A Day In the Woods... Not Quite As Lovely As It Sounds
I stumbled to the ground because my legs couldn't hold me up. I was too focused on the splitting pain in my head to tell my legs to lock into place. My skin felt torn and raw, but I knew it wasn't splinched yet. I closed my eyes and brought my hands to my head, trying to make the ache stop.
The ground felt like dirt and moss. I could smell mud and wet leaves. Birds were chirping far above me and there was the occasional rustle of leaves near by.
What was happening? The pain in my head made it hard to focus and the little sounds made me dizzy. I tried to open my eyes but I was afraid if I did my head would crack open.
I fumbled around for my wand. Hand, pocket, ground. It wasn't there. I felt naked and defenseless, like a wounded animal lying on the ground, waiting to die. I heard heavy footsteps around me, like twenty men in heavy boots were marching in circles.
I brought up my hands to rub my eyes to caress them open. My skin shafted and burned against my shirt. When my eyelids gave in I blinked and looked around, trying to recognize something.
I was in the middle of a deep wood somewhere. Trees as tall as skyscrapers surrounded me and red and purple leaves covered the ground in a carpet. Two men in black wizard robes looked down at me. One was thin as bones and pale as the moon. He looked like he hadn't eaten or slept in days. His hair was thin and long past his shoulders and his eyes were yellow and bloodshot. The other was gruff looking. He was heavier built. He had a mop of black greasy hair that covered his eyes and was plastered to his neck with sweat.
I shot to my feet ignoring the pain in my head and skin. I stood as tall as I could and tried not to look scared or intimidated even though I was. My legs were wide and my muscles were taught. I was ready to fight if I needed to, even though I didn't have my wand.
"What do you want?" I spat at them.
They looked at me broadly like they would rather be anywhere else. The bigger one leaned back against a tree and picked at his fingers. "We want to know where the Malfoy boy is." He said without looking at me.
"Draco?" I whispered. "What do you want with him?" My eyes skipped back and forth between the two in case one decided to do something funny.
"We saw you in London with him." The thin one spoke up. His voice was like his body, thin and sickly. "Just tell us where he is and we'll leave you alone."
I grit my teeth. "What do you want with him?" I repeated slowly.
Behind his hair I could see the big one roll his eyes. "He took something from us. We just want to return the favor. That's all." He said, almost cooing.
What the heck did Malfoy do to these two? What did he take? I shifted my weight.
"I don't know where he is." I lied.
I didn't know why I lied for Malfoy, but I didn't know what else to do.
The bigger wizard was clearly angry now. He stepped away from the tree he was leaned against and reached into his pocket. He took out a wand, my wand, and started twirling it between his fingers.
"Okay." He said, clearly trying to keep calm. "I'm going to ask you again, because I didn't hear you the first time. Where. Is. Malfoy."
I stared at him hard and debated for a second if I should just tell him the truth, but I couldn't do that to Draco.
I lifted my chin and threw out my chest and said slowly and coldly, "I don't know where he is."
He lifted my wand and pointed it at me. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for it.
"Crusio." He said, almost board.
It felt like fire and knives eating at my flesh. It was an ache in the small of my back. I muffled a scream, still trying to show them that they couldn't hurt me, but I felt it rip apart my stomach and I doubled over in pain. I crouched down trying to hide from it, but nothing helped. Finally I let myself fall over on my side. I started crying because I couldn't do anything else but lay there and writhe. My fingernails were being peeled back. My spine was being contorted. My bones were broke and my skin was cut and burned. I couldn't move or think or even scream anymore.
I don't know how long it lasted but it felt like years. The man finally lowered my wand and set it on a large flat rock behind him. He walked over my my shaking body on the ground and crouched down next to me. He leaned in so I could feel his hot sticky breath on the side of my face and whispered, "Where is he?"
He smelled stale and rotten. His breath was thick and I couldn't breath with him this close to my face. I choked on my sobs and tasted my salty tears as they ran down and into my mouth.
In between raspy breaths I answered him. I didn't like what I said. I regretted doing it as soon as the words escaped my mouth. But I just couldn't bring myself to say anything else. "I don't know." I whispered.
Snarling, the man stood up quickly and walked to the thin man who had been watching. They got in close so they could whisper quietly between each other. I thought for one horrifying second about them killing me. With my own wand it could look like a suicide or an accident and no one would ever know. I swallowed and took a deep breath.
From the ground I watched them argue. My vision was blurred and it was hard to make out who was who and what was what. My eyes wandered from them to the rock the big man had set my wand on.
I wondered if I could make it to my wand, let alone stand up. I knew I had to do both fast or they would notice and that would be it. I squinted at the wizards who were occupied arguing about what to do next. I doubted they really believed that I didn't know where Draco was.
I realized I had two options just then. I could stay where I was and be tortured into telling the men where Draco was or make a run for my wand and probably still be tortured into telling them where Draco was. But I had to decide now.
Tensing my muscles, I breathed deep. I kept my eyes on the wizards as I placed my hands on the ground and grit my teeth from the pain. I closed my eyes and counted down from three.
Three. I let out a deep breath and pressed my hands harder on the ground. I flexed my arm muscles, getting ready to pump them hard and jump up fast.
Two. I opened my eyes and looked at the wizards. I pressed half of one foot into the ground so I could take off like a rocket.
One. I looked at the rock and my wand. I pushed myself up and started sprinting at it. I stumbled to the side because my legs felt like jelly and knives. By the time I straitened up the men had noticed. I could see them out of the corner of my eye taking out their wands. But I was almost there. I flung myself on the rock, but my hand missed my wand and it landed on the ground behind it.
I dove around the rock and grabbed my wand from the ground. I pressed my back against the cool stone. My heart was pumping and my head was throbbing and my skin burned just enough to be annoying. Gripping my wand to my chest, I peaked around the rock and nearly got a face full of black sparks for it. I was able to look long enough to see where each wizard was standing.
"Stupify!" I yelled and whipped around to point my wand at the bony one.
It hit him in the chest and he flew backward and slammed his head on the tree behind him. He let out a yelp of surprise and then he must have blacked out because he stayed laying there.
The other man started heading around the rock. I stood up quickly and threw a curse at him but he dodged it and it flew back into the woods somewhere. His face was gnarled up in anger and he continued to pace around the rock.
He threw a curse back at me and I ducked down again just as it skimmed the top of my head. I started just raising my hand above the rock and throwing curses wherever my wand decided. He started to move into my line of vision again. I thrust my wand at him, really hoping this would hit him so I could aparate out of here.
It knocked him square in the nose and he fell flat on his back. I watched him for a moment to make sure he was really out then I ran up to him and pointed my wand at him again. I knew I should kill him, but I hated that curse. It was so ugly and powerful.
"Obliviate." I said instead and I took his wand.
I stumbled over to the bony wizard, still feeling weak and shaky. My skin still burned and my head still ached and I was still crying and letting out raspy breaths. I felt like I was about to be sick and I wanted nothing more than to lie down again and curl up in a ball and wait until someone found me. But I knew I had to get back to Malfoy and tell him.
"Obliviate." I whispered at the wizard and picked up his wand too.
I braced myself to aparate. I knew it was going to hurt a lot, but I did it anyway.
I landed inside the hotel room. Malfoy had turned the telly off and was looking at the book I left laying on the bed. I stood shaking and crying. Draco looked up and saw me. His eyes turned dark as he looked at me and saw my limp body.
I shuffled to the bed and nearly fell on the floor, but he caught me before I could hit the ground. He pulled me in and pressed me against him. I was too weak to fight and his body was warm and strong and comforting and I couldn't get enough of that right then. His arms were wrapped around my back and I knew he was the only thing keeping me from collapsing on the floor.
I nestled my cheek into his warm shoulder and cried. I don't know why, but I just couldn't stop. I couldn't get close enough to him then, even though my skin was on fire and it hurt to touch anything, the pain seemed to lessen the closer we got.
"Hermione." He said, his voice full of worry. "What happened?"