A/N Loads of reviews…I'm amazed! Thanks all! This chapter is a bit short, but the next will probably be a bit long to compensate.
Duj, eh, yeah sorry about that mistake…/ hangs head in shame / English is not my first language…But erm…were you volunteering to be my beta…? (grins)
Katharina: as to why the teens can't apparate with Severus…well first of all, YES, it would ruin my storyline! LOL The teens being too inexperienced to apparate with someone else wasn't my first reason. Apparition can be detected by the Ministry (how else would they know if people needed reassembling after splinching?) Although I'm sure there are ways around that, they are trying not to draw ANY attention to themselves whatsoever. Little do they know what a thoroughly evil author has in store for them…Don't you have the feeling that all authors have at least some Slytherin in them?
It was two hours later, when Harry initiated our first conversation after departure, that we discovered a slight oversight in my wonderful plan.
"Too bad this car doesn't fly," Harry said, smiling slightly at the memory of the start of his second year.
"Yeah, it's a real shame. At least you know where Hogwarts is, now," I said, grateful. It was a minute or so (I did have to keep my eyes on the road after all) before I noticed Harry's expression. "Erm…no…I don't exactly know where it is. By road, I mean. I do know the general direction…" We looked at each other and groaned.
"Well, let's just…drive in the general direction then," I said, waving my hand forward, "and we'll go from there. I'm sure professor Snape will know." Severus had been asleep since we left, exhausted from days of fever and coughing. The potions were working, thank Merlin.
Another hour later, a muggle police car (yep, Harry taught us the correct way to spell that) emerged from out of nowhere, and ordered us to pull over. Harry closed his eyes. "Oh, no, we have forgotten to change the license plate numbers," he moaned. I looked at him quizzically. "When a car is stolen, the owner reports the license plate number to the police so they can track it down," Harry explained. I paled as I slowly moved the car to the side of the road. "You'll have to obliviate them, then we'll say they pulled us over because they saw professor Snape. We'll tell them he's our father and he fell ill during our holiday. We're taking him to our grandmother now," I quickly made up a coverstory. Harry nodded and discreetly pulled out his wand.
"Gentlemen," the police officer said sternly, "You better have a good explanation for this. This car was reported stolen four days ago…" I heard Harry whisper the incantation and something shot by me. The man's eyes glazed over. "Officer? Are you alright?" I asked, politely. "Y-Yes, thank you. Bit dizzy. Now…I pulled you over because…" he tried to remember, "Because you saw our father in the back seat and wanted to know what was wrong," I supplied quickly. "Ah, yes. Can I see your driver's license?" I handed it to him, knowing perfectly well that everything was in order. It was a real one, after all.
"What happened to your father?" the man asked. "He fell ill while we were taking a short holiday. Bout of the flue, we suspect. He didn't want us to take him to the hospital. Stubborn, you know, when it comes to doctors. So we decided to wrap him up and take him to our grandmother." I kept my fingers crossed that Severus wouldn't wake up to ruin the whole thing. His referring to us as "Longbottom" and "Potter" would rouse the man's suspicion, obliviated or not. "Ah, yes, everything seems to be in order," the police officer commented, giving back the papers. "Do take good care of your father, boys. You two twins? You look about the same age." I nodded, surpressing a grin. "Yep. Not identical though, as you can see." Harry rolled his eyes at this. The man smirked and told us to be on our way. With a relieved sigh, we drove off. Harry took out his wand and murmured a few spells. "Changed the license plates," he said, "in case we run into more policemen." A soft chuckle came from the backseat. "Your father, Neville? Twins?" I grimaced. "Quiet you, you're supposed to rest. What else was I supposed to be telling him?" Then I looked at the dashboard. "We're running low on gas and I could do with a bit to eat as well. There's a gasstation about a mile down the road. We'll stop there for a few minutes." Harry looked relieved. "Good idea, I erm…need to use the loo as well…" Severus blushed slightly as he admitted, "so do I…"
Arriving at the gasstation, Harry took Severus to the toilets (after I quietly threatened to do something extremely unpleasant to him should he harm the still shaky potions master) and I proceeded to…what do muggles call that again? 'fill her up' I remembered from a muggle movie. It wasn't until I went inside to get some supplies and pay for the gas, that I noticed something was very, very wrong.
Two Death Eaters jumped from somewhere down the isles.
I saw some blasts coming from the toilets and three others dragged Harry and Severus out. Then I heard a sickening voice. A female voice. The voice of Bellatrix Lestrange.