"You can find the others, if you are brave. They passed down all the roads long ago." - Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn. (ALSO not Resident Evil.)

*

It had taken a few tries before she got the key right. The first two didn't fit, and Hermione had finally realized that not only would she have to transfigure the key, but she'd also have to transfigure the keyhole to fit the key she'd be making. Once she'd figured that part out, the rest was easy.

Her fourth key fit the ignition perfectly, and Hermione turned it and pressed on the gas pedal. The car sprang to life. She smiled at Draco. "Ta da."

Draco clapped. "That's very good. It's running. Now we just have to figure out how to make the thing move."

"I told you I know a little. You've got to trust me about this." She reached down and adjusted the set so she could easily reach the pedals.

He gave her a skeptical look.

"Really, I can! My dad once let me sit on his lap and steer, when I was about five. Besides, it can't be that hard. Everyone does it. Now buckle your seat belt." She said the last part sternly, in a voice very similar to the one her mum had always used.

"My what?" Draco looked around, confused.

"Seat belt. It's above your shoulder. Protection in case of a crash."

"You're really inspiring my confidence in you, Granger." He fumbled awkwardly with the belt before finally getting it snapped into place.

Hermione ignored him, and turned on the headlights and windshield wipers. She was beginning to like the feel of sitting in a driver's seat. The wizarding world certainly had its excitements and advantages, but sometimes, Hermione missed being a regular teenager, and doing things like this.

Well, not exactly like this, of course. Driving in a downpour with dogs chasing you and a passenger you either hated or wanted to kiss senseless, or maybe both wasn't exactly a normal Muggle activity.

"Ready?" she asked Draco.

"I think."

She didn't let him finish, but slammed her foot down on the gas pedal and turned the wheel sharply. The car shot forward, then up, as they hit something.

Draco looked out the window. "Hermione," he said, "You've just run over one of those dogs."

"I don't see that being a problem, do you?" She let up on the gas, and the car lurched.

"Bloodthirsty, aren't you?"

"It's kill or be killed." She eased down on the gas again, beginning to get the feel of the car. It's a good thing I won't have to turn for a while, she thought.

Draco had turned around in his seat, as much as the seatbelt would allow. "The dogs aren't following us."

"Well, that's a good thing."

"It would be better if there weren't one on the car."

"WHAT?!" Hermione turned back to look for herself, and turned the wheel sharply, throwing them both to the left. "Sorry," she said. Then, "Did that get rid of him?"

"No, it didn't, but if you keep it up, you may get rid of me." He sounded sick, though Hermione didn't turn to look at him.

"Brace yourself, I'm trying again." This time, she turned the wheel sharply to the left, slammed the brakes, turned the wheel to the right, and hit the accelerator. This is rather fun, Hermione decided.

"Hermione, stop it!"

"The dog's still there?"

"Yes. Though the contents of my stomach are in danger of being lost. What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get rid of the dog! I can't believe it's still there. Do you think its paws are adhesive? Maybe that's some sort of strange zombie mutation. It's fascinating, isn't it?" She kept driving, but at a steady pace, with the car pointed straight ahead. Or as straight as she was able to manage. The bloody thing seemed to be veering to the left no matter what she did.

"I don't care about the dog's mutations. For all I know it's nailed to the car. Just get it off. Without killing us."

"I tired getting it off. I don't know what else you want me to do. I can't very well drive and hex the dog at the same time." She looked into the rearview mirror and saw the dog's face pressed against the back window. "I think it's physically impossible that the dog's still there at all. It should have flown off when I hit the gas."

"I'll tell it that. Maybe it'll go away." He unbuckled his seatbelt and crawled into the back seat. Knocking on the glass, he said, "Oh doggie! Nasty little zombie doggie! You're not supposed to be here."

"Draco get back up here!" Hermione cried.

"You're such an ugly little zombie doggie, aren't you? Didn't read your physics book like a good dog."

"Draco, that's not funny! What if it breaks the glass and gets you?"

On cue, the dog snarled and snapped at the window. Draco turned around and got back into his seat next to Hermione. "I thought it was funny."

"You think it's funny to tell first years that the Bloody Baron likes company."

"That is funny. You should see their faces when they get back from visiting." He laughed.

Hermione jerked the wheel again. "Sorry," she said. "The look on your face is very funny, though." She paused, thinking. "I don't suppose the dog is gone?"

"He's making himself comfortable."

"I hope he's not marking his territory. Do you think we should shoot at him?"

"I'm out of bullets. You used them all to make that key. Besides, if I missed he'd just jump through the glass and eat me."

"You do have a point there, but it's moot. All right, so swerving doesn't work, and we're out of ammunition. Do you have any ideas?" Hermione was alternately pressing down hard upon the accelerator and the brake. Instead of moving the dog an iota, it just made her sick. She hoped the dog at was sick, too.

Draco glared at Hermione, but said nothing.

She continued to drive as though they were in an obstacle course.

The dog licked the back windshield.

"I've got an idea," said Draco.

"As long as it doesn't involve getting out of the car, I'll try it," Hermione said.

"No, it doesn't. Stop the car."

"What? Why?" She slowed down.

"Just stop the car."

She slammed the brakes, perversely happy when Draco slammed into the dash. "Okay, I've stopped the car. What do you want me to do now?"

"Nothing." Draco had opened the glove box, and was looking through it.

"Are you trying to find anything in particular?" Hermione asked.

"Not really. Just." he held something up. "What's this for?"

"It's an ice scraped. For when there's frost on your windows. What are you going to do with that?"

"How do you open the windows?" he asked, ignoring her question.

"I'm not telling me until I'm sure you're not going to get us both killed."

"I'm going to play fetch with the dog."

"Draco, that's. actually, that's quite a good idea. See the little button? Just there? Press it, and the window should go down." She pointed.

"All right." Draco rolled down the window and leaned half of his body out the car. "Dog!" he yelled.

The dog's ears perked up, and it moved closer to Draco's side of the car.

Ah, thought Hermione, it's not glued to the trunk after all.

Draco swung his arm back, and waved the ice scraper in the air before throwing it a good distance. The dog jumped off the car to chase it. Draco pulled himself in, rolled the window up, and said to Hermione, "Drive."

"Wow," said Hermione, "Who would have guessed that zombie dogs like to play stupid games?"

"Actually, I guessed it," said Draco.

"I suppose you did, didn't you?" said Hermione, and laughed. "We may just make it out of here alive. I've a plan."

"What? We enchant the car like Potter and Weasley and fly to Hogwarts?" Now that they were in no immediate danger of a zombie dog attack, Draco had started fiddling with parts of the car. He'd managed to turn the radio on, and it hissed static.

"Turn that off, it's distracting me. And no, it's much simpler than that. We've just got to find a phone, and I'll call my parents."

"What could they do? They're Muggles." Draco didn't turn the radio off, but began turning dials.

"What they can do," said Hermione, very offended, "Is owl Dumbledore. Then they'll be able to find us. They might not even know we're gone, at this point. We can't have been here more than two hours."

"Whatever you say. Isn't this thing supposed to play music?" He's managed to turn the volume completely down.

"If you use it correctly. Anyway, stop that. You wouldn't know any of the music even if you got it to work."

They were swiftly approaching the edge of the city, and Hermione had gotten more confident with her driving. She suspected that they'd soon find a place to pull over and call for help.

And then the car started to slow down. Hermione looked at the gas gauge. The needle was pointing beyond E. "Bugger!" she yelled.