v Harry Potter and the Mark of Hermes
Chapter 8: Follow the Yellow Brick Road"Master! Something happened!" Wormtail yelled as he rushed into his Master's lair. Part of him was happy something indeed had in fact happened, but the other part was scared that this was happening because Potter had somehow gotten close to finding it, and if this was true, his Master would surely kill him.
Voldemort was currently sitting in front of a large mirror, staring at himself with a bemused expression.
I highly regret doing that spell on him, Wormtail said to himself. He can't get over how good-looking he is.
Wormtail walked up directly behind his master. "Master, something is happening."
Voldemort turned around to look at his servant with a bored, yet exasperated expression on his face. "What is it now, idiot?"
"It's the Books sir."
"Yes what of them?" Voldemort said as he picked up a brush and began to brush his wavy black hair.
"They're blank, sir." Wormtail finished, silently creeping away as he did so.
At this point, Voldemort stood up and turned around. He was staring at Wormtail with a look of rage so powerful Wormtail wondered if maybe he had the ability to cast the Aveda Kedavra curse using only his eyes.
"What exactly do you mean when you say that they're blank?"
Wormtail gulped and began his explanation. "Well, master, remember last time the Books turned into Greek? Well, today something strange happened. We were studying the books with that Greek chappie you abducted, trying to get some idea of the last missing piece of the map, when suddenly it went blank. No more Greek writing, no more pictures. We looked through the other books to see if the same had happened and in fact it did." He couldn't look Voldemort in the eye as he finished. "The map went blank as well."
"I guess this means the Books served their purpose," Voldemort remarked icily as he sat down on his throne. "It's the boy, he knows what to do; he knows where to find it."
Wormtail nodded guilty, "Master I'm sorry-"
Voldemort began to laugh mirthlessly. "Sorry, why should you be sorry? It is I who have surrounded myself with incompetent fools!" Voldemort got up and kicked Wormtail to the ground.
Wormtail yelped in pain. "Master, I'm sorry, I really am-"
Voldemort sighed wearily and sank into his throne. "Has the surveillance team informed us of anything? Is the boy still in school or has he left. Has he mysteriously disappeared?"
Wormtail coughed and stood up slowly. "No, he is still in school."
"Good. When he leaves, and I do mean when because he will, follow him."
"Are we to kill him?"
"No! You are not allowed to harm a hair on that boy's messy head, or his two friends. DO YOU UNDESTAND?" Voldemort practically screamed at the idiocy of his servant.
Wormtail nodded. "But Master, if we kill him, we can-"
"No. He will lead us right to it don't you see? You are not allowed to go near him, just follow him at a safe distance. Report back to me when you are near it. Now go, and don't come back to me a failure."
******
"What exactly do you mean by saying I have to go to Aeaea?" Hermione growled, suspicion in her voice.
Harry got up and began to walk out of the library, seemingly avoiding his girlfriend.
"Harry, come back here!" She whispered loudly as she stalked after him, but as he reached the threshold of the library, her suspicion turned into anger. "HAROLD JAMES POTTER YOU STAY RIGHT THERE AND TELL ME WHAT THE BLOODY HELL YOU INTEND ON DOING!"
Harry stopped without turning around. He knew everyone in the library was staring at them, he also knew that once Madame Pince got over her shock, they would probably get kicked out of the library.
Harry turned around and looked around the room. Yes, everyone was indeed staring at them. He had slowly come to the realization that it was everyone's favorite pastime to stare at them, the Gryffindor trio, particularly himself and Hermione. When they stared at the three of them they got to see lots of angst and drama, what with all this stopping the end of the world sort of stuff, two best friends both in love with the same girl, and the slow recuperation of the triumvirate dynamic.
With Harry and Hermione they got to see something, something indescribable. They didn't know what it was about them, but they knew it had to do somehow with the way they looked at each other, the way they laughed at each other, the way Harry's eye lit up when Hermione entered the room, the way Hermione would smile when Harry was near her. It by all accounts had to do with the way they would eat off each other's food during mealtimes, so casually and confidently, the way they would sit in front of the fire in the common room, Harry on a chair reading something unconsciously stroking Hermione's hair, who was at his feet doing her homework.
It most definitely had to do with the way the fought with each other, (rare as those fights were), so much passion and fire, and with the way they made up, so much understanding and love. It had something to do with the way they would gravitate towards each other in a crowd, the was the way Harry always had his hands on her in some form or other, the way Hermione would find discreet times to kiss him somewhere, or they would both screw discreetness and indulge in passionate displays, whether they be on library tables, or on common room couches, or by the lake. But it most definitely had to do with the way they both knew what each other was thinking. No one knew exactly how they did it, but they knew they could, or how could they be such perfect harmony? It was in the movement of their bodies, their actions, the things they said, they were in accordance with everything. It was perfect unity.
And everyone loved to watch this. It was something special to watch, and all they could do was feel envious of not partaking in it.
Right now it was one of those passionate and fiery fights. Their fights always had two ends to them. For one, they could obviously tell Hermione was mad at him for something, and she looked like she was about ready to pounce on him. But what exactly would she do once she did manage to pounce on him? And what exactly would he do?
Harry could only stare at Hermione as if she were Venus coming out of her shell. He was obviously ready to pounce on her, probably thinking that in her anger she was about the most beautiful creature ever to walk the face of the planet, her hair flying all over the place and her cheeks flushed, her eyes alit with a heated glare.
There was always a pure and obvious raw lust they exuded towards each other whenever they fought. It was probably fueled by the obscure factor that whenever they did fight, they fought because they were trying to protect one another from something.
*Hermione, I don't want to fight about this, especially in front of half of the school. Come, we'll go talk about this outside by the lake. Please?*
Everyone saw Hermione's stance loosen, and she walked towards Harry. He put his hand on her shoulder and he motioned toward Ron, who had viewed this whole episode from behind a bookshelf to follow them, Greek Book in hand seeing that his two best friends had obviously forgotten all about it in their lover's quarrel.
They just did the mind reading thing again, didn't they?
******
The trio sat silently at the rock by the lake. It was a lovely evening, the sun beginning to set throwing different colors across the sky, reds and yellows and pinks and purples, all mirrored on the lake's shiny surface.
Harry broke the silence. "I'm sorry, but I can't take both of you with me to Aeaea. It's too dangerous! Who knows how long it'll take me anyways-"
"Harry, do you think I would let you go by yourself on some have assed crusade to find an object of immense power on an island where a beautiful witch lives who makes men fall in love with her and eventually turns them into animals?" Hermione rejoined, discreetly leaving out that there was in fact an herb called moly that can be used to protect oneself from her, which oddly enough, Hermes gave to Odysseus in that one story. Hmm…have to think about that one later. She said to herself.
"Hermione, I'll be fine, really, you don't have to worry about me."
"Oh really Harry, then tell me, where exactly is Aeaea?"
Harry stammered around for a bit and Hermione tried to hide her triumphant smile.
"You know, don't you?" He asked. Why did she have to be so goddam smart?
Hermione nodded. "Yes of course I do."
"Hermione, sweetheart, the love of my life and the woman I shall spend the rest of my life with," Harry began, massaging her leg and granting her a debonair smile, "tell me, please."
Hermione giggled sweetly. "No darling, I shan't say a word."
Harry growled and stood up. "Honestly Hermione if you would just be reasonable-"
Ron stood up. "Now listen here Harry, I agree with Hermione on this one. You just can't go alone on this one mate, I'm sorry, it's too dangerous for you too."
Hermione stood up and joined in. "Harry, you just can't leave me here waiting for you, I'd go mad with worry!"
"And I'd go mad watching her go mad." Ron added.
Harry sighed and sank back down looking defeated. "All right, you guys can come."
Hermione sat down as well and threw her arms around Harry.
"Ok then, Hermione, tell me where Aeaea is," Harry commanded.
"Well," she began unwrapping her arms from around Harry's neck. She tugged on Ron's arm to make him sit down as well. When they were all comfortable, she continued. "It's off the coast of Italy, it is unplottable territory so the Muggles don't know its there, but it is. And Harry, how exactly are you planning on getting us there?"
Harry ran his hand through his hair "I don't know. If it would have been just me I'd a flown there myself, but now I just don't know."
This made Hermione and Ron feel a bit guilty, but they quickly shoved it off.
"Well, we could travel the Muggle way," Hermione suggested. "We could take a ferry at Dover and cross the Channel to the port of Calais, and then we can catch a bus and make our way down to the coast of Italy. From there we can fly to Aeaea."
Harry was slowly warming up to the idea. If this were to work out, he'd get to visit all the magnificent places on the continent he'd always heard about. "I like that idea, actually."
Ron looked frightened. "The Muggle way? Why the Muggle way? It could be just easier to get there by Floo Powder or something, I know we can't apparate and all, but still, a boat?"
Hermione shook her head. "If we travel the magical way it would be easier for them to find us once they start looking for us, or do you think the magical community won't notice it when Harry Potter decides to leave school for a weeklong sojourn? Certainly Dumbledore will fly off his rocker…"
"Exactly, that is why we must go the Muggle way." Harry agreed.
"You two need to start thinking clearly, do you two know how much money this whole thing might cost?" Ron complained, "I for one don't have that much to spare…"
Hermione looked up at Harry, this was obviously going to need a lot of planning.
"Ron, you won't have to worry about anything, neither will Hermione." Harry said. He knew that this trip would hardly make a dent in his savings. When he learned the exact amount of money he had in his vault, he almost died of shock. He knew that if he wanted to he didn't have to work for the rest of his life, and he'd still live better than Malfoy did, especially after he let Sirius invest a good portion of his trust. Thank Merlin for the Muggle Stock Market!
"All right, fine." Ron mumbled. "But you do know I don't know how to act with Muggle things or how to act in front of Muggles. That being said, I tell you I won't be held responsible for my irresponsibility."
******
"Come on Hermione, you have to try, please, just try."
The trio stood on The Astronomy Tower; Harry had just flown around a couple of times, once with Ron on his back. They had decided that the best way to get to Aeaea from Italy was to fly, but Ron would take Harry's Firebolt. Harry figured Ron too heavy for such a long flight.
Their only problem was Hermione. She was absolutely TERRIFIED of flying as a Raven. And she simply refused to mount a broom, so it was either this, or she'd have to swim.
"Please Hermione," Harry silently cajoled. "Please just try, for me?" He opened his eyes wide and pouted a bit. I shall have her yet…he thought
Curse him! She thought to herself. He is giving me that look. I hate it when he does that! Although, he does look so adorable…
"All right, fine!" She exclaimed in exasperation. "But if something happens-"
"I'll swoop down and get you." Harry finished blandly. "Honestly Hermione, you act like you've never flown before. Remember third year?"
Hermione did in fact remember third year, when she had flown
on the back of a Hippogriff, clutching Harry tightly. Maybe it hadn't been so
bad after all…
All teenage hormonal thoughts aside, Hermione promptly transfigured into a Raven. She flew onto Harry's shoulder and nipped his ear affectionately. *Hedwig will get jealous* Harry thought as he stroked the raven tenderly.
All of sudden the Raven flew off of Harry's shoulders and began to fly above their heads, finally getting the courage to fly a few feet further. As if the god of courage had come to her, Hermione soared over the Hogwarts grounds, over the lake and trees; it looked graceful in its flight.
When it finally landed it quickly turned back into Hermione. "Oh, wow!" Was all she could say.
Harry grinned at her, knowing what she was experiencing.
"It feels, it feels like, like…wow!" She said again.
"I know," Harry said. "Isn't it amazing? The adrenaline rush is just, wow!" Harry echoed her.
Ron felt a bit glum that he couldn't partake in this euphoric feeling, but he was delighted when Harry told him he'd let him fly his Firebolt. It was almost as good as turning yourself into an animal and flying through your own force of will. Almost…
"So, you think a few more days of practicing will have us ready?" Harry asked his two best friends, seriously.
"Harry, I think we are ready." Hermione assured him with a hug. She clutched Ron to her as well. "We've been ready."
******
Harry stood on the rocky cliffs of Dover, staring out into the water, relief evident in his face. He couldn't believe they'd made it. There were so many problems to this whole caper that he was close to calling it off many times. First was picking when exactly they would leave. Harry and Ron didn't want Quidditch interfering with this whole adventure, and Hermione didn't want to miss any major exam, and of course, the ideal time to pull this off would be on a Hogsmeade weekend when the castle would be too busy worrying about the whole student body rather then dwelling on the three Gryffindors who seemed to never tire of trying to get themselves killed.
Luckily the month of May afforded such a splendid opportunity. No Quidditch would be in the way. In fact, the Quidditch Cup would be over by then, (if you would like to know, Gryffindor won, what with excellent captainship courtesy of Mr. Harry Potter and brilliant Keeper skills from our very own Ron Weasley) and no stressing exams seeing as reviews for the OWLs would be going on (Hermione was not at all stressed, she'd been working towards these since 3rd year. She was worried about Harry and Ron though, but if they didn't worry about it, why should she? )
They left on a Saturday, it was a Hogsmeade weekend and everyone at the breakfast table was a bustle with laughter and excitement. Nobody paid much notice to the three stiff figures that were silently conversing at the end of the table.
"So, do you guys have your passports?" Harry asked them quietly
"Yes," Hermione and Ron answered simultaneously, for the billionth time.
Harry sank back in his chair, still tense. He was not surprised Hermione had a passport, of course she would. He was surprised however, that her parents would let her keep such an important document with her at all times, even at school.
"Why of course I have it with me Harry!" Hermione had said, "They're for emergencies aren't they? And my parents DO trust me you know. Honestly."
Now, both Harry and Hermione were awfully surprised when they found out Ron had a passport, they'd figured they'd have to do some sort of spell to fake one. But Ron did have one, and he owled his parents for it. It was funny; his parents didn't give a second thought to sending Ron his passport, figuring their son was too weary of Muggle travel to do anything stupid. The only reason the Weasleys had gotten passports in the first place was because of their Muggle relatives. Some liked to keep up the pretense they were "normal" people.
Hermione and Ron, in turn, were surprised Harry had a passport. They figured the Dursleys would never have found reason enough to get him one and to keep renewing it. But Harry explained that the Dursleys always kept up the hope that some long lost relative from far away would one day come and claim Harry, and they didn't want to delay his departure. And of course, Harry never left any of his possessions at Privet Drive when he came to Hogwarts. Otherwise he would spend his time worrying his aunt and uncle would try something…
"All right then," Harry said a bit severely. "We should go upstairs and get our things together while everyone is still down here." At once, the trio stood up from the Gryffindor table and walked up to the tower.
******
"Only pack enough to keep you for a week," Harry told Ron while they packed in their room, making sure Hermione heard him as well.
"I know!" Ron exclaimed, annoyance at his friend clearly evident.
*Yes Harry,* Hermione thought to him trying to keep him calm.
Meanwhile, Harry transfigured his old schoolbag into a gym bag of sorts and began throwing his clothes into it, in no apparent order. He also stuffed in his invisibility cloak (just in case!) and the Greek Book. Seeing he needed nothing else, he used a charm to shrink his bag and put it in his pocket. He looked over to Ron who was doing the same thing.
*Almost done there, Hermione?*
At that moment, the door to their room burst open and Hermione sauntered in. "I'm done!" she answered cheekily.
"Good." Harry grabbed his new backpack, one that Lupin had sent him for Christmas, and threw his passport in as well as other trivial things. "We all set?" He asked. "This is it."
"We're ready." Ron said.
"All right then, lets go."
******
"We need your help," Harry told the shiny bald headed man sternly as he crawled into Honeydukes through the trapdoor in the cellar.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron had taken the secret passage by the old witch to get to Honeydukes to escape from Hogwarts.
The man nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw a head coming out of the floor upon entering. When he realized it was Harry Potter, he went out front and told his wife to take care of the shop for a few moments, came back in, closed the door, and returned to where three kids now stood in his cellar.
"What is it that you three would like now?" The man asked, a bit surprised at seeing them again, sneaking through a trapdoor no less.
"We need to use your fireplace," Harry said. "And some Floo Powder."
"And what exactly do you three think you are doing?" He asked, glancing at them suspiciously. They were wearing traveling clothes, jeans, sneakers, and sweaters. On Hogsmeade weekends, the kids tried to look pretty sharp to show off with each other, the girls in their dresses and the boys in their nice trousers. Who did they think they were fooling?
"We want to go to Diagon Alley." Harry said casually, "I want to take money out of Gringotts so I can come back and have a nice Hogsmeade weekend."
"Why do you need them for?" The man motioned to Hermione and Ron.
"I never go anywhere without them."
The man nodded grimly. "All right then," the man said, "I suppose I can do you this one favor, seeing as how you've defeated Voldemort how many times now, lad?" The man asked jovially as he used his wand to light the fireplace in the cellar. He then proceeded to walk to a cabinet were he took out the Floo Powder.
Harry tried really hard not to roll his eyes. "I really appreciate it, sir."
The man threw the Floo Powder into the fireplace. "Who first?"
Ron stepped into the blue flames and said "Diagon Alley!" Moments later he disappeared.
The man threw in some more Floo Powder, and Hermione was about to go but she remembered, *Harry! The potion.* She reached into he pocket and took out a glass vial, inside the vial was a red potion. She handed it to Harry and stepped into the flames. "Diagon Alley!" she exclaimed loud and clear, and seconds later she disappeared.
At last it was Harry's turn, but before Harry stepped into the flames, he handed the man the vial of red potion. "Here, drink this."
The man stared at the vial curiously. "What is it?"
"Just drink it!" Harry said. "Its not going to harm you or anything, do you think I would harm you after the favor you just did me?"
The man shook his head. "I guess not." He opened the vial and drank the contents of it. "Blech!" he exclaimed. "What was it for anyways?"
"Well, in case you were to get interrogated, you would honestly be able to say you didn't know where we were going. That potion erases the past 10 minutes of memory, and you will have no recollection of your encounter with my friends and I. Good day, sir!" Harry finished abruptly as he stepped into the flames and disappeared.
Seconds later, a short brown haired woman wearing an apron sauntered into the cellar. "Horace, what on earth are you doing?" she asked breathlessly.
"I-I don't remember."
******
Harry took his bag of Gold Galleons and placed them in front of the goblin. "Could you please convert these into pounds?"
*You know, they use Euros on the continent now.* Hermione thought to him.
"Umm, not pounds, Euros." Harry immediately corrected.
The Goblin looked suspicious, why are three young wizards, who should by all accounts be at Hogwarts, here at Gringotts? One of them looks remarkably like Harry Potter, but it couldn't be him, could it?
Harry casually threw some hair in front of his forehead, making sure to hide his scar.
Nah, thought the goblin, it couldn't be.
"Ok then." The goblin drawled nonchalantly. He processed the order quickly and efficiently, and counted the money in front of Harry. "You now have 3,000 Euros. Thank you very much. Next please."
Harry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "We made it." He exclaimed in relief as he, Hermione, and Ron made their way out of Diagon Alley. "Now for the Knight Bus."
******
Harry let the wind run through his hair as he breathed in the fresh salty air on the rocky Dover cliffs. They made it and they were alive and they weren't caught. He caught sight of Dover Castle on a hill behind him. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins and the he could taste the freedom on his tongue. He was thoroughly enjoying this…
Before he could react, he felt a hand on his back that lightly glided over his shoulder and onto his chest. He also felt a head rest on his shoulder and another hand on his waist. He turned his head a bit and kissed Hermione's forehead. "Hmm…did you get the tickets?"
Hermione sighed a quiet affirmative and continued to gaze lazily at the blue water. "It leaves in 35 minutes. Do you think we should start down now?"
Harry nodded and Hermione disentangled herself from him. They instinctively grabbed each other's hands and made their way down towards the ferry to where Ron silently waited for them.
******
"Ok, so, where do you want to sit?" Ron asked glancing about.
Upon entering the Ferry (after a long walk up those walkway things, it was like a never ending walk!) they found themselves in a little vestibule of sorts. To their right was a McDonalds; to their left was a bar of sorts; past that bar was a deck where people were crowded about on benches or standing looking out at the water. Past the McDonalds there were duty free shops, and right across from those there was a bathroom and stairs going upwards.
"Let's go up those stairs." Hermione suggested.
The trio quietly walked towards those stairs, and climbed them (another never ending climb). Apparently there were 3 floors of the ferry available to the public and they decided to stay on the second one. (No more energy to climb the next flight.) Upon entering the second floor they found themselves in a lounge of sorts. There were many places to sit, seats that kind of resembled airplane chairs only they were much more spacey and comfortable. Past the lounge there was another deck, this one less crowded then the one on the first floor. In silent communication they made their way past the lounge and to the deck. Once outside they found they could breathe easier. The air was so cool and lovely and the sun so warm and merry, the water so blue and inviting. They stood by the railing gazing down for a while. They finally felt the ferry start up, and soon enough they were on their way.
Once the boat started the trio sat down and let go a collective breath they didn't know they were holding.
"So, we made it." Ron said lightly, still a bit of disbelief in his voice. "Do you think they've noticed we're gone?"
Harry shock his head "Everyone is in Hogsmeade remember, they probably won't notice anything until tonight, and none of the Gryffindors will say anything when they see us three missing. Most likely they won't begin to look for us until tomorrow morning when they see us missing in class. That gives us enough time to lose ourselves on the continent."
They stayed silent for a while, but the silence was disturbed by the sudden growling of Ron's stomach. "I think I'm hungry," Ron said meekly.
"I'm a bit famished as well," Hermione added. To Harry's amusement, the wind kept whipping Hermione's hair on her face, and she had to fight to keep it back. She looked so lovely.
"Yeah, lets go get something to eat." Harry assented a bit reluctantly. He wanted to stay out and watch the wind play with Hermione's hair.
They made their way past the lounge, down the never-ending stairs (which seemed shorter on their way down) to the first floor where they had seen the McDonalds and the bar.
"So, what do you want to eat?" Hermione and Ron looked despairingly between McDonalds and the bar.
"I vote McDonalds," Hermione said. It had been a while since she had burgers and fries.
"I'll eat whatever," Ron said.
"McDonalds it is then."
The trio took their place in line (a never ending line it was), ordered their food (3 #1's for those of you who want to know), and crept back upstairs to eat. They sat in one of those comfortable airplane-like chairs in the lounge, making sure they stayed near the windows. Ron in front of Harry and Hermione who sat next to each other, and ate silently.
Hermione broke the silence. "Harry, I'm worried. How are you expected to carry around 3,000 Euros in your bag? What if you get robbed, what then?"
"Hermione, I'm a wizard." Harry said between bites of his food. "I think I'd be able to stop someone who is trying to rob me."
Hermione nodded quietly and continued eating. She wanted to ask how he would get by the "No magic in front of Muggles" thing but they learned memory charms in Auror camp, so she decided she'd leave it at that.
******
"I think we're here mate," Ron whispered into Harry's ear as he poked him. Harry and Hermione dozed off after they ate, (Ron couldn't because he felt a bit paranoid), Hermione resting her head on Harry's lap and Harry sort of half lying on Hermione's side. It was amusing to watch those two sleep, they became entangled in one another, and even subconsciously they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Harry's hand would stroke Hermione's hair and Hermione's hand would rub Harry's shoulder.
Harry became instantly awake when he heard Ron. "I'm up, I'm up." He said with a yawn. His hair was disheveled and his eyes were glazed with sleep. To the pain of his heart, he woke Hermione with a gentle shake. *Get up love, we're here*
Hermione's brown eyes opened and stared right into Harry's green. She gave him a half pout, half smile as she stretched, which caused Harry to think really interesting thoughts…
But his train of thought was interrupted when he heard a woman's voice announce their arrival in English (with a French accent) over the speakers. She then followed that up with French, Dutch, German, Japanese, Chinese, and Spanish.
"I think that means we must get off the boat." Harry said as he helped Hermione to her feet.
******
"So, which one are we taking?" Ron asked his friend. They were on the Calais port staring at the dozens of buses out and about. Everyone getting off the ferry seemed to know which bus exactly to board.
"I have no idea." Harry said scratching his head.
The trio made through the throng of buses, trying to see which one was going where. Harry, being a bit preoccupied with the current dilemma, wasn't looking where he was going, and immediately crashed into something. It wasn't a something however; it was a someone.
"Oof!" The woman cried as the papers she was carrying went flying everywhere.
"Oh I am so sorry!" Harry exclaimed as he bent over and began picking up the papers. He quickly had a stack of them in his hands, and he was about to give them back to the woman when he quickly read over the contents of the paper in front of him. "Yellow Brick Road Tours", he read the heading of the papers aloud to himself. On the first page there was an entire itinerary, a tour of continental Europe that started in Belgium and ended in England. It was lovely! From Belgium to Luxembourg, Luxembourg to Switzerland, passing Liechtenstein into Austria, and Austria into Italy.
Italy.
Italy was where he was going, for Aeaea was off of its coast. It was perfect! He shuffled some more papers and found a list. It appeared to be a list of names. It was a list of names of the people who were taking the tour. "Blimey." He said to himself. He felt a plan begin to slowly etch its way through his brain…
"Excuse me, young man, I will require those papers back," the woman said to him pleasantly, her English lightly accented with Dutch. She was a short woman, with very pink skin. She wore a hot pink shirt and a black skirt that reached her knees. Her hair was a whitish blond, up to her chin, and she wore black sunglasses. She had a name badge pinned to her shirt that bore the name 'Anastacia.'
"No problem," Harry said quietly. He reluctantly handed her the stack of papers, and the lady walked away.
"What was all that about?" Hermione asked. She noticed Harry was walking with a purposeful step and there was a light in his eyes, sort of like when he finally understood a particular potion (after hours of her trying to explain it to him.)
"I think I've got an idea." Harry motioned his two best friends to follow him. Making sure no one was watching them, he led them behind an empty bus.
"How would you two like to take a European tour?" Harry asked with a grin.
Hermione and Ron could only stare back with blank faces.
"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked.
"Right now, when I ran into the lady, I saw her papers. She is part of a tour group, look." At this point he slinked to the side of the bus and pointed to where the woman he stumbled on stood next to a tall, brown haired man wearing jeans and a blue shirt and sunglasses. Behind them was a bright yellow bus, and on the side of the bus it said 'Yellow Brick Road Tours.'
"Ok, so she coordinates a tour group. What's your point?" Ron asked.
"My point is that all we have to do is add ourselves to her list, then we can hitch a ride on her tour. Their first stop is Belgium, but get this, I looked at their itinerary; their tour eventually leads to Italy. Once we get to the south of Italy, we can ditch them and make our way to Aeaea. Its perfect! We'll be surrounded by Muggles, which will make it hard for whoever is looking for us to find us."
It sounded like a plausible idea, but Hermione still had her doubts. "How exactly do you propose to get our names on her list?"
*You know how,* Harry thought to her.
Hermione looked right into Harry's eyes. She held her eyes in his gaze, willing to not lose the silent battle of wills they were currently engaged in.
*You know we can't do it.* Hermione pleaded.
*I know we can, its not like we've never done it before.*
*But before we did it under the supervision of other more experienced wizards. Harry, this is strong magic!*
*And we've done it before, and we didn't even need the supervision. Come on Hermione, you know we can.*
They still stared at each other as if they were about to eat each other alive. Ron finally saw Hermione's shoulder slack.
"You win." Hermione muttered.
"Win what?" Ron asked confused.
"On the count of three," Harry said. He looked around once to make sure no one was watching them. He then took out his wand and watched Hermione do the same. They then, very determinedly, touched wands.
Ron stared at both of them, confusion clear on his face.
"One," Harry counted, gritting his teeth.
"Two," Hermione echoed with a furrowed brow.
"Three!" They finished on par.
"Tempus Absolutus!" Harry and Hermione cried together.
A white flash emitted from the tips of their wands, which immediately subsided. Harry and Hermione surveyed the area. Everything was still. Ron was frozen still, confusion still etched on his face. They peered around the side of the bus; everything was motionless. A woman who had been comforting a crying child stood frozen with her baby in her arms. A man who had been hauling baggage into a bus was frozen in place. A ferry that was pulling out of port was frozen mid sail. The ocean's waves were frozen mid air; everything was stationary.
"It worked!" Harry cried with glee. He knew they could do it, but he was still a bit surprised himself. They had actually stopped time. Of course it was only a temporary spell and it could break any second, but they did it.
"Let's just hurry and get this done." Hermione said seriously. She was loath to perform such powerful magic as this without permission, and of course, they were under time constraint.
"Come on Hermione, lighten up!" Harry ran towards were Anastacia stood frozen in mid laughter next to the tall man. Harry quickly snatched up some of the papers from her grip.
"Let's see then." He flipped through them trying to find the page were the list of people attending the tour was. "Here it is."
It was a long list with many names, 27 in total, some of them in little groups (those were families). It was a small number of people when you consider other tours. Most tour buses have around 46 seats in total and usually they are all filled out, but since it wasn't summer in America (and since it was an American company), then it was still the slow season.
"Don't you think she'd notice three names all of a sudden added to her list?" Hermione asked inquisitively.
"Honest mistake?" He said charmingly. He then turned his attention back to the list. With his wand bent over it, he chanted in a clear voice, "Adffictum nominatim." He paused for a second, and quickly added "Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley." Immediately, 3 new names appeared on the list, making the total number of people 30.
"What was so bad about that?" Harry asked Hermione, gently shoving her shoulder with his.
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Allright! We're done. Let's hurry before the spell breaks itself." She was about to walk away when Harry pulled her back. "What?"
He pointed to the little box next to where their names had appeared (bunched together, meaning they were to be considered a small group.) The title of the box said "sleeping arrangements." There were many arrangements to choose from, such as "1 room 2 double beds," or "2 rooms 1 double bed" or "2 rooms 2 single beds."
Harry gulped, knowing that this would most definitely be an issue. He couldn't stay in a room alone with Hermione, (too much temptation, and what would Ron think?), but he couldn't let her stay in a room by herself either, it'd drive him mad with worry. True, they had telepathy thing, which should appease his anxiety, but what if something happened to her where she was knocked unconscious and couldn't ask for help?
"We'll just get a room for the three of us," Hermione said charitably. "You can sleep with Ron, and I'll stay by myself." He knew she was also thinking, "What would Ron think?"
Harry nodded, but he wasn't too pleased. Ron kicked and talked in his sleep. By the end of the week, he'd have many bruises.
Harry quickly added the sleeping arrangements "1 room, 2 double beds," then placed the papers back into the woman's grasp. He then grabbed Hermione's hand and ran back behind the bus to where a frozen Ron stood.
They both took out their wands and lightly held them against each other. Since the spell didn't break itself, (Thank god! Harry thought), they had to end it themselves.
"Finite Incantatem!" They both cried with relief.
Quickly enough the silent stillness became the loud movement that it had been moments ago. The woman with the crying child gave her a lollipop. The man hauling the bags into the bus finished his job. The ferry continued its journey out of port, and the ocean's waves crashed deliciously against the rocks.
"What exactly did Harry win?" Ron asked, still confused.
Harry and Hermione were both laughing silently.
"Nothing Ron," Hermione said as she giggled lightly. "Just forget it."
Hermione placed herself between Harry and Ron and grabbed their arms. She then proceeded to drag them over to the big yellow bus where Anastacia was still talking with the tall guy.
"Hello," Harry said awkwardly once they finally approached her.
"Hello," Anastacia began. She looked like a very pleasant person. "Are you lost?"
"No," Harry said quietly. "This is the tour bus for Yellow Brick Road Tours, isn't it?"
"Yes of course it is," Anastacia answered, obviously thinking Harry a big idiot for asking such a question. It was, after all, splashed all over the bus. "Are you taking this tour?"
"I believe so, yes." Harry said calmly. Behind him Ron was giving Hermione a questioning look.
Anastacia flipped through her papers, thinking that maybe they were children of one family or other. "Name please."
"Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley." Harry repeated to her slowly.
Anastacia stopped flipping through her pages. "I'm sorry, I don't recall having those people on my tour." She said regretfully. "Maybe you are on the wrong bus, or maybe…"
"No!" Harry interrupted. "This is our tour. We're on it, trust us. Look for yourself." He implored with one of his dazzling Harry grins.
Anastacia, who seemed to find the boy delightfully adorable, commenced her search for her list. When she finally found it, she quickly went down the row of names, certain these people weren't on her tour, but alas! There they were, the last three names, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. She took off her sunglasses to make sure she wasn't seeing things. She was sure that this morning when she had gone over the paperwork she had 27 people on this tour, not 30, and these last three names were not there. Then again, she had been doing this tour for 11 years. She knew she was bound to go mad someday…
"Do you have your passports?" She asked the young trio, flabbergasted at the whole predicament. She needed proof of identity of course, she still had to perform her job correctly. Madness wouldn't come in the way of it.
Harry rummaged through his rucksack and produced three passports. Anastacia looked through them and studied the trio. Of course they were who they said they were.
"Ok then, in you go." She said, pointing to the bus, still a bit reluctant. "I'm Anastacia by the way," she said as she shook hands with Harry, Hermione, and Ron. "And this," she added as she motioned toward the tall guy, "is Fezzik. He will be our driver for this tour." She gave Fezzik a wide smile that lit up her startling sky blue eyes and he smiled back.
"Welcome!" Fezzik said as he took Hermione's hand and kissed it. Hermione blushed prettily. "I hope you enjoy the tour and please, feel welcome to sit wherever you like." He had a Polish accent and when he took off his sunglasses he revealed warm, hazel eyes.
As they boarded the bus, Harry shot a triumphant grin at Hermione who didn't quite catch it, because she was currently staring at Fezzik with a light in her big, brown eyes. Ron recognized this look from second year, in Defense Against the Dark Arts Class, around a certain Gilderoy Lockhart…
"Hermione likes Fezzik!" Ron teased lightly. He had the widest grin on his face and his eyes laughed merrily.
"I do not!" Hermione rejoined, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks.
Harry could only laugh at his girlfriend's plight. Ron was not going to let this one pass; he was going to milk it for all it was worth. He'd probably hear the "sitting in a tree" song a billion times the rest of this week…
The trio instinctively made their way to the back of the bus where there was one long seat where four people fit. The other seats only seated two, and they wanted to be together. The seats were quite comfortable, and very purple, which wildly contrasted the yellow of the bus.
They immediately noticed they weren't the only people seated in the bus. They saw an old married couple, probably in their early 60s, conversing silently two seats ahead of them. They would later learn that the old couple was Professor And Mrs. Dorset. Prof. Dorset would get into many arguments with the various tour guides during the course of this tour, as he taught World History at an American College. He believed tour guides were highly incompetent and didn't know squat. He was a very pleasant man and made easy friends with Hermione, whom he found to be a very intelligent girl.
Two seats ahead of the old couple, was a newlywed couple, Charles and Hattie Bingley. In their middle twenties, they were young, rich, (as Charles was a trust fund baby), and very full of themselves. No one in the tour group liked them.
Across from the old married couple were two old British dames, most likely in their 70s. They were vulgar ladies, but in a charming way. Very fond of whiskey they were, and even fonder of the younger men…
Way up in the front was a family of four. The Carters were a red-blooded American family, all blond hair, blue eyes and perfection. The parents, Mr. John and Mrs. Anna Carter were taking their two young, twin, daughters Hallie and Stacey on this trip as an early birthday gift (they were on the verge of turning 14). The two very short, yet very pretty girls kept eyeing Ron and Harry from where they sat. They eventually realized Harry was taken, and settled their attention on Ron, who didn't mind it one bit…
In the seats in front of them sat a German born man who was adopted and grew up in Australia. He was very smart; he knew 7 different languages and also made easy friends with Prof. Dorset. His name was Nigel Parker and he had salt and pepper hair, and turquoise eyes that caused Hermione to blush slightly when he looked at her (and told her how very bright she was.)
Next to Nigel sat Indira, a vibrant and funny woman from Sri Lanka who was on this tour because she had always wanted to see Rome. Nigel and Indira met on this tour and began a courtship that lasted many years. They eventually married and settled in Florence, Italy.
The rest of the tour members, oddly enough, belonged to the same family, all 15 of them. The Chow family decided to take a tour of Europe to celebrate Eric Chow's promotion as CEO of his electronics company. Mr. Eric and Mrs. Sophia Chow invited their 5 grown children, and their children's spouses and grandchildren to come along. All together they made 15 and took up a good portion of the bus.
"I believe we're all settled in," Anastacia said into a microphone at the front of the bus. Her voice blasted over the speakers, making her heard to everyone on the bus. "Very well then I am Anastacia and I will be your tour guide for this week. I trust you all know Fezzik, our driver." at this point she flashed Fezzik another thousand-watt smile, (and Hermione blushed hearing Ron's snigger). "Very well, I guess we're on our way then!"
Fezzik started the bus and they were off, slowly turning out of Calais and driving away down the long and winding road south to Brussels in Belgium. Hermione, who was seated between her two best friends, rested her head on Harry's shoulder and soon found herself drifting off again. Ron rolled his eyes; Hermione could sleep through an earthquake. Ron ate his thoughts, however, when he found himself yawning and felt his eyes drooping. Maybe just a little nap…
Harry, however, could only stare out the window at the lush green French valleys. All sorts of emotions were rolling through him. Relief was an obvious one, he was so happy they had made it he could shout! This was too good to be true. He felt the need to pinch himself in order to convince himself it wasn't a dream. He felt wonder and anticipation at the things he was about to see, places he had been depraved of his whole life. Already he felt awe at the green and alien fields of the north of France.
He also felt responsible, and faintly terrified at what he was doing, not for fear of his well-being, but of hers. He had to keep her safe. That was probably the predominant feeling, the need to keep Hermione safe. To emphasize this he hugged her closer an kissed the top of her head. This was his half-crazed caper, and she had been dragged into this. It was his duty to keep her safe, always and forever he had to keep her safe, even if it cost him the caduceus, or his own life.
He also felt a bit paranoid. He was afraid he was becoming Mad Eye Moody, or Ron. But something had to give. The escape had been too easy, and there had to be a bloody purpose to this whole thing anyways. The other shoe had to eventually drop. Maybe it was just him, but on the port at Calais, he also thought he felt a nagging sensation of being watched…
Ron snorted loudly and mumbled in his sleep, interrupting Harry's thoughts.
Nah, Harry thought to himself. No one could possibly have followed us, could they?
Hermione whimpered, and Harry realized how uncomfortable it must be for her to sleep sitting up. He slowly lowered her head onto his lap, and she instinctively raised her legs off the ground and folded them on Ron's lap. Ron, still asleep, made a move to shove them off, but Hermione kicked him, which caused Ron to stop immediately.
Harry chuckled to himself. Even in their sleep, they fight. Harry turned to look out the window and tried to think positive thoughts. We'll be fine, he said to himself. He yawned and felt sleep take over. We'll be ok…
******
Wormtail burst into his Master's lair, happy to be delivering some good news for once. "He's on the move master!" Wormtail cried happily.
Voldemort grinned wickedly. "I told you he would go after it. Tell me, are they tracking him?"
"Yes sir. It was odd though, we never actually saw him leave the castle. But someone reported a sighting in Diagon Alley, and the surveillance team moved quickly and immediately traced him. They followed him all the way to the continent my lord." Wormtail finished obediently.
Voldemort laughed, "I knew he would. I know that boy like the back of my own wand hand. Very much like me he is." Voldemort said that last part with a bit of wistfulness in his voice. "Indeed, he is very much like me."
Voldemort walked to his mirror and stared at his reflection. "Did you inform the surveillance that the boy must not be harmed?" He asked, his voice becoming rough and angry all of a sudden.
Wormtail cowered in his boots. "Yes my lord, they know not to harm a hair on any of them."
"Good. Now go, I want you to join them on the hunt."
Immediately there was a loud 'pop' in the room which indicated Wormtail had dissapparated and was probably now joining the surveillance team.
"I will be Immortal." Voldemort said icily to his reflection. "And I will have the boy."
******
Author's Note: Ok! There it is! Chapter 8! Its actually supposed to be a lot longer, like 20 million pages longer, but I figured I'd just do the other half of Chapter 8 as Chapter 9 so that you guys got this faster and that so I don't end up insane! J
To my reviewers, thank you so very very much! You have no ideas how much I love you guys, and how many times I've just felt like giving up on this whole idea because I didn't have any time, or because I was just too bloody lazy. But I would see the reviews (and I would hear the dialogue in my head which never let me sleep) and I just knew I had to continue this, even if just to keep my sanity. J
Mara: I do welcome constructive criticism, and I do know I keep Ron to a minimum in this fic, and that is for 2 reasons a) This is mainly meant to be a fic about Harry and Hermione, and b) I write Ron horribly! Ron is funny! I cannot write Ron as funny as he is meant to be. So rather than having you suffer through my horrible un-funny Ron, I keep him to a minimum. J And is Harry too glorified? LOL Umm…just hold your thoughts…