Chapter Nine: The Island
A mind not to be chang'd by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.
--Paradise Lost, John Milton
The morning was cool and Hermione rubbed her arms to get the chill out. It would be sweltering by noon. She walked over to Harry who was readying a small pack for the hike today.
"Please be careful," she said to him. Harry stood up slowly.
"I will," he replied.
"I mean it Harry. There are no mediwitches or hospitals to help you if you really hurt yourself."
Harry put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her directly. "I promise that I will be careful."
He left a short while later along with Ron, Neville and Draco. Pansy scowled as the group left, the other Slytherins muttered amongst themselves. Hermione, Ginny and Luna readied packs for themselves. While the guys were going to hike the small mountain on the island, they were going to explore the jungles that surrounded them.
Harry paused at the edge of the jungle. A large grassy plain stood before him followed by more jungle at the foot of the mountain. The jungle they had passed through was dense with foliage. So far the only other signs of life were the birds that they heard chirping in the canopies above. That was good news. Anything large and furry with sharp teeth was very unwelcome and when you were alone with your thoughts, your mind can come up with frightening possibilities on what could be on this island.
"Well," Draco paused as the others joined Harry, "the grass seems to be flat enough. We could easily see if anything large is approaching us."
"We could also be easily seen by anything large," Ron said. "I say we stick to the edge of the jungle."
Harry stared out. If they crossed the plains it would be a lot faster. The edge of the jungle however, would be safer.
"Knives out everyone," Harry said, "we'll cross the plains." Ron scowled at him and Draco.
Hermione and the girls paused before a beautiful sight. A waterfall, only ten meters high, poured into a large lake like pool that had a small creek flow away from it to the right.
"Do you think there's anything in it?" Ginny asked.
"I don't know," Hermione said quietly. The water was nearly clear, they could've probably seen straight to the bottom if the surface hadn't been so choppy from the falls.
Hermione approached the edge of it and bravely took a handful of water to her lips.
"It's freshwater!" she exclaimed. "We can fill up on water here!"
"And bathe in it," Luna said dreamily. "I would give anything for a nice bath."
Ginny dropped to the ground and began to take off her shoes to undress. The other two followed suit.
"Ah!!"
"Oh my God!"
"Oh that's cold!"
The three of them had jumped in, the cool water making contact with their hot and sweaty skin was a shock, but it was a welcome relief.
"This is great!" Ginny said as she treaded water with the other three. "We can bathe here, wash our clothes…"
"Does anyone know how to make soap?" Luna asked.
"I don't care," Hermione smiled. "This is better than what we've had."
"Let's go behind the waterfall," Ginny said.
They swam toward the waterfall, diving under and coming up on the other side of it. It was a big letdown. There was only a smooth outcrop of the cliff, wet and slippery with the spray of the water. The girls hoisted themselves out of the water and sat on it.
"Well, I guess I can cross off skinny dipping on some exotic island off my Things-To-Do-Before-I-Die list," Ginny said wryly and the other two laughed.
The mountain was a lot tougher to climb than Harry thought it would be. The four of them rested on some smooth rocks to catch their breaths. The sun was past halfway in the sky and they would probably have to sleep overnight on the mountain. Ron was starving and the dried fish was wearing thin on him. He looked over and saw a shrub that had ripe red berries growing on it. His mouth watered and he reached out and picked a few.
"No!" Neville shouted and knocked the berries out of Ron's hand.
"What did you do that for?" Ron shouted.
"There are plenty of those plants around here with these berries still on them," Neville explained. "We've passed them several times since this morning."
"So?" Ron said angrily.
"So, the birds around here aren't eating them and for good reason. They're probably poisonous," Neville said warningly.
"It's a good guideline," Draco spoke up. "We only eat what the animals eat."
"Oh who asked you, Ferret?" Ron said nastily, taking his frustration out on him.
"Shut up, Weasel. You're probably so used to eating anything you could find because you're so poor," Draco sneered.
"Cut it out, you two," Harry said sharply. "Draco that was uncalled for," he scolded and Draco glared at him while Ron smiled smugly. "And Ron, he was only trying to help. It's a good guideline and we should stick to it." The smug smile was wiped off his face and replaced with a frown.
After filling the water bottles in the waterfall, the three of them headed back to the beach to tell the others. It was only a ten minute walk through the jungle to get to the pool and Luna and Ginny led the way while Hermione stayed behind to watch the beach. She was sitting alone by the fire when she heard someone approach her.
"Hey there," Terry said softly as he plopped down next to her.
"Hi," she replied. "Why didn't you go with the others?"
"I didn't think it was safe to leave you alone."
"I can take care of myself," she said defiantly.
"Alright, then I did it for my own piece of mind," Terry said and Hermione sighed. It was a fight she wasn't going to win. "How are you doing?" he asked.
"Well…our ship sank, we were crowded on a lifeboat for days on end until a shark attacked us, nearly ate me but I drowned instead. I was resuscitated in time for both lifeboats to sink leaving us stranded on this island. I'm doing just peachy," she said sarcastically.
Terry reached out and wrapped an arm around her, hugging her close to him. "We'll be okay, Hermione," he said gently. "At least we're out of the water." Hermione looked at the jungle spread out in front of them. She couldn't help the ominous feeling that surrounded her.
~*~
The island was larger than they thought it would be. Dense jungle covered it with patches here and there of grassy plain. There was a small waterfall near the beach where they were staying at and a small tidal lagoon to the west where the sun was setting. Unfortunately there were no other signs of inhabitants on this island and their hopes sunk with the setting sun.
"Well, we have no choice but to set up camp here for the night. We'll head back in the morning," Harry sighed.
They began to collect some logs to burn with some dry grass. Harry said he would work on the fire while the others readied their beds using palm fronds as mats and their packs as pillows.
Ron didn't join the others as they prepared camp. He wanted to talk to Harry and ask why his best friend was suddenly Draco Malfoy of all people. It had hurt Ron when he took Draco's side over his. He had been doing that on the boats as well.
He silently approached Harry who was hunched over the logs. Harry had his eyes closed and holding two twigs in front of him. Ron opened his mouth to say something when the most amazing thing happened. The twigs were set aflame. Harry didn't rub them together or anything that Dean had showed him. Ron stepped away silently and hastily prepared a bed.
He didn't say a word that night. Didn't even participate in the mindless chatter that was usually associated around a campfire. He was deep in thought over what he had just seen. He stayed up most of the night as well when the others had drifted off to sleep. Harry stirred restlessly on his mat. Ron sighed, he would talk to Hermione the first chance he got.
~*~
"I'm telling you, it's the truth!" he whispered to her. "I saw it with my own eyes."
Hermione and Ron sat by themselves away from the group. Hermione got the idea to strip the palm fronds and weave them together to make a sturdier more comfortable mat. She had been working on one when Ron approached her shortly after the group returned.
"Are you sure?" Hermione whispered back. "I mean…are you sure you didn't just get there as the flame started?"
"I'm telling you. He wasn't rubbing the sticks together. He had his eyes closed like he was concentrating and then poof! Up in flames they went."
Hermione chewed on her lower lip. "I don't know, Ron," she said slowly. "Harry would tell us if he could do something like that. We're his best friends."
"Are we?" Ron asked, looking at her. "I'm not even sure about that, anymore."
Hermione looked sadly at Ron. She knew he was talking about Harry's amicableness with Draco Malfoy. "Ron…" she began but he stood up hastily.
"I've gotta go," he said and walked away.
Hermione sighed and watched him go. Her gaze drifted over to Harry who was sitting with Neville as Ginny tried to show them how to weave. It's not that she didn't believe Ron, it was just that Harry would tell them if anything strange was happening to him.
Wouldn't he?
Thunder rumbled in the distance.
The storm didn't reach them until that afternoon, drenching the island in warm heavy rain that sent everyone scurrying under the tarps.
"We're going to need better shelter," Harry muttered as they huddled together.
"There were some rocky outcrops near the lagoon," Neville said.
"Maybe there are caves there," Dean piped up.
"Maybe…we'll head out there tomorrow," Harry said.
"Hey!" Ron whispered fiercely. "What is that? Do you guys hear that?"
At first, all you could hear was the constant tapping of the rain falling. But suddenly, there was a rustling coming from the jungle. The students fell silent, scared to breathe. The rustling increased followed by a sound of grunting. Hermione's heart beat loudly in her chest. She cast a terrified glance over at Harry who was intently watching for whatever would come out of the forest. More rustling and grunting then suddenly dark figures ran out from the jungle onto the beach grunting and snorting. Lavender screamed and ran out of the tent, Seamus went after her but the other students darted out of the tent and scattered. Some went into the jungle, some ran down the beach.
Wild pigs invaded the camp, curious to their new inhabitants. There tusks were sharp and dangerous and they reacted to the panic that they had caused. They charged some students trampling the tents and the supplies as they did so.
Ron pushed Luna up a tree, safe out of reach from the crazy pigs.
"Go! Go! Go!" he screamed to her as they made their ascent.
Luna climbed the best she could, frightened out of her wits, arms and legs trembling and slipping on the already wet wood.
Harry ran down the beach chasing Hermione, his vision impaired by the hard falling rain. Other students ran with him.
"Stop!" he shouted out at Hermione. "Hermione stop!"
The girl ahead of him stopped and turned around and Harry stopped dead. The girl wasn't Hermione, it was some sixth year. He had lost Hermione.
Draco had followed Pansy and the other Slytherins down the opposite side of the beach only to come to a dead end at some rocky cliffs that loomed above them.
"What do we do, Draco?" Pansy cried. "Oh, what do we do?"
Draco looked up at the cliffs. "We climb," he said and the others obeyed.
A scream pierced the air, high and terrifying. Draco recognized it at Ginny's.
"Where are you going?" Pansy yelled at Draco as he began to climb back down. He jumped to the ground and began to run in her direction.
"Draco!" Pansy screamed behind him.
Draco followed her screams back to camp where he saw Ginny hanging desperately from a tree. She must have climbed it but slipped on a slippery branch, her hands clinging to the branch above her while a pig snapped and snarled below her. Draco picked up a knife from a destroyed survival kit and threw it at the pig. It made its mark and the pig dropped to the ground. Draco stood below Ginny.
"It's okay!" he yelled to her. "I've got you!"
Ginny let go of the branch and she fell easily into Draco's arms. Draco put her down gently then reached down to yank the knife from the pig.
"Come on," he said, grabbing her hand and running into the jungle with her.
Hermione sprinted through the forest not caring if twigs scraped at her skin. She could hear the grunts behind her. The two pigs chased her through the jungle. A stitch formed in her side and she didn't know how much longer she could run. There was a large tree ahead of her and she sprinted for it, trying to put some distance between herself and the animals behind her.
She reached the large trunk and tried to find some footing to boost herself up to the closest branch. But it was too wet and her foot kept slipping. The pigs crashed through the jungle coming closer.
"Please, oh please," she whispered desperately as she reached and reached.
Hermione turned as the pigs crashed through the foliage and were nearly upon her when suddenly something large came at them from the side. The pigs screamed in terror Hermione's eyes grew large, she was too terrified to even scream. Her fight or flight response kicked in and she ran blind with panic further into the forest. The pigs' wails of fright were silenced followed by wet ripping sounds.
She ran and ran until the ground suddenly gave way beneath her and she slid down a muddy slope. She landed with a thud at the bottom. She scurried under some large bushes, screening herself and listened. There was nothing, no sound but the rain. She dared to breathe again and closed her eyes in exhaustion.
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