Where the Wild Things Are

Chapter 20

Hermione was trying very hard. She had taken her shirt and wrapped her leg tightly in it weeks ago because she couldn't heal the broken bone in it. She was quite positive she had some sort of infection because the skin around it felt warm, but she kept trying to mend around it with wandless magic when she would settle in for the night.

Her shoulder was banged up. Her throat was damaged, she couldn't handle speaking but at least she could eat the fish she caught with a makeshift fishing pole. Most of the damage came from the fall and she was able to repair it with wandless magic, with few exceptions. Doing broken bones was going to be negative if she couldn't focus her magic properly. Same with her throat. Hermione knew her limitations and would work with them.

Thank Merlin she knew magic. It has saved her out in the wilderness. Especially when the wolves grew curious of her and thought she would make a great snack. They had been following her since, but she would scare them off with a bit of flame. She managed to transfigure herself a small knife; it wasn't perfect and the handle was janky, but it was sharp enough to gut fish.

Following the river had been a hard task, especially when there was no way to walk along the shore. She had to climb back up to the ridge and lost it twice because of it. She figured she had been traveling slowly, maybe a mile or so every day with her walking stick she manipulated into a crutch.

She was not happy that she was not found yet. Her fever had gotten worse and she did not have any more pain draughts she had in her pack. How long has it been? Weeks. She was sure of it. Hermione would have stayed where she landed if she didn't get chased by that bear.  It would have caught her if she didn't distract him with the only spell she could think of; a half decent rope binding spell, Incarcerous. 

Nothing was worse than trying to get away from that bear and chance jumping into the river and not hit rocks when she got to it. That was when she busted her leg... Her landing was nearly fatal and she heard the distinct crack of broken bones. The water carried her down, barely giving her the time to breathe. When she caught herself on some rocks, she recovered a bit. She spent two days trying to take inventory of how buggered she really was. Weeks of travel... she was having to come to acceptance now; she would not be found alive.

The woman grew bold tonight, she would keep her fire lit. She needed to stay warm, her chills were horrible. She wasn't sure she was going to make it through the next few days. She made a good effort. That's all that counted in the end. Hermione was quite sure as she took inventory of herself and her belongings that she was at the end of such. She would hold no regrets about that; just Charlie.

The thoughts of him plagued her and made her push harder. Stroking his necklace and ring she sighed heavily through shivers. She tried. She really did. Her best effort in surviving this horrible situation was put forth because he would have done the same. Hermione tried flares, but they just did not work. Sparks would flood her hands and not go anywhere. At least she was able to a simple fire charm. It wouldn't go far, but it was a good ward against the wildlife.

She gazed up at the sky and spotted the constellation Draco. She inwardly laughed and sighed, she would miss stories about each star from Charlie. She knew he had them, he told her a handful of years ago that he decided to name each star after different dragons in his life. How long did she really have a fondness for the man, now that she had time to reflect? Longer than she should have. Too timid to ever speak to him more than about dragons. Feelings of him being completely out of her league. She loved Ron, she knew that, but Charlie was like an exotic wild man... he had animal magnetism.

It was a shame. She wasn't going to make it back alive. Hermione knew that but it wasn't going to prevent her from trying at least. The witch had to admit she was disappointed that her life was ended with a stupid mistake. At least she hoped it was a mistake. She felt sorry for him once Charlie found out; that Aussie was going to suffer she was sure of it.