Taming The Serpent [Tom Riddle/Tomione]

24. Lost (Pt. I Finale)

'Hermione didn't see the body until he was upon her, a solid weight that dropped from the branches above and threw her off. She didn't realize at first that he was dead. She hit the ground with a thud and rolled to her feet, pulling her wand from her pocket. By the time she was standing, she had already fired a spell.

The bright red light collided into the man's chest with a thud, and she watched wide eyed as it laid flat on the ground. The acromantulas had retreated a while ago, leaving an unrecognizable body behind. A loud cry escaped her mouth upon noticing Pringles' disfigured body; the clothes had all been ripped, blood was pouring from his mouth, the scarlet red liquid shining under the moon light. His eyes were wide and terrified, but held no life. He was undoubtedly, dead.

"Lumos," she began to wander slowly, earning to get to the castle immediately. A pang of guilt caused her to glance back at the lifeless body behind her and Hermione struggled with herself for a while. Surely he had been very unpleasant with her, but she wouldn't wish his dreadful death to anyone, not even the nasty Slytherins. 

Hermione's breath twisted in her throat.

She carefully walked back to his body. The light in her wand had already ran out; it was dark, chilly and awkwardly quiet. She steadily pointed her wand at the man, her breathing now accelerated and shaky. "Evanesco."

Before her puffy brown eyes, his body faded leaving behind a pool of blood in the leaves. She walked on through the dense, dark trees. She kept looking nervously over her shoulder, expecting a werewolf or another creature to jump at her at any minute.

The minutes dragged by and Hermione was beginning to panic. All the trees looked the same, all the paths were alike; she couldn't spot the castle from anywhere. Hermione kept concentrating on every sigh of the wind, every cracking twig.

It was getting colder as she walked, for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick. "No, no. This can't be happening." She cried.

She fell to the ground with a thud, she was cold and hungry.

Something bright white was gleaming on the ground across from her. She watched closely, struggling to her feet. She peered behind the bushes; a terrified gasp left her gaping mouth as she took in the scene before her eyes: a dead unicorn laid helplessly on the ground. Its long, slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly-white on the dark leaves.

"No." She cried. Hermione had taken one step toward it when a loud howl made her freeze where she stood. A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered, then, out of the shadows, a giant wolf was crawling across the ground like some stalking beast.

"GO AWAY!" she bellowed, reaching for her wand quickly. The black wolf barked at her, taking long, dangerous strides in her direction. She stood proudly next to the beautiful, dead unicorn. Its bright grey eyes eyed her hungrily, before opening its mouth wide, displaying all its set of teeth. She took a small step back. 

"Confringo." A ball of fire shot from the tip of her wand and hit the wolf on the tail. It howled in pain, but didn't cease to attack. 

Hermione tripped over a branch and fell next to the unicorn, her face missing its horn by mere inches. The wolf jumped on top of her and Hermione let out a high pitched scream. She noticed unicorn blood was dribbling down its teeth and pouring down onto her face. She couldn't move for fear. Her hand was grasping her wand but no words escaped her mouth. 

Then a pain like she'd never felt before pierced her sides; it was as though her skin had been pulled away from her body. Another blood curdling scream erupted from her throat and she kicked the animal with all her might.

She began to feel herself slipping away from reality; her body was numb, her mind spinning. She was sure this was the end, her end. Saddening enough, she was ready to die. There was a moment of silence, broken only by the wind and the snorting of the wolf above her. Her eyes closed slowly, flashbacks erupted everywhere, and it was overwhelming.

The pain was so bad she couldn't move. It took her a minute or two to come back to her senses, and when she did all that she could see was a bright green light surrounding her. When she looked up, the wolf was gone. Instead, it laid a couple feet from her, lifeless.

A dark figure stood frozen by the tree, twirling a wand in his fingers. She squinted her eyes, trying to sit up straight but immediately fell back down, groaning in pain. She touched her wounded ribs and wasn't surprised to see blood in her hand.

Hermione pulled her uniform top up to reveal a nasty bite; she cringed. The figure began to walk sluggishly toward her. She turned her head to face him. He glared at her almost disapprovingly. "I'm beginning to loose count now, Miss LockHart. " His voice was cold but nevertheless showed a small hint of amusement. "I'd say it was the third -- fourth time I saved you?"

Hermione glared up at him. Over the past months of knowing him, her patience for Tom Riddle had grown shorter and shorter. "I didn't exactly get the wolf to attack me."

"Let's just get back to the castle, shall we?!"

He sounded nervous now, which Hermione counted as a victory. She stood up, holding her side and with deliberately sauntering steps, she began to walk, leading the way through the dark paths. "Don't worry." She called over her shoulder, gritting her teeth at the sharp pain. "I'm not going to try and delay us."

He paused for a moment, just taking in her figure and then resumed his walking. "It wouldn't surprise me if you did."

"How did you find me?" Whispered Hermione as she glared at his back. With her slow pace it wasn't hard for Tom to overcome her with his long, elegant strides.

It had been a few minutes since she asked him, they had been in circles. "I heard your screams." Tom said. She took in his appearance; he looked healthy; she wondered if he had been released from the Hospital Wing. Did he know she had saved him? Did he remember anything? 

Tom stopped aggressively, causing Hermione to bump into him. She groaned and leaned against a tree. "What's wrong? Why did you stop?"

She held her sides again, gritting her teeth and controlling her breathing.

It wasn't working anymore. Her back ached, and her grip on the wound was so tight that blood was dripping from her body like a cascade. She unclenched her fingers and tried to breathe, opening her eyes. All around her, the shadows shifted among the tangled trees. She wanted to be in her common room, by the warm, blue fire, reading a book, or in her dorm, sleeping away all her worries.

Despite himself, Tom looked back. Even with the moon nearly full, the forest was so dark it could have hidden a thousand creatures—or none at all. The brambles leered at them. Hundreds of eyes could be watching them pass, hundreds of twisted, undead things.

His dark eyes watched a pained Hermione carefully. Her eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the night sky, her mouth agape, allowing labored breaths to escape it. Sweat was pouting down her pale face, dripping her clothes.

He walked toward her, lifting her top. She winced, watching him suspiciously. "Wh-what are you doing?" she stuttered. Tom did not answer, instead he grabbed her hand. "This will hurt more than anything you've ever experienced before."

She eyed him incredulously. He traced the blood and muttered "Tergeo," making it disappear. He glanced at her for a brief second, and then traced her wound with his wand. The contact made her wince and she unconsciously clenched his hand.

"Malum vulnus cura". Sure enough, a pain like she never felt before seeped through her body making her tremble with pain. She screamed and screamed but the pain wouldn't leave. Fresh tears stained her pale skin and she continued clenching Tom's hand. Her ears were buzzing, she was losing control of herself once again.

And then, when it all seemed too much to take...It stopped. 

She began to lose her conscience again, drifting toward the dark. Before her eyes closed however, she heard him say

"You saved me... Now we're even. "