Chapter 4

The car stormed outside the gates and towards the road. In the back seat Draco and Hermione were in a state of frenzy. Hermione looked as if she was going to have a panic attack at any second and Draco kept turning around to check if anyone was following them. "What the fuck is going on?" harry shouted from the driver's seat with his eyes still fixed on the road. "What's she doing here?" he continued as the car's tires screeched.

Before Draco could open his mouth to say anything there was a jarring sound followed by the sound of the glass shattering. Hermione put both her hands on her ears and screamed. "Fuck! They are following us" Draco shouted as he ducked and took out a gun from under the seat. The rear window shield was gone and there were two black cars racing after them.

Harry pushed the accelerator and the car moved forward with even more speed. Draco was scooting under the car seat and was shooting at the black cars. "Turn left, turn left" Hermione shrieked as the car arrived at a crossroad and the car took a sharp turn. Hermione who was sitting in the small foot space involuntarily jerked towards Draco who was on the left. In a haste she steadied herself. "Hold onto something and don't get up." Draco exclaimed without looking at her and aiming for his next shot.

The turn had brought them to a busy highway with lots of honking vehicles. The sound of the cars in the midst of the constant firing from behind was driving Hermione crazy. Harry was driving at lightning speed, desperate to get rid of their attackers. He started driving in the same direction as the other cars were going. They overtook one car after the other gaining more and more speed but the bullets kept coming and one of them missed Harry by an inch almost hitting his head.

Draco kicked opened the door on his side open which was thrashed away by a passing car less than a second later. He held onto the seatbelt with one hand and peeked out of the open space. Hermione was afraid he would jump but he didn't, he stretched his hand and fired the gun thrice in a row. The favor was returned by the party following them but one of the cars had stopped in the middle, the driver shot in the head.

"Sit back and hold on" Harry ordered from the front. Draco immediately turned back and sat with his head low, loading more bullets into the gun. Hermione was cowering in the small foot space with both her hands on hers ears. Just then harry took a sharp right turn, their car crashing over the divider and going to the other side of the road. Meanwhile the car right next to theirs had to abruptly stop using the brakes lest they would crash into Harry's car. As a result of which the cars behind that one did the same. Soon there was a loud ring of alarms as all the cars moving at a rapid pace on the road had suddenly come to a halt and crashed into each other.

Hermione took a glance from the window as their car took a u-turn and raced in the opposite direction. She could see the face of victor through a distance. He was glaring at her but his car was blocked from all sides and hence couldn't do anything. That lasted only for a second before Harry drove again as fast as he could constantly dodging the honking cars coming from the opposite direction on the road.

Harry soon drove the car off the main highway into a small alley and they drove silently for a few minutes, all three of them still recovering from the narrow escape that they had had.

Once they had reached a deserted place Harry stopped the car and got outside. Draco too followed him and stepped outside after giving Hermione a quick glance. He didn't even have to open the door as one wasn't left on his side.

Hermione sat inside cowering on the seat with her head in her hands. The things that had happened in the last half an hour were too much for her to process. She took a deep breath and willed herself to take charge. She looked around herself and found that the two other men were standing a few yards away from her. It looked as if they were arguing about something. Draco had a piece of paper in his hand and he looked angry whereas the other boy ran a hand through his messy hair with a frustrated look in his eyes.

Hermione stepped out of the car and started walking towards them in her midnight blue gown and heels. The moment they saw her coming they became silent which annoyed her to no extent. "What the hell was that?" she asked as she looked at the two of them.

Draco merely lowered his head and Harry started, "look we are extremely sorry that that you were involved in all of this but now you are free to leave".

Hermione honestly felt that she could strangle him at that exact moment but she controlled herself. "Free to go? How dare you say that? You both are the ones who dragged me here and now you can't just expect me leave" she said gathering whatever courage was left within her.

"Excuse me, but as far as I remember you got inside the car willingly, no one forced you to do that" Harry retorted.

"That was because of him" she gave Draco a scathing look and continued "you just used me to get out there safely and then wanted to dump me on the road like some piece of trash"

Draco knew she was talking to him. He finally looked away from the ground and started, "I am extremely sorry for-"

"You're sorry?" Hermione scoffed. "You lied to me since the very beginning, didn't you? You both are not some businessmen who have come here for work related stuff. You only became friends with me so that you could attend that goddamn party for god knows what reason and then when you were trapped you used me to get out of there too. Isn't that right?" she said in an accusing tone as she fit all the pieces together in her head.

"Yes you are absolutely correct" Draco said with a blank expression on her face.

"And that time we bumped into each other and when we were in that coffee shop…that was all an act" Hermione said more to herself than to them.

"Yeah it was" Harry replied and Hermione felt a dull ache in her chest. She wanted to cry but she decided that she won't shed a tear in front of these selfish men. "Great. Just great." She said as her shoulders sagged in disappointment.

"I think there are greater problems to worry about right now" Draco said as he gave Harry a knowing look.

"Yeah right. Umm.. Hermione I am sure you could find a taxi stand a few minutes away from here. You can go back to the mansion or wherever you want, you are free now."

"I can't go back there, Victor will skin me alive" she paused and shook her head. "Infact I don't have anywhere to go".

The two boys gave each other a look, as if speaking with their eyes. "Sorry to hear that, but we really need to get going, don't we Malfoy?" Harry said stressing on the last bit.

Hermione stared at them with a look of disbelief on her face. "You guys can't just leave me alone here!" She felt completely at a loss. She couldn't go back to Victor, she had no family, no home, nowhere to go. There was only one way that she could see, where she could survive on her own, without anyone's help but Hermione wouldn't stoop that low. Selling her own body to strangers was something she could never picture herself doing.

She looked up to see Draco walking towards her with the piece of paper swaying in his hand along with the breeze. "Look Hermione you are a really nice girl and I am sure you are going to do some wonderful things in life. I wish we could help you in some way but unfortunately there's not a lot that we can do for you" he finished looking earnestly at her face. Hermione wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying. She was busy staring at the piece of paper in his hand.

"Wait, why do you have Snape's picture in your hand?" she suddenly asked. At this Draco's eyes widened and harry who until now was busy staring at the ground suddenly seemed very interested in the conversation.

Draco glanced at the picture and at her face again. "You- you know this guy?" he asked. Harry stepped closer and before she could answer the question he asked another one, "Snape? That's his name?"

Hermione could feel the sudden change in the atmosphere. Not a minute ago they were trying to get rid of her and as soon as she mentioned the name it had caught their attention. She looked at their faces, looking at her eagerly waiting for her to say something.

"uhh..yes" she replied slowly. "Yes for what? About you knowing him or about his name?" Harry asked eagerly and Hermione could feel it again. The complete shift in the power. She felt as if she was in control and she honestly loved the feeling. "Why should I tell you?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Okay how much?" Harry asked without any hestitation. "How much what" Hermione asked, genuinely confused. "How much money do you want? Name the figure" he replied. Hermione thought for a second. He was offering her money. With the desperation in his voice she knew that he would give her any amount she named. That would make her life so much easier. She could take the money and get away from all the drama but for some reason that didn't appeal to her. She shook her head. " I don't want your money, I want to know the truth".

"The truth? Truth about what?" Draco furrowed his eyebrows. "About the two of you. Who are you? Why did you want to get into that party tonight and why do you have this man's picture?" she continued. Harry threw his hands up in frustration and cursed under his breath. "That is not going to happen" Draco said with a stern expression on his face.

"Then don't expect any answers from me" Hermione folded her hands on her chest, challenging them. Draco looked at her in disbelief for a brief second. "You're kidding right? This isn't some sort of a game! You could have been dead a few minutes ago" he said angrily.

"Don't rub the danger in my face! I know very well I could have died. Living for the past three years with Victor has taught me enough about the cruel, selfish world and the dangers of it!"

"It will only put your life in risk" Draco said.

"I don't care" she said without any hesitation.

"Why do you want to know it so badly?"

"I don't know…I just do"

"Bloody hell we are wasting time. Just tell her" Harry exclaimed. Draco gave harry a shocked look and remained quiet for a minute. Finally he spoke, "Okay, go on".

Hermione had a satisfied look on her face. "First of all" she began "what are your real names?" Draco rolled his eyes and Harry said in an obvious tone, "Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, they are our real names."

"And who are you? Who you really are?" she questioned.

"We work for the British Intelligence" he said.

That was something Hermione was not expecting. She thought they were just some random drug peddlers or goons. She tried to hide her shock. "The British intelligence?" she questioned in awe.

"Yes and the only other thing that you need to know is that we have got a job to do. We need to talk to this man as soon as possible so start talking."

Hermione just looked at his face, too surprised to respond yet.

"This is highly classified information and by learning it you have already put yourself in danger" Harry took the paper from Draco's hands and held it in front of Hermione's face, "see this very carefully and tell me what is his name" he said in a serious tone.

"Umm.. his name is Severus Snape." The authoritative tone in his voice made Hermione speak. "How do you know him?" Harry had completely gone into his questioning mode and Draco just stood and watched. "I have seen him a couple of times before. He used to visit the mansion occasionally" she finished.

"Okay. He was supposed to be there tonight too, why didn't he come?"

"How am I supposed to know that?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Where can we find him?"

"Well if he would have been in Moscow he would have certainly come tonight" Hermione said thoughtfully.

"But he didn't which means he's not here." Harry didn't even let her finish.

"Yes. I think there's only one other place where he could be. Zurich"

"Zurich? As is Switzerland?" Harry questioned.

Hermioned nodded. "Come on then. We're going to Zurich" Draco said pointing at the three of them.

"Wait a minute" she scoffed, "a little while ago you both practically told me fuck off and now you want me to go with you?" she exclaimed.

"It's different now. You're involved. You can't back out" Draco said flatly.

"But...? But…how can I just? I don't even have anything, any money, or id proof." She said.

"The only thing you need to worry about now is locating Snape" he said as he turned around and started walking back to the car closely followed by Harry.

These were two men whom she hardly knew, she knew she had no reason to trust anything that they had said or follow them blindly but she did exactly that and an inexplicable sense of relief came over her because now, at least she had somewhere to go and someone to be with. She was looking forward to this.

A/N : Don't forget to drop a review guys.