mirrorball

chapter ten

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Clara's eyes shot open. Curses flew from her mouth as she got up and took in her surroundings. They were in some sort of forest. Clara walked a few feet forward, towards Harry and Hermione. What were they looking down on?

The moment her eyes fell upon Ron, Clara felt her face go white, for blood drenched the whole of Ron's left side and his face stood out, grayish-white, against the leaf-strewn earth. The Polyjuice Potion was wearing off now: Ron was halfway between Cattermole and himself in appearance, his hair turning redder and redder as his face drained of the little color it had left. 

"What's happened to him?" asked Harry, kneeling down next to her. "Splinched," said Hermione, her fingers already busy at Ron's sleeve, where the blood was wettest and darkest. Harry watched, horrified, as she tore open Ron's shirt. Clara came to Ron's other side and took a better look at his injury; her insides crawled unpleasantly as Hermione laid bare Ron's upper arm, where a great chunk of flesh was missing, scooped cleanly away as though by a knife. "Harry, quickly, in my bag, there's a small bottle labeled 'Essence of Dittany'— "

"Bag— right—' Harry sped to the place where Hermione had landed, seized the tiny beaded bag, and thrust his hand inside it. 

"Quickly!" 

Harry grabbed his wand from the ground and pointed it into the depths of the magical bag. "Accio Dittany!" 

A small brown bottle zoomed out of the bag; he caught it and hastened back to Hermione and Ron, whose eyes were now half closed, strips of white eyeball was all that were visible between his lids. 

"He's fainted," said Hermione who was also rather pale; she no longer looked like Mafalda, though her hair was still gray in places. "Unstopper it for me, Harry, my hands are shaking." 

Harry wrenched the stopper off the little bottle, Hermione took it and poured three drops of the potion onto the bleeding wound.Greenish smoke billowed upward and when it had cleared, Clara saw that the bleeding had stopped. The wound now looked several days old; new skin stretched over what had just been open flesh. 

"Wow," said Harry. 

"It's all I feel safe doing," said Hermione shakily. "There are spells that would put him completely right, but I daren't try in case I do them wrong and cause more damage. . . . He's lost too much blood already. . . ." 

"How did he get hurt? I mean"—Harry shook his head— "why are we here? I thought we were going back to Grimmauld Place?" 

Hermione took a deep breath. She looked close to tears. "Harry, I don't think we're going to be able to go back there." "What d'you—?" "As we Disapparated, Yaxley caught hold of me and I couldn't get rid of him, he was too strong, and he was still holding on when we arrived at Grimmauld Place, and then—well, I think he must have seen the door, and thought we were stopping there, so he slackened his grip and I managed to shake him off and I brought us here instead! And now Ron's-" Hermione let out a sob, "Clara, maybe you could think of some safer spells to help him..."

Clara opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Harry. "But then, where's he? Hang on. . . . You don't mean he's at Grimmauld Place? He can't get in there?" Hermione's eyes sparkled with tears as she nodded. 

"Harry, I think he can." said Clara, as Hermione let out another sob.

Hermione nodded in agreement before speaking, "I— I forced him to let go with a Revulsion Jinx, but I'd already taken him inside the Fidelius Charm's protection. Since Dumbledore died, we're Secret-Keepers, so I've given him the secret, haven't I?"