A/N: Again, I own nothing... unfortunately. Also, there is some wording in this chapter which may be a little unsettling. Just a bit of a heads-up.
Ron followed through on his promise to meet us at the station. I mistakenly began to panic when I couldn't find his bright copper hair in the small crowd of passengers, but Bill pointed out his black beanie in only a few minutes. He explained that he was on the run for over an hour and kept running into enemies, but eventually hid and needed to stay out of sight until dawn.
It was just a bit before seven and the morning light was bright and crisp. All of us seemed to be in good spirits and looking positive…except Severus. His eyes never stopped searching for threats, his face never betraying his thoughts. I gazed up at him as we waited for our train, wondering what might be going through his head.
"Yes?" I looked down quickly and felt my face flush. When I didn't answer, he looked over and raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"Erm… penny for your thoughts?" I asked sheepishly. He inhaled slowly and straightened up to continue his watch.
"Looking forward to getting out of here." He said quietly.
"Anything suspicious?"
"Just a feeling." He said it in an off-handed manor, but it caused goosebumps to rise on my arms. His instincts were not something I wanted to take lightly.
The train arrived and passengers got off before we began boarding. In the noise and chaos I felt my senses heighten. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end but as I looked around, I couldn't identify any sort of threat. Severus and I hung back, keeping an eye on things as the rest of our group chattered away and climbed aboard. We found our seats quickly and I found myself sitting by the window next to Severus. The whistle sounded, announcing our departure. I glanced out the window as we began moving. Barely visible there in the steam was a man in dark clothing, staring me straight in the eyes.
"Severus!" I breathed.
"Yes?"
"On the platform, a man…" The steam consumed him as we went faster and faster. "There was someone watching me – watching us." I looked back at him and saw the tightness in his eyes.
"We need to get off." He said abruptly. "Now." He looked up and down the car as he began re-buttoning his coat.
"Now?" Surely they don't know where we're going."
"No, but they'll be there at the next stop." Fear crept up my spine. I watched him stand and cross to the older men and I made my way to Ron. Once we had informed everyone, the plan was simple. We'd go to the shop car – Ron, Neville, Luna and I together, followed by Bill and Fleur, and then Remus and Rolf. Kingsley and Severus would go deal with stopping the train and then meet us for a quick departure.
We four entered the cart and tried our best to act natural. We scanned the shelves and looked for drinks and greeted the clerk. Remus and Rolf entered next, perfectly playing the part of father and son. The clerk glanced up as Bill and Fleur entered arm-in-arm. I quickly glanced over and met Remus's eye and then looked back at the clerk, who was now scanning us suspiciously. Panicking, I cleared my throat, alerting Neville. Ron and I each chose a drink and went to pay as I noticed Neville had broken away and was kissing Luna by one of the doors. Bill and Fleur took note and began choosing something to eat. This all seemed to put the clerk more at ease. As Ron pulled out a few pounds to pay, I caught sight of something dark out the door to the car behind us.
Looking a bit more closely, I realized it was a pair of darkly dressed people approaching. My heart began pounding.
"Let's go back to our seats, shall we?" I asked a bit loudly.
"Let's." Ron said, his expression a bit puzzled. Neville glanced back at me and then looked out the car door and saw what I had seen. Rolf noticed and nudged Remus which made them both look out the car door. The clerk stepped out from behind the register.
"Is there a problem here?" She asked. Then all hell broke loose. The figures began sprinting towards us. Remus flung a gentle spell in the clerk's direction, causing her to lose consciousness and not see the rest of us draw our wands. He cast another spell to stop the others from noticing us as we all turned to run the other direction. Suddenly the train lurched, the brakes squealing and an alarm screeched from all sides. Severus was by my side a moment later, gripping my arm and rushing us all forward.
Kingsley led us through one car and out the door, escaping into a residential area. "Meet at the preserve!" He shouted over his shoulder. We all scattered as dark mist began shooting over us, alerting us that Death Eaters were on our tails.
I had only a vague idea of where we were, but I followed behind the others as closely as I could. At one point I heard Neville shout a spell behind us so I knew he was close – always lingering in my peripheral vision was Severus. He stayed glued to me, calmly turning to fire spells behind us as we rounded corners. We were creating a scene and it was risky, but we needed to get away by any means possible.
I glanced back for a moment as he cast another spell and I wound up flying into the air and crashing down onto the cement sidewalk. All the air knocked out of me, I couldn't do anything but stare up at the man standing above me. Greyback. He bared his teeth at me and wound a tight hand around my neck, cutting off the air I was desperately trying to gulp in. In moments, however, a darkness swept across the sky and I was released. Neville yanked me to my feet and held me steady as I finally realized that Severus had tackled Greyback. They wrestled for a moment on the ground but Severus's intuition won out and he was able to throw him into a wall, disorienting him enough to shoot a jet of green light from his wand. Greyback instantly fell to the ground, his eyes open but unseeing.
For a minute the world went still. There was a ringing in my ears as I stared at the man lying on the pavement before me. Visions flashed through my mind of him at the warehouse, the battle in the woods outside the cabin, and I realized in that moment that Harry's eyes must've held that emptiness too. It was odd, seeing another person's eyes glazed over and empty – his body simply a shell of the person he had been. I was breathing heavily then, I noticed – nearly hyperventilating. My heart was beating a tattoo against my ribcage and I heard my name being called as if I were underwater. I turned, very slowly, and saw Neville standing a few yards away, yelling and waving frantically for me to follow him. I felt something move on my back and realized Severus was trying to move me. I looked up at him and was relieved to find his eyes were full of life.
"Hermione!" Neville shouted again at me and seemed to snap me out of it. I squeezed Severus's arm and broke away, following Neville down the street. It seemed that Greyback had been the only one following us specifically, but we could hear crashes and shouts in the distance. We ran for a long time, hearing less and less as we neared the meeting place.
We skirted the edge of the preserve for a bit, making sure that no enemies had followed any of us there. Eventually we found Kingsley, Luna, Bill and Fleur.
"They got caught up near the tracks, but I think they went around. Should be here in a few minutes." Bill said, anxiously waiting to see Remus, Rolf and Ron.
I wandered a few feet away to sit, and reflect. I could feel Severus watching me for few moments before he finally wandered over. He didn't say anything, just stood beside me and looked off into the distance.
"I know you had to." I said slowly. "I just need to come to terms with it." He visibly relaxed, but said nothing. "It was as if-"
"Hermione!" Ron's frantic shout far off to my left made me lose all train of thought, my mind completely tuned to his cry. My head snapped in the direction his voice sounded from and barely a moment passed before I was racing off to reach him.
"Hermione, no! It could be a trap!" I heard Severus's voice call behind me but I couldn't bring myself to stop. I couldn't lose Ron too.