Chapter 5

Hermione sat patiently in the car as they drove through the streets. They drove in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until Harry stopped the car. It was a busy street and most of the pedestrians were staring at their car because of the missing door on the left handside.

"What happened?" Hermione questioned. "Look at yourself. It looks like you've eloped with one of us" Harry exclaimed. She looked down. She had completely forgotten that she was still in the extravagant blue gown but it was now ruined by all the creases and the mud in the lower parts. "Just go and change. Pick clothes some for later too, you'll need them" Draco said from beside Harry, turning his head to look at her, "call me when you are done" he finished.

Hermione nodded and got out of the car. She looked around and noticed that she wasn't familiar with the place. She spotted a clothing store across the street and walked towards it. The person inside gave her a suspicious look which confused her at first but she didn't have to wonder what was wrong for too long. Soon she stumbled upon one of the huge mirrors in there and gasped.

The last time she had looked at herself in the mirror of her bathroom she had looked presentable, decent, even beautiful to an extent but now she looked like a crazy woman. Her hair which she had styled so neatly was a mess. One of her earring was missing she realized as she brought her hand near her right ear.

'Great' she thought to herself. She selected a few clothes for herself, some jeans, shirts and undergarments. Without looking she chose a random pair and rushed into the changing room. It was like her body was moving on its own accord. She was doing as she was told and her mind had stopped working. Only when she finally entered the changing room and was alone did she breathe a sigh of relief.

She had gotten away. Finally free. The realization hit her hard. She didn't know how to feel to feel about it. The thought was overwhelming. She stood staring at her reflection for a few minutes. It took her a sometime to get out of her trance. She looked around.

It was a very small space with a mirror on a wall. In one corner there were lots of boxes stacked on each other which she assumed consisted of clothes. Hermione struggled to take off the gown as it was a little tight for her, especially on the chest. Finally she managed to remove it and the fabric fell to the ground and pooled near her feet. She then put on the casual clothes. A light blue colored jeans and a simple black turtle-neck shirt.

She took off her earring, did her hair and was about to leave the room when something caught her eye. There was a shinning piece of silver behind one of the boxes in the corner. Hermione bent to see what it was and found that it was stuck under the weight of the boxes. After pulling it twice from underneath the boxes it came in her hands and she realized it was a small foldable knife. Her instinct was to throw it but something told her that it wasn't a wise option so she stuffed in her pocket. 'It might be useful in the future' she thought to herself

She opened the door and rushed outside. As she walked toward the counter with all the clothes she had selected in one hand she noticed Draco standing there. He seemed to be scanning the place with his eyes impatiently but his posture relaxed the moment his eyes rested on hers.

"What took you so long? Need I remind you that you're not shopping for a vacation?" he asked as he fidgeted with his wallet. "I am perfectly aware of that but thank you for the reminder" she retorted. Barely had the cashier handed them a bill when Draco took out some money and placed it on the table. "Keep the change" he muttered and started walking towards the doors. Hermione grabbed the bag of her clothes followed him. They promptly got back inside the car and left the place.

After driving for another thirty minutes the car came to a halt, again. Hermione glanced outside the window. They were in the midst of a dark, narrow alley. The only source of light was a streetlamp on one far end and a pizza shop just in front of their car. There was no one else to be seen except a stray dog and the shop, although open was deserted. "What? Are you guys hungry now?" she sounded exasperated.

"We live here" Harry exclaimed with a roll of his eyes as he turned off the engine and stepped outside followed by Draco. Hermione too did the same. "Look up there, on the first floor. That's the place. We rented the room for a while. Come on" he said gesturing in that direction. Hermione looked above and saw a small window just above the roof of the pizza shop.

Draco and Harry started walking towards the entrance but Hermione stood rooted to the spot. The whole situation seemed too intimidating. It was fine until they were in a public place but this was different. She wasn't just going to walk in some unknown place with two men whom she barely knew.

They seemed to sense her hesitation as they turned around with an eyebrow raised. "Is something wrong?" Draco asked. "Uhh…what..why have you brought me here? Weren't we supposed to go to Zurich?" she asked trying to sound casual. "We can't leave at midnight, can we? We will leave at the earliest which would be in the morning" he stated as a matter of fact. Hermione didn't sound convinced.

"Don't worry no one is going to molest you here" he continued, as if reading her mind. If Hermione was shocked she didn't show it. "Well maybe if you didn't live in such a shady place I would have found it easier to trust you" she said as she folded hands on her chest.

"Here, why don't you take this" Harry handed her a gun and continued, "that way if anything goes wrong you can shoot us in the face." Hermione took the gun in her hand. It was heavy. "Happy now?" he asked in a tone which almost sounded mocking. Hermione stared at it for a second and twisted the gun open, much to the surprise of Harry and Draco. It was completely empty. "Forgot to load the bullets, did you?" she asked, voice dripping with sarcasm. Harry was at a loss of words and Draco looked mildly surprised. They had clearly underestimated her. "Don't you dare try to take advantage of me or fool me again" she said as she threw the gun towards him angrily.

Draco cautiously took a step towards her after glaring at Harry. "Hermione, I know it looks like there is something fishy here, but trust me it's not". She didn't say anything. "We only have to spend this one night here and then we will leave early morning tomorrow" he looked piercingly into her eyes which made her look away "Yeah and sorry about that" Harry joined lamely.

Both the boys were looking at her hopefully and she found it very hard to refuse. "Okay fine I'll go but that doesn't mean I trust either of you" she finally said and started walking. "Good decision" she heard Harry mutter from behind her.

After climbing two flights of stairs they reached the first floor. Harry shoved his hand in pocket and opened the door. The room ahead was a small one. It had minimal amount of furniture but it looked untidy. "Wow" Hermione said unenthusiastically. Harry opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing. It was Draco's. He received it and walked outside the room. "Come here" Harry said. They passed through a short corridor which led to another room. "You can rest here for sometime" he said pointing to the bed inside, "Malfoy and I will be outside. We will call you when it's time". Hermione nodded. He left without another word.

Hermione closed the door and sighed. She was alone, again. She placed the bag of clothes on a nearby table and threw herself on the bed. What a day! She thought to herself. She had never imagined this is how her day would go when she had woken up in the morning. It had seemed like just another normal day until Draco and Harry had turned up at the party. It still seemed unbelievable to escape from the clutches of Victor. For so long she had tried to run away from him but had failed and had eventually given up but today it had happened, just like that out of nowhere.

Draco and Harry were almost like the knight in the shining armour who had helped her but it was not wise to jump to that conclusion so fast. Although they seemed genuine and had unknowingly rescued her, there was no telling what their real intentions were. Who knew if they were really who they claimed to be. They had only used her so far and were still doing the same, she had to be careful around them.

She got up and inspected the room. It was very simple. She walked towards the window, the same one that she had seen from below. As she stared outside into the darkness the spooky feeling came back again and she suddenly remembered about the knife in her pocket. She fished for it in her pocket and took it in her hand, examining it. As if on a cue there was a knock on the door and she immediately turned around. "Yeah, come in" she said making sure the knife in her hand was hidden behind her back.

Draco Malfoy walked in. "Everything alright? You look a little…" he looked her up and down. Hermione realized that she was very standing in a very stiff manner so tried to relax a little. "Yes I am fine. Just a little tired" she shrugged.

"Okay if you say so. We will be leaving for the airport in four hours, be ready" he said. Hermione blinked. Draco raised an eyebrow. It looked as if she was daydreaming.

"Huh…oh..yes. okay. Thanks for telling me." She said nervously.

Draco gazed at her in silence. After a few seconds he started walking in her direction, stopping only a few inches away from her. She tightened the grip on the knife behind her back.

"Is something bothering you?" he looked into her eyes.

"No" she looked away.

He raised his hand and brought it near her face but before he could touch her she backed away and gave him a questioning look.

"There's a smudge on your cheek" he said gesturing to his own face.

"Oh..okay" she said, wiping her face with her other hand.

"I know it's probably hard for you to trust people. I am not saying that you are safe with us but we will never hurt you" he said.

She remained quiet.

"And get rid of that knife. You don't need it and you won't be able to board the flight with it anyways" he said before turning and walking out of the room, leaving her behind with an awestruck expression on her face.

A/N – Don't forget to review.