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Chapter One

Seven year old Hermione Grange was excited. It was her first camping trip, and her parents had a whole week to spend time with her. Her parents had been so busy lately with their dental practice and hadn't had a whole lot of time for her over the years, but this time was her time. She wasn't going to waste it.

At the moment, she was scampering around their small apartment checking to make sure that nothing important was being left behind. Her tiny feet pattered up and down the stair. Her parents just smiled at her enthusiasm.

"Hermione, we need to leave or we'll hit traffic!" Jean Granger called to her daughter who had paused halfway down the stairs to listen to her mother's voice.

"Coming mum!" she yelled as she ran down the stairs almost tripping over the last step in her rush. She ran out the door going right past her parents who just looked at each other with bemused expressions. They soon followed their daughter out to the car, laughing as they saw her hopping in front of the car door.

"You've got everything, sweetheart?" Robert Granger asked his ecstatic seven year old.

"Yep, all my books are packed in the back seat, and I have some crayons too! I won't get bored."

He just shook his head with a smile and unlocked the door. "There you are. We have a long way to travel, but we'll be there soon enough," he said as he got into the driver's seat.

Hermione bounced in her seat as they began their ride. "How long 'til we get there?" she asked after about a minute.

"Two and a half hours if traffic's good," her mum replied. Everyone settled down for the ride. Hermione eventually opened a book that her dad had gotten her about medieval legends. She soon lost herself in the pages, allowing her imagination to take hold.

"Sweetheart, look out the window," her dad said, startling her out of a tale about a knight called Percival and his daring quest. Her head whipped toward the window and saw a sign that said welcome to the Forest of Dean. Her eyes grew bright as she saw the first glimpse of a campground.

"Is that where we're staying?" she gasped as she tried to crane her neck looking out the front window.

"Yes, dear," her mother said glancing back at her. "Don't twist so much, you don't want to strain your neck."

Hermione looked abashed, and she settled down into her seat. She wondered what it would be like to go camping and thought about how much fun she was going to have with her parents. She smiled as they finally parked and was able to jump out of the car. So far from what she could see this forest was beautiful. There was something about this place she decided to herself. It was special. Her parents had already gathered most of their things as Hermione awoke from her musings, but she grabbed a few small things in order to help.

They found a nice place to set their things down and her dad started to work on the tent. They had decided to do things the old fashioned way with a tent an sleeping bags rather than a camper, and though her mum was a bit leery, Hermione thought it great fun.

As the tent was being set up, Hermione explored. Her parents had told her to stay close and not wander too far off so she kept them within sight. As she explored, a couple kids, her age or older, crawled out from a group of tents she wandered past. She eyed them warily and continued walking. She made a curve away from them and moved towards her where she knew her parents were. One boy who looked much older than her planted himself in her path. The other children watched curiously.

"Hey, who're you?" the boy asked smugly. "Haven't seen you around here before…must be new to this campground."

She shifted nervously and then gave a glare to the boy. "I'm Hermione, not that it's any of your business. And isn't it polite to introduce yourself before demanding answers from others. That and you shouldn't stop in front of someone when they're obviously walking somewhere. It's rude. Yes, this is my first time here and by your statement, I would say this isn't your first time on this campground. Am I right?

A few of the children giggled as the boy's face got redder and redder before finally he yelled, "Aren't you such a know-it-all! You're such a bratty little girl." He then stalked off, a couple of the other children running after him.

Another little girl stayed behind with a boy that looked quite a bit younger. "Hi, I'm Mary," she introduced herself. "And this is my little cousin, Andrew. We come here with our families every year."

"I'm Hermione."

"I know…you already said," Mary called giggling. "You sure showed Gary, didn't you? He's another cousin. It's our family reunion, you see."

Hermione just nodded, wondering about what Mary wanted.

"So…do you want to play a bit? Gary can be a jerk, but that's 'cause his mum spoiled him too much. That's what my parents say at least."

Hermione looked surprised and then appeared to think about it. The wind gently blew her hair and made it even more wild and unruly. "Sure, I guess that would be okay."

The rest of the late morning was spent playing with Mary and Andrew. Hermione had never had friends, and she wondered if this is what it felt like to have some. Soon her parents called her to lunch, and Mary left with Andrew telling her that they should play again.

The next few days were a lot of fun. She spent more time with Mary and Andrew. They played a lot of pretend games based off of the book Hermione had been reading about medieval legends. They scoured the campground for dragons, damsels, faeries, and monster. Though, they all seemed to enjoy "questing" as they ran off to find artifacts of great value. Their favorite quest was looking for the Holy Grail. They ran through parts of the forest (close to the camp of course) and pretended to overcome challenges. But today was going to be different as her parents decided that they were going on a family hike.

She was very excited about this family hike as they started on the trail. Her mum had told her that it was going to be a long while before they got back and that they would be having lunch in the forest. She skipped lightly on the path thinking about how this would be her first "picnic". She was very excited.

The trail was beautiful and became even more beautiful as they continued on the path. They went deeper and deeper within the forest, and she slowly wondered about this feeling deep inside of her. The trees felt old and ancient, and the wind whispered half formed words. She briefly felt a strange sensation overwhelm her and then it was gone. Her eyes opened, and she heard her parents calling her. She ran to catch up with them.

Before she could make it to them, something happened. Her skin prickled, but it was not like the other feeling. She shivered. There was something here. She felt the sudden urge to run the opposite direction, so she stopped. "Mum, Dad!" she yelled, "Can we go back? Please, something's wrong."

Her parents didn't have time to respond as dark figures surrounded them. These figures were laughing, but not the cheerful kind; it was the kind that made your skin crawl. Her parents floated into the air as one of them yelled something in what she thought was Latin. She saw her mum look toward her and mouth the word "run". She felt frozen, but she finally commanded her limbs to move. She ran without having any idea where she was going. All she knew is that she had to get away. She tripped over roots, and her hair tangled in branches as she pushed through bushes.

She froze again when she heard the screams. Her head turned, knowing instinctually that it was her parents. She shook like a leaf, but stumbled and crawled trying to get to safety. Eventually she couldn't hear the screams anymore. She had no idea how far she went, but she couldn't go any farther, she collapsed, not even realizing that she was sobbing. She had no idea how long she cried, but she curled into a ball falling asleep as tears still streamed down her face.