Stay with Me | Hermione Granger x Female OC (Book 4)

Aberforth

The dragon took them north, soaring through the low clouds as its wings flapped loudly. The dragon roared as it flew over a large lake, the water rippling below them.

"We're dropping!" Harry yelled.

"Are you serious?" Ellie countered as she stared at the deep water below them.

"I say we jump," Ron shrieked.

"I can't swim!" Ellie admitted as she gulped fearfully. The water seemed to draw her in, the small ripples appearing to be crashing waves.

The others snapped their heads in Ellie's direction with complete shock, their mouths dropped open.

"It's okay! I'll catch you!" Hermione urged to her girlfriend before turning to Harry. "When?"

"Now!" Harry ordered.

Ellie took a deep breath and looked one more time to her girlfriend, who gave a promising look. The Hufflepuff felt her head spin as she shut her eyes tightly, then jumped, falling quickly before she broke the water's surface.

The four of them dropped into lake, their weight sinking them deep into the water. The waves crashed against their faces as only three of them rose for air, treading the water to keep their heads above. Its cold temperature brought shivers to the group, pushing them to get to land.

Ellie felt herself sink further, frantically looking up for her girlfriend. The breath she had taken was slowly starting to diminish as she felt the depths suck her in. The seconds felt like hours, and she started to believe that she had been separated from the group. Panic flooded her system as she flailed her arms desperately. Her vision rapidly grew darker, and the icy cold water only hindered her ability to move.

Hermione suddenly dove down to Ellie, swimming her way to the helpless Hufflepuff. Hermione firmly grabbed her girlfriend under her arms and started to pull, using just her feet to propel themselves upwards. They seemed to be getting nowhere, only moving a few inches with every passing second. Ellie's lungs burned for oxygen as she held onto Hermione for dear life.

After a few moments of seemingly stagnant progress, Ron suddenly dove down, motioning for Hermione to move aside so that he could pull the other side of Ellie's body. Together, Ron and Hermione brought Ellie to the surface, the three of them gasping for air. Ellie sputtered the water that started to seep into her mouth, coughing violently.

Hermione held her girlfriend up, clutching Ellie to her body protectively.

"It's okay, darling... You're safe now," Hermione reassured as she silently mouthed a message of thanks to the red-head, who merely nodded.

Ellie looked for Ron and finally met his eyes, thanking him in a barely audible voice. Nonetheless, he got the message and gave a small smile as he began to bring his hands in front of him to swim towards land. Hermione pulled Ellie along with her, trailing just after Ron.

The quartet exited the lake almost immediately after the incident, panting hard as they stepped onto the mossy rocks. Harry had a panicked look on his face as he began to walk ahead of the group.

"He knows. You-Know-Who," Harry heaved. "He knows we broke into Gringotts. He knows what we took and he knows we're hunting Horcruxes."

"Are you joking?" Ellie asked, hoping he wasn't speaking the truth.

"How is it you know?" Hermione urged as she followed Harry up the hill, with Ellie and Ron trailing closely behind.

"I saw him," Harry answered gravely.

"You let him in? Harry, you can't do that," Hermione protested.

"Hermione, I can't always help it. Well maybe I can. I don't know," Harry protested.