Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 11 ~ A Close Call
Dusk was falling over the island. Hermione decided that she’d like to stretch her legs a bit and told Petra she was going to take a walk around the town. Petra told her fine but to be back within the hour, because she locked the inn down early. Hermione agreed, and stepped out into the graying evening. She didn’t notice Ketri, leaning against a wall between two shops. Hermione started walking toward the mountain. The one-eyed wizard followed her.
Raucous had not yet returned. Hermione wasn’t worried. The raven probably found something to amuse himself with. She exited the village and the cobblestone turned to a dirt road. The mountain loomed ahead, and the terrain began to change. Small outcrops of rocks and bushes dotted the area, growing denser as she approached the mountain’s base. She stopped by a large stone and sat down on it, looking at the path that led up the mountain. This was where she would start tomorrow. It began to get darker, so Hermione decided to head back before Petra locked down for the night
Hermione had only taken a few steps when suddenly she was grabbed from behind, and felt the edge of something cold pressed hard to her throat.
“Didn’t your parents ever tell you not to walk alone in the dark?” Ketri said against her ear, pressing his body against her tightly. He had one arm wrapped around the witch’s torso, the other held a wickedly sharp dagger to her throat.
“What do you want?” Hermione asked in a trembling voice. She could feel the edge of the blade pressing against her neck. “I don’t have any money on me.”
Ketri laughed and licked Hermione’s ear, causing the witch to shudder.
“Money? I have no need for money, pretty witch. You have something my employer wants…and something I want,” he said, pressing his loins against Hermione suggestively.
“I don’t have anything. Please let me go!” Hermione said, horrified. By the way this man was pressing against her, he was going to rape her, and maybe kill her. She had nothing with which to protect herself.
“You have the ring…and you have your virtue,” Ketri hissed against her ear. “I want both.” He ground his hips against her lewdly, and tears welled up in Hermione’s eyes.
“Close your eyes. If you keep them closed, I may let you live after I am through with you,” Ketri said, “If you look at me, I will beat you, then I will kill you.”
Hermione closed her eyes tightly and felt the knife lower from her throat. Ketri turned her around to face him.
“First, pretty witch, your ring,” he said, taking her hand and grasping the ring with his thumb and forefinger. Hermione felt a strange sensation around her finger as he touched the ring. Suddenly Ketri let out a curse and flung Hermione away from him, staggering back, his knife falling to the ground as he clutched his hand in agony.
“It…it…bit me!” he cried.
Hermione opened her eyes. She recognized Ketri as the man from the inn. Not waiting to see what happened to him, Hermione bolted back down the path, toward the village and soon put distance between her and Ketri.
The wizard staggered about, clutching his hand and cursing. The pain seemed to spread from his fingers, to his entire hand. It flowed up his arm over his shoulder and cascaded down his body. The one-eyed wizard began to writhe and scream in agony, falling to the ground. He had never felt such pain. He screamed even louder as his blood began to boil in his veins, his arms and legs buckling wildly, propelling his body across the rocky earth. He called on the gods for help, but they did not hear him. His chest was on fire and he clutched at it, rolling into a ball, his limbs twisting terribly, splintering and breaking through his flesh. He stopped screaming, and shuddered several times before falling still. He lay there a moment. There was a final heave and Ketri was dead.
Then his body began to tremble violently. A blue flame erupted from his mouth, nostrils and ears. It washed over the dead wizard’s body in a great flare. And then, he was gone. Not even ash remained.
Hermione ran, and felt her ring grow very warm for a moment. Then it cooled. She ran up the steps and into the inn. Petra was behind the bar and looked up at the terrified witch. She came from behind the counter quickly.
“Hermione, what happened?” she asked the distraught witch. Hermione was gasping and couldn’t answer her. Petra helped the witch to a nearby table and walked back behind the bar and poured a small shot of strong liquor into a glass and carried it back to the table.
“Drink this,” she said, holding the glass to Hermione’s lips. Hermione drank it down, then coughed as the harsh liquor burned its way down her throat. Petra patted her back gently. Hermione blinked back the tears that threatened to fall as her breathing began to ease. Her hands still shook.
“What happened Hermione?” Petri asked again, pulling a chair close to the trembling witch, and taking one of her hands in her own, trying to calm her.
“That man. The one who was in here today, eating. He attacked me by the mountain. He put a knife to my throat and said he wanted the ring. And me,” Hermione said, her voice shaking.
“Ketri?” Petra said in disbelief.
“Yes. I saw him. It was the same man. He held a knife to my throat,” Hermione said, lifting her head slightly. Petra could see a thin red line on the front of it. Something had happened to the witch…but Ketri? It seemed impossible. But then again, she had heard rumors that he made money in a wicked way. He was so nice, always flirting with her, that she didn’t pay attention and waved the rumors off as idle gossip. Could he have attacked the witch? If he did, how did she get away?
“How did you escape him?” Petra asked Hermione. Hermione looked down at her ring.
“He pushed me away and yelled that the ring bit him. I ran,” she replied, looking at the small snakes that made up the band. They still held each other mouth to tail. But she had felt a movement on her finger before Ketri touched the ring. Had the ring protected her?
Petra looked at the ring also. She knew it held great power. Maybe it had saved the witch.
“It is late now,” Petra said soothingly to Hermione. “Tomorrow we shall tell the council what happened. They will take care of Ketri,” the witch said, helping Hermione up. Just then Raucous soared into the inn and, on seeing Hermione looking distraught, landed on the table and cawed at her questioningly.
“I’m all right, Raucous. Just got in a bit of a tight spot,” Hermione said to the bird weakly. Raucous didn’t look like he believed her. He fluttered up the staircase and waited for Petra to walk the witch up, then hopped down the hall to their room and followed them in. Petra wriggled her fingers and turned up the lamps. She helped Hermione to the bed, then she walked over to the windows and lowered the shades. She turned to look at Hermione, who was already taking off her shoes and socks.
“You sleep now, Hermione,” the witch said kindly, “Tomorrow we will report this to the council.”
“I have to start my journey in the morning, Petra,” she responded, pulling her shirt over her head.
“But they will need a statement from you about the attack,” Petra said, putting her hands on her hips and frowning at Hermione. “If Ketri is a danger, they need to know.”
Hermione looked down at the ring.
“I have a feeling Ketri isn’t a danger to anyone anymore,” Hermione said, her eyes hard.
Petra quailed a bit at the harsh look on the witch’s face.
“Well, I will tell them then. They will find him and question him,” Petra said, backing out of the room. “You get some sleep, dear.”
The witch exited the room, closing the door behind her.
As she headed down the stairs, she wondered at the story Hermione told her. She said Ketri claimed the ring bit him. Maybe the witch had protection after all. She walked to the front door of the inn and closed it, locking it securely. It was time to turn in.
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Snape had watched the attack on Hermione with a mixture of anger and horror. It was obvious his cousins knew about her, and had sent someone to take the ring. But it would not be easy to do. It was bound to Hermione and would destroy anyone who touched it with the intent of removing it without her permission. It had indeed bit Ketri.
Snape felt a cold rage in his belly at the wizard. He wanted to rape Hermione, the one-eyed bastard. Better that the ring got him. If Snape had been there, he would have castrated the wretch before running him through with his short sword. His nostrils flared. Suddenly his eyes widened as he watched Hermione undress. He knew he should avert his eyes and give the witch her privacy, but the lure of seeing her nude was just too much. He wasn’t dead after all, and the throb he felt in his loins when she removed her bra and her full breasts came into view, proved he was very much alive.
The Potions Master watched as she removed her trousers and her knickers. He bit his lip as his dark eyes drank in her hips, ass and the small patch of chestnut hair. She was beautiful. He watched her climb into the bed and slide beneath the covers. She slept in the nude. He would have never imagined that. He always pictured her in a little granny gown for some reason. Well, she had dispelled that image.
Snape watched as she drifted off to sleep. He was about to will the image off when he saw a mist rising from the center of the witch’s forehead. The mist filled the room, but also it passed through the cloud on which he watched Hermione, and filled the space he was in, enveloping him. What was this? He waved his hand through it, and it resisted him slightly. It continued to close over him, thickening. He found a purchase for his feet. He could walk. The mist thinned and cleared. Snape could move through it as if it were a place, another space. There wasn’t much to see but he wandered through it for a while, glad to be on his feet instead of dangling endlessly. Suddenly he heard a voice. It sounded familiar and surprised.
“Professor?”
Snape spun around startled, and looked directly into the face of one Hermione Granger.
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A/N: Wow. Ketri’s dead and Snape’s made contact with Hermione. Wonder what will happen now? We’ll see next chapter. Please review
The Burning Pen
The Ring
by Ruth Solomon
The story content is adult in nature and can contain graphic sex and violence. Those under the age of 18 are asked to leave this site immediately. You are not welcome here. The author is not responsible for those under-aged who view these works.