Hermione's Letter

Chapter 10

With the evacuation still in progress on the now almost totally submerged ship, Hermione, Ginny and Sam waited on a small section of beach for the rest of the passengers to arrive, not least of which was Harry. Professors McGonagall and Sprout, with the help of some of the seventh years, were doing their best to pull those who had been injured either before or in the impact of the transport into the sparkling water out of the escape hatches but it was difficult, and they couldn't do it very quickly due to the massive influx of water. The transport itself, yellow and black on the outside, was now almost totally immersed in the sea, which was impeding the evacuation considerably.

Hermione was too distant from the transport to be able to see too clearly what was happening on board, but occasionally a body was pulled out, and put on a raft with a seventh-year. A growing collection of injured people was assembling on the shoreline, where anyone with expertise in medical magic was helping as best they could.

Fred and Sarah had found each other again and were holding on tightly to each other. Fred was consoling Sarah, who was sobbing into his hair; she was very upset as she had a sister who was still on board the transport.

"She's only been at Hogwarts two days, she's not going to make it out... do something, please!" she wailed desperately into the Weasley twin's hair.

Fred gently stroked the back of her head, doing his best to comfort her. "Sarah, they'll get her out. Trust me - I'm a Weasley." He gently kissed the top of her head, trying to soothe the distraught Hufflepuff, and her sobs gently softened. "Come on, let's sit down for a bit," he said, guiding her to an empty area of sand and helping her to the ground, putting his arm around her as they did.

***

Thirty seconds later Hermione observed another person being pulled out of the transport. She couldn't make out who exactly it was, but she could see that they were female. She was quite tall, too, compared with some of the people Hermione had previously seen. As the girl was sent over on a raft, Hermione could observe more closely who it was.

"It's... Hannah," she said with a little squeal. "That means Harry's coming out!" Ginny and Sam shared in her delight, but Ginny's expression was amalgamated with one of extreme worry.

Ron had not exited the transport yet either.

Hermione noticed the look on Ginny's face, and turning to Sam, noticing the expression mirrored on Sam, subconsciously put her arms around the two of them, pulling them in close to her.

"They'll be ok, they'll get them out," she whispered to the pair of them, just as she noticed that two more rafts had been launched. There was a thoroughly soaked young girl wearing the Hufflepuff robes on one, and a boy of Hermione's age with a red and gold tie on the other. His hair was black and very tousled.

As they approached the shore, Hermione almost screamed with relief. She collided with Sarah as they both ran over to the rafts, having both seen who they were looking for, and they both fell to the floor heavily. Hermione got up first and gave Sarah a hand, and the two of them, both breathless from running, the fall, and relief, made it to the rafts, which had landed gracefully as they had picked themselves up.

A Hufflepuff seventh-year was treating them using his wand. He was drawing water out of their chests via their mouths using a complex incantation that Hermione recognized from her copy of "Advanced Medicinal Magic, Volume 1." It seemed to be working, as everyone saved so far had awoken and been moved into a makeshift recovery area in a sheltered hollow underneath a cliff.

Sarah and Hermione stood together, watching as the first-year girl and Harry were both regenerated, slowly but surely, from the damage caused by being submerged so long. After about a barrel's worth of water had been drained from the girl's body, she started to choke and splutter, and finally managed to come around. She gradually opened her eyes, the colour of which was a deep red, and regained awareness. Seeing her sister, she managed a weak smile, and raised her arms. Sarah pulled her up and hugged her in much the same style as Mrs Weasley tended to do to her children, almost squashing the somewhat tiny girl.

"Don't ever do that to me again, Amelia! I thought you were gone!" She planted kisses all over her sister's pale face, which also had a tinge of blue to it from lack of the vital element oxygen.

Harry caused a little more difficulty, it was necessary for three seventh years to extract the water from him, as there was so much of it. Harry had never been one for water; his taste for it did not extend beyond using it for potions or drinks. He had never learnt to swim as the Dursleys had not considered it to be a necessary skill for him - "we wouldn't want to waste valuable money on you learning to swim - it's not like you'll ever need it, your cupboard is the best place for you, and there you'll stay," Aunt Petunia had said to him with an evil grin on her bony face which looked as if it had been put through an old washing mangle.

Harry's eyelids eventually parted and the green tinge of the visual organs within met the bright glare of the sunshine. For one brief moment, anyway.

The green soon met with the brown of Hermione's wide eyes, and it was reflected in a single tear that had presented itself on her round face. Her bushy brown hair came out in front of her and hung down a little as he looked up at her, glad she was the first thing he was seeing.

It seemed to Hermione that they were able to communicate so much in just one look; they shared a special bond that had come with their growing friendship. She didn't need to think about it, and she didn't understand it, but somehow it felt right, and she was quite content to bathe in it.

She decided to address him.

"Harry, I thought... well, I thought I'd lost you..." Her voice trembled, mimicking the rest of her body, which was oscillating in a similar fashion.

He opened his mouth slowly, and whispered his response.

"Don't worry, Herm..io..ne. It'll take more... than water to stop... me." He choked and spluttered still but managed to get his words out and formed.

She smiled as best she could muster, and pulled him up into her arms, slowly and with gentle tenderness, taking him into a long, soft and delicate hug, a few tears leaking from their ducts into his hair.

***

Fred, Ginny and Sam's glazes were still fixed on the now submerged transport, on which Professors McGonagall and Sprout and one seventh year were now pulling out one last figure. Again, they could see the figure's features vaguely. It was definitely male, and quite tall, but there was no way to tell at the distance they were at which student they were attempting to rescue. What could be determined, however, was that all three of them were having difficulty pulling the student out of the transport; he seemed to be stuck. The two professors were pulling the figure vertically up, while the seventh-year student seemed to be trying to free the body at the same time.

For several minutes this went on, as the students watched from the shoreline. But it wasn't only students who were now watching. A good number of Muggles had arrived with binoculars to observe from the cliff tops; the emergency services were beginning to appear as well, and after finding that the cliffs had 'suddenly' become impassable, were preparing boats from a nearby shipyard.

Suddenly the figure came loose. It was pulled away from the boat amid a loud scream from Professor McGonagall. The scream was clearly audible on the beach and by the Muggles, but no-one could as yet determine why she had let loose that short, violent exclamation.

But when the figure returned to shore, it was obvious why.

As the raft containing Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, the seventh-year Hufflepuff, and the last rescued student came back, people began to see why the figure had so quickly come loose.

The lower half of the left leg of the student, whose uniform was black, gold and red and whose hair was as potent a red as the uniform, was missing. Professor Sprout was doing her best to seal the wound with her wand, but more and more blood was escaping; the Professor did not know sufficient medical spells to repair a wound of that calibre. Ginny, Sam and Fred ran down to the shore, quickly followed by Sarah and Hermione; the raft landed softly on the golden beach, and a group of seventh years rushed to help. As they conjured dressings onto the wound and cast blood stopping charms on the leg, Ginny stood next to them with Fred, tears silently pouring down her face; Fred held her tight in his arms with Sarah and Hermione doing the same.

For it was Ron they had pulled from the wreck.