Draco stumbled as Snape dragged him down a narrow alleyway. The muggle neighborhood was dark and eerie-looking to him as he tried desperately to keep his footing on the uneven pavement. It was a difficult task in that the only light came from the neon signs of the few seedy pubs that were still open and that Snape kept yanking him around by the arm and hissing at him to go faster. At one point, Draco tripped on a curb that was higher then he thought it should be and tumbled forward onto his knees.
"Get up!" Snape growled at him and jerked him up by his collar. Draco had had enough.
"Let go of me!" he bellowed and began to kick and punch at Snape, who took a step back. "We don't have time for this!" he whispered angrily.
"Hey, what's going on over there?" yelled a voice from a doorway a little ways down the alley. Draco looked up and saw a group of muggles that'd been coming out of the pub and seen them scuffling. One of them was hurrying toward them. Snape took advantage of the distraction and grabbed Draco again by the collar, dragging him around the corner and into a bus station. The station had very few occupants at this time of night. A college-age muggle girl was sitting on a bench listening to loud music on a headset, and a couple of homeless people were passed out in the corner. None of them took any notice as Snape dragged Draco toward the men's room and backed him against the wall.
"You had better listen well!" he hissed, "Right now everyone in the wizarding world is out looking for you and the ones who like you most want you to join your father in Azkaban. Do you understand?" Draco stared at him. He nodded slowly. "Get in there," Snape continued, gesturing toward the lavatory. "Transform your robes into muggle clothing, jeans or trousers and a shirt, clean yourself up, and get out here immediately." Draco went into the men's room, too tired to argue and glad to be rid of Snape if only a moment. After the evenings' events, he felt so numb that he barely reacted to the various insects that scattered away when he turned on the light switch, nor the reek of urine, nor the profanity smeared on the walls in some suspicious substance. He stared at the reflection in the mirror, not knowing what to think or feel. A pale, tear-streamed face stared back at him with no expression. He was dirty and exhausted. His mind was filled with darkness. He had no idea what Snape had planned, but after seeing what he had seen that night, he couldn't imagine there would ever be such a thing as tomorrow.
Draco emerged from the lavatory a few moments later, wearing a shirt and trousers. He looked at Snape blankly and said, "What do I do now?"
"Now, you run," he replied simply and hurried him to the curb where the girl was getting on the bus. Draco watched as the girl put a ticket into a machine beside the driver and chose a seat for herself. Snape pushed him forward and the driver didn't seem to notice them as they sat down as well. The bus pulled out of the station and back onto the streets. There were only two other passengers with them and Draco noticed that they both carried suitcases. Draco wondered where they were running to but he knew better then to ask. He was too tired to start an argument. He turned away from Snape and stared out the window, blindly watching the colored lights go by.
After a while, Draco noticed the lights becoming brighter and more numerous. Draco sat up in his seat and looked about, trying to figure out where they were. Suddenly, the bus pulled into a building full of people and lights. Snape motioned for them to get off and they stepped into a noisy, bright, stinky, and altogether strange space. People were rushing past them from every side, most of them burdened with some form of luggage. They walked though a set of automatic doors and found themselves in an even larger space filled with more people, more luggage, more noise, and various directions to chose from. The place reminded him of the muggle train station at King's Crossing, only it was much louder, larger, and busier. He wondered if they weren't at a larger train station, perhaps the main station in London. Snape was leading him through a maze of people and sure enough, he stopped in front of an electronic timetable with the names of several cities and the departure and arrival times.
"Are we leaving, England?" Draco asked Snape.
"Well, you are," he responded.
"By myself?" he asked incredulously.
"Indeed." Draco felt a pang of panic rise inside him.
"Where am I going, then?" he demanded.
"America," was the response.
"You can't get to America on a train, Proffessor," Draco said without thinking. Snape turned to him and looked at him as though he had clowns climbing out of his nostrils. "I know that, Mr. Malfoy," he responded at last, "That is why I've brought you to the airport." Snape motioned for Draco to follow him again as he lead through a maze of hallway, shops, and people. At one point, Snape stopped to grab a yellow pamphlet from a stand filled with various papers about things to see and do in London. Draco watched as Snape discretely pulled the tip of his wand through his robes and silently cast a spell on the paper. He led Draco up to a couple of sleepy-looking security guards who were checking people's luggage and tickets. Snape walked up to them without hesitation and showed one of the guards the yellow pamphlet. The guard stared at the pamphlet a moment and then waved them through. They hurried down a nearly- deserted hallway that was filled with rooms, surrounded by windows. Draco could see that the rooms were mostly all empty except for rows and rows of chairs. Snape stopped so abruptly that Draco almost went on without him. He pointed to a waiting room that had twenty or so muggles milling around in it.
"There's your gate," he told him. Draco felt suddenly very impertinent.
"I'm not getting on an airplane," he told Snape, "Airplanes are for muggles. I won't do it."
"Is that a fact?" Snape asked sarcastically. Draco nodded and folded his arms. He knew that he was of age now and Snape could not force him to get on an airplane to America. At least he thought that Snape couldn't force him. He was pretty sure that Snape couldn't force him. However, the next thing he knew, he was in the waiting room, his bottom adhered to one of the green, sticky seats, and Snape glowering over him in a highly menacing fashion. "Not only are you going to get on that airplane, you are going to fly in it to Saint Louis without calling attention to yourself. Then you are going to get off the plane and go to Morning Star, where they will take care of you until I can meet you there. You will not use your magic unless you are in an extreme emergency and if anyone causes you any trouble along the way, you will show them this paper. Do you understand?" Draco nodded in reply, though he really wanted punch Snape in his enormous nose. Snape grabbed Draco's hand and stuffed the yellow pamphlet into it. Draco looked at it. It said:
Happy China Restraunt!!
Delicious Chinese Cusine!!
Free delivery to Heathrow area hotels!!
Below that were translations in several languages. Elfish and Gobblygook weren't among them. Draco looked up to find that Snape was already making good time down the hallway. "Wonderful" he thought. He looked across the isle where a family of American muggle tourists were waiting. Most of them asleep in their chairs, leaning on each other like ferrets, but a teenage girl was staring at Draco.
"Dude, your dad is strict!" she whispered.
"He's my teacher," Draco responded.
"Oh, is he like your choir teacher or something?" Draco didn't know what she was talking about. He wanted to shout at her to shut up and leave him alone, but instead he just said, "yeah." This seemed to satisfy her because she didn't ask any more questions and she pulled out a small object with buttons on it that made a lot of noise. She stared at the object and pushed the buttons and forgot all about Draco. Draco sat back in his seat. A few moments later a short chuckle escaped him as he pictured Professor Snape leading a chorus of Hufflepuffs in an anthem, using his wand as a baton.
After a long wait, Draco was startled by a loud voice that came from nowhere saying that it was time to board rows 1 through 20. Draco looked at his hands. He realized the only thing he had was the Happy China pamphlet and it didn't say what row he should sit in. He went and got in line anyway. When it was his turn, Draco showed the man his pamphlet and the man nodded him through. Draco walked hesitantly though a strange tunnel and stepped into the airplane. He didn't like the look of it one bit. He didn't think he could stand being crammed into this tight space with all these horrible muggles for even one minute, much less the hours it would take to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Draco wondered how fast airplanes flew. He would have to ask someone, but first he had to figure out where he was going to sit. Most of the other passengers had found their seats already and there were many seats still available. Draco chose a row that no one else was sitting in and plopped down in the seat closest to the window. He was grateful that no one disputed his claim to the seat. Suddenly, he was startled yet again by a voice from nowhere. There was a long speech given, most of which Draco couldn't understand, and then finally the voice declared it was time to fly. The plane began to move and Draco tried not to look too nervous as it drove around on the ground for a while and then finally took off. He looked out over the wing as the plane rose higher and higher. He'd never been this high. Probably, if he tried to get even half as high on his broomstick he'd pass out and fall. His father had told him that muggle-borns often made this mistake and end up killing themselves. Draco felt a pang in his chest. He wondered if he would ever see his father alive again. He realized that he probably wouldn't and the darkness filled him again. He leant against the window pane and looked out over the wing. They were over the ocean now and night spread out before him in every direction. He fell asleep, quite certain that there would never be a morning.