Chapter One Hundred and Nineteen: On the Run
Daphne didn't feel at ease as she and Ginny walked along the crowded streets of Muggle London. She still expected Death Eaters to show up at any moment, even though by now, they'd had more than enough time to locate her and Ginny.
"We should probably find a place to stay for the night, first," she said.
"Well, you said you had Muggle money, so I'll leave that up to you," Ginny said. "I don't have money in either society."
They walked on a bit further, until Daphne saw a building with a 'Hotel' sign affixed to its front. She went in and walked up to the desk, feeling a bit nervous because she'd never done something like this before.
"How can I help you?" the man behind the desk asked. He seemed to be a bit suspicious of Daphne and Ginny, but whether that was for any particular reason or just because they were two teenage girls, Daphne didn't know.
"Er, we'd like a room for two people for tonight, please," Daphne said.
The man behind the desk checked a register. "We have a room available. However, we only accept credit cards as payment, and I'll need to see an ID," he said.
"Er, right, give me a moment," Daphne said.
She rummaged in her bag, trying not to make it obvious that it was bigger than it looked, but her wallet seemed to have fallen deeper in and she had to stick her arm in further than would be possible in an unenchanted bag, so she tried to turn away to shield it from view. She could feel the eyes of the man behind the desk on her, however.
"Women's bags are always deeper than you think, aren't they?" Ginny asked. She must also have seen the man's expression become more suspicious.
"Yes, it would appear so," the man said. He seemed a bit less suspicious now, and Daphne finally managed to find her wallet.
Now came the nerve-racking bit: finding out if she had the things the man would need. She knew she had a debit card to withdraw money, but whether or not she had an ID and credit card…she was about to find out. There were some bank notes, coins, and plastic cards in the wallet. One of them had Daphne's picture on it in Muggle style, meaning she wasn't moving on it, and her name, date of birth, and some other things. That was probably an ID. Now, the credit card…A few moments later, she found that as well. Her parents had clearly made sure she'd be fine if she needed to survive in the Muggle world for a while, and she was extremely grateful for it.
She handed the ID and credit card to the man behind the desk, who scrutinized both with the intensity of a hawk. He swiped the credit card through some device, typed something on a keypad, and then handed both the card and ID back to Daphne.
"Would you like a room with a double bed or separate beds?" he asked.
"Separate," Ginny said immediately.
Daphne tried to hide her disappointment as she said, "Yeah, separate," but her flat voice betrayed her.
"Alright," the man said, handing her a key, "your room is on the second floor, number two-oh-two. Breakfast is between six and nine and will be charged separately."
"Thanks," Daphne said. She and Ginny went up two flights of stairs and entered the room. It was small, but it did have a closet, desk, two beds, and a functional bathroom, so it would do just fine for the night, provided the Death Eaters wouldn't decide to attack them here. Putting up defensive spells, however, would just attract their attention.
"So. Separate beds, huh?" Daphne asked.
"You know why," Ginny said. "And before you start tearing yourself down again, it's not a punishment. Not in that way, anyway. It's just a matter of trust, and you kind of broke mine."
"But if we can break the Trace–" Daphne began.
"Don't go there," Ginny said warningly. "Don't try to justify yourself, okay? Please," she said. She sighed. "Do you know how often my mum did things like that? Ignoring my decisions because she thought she knew better, and then rubbing it in when she turned out to be right, and using those instances as justification all subsequent times she overruled me, even times where she wasn't right. You bringing me here says the same thing: that you know what's good for me better than I do, in your eyes. I expect my mum to be like that. I didn't expect it from you. That's why it hurts, and that's why I…don't feel that trust, that equality, right now. It's not because I don't want to be close to you, because I do. Very much, even."
"I'm sorry," Daphne said softly.
"It's a start," Ginny said with a small smile. "Now, how do you intend to find Valentina?" she asked, and Daphne was very glad for the change of subject.
"Last time, Bill got in touch with her. He might know where she is," she said.
"Great, except that Bill and Fleur are going…well, a honeymoon's a bit out of the question right now, but they'll be at their own place, Shell Cottage, assuming they're able to protect it adequately, and I don't know where it even is," Ginny said.
"Someone from the Order might know where he is," Daphne suggested.
"Yes, but do you think they'll help us? I think you're literally the only person who's this adamant that we break the Trace on me. Everyone else thinks I should just go back to school," Ginny said. "And Mum will certainly try to make me come back; she'll never let me even try to break the Trace, probably because it's incredibly illegal even if it's possible. Though I suppose that, since Voldemort technically runs the Ministry now, we're in trouble with the law anyway."
A spike of adrenaline stronger than any Daphne had ever felt shot through her.
"Get down!" she shouted, pulling Ginny to the floor with her just in time to avoid the Stunners fired by the two Death Eaters who'd just Apparated into the hotel room.
Daphne whirled around and fired a Stunner directly into the face of the first one, while the second one had been taken care of by Ginny. Daphne had never been so glad for both her Divination and all her training with the Order of the Lightning Bolt.
"What the hell was that?" Ginny asked, looking at the two unconscious Death Eaters. "Did you sense them?"
Daphne nodded slowly. "The moment you said–" She fell silent for a moment. "It was the moment you said his name," she said. "I don't know how to describe it. You said it, and a second later I knew that people were going to Apparate in."
She frowned and tried to recall the feeling. Why did she know that Voldemort's name had been the trigger for the attack? It had felt…a bit like when Snape had pulled on her thoughts with Legilimency, and how she'd been able to pick subjects in her book before she'd figured out her 'mental conversation' technique. Something had tugged on the name itself. If she hadn't been practicing for years at recognizing the feeling, she wouldn't even have noticed it.
"He can track us with his name?" Ginny asked, horrified.
Daphne shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, but that's how it felt. Anyway, we need to get out of here quickly." She extended her hand.
"More magic?" Ginny asked apprehensively.
"They know we're here, so we might as well," Daphne said.
"They'll detect us as well if we Apparate, won't they?"
"Do we have time to discuss this now?!"
Ginny made a frustrated sound and took Daphne's hand, who turned on the spot, and a moment later they appeared in a narrow alley.
"Come on, let's move," Daphne said immediately.
"Wait…this is near King's Cross, isn't it?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah. Look, I need to have a clear picture in my mind of where we're going, okay? My options are a bit limited," Daphne said.
"And you knew how to picture this exact alley?" Ginny asked with a hint of amusement.
"I think we came through here before fifth year," Daphne said. She gestured at a piece of graffiti on the wall. "I remembered that, mostly."
"Well, I suppose that works… But what now? Try for another hotel?" Ginny asked.
"Probably. I think we'll be fine if we put some distance between ourselves and the alley," Daphne said.
Ginny frowned. "Harry told me that no matter how much his aunt and uncle tried to escape from his Hogwarts letters, they couldn't outrun them. If we're not using any magic, we're basically Muggles too, aren't we? They should be able to find us, regardless," she said.
"I think they only care if we use V- Chuckles the Dancing Clown's name," Daphne said.
Ginny giggled at the name.
"They didn't chase us earlier, either, and if they're chasing everyone who uses that name…then the entire Order is in trouble," Daphne said grimly. "We need to warn them, somehow…and at the same time, we need to get in touch with Bill to ask him about Valentina."
"Why would he even know where she is? They know each other, sure, but I don't think they're best friends, or anything," Ginny said. "Besides, isn't she Italian? Who says she's in the country at all?"
"One problem at a time, please," Daphne said.
As they walked aimlessly, Daphne tried to think about a way to contact the Order of the Phoenix. Going to the Leaky Cauldron would be too dangerous, as would, obviously, going to the Ministry. However…
"There might be someone from the Order we can contact," Daphne said. "But unless we Apparate, we'll need to use Muggle public transport or a cab to get there."
Ginny frowned. "Who did you have in mind?"
"Mrs. Figg, the Squib who lives near where Harry used to live," Daphne said. "I doubt they'll go after her immediately, because she's no threat, and she'll probably have a way to stay in touch with the Order."
"Probably our best bet, then," Ginny agreed. "So how are we getting there?"
Daphne thought for a moment. "I don't know her address, but I do know Harry's. We'll look it up on a map and then we can figure out if there are any connections to it or if we need to take a cab." She grinned at Ginny. "I'm glad I took all those years of Muggle Studies."
Ginny grinned back at her. "Dad will have so many questions for us when we get back," she said.
"Okay…we should probably go to an Underground station, or something. They'll have maps. King's Cross is a bit too risky, I think," Daphne said.
Soon, they'd found a station, as well as a map of the area on the wall.
"Let's see…" Daphne muttered as she looked at the map. "Okay, here's Little Whinging…and here's Privet Drive… so we need that bus stop there, and to get there…"
They quickly figured out the route they'd need to take, but with all the different connections they'd have to get, the time of day, and their lack of familiarity with the Muggle public transport, they decided to find a hotel for the night first and head over to Mrs. Figg in the morning. Having just been attack by Death Eaters, Daphne was pretty sure she wouldn't be sleeping soundly, but there was nothing for it.
It didn't take them long to find another hotel, and this time Daphne had her ID and credit card ready from the start, so it took far less time than before to get a room. She wondered how the other hotel would deal with the fact that Daphne and Ginny had just disappeared, and that there were two masked and hooded men unconscious in their room, but that was no longer for her to worry about.
All that mattered now was that they didn't get attacked again. Since no one had yet appeared, however, it seemed like either Magical Law Enforcement had other things to do, or someone there was making sure the Death Eaters kept off their trail unless they triggered whatever magic was on Voldemort's name now.
"Should we sleep on rotation, just to be safe?" Daphne suggested once they were in the room.
"We probably should," Ginny said unwillingly. "Want me to take first 'watch', or will you do it?"
"I'll go first," Daphne said. "Switch in three hours or something?"
Ginny shrugged. "Yeah, why not." She lay down in the bed fully clothed. "I'm not fighting Death Eaters in a nightgown," she said by way of explanation.
Daphne grinned. "Probably a smart decision. It'll make it easy to escape as well, if we have to. Well…try to get some sleep, anyway."
Ginny nodded and turned onto her side.
Daphne leaned back against the headboard of her own bed and sighed. This was not at all how she'd expected the day to go. That morning, she'd been angry with her friends that Ginny wouldn't be able to come with them…and now she was in a Muggle hotel with Ginny, with no clue where Harry and the others were, and vehemently hoping the Death Eaters wouldn't decide to attack them in the middle of the night. It certainly was a change of pace.
She checked her watch. Two minutes had passed since she sat down. Only two hours and fifty-eight minutes to go. If only the hotel room was a bit more stimulating to look at, but the walls were a faint, creamy white and the furniture was all made of the same brown wood, and the gray carpet on the floor had seen better days. It was almost painfully dull.
Daphne glanced at Ginny. The lights were on, so she expected her to still be awake, but apparently, Ginny was one of those people who could sleep anywhere and under any circumstances. There was no way Daphne would be able to fall asleep that easily. Nope, no way at all…
Considering I'm not British and was seven years old in 1997, when this takes place, I have no clue how checking into a hotel worked back in those days. I probably got that description entirely wrong, but considering how small of a moment that is, it probably won't matter too much.