Devastated over recent events, Ron sullenly walked next to Harry.
“I can’t believe I lost her. . . . After all this time ” I couldn’t protect her,” Ron explained sadly.
“Ron, stop blaming yourself. We’ll find her, eventually. I’m just as devastated as you are Ron, but you ””
“How, Harry? How are you just as devastated as me? You two were friends, and have been friends since first year. Me and Hermione have been awkwardly avoiding each other, hiding our true feelings, but guess what! She’s gone ””
“She’s not gone!” Harry cut in. “Ron, just, settle down. Maybe it was hollow down there, just like you in third year! Did you die? No!”
“Harry, I’m sorry, but it’s just really hard for me; for my one true love to just disappear like that. I have no idea where she is. If she’s safe or in danger. I just don’t know!”
They finally made it to the top of the hill and looked out over the horizon. With trees swaying in the breeze, and a light dusting of rain still enduring, a silent remorse approached them.
“Hermione could be anywhere. She could be right under our feet and we don’t even know it,” Ron said quietly while looking at the ground.
Ron and Harry made their way down the hill, Ron going slower than Harry trying to mull things over.
A second rumbling beneath them triggered their instincts immediately. They brandished their wands, ready for the attack, but nothing. The mysterious and random rumblings confused them.
“Do you think that could be Hermione below us? Maybe it’s her being dragged to some secret location, like I was with the Shrieking Shack?” Ron questioned sophisticatedly.
Harry stared blankly at Ron for a second before replying, “. . . Could be. . . .”
Ron began to sprint onward, following the rumbling which returned as Ron followed the ominous sound. He could hear a girl screaming, desperately trying to break free . . . suffocating in the long tunnel of dirt. Sudden silence made Ron numb . . . he could only think of the worst. Harry sprinted up to Ron’s side.
“Ron, slow down! You don’t even know what you’re running to!”
“I’m running for Hermione’s life! She won’t die! I won’t let her!” Ron yelled, dodging trees and branches.
The floor crumbled beneath their feet, sending them into a free fall. Harry and Ron yelled loudly before landing in a pile of grey dust.
Harry spat out a mouthful of it before looking around for Ron. “Ron? Ron are you okay?!” Harry asked, searching for his friend.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Ron said while brushing the dust off of his shoulders.
“What is this stuff? Dust?” Ron questioned, rubbing the mixture between his fingers.
Harry looked closer before coming to a conclusion. “Ash. It’s ash ” hold on a minute. Just like Dumbledore said! The Ash Stone would draw us to it! Well, here’s a pile of ash, so it must be buried in here somewhere!” Harry said, digging through the immense pile of ash.
Harry gasped quietly while pushing himself backwards in fear.
“What?! What is it?” Ron asked looking to where Harry was focusing.
Ron yelled in shock as he saw what it had been ” a rotting corpse. The off-white bone just lightly showed over the light grey ash. Its disfigured facial expressions looked like they were screaming ” almost suffering.
“Bloody hell, Harry!” Ron yelled. His continuous yelling bugged Harry, and he started overreacting as usual. Ron began swimming through the ashen dust over to Harry’s side.
“Harry, what if all these people were dragged underneath just like Hermione?! What if Hermione’s buried underneath the ash, gasping for breath? Harry ” what if Hermione’s dying underneath our feet?! Harry, what if she’s calling for us, but we can’t hear her? What if she’s screaming her last breath? Oh, Merlin, Harry!”
Ron discarded the protruding corpse nervously while clasping his eyes shut and began digging through the ash. Ron’s hand touched something firm, something hard. Something human? When he began to get excited with accomplishment flooding through him; what was found was another corpse.
“BLOODY HELL, HARRY! THEY’RE EVERYWHERE!” Ron yelled, jumping backwards. The level of ash lowered as more and more corpses began popping up. Corpse after corpse after corpse. The ash flowed out of their rib cage, leaving a hollow space to be soon filled with more ash. A horrible odor rushed up through their nostrils, making them plug their noses immediately. The corpses probably have been here for at least ten years by now.
Harry trudged through the ash. He was being pulled toward one certain corpse, unable to fight it . . . helpless. Being helpless was a horrible feeling. It’s almost as if the whole world around you is pointing and laughing at you, mocking you for every single thing you do, but when Harry noticed why he had actually been drawn to the certain corpse, he actually forced himself to go faster. When finally reaching the corpse, Harry couldn’t help but tear it apart.
“Harry, what are you doing?” Ron yelled, appalled, trying to stop Harry.
Harry spun around, his hands black from digging. “Ron! Don’t you get it? Look around us! It’s all ash. The final Stone is the Ash Stone! We would be drawn to the Stone just like I was just drawn to this corpse. I think that the Stone is inside this corpse somewhere!” Harry yelled while resuming his business.
“Merlin, Harry! You’re insane!” Ron yelled, disgusted.
“FOUND IT!” Harry exclaimed, taking an oddly shaped stone out of the corpse’s bony mouth.
Ron looked revolted, but nonetheless excited that they had finally completed their task of finding the Six Stones ” well, in this case five.
“Harry, that’s great, but can we please try to find Herm” Wait, do you hear that?” Ron asked, putting his ear near the surface of ash.
Harry listened intently, before responding, “Yeah . . . it sounds like a girl . . . calling for help ” Hermione!” Harry yelled while brandishing his wand. “Sipartilan!” Harry yelled. A grey stream of light erupted from his wand, throwing him backwards because of the powerful force. The light struck through the ash with ease, parting the ways. Harry rushed forward to see if he could see anything at the bottom.
“L-Lumos,” a girl at the bottom of the pit whispered weakly when discovering Harry had been looking down at her.
The light illuminated her dirt-covered face. Bruised and battered from the recent dragging underground.
“Hermione,” Harry whispered, questioning himself if it had actually been her. “Hermione?” Harry questioned loudly this time.
“Ha-Harry,” Hermione replied weakly, forcing herself to stay awake.
“HERMIONE!” Ron yelled, rushing over to the opening. “HERMIONE, ARE YOU OKAY?” Ron exclaimed with tears racking his face.
“Get me out of here,” Hermione said, frightened. While regaining some of her strength, she tried to dig herself out since only the top half of her had been revealed due to Harry’s quick wand-work.
“Wingardium Leviosa!” Harry shouted, aiming his wand at Hermione. Hermione’s frail body was removed from the fine rubble and began to rise up out from underneath. When she surfaced, Ron grabbed her and brought her to safety.
“Hermione, you’re safe. I can’t believe it,” Ron crooned while weeping.
Hermione smiled weakly. “It seems as if everything is on Voldemort’s side now,” she said, referring to the tree root which had taken hold of her moments earlier.
“Let’s get to real land,” Harry said, smiling after the short reunion. He pocketed the Stone and guided their way out of the pile of ash, determined to get Hermione to safety. He climbed up a few feet before finally standing back on firm land again. He grabbed Hermione and laid her down gently with Ron shortly following. “See, Ron, I told you we’d find her,” he said, smiling.
Harry and Ron stood up while Ron held Hermione in his arms seeing as she couldn’t stand on her own just yet due to the weight of the ash crushing down on her.
They entered the forest which was actually only a short walk until they reached the other side.
“That part wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be,” Ron said while exiting the forest.
“Maybe the trees felt bad for us,” Harry said sarcastically. “It probably wasn’t meant to be difficult, Ron.”
The thunder and lightning began to stir up again. All three of them looked forward to see a large stone staircase.
“The Cliff of Crasilium,” Harry whispered.
Tragedies by TTOOMMYY11
Chapter Notes: This chapter is rated 3rd - 5th years due to graphic descriptions.