BEG: FT
Chapter 2
Disclaimer: See chapter 1!
A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed except Archangel. Your kind words and encouragement have improved this story and made me the writer I am today. I love you all except Archangel.
"So, let me get this straight," Ron said the next day. "She hit you?"
"Yes!" Harry exclaimed. "For the millionth time, yes! You were sitting right there!"
Ron grinned. "I know. I know. But she HIT you."
Harry rolled his eyes and raked both hands through his hair. "She also hates me."
"Rightfully so."
"Whose side are you on?" Harry asked.
"Harry, everyone knows that the Grangers are poor. Why did you even ask her if you knew you couldn't take her?"
"I didn't know she was… well you know!" Harry sighed. "I can't believe this is happening."
"Everything set with Cho?"
Harry nodded. "She practically leapt at the opportunity."
Ron was silent a moment. "…what's going to happen to Hermione?"
"That…" Harry said. "Well, she's going to have a trial…"
"A trial? Just for clobbering you?"
"You know the law, Ron. If everyone that hated me came up and got a good wack, I'd be dead." Harry said. "But… well, you know the law."
"The law," Ron scoffed. "So she's going to be executed, right?" he rolled his eyes. "'Paragraph One Hundred and Eleven, Sub Section 13: Any commoner Wizard that acts out in a violent manner toward the royal family shall have a trial. They will be kept in the dungeon until said time and proper punishment be issued. The most just form of punishment may be execution, pertaining to the crime that was committed.'"
"I have nothing to do with that, you know that."
"Rubbish! You're the prince! Act like it!" Ron snapped. "You can't let her die!"
"They won't listen to me! They think I'm still a child."
"Harry, you told me that the first time you saw her, you've been thinking about her ever since. If that isn't love, I don't know what is."
Harry was silent a moment. He closed his eyes, and he saw her… golden hair shinning, eyes glistening, and a smile that could crumble his heart into tiny pieces. "I can't let her die," he replied.
Ron grinned. "That's the ticket."
"We need a plan."
Ron starred at Dubbs and Timms behind Harry. "What about Dumb and Dumber?"
Harry whispered, "on the count of three, we both run in opposite directions and meet up in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. They'll never look there. We can work on our plan."
Ron nodded in agreement.
"One… two… three!"
Harry and Ron both ran out of the Portrait Hole and then in opposite directions. Dubbs and Timms, obviously bewildered took off after them, Dubbs following Harry and Timms after Ron.
But Harry's plan had worked. They both met up in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
"I've been working on a plan, actually," Ron said.
Harry extended his arm toward Cho. She took it, and together, they walked into the Palace Ballroom to thunderous applause. Cho looked radiant--- her sleek black hair was done up in an elegant bun, and her Peach robes were sparkling. Harry put on a smile, and went through the motions automatically. His speech to the crowd, shaking hands with the royal families from different parts of the world, and dancing. Sure, she was beautiful, but she wasn't Hermione. His mind was with her, down in the deep, dank dungeon. He went through he and Ron's plan through his mind. He and Ron would excuse themselves from the Cho and Lavender, go down to the dungeon, put a sleeping curse on the guard, and break Hermione out of there. Then, they would jump on his Pegasus, Lycaeus and fly them deep into the night. He grinned.
Cho poked him. "Harry?"
Harry snapped his head to attention. "What?"
"Ron Weasley has been trying to get your attention for like five minutes."
Harry jumped up, excused himself and raced over to Ron.
Ron hopped up too. "Excuse us, Lavender."
"Yes, excuse us," Harry repeated.
"Okay," she said, arching a brow. "You owe me a dance, Ron."
"Right you are!" he called, turning around and flashing her a grin. He grabbed Harry and they raced out of the Ballroom.
Timms and Dubbs, as always were hot on their heels.
"Here goes nothing," Ron said, opening a can of Fogton's Swamp Mist and throwing it behind them. Big grey dust clouds appeared behind them, blocking them from Timms and Dubbs.
Harry and Ron scrambled down the putrid steps to the dungeon. A guard, floating in midair asleep blocked their way. His wand was in a candleabora, pointed at him. Ron snatched it, and the guard fell to a heep on the floor. He scrambled up, reaching for his wand. "Sir!" he shouted, when he saw Harry.
"Now, Ron!" Harry cried.
"Expliniso Incate!" Ron shouted, pointing his own wand at the guard. The guard stared back at him a minute, then reached for his whistle. He raised it to his mouth.
"Oh, really," a small voice said from the shadows. "It's Expliniso INCANTE!"
"EXPLINISO INCANTE!" Ron shouted, and the guard fell fast asleep.
Hermione walked up to her cell door. "Simple sleeping spell," she said to Ron. Her face fell when she saw Harry. "You. Come to gloat, have you?"
"No," Harry said, taking out his wand and pointing it at her cell door. "Tuinis!"
The cell door creaked open.
"We're breaking you out," Harry said.
"Hmpf," Hermione said, crossing her arms and turning her back toward them.
"Listen, I'm sorry, okay!?" Harry screeched.
"Too little, TOO LATE," she barked.
Ron gave a sarcastic laugh. "Hermione, you and Harry can straighten this out when we get out of here, okay? We have about three minutes to get to the stables and book it on out of here before someone comes looking for us!"
"Who said I'm going with you?" she asked coldly. "I will abide by the law and await my fate." She stamped her foot.
"Harry's not worth death!" Ron cried.
"Believe me, I'm not," Harry said, stepping closer to her. "And if I was really such the pig you think I am, would I be down here, pleading with you to come with us? I will not let you die for what I have done. So please, come."
Her stern face disappeared and Harry saw remnants of the beautiful girl he had fell so hard for just a few days earlier. "Okay," she said finally. "But where are we going?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Harry said, following Ron out of the dungeon, Hermione right behind him.
Harry reached the stables first. "Stand back," he told Hermione and Ron. "Lycaeus!!"
An enchanting white Pegasus galloped out of the stable, its enormous wings at its sides. "Hope on," he ordered them. He gave Hermione a leg up. Ron was in back of her, and Harry climbed on in front of her. To his delight, she circled her arms around his waist tightly. "Hold on," he said. "Let's go, Lycaeus, up!!"
Lycaeus turned down the garden path, galloping at great speed, then, as if jumping, he took to the sky, growing higher and higher until Harry's palace was too low to make out.
After about an hour or so, Harry lead Lycaeus down to a grassy field. A small stream trickled by and the tired animal trotted over to have a well deserved drink. The two young wizards and the young witch, however collapsed onto the grassy field.
"WE DID IT!" Ron cried, smacking Harry a hive-five.
"You call… your Pegasus Lycaeus?" Hermione panted.
Harry nodded. "Why?"
"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Ron asked. "It's a nice name."
"In Greek Mythology, Lycaeus was a man who pissed off the Gods. They turned him into a wolf." She stated.
"So?" Ron asked.
"Well, do you hardly think that's a name for an animal of the horse family?" she smirked.
"Whoa. Someone's still a little touchy," Ron replied.
"I'm NOT touchy," she spat. "…got grass stains on my robes……"
"How far away from Wizard London do you think we are, Harry?" Ron questioned.
"Well, we flew for about an hour… so I say…20… 30 miles away?"
"In other words, Lycaeus better have a quick break," Ron said. "They'll have this area combed in minutes."
"Exactly," Harry replied.
"Where are we going?" Hermione asked. "Do you know how much trouble we're going to be in when we go back?"
Their faces were unreadable.
"We are going back?" she repeated.
"We haven't planned that far ahead," Harry mumbled.
Lycaeus trotted back over to them.
"Let's go," Harry said.
It was nightfall when they had gotten far enough away for the night. They'd awake at dawn, and start walking on foot. Ron snored loudly under a large Willow tree. Lycaeus had saught shelter by the river. Hermione and Harry sat across from each other by a small campfire.
"You sure the smoke won't alert anyone?" Harry asked her.
"Water-proof fires are my specialty," she said. "Smokeless, ash-less…" She shivered.
"Are you cold?"
"I'm fine," she stated.
Too late. Harry had removed his cloak and was placing it around her shoulders. He sat down beside her.
"Thank you," she whispered, staring into the flames.
"You're welcome."
"And… thank you," she said, turning to him. "For getting me out of there."
He smiled. "You're welcome."
"I… try to hide the fact that I'm Muggle born from everyone sometimes, you know?" she said. Then she blushed. "I've said too much."
"It's okay," he said soothingly.
"I thought… that if I could be the best at magic, then no one would even realize it. Even know that my parents are Muggles. I know the law says equal rights to all, but that doesn't do anything against prejudice." She paused. "I mean, you would think it was contagious or something. Some wizards look at me like I have a disease." Tears were glittering in her eyes.
"Well, when I'm King, I'm going to change all of that," he reassured.
"You can't change people," she said, wiping tears out of her eyes. "No matter how many laws you right, you can't change the way they think."
Harry didn't know what to say. He had no idea how much pain she had endured just because her parents weren't a witch and wizard. And he too had done it. Taunted her. Hurt her.
"Sometimes, I get so mad…" she continued. "That I'm not normal like them, that I'm not pure of blood, and I hate myself for it. I just wonder what's so wrong with me that makes everyone cringe?"
"Nothing's wrong with you," Harry said. "If they don't like you for who you are, not who your parents were, there's something wrong with them."
She turned to him, tears leaking out of her eyes. "You mean that?"
He smiled and nodded.
There was a silence.
"May I ask you something, your highness?" she said.
"Call me Harry and sure."
"Why did you rescue me?"
Harry felt a large lump form in his throat. Ah yes, THAT. "Since the moment I saw you… when you were trying to wash your cat…"
She giggled.
"I couldn't stop thinking about you," he continued. "And… the thought of you being hurt was almost too much to bare."
Hermione made a squeak sound.
"I wanted more than anything to bring you to the ball… but my advisor and servants wouldn't allow it. I should have done something, fought them or… SOMETHING." He said.
"Shhhh." She said, placing a finger to his lips. "You have done something… you risked everything… for me."
"I'd do it all again," he blushed. "No, I mean…"
She smiled. "I said some terrible things to you… and I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize," he said.
"I do! And I'm sorry for hitting you."
"You're tougher than you look," he said with a grin.
She laughed. "All my life I've followed every rule down to the letter. Now I'm running from the law with a renegade prince and his loyal sidekick."
He laughed. "Funny how things work out, huh?"
"You could say it was fate."
They stared at each other, their faces growing closer and closer until finally, their lips met.
END OF CHAPTER 2!!!! Review, review!
