Escaping Life
Chapter Two
It was near dawn in a small-unknown village when they arrived. Tried and hungry they made their way to an inn where they might stay the night. Ginny's companion had hardly said but three words to her, 'can you fly'. She was still resentful of him that he would even have to ask. Just because she was a girl, she thought, is no reason to think I can't fly it is after all the 21st century. She sighed inwardly it was too late or rather too early to be thinking about women's status in the world and how they have come to be viewed. She had to admit this whole adventure thing was starting to sound like a not so good idea, she didn't even know this man but if Dumbledore trusted him then he must be all right. It still surprised her that Professor Dumbledore had chosen her for this mission, whatever it was.
She trudged her way behind her companion, it was raining and the ground was muddy she was looking forward to a nice soak in the tub and a long nap. When they finally reached what looked to be an inn, a small gloomy looking building with a sign dangling above the door that read 'The Redwood Inn' in small red letters on a piece of wood that was falling apart. They made their way inside, where they found a few people sipping a drink and chatting merrily. Heath headed over to the bartender with Ginny in tow.
"We would like a room for the night." Heath said to bar tender looking about the place.
"Sure thing. Two beds or one?" The bar tender grinned spotting the pretty red head standing nervously behind the tall muscular man.
"Two please." Heath replied not noticing the man's sly look.
"Very well. I'll have Willis show you to your room. Here's the key." He held out a small brass key with the number 12 carved in the side. "Willis!" A young boy no older then 17 turned away from the people he was talking to. "I need you to show these kind folk to their room."
"Yes da." The lanky youth made his way towards them much to the displeasure of his companions. "What's the room number?"
"Twelve, and don't take forever getting back I need you to unload the mourning shipment when it arrives." The disgruntle bartender turned away from them and went back to cleaning glasses.
"Follow me." Willis said leading them to their room. Bath here I come, thought Ginny, as she followed the two men. "Don't mind old grumpy back there, he doesn't get out much."
"I could tell." Ginny muttered under her breath.
"Well here we are. Room twelve, if you need anything feel free to ask." Willis said with a polite smile and left.
Heath unlocked the door and made his way into the room with Ginny coming in after him. The room was small and dingy, the floor and furniture were coated with dust. There was a small window that separated the two twin beds, the window was of course closed which explained why the room was so stuffy. The beds looked like they hadn't been used in a century and there were cobwebs in every corner of the ceiling. None of this however stopped Heath from lying down on the bed and falling asleep immediately. With out so much as a word to Ginny.
"Well good night to you too." Ginny muttered as she set their luggage on the floor and went in search of a bathroom, bringing her pjs and tooth brush with her. The first door she tried lead her into a small closet filled with boxes and spiders. The next door held what she was looking for a big bathtub and a privy. Unlike her room the bathroom was clean and looked well used and cared for. Closing and locking the door before her she made her way to the bathtub and turned the hot water knob. She let out a small gasp of surprise when she saw that the water coming out of the fascist was pink, bubbly and smelled of strawberries. She slowly put her hand in the water it felt normal enough. She pulled her hand out and examined it; it looked the same, a little wet but the same. How odd, she thought, but being the adventurous type she went ahead and got in the strange bath. Ginny let out a small sigh has the hot water washed over her, this is much better she thought.
After having soaked for a good thirty minutes Ginny thought she'd best go get some sleep, who knew when they were planning on heading off again and Ginny was tired. She grabbed her belongings and headed back to her room, Heath was still asleep on the bed just as he was when she left. She quietly crawled into bed and turned out the light. Snuggling in under the blankets she feel asleep.
"Ginny! Wake up we're going." Heath said hastily grabbing his stuff and exiting the room. A dazed Ginny mumbled a protest before dragging herself out of bed. She pulled out a pair of cloths and her cloak from her bag and made her way back to the bathroom. Once dressed and clean she made her way down stairs. Heath was sitting at the bar talking with the man from the night before.
"It's about time you got here." Heath snapped at her as she took a seat next to her, it was to early for Ginny to be polite, though it was 3:00pm.
"Bite me. If you wanted me down here sooner you should have said to hurry rather then waking me up then leaving as fast as you could. You really should be more considerate. Now what's for breakfast or supper rather?" Ginny replied.
"Nothing we're leaving now." Heath said getting up.
"Wait just one minute! I'm not going anywhere until we've had something to eat! A person can't travel on an empty stomach and it's my job to see that you're all right. So sit back down we're eating now." Ginny yelled sharply at him, the months taking care of Hermione and Ron kicking in.
Seeing the determined look on Ginny's face he sat back down mumbling 'very well your highness'. "That's more like it." Ginny said with a smug satisfied look on her face.
"Excuse me, sir? What do you have to eat here?" Ginny asked the man who shot her a look and through a menu to her.
Looking it over she decided to get the pancakes with fruit. "What do you want?" She asked Heath.
"Just get me whatever you're getting yourself."
"All right then. Sir, we'll have to orders of pancakes and fruit please." Ginny called to the man who nodded in reply. "Thank you."
"So where are we going exactly?" Ginny asked him as they waited for their food to arrive.
"Greece, then up into Albania, Bulgaria and Romania." Heath replied off-handedly.
"Oh we're going to Romania? My brother Charlie is there working with dragons. Wait why are you going there and to all those other places?" Ginny was beginning to wonder what they were doing exactly.
"I'm not at leave to tell you that."
"You're not at leave to tell your own traveling companion what she is in for, right uh huh, makes perfect sense to me." Ginny's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Look mister thinks he's above everybody and girls can't fly, your going to tell me and your going to tell me now!"
"Fine. I'll inform you once we leave" Heath was starting to loose his temper and Ginny could tell so she stopped asking questions after that.
Their food arrived and they ate in silence paying the man when they were done. They left after that taking their belongings and brooms with them. They saddled up their brooms with their packs and took off. Just as the got in the air Hedwig arrived with a letter in her beak. A bright red letter, which meant only one thing, a howler. Great, Ginny thought, just what I need, a howler from mum. Taking the letter from Hedwig's beak she quickly opened the envelope, better just to get over with she thought.
"WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?! TAKING OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT LIKE THAT! I DON'T CARE IF DUMBLEDORE ASKED YOU TO! THE LEST YOU COULD HAVE DONE WAS SEND ME A LETTER TO LET ME KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON WITH MY OWN DAUGHTER! MY ONLY DAUGHTER FOR THAT MATTER! AND YOU MR. ASTER BETTER TAKE GOOD CARE OF HER OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY! YOU HEAR ME? OF ALL THE STUPID THINGS YOU HAD TO DO THIS DIDN'T YOU?! YOU COULDN'T HAVE DONE SOMETHING NORMAL LIKE BLOW UP A TOUILET! OH NO YOU HAVE TO GO GALIVANTING OFF ACRROSS THE COUNTRY SIDE!" There was more after that but Heath couldn't be bothered to listen to it so he scorched the letter.
"Hey! Would did you do that for!" Ginny yelled at him, cheeks still bright red with embarrassment.
"I couldn't be bothered to listen to it any more." And with that he flew off ahead of her leaving Ginny and Hedwig behind.
"Its all right for him," Ginny said to Hedwig. "She's not his mother. I suppose I better write her back and apologize for not letting her know, but Dumbledore had said not to worry." Ginny reached in her pack and pulled out a piece of parchment and a muggle pen, they were a lot easier to use then quills with pens you didn't have to worry about spilling your ink. She scribbled a quick not and signed 'love your daughter Ginny' then tied it to Hedwig's leg, who promptly flew off.
Ginny trailed behind him for the rest of the evening. She got the feeling that they were going to become nocturnal, flying at night and sleeping in the day. As the hours went by she became more and more aware of the fact that she still didn't have a clue what exactly they were doing. 'Damn him! He's never going to tell me what all this is about and I getting the feeling the more questions I ask the less he'll answer. I'm going to have a long talk with him the next time we stop. If I have to use magic to get answers out of him well then so be it! I cant take much more of his arrogance…'
A/n short chapter huh? Sorry! I really don't quit no where I'm going with this I'm just sort of writing whatever comes to me but next chapter I will try to have a little more action in it. Please bare with me!
Thank You to all those who reviewed:
The Rogue Knight – Hey! It's been a while since I've herd from you, but as always I appreciate your review!
Quicklime – I'm glad you liked the 1st chapter, I hope you like this one too!