The light only grew brighter and larger as it came closer to the ground at an alarming speed, that when Harry dared to look again, it felt white hot as he grabbed Hermione's arm and bodily threw her to the ground, landing awkwardly of top of her as it sped towards the ground, through the wards that protected their campsite and crashed some distance away, sending debris, dirt, grass and fiery soil into the air.
… … … …
The crash hit their ears like a scream. Hunching over Hermione, Harry tried to keep her as safe as possible when she curled up against the heated air as they both felt the soil hit the grass around them. High pitched whining assaulted their ears before it stopped and the area turned silent.
Five minutes passed as Harry and Hermione stayed in that position before Harry let her sit up and looked at the site. Bright light seemed to spill over the craters edge and into the air, like a beacon, as they both slowly stood and armed themselves each with a wand and a spell on their lips, should anything happen. The light was bright enough that it was sure to attract unwanted attention, namely from Voldemort and his followers, The Death Eaters or even nearby muggles who would have witnessed it.
Yet as they approached the mouth of the crater, the light seemed to soften slightly that it didn't nearly burn their eyes out of their skulls and a sound came from within. They neared the gaping hole right as the light flared then went out fully, leaving the two wizards in complete darkness and their eyes struggling to adjust when they looked into the hole.
A silhouette seemed to be moving as Harry's eyes adjusted and he lit up his wand then held it up. Curling up as if in pain, the person was completely naked and covered in what seemed to be burns. Red hair, redder than even a Weasley's mane of hair, shone in the wand light and hung down past the small of their back as a second wand lit up when Hermione uttered, "Lumos."
Seconds passed and the figure showed no other signs of movement as both teenagers carefully climbed down into the crater and slid to the bottom, bits of soil sliding down with them while they braced against the earth with their hands. Stopping as they hit the bottom, they watched the person warily before Hermione was walking forward, her hand going into her bag, pulling out a small bottle and uncapping it while she knelt down and saw that the person who had fallen from the sky was a young woman, curled up and unconscious. Her pale skin was covered in raw burns with some chafing from moving at speed toward the ground. Her hair was matted with dirt, sweat, some dark gooey substance and grease and there looked to be a dirty rag wrapped around her left hand, Hermione observed as she dabbed Dittany on the burns gently, watching for signs of the woman coming back to a conscious state, wincing as she dabbed at a particularly red burn and got a hiss in return. Looking at the woman as movement came slowly, she saw that bright turquoise eyes were open and the woman was staring at her, pain in her face before she was trying to move further and hissing again, a hand going to her ribs before she was letting her hand fall again and she was falling into her previous state again when Harry got nearer and shared another look with Hermione who was trying to dab where the hand had gone, without moving the woman too roughly, and then recapped the Dittany bottle a few moments later.
"Help me with her, Harry?" Came her request as she stowed the bottle in the bag then the bag went over her shoulder as she stood. Raising his wand absently, he watched as the stream of light went from the tip to the woman and surrounded her, lifting her up from the ground and stretched her out as if she were on a stretcher. There she floated before them until Harry began moving up the slopes with Hermione, back to their tent and clothy safety.
A quick "Erecto" and "Reparo" and the collapsed side of the tent was standing as Harry took the woman inside and gently laid her on a bottom bunk bed while the wards were re-erected. The grime and dirt was made slightly worse in the tent's light as Harry lowered his wand but kept it trained on the sleeping body's chest as he muttered, "Ferula."
White, clean, soft bandages appeared wrapped around her chest as the last ward was uttered and Hermione came inside as Harry covered the body and stood back whilst the woman moved slightly but otherwise stayed in the same position when he moved to go to the kitchen as the kettle stopped boiling.
Handing her best friend a cup of tea she'd freshly made, Hermione looked over to the woman in the bed and frowned, thinking as she cradled her own to her chest and enjoyed the warmth the cup gave off. The burns and grazes looked almost healed where she'd put the Dittany essence but there was the mystery of why she'd crashed nearby their tent, why the light had been so bright and the fact that when it crashed, it'd ruined the wards.
"We should move on, 'Mione." Came Harry's concerned voice behind her, "There's no doubting that the Death Eaters saw the meteor tonight. They'll probably come investigate soon. We should move on while we can."
Looking behind her, Hermione sighed and glanced back at the bed before looking at Harry again, "What are we going to do about her though? We barely have enough food to see the both of us through the week."
"Something tells me you won't have to worry about food for three." came a quiet American accent. The exact area was unclear as both teenagers startled and looked over to the bed. The woman was awake and alert, sitting up in the bed even, albeit with the covers still covering her chest and lower body. Her wounds had completely gone, not even a scar was in sight, as she looked herself over then back to them again with eyes that held a deep wisdom, but also a curiosity, within them as she looked around the tent and back to the two teens watching her carefully.
They stayed staring at each other for quite some time before the woman looked like she was getting uncomfortable and looked away, staring down into her hands and said, "You don't have to be worried."
"How can we be worried? You fell out of the sky," Hermione piped up, watching as the woman looked at her, eyes questioning, "You could be a Death Eater for all we know."
The woman's expression fell into confusion as she listened then stood, keeping the blanket wrapped around her as her eyes narrowed slightly, shook her head and replied, "Trust me. I'm not one of those whatever you called me."
"How can we trust someone we don't even know?"
"You took me in." The woman seemed patient but cocked her head as if she were listening to something before she was adding, "Until I crashed here, wherever here is," "England. North Yorkshire to be exact." "I was in the middle of getting away from my brothers."
Hermione tutted and looked disbelieving as the woman looked down at the duvet again, bit her lip before she sat down and closed her eyes, looking subordinate as Harry took his friend back into the kitchen and muttered, "I think we should trust her. She hasn't done anything hostile towards us and she probably doesn't even know whereabouts she is in England."
"Harry..." Hermione tried to interrupt, only for Harry to shake his head, "If she were a Death Eater, she'd have handed us in as soon as she woke up, 'Mione. She doesn't have the Dark Mark and the accent gives it away that she's not from around here."
"Harry, we don't even know her name." Hermione replied when Harry paused for breath. Looking at her friend, she saw something in him that wasn't the ever-present caution or the poorly disguised fear that had lingered since they began this folly. It was trust; a deep, distant trust in their guest was showing in his eyes as he shrugged and answered, "That's easily solved, Hermione. She's in need of shelter and maybe some clothes. We have one and can just get the other."
"I hope you're right, Potter. We're both screwed if we get caught."
… …
Okay, so I realised three things when I opened up this chapter today.
One was that it was read-only for some odd reason.
Two, I'd started the next chapter on the bottom of the document.
Three, I've been watching too much Youtube lately. Especially a YouTuber called Graysstillplays. I've also been playing too much Sims 4.
With this virus going round, my job has basically seconded me to the shop floor of Asda and doing the decarding of the shelves. Not the most glamorous job but it's better than being stuck at home doing jack shit all day. This isn't a complaint by the way, that cafe does have it's moments where it's like, "Why do we need two people on when it's so quiet?"
Anyway, I hope you like this and please please hit me with some constructive feedback. I could really use that lift and love right now. And also, stay home, stay safe, protect each other and the Health Service.
Hermione Jean Burton xx