Harry Potter reader insert Bonus

Late Night Camping

Time: Unknown

A tall man with short, unkempt greying hair sat underneath the roof formed by the intertwining branches of the forest, the leaves filling in the gaps like dark green shingles.

He stretched out on the dark damp grass, and looked up at a lone star peeking through the ceiling of dark green; a single light in an ocean of darkness.

He lay next to a small, battered looking tent, barely large enough for one person. The crackling golden light of the dying fire casting shadows deep into the mysterious forest, shrouded with shadows.

"Care to join?" The man asked, moving only his head to address an oddly human like shadow to his left, his wand held hiddenly in his hand.

"And how do you know I won't kill you?" The tired, warry voice of a woman called out.

"Well... the good will of human kind I guess" The man replied nonchalantly. "And anyways if you are make it quick at least. I don't have much, the tent won't get you much maybe a quid or two if you find someone desperate enough."

The woman slowly made her way out of the trees. The man, for the first time, looked shocked as soon as the faint golden light illuminated her face.

"Something the matter stranger?" She asked him, the shadows on her face dancing in the dying light.

"No, well yes... well you just remind me of someone I used to know, but... not it can't be, just... just  forget it" The man said, sitting up tiredly. "Well what's your story then?"

"I don't usually go around tell strangers my life story" the woman replied, remaining standing next to the fire.

"William Wartnick" The man said lazily, not getting up from the ground.

"What?" The woman asked sounding confused, clearly on edge.

"My name" The man replied, looking just over the shoulder of the woman. "Its William Wartnick. But you... you can call me Will. See, now we're not strangers anymore."

"Mhm" the woman replied, looking around at the forest surrounding them.

"And your name is?" William asked her, in a patient, yet nervous voice.

"My name? Just call me Hermes" Hermes replied to him.

"Awful nervous there Hermes, someone after you or something?" William asked her, still watching over her shoulder.

Hermes ignored this can continued to scan the surrounding forest, that seemed to sway and move in the shadows.

"Alright then." William muttered to himself. "Awful strange name you have Hermes, any relation to the god?" 

"Hm?" Hermes replied, looking around before a look of shock sprang over her face as she saw William, clearly her mind was preoccupied with something else.

"You're name" William replied to her patiently, a slight smile on his face. "Does it have anything to do with the Greek messenger god, Hermes?"

"Yeah something like that" Hermes said, finally focusing on William, after having thoroughly searching the woods around them.

"Well now that you've combed the forest for boogey men, would you like to have a seat?" William asked her with a chuckle, clearing he was in the company of a wizard like himself.

"Trust me you wouldn't believe what is out there in the world" Hermes said, gingerly taking a seat on the grass.

"Well then tell me about yourself" William asked her.

"I could ask the same to you" Hermes replied, carefully watching his moves. 

"Well there's not much to tell" William started, relaxing on the grass. "I used to be a policeman back in the day, but well sometimes you see shit that you can't come back from, so well I left, my friends, what was left of my family, you could even say my old world behind. Since then well I've lived a normal life, in a small town working whatever small jobs I could get" William explained, all the while, still looking over Hermes ear.

"Mhm, and when does the magic come in?" She asked him, almost boredly.

He was take aback for a second, she really was insightful, how long had she known. What else did she know. He tightened his grip on his wand.

"Magic? I don't know what you're talking about lady" William replied harsher than he meant to.

"So you didn't learn magic at Hogwarts?" She asked him, her eyes almost piercing into him. "Look Will you did a good job hiding it, but well just not good enough."

William pulled out his wand pointing it at Hermes, who in turn pulled out her own wand.

"Who sent you?" William asked, the tiredness previously present in his motions nowhere to be found now. "Are you working for him?" William asked, emphasizing the last word.

"Who Voldemort?" Hermes replied, causing William to flinch slightly. "Seriously me? 'For Voldemort and Valor' and all that shit? Trust me that's not me alright." 

Hermes slowly lowered her wand, while William left his pointed at her eyes.

"Then what are you doing her?" William asked her, still confused about the last thing she said about valor.

"Same as you I'd suppose, trying to avoid the Death Eaters" She replied to him calmly.

William slowly lowered his wand and placed it on the ground. "Well you'd be I'm hunting those bastards. How'd you know anyway?" he asked her curiously.

"Hm? That you're a wizard? Well the fire for one, there's no way no non-magical fire is that golden" She told him, and then she added with a slight giggle, "Trust me I know a thing or two about fire."

"Not to mention you kept looking over my ear, obviously searching behind me for something." She explained.

Just then there was a rustling in the woods around them. The two of them jumped to their feet and pointed their wands into woods.

Suddenly a green jet of light shot by Hermes, barely missing her head. Out of the forest appeared half a dozen wizards, with dark black robes and silver masks. Death Eaters.

The ensuing duel lasted only a few minutes, with Hermes and William taking care of them quickly. William was able to dispatch the death eaters, with the swift precision of an auror, while Hermes utilized strange methods, possessing a strange control of fire that William had never seen.

The two of them fell back down into the grass, the unconscious bodies of the death eaters littering the small camp around them.

"That's some pretty quick wand work you got there Hermes." William told her. "I've never seen someone produce fire quite like that."

"Thank you" Hermes replied to him, still watching the woods around them. "Not bad yourself. You used to be an auror then?" She asked him.

"That obvious is it?" He asked her watching her carefully.

"You're very rigid when you fight, I heard that's how the aurors used to fight before they... never mind." She said quickly stopping herself.

"Interesting" William said, picking up on the certain strange things she talked about, and how she talked about them. "Well I'd ask if you'd like the stay travel with me, but well I don't exactly have that much extra room." he said thrusting his thumb behind him towards the tent.

"Don't worry I have my own" she simple replied, pulling a tiny roll out of her pocket and enlarging it till it was the size of a normal tent, before magically pitching it.   

"Well then it's settled" William said.

"We better get a move on" Hermes said, as she had gone back to searching the woods around them.

"Not so fast." William said, getting up slowly and making his way over to one of the unconscious Death eaters, pulling out his wand.

"I need to get some information"