Remembering Sunday Chapter 2: Night Drive, a harry potter fanfic

Sunday Evening

As the last traces of London disappeared from her rear view mirror, Hermione Granger began to wonder if she'd ever really escape England. She wasn't sure where she was going, but she was on her way to Paris, currently sitting impatiently in her car for the 35 minute ride to France to be over. She began to think about the situation she had left and realized just how well she knew Severus. She certainly knew him well enough to be heartbroken. She wondered if London would feel the same way about her leaving. Perhaps, perhaps not.

She'd Floo'ed from her quarters in her fancy dinner garb, a last minute decision she'd made as she realized she had fatally screwed up by falling in love with Severus. He was under her surveillance, she wasn't allowed to fall for him! She mentally cursed herself, dammit, Hermione, you're a better Auror than that.

It was to be that she had taken a sabbatical after her last bad injury (which really wasn't that serious, she's a bloody witch after all) and took Albus up on the offer of teaching Arithmacy and filling in whenever any of the other teachers had to be out (except, of course, Divination. If Trelawney and Firenze were both... incapacitated... the class was simply canceled.)

The reality of her assignment was that Severus Snape was being secretly monitored as rumors of illegal potions were being circulated at the same time the threat of another megalomaniac on the rise had sprung up. It wasn't because he was a known former Death Eater, not at all, although Hermione felt it certainly didn't aid his case. No, he was under investigation just like every other Potions Master in Europe.

She mused that she could at least report to her superiors that he was, without a doubt in her mind, completely innocent of providing illegal potions to unsavory peoples.

That evening, when she had realized that Snape had proved her wrong, that love did exist outside of fairy tales, she stumbled out into the streets from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes after eliciting a very strong vow from the twins that if asked, they had not seen her. From the alley beside the shop, she Apparated to the nearest rent-a-car place which was owned by muggleborns and rented herself a nondescript, forgettable car.

She had driven until she reached the Chunnel, hoping to escape while leaving her entire life behind her. With one last glimpse of England, she realized that for once in her life, she had no plan. She would have to find a way to get word to her superiors that Severus was innocent, but she would also have to explain why without breaking her heart a little more than it already was.

Each mile from England, another piece of her slid away: one less obligation, one less person, one less feeling, one less memory. With each kilometer, she felt a little more detached. Some how, halfway through the Chunnel, she convinced herself that even if he had begged her, she wouldn't have stayed, and certainly, she wouldn't have married him.

Oh, yes, she knew he would propose. She had found the ring earlier that week while he was asleep. She had been investigating his quarters after a wonderful night of sex and liquor. Then when he had invited her to a fancy dinner for their one year anniversary, she put two and two together and spent the week trying to decide how to react. When she found that she actually wanted to go through with it, she became terrified and she ran. When she couldn't run any farther, she drove.

As soon as she hit land, she sped her way towards Paris. She drove through Paris, ignoring all of the vibrant lights and people, then continued to accelerate south until she hit Orleans. She thanked her parents under her breath as she drove farther and farther away from Hogwarts and Severus Snape. She originally decided to make for Noirmoutier to her family's property on the southwestern beach, but decided that would be one of the first places anyone came looking for her, so she decided to leave France altogether.

She knew if Severus ever found her, all manner of hell would break loose. They would fight about her leaving, and then one or the other of them would say something insensitive and cruel and then they'd be hurt. Right now, she blamed Severus for ruining her life, even though rationally, she knew that it wasn't his fault she hadn't wanted to fall in love, nor did he decided to make her love him. At the moment, though, Hermione found it convenient to blame Snape.

She gathered her resolve and kept driving, all the while thanking Merlin for the magically replenishing fuel tank. She made a pit stop in Lyon to grab food – she never made it to dinner, after all – and then continued on until she reached the Italian border. Realizing that she hadn't paid any tolls in France, she cast a revealing spell on the car to find that it had automatically avoided the toll roads. She also discovered that it had an invisibility charm on it that began working the minute she broke the speed limit, thus she could really drive as fast as she wanted.

She stopped at customs so as to be legally in the country, then sped her way into Torino. She looked up to see that it was already three in the morning, and if she kept driving, she would drive straight into the breaking dawn. She drove.

She was gone, gone from Scotland, gone from Hogwarts, gone from Severus Snape. Surely he wouldn't be too heartbroken. He had Albus and Minerva to console him. As Torino disappeared behind her, she felt another piece of her slip away. She promised herself that she wouldn't go back, not until she'd been forgotten.

It would be a long time before she could go back. She kept driving.

She reached Venice sometime before seven. In the back of her mind, she was wondering exactly how fast she had been driving. She decided it was still too early to quit because the events of the night were still bright in her mind. She stopped long enough to grab breakfast then headed towards Pisa. She drove past the Leaning Tower while musing that it was bending over backwards like she once did.

At least she didn't have to worry about her job. She would be fired – after all, you weren't supposed to fall for your assignment. As for Hogwarts, she felt it was rather obvious she quit.

She kept going, eventually hitting Rome about half ten London time. She knew that Severus wouldn't think to look for her in Italy, but she still didn't want to chance it by staying somewhere obvious. She remembered mentions of a magical community near Sicily. She kept driving, all the while cursing Snape under her breath.

Stopping in Naples, she got directions using a translation spell to make her way to Calabria, a magical community from a Muggleborn owned apothecary that was Muggle in the front and Magical in the back. She got back into her car and made her way south. As she drove, she began to think over the life she left behind once more.

Every time she came up with a halfway decent argument that love didn't exist, Severus blocked her off. Every time he proved her wrong, her head spun a little more and her heart beat a little harder. She was falling in love, but she didn't dare say it. It was easier to run away from it than to face it. She drove to escape it.

At eight o'clock, she was welcomed into the Italian community with open arms. They recognized her from the press releases of Voldemort's defeat and acknowledged her talent as a brilliant witch.

She insisted on paying an innkeeper for a room, despite many offers to stay for free, then dug out her old Sneakascope from her bag. She charmed it to alert her if anyone came looking for her, then fell into bed at about midnight, too tired to cry.

The next day, the reality of what she had done finally hit her when she received a letter from Minerva. She directed what she recognized as a Hogwarts owl to her barely touched lunch then over to the perch above the wardrobe.

Dearest Hermione,

Where have you gone? The letter you left indicated that you'd done the unforgivable, but child, nothing is unforgivable. We're all miserable without you here. Severus is terribly distraught. Please, Hermione, tell me where you went if you won't come back, or at least tell me why you left. Everyone is looking for you. Please come home, Hermione.

Sincerely, Minnie McGonagall

It was Tuesday. She'd driven to escape everything, yet it all managed to catch up with her. Hermione finally gathered the will to cry. She cried for her family and for her friends, for her job and for Hogwarts; she cried for the Burrow and for Godric's Hollow; for London and for Hogsmeade.

She bawled when she realized that she would probably never see her friends and mentors again; Harry, Ron, Ginny and the twins were all back in Scotland. Minerva and Albus, her closest confidantes and mentors were at Hogwarts. Severus, the one person she had ever truly loved was probably devastated back in the Snape Mansion that she had spent this summer helping him rebuild, or perhaps he was wrecking Spinner's End in a fit of rage at her betrayal. Maybe he was drunk in his quarter right now. She would never know, because she resolved to never speak to him again.

Finally, she resolved that she would get through this. She told herself to grow a backbone and move on. She clutched Minerva's missive in her hand tightly as Hedwig flew through the window.

"Oh, Hedwig! Why on Earth did they send you to find me? You're so tired! Thank Merlin you made it here alright," the snowy owl hooted as Hermione stroked her feathers then offered out her leg. On a whim, Hermione cast a revealing spell on both of the letters tied to Hedwig's leg as well as the letter clutched in her hand. She found that all three were spelled so that only she may read them, but none of them had a tracking charm.

Sighing in relief, Hermione removed the letters and offered Hedwig the leftovers from her lunch.

"Here, old girl, help yourself. There's a perch above the wardrobe." The owl hooted merrily then ate until she was full. Hermione watched as Hedwig lethargically made her way over to the perch, joining the other owl to doze off.

The first letter was quick and to the point.

Hermione,

Where are you? Everyone's worried. Please let us know you're alright. We miss you.

Love, Harry and Ginny Potter

She grimaced but decided to read the second letter nonetheless.

Hermione,

Did that greasy git hurt you or did you finally get smart and decide you were better than that? Come home. We miss you.

Love, Ron

She knew he was concerned for her, but she couldn't help but get mad at him. He knew that Severus was cleared of all charges and in general a much nicer person after the war. It irked her to see that he still held that grudge after so many years.

She found that she didn't have the will to respond to any of it, so she let the owls rest and told them to stay for a while. She got into her car after alerting the innkeeper that she was going out for a bit, and drove all night long. She didn't return until morning.

She felt into a pattern. She would feed the owls, have a quiet dinner, and then leave the inn to go drive around Italy. She would drive all night long to wherever she felt like going, then return in the morning and fall into bed, too exhausted to do anything else. The next day she'd wake up, take a shower and repeat the process again.

Finally, Saturday came. She had lost weight during the week and gained deep circles below her eyes. She took the time to scribble out replies to all three, saying that she was fine and that she'd return eventually, but she had monumentally screwed up and she had to let everything cool down, but please don't try to find her at the moment. Before she could send the owls back with her replies, she was startled by the appearance of Fawkes and a small grey tabby. The tabby jumped from the phoenix's grip and transformed into Hermione's closest friend.

"Hermione! We've been so worried about you!" she chided, grabbing the girl and pulling her into a tight hug. "Where are we?" she asked after taking in her surroundings, correctly surmising that they were somewhere in Italy due to the large amounts of Italian in the room. She looked back at the young woman in her arms to see that she was rather shell-shocked. She held her at arm's length and inspected her, much like a lioness looking over her cub.

"Hermione Jane Granger, what in Merlin's name have you done to yourself? In less than a week, you've dropped a half a stone! You look like you haven't slept in days," she stopped scolding as Hermione's eyes brimmed with tears. Minerva's expression softened. "Oh, Hermione, why didn't you come to me? I feel like I've failed you."

At this, Hermione burst into tears and Minerva pulled her close once more. They held each other and cried as one blamed herself for going and the other for coming. Finally, after many tears, Hermione poured a pot of tea and the two women sat down to talk.

"Minerva, this isn't your fault at all. I've done something terrible and I couldn't bring myself to stay," at Minerva's confused look, she continued. "I never retired from being an Auror. While working at Hogwarts, I was on an assignment to observe Severus and make sure he's not the one that's been providing Dark potions to the community."

"But Hermione, Severus –" Hermione cut her off.

"I knew it was highly unlikely that Severus would be the one, but every Potions Master in Europe is under surveillance. His past certainly didn't help his case. Anyway, during this assignment, I became much closer to Severus than originally planned and I..." she hesitated. Minerva looked at her knowingly.

"You fell in love with your job, didn't you?" Minerva finished. She watched as Hermione closed her eyes and slowly nodded. "Oh, child, I knew there had to be more to the story."

"There was. Severus will never forgive me for being dishonest. He won't believe that it was real. He won't believe I really love him!" she cried. The older woman took her hand gently.

"Hermione, he loves you either way. He was going to propose to you Sunday night." She was baffled when Hermione didn't show surprise, her features favoring sadness instead.

"I know. I came across the ring while investigating," she said. "I couldn't have said yes, even if I wanted to. My job..." she trailed off. Minerva looked at her sadly.

"Child, you should have seen the man this week. He's miserable. He's been drunk ever since Potter told him he couldn't find you. He's roamed the castle every night, harassing the portraits and yelling at the ghosts, always interrogating them to find out if they've seen you. I believe that tonight is the first night he hasn't been in his quarters getting completely wasted.

He went to look for you this afternoon. He tried your parents in Southern France. Your mother is worried about you. She didn't know you had left until he told her. We're all worried about you," she paused. "By the look of you, we have due cause to be, anyway. Really, woman, have you forgotten to eat?"

At Hermione's guilty look, she clucked her tongue in annoyance pulled her off the edge of the bed. "Which part of Italy are we in?" she asked.

"Calabria, in –" Minerva cut her off.

"The streghe, am I correct?" she asked. At Hermione's nod, she continued. "Oh, wonderful, I know a delightful restaurant nearby." She spelled a new set of clothing onto Hermione and pulled her out of the room.

Later, over coffee, Minerva asked when she planned on returning.

"Perhaps in a while. I need some time to think and figure out how to resolve all of this with Severus. Besides, I like Italy." Minerva nodded.

"I understand. It does have a certain charm, doesn't it?"

The two women chatted late into the evening until Minerva looked at the time.

"Oh dear, it's already half ten. I suppose I should go back to Hogwarts and pass on the news that you're alive." Hermione looked stricken at these words.

"No! You mustn't tell Severus that you've seen me! I can't..." she broke down once more. Minerva calmed her down, then promised not to tell Severus. She called the owls to her and took the letters off of the desk that Hermione had been about to send when she had arrived.

"Now Hermione, when I leave, promise me you'll go to sleep." Hermione promised and Minerva left, holding onto Fawkes tightly while grinning secretly to herself that she had laced Hermione's coffee with a Dreamless Sleep potion.

Hermione decided that she felt quite tired. She changed into her pajamas and fell into a fitful sleep.

Night Drive by All American Rejects

I know you
so better than the city in the rear view
I drive to
eliminate the ball that I'm chained to

Take me break me
every mile further there's a part of me that slips away
One day you'll see
Even if you go down on your knees you couldn't make me stay

Drive all night
Never gonna get me
Night by night
To get away from it all
You fight fight fight
All you wanna do is hurt me
You wrecked my life
Now I'm gonna have to drive all night

I'll stay strong
I'm pushing on the pedal til' I break dawn
So I'm gone, go find another shoulder you can cry on

Take me break me
Every mile further there's a part of me that slips away
One day you'll see
Even if you got down on your knees you couldn't make me stay

Drive all night
Never gonna get me
Night by night
To get away from it all
Fight fight fight
All you wanna do is hurt me
You wrecked my life
So I'm gonna have to drive all night
You wrecked my life
So I'm gonna have to drive all night
You wrecked my life
So I'm gonna have to drive all night

All of the things that you knew that I'd try
All of the things that I held inside
All I gotta do is drive

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's most likely not mine. "Night Drive" is property of The All-American Rejects. Harry Potter is property of J. K. Rowling.

Author's Note: Alright, your happy ending will be in the next chapter. If I get enough reviews, I'll post it in the morning. If you're really, really nice I'll even do an epilogue. Until then, adios. - Rei