Summer Writing Series Challenge (July 26)
Challenge: [Movie Week] Suspense/Horror
Title: By the Grace of an Angel
Word Count: 1,015
Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione Granger saw the shadow pass through the trees once again. Her heart was beating frantically, her side aching from the heaving breaths she'd been taking in her flight. Now, more than ever, did she realize just how unfit her body was.
Fighting the urge to scream, she ran in the opposite direction of her pursuer, pushing the engulfing foliage of the forbidden forest from her face. A clicking sound echoed above her, followed by another to her left. She began to panic when she tripped over a perceived tree branch and fought to get to her feet. With horror, she looked to see the spider web that had entangled her legs, capturing her like a careless fly for the hungry Acromantula hunters on this quiet, moonlit night. The quiet was ripped asunder by her terrified scream when her predator dropped to the ground several yards from her entangled body.
Harry was happy that Ron hadn't come along to see Grawp with the two of them. Hagrid's half-brother didn't recognize many people from the castle, Ron being one of them. That thought alone wasn't what caused Harry's apparent relief it was the sudden Acromantula attack that he was concerned about. He and Hermione had been split when the wave of spiders engulfed the unsuspecting giant and he fell after a few feeble attempts to rid himself of the gnashing arachnids.
He and his best friend had run when Grawp shouted for them to go but another large force of the intelligent, giant spiders forced them apart. Hermione had lost her bearings and when he realized that she'd run towards the heart of the forest, his hopes of seeing her alive began to dwindle.
The centaurs wouldn't be any help due to their animosity towards wizards, not to mention they were willing to kill the human children last year when Hermione tricked Umbridge into the forest. Harry couldn't count on them. Grawp was likely dead, and Hagrid was off on another mission for the Order.
He stopped in his tracks when a single, high-pitched, scream shattered his senses and without a thought to his personal safety, ran full-tilt towards his horror-stricken friend.
The spider clicked its mandibles menacingly as a type of green goo dribbled from the pincers that were hidden in its maw. Hermione thrashed violently in a panicked attempt to untangle herself but the webbing held fast and her frantic movements only caused them to become more entwined with the sticky fabric.
Tears erupted spontaneously from her eyes as the spider straddled its eight long, hairy, legs over her body and began to excrete more webbing onto her legs. Her eyes went wide and she lost her voice as she suddenly realized that she was being cocooned. Hermione looked up as the spider hissed and saw her reflection in its eight beady eyes. A blood-curdling scream erupted from her lips as the Acromantula lunged for the kill.
Harry suppressed a shudder as he realized how far into the forest Hermione had run. His pursuit of his best friend had slowed to a seeming crawl once he spotted the tangled mess of webs that lined the forest floor. Skeletons of various creatures hung on some of the largest trees, a centaur or two, deer, wolves, bears, and something that seemed to be a large snake were attached to the trunks with sticky webbing.
He scanned the canopy every chance he could, noticing the black forms of Aragog's children scurrying happily along the lofty branches. His skin crawled as he remembered the wave of spider flesh that had chased after Ron and him during his second year, then again with poor Grawp.
It seemed like he'd been picking his way through the sticky trap for hours when he stopped cold in his tracks. One of the largest spiders he'd ever seen, aside from its father, was spinning a cocoon on something that was thrashing madly beneath its massive body. His eyes went wide when he realized what was happening.
"ARANEA EXIME!" He shouted with his wand leveled at the beast.
Hermione closed her eyes instinctively as the monster lurched towards her then opened them suddenly when she heard the familiar voice of Harry Potter screaming a spell she hadn't heard performed.
The blotted sun that still reached the forest floor was relieved of its obstruction when the spell hit the spider's side and knocked it several meters to her left. A smile filled her face as her tears continued to fall when Harry rushed to her side and cut the webs with a simple spell.
"I'm sorry!" she yelped as she flung herself into his waiting arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
"There's nothing to be sorry for, Hermione," Harry said reassuringly, "But you've got to pull yourself together, it's not safe-"
"Harry, we can't get out, there's too many!" she cried as the two of them looked around the clearing. A veritable wall of spiders crept forward, clicking menacingly at their hopeful lunch.
"When I tell you, run, Hermione," Harry said as he took his wand from her hand and handed hers back. "I found it on the way..." he explained as the backed into one another.
Hermione stopped and watched with perplexed interest as spiders began to jump straight into the air or to the side of a blocked escape route. It seemed as if a lump the size of a wagon was scuttling towards them fast and furious. "What?" she asked aloud, her eyes widening in fear.
Harry turned to glance at the phenomenon and he shook Hermione slightly to snap her out of her fear induced paralysis. "Hermione!" he whispered harshly as the lump reached the clearing they were in.
With a loud blast of its horn, Mr. Weasley's blue Ford Anglia crested a small hill and landed next to the frightened teens. Its door flew open and without a second thought, Harry shoved Hermione into it's protective interior. The car groaned in protest, but with swift, magical efficiency, it lurched from the ground and out of the spider-infested forest.
A/N: Just so you know, this was inspired by Eight Legged Freaks :)