Chapter Two: One, Maybe Two Ways Out

Hermione groaned as her eyes fluttered open. She inhaled sharply, blinking rapidly, as her senses registered the terrified screams that filled the air. Her mind quickly caught up to reality, everything was too sharp, now. She felt shards of glass beneath her, jabbing into her entire right side and in her hair. More alarmingly, she felt a weight across her waist and legs, pinning her down. She breathed deeply, trying to stave off the panic that was already constricting her throat. Except, it wasn't panic, was it? She felt the beginnings of terror creep up on her as she realized it was too hot.

Brain running at full speed now, she struggled under the weight of whatever was on her legs when something occurred to her, "Harry!"

Her voice was hoarse from the smoke that had started to fill the compartment. There was no answer. She hastily tried to shift herself onto her back to get a better view of her surroundings. She struggled against the weight on her legs, bracing her weight on her elbows as she tried to free them. Pain flared in her right shoulder and she fell back onto the glass littered ground with a gasp of pain. Breathing hard, she hoisted herself up, gritting her teeth against the pain that seemed to be coursing through her entire body and managing to sit up halfway.

She held her injured arm close to her body, still breathing hard from the pain. Her eyes rapidly took stock of her surroundings. The compartment was upside down; the door had come unhinged and was currently sitting on her legs, a mangled mess of bent metal and shattered glass. She glanced to her left, eyes searching for the debris that was responsible for the weight on her mid-drift, and felt her stomach plummet. "Harry!"

Harry lay on his side, his right arm still wound around her waist, he was unconscious, bruised and bloodied. She reached over and gave his shoulder a shake, calling his name desperately, but to no avail. She could feel the heat and smoke of the fire snaking towards them, the air was getting opaque, flames licking around the gaping hole that had been a doorway mere minutes earlier. She needed to get them out of here, she needed her wand. She looked around frantically for her bag, spotting it on the luggage rails on her far left. No, no, no!

She debated yelling out for help, but almost instantly decided against it. There was no doubt in her mind that whatever happened here today it was no accident. The wrong people may come looking and the last thing they needed was to add a bloody Death Eater to their list of problems right now. Or ever, really. She growled in frustration and set her jaw determinedly. No choice. She needed to get free the old-fashioned way. Bracing herself on her arms again, Hermione clenched her jaw tightly and dragged her legs out from under the mangled door. She tried to muffle her scream as her shoulder and left ankle burned in excruciating pain at the last tug, dropping onto her back in relief, experimentally moving her legs.

Her left ankle was broken, she was sure. She couldn't move it if her life depended on it. 'And it might,' she thought cynically.

She heard Harry groaned quietly and looked over to find him shifting onto his back beside her. Hermione nearly cried in relief. He was alright! She quickly examined him visually, her pain-addled brain taking note of the blood running down his right arm. Well...about as alright as she was. Still reeling from the pain in her ankle, she watched as he looked around him in confusion before a flash of panic crossed his face and he sat up, peering through the thick smoke that had begun enveloping them frantically, "'Mione!"

Heart rate still elevated, she sat up wobbly and placed a hand on Harry's bloodied arm, "Harry, I'm here." His hand found hers and gripped it almost painfully as he peered into her pain-streaked face in concern, "I'm fine, but we need to get out of here. I need my wand, pass me my bag." She gestured to the luggage rails behind him.

He took in the fact that the fire was now approaching with alarming speed and jumped into action, finding both his and Hermione's bags and tossing them between them. Hermione mumbled a quiet 'thanks' quickly extracted her wand and pointed it at the encroaching flames, "Aguamenti!" A large fountain of water spouted out from the tip of her wand, extinguishing most of the flames. Harry lifted his wand to copy the movement, their combined efforts making quick work of the remaining fire, leaving the air damp and soot.

Harry moved to give Hermione a hand up. She lifted a finger, silently asking for a moment and pointed her wand at her broken ankle, muttering a quick, 'Episkey' that was followed in quick succession by a violent crack! And Hermione's half muffled scream as she cursed. Harry flinched in surprise and alarm at both the noise and her choice of language.

Hermione easily jumped to her feet, the shards of glass on her clothes clattering quietly to the ground, and Harry grabbed her hand once more and pulled her towards the empty doorway. Hermione however, dug her heels in and whispered frantically, "Harry, wait!" He looked back at her in confusion and she fought the urge to roll her eyes and pointed her wand at him, murmuring a quick incantation that left Harry feeling the familiar all-over wash of cold he now associated with the Disillusionment Charm, before casting the same charm on herself, absently explaining, "We can't just walk out of here. The platform is probably crawling with Death Eaters."

"Well, that spell won't help us much in that case."

Hermione sighed as she lifted her bag over her head, taking care that its strap rested on her uninjured shoulder. Almost as an afterthought, she took a few seconds to locate their trunks and shrunk them in one fell swoop, dropping hers in her bag and handing Harry his to do the same. She took out a gray cotton motorcycle jacket, hanging it over the bag, "No, but it'll give us a fighting chance of getting out alive. We just have to be careful not to draw attention to ourselves."

Harry followed suit, swinging his beat up rucksack over his left shoulder, "Right," he peered at her in concern, "You're not hurt anywhere else, are you?"

A grimace crossed her lips as she shook her, "Just my shoulder, its fine."

The look of worry didn't leave his face, "Where will we go, headquarters?"

She shook her head, "No, it's under lock and key until the will reading, remember? We'll have to find somewhere else to hide out for a while."

Harry was getting frustrated now. Couldn't they have 'one' normal day? "Where, the Burrow! I reckon the Death Eaters know where it is by now!"

Hermione nearly growled in response. Shite, her shoulder was killing her! "I don't know!" she pinched her eyes shut for second, trying to clear her mind of the pain and softened her tone, "Let's just focus on getting out of the station in one piece first, alright?"

Harry looked shamed-faced. "Right, let's go."

A quick nod of her head and the two made their way to the gaping hole in the side of the compartment, Hermione leading the way, each gripping their wand. They made their way through the short causeway that usually led to the next car, glass crunching beneath their feet as they went. Hermione held Harry's free arm in a death grip, as they peered into the other compartments, hoping to find other survivors. The one directly across from had been empty, to their great relief. One look into the one adjacent one however, yielded a much more gruesome scene.

Hermione had to clamp her mouth shut to keep from being sick and she felt Harry go rigid beside her. The compartment had suffered a similar fate as their own, but at least one of its occupants wasn't so lucky as them. Pavarti Patil lay on the floor, her once lively, deep eyes were glossed over, staring unseeingly across the compartment. Blood pooled around her head, a steady stream still pouring out of a large gaping wound at the side of her head. Hermione couldn't bring herself to look closely enough to determine what had caused it and Harry was already pulling her away, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

They headed to the doorway at the end of the car, Hermione quietly taking deep breaths to stave off the nausea. The pair cautiously poked their heads out of the car, glad of the relatively fresh air, and tried to get their bearings. Both took in the carnage that lay some yards away, each saw something different.

Harry grit his teeth against the soul-shattering screams. His blood boiled at seeing the Hogwarts Express in tatters. The front half of the train was nearly obliterated, blackened by fire and smoke, crushed. He angrily thought of how many students, innocent children must have died in that part of the train alone. His fists clenched tighter and tighter as he thought of Dumbledore. The 'great' and 'wise' Chief Warlock. Not wise enough to keep from being over-confident apparently. Heshut his eyes against the screaming. So much pain. Did they feel pain in the end? Had Pavarti? Were they afraid? Could they feel anything at all? God, he hoped not.

Hermione detached herself from any emotion as she witnessed the horror before her. Only a couple of Death Eaters remained, scouring the wreckage like bloodhounds, yet she could still hear bloodcurdling screams close by. She firmly planted herself in an analytical mindset. If they'd learned anything from their escapade at the Ministry it was that emotions were dangerous, they would only lead to more trouble in these situations.

She closed her eyes for a few seconds, blocking out the screams before opening them and quickly taking in scene of the wreckage. The front of the train was all but gone, the engine having likely exploded. The first five carriages were mangled beyond recognition. Chance of survival was minimal. Blunt force trauma, burns and smoke inhalation would be the most likely causes of death. She began tallying up the probable number of deaths that had occurred in that section of the train. Four compartments in each car, twenty compartments total. They had been packed, she remembered, mostly first and second years and the Prefects compartment. 150 to 200, she concluded. Her eyes watered at the thought, wondering if Ron had been there, but she forced her mind to focus on the evidence. Her eyes wandered further down the wreckage. The two middle section carriages were lying on their side, suggesting the attack was lateral rather than frontal. Students in those compartments were almost assuredly injured, but most likely alive. The last two cars, including the one she and Harry were currently in, had snapped off the rest of the train. That suggested the attack was either executed with one very powerful spell cast by one powerful wizard, or there were multiple spell impacts. The latter was the most likely given the extent of fire damage. Her eyes slid shut. They'd been lucky.

Hermione's eyes snapped open and she gasped as more screams and desperate shouts for help were carried by the wind from somewhere beyond the wreckage. But the platform was almost deserted, where were they coming from? She looked over at Harry who still had his eyes screwed shut, jaw tense and allowed a trickle of fear enter her body and let out a shuddering sigh. Focus, we just have to focus on the problem at hand. Two Death Eaters stood between them and their escape, but for once, they had the upper hand, the element of surprise.

She turned to Harry, who was now glaring murderously at the two figures poking through the wreckage of the cars a few yards ahead of them and whispered, "There're only two. I'll take the one on the right," she paused, suddenly struck by something, "Actually, stand still." She pointed her wand at him, ignoring the confusion in Harry's eyes as she muttered a long incantation, moving her wand around Harry's form. When she was finished they both emanated a bright blue light that glowed steadily for a good half minute before disappearing entirely. At Harry's silent question Hermione only offered, "The Trace. I'll explain later."

He nodded stiffly, still looking about ready to tear the two Death Eaters to bits. "On three." He growled.

Hermione quietly agreed, but grabbed his arm and whispered in caution, "We'll have to be quick and quiet. Send up a blue spark once it's all clear."

Harry only grunted in response and started the count, "One, two, three."

They quickly headed off in opposite directions, making sure to stay low and quiet as they crept around the wreckage to their targets. Hermione crept closely alongside the toppled train cars, only stopping when she was separated from the Death Eater by one car. She cautiously peered around the twisted hunk of metal and her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she heard the bulky figure muttering something to himself. Her body reacted instinctively, her feet automatically dragging her further forward, fearing he had found another survivor. When she got a clear view of the man however, she felt a cold flush of anger-fueled adrenaline entered her bloodstream and her jaw clenched compulsively. The man had his wand pointed at the body of a young boy lying in the compartment, very obviously dead, and had proceeded to casually dismember the child limb from limb.

It should have made her physically sick, but all Hermione feel was fury. Instinct took over reason once again as her wand steadily leveled itself at the man's head and she viciously muttered two spells in quick succession, "Muffliato. Confringo."

She barely flinched as the man's head was blown clearly off, blood and brain matter splattering to the ground he fell upon. Her eyes instead fell on the tattered and bloodied body of the young boy that monster violated. With a quiet sniffle and a muttered word she conjured a gray blanket and gently laid it over the body with trembling hands.

Suddenly, she couldn't hold it in anymore. She turned and only made it a few feet from the gruesome scene before relieving herself of the bile that had been slowly creeping up her throat. She wiped her mouth, feeling as if someone had cast a Jelly-Legs Jinx at her and sunk to the floor, breathing heavily.

A couple minutes passed before she shakily wiped away her tears and stood, squaring her shoulders, grimacing when her right shoulder protested at the action. From the corner of her eye she saw a bright blue spark go up from the other side of the train and made her way over the tracks. Harry stood over a very dead Death Eater of his own, looking similarly shaken. Hermione pressed a hand over her mouth and groaned at the sight. Judging by the entrails currently littering the ground, Harry had cast a Diffindo at the man.

Harry's head snapped up at sound of Hermione's moan, his eyes immediately widening in shock and shame, "I-I had too." Hermione looked over at him as he stumbled over his explanation, which only served to make him panic escalate further. "He was-" he swallowed thickly, vaguely gesturing at the wreckage, giving up when Hermione inhaled deeply, "It just happened."

Hermione could only nod as she leaned against the train car behind her and moved her hand to her head, closing her eyes as she did. She looked very much to Harry as if she were about to pass out and he quickly made his way towards her. Closing the distance between them in three seconds flat, Harry gently grasped her uninjured arm, his other hand resting on her waist, ready to support her if necessary.

Instead, she only leaned her head against the harsh metal and explained breathlessly, "I just blew a Death Eater's head off. He was tearing a little boy apart. Literally." Hermione placed a hand on his chest as she pushed herself off the wreckage, looking up at him reassuringly, "I'm not judging you Harry, just feeling a bit nauseous."

Their hands joined as Harry pulled Hermione's close to him and they slogged their way around one of the larger pieces of wreckage separating them from the King's Cross barrier with heavy hearts. Wands out, hands tightly clasped together, the pair made their way towards the screams that still pierced the air. Simultaneously, they each let out a sharp breath as they were confronted with the scene they had both expected and dreaded.

The barrier was gone. Nothing stood between King's Cross and Platform 9 3/4. Chaos reigned. The ground was covered in shards of glass from the station's skylight roof while people, Wizards and Muggles alike, were fleeing the platforms. A terrifying number, mostly Muggles judging by their attire, lay either dead or dying where the barrier had previously been. Death Eaters were swarming across the rest of King's Cross and as Harry and Hermione ventured further into the chaos, bobbing and weaving between panicked people, they saw that most of the commotion was centered around the station's exits.

Apparently they hadn't been unconscious for as long as they had thought. As far as they could see there were no Aurors on the scene apart from Tonks. She and Remus were currently firing spell after spell at the masked cowards in the immediate area. And they definitely weren't taking any prisoners either, firing everything from stunners to the same blasting curse Hermione had herself used earlier. Upon seeing the swarms of figures draped in black, Hermione had had to check her initial reflex to cast an Anti-Disapparition Jinx over the area. The Aurors would have to apparate in first, though the thought of leaving anything of too great import in the hands of the Ministry left her feeling uneasy these days. In the meantime, they had to keep moving.

Amongst the insanity that surrounded them as they fled toward the streets of London, Harry caught sight of a large group of redheads he immediately recognized the Weasley family, prompting him to nudge Hermione before the group disappeared before their eyes. Each looked at the other in relief, feeling a weight lift. If nothing else they could at least take solace in the knowledge that all the Weasleys had escaped unscathed.

Hermione tugged Harry toward the epicenter of chaos, both looking for a way through the barrage of Death Eaters that surrounded the station's expansive, rounded facade. The pair moved in tandem as they worked to quickly edge their way out of Kings Cross, trying to blend into the large swarm of people heading in the same direction. They could now clearly see spells flying into the air like fireworks as they neared the enormous glass walls of King's Cross. Once they were in view of the busy London streets, Hermione slid her jacket on, slipping her wand up her sleeve, and noticed Harry do the same with his own, unwilling to risk drawing attention to themselves.

When they finally broke through the crowd, rather than relief, Hermione and Harry felt a familiar horror well up inside them. Death Eaters were holding their ground on the pavement just outside the station sending Hermione and Harry into a tizzy as they dodged the barrage of spells that filled the air, all the while clinging to each other to keep from getting separated.

Curse after curse was being fired viciously and indiscriminately at anyone and everyone in range and Hermione and Harry found themselves replying in kind, discreetly firing any and every curse, hex and jinx they could think of at the Death Eaters blocking their way. Hermione fired a particularly nasty gouging spell at one Death Eater after they'd shot a curse at a little girl without a second thought.

At the sound of several cracks breaking through the surrounding cacophony, the pair quickly turned to see a group of Aurors battling it out with the Death Eaters a few yards to right. The Death Eaters seemed to take this as a sign of retreat, dodging rather than firing, but before any of them had time to get away Hermione pointed her wand directly above her head and cast the Anti-Disapparition Jinx she had been denied earlier. The resulting confusion gave Hermione a chance to move further out onto the pavement and get her bearings. They were at the front of the station, making the road ahead of them Euston or Pancras. The mess of people and spells distorted everything around her and her gaze wandered, searching for a discernible landmark to guide her before resting on the post office across the road. Euston then. We need to go right.

With a cautious glance at the battle still being waged behind them, Hermione threw Harry a quick, 'let's go' before breaking into run, pulling a bewildered Harry behind her.

Their run slowed to a fast walk as distance turned the sounds of battle into loud echoes that pursued them down the street. Despite their presumably clean escape they couldn't help but look over their shoulders every once in a while.

A stray cat chose that moment to leap out at them from an adjacent alley. Hermione gave a small shriek and would have blasted the poor thing with a stunner had Harry not caught her arm at the last second. That seemed to be the last straw for Hermione and her calm composure suddenly cracked as she uttered the last thing Harry expected, "Oh no! Crookshanks!"

Harry pulled a face, "What?"

Hermione began to power walk down the road once again, shooting Harry a slightly frantic look while Harry followed behind worriedly, "Crookshanks! I let them put him with the other pets on the train because he tends to get so antsy on the train rides to and from school. I have no idea if he's alright," she gasped then, startling Harry, "What about Hedwig!"

Harry grabbed her by the shoulders and spoke calmly, "'Mione, calm down. I sent Hedwig to Privet Drive ahead of me. She's a smart owl, once I don't show up she'll find me somehow. And as for Crookshanks..." he trailed off uncertainly and looked at her sadly, "Well, we'll worry about him later."

Hermione nodded sadly and took a deep breath, visibly calmer. "Right." She replied quietly.

Harry rubbed her arms comfortingly before entwining their hands once again, "Come on. Let's keep walking," Harry took a moment to take in their surroundings for the first time. Where are we? ""'Mione, where a we going anyway?"

That seems to pull Hermione back to the present and she resumed their walk, "My car. I parked just down the road."

"Car? You're 16, how do you even have a license?"

"I don't."

Incredulity, shock, amazement. It would be quite fair and extremely accurate to say that Harry was experiencing all three at the shocking and continually surfacing new facets to one Hermione Granger. She was bolder, more willing to break the rules in order to get things done, flouting authority, she had apparently even managed to brake the Ministry's Trace somehow. As the car park came into view ahead of them, Harry was left to wonder if his best friend's metamorphosis was a byproduct of their dealings with the Voldemort and the Ministry the past year or something else entirely.