Chapter Text
Hermione was running. Her tired feet barely touched the ground as she sprinted through trees while being cut by branches. She had to use her wand to prevent her from stumbling over constant brambles. Air blew around her face hardly making its way down her lungs, which were heaving trying to sustain her sprint. She knew she would have to stop at some point.
They would catch up to her.
She was all alone.
Almost.
As far as they knew, at least. She thanked whatever gods this realm had, that at the very least Harry and Ronald were somewhere far away and hopefully safe. She would be the only victim tonight. That was her plan at least, but she had no intention of making it easy for either party.
So she ran.
There was no desired goal for her to reach. It was just a matter of trying to get as much distance between her and her pursuers, in an attempt to make sure it would be the right person who reached her first.
She bounced off a massive trunk and felt her shoulder bruise as she hoppled along with only moonlight as her guide. Igniting her wand would be foolish beyond comparison. Hermione Granger was not foolish. At least not in these matters.
As a howl split the night sky she chanced a glance to see how full the moon was that night.
The sight gave her an extra boost of speed.
Sounds grew closer on her trail and she had to fight back the sob crawling its way up her throat.
She knew what would happen, once they caught up to her. And there was nothing she could do about it.
No one would come and help her in the middle of the night in this dense forest.
But then again, that was all part of the plan. A plan she had hatched in mere minutes not even an hour ago, when her wards had notified her that someone was on her trail. Bloody Death Eaters couldn't even allow her a decent night's rest before they had to come squandering after her.
Of course not.
She knew - and had mixed feelings about this particular admission - that she was too important to be able to stay hidden forever. The search for her had only grown over the past months from what she could gather in the scavenged Prophets she had managed to find. Some issues even featured her name more than Harry's which terrified her but also soothed her, because it meant Harry - and by extension, Ronald - was still alive and safe. Wherever that was.
She clutched her beaded bag for comfort and all the secrets it held. She couldn't get rid of it for fear of never finding it here ever again. But she also couldn't let the Death Eaters or Snatchers get a hold of it. It was too valuable. Almost as much as she was.
She dived behind a massive tree and paused trying to catch her breath and listened.
If only her heartbeat would stop thumping through her ears.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Her heart still overpowered any other sound, until…
Somewhere behind her on the left was a crack of a branch, and then her heart stopped. Fear overcame her, that they would be able to hear her beating heart, and who it beat for.
She closed her eyes and tried to think.
But she was running out of options.
Securing her hold on her wand she swung out her arm and cast a stunning spell in the immediate direction of the sound. From the cackle that followed she knew she had missed and set off running again. She sent stunning spells behind her every few twists and turns.
Some would bounce off trees, others would miss completely, but once or twice she was certain she had hit something. Or someone.
It didn't make her odds that much better.
She knew she couldn't Apparate. The idiots had had enough foresight to think of anti-Apparition wards the minute they tracked her, and she had no idea where they stopped and didn't dare try and find out.
And where would she even go?
This was her path, despite how much fear and hurt it was bound to be laced with.
They had both known that for a long while and tried to prepare for it the best they could. But nothing could ever prepare you to run for your life this way.
So Hermione ran.
"There!"
She stumbled at the shout behind her. A curse flew by her and only missed by inches. She didn't have time to register what curse, only relief that it had missed.
"She's to be taken alive!" Someone bellowed and Hermione wasn't even sure that would be a relief. Alive could still mean pain.
She started changing her course every few steps. It didn't help the slightest. Too fast for their own good she could hear the multiple sounds of footsteps gaining on her from all around her.
A jinx shot straight at her from her left and she found herself face down on the ground, her legs tied together with a conjured piece of rope. She still had her wand but had no time to use it to free herself, before someone stepped on her arm with a heavy crunch and her wand dropped. She cried out in pain and tried to pull her arm back, but the heavy foot just increased the pressure and she was sure she could feel bone crack beneath it. Tears sprang from her eyes and ran down her temples as she faced the moon above her.
"Not much fight now, little Mudblood." There was malice in that voice, but also something else that grated her skin and had bile at the back of her throat. She tried once more to pull her arm with a yelp and this time he relented. But she was too slow to grab for her wand with a broken arm. Curling in on herself, she could only wait as she found herself surrounded.
All of a sudden pain shot through her, from the top of her head and coursed down her spine, making all her limbs twitch and flail in pain. It was pain like she had never felt before. And she had felt quite an amount of pain in her short life.
"Enough."
The pain stopped and the last of her pursuers stepped into the moonlight.
Hair almost as pale as the moon itself shone down at her. He was dressed in robes almost as tattered as her own and yet they were still as dark as night and looked nicer than hers. He flicked his wand and hers shot to his extended hand. She could feel his gaze searching her but she didn't dare look up at the grey eyes, she knew were also narrowed down at her. The way she had seen them narrow at her so many times at school.
Instead, she closed her eyes, breathed through the pain and waited for more pain to overcome her tired body.
"Go find someone else to play with, this one is mine." The sneer was clear as day in his voice and she heard footsteps crunch closer to where she was sprawled on the ground. She tried curling more in on herself with no luck.
Robes rustled just next to her face as he crouched down. With tremendous force, he yanked her chin to his deathly stare.
"I've got you now, Granger." The smile that graced his lips was powerful and nearly tore her to pieces right there and then.
"You're mine now." Possessiveness coated his tongue and caressed her body. She closed her eyes in defeat and fell back to let the darkness overcome her.