Pierced (Completed)

Chapter 5: Surprise

"A SINGLE ROSE  CAN BE MY GARDEN... A SINGLE FRIEND, MY WORLD"-LEO BUSCAGLIA

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Harry awoke groggily, moaning as he slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes in an attempt to get them to focus. The first thing he saw was flickering shadows cast by a roaring fire, the heat barely reaching his numb body. He could smell Hermione, for which he was glad. He had absolutely no idea where he was or what was going on.

He felt the power of nature seeping into his bones, filling him and giving him strength. He could feel tiny pulses beating all around him, the deep thrum of power radiating from the thick trees surrounding him further helping him come out of his stupor. He finished rubbing his eyes and looked at Hermione, though she was fuzzy. He blinked a few times, feeling oddly relieved for some reason. Like there had been some sort of pressure on him that had recently been lifted.

He felt that something was a bit off, too. He couldn't quite put his thumb on it.

And when he finally managed to look at Hermione's face properly, he knew what it was. She was sitting perfectly still, staring at him with neutral eyes. That in itself was odd, let alone the fact that her pulse was racing, each beat shooting fear through her body.

He decided that it was more prudent to figure out where they were first, then try and help Hermione. "Where are we?" he croaked, his throat unimaginably dry.

Hermione's pulse spiked for one heartbeat before she managed to bring it back under control. She looked at him with unwavering eyes, though he knew she wanted to put as much distance between them as possible. Harry' eyebrows furrowed. "Where are we, Hermione?" he demanded a little more firmly this time.

She swallowed, darting her tongue out to wet her lips as her eyes darted around the trees around them. He noticed it was dark, darker than night, the shadows clinging to him and enveloping his body in a layer of pure power. He frowned and stood up before taking a small step in her direction, regretting it immediately when she scrambled back a few feet, her heart pounding like crazy.

Harry looked down at himself, expecting to find a bomb strapped to his chest or something, but all he saw was a fair bit of dried blood. Well, that wasn't very helpful. Then his eyes widened. Blood, dungeons, the execution…what had happened? How was he still alive?

"Hermione, what's going on?" Harry demanded more insistently, apprehension setting in.

He took one step closer to her and she fumbled for her wand, shakily pointing it at his chest. He put his hands up, wondering if he had been sent to some other weird dimension. "Hermione…"

Harry was about to get closer to her when a voice nonchalantly said from behind him, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Harry whipped around, instinctively putting himself between the man and Hermione. "Who are you?"

The man sighed, then put his hands in his trouser pockets and leaned against the tree next to him, the hilt of the rapier that was in a sheathe on his side lightly tinking against the trunk. Harry's eyes shot to it, then to the man's hands, then up to his eyes, which were a brilliant shade of crimson. Harry's stance grew even more defensive, his fangs extending instinctively.

"You really do get worked up easily, don't you?" the man said, seemingly bored. "If I wanted to kill you I could have easily done so already."