CHAPTER 11

'We're dead!' Hermione squeaked. 'We're dead! Draco, you need to hide.'

Draco's eye had widened, and now they were frantically scanning the room for any place he might hide in. Outside, they could still hear soft knocking on the door.

All of a sudden, Draco stood up, strode purposefully to the window, and slammed it open. Hermione rose in horror.

'Draco, no!' she hissed. 'We're on the edge of a-.' but she couldn't get the words out, before he had swung himself out of the window.

Just as she muffled a shriek, the door was blasted open. The dark lord stood at the frame, silhouetted by the faint light that came from the candle. His robes were blowing ever so slightly in the wind from the open window.

'Hermione…' he hissed. 'You kept me waiting.'

She bowed her head. 'I am sorry, my lord. I fell asleep. I just woke up.'

His cat like eyes roved the bed. 'Asleep? The bed doesn't look so.'

Hermione thought fast. 'I- I didn't make it before getting in. I was exhausted.'

'Apparently,' the voice whispered. 'Very well. I came here to tell you that we must be ready by four in the morning tomorrow, so that we can leave.'

'Yes my lord,' she murmured.

'That is all. And Hermione…do not keep me waiting this time….'

He turned around, and slowly left. The minute the door closed behind him, Hermione cast quick locking and silencing spells on It, and rushed to the window. 'Draco!' she screamed. Rain drops splashed at her face. The wind grasped her voice, and cast in into silence.

'Draco!' she cried, again.

This time, she heard a muffled noise, and looked down. Her face went very white. Hanging on to a small ledge built just under the window were two very white knuckles.

'Oh my god!' she gasped. She lifted her wand. 'Wingardium Leviosa!'

Immediately, Draco was lifted from his suspended position. She brought him into the room, and removed the spell. He remained slumped on the floor, his face and hair dripping from the rain.

'Are you okay?' Hermione asked, her voice trembling.

He nodded. 'I'm fine. Never mind about me. What did he say?'

'We have to be ready to leave by four tomorrow morning,' Hermione said, very close to tears. 'oh, Draco…what are we supposed to do?'

Draco sat down on the bed. 'There's only one thing. We're going to have to run for it.'

Hermione's eyes widened. 'Run? But how? We don't even know where we are….where can we run to?'

'Anything is better than here,' Draco said, stubbornly. 'It would be better to run instead of just waiting here.'

Hermione didn't argue. She looked him in the eye. 'What do we do?' she asked.

Draco glanced at his expensive watch. 'It's already one thirty.' He muttered. 'Only two and a half hours more. There's a sort of door at the foyer. We can try and open that and leave. None of us have anything to carry except our wands. We can't apparate, since we don't know where we are. So we look for the nearest village, and see if there's any way to communicate with the others in the order.'

Hermione nodded, her face white. 'Ok,' she whispered.

Draco got up, grasped her hand and pulled her up to. He opened the door to her room, and peeked outside.

'Coast's clear,' he whispered. 'Come on, quickly.'

Hermione followed him, as they crept into the foyer. Draco checked the door.

'Bolted and locked,' he muttered. 'And Imperturbed, of course.'

Hermione winced, as he drew back the bolt. It squeaked slightly. He tried opening it, but it had been locked with a key that they did not have. He turned and faced her suddenly.

'Give me a hairpin,' he muttered.

Hermione stared.

'Just do it,' he insisted.

She reached up to her hair, and handed him a hairpin. He cautiously prodded the lock till it clicked open. Then, he slowly swung the door open.

They were facing some sort of dark waste land, scrubby with hardly any grass or tress. Rain was pouring everywhere. Hermione gasped at the wave of cold that hit her. Draco didn't give her any time to think. He simply pulled her out, and shut the door behind him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lupin glanced behind him.

'Oh god, Harry!' he cried. He calmed himself. 'You startled me. What's the matter?'

Harry had been standing silently behind him, as he sat at his candle lit desk. He shrugged.

'Nothing really,' he whispered. 'Just feeling a little lonely.'

Lupin sighed, and put his pen down. 'Come sit down Harry,' he said, patiently.

Harry sat.

'I know just how you feel,' Lupin continued. 'It's the same way I felt when James died, and Sirius went to Azkaban, and Peter- well, supposedly died. But you'll make it through, Harry. You really will.'

'It was okay for you,' Harry said, in a muffled voice. 'My dad never came back, but Sirius did, didn't he? And as for Pettigrew, he didn't die much as I wished it. They didn't die- they just disappeared. I'm never going to see Ron and Mione again.'

Lupin sighed once more. He wished he could tell Harry the truth about his best friends. But he knew that would best be kept secret now.

'Harry,' he said, softly, putting an arm around him. 'When I lost my best friends, I gave up on hope. I didn't think I'd ever see them again…but I did. Don't make that mistake. Don't give up. Your friends aren't as lost as you seem to think.'

He saw the wild hope rise in Harry's eyes, and choked a little.

'What do you mean?' Harry asked, breathlessly.

Lupin shrugged. 'They've just vanished. They aren't dead. You don't know that they won't come back.'

Harry didn't say anything, but Lupin knew that he didn't believe him.

XXXXXXX

Hermione pulled her clothes tighter, trying to shield herself from the biting wind. The loose, black fabric was doing a bad job of keeping her wand. Gusts of rain were blowing past her face, stinging her eyes.

She felt Draco grip her arm, and pulled her forward.

'We need to find out which direction will take us to population,' he called, over the wind. Hermione nodded, and slipped out her wand. She held it flat against her palm.

'Point me,' she whispered. It swiveled around, and pointed directly to her right.

Draco looked faintly impressed. 'Okay,' he said, 'that's west. So we go in that direction. But before we go-.' He paused, and pointed his wand at her.

'Protego!' he cried, and a shimmering shield surrounding Hermione. Rain drops continued to fall in, but it protected her from any magical spell or curse.

'Come on,' Draco muttered, and holding her hand, they started running in that direction.

Hermione was beginning to freeze. They continued running. Very soon, the shack was just a little bump in the distance. Owing to the darkness and rain, it quickly disappeared. Hermione relaxed a little.

'Don't stop,' Draco panted. 'We must as much distance as possible between the Dark Lord and us. The minute he finds out we're gone, the chase starts. And we must try and be back with the order before that.'

Hermione nodded grimly. She ran a little faster.

XXXXXXXXXXX

'I have to stop!' Hermione gasped. She stumbled a little bit, and Draco quickly grabbed her so she wouldn't fall over. They had been running for a couple of hours, and both were exhausted. But Draco knew they couldn't stop.

'Hermione,' he panted, 'Look. There are lights about a kilometer away. Can you see those flickering yellow dots? Yeah. I think that's a village, or a small town. Come, we must reach thee quickly. Just a bit more.'

He hauled an unwilling Hermione to her feet, and pulled her forward. She gasped, and groaned, but submitted to running just a little more. In about fifteen minutes, they had reached the lights.

The village was surrounded by a tall brick wall. There was a wooden gate, flanked by two men holding torches. Draco and Hermione halted.

'Who is it?' one of the men called. 'What do you want?'

Draco gasped for breath. 'We're refugees,' he panted, 'we want a place to stay for the night.'

One of the men looked dubious.

'We've just escaped,' Hermione added, 'and we have no idea where we are. We need shelter.'

'From who?' the second guard asked.

'That is our own business,' Draco retorted. After a quick counsel, the men turned to them.

'You are at Little Hangleton,' he told them. 'Go in, and follow Elm's street. You'll pass the Old Riddle House. Go to the Hanged Man- it's an inn. Go in and ask for whatever you want.'

'Oh, thank you,' Hermione said, gratefully. The gates were opened, and both followed their instructions, until they reached a bricked building. Draco opened the door, and both stepped in. Despite it being five in the morning, there were quite a few people around. They were wet and cold, and in a bedraggled condition, so a great many eyes turned to them as they entered.

They walked up to the desk at the front.

'Good morning,' the man behind the desk said. He was wearing a yellow-patched blue shirt, and a checked apron. He was bald, but had plenty of hair shooting from his huge ears. 'How can I help you?'

'We'd like to have something hot to eat and drink, please,' Draco said, dropping a handful of muggle coins onto the table. 'and if there's anyway to communicate with-.'

'There's a telephone out back,' the man said, thumbing the direction. 'sit at a table, and I'll bring you something.'

'Right,' Draco said, through gritted teeth. He and Hermione walked to the phone.

'What number do we call?' Hermione asked, picking up the receiver. Draco thought for a moment. 'Mr. Weasley had a muggle telephone at his office,' he said. 'I have the number here. You dial…I'll talk.'

Gratefully, Hermione handed him the receiver. Draco pulled out a piece of paper, and punched out the number. Then he held it to his ear, with unfamiliarity in his hands.

Hermione stifled a laugh. 'You're holding it upside down.' She told him.

He quickly turned it around, and waited for someone to pick up. Hermione felt her stomach clench.

How can I face them?

Draco's voice cut through her thoughts.

'Mr. Weasley?' he asked, in hushed tones. 'It's me Draco. Yes. I have Hermione with me. We escaped and reached here. Yes. It's a Muggle Town- Voldemort's old home. That was the closest we could get. Yes. Little Hangleton. We're at The Hanged Man. You will? Oh, thank you. Yes. Bye then.'

He hung up. Hermione looked apprehensively at him.

'Well?' she asked.

'Lupin and a bunch of others are coming to pick us up.' Draco said. 'They should be here in an hour. Now, we have to stay safe till then.'