Visionary | h. potter x oc

3.10

The sad moment was disturbed when Ron's rat suddenly bit him, causing the Weasley to drop him onto the cold ground. He scurried off and Ron started to chase after him. "Ron?" Hermione called before following him.

Harry and Aurora started running soon after, "Wait, Ron!" They yelled after him, getting farther and farther from the castle. They all stopped when they saw Ron approach the whomping willow. Aurora thought it was quite beautiful in person, but there wasn't time to admire it. A shiver ran down her spine and the sight of the tree made her queasy. She'd seen this exact moment before. Ron fell to the ground, grabbing the rat as Harry spoke, "Ron, run!"

The Weasley looked up, his face twisting as he spotted a dark figure behind them, "Guys, run! It's the grim!"

The trio spun around and faced a black dog, teeth bared as it growled at them for a moment before leaping over and biting down on Ron's ankle. He screamed, clawing at the ground as the dog dragged him into a hole under the tree, "Harry!"

They started running after them, Harry throwing himself on the ground as Ron plummeted into darkness. "Harry... Hermione..." Aurora stepped back, seeing the tree being to move as Hermione helped Harry up from the ground. The whomping willow, known across the school grounds as a dangerous force of nature that would attack anyone and anything that came too close. Before she could warn them any further a branch smacked them back, hitting them into Aurora. They all fell to the ground, Aurora groaning at the impact before they all scurried to rise. The trio stood from the ground and listened to Ron's screams.

"Come on." Harry pulled the two girls towards the lashing tree. They managed to avoid the first few branches, but while Hermione and Aurora ducked under the next one Harry ended up being thrown back yet again.

Hermione saw an oncoming branch and yelled towards Aurora, "Jump!" Without another thought they both leaped over the branch, Aurora tripping over her own feet and falling onto the ground. Hermione didn't have enough time to react, being hit by the next branch as it just barely missed the girl on the ground. Hermione hung on for dear life, screaming as she was thrown around and dragged through the tree's thorns. Harry, on the other hand, was pawing at the grass trying to find his glasses, which that fallen off his face from his second fall. The moment he found them Aurora grabbed his leg, barely pulling him away from a giant branch before it crushed him.

Leaves were falling everywhere and Aurora could feel blood on her forehead. As Hermione came around on the branch again she grabbed Harry, lifting him into the air. It gave Aurora enough time to dive into the hole Ron had come from, falling face first into moist dirt. Hermione took no time throwing Harry down next and he fell onto the Ollivander. She shoved him off, only to be crushed yet again by Hermione. "Sorry..." She said as Aurora pushed her off with another pained groan.

The trio stood, "Where do you suppose this goes?" Hermione asked. Harry brushed dirt from his jacket as Aurora ran a hand through her hair. She pulled out twigs and leaves before straightening her blue sweater and following them down a dark tunnel.

Harry could almost hear the gears turning in Hermione's head as they walked through the damp tunnel, "What's wrong?"

She shook her head, "The grim. It's an omen of imminent death, I didn't think it was a real thing." 

"It is." Aurora said as she ducked under a tree root, "It's a creature that supposedly haunts graveyards. But still, it shouldn't be here and it certainly shouldn't have grabbed Ron."

"Why's that?" Harry asked, trailing behind Aurora and Hermione and avoiding the slick walls of the tunnel,

Aurora shook her head in confusion, "Because anyone that sees it is said to die soon. It's only supposed to show itself to those near death, yet we all saw it in your teacup."