Parade of the Sun - Dramione

PART EIGHT.

4:37pm

Hermione was starving and the sway of the boat did nothing to help her nausea. If she'd had anything in her stomach, she would have gotten sick an hour ago. She had tried to read the book she had accidentally stolen from the library but it was only making her more sick to her stomach. The only good thing about her little voyage across the sea was that she had charmed the ores to row by themselves, or else her arms would have probably fallen off by now. She had to pretend she was rowing every time a boat passed, but she was mostly alone on the water. The more time that passed without her seeing land, the more worried she became. Especially since Point Me decided to switch directions on her palm every few seconds when she knew she was keeping straight. She could always Apparate, but it wasn't easy when you were standing on something rocking as hard as a crazy person.

When she finally spotted land, she almost tipped the boat in her excitement. As soon as she hit land, she was going to Apparate home, eat something, and then Apparate back. After she was done searching some of the island, she would take the trip back to return the boat, go home, and then come back early tomorrow. Malfoy had about two hours on her, but she wa--

Hermione's eyes shot open wide as she heard something splintering. Jumping up from her seat, she clutched her bag to her chest and spun towards the front of the boat. It was falling apart, like someone was hitting it with a sledgehammer as water rushed in. Hermione yelled as the water built over her feet and the boat tipped, continuing to bust apart. She cast several rapid repairing spells, a few pieces flying back together before falling apart again, and then the whole thing gave way under her feet.

She crashed into the water, tasting salt heavy in her mouth, and splashed to the surface. She spit the water out, coughing on what she had swallowed, and panted for breath. Chunks of wood were floating or sinking around her, and she found that even the ores had broken when she knocked her hand against a piece of it.

"What? What?" Hermione breathed, treading water and spinning herself in circles. How did that even just happen? Unless there was some sort of jagged tip she had run into, or a shar--

Hermione gasped, choking on the wave that sent water down her throat, and started swimming as fast as she could towards land. She didn't even know if there were sharks in the Tyrrhenian Sea, or why she hadn't heard its snapping jaws, but she wasn't about to risk it. Hermione could handle a lot of things, but there was no way a shark was going to eat her.

Shark, shark, shark, she chanted in her head, and every shark attack she had seen in films and the news began to explode into the front of her brain. Her heart was playing the tune of Jaws, building in tempo, and the world got hazy from the white splash and her panic. She was waiting for teeth to sink into the soft smoothness of her stomach or a fin to whack her arm. Where were the dolphins? Hadn't she read stories about dolphins rescuing people and carrying them to the shore? She loved dolphins. She loved dolphins so much, and if they were going to come bring her to shore, they had better do it now.

Dolphins saved me, she would tell everyone. They rescued me from killer, boat-destroying sharks, and she would give so much to dolphin charities. Or even the shark didn't eat me -- that was a story she would like to live to tell.

Thankfully, she had been close to land. She swam for less than three minutes before having to swim along a steep cliff to a spot that was climbable. She reached up and grabbed slick rock and dirt, pulling her water-weighted body up four times before she finally hauled herself onto something solid. She lay there gasping for breath, her cheek pressed against rock, and she might never get the taste of salt from her mouth. There was another smell now, strong and unpleasant, like...sulfur?