My Knuckles Were Bruised Like Violets.
"My knuckles were bruised like violets"
Hermione threw herself to the floor, dodging a spell aimed at her head. Her right leg was broken, taped together with ripped white cloth, and blood dripped down her chin. She spun around- reaching for her wand, and threw a disarming spell at the death eater about to summon another attack. His wand was ripped away from him, and he was flung back. She stood up and continued running, taking continuous glances behind her to make sure he wasn't chasing her. She made her way through the maze of the forest she was in, yelling for Harry.
"Harry! Harry! Where are you!" She shouted, flinging a spell toward the woman she saw creeping up on her left. She dodged a few more spells, the two death eaters not letting up. Just as she was running out of breath,
"Expulso!"
Harry had knocked the two out. She stopped running after hearing his voice and turned in the direction his voice came from. Limping towards her, Harry held onto three wands (who they belonged to She didn't know). She sighed and ran to him.
"Gosh! Why'd you lose me? I thought you were right behind me?" She engulfed him, breath still panting. In return, he wrapped his arms around her and patted her back softly. He said nothing, but his firm grip told her all she needed to know. They let go of each other before checking their surroundings for any more attackers. Harry stunned the two deatheaters and wrapped them up, leaving them tied to a tree.
They made their way to their campsite before getting rid of their traces. Harry stomped out the fire, using leaves to cover their previous footmarks, while Hermione secured the tent and placed it back in her messenger bag that had her extension charm.
After making sure the area looked like they were never there, they grabbed each other by the hand and apparated away.
They landed miles away from where they previously were and fell to the ground.
Panting, Harry looked toward the sky, arms spread out like an eagle, eyes closed. Hermione sat up and said nothing, too shaken up by what was yet again another near-death experience. They had come out of nowhere! The deatheater's magical scent was so faint that not even Harry, with his abundant aptitude for magic, noticed them. Hermione was struck first- right to her side, which dislocated her knee. It became worse when she tried to reach for her wand, only to be stomped on.
The male deatheater had crouched down in front of her, wand lowered, laughing at her mockingly.
"Well, Well, if it isn't the mudblood." He stomped on her leg again, and she screamed in pain. She heard the shout of Harry for her name, but it sounded so faint in the highlight of her pain.
The man grabbed her by her hair and lifted her head up so she'd make eye contact with him. She had never seen him before, but he reeked of blood.
"When are you ever going to learn that you are simply no match for us real wizards?" He laughed in a sickeningly gleeful tone.
Before he could say more, she flung her head forward and knocked his, which was lowered to meet hers. He moved pack in pain, hands cradling his nose.
"Ahgh, You're gonna pay for that Bit-" She didn't wait to hear the rest before swinging her left fist into his face, striking him directly in the nose again. He fell down to his knees, and that was when she started running.
Hermione got up after catching her breath.
"I'll go put up the wards. Set up the tent." She announced quietly, throwing her satchel to Harry. She walked around, observing their new surroundings. She took in the small stream of water that passed through the miniature ravine a few meters away from them before walking even more- covering the same distance as a muggle football field would amount to warding them in. She chanted to herself softly, thinking back to how her life suddenly spiraled to what it was now.
They were officially at war. She, Ron, and Harry had gone on the run together, but Ron had left them after an argument. She had hoped it was another one of his fits, and he'd come back for them. But she quickly realized that that wasn't the case after a week. Crying about the situation, Hermione left the tent to vent her frustrations, but that was when her first near-death experience occurred. A pack of wolves had surrounded their site. They had been on the run for a little over three weeks, but Hermione was so brought down by Ron's departure that she didn't set the wards correctly.
Her left hand raised to her face to faintly rub the scratches that extended from the bottom right of her face to the top left. She felt along the two deeply indented lines and cringed at the pain. She lowered her hands to examine them. Bruised and bloody were the only way to describe her knuckles. Cuts on almost every square inch, and the pain had been almost unbearable before she got used to them. She tried to flex them but winced. She lowered them down again and checked the wards a third time just to make sure. She snapped out of her blazing thoughts and walked back to where Harry was, already seeing the tent set up. She lifted the fold back and stepped inside, letting it drop behind her. Harry stood leaning over their drawing table- overlooking different books and trying to find any clues for what the possible Horcruxes were.
His head snapped up when he heard footsteps, his arm already reaching for his wand in his pant pocket. His eyes shook, still hyperaware from their most recent attack. He looked Hermione directly in her eyes before loosening up and sighing.
She walked up to him and took a seat beside the table.
He had been quiet lately. Ever since their first attack, which Hermione almost didn't make it back alive from, he didn't talk much. He wasn't the same Harry she knew from Hogwarts, that's for sure. She observed him quietly. Taking in his messy clothes and shaken head of hair.
"What?" he mumbled after a while, noticing her stare.
"Nothing... It's just..." Hermione began. Harry looked up from the table and turned to face her directly.
"Are you okay?" She finished lamely. He stood there still, almost as if taking the time to process her words.
"Am I okay?" He repeated quietly.
"Am I okay?" He was getting louder now.
"HERMIONE, YOU ALMOST JUST DIED AGAIN!" He shouted." NO! I'M NOT OKAY! WHY DON'T YOU CARE?" He screamed.
"What are you talking about? I do care-"
"NO, YOU DON'T. WHEN THE WOLVES ATTACKED YOU RAN TO PROTECT ME. WHEN DEMENTORS SWARMED US, YOU MADE ME GET DOWN, AND NOW WE WERE ATTACKED, AND YOU DISTRACTED THEM FROM ME!"
"NO, I'M NOT OKAY. WHY ARE YOU ACTING AS IF YOUR LIFE DOESN'T MATTER?!" He was turning red now, voice cracking at the very end of his sentence angrily.
Tears were beginning to form in Hermione's eyes.
"Is it so wrong to protect the one who's the only one to fix this mess?" She wanted to scream back, but it came out as a tearful cry.
He walked up to her and put his hands on either side of her shoulders.
"STOP ACTING LIKE YOUR LIFE DOESN'T MATTER!"
"HOW CAN I WHEN IT REALLY DOESN'T!" She was now screaming back, all the pain she had held in since Ron left and all the tears she wished she cried after each one of their attacks burst out like a broken dam.
Harry's grip tightened.
"Don't say things like that." He now spoke in a quieter tone. "What am I to do without you?"
Hermione didn't answer him, now full-on crying. Tears were [pouring out like a sprinkler, and it had been a while since she got her frustration out. She started talking- unable to stop.
"Why did Ron leave us? Were we not important? I don't wanna die like this," She cried into his shoulders, her voice descending into mumbles.
She didn't hear what Harry had said back, deciding to give herself what might have been the last ounce of peace she was going to get in a long time and let her guard finally drop.