Chapter 12: Do I know you?!

The muggle city was called New York, the smell of rust, piss, and other things in the streets. It was a Thursday afternoon, the sun was slowly setting behind a large building called "Redikulous", and a platinum blonde with sunglasses on was sitting with a straight-haired teenage girl who also had sunglasses on. Their table was of an expensive wood, a luscious-green tablecloth draped over it. It was a new atmosphere that the two British wizards had never experienced; they were in America.

The girl drank out of a goblet filled with sweet tea, while the boy told her in a hushed voice, secrets of his childhood. Her dark eyes kept looking towards the door, as if anticipating something. After a moment, she interrupted the boy, a downcast look on her face.

"Draco… Why New York? This place is the most unguarded place on Earth… And how did you know that this place was a hideout for wanted wizards?" Her depressed chestnut eyes searched his dismal sapphire ones that the sunglasses still couldn't conceal, as she leaned on the table, being careful of their drinks.

"Because my Uncle went here when he escaped Askaban. He wasn't ever found, until he went out. That's why we can't leave here, no matter what. This place had to move over fifty times just to stay in business. If you want to know, where I found it out, before my Uncle died, he told me to come here if I ever needed to escape… And to never exit. We're lucky we even found the city it was in." He looked at the floor, a disheartened look on his face.

They had bought new clothes and changed identities, and had stole food. For the first time in Draco's life, he felt filthy. They had stolen clothes and money. They had used charms on themselves to make their appearances look different when they had stolen their goods, so that his Father, Mother, and especially Voldemort would never know. They were using all they had to live…

~*~

"ALERT! ALERT! OVER FIFTY ITEMS HAVE BEEN STOLEN AND WERE OVER $600.00 DOLLARS EACH! CAPTURE AND KILL THE SUSPECTS! A BLUE-HAIRED BOY AND A REDHEADED GIRL ARE THE SUSPECTS!" A feminine voice yelled over the loud alarms.

Their hearts pounded, the blood coursing through their veins, their long legs streaking the pavement, their feet barely hitting the gravel they were running so fast, the boy and girl ran towards nothing. There were over six bags in each hand, all bulging.

"Why…" The girl muttered. Sweat was crawling down her face, her hazel eyes watching where she was heading.

"Less talk. More running." The boy said simply. They needed their strength, and talking was just wasting their energy. "Go straight. I see a building."

Indeed a building it was. A large redbrick 7-story building. Charcoal steps lead to a grey door, and somehow they streaked faster towards it.

~*~

"We're lucky that it's a Hotel, too." Hermione said, tracing the floor with the toe of her boot.

Draco laughed. It was cold, hard, and cynical. "It's like that room you and your little friends did the Dark Arts in. Illegal, convenient, and at the same time problematic. I still envy Umbridge… She was the only teacher that hated Potter as much as I do." He seemed to forget he was talking to and continued laughing, though it was lower so that only Hermione could hear him.

"How could I forget…" Hermione said icily. "You almost got us all expelled. You know what that could have done to me!"

Draco instantly stopped laughing and looked over at Hermione. "It would've done you good. You study too much. You could have been apart of that blasted Headmaster of ours Army in 4th year!" His gaze was fatal, and he kept hard to not strangle the beauty before him.

Hermione glared at him, reached over with one thin marble hand, and pulled off Draco's sunglasses. "Look at me Draco. Into my eyes." He wearily did so, wondering what she was going to say or do to him. "I know I could have been in his army. I hated that stupid fat old hag. Why don't you admit it, Draco Malfoy? She was only on your side because she hated Harry. Besides, your Father would have persuaded her into sending those Dementors after him in the first place!"

"Are you always this protective of your friends? Because I don't really care about The-Boy-Who-Shitted-Himself." Draco snapped, gazing at the way determinately away from her.

"How creative you are." Hermione said dryly. "For your information, Harry is one of my best friends if you don't remember."

"Was one of your best friends, Granger." He snapped again, still staring away from the infuriated eyes that he knew were upon him.

"What did you call me?" Now, she was going to loose her temper…

"I can't call you mudblood anymore, now can I? It wouldn't make any sense." Draco said. "I don't see how we're going to make it alive in this hellhole. It's not necessarily burning like hell, but it feels like hell."

"Wow, didn't know that 77 degrees was that hot, Malfoy." Hermione said sarcastically as she made a face at Draco.

Draco instantly looked over at the thermometer that was over to the wall beside them. His eyes narrowed when he saw the red going up to 90 degrees and looked back over at Hermione. "Damn it, you can be so annoying sometimes."

"The best is yet to come, Malfoy." Hermione drawled and looked into his eyes, a slight smirk on his face.

"They say love is just a step away from hate…" Draco said, smirking softly. "Arguments are just meaningless; just like talking. All you have to do is take action, and for me I guess, words do it."

"So, what are you saying?" Hermione said, leaning up from the table, unconsciously chewing her lip.

"That you need to be trained in the real world if you want to be a Malfoy… I've been thinking-"

"Ooh, does your head hurt?" Hermione interrupted.

Draco gave her an icy glare and she stiffened. "I'm being serious-"

"Hermione!" yelled a familiar voice.

"OH WHAT THE HELL IS IT NOW!" Draco shouted. He had given up. He reached over, grabbed Hermione's wrist, and repeatedly slapped himself with her hand.

Hermione was too distracted as she watched Ron, Ginny, the twins, and Harry run towards them. ( A/n: Harry was lagging behind… The twins were selling some of their new stuff to people who looked disinterested. )

"Thank Merlin we found you!" Ginny rasped and slid on the bench beside her while Ron, Harry, and the twins gave Malfoy looks of disgust. Draco wasn't very pleased, either.

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How the fucking hell did they find her? That's what I'm wondering… Well, I updated, people… Just wrote it today. The 22 of December… In only 3 hours. I looked over it for over 5 hours, though. What the fuck happened to you guys? Don't you like my stories anymore? I always thought the others would review this… Oh well. I hope you realize this story's the only thing keeping my alive.

Now, does this update mean I'm going to update very soon in the future? No. You know what, the 60th reviewer gets a little party with the HP characters he or she chooses! Also, I won't continue this if no one reviews my story 'Dead Men Tell no Lies.' Pairing's DM/HG, people! I thought you loved that pairing! I almost committed suicide, but I decided to write this instead! Doesn't that matter to you people?

Disclaimer: Well, if I change my name to J.K. Rowling and move to England, then I'd own HP, but I do not, so don't you dare sue me or I'll flame you to hell!