The Seven and The Hidden Child

Chapter 40

Hermione awoke slowly, her mind the first to register anything. Her senses slowly came back to her. She felt someone repeatedly pressing harshly against her chest. She was too tired to focus on it, letting her mind slip away again. The harsh pushes against her didn't stop, though,  refusing to leave her to rest in peace. A few times, air was forced into her lungs. It took all to long for Hermione to regain conciousness. 

She awoke with a gasp, coughing immediately after. Her lungs burned as she coughed out water. Her head felt dizzy and light. She blinked open her eyes. It was bright out. The sky had no clouds in it. The sun must have been somewhere behind her because she couldn't see the burning ball of fire. 

Hermione took deep breaths, trying to fill her lungs with air. Her mind cleared, still fuzzy, and she sat up quickly, hitting her head.

"Ow! Salazar, will you maybe, I don't know, stop trying to kill yourself for five minutes? Bloody hell, Granger."

Hermione pressed the heel of her palm against her forehead, rubbing the spot where she had hit it. She scanned in front of her. Malfoy was sitting on his knees next to her, rubbing his forehead as well. She'd sat up so fast, he hadn't been able to move out of the way before they collided. 

"Oh!," she exclaimed, realizing what she'd done, "Sorry! Are you okay?" 

Draco scoffed, slapping his hands down onto his legs. The sound was odd, his palms hitting his clothing drenched in water. He said in a snarky tone, "Am I okay? Bloody hell, Granger, you about died twenty times in the last ten minutes! Drowning, for Salzar's sake, what the hell were you thinking?"

Hermione gaped. 

"I didn't choose to. I didn't just decide to be crushed and drowned," she stated hotly. 

Draco didn't answer. He turned away, leaning over a three meter wide river. He bunched up the bottom of his shirt and wrung out some of the dirty water. It splashed into the flowing stream and the current swept it away. 

Hermione looked around. They were surrounded by greenery. Trees, bushes, flowers. It was the perfect forest, the colors as vibrant as they could be. The plants even seemed like each leaf had been carefully placed. They were in a small clearing, no trees crowding around them. Along with no trees were no friends. 

"Malfoy, where is everyone?" Hermione asked, instinctivly reaching for her wand in her pocket. 

"I don't know," he shrugged, turning back. When he saw her feeling around for her wand, he plucked it up from besides him and tossed it to her. "I can't find mine so I tried yours. Didn't work. I had to use stupid muggle medicine. 

Hermione stood up. Her legs buckled instantly. She fell back down, landing on her back. She groaned, more in frustration than pain. She sat up again, not darting up within a second this time, and looked down at her legs. The first thing she noticed was that her glamour charm had worn off again. She'd been wearing it to look more like how people remembered her than what her biological looks were. Being the fake Hermione felt more herself than the other one. 

Her skin had darkened to look more tanned, more like Blaise's. There were gashes on both her calves and her thighs, where the stone's weight had been sitting. Blood soaked through her jeans, large rips destroying the material. The ends of her jeans had been shredded and she was missing a shoe. Just like Draco, she was still drenched in water. 

Hermione slipped out a curse word staring down at the blood. 

"That was dumb," Draco said, smirking after she fell. "Oh, and by the way, that stone broke your legs. Forgot to tell you."

"Oh you did, huh?" 

Hermione rolled her eyes. She lifted her wand with her dominant hand. She waved it in an organized pattern, muttering spells under her breath. Slowly and painfully, the gashes in her legs stitched themselves up, the blood returning to her legs. Though the blood spilling out of her legs had stopped, the wounds were still there. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, confused. The spells should have healed them all the way.