August | Hermione Granger x OFC

Chapter 106

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Her eyes were shut, but she could tell the sun was shining bright beyond them. With a groan, she opened them and looked around.

She was on the edge of a field. An unfamiliar field. And she had no idea how she got there.

On her left lay her Firebolt. On her right lay her wand.

The field was made up of, like, barley, or something. She didn't know. Her knowledge of grass was lacking, magical or otherwise. Herbology wasn't her subject.

But was the grass magical? As in, was it part of a magical area? If it was, she could use her wand. If it wasn't, the trace would activate...she thought, anyway. Her understanding of the trace was as lacking as her knowledge of grass.

She had used magic outside of school the previous summer and nothing had happened, but, she'd been in magical areas and surrounded by other witches and wizards every time.

Now? She was in the middle of nowhere, seemingly...surrounded by barley.

But, so many Ministry Officials had been Imperiused by this point, that maybe she could get away with it.

She had to try, at least, because otherwise she was totally lost. It's not as though she could Apparate home.

She picked up her wand and muttered, "Point Me," to which it spun to the right, pointing north.

Okay. Well, that way was north, which didn't actually mean a whole lot to her. She was still totally lost either way, because she didn't know which direction she needed to go in; north, south, east or west, because...

She had no idea – absolutely not a scooby – where she was.

She needed to think. What had happened last night? Her mind was oddly blurry, like she'd had one too many drinks or something. The last thing she could remember was...

Was being rammed off her broom by Bellatrix!

She was furious, suddenly. Furious. That damned woman had tried to kill her – had almost succeeded in killing her. But, thank Merlin, she'd been able to summon her broom, regain her balance, and...

And what? Why was she in a random field, the next day? And why had she been unconscious?

And, Hermione had witnessed it, hadn't she? She'd watched Bellatrix knock Robyn off her broom and done nothing, left her to die, hadn't even tried to save her.

Robyn was furious, yes, but at that realisation, she was beyond hurt, too. She was heartbroken.

Her head hurt, her heart hurt, and for some reason her shoulder hurt.

Why was she sore? Had Bellatrix done something to her? Was she hiding in the barley, waiting to jump out and Crucio her to death?

"Hello?" she croaked, paranoid.

Nothing.

She wasn't sure if it was more unnerving to be alone, or to be...not alone. But so far, there was no one around. And at least it was daytime. At least it wasn't dark. At least she had her wand and her broom. Small blessings.

And maybe she'd only managed to regain her balance just in time to then hit the ground anyway, knocking herself out, and she was sore from the collision. Maybe Bellatrix had simply flown off after ramming her off her broom, presuming her dead.

That was what she would go with.

Now, to find a way back to Wiltshire. Or Kent. Or maybe London.

She faced north, then paused. It was Surrey they'd been flying over, and she'd chased Kingsley and "Harry", who was almost certainly Hermione (because, Hakuna Matata, hello?), east. Maybe if she started north, she'd make it to London – to Diagon Alley, maybe. But she'd still have to find it, having only travelled there via broom once, and yes, it had been recently, but she didn't have an amazing sense of direction. London was...quite big. What if she wasn't able to find the entrance? What if she then got lost in London? Would that be worse or better than being lost in the countryside?