A/N: Hi everyone! So sorry for the lack of updates... :( But here's a nice long chapter to make up for it (I hope!). Hopefully the next chapter will be up by Monday! Please don't hate me! And please pretty please leave a review for me! They make me so happy, especially now since I don't get any appreciation at my job...

Chapter 39: The New Life

Draco and Dominique spent the day at Fisherman's Wharf. Dominique took Draco to every food stand along the pier and made him eat fish and chips and clam chowder with sourdough bread. They ate sundaes at Ghirardelli Square and then took a walk along the beach behind it. They went into a tiny art museum across the street from the Square and Draco bought a small painting of a family in the woods. Then they took a cable car to the baseball park, where they watched a game which both Draco and Dominique could not understand. They still had fun, though, and they enjoyed hot dogs and peanuts as they watched the Giants play. Then they took a cable car to Golden Gate Park and walked around for a while. They biked down the Golden Gate Bridge through a barrage of fog and cyclists. Then they had dinner at a tiny diner before heading to the Orpheum to see a play.

It had been a long day, but Draco enjoyed all of it. He had never been in a place like this, so full of people from so many different places. The city was amazing, and Draco never wanted to leave.

After the play, Dominique took Draco back to Fisherman's Wharf.

"Uh, Dominique, why are we back here?" Draco asked. "Shouldn't we be finding somewhere to stay for the night?"

"We are," Dominique replied, looking at him over her shoulder. She stopped in front of a ticket booth at the end of the pier.

"Two tickets for Alcatraz on Boat Number 7," Dominique said to the gray-haired man behind the window. The man looked Draco and Dominique up and down, then slid two tickets through the opening.

"Boat leaves in 10 minutes. Wait at the edge of the pier."

Draco and Dominique shivered at the edge of the pier.

"Er, what are we doing?" Draco asked, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets. He looked out at the bay and the gleaming lights on the other side.

"London's not the only place with a Wizarding Underground," Dominique replied as a rickety boat pulled up to the dock. The wizard rowing the boat helped Draco and Dominique embark, and then they took off.

Draco watched the black water ripple as the boat sailed through the bay, with only a small lamp to light the way. Draco wrapped the scarf he had bought earlier tighter around his neck. After what seemed like hours, the boat reached a wall of fog. The boat rocked a bit, then pushed through the fog. For a few minutes, the boat was surrounded by mist, and then all at once it emerged into a brightly lit city in the middle of the ocean. The trio in the boat bobbed along, gliding past witches and wizards with their coats wrapped tightly around their chests walking along the pier that served as a sidewalk. Once farther in, they passed other boats carrying families with shopping bags and children with their arms dangling out of the sides of the boats, running their fingertips along the sparkling black water.

The boat came to a stop in front of a grand brick building ringed with marble steps. Two guards and a goblin stood at the entrance.

"Gringotts," the wizard who was rowing announced. Draco stared up at the building, marvelling at the accomplishments of the American wizards in managing to make such an enormous brick building float. Dominique grabbed Draco's hand and tugged him out of the boat. The pair strolled past the guards and entered a large hall, at the end of which was a large desk. The walls were lined with entrances to adjacent halls, all labelled by the plaques hanging above them. The room was full of goblins, witches, wizards, and owls. The hum of voices reverberated through the room, filling it with an almost welcoming quality, a sharp departure from the Gringotts of Diagon Alley. Dominique made a beeline for the desk and Draco followed her.

"I'd like to withdraw 100 Galleons," Dominique said to the goblin sitting behind the desk. He looked up at her over the top of his glasses.

"And you are?" He asked in an accent that surprised Draco immensely. He had never heard anyone speak like that! He winced at the sound of the "r" rolling off of the goblin's tongue.

"Dominique Leroux. I reside in Paris, France."

The goblin reached under his desk for a large, worn out book.

"Leroux, you said?"

"Yes."

The goblin ran his finger down the tabs the jutted out from the side of the book and stopped at on toward the end. Then he flipped open the book and ran a long fingernail down the page.

"Leroux...Leroux..." He muttered. "Ah, yes. Miss Dominique, it says?"

Dominique nodded.

"Identification?" Dominique held out her wand. The goblin took it with him through the door behind his desk and reemerged a few moments later.

"Yes, all right, please follow Gornuk to make your withdrawal." The goblin gestured to a second, rather frail looking goblin. Dominique and Draco followed this goblin into the hall marked "Hall 37: International Deposits and Withdrawals".

Inside, they came upon a bank of windows, all labelled with different countries and their flags. Gornuk marched up to the one labelled as "France" and placed his palm on the painted flag. The glass on the window disappeared, revealing a pile of Galleons.

"100, you say?" The goblin asked in that same accent, turning to Dominique.

"Yes."

The goblin pulled out a small bag and shovel from his pocket and carefully scooped up Galleons from the pile until there were none left. Then he placed the shovel back in his pocket, tied up the bag, and handed it to Dominique. She thanked him, and he bowed them out.

Once outside again, Dominique turned to Draco. "Shall we find somewhere to stay for the night?"

"Definitely," Draco replied. "Know of any place?"

"There's a hotel down the pier," she responded, motioning to a bright yellow building a few hundred yards away. "That's where my parents and I stayed when we visited."

Draco held out his arm. "Let's go, then." Dominique took hold of his elbow and they walked together along the pier, peering into shop windows as Dominique told Draco more and more about the San Francisco Underground.

"Well, the Underground developed long before the first explorers ever arrived in America. The Natives had originally kept it on Alcatraz itself, but were forced to move it when the Spanish began drawing closer. That was when they sailed out into the middle of the ocean, miles from the mainland, and began developing where we are now. Of course, it took a long time."

"Of course," Draco smiled, looking at Dominique.

"Oh, shut up!" She laughed, shoving him a little as she went on. "I'm telling you exactly what the tour guide told us. Anyway, when the Spanish did take over, the native wizards joined forces with the Spanish wizards and hid away here. And then when the Americans took over and the Gold Rush started, the underground grew even bigger."

A while later, Draco and Dominique found themselves in a charming little hotel room. Draco unpacked what little he had into the dresser that was shoved up against one wall, while Dominique unpacked her undetectably enlarged purse, which was full of clothes and other odds and ends. The walls of the room were painted a light beige, with one wall painted a rusty brown. There was a single large bed in the room, covered with a blanket patterned with tiny suns and moons. Draco had offered to sleep on the small sofa that was placed in the front of the room, but Dominique laughed him off.

"It'll be fun, like when we were kids!" She had said, throwing a pillow at Draco. Then she'd sent for two bottles of firewhiskey, one of which was already half empty. Dominique was splayed across the bed, and Draco was leaned up against the couch, one of the bottles of firewhiskey in his hand. He had already take a few sips, and the warmth and the fuzziness the drink promised had already taken their toll on Draco.

"So, now do you want to tell me about why we're here?" Dominique asked, taking a swig from her bottle.

Draco mirrored her action and shook his head as a sharp pain travelled through his head. "What do you want to know?"

"Hmm," Dominique said, pretending to be in deep thought. "How about why you were so desperate to run away from your family and everything you've ever known?"

"I've been outside of Britain," Draco grumbled, the firewhiskey clouding his thoughts.

Dominique rolled her eyes and adjusted her position on the bed. "I mean, does it have to do with all this Lord Voldemort stuff that's been going on?"

Draco felt fear and anger rise up like a puff of smoke in his mouth. He exhaled slowly and held out his left arm. Dominique gently pulled his sleeve away from his wrist until the Dark Mark on his forearm was exposed. She stared at it for a moment, expressionless. Then she slowly rolled the sleeve back down, and wrapped her arms around Draco's forearm, resting her forehead right above the Mark.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled into the fabric of his sleeve. She laced her fingers with his, pressing her lips to his knuckles. "I know you didn't mean it."

Draco dropped his hand back into his lap, staring down at his palm. "I did for a while," he mumbled, his body filling with shame and regret.

Dominique slid off the bed, sitting cross-legged in front of Draco. She took both of his hands in hers. "But you don't anymore, do you?"

Draco shook his head. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. One slid down his cheek. Dominique quickly wiped it away, holding his face in her hands.

"No, no don't cry, Draco. Please don't. We both know you're not a bad person. You're not. You're really not..."

Draco looked up at Dominique through a curtain of platinum blond hair. He felt so lost, so defeated. Dominique wrapped her arms around him, leaning her forehead against his head. "It will all be okay, Draco, trust me."

Draco turned so that his forehead was pressed up against Dominique's. He chestnut hair mixed with his blond as they both leaned in closer. Draco captured Dominique's lips with his, as a hunger filled his chest. He needed to be loved.

The runaways woke the next morning in bed, wrapped up in sheets and the patterned comforter. Draco's arm was draped around Dominique, and her arms were curled up against Draco's bare chest. Draco squinted in the morning sunlight, rubbing his eyes. Looking down at Dominique, he nudged her.

"Good morning," he whispered to her softly. His warm breath tickled her ear, and Dominique twitched in her sleep. A few moments later, she roused herself, and turned to Draco.

"Good morning," she yawned, smiling up at him happily. "How are you?"

"Fine, thank you," Draco said with a sleepy grin. He pulled Dominique in closer. "Where do we go today?"

"Mmmm..." Dominique hummed. "Job hunting?"

"Where?" Draco pressed.

Dominique yawned. "I don't know... Where do you want to work?"

Draco paused for a moment to think, sleep still clouding the edges of his thoughts. "Maybe the apothecary? Or the ice cream parlour?" He suggested, his fingers playing with Dominique's tangled locks.

She laughed. "Those are two very different things, Draco."

"Well, we can look at both," Draco insisted, with an almost childlike defiance.

Dominique smiled. "All right."

A few hours later, after a heavy brunch of french toast and pancakes drenched in syrup, Draco and Dominique strolled along the pier, hand in hand. They looked into every store window that looked mildly interesting, evaluating each prospective workplace.

"No, you can't work there. Look at how many birds there are flying around!"

"Well, it's better than the place with the grindylow in the back..."

After several hours of job hunting, Draco finally decided to apply for a position at the local paper as a photographer. Under the alias of David Matthews, Draco was able to secure the position after a short interview, as no experience was necessary for the job.

"Congratulations, Draco!" Dominique said happily as they left for the hotel after the interview. "I'm so proud of you."

Draco, too, was very proud. He would finally be getting money as a result of his own work, not his father's dirty tricks. He was rather looking forward to living in San Francisco.

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW :)