Her eyes fluttered open, consciousness returning with the abrupt shock of apparition.
The fleeting warmth of Harry's hand pressed against hers anchored her, and she tightened her grip, a surge of strength rushing through her as she fought to regain her bearings.
How am I still breathing? The blood...I-it's everywhere...
But that doesn't matter as long as I can protect Harry.
He has to get out alive.
Hermione's eyes sharpened as she surveyed her surroundings— a stretch of damp grass, broken only by scattered pine trees, their silhouettes blurred in the low-hanging fog. The mist curled around them like spectral fingers, cold enough to make her shiver and thick enough to mask any lurking danger.
If it weren't for the impending peril that loomed above them like haunting storm clouds covering the security of the sunlight, it would've been a beautiful view.
But they had been swept into dangerous currents that rose far above their heads.
And they were drowning. Hermione had no idea how she would be able to rescue Harry from the swell- but she knew she would try anything to save him.
Somehow I will get him out of here. Her gaze flickered to Harry, her eyes darting across his perfect features. She wanted to brush his raven fringe from his forehead, place her palm against his warm face for just a moment-but the Death Eater's grasp was unrelenting, seemingly waiting for something.
I will protect him from Voldemort. She vowed, instinctively tightening her grip on his palm.
Her eyes raked through the haze, searching for any lurking threat that could possibly be hiding under the cover of the vapor.
Luckily, there was no one in sight besides the singular death eater, his rough hand still latched onto her bicep.
A sudden swirl of darkness appeared in front of them, dread weighing down the air as the spinning shadow instantaneously solidified into a looming figure.
Goosebumps ran across her skin as chills trailed down her spine like phantom spiders crawling down her back, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up.
Voldemort had arrived.
"Did you even listen to my instructions?" He hissed, dismissing the Death Eater with a flick of his hand as his eyes drifted to Hermione, a callous smirk twisting his features. The death eater quickly released her arm from his painful clasp, hurriedly apparating away with fear shadowing his sharp features.
Voldemort advanced towards Hermione and Harry as she frantically searched for her wand, eyes darting around the grassy vicinity until she remembered that her wand had been left at their previous location.
"Looking for this?" The pale man asked with a smug expression, pulling her wand seemingly out of thin air and into his hand.
She gave him a glare that could kill, defiance seething through her every breath as she forced herself to remain calm.
Don't give him a response. He's no different than a bully.
"Hmm." His cruel black eyes stared hauntingly at her blazing ones as he hid her wand in his sleeve, replacing it with his own.
Millions of ideas raced through her mind, her thoughts running through any possible escape window she could reach.
He flicked his wand and a fleshy hand shot from the earth in front of her, spraying dirt and grass across her face and clothes before she could even blink. She winced, the fingers raising and tightening painfully around her jaw as it yanked her face upward toward Voldemort, keeping her head in place. Its wrist bent backward and pressed against her throat, not choking her but still causing her to fight for breath as she groped at the crushing fingers.
She squeezed her eyes shut, the inhumane feel and smell of dead skin pressing against hers making her want to hurl. Blood from a cut on her forhead continued to drip down her face, slowly coming into contact with the fingers grasping her jaw. The pain from her gaping wound was still berating her body at full throttle as she inhaled sharply, Harry's presence comforting her as she opened her eyes again and glared defiantly at Voldemort.
Remembering their linked hands, he flicked his wand again and the dead hand rose higher, the arm lengthening unnaturally as it forced her into a standing position.
"No..." she whispered through gritted teeth, breath catching in her throat and voice weak as her fingers slipped from Harry's, her feet planting unwillingly on the grass. She cried out, grasping her still-bleeding wound as a fresh wave of excruciating pain hit her body like a truck.
She immediately felt light-headed, the blood loss instantaneously catching up to her as the strength left her wounded frame at their separation. Her body suddenly bore the agony of every cut, every bruise, the accumulated toll of their ordeal pressing heavily as she struggled to stay upright-
and she wasn't sure how much longer adrenaline would be able to keep her up. She wasn't sure if she could survive long enough to save Harry.
"Not so strong anymore, are you?"
"Stronger...than...you." She she choked out painfully, words difficult to form with the hand pressed against her jaw and airway.
Voldemort bristled, stepping closer but not within arms length to Hermione as he poised his wand directly at her. "Diffindo!" A gash opened across her cheekbone, cutting away a large piece of skin as crimson blood gushed from it. She cried out, pressing a hand against her wound to try to stifle the waterfall of blood that ran around her cheek and down her neck. Her sight blurred, pain blinding her in addition to tears welling in her eyes. She grinded her teeth and screwed her eyes shut, trying her best to distract her mind. "Cruicio!" Voldemort exclaimed, laughing sadistically as a terrifying green light shot from his wand, crackling with intensity.
A scream tore from Hermione's throat, raw and guttural, shattering the foggy silence. Her muscles clenched in pain as she began to slip in and out of consciousness, a searing agony weaving through every nerve as if her very essence was being mercilessly ripped apart. Her body sagged, legs buckling as she was held up only by the dead hand. Her eyelids fluttered, teetering over the edge of unconsciousness.
Can't...black out... she clenched her fist, nails digging into her palms as she tried to endure the pain and stay awake. Need to...save...Harry......
About to cast another spell, Voldemort stopped suddenly, thinking for a moment before backing up slightly and turning his wand to Harry's crumpled body.
"NO!" She cried from her clenched teeth, adrenaline finally winning the fight of consciousness. She strained her exhausted eyes to look at Harry as she tried to reach out to him- but the hand only tightened. She grimaced again, hot, angry tears rolling down her face that mixed with her blood as she struggled to breathe, drawing her hands back and desperately trying to pry the hand away with her fingers.
Voldemort cackled, smiling cruelly. "Touch a nerve, did I?"
"I...kill...you," She managed to spit out through weak gasps for air.
"Without a wand?" He laughed, approaching her again. With a sudden and unexpected bout of strength, Hermione immediately launched her hands at his neck, a flicker of surprise reflecting in his eyes for a moment. But It was quickly replaced by amusement, as she was still too weak to even pressure his airway, and he flicked his wand once again.
The hand rose farther up, tearing her fingers from his neck as he backed up, the arm raising her weak body from the wet ground. Her hands clasped around the dirt-caked arm, trying to provide support for her body as her feet dangled limply. She managed to stifle another scream of pain that rose in the back of her throat, her vision blurring again as tears streamed down her face.
I don't even know how I'm still awake- how am I going to rescue Harry? I-I can't- a dry sob painfully ripped from her throat, scratched and hoarse from the wrist restricting it. I can't save him.
"Shall we wake Harry up now?"
She could only glare at him in reply through blurry tears, breaths terse and ragged as she struggled against the arm. Her eyes bearly focused on him as red covered her vision and pain continued to pulse through her veins.
Harry stirred, and Voldmort quickly summoned another hand to grasp his jaw. He lifted Harry to the same hight as Hermione but made sure to keep them distanced enough so they couldn't touch the other.
I don't know what to do. I wasn't able to prevent the future...
She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, trying to hold back the flood of tears that threatened to spill from her pained brown eyes.
It's my fault. It's all my bloody fault.
Voldemort turned his attention back to Hermione's broken gaze that was fixated on Harry, wanting a stronger reaction.
"Hmm." He looked back at Harry, who was still half-conscious, and cast Crucio.
"NO!" Hermione thrashed as Harry's heart-wrenching screams echoed throughout the foggy atmosphere, tears streaming heavily down her face and blending with the crimson blood that gushed from her cheek. "No.."
How dare he- NO ONE hurts my Harry and gets away with it-
An ethereal chill pricked her skin and an otherworldy white light blazed like fire in her eyes, vision unaffected as the pain was slowly numbed. A vehement strength burned within her, vision sharpening and intensifying as her fierce stare locked onto Voldmorts astonished face.
She grabbed the wrist of the hand that held her in place, quickly breaking the bone and causing the hand to fall limply from her jaw. She dropped to the grass, bracing her fall with her knee and the palm of her hands.
"You are going to pay for harming Harry," Hermione drawled slowly as she rose from the ground, her lip curling back menacingly against gritted teeth.
Voldemort let out a brittle but uncertain laugh. "A clever trick—but you truly think a fifteen-year-old could best me?" He flicked his wand again, and another hand crawled its way from the grass towards her. Hermione seized it mid-motion, her wrathful glare never wavering from his face. Her fingers tingled with skill only ever seen through age as she used wandless magic to ignite the limb, flames gently licking her fingertips before the arm satisfyingly crumbled to ash beneath her touch.
Voldemort's smirk faltered as he panicked, fear flickering in his eyes once he regonized the phenomenon. "Avada Kadavra!"
The sickly green light exploded from his wand, cutting through the heavy air like a flaming dagger towards her chest. She focused her mind on it, the blinding glow from her eyes intensifying as she prepared to counter the spell.
"Her-Hermione?"
A/N: i know some stuff is a little confusing and random, but I promise IT ALL WILL MAKE SENSE! Just gotta wait for Harry and Hermione to figure it out hehehehe