The winds howled in her ears.
Her lantern struggled feebly against the dense white curtain of snow swirling around her. She was alone, lost in a world of what she could almost convince herself were endless stretches of clouds. She used to dream, when she was a little girl, about playing amongst the clouds. However, if the clouds were this cold, she'd definitely opt out.
She squinted, attempting to find some kind of landmark, some kind of shelter, but to no avail.
It was impossible to see anything more than a few feet away from her with the snow, let alone the dark. The darkness seemed to devour her light before it could illuminate more than its own casing.
She had to find some place to stay soon or else she might as well just Apparate the hell out of this place and get herself caught by the Snatchers. The international wards were up and she knew that any signs of Apparition were closely monitored.
Damn him and his followers for thinking of ways to track all forms of escape.
Another burst of wind blew past her and she pulled her cloak closer, attempting to block out the freezing cold.
Hopefully, Harry and Ron were having better luck in finding the remaining Horcruxes.
Three months ago, the three of them had stupidly agreed to go separate ways in order to find the last three objects that were securing Lord Voldemort's life. Since then, she had not seen them nor heard anything from them. It was to be expected, since everything was being tracked these days.
She wouldn't be surprised if a Death Eater suddenly came out of nowhere and cursed her to oblivion, though she desperately hoped that it would not happen.
Merlin knew why they had even gone with this plan in the first place. It was ridiculously naïve and illogical for all three of them to agree on it and if anything, someone as rational as Hermione Granger and as stubborn as Harry Potter should not have consented to it. She suddenly had the very sickening image of the Dark Lord secretly following them and Confunding them in order to separate them.
Divide and conquer. Very Slytherin, indeed.
The thought was quickly quashed, since it would be quite stupid for Voldemort to do that. If he was, indeed, following them, it would've been easier for him to kill them on the spot.
Nevertheless, there was no use in regretting things already done or thinking about useless things.
They still had a long journey ahead of them.
Well, a long trail of snow ahead of me is more like it, Hermione thought sarcastically, trudging a few more steps forward.
A month ago, she traveled to Hungary and found signs that Voldemort had traveled to the Ural Mountains after leaving that country. To say that she was irritated would be a total understatement; infuriated would be a much better word.
Why couldn't he have hidden the stupid Horcruxes in places like Hawaii or Tahiti? At least she wouldn't be in danger of being killed by an avalanche. Although, yes, she supposed it was hard to imagine someone as pale of Lord Voldemort taking a trip out to the tropics.
She softly laughed to herself, but quickly stopped when a draft of wind washed into her mouth, biting down her throat and threatening to freeze her lungs.
The cold was catching up to her and she could feel herself getting weaker every single day. It would've been no problem for her if she was somewhere where there were a lot of wizards and witches. To do magic in an area like this, however, was similar to waving a red blanket at a charging bull.
Right now, she just hoped that her trip would be successful and she could leave this place without dying.
~-0-~
She coughed into the blanket that was covering her body. After trudging through what seemed like miles of snow, she finally found a cave. Although she was still freezing, at least the walls were keeping out most of the winds and she didn't feel like she was going to get blown away any second.
The fire (thanks to the matches she had brought with her from Hungary) flickered feebly when a draft managed to make its way into the cave and she rubbed her hands together, trying to make the numbness go away.
She heaved a sigh and frowned. How was she going to find clues in regards to where he hid the Horcrux? It was impossible to ask anyone since, well, there was no one around for her to ask.
A fear gripped her heart when the thought of failure flashed through her brain. What if she couldn't find the Horcrux? What if she couldn't destroy it? What if ...
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the thoughts. She had to succeed. Harry and Ron were counting on her.
As she concentrated on developing plans for finding the Horcrux, sleep slowly crept up on her and she felt her eyes drooping.
Before she drifted off, the last thought that entered her mind was the fear that she would be eaten by Siberian tigers before she woke up.
~-0-~
The snow stopped falling a few minutes before sunrise. The tracks that Hermione had left behind had long been buried under new layers of snow. The winds died down, almost like Mother Nature was holding her breath.
All was silent, in anticipation of what was coming.
The daggers of ice that clung to the rim of the cave's entrance shivered with the disruption in the stillness. The sound was so soft, a gentle but distinctive "pop" against the air.
Nature finally exhaled the held breath, causing a soft breeze to sweep across the landscape. The snow whirled around his boots as he walked up to the cave, his robes billowing gently behind him, their blackness contrasting greatly with the terrain surrounding him.
His merciless eyes landed on the sleeping form inside the cave and his lips curled into a sadistic sneer.
He had finally caught his prey.
He glided towards her, his wand in his hand, very much like Death with his scythe.
However, Lord Voldemort was not going to kill today.
He stared mockingly at the young witch in front of him, who still remained untouched, undisturbed by what was happening around her.
She must be very tired if she had no idea that her worst fear was standing right in front of her.
His smile widened. She would have a lot more to learn about fear in the coming days. Oh yes. And she was going to help him, help him to bring the other two Undesirables to their knees.
As if the ghoul was going to fool him. He was Lord Voldemort, the greatest wizard in history. Anyone with half of a mind would know that Ronald Weasley, sidekick of Harry Potter, would never abandon his friend.
With a light swish of his wand, the figure in front of him fell deeper into sleep.
"Sleep well, Hermione Granger," he murmured and placed his hand on her shoulder. "You're going to need it."
The two of them then disappeared, leaving behind the small fire burning weakly against the wind, which had revived with a new vigor. It flickered anxiously, struggling to live in the howling wind, fighting for its life.
Until with one last "swoosh", the flames completely died out, the only traces of its existence being the ashes on the floor of one particular cave as the sun finally rose above the horizon.
~-0-~