my sister when he came through our lands one holiday, but she was too wild for him. We never saw him again after that," she said sadly. "Let's move on," she said standing up.
"We have to bury him," Hermione said. She could not leave this man alone in a field like this without a proper entombment. "I will bury him myself on my way back home. Clearly these woods are being searched for someone who takes a resemblance to Sorrel," Atropa said glaring at Draco.
Hermione couldn't budge. She kept looking at Sorrel knowing that a Death Eater mistook him for Malfoy. He never stood a fighting chance. "Come on, Hermione. Push on," Malfoy said tugging her away.
It was nearly dark when the crossed the snowy moors into another set of trees. Hermione's ears perked up when she heard whispered voices being carried by the wind. She spotted a man with short red hair through the trees and assumed it was another member of Atropa's family.
But the man's hair color was different to Atropa's. Where her hair was fire his was ginger and straight as a board. "Quiet! You know we're not supposed to talk. They'll be here soon," another voice urged.
Around a large tree Atropa crept and stood behind the men. "I was worried you would be lost," she said. The two wizards who spun around with their wands up were perhaps the last people the Malfoys expected to see. "Potter!" Malfoy hissed. "Malfoy? You've brought us, Malfoy?" Harry Potter said to Atropa.
Malfoy had his wand pointed at Potter but both Ron Weasley and Harry Potter had their wands pointed at Malfoy. "Lower you wands! You are acting like children," Atropa ordered.
"Why are they here?" Hermione questioned. Usually Hermione could understand any situation and make right of it but this confused her more than she liked. "Another coven found these two running through their forest and diving into frozen ponds," Atropa whispered.
"The covens are all connected, we have our ways of communication. I came to see them for myself in Ireland where they were staying. Then when I returned home you two fell in my lap and I've brought you all together," she explained.
The four were all about to explode with questions when Atropa said, "I have done all I can for you. You all may argue later but you must grab onto that spade in ninety seconds or you will have missed your portkey. Remember, do not seek my family again," Atropa said placing her hood over her fire hair and sprinted away.
"How are these two supposed to be helpful?" Malfoy said with exasperation. "A Slytherin Death Eater and his wife? Loads of help that is!" Ron said to Harry. The three boys all bickering when Hermione put a stop to it. "Shut up! Shut up all of you and grab the damn portkey!" Hermione said as she grabbed Malfoy's hand and shoved it next to hers on the old spade.
Harry and Ron were smart enough to grab on at the last second, sending them all away to an unknown destination.