Disclaimer:

All belong to J.K. Rowling

Rating: T

Theme: Mystery and Romance

Written for:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft Wizardry: Arts Crafts

Task 4 - Scrapbooking - Write about someone collecting something important (restriction - not collecting Horcruxes)

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft Wizardry: The 365 Prompts Challenge

Action - Running

Word count: 2875

Sweat or blood? Hermione could not tell. All she could focus on right now was to run as fast as she could, away from her pursuers. It had been twelve hours since the masked men invaded the Ministry and went after her. It was a late afternoon where she was in her office, reorganizing some of the files. It supported to be another normal day for her, but life seemed to push her into problems more than she wished for.

"Come here…" She stopped immediately upon hearing the ghostly sound. Could it be? She turned around to see if the sound was coming from her pursuers but no one was visible in her eyesight. She arched her eyebrow, trying to listen for the sound again. However, nothing was there more than the wind flew through the woods. The sound was so spectral, almost like, it was from beyond the veil. So unreal.

Nevertheless, she could not stop for long and her legs continued on. Her mind wandered back to the incident from twelve hours earlier again. A group of masked men, somehow got inside the Ministry, and attacked the building. The Auror Department was their first target. Within an hour of the attack, multiple patronuses had sent out asking for help and support. And the moment Hermione heard her friends' message, she rushed to them without thinking. Thus, met her pursuers on her way.

"Come here…" the mystery sound reached out to her again. She looked around but saw nothing, not even the wind. Could she be auditory hallucination now? Shaking her head as she dismissed her thought, she took a deep breath and kept moving. However, before she could go, something caught her interest. A few feet away to her right side, a road suddenly revealed itself. It was not like she could see the trees' branches move aside or the grasses made a path. The road just magically appeared as if she accidentally broke a spell. Her eyebrows knitted in confusion and her hand tightened her hold on the wand. Should she go there? Such thought suddenly entered her mind. Yet, she was hesitating, not sure if she wanted to follow the new idea. With her experiences, this sudden change of event was something she must be careful. Unfortunately, she did not have that luxury time to think deeply as her pursuers were catching up. Their voices were getting close as well as their feet.

She could feel her hands were shaking and her breath was having difficult breathing. Her body could not take another fight or apparate and if she took that road, she might have a changd to save herself. In a blink of the eyes, she looked to where her pursuers' voices were and shook her head. She had no other choice.

Hermione finally made the turn to the mystery road with a hopeful thinking that it would lead her to safety. And it did.

"Where is she?" one of the man asked aloud as he used something to poke inside the bushes.

"I still hear her a minute ago," another man asked, feeling odd at Hermione's disappearance. "Can she apparate again?"

"Not with her current condition," the first man dismissed the question. "With her magic and her strength are draining quickly, I don't think she capables to even breath."

"So where is she?" the third man joined the conversation.

"Just keep looking," the first man ordered. "Alive or dead, we need to bring her back as a confirmation. Malfoy hates leaving a loose end."

Hermione froze and held her breath as she listened to their conversation. Those men were only a step away from her and they failed to sense her presence. There must be a special enchantment on this road that hid whoever or whatever inside it to the outside world. It was almost like how the Wizarding world separated itself from the Muggle world. It was such an interesting way to hide a road like this and she wondered if there was something special in here.

Then, there was Malfoy. She heard the name well and clear. He, Lucius Malfoy, was the only Death-eater survived and did not end up in Azkaban. And by the way those men mentioned him, he definitely related to the event. Yet, right now, she was more concerned about herself than anything else. Even if the men were not close by, she could not go back to the other path. She continued on with one, hoping to get away from her pursuers as far as possible. Unfortunately, her legs gave up after she took a few steps and her body collapsed to the ground. Before darkness took over, she thought she heard a concern voice reached out to her.

"Witch!"

He had been watching her since she first stepped inside the ward. He always noticed the magical one that got itself inside the protection ward, but never had such a demanding like hers. So he did what he thought best, luring her to him. Now, there she was, lying unconscious under him, a man was bounded sixteen feet on the air. His arms and legs spread wide, chaining to four different trees and each of them had the most advantage spells that probably only Albus Dumbledore might have the power to break them. And most of all was the thick cloth that blinded his eyes, preventing him to access to people's mind and messed with them. Yes, he is not a very pleasure man or in a more understandable term, a very bad man.

It had been a while since the person who bound him here left. It could be a few years to a few centuries. He could not tell. With the spells that person put on him and this area, his magic was reduced to nearly none, almost like a Muggle. But every spell had its own loophole, and so this one.

"Nur deine andere Hälfte kann den Zauber umkehren." [1]

That person's words still echoed in his mind every time he sensed something might be his other half. Sadly, no one had came to save him. Until, she appeared.

He had lost his hope after all these time, hence, he was very surprise when he sensed her magic as she stepped inside the ward. Unfortunately, his hope was completely lost when he noticed how weak she was and the danger was following her. Suddenly, an unfamiliar urge of protecting rose in him, surprising the man greatly. Probably, this was that person referred to, the connection between the two of them. Therefore, he used all of his remained magic to reach out to her and brought her here.

He could not see the young woman, but listened to her soft breathing sound was very soothing. He waited patiently, not dare to make her wake up in alarm. He needed her to have enough magic to undo the spells. It was a very complicated one. For a moment, he questioned himself if she could even perform such an advantage magic.

And he did not need to wait for long, when the young woman began stirring. He smirked, listening to the sound she was making. He kept a close ear to her breath and magic, he knew she was still very weak. However, it was enough for her to begin the ritual.

"Are you alright, witch?" he asked politely, trying his best to not scaring her. Still, the young woman jumped a bit from his voice.

"Who… who are… you?" she stumbled and he could feel the worry in her shaking voice.

"The one helped you to escape those men," he replied warmly, continuing with an honest approach.

The young woman seemed to process his words, then the tension he felt earlier subsided. Her voice was not shaking as bad as before, but it was not very smooth either.

"You were… are that voice?" she asked.

"Yes," he said simply.

"Why did you help me? And where are you?" she looked around confusingly.

"If you want to see me, you only need to look up," he smirked, waiting for the young woman's reaction.

Hermione arched her eyebrow as she listened to the man's answer. Look up? Her head slowly moved upward and she almost pointed her wand at what she was seeing. A man, around 40 years old, with a long blond hair that fell down made him look like one of those string-puppet she used to watch when she was younger. She could see faint lines tide from his legs and arms to four trees. She squeezed her eyes, observing the line. Then her eyes opened widely, those lines were alive.

"Magicis recta vivendo," [2] she whispered to herself amazingly. It was the first time she witnessed a different level of magic, where the subject and its magic were completely separated but still connected one to another.

He was a little bit taken back because her reaction was not what he wanted. He expected something more extreme. It might be screaming, hexing, or at least swearing. She did none of those.

"You seem to be calm," he sounded very annoyingly.

Hermione dashed her eyes back to the man and watched him closely. To be in his position, indicating that he had done something sinister enough that even Azkaban refused to take him in. The spell, "Magicis recta vivendo," usually used in poisoning powerful wizard or witch who committed unforgivable things, tained their soul to the point that the Dementors found no joy in sucking them. Therefore, by binding them with this spell, the person could live as long as they wished to suffer physically, magically, and mentally. Therefore, this was not a coincident for him to call out for her. He must want something she had, could it be…

"You want something from me?" she asked directly, not a hint of subtle in her voice.

He tilted his head, listening to her heartbeat. She did not fake her calmness, she was truly calm. Something had shifted from the moment she saw him. He could sense her magic getting more stable and focus. An interesting witch

"Yes," he replied truly. It was not a time of manipulating.

"What do I have that you want?" she watched him carefully, trying to read his expression, but could not detect a thing from him.

"Have you hear about soulmate's magic?" he wanted to know how far her knowledge was.

"I have," she nodded.

"Some magics require more than just an experience or expertise in the particular area," he spoke slowly and clearly. His voice reminded her to the time she was a student at Hogwarts and listened to a professor's lecture. "It can be a potion and a spell or a special object and a spell, some even goes as far as a sacrifice ritual with a spell. And some likes my case requires a soulmate."

Hermione held her breath by the end of his explanation. Soulmate? How could it be? In a middle of nowhere, to a man she had no clue of who he was, and found out she had a soulmate.

"This is just ridiculous," she laughed, dismissing such absurd situation.

"It is not," the sureness in his voice made Hermione bit her bottom lip. "As you can sense, my magic reduces to almost none. Only a soulmate's call can reach out to each other without the need of magic. Without our little bond, you wouldn't never hear my voice or see the road lead to here."

His words reminded her of her current situation. She needed to get back and find out what was happening. However, in her stage, she needed a partner, a very powerful partner. And fortunately, her soulmate was the right one for the job.

"Under one condition," she began. "You will aid me as long as I need you."

He smirked. This was easier than he thought. The young woman was smart and powerful, but she was a bit of naive. She did not even bother to ask who he was or how he ended up like this. Still, she was his soulmate, his other half, what could have gone wrong?

"Agree," he nodded at her.

Usually, a vow needed a physical contact such as hands holding for the Unbreakable Vow, but in this case, Hermione decided to make a magical contract and all they needed was a drop of blood from each party. She sighed her part and leviated the contract close to the man. She cast a vocal voice to read the term and agreement for the man. She did not want him to think that she lied or manipulated the contract.

"Bite your lip and let your blood sign the contract," she said.

If he was surprise with her action, he did not show. The man did not say anything else and followed her direction. The moment his blood fell on the parchment, they both felt a wave of magic wrapped around them, indicating of the union between them.

"Now, what do I need to do in order to free you?" Hermione rolled the contract and put it inside her coat.

"Let's do one thing at a time, my dear," he smiled, a creepy smile that could send thousand of chills down anyone's spine, but his face hid well behind his hair so Hermione could not able to detect it. "First, we need to defuse these lines by using your blood."

"How much?" she asked.

"One drop per tree," he replied.

"Do I need to say any indication?" she continued.

"No, the lines will recognize your blood as my other half and it will release me," he stated.

She went to each tree and did exactly as he told her. When her blood dropped on the last tree, the whole ground shook violently. She lost her feet and fell on the ground. Before she could see what happened, the man already landed in front of her. He did not pull his blindfold off but he looked directly to where she was sitting.

"Milady," he gave her his hand and waited for her to accept it.

"That was quick," she chuckled softly and accepted his hand.

His hand was large and wrapped around her very protective. When she was back to her feet, she could tell that the man was very tall, probably more than 6 feet, and board.

"Yes, I shared the same surprise with you," his lips curved up slightly, almost like a smile.

Hermione did not know what made her to reach up and pulled his blindfold off. However, he grabbed her hand and held it close to his cheek.

"Not yet," he shook his head. "There's another spell to take this off."

"What have you done?" she whispered sadly, a strange heartache ran by as she looked at his face.

"I will tell you when the time comes," he cared her little hand in his. "In order to remove the blindfold I need to have one thing from you."

"And?" she asked weakly. Something was not right but her mind got clouded. All she could do was following his voice and movement. Something was pulling her to him.

The man leaned closer, his lips were next to her ears. She could feel his body pressed against hers and his hot breath on the side of her head.

"Will you…"

His left hand snaked around her waist, pulling her even closer, while his right hand settled on her breast.

"Give your…"

Hermione Granger, the brightest of her age, had met her end the moment she decided to take the road. The man's right hand went through her clothes, her skin, her bones, and finally reached to the thing he was looking for… her heart.

"Soul to me?"

"Yes..."

Darkness had claimed her as she collapsed in his arms, not aware of anything else. His hand pulled out from her chest together with her living heart, still beating. He licked the blood on her heart and the blindfold disappeared, revealing a pair of blue eyes that were deep like an ocean. He watches the young woman in his arms and smiled. His lips continued moving but no sound was coming out. He was chanting a spell and a faint crimson light surrounded both of them for a second and disappeared. His eyes never moved away from her. She was little pale like his. Her wild amber hair was beautiful like a fire at night. He kissed her lips softly then he let her body rest against his. With a wave of his hand, the ground below him opened and revealed an old chest. He mumbled a spell and the chest opened, showing another beating heart and an old wand. He lowered her heart down to the chest next to the other one while summoning the wand. Then he closed the chest and it sinked back to the ground, not leaving any trace behind.

"Let's go home, wife."

With that, the man carried the young woman and disapparated away. Leaving behind the quiet night and two beating hearts buried deep in the ground.

Inside the pocket of Hermione's coat, the bloods signed the contract finally revealed their owner name.

Gellert Grindelwald and Hermione Grindelwald.

[1] "Only your other half can reverse the spell." (Google Translate)

[2] "The living magical line." (Google Translate)

A/N: This was the first time, I rush to finish this assignment and even requested an extension. So, it was not in a very good condition T^T The man lead supported to be Severus Snape, but the time frame did not work well in this story, so I let Gellert Grindelwald take the part. Resulting my odd pairing, Gellert and Hermione lol Anyway, this plot could have been more but this was all I could do for now. Hope you guys will like it XD