"Look after her," Ron instructed him gruffly. Harry nodded gravely.
"Look after her," Harry said, nodding towards Hermione, "and you look after him."
The two of them nodded. "We'll see you soon. I promise," Harry swore, before taking Ginny's hand and fleeing the room. They hurriedly covered themselves with the invisibility cloak and slipped out of the common room. It was seconds before they saw the aurors, wands out. Harry backed up to the wall and covered Ginny's mouth with his hand. She had her hands placed on the walls behind him. They passed rather quickly, but Harry and Ginny remained, every breath sounding louder than the last, until the aurors had entered the common room.
With thoughts of what was going to happen to their friends and family running through their heads, Harry and Ginny crept away, towards the one-eyed witch statue that had served Harry so well over the years. They slipped inside, assuring that the coast was clear. There had been lots of times over the years that Harry had been grateful for his father's cloak and map, but this topped the lot.
When they were behind the statue, it was dark and they couldn't see one another. Harry thought it was probably for the best. He didn't know what emotions Ginny would see on his face right now. He didn't know what he'd see on hers. It was the thought of how Ginny must be feeling that prompted Harry to take Ginny's hand and squeeze it.
They walked briskly down the corridor, each holding a bag that was incredibly heavy but contained everything they thought they might need or want. It was only now, as the adrenaline was dimming, that they were noticing just how much of a burden the bags were. They were too big and bulky, and the weight of them was slowing them down.
They walked for what felt like hours, backs aching. There was no concept of time anymore, in the dark tunnel. Neither had their wands and they had no source of light. Harry knew in his head that it couldn't be hours because the trip to Hogsmeade through the tunnel was only an hour long, but it certainly felt like it. When they reached the end of the tunnel, Harry pulled a mirror out from his pocket. Even in the dark, Ginny saw the glint.
"Is this really the time for vanity, Harry?" she teased lightly but Harry could hear something in her voice, a catch of emotion.
Harry rolled his eyes. "It's a contact mirror. Sirius Black," he stated firmly into the mirror. Ginny furrowed her brows and peered into the mirror. She could only see herself and Harry, very dimly. "Sirius Black," Harry repeated.
Ginny didn't know how many times he'd repeated it, growing more and more desperate, when they finally heard "Harry?"
Ginny took a sharp intake of breath, understanding what this mirror meant. They could keep in contact with their families, easily. "Harry, what's up? Are you okay?" Sirius asked quickly. "Where are you? I can barely see you."
"It's me and Ginny. We're at the end of the One-Eyed Witch tunnel," Harry said, his voice shaking slightly. Ginny's heart beat fast.
"The end?" Sirius demanded. "The end? You mean past Hogsmeade? The very end?"
Harry nodded and then spoke his affirmation as well, realising that Sirius probably couldn't see him. "Sirius, we're in trouble, like proper trouble. The Minister was at Hogwarts with some aurors, to arrest Ginny, because of the Chamber. And then they found out Umbridge was dead and she let me go out of my detention early, but the official records have me being in there until 11:00, which is the time of her death. Dumbledore looked at me and he knew, so we distracted the aurors and ran to the common room. Ginny and I packed some things, said goodbye and ran away."
"Jesus, Harry," Sirius swore. "Right, the aurors? Do you know if they saw you getting into the tunnel?"
Harry shook his head. "No, they didn't. Who else would know about it?"
Sirius blew out a breath. "I think Snivellus might know about it. McGonagall does and Madam Pomfrey, but neither of them will tell the ministry about it and Snivellus is far enough up Dumbledore's arse that he won't. There may be some students and maybe ex-students. Some death eaters will. Pettigrew will have seen to that," Sirius spat. "Malfoy Junior might know if Lucius does. You should be okay for a while, though, kiddo."
"What do we do now? We can't go back!" Harry exclaimed.
"No, of course not. And you can't go to Hogsmeade. It'll be swarming by now. That's where they'll assume that you'll go. Now, the end of that tunnel, it's not really the end. Feel about on the wall, there's a loose brick," Sirius instructed and Harry did as he was told. Ginny felt hope rise inside her.
Harry found the loose brick after a few moments and pulled it out. By magic, the whole brick wall melted away. Ginny grinned. "Good," Sirius said. "Now, there's three paths in front of you and down each one there's more. They'll all take you to different places and they may take you days to get there. I've not been down all of them and I don't know which paths I took anyway. Choose randomly as you're going and you'll end up somewhere. When you get out, call me again and tell me where you are."
Harry nodded. "Sirius, I don't know where I'd be without you."
Sirius scoffed. "You'd have figured something out, kiddo. Anyway, you need to move. Have you got any food with you?" he asked them.
"I've got a few chocolate frogs," Harry said and looked over to Ginny. She shrugged helplessly. Sirius sighed.
"Move as quickly as you can and, when you get out, get some food. Have you got any money?"
"Only galleons."
Sirius shook his head and swore. "You'll have to steal." Harry shook his head.
"That's fine. We'll figure something out, Sirius."
"Right, good. I'm going to go and tell your parents, Ginny, and the rest of the Order what's going on, kiddos. Look after each other. I expect you'll have another call in a few minutes from Madame Weasley," Sirius said wryly. Ginny chuckled.
"Thank you, Sirius," she said and Sirius nodded.
"We'll speak soon. Love you," he said as he hung up. Harry didn't respond, Ginny noticed.
Harry and Ginny surveyed the three paths ahead. One was significantly steeper downwards than the others and one seemed especially thin. They chose the other, the one to the left. Harry took Ginny's hand and squeezed it. "Let's go," he said.
As Sirius predicted, it wasn't long until they received another call. Harry gave it to Ginny and they continued walking as she answered. "Ginny, Ginny, are you alright?" they heard Molly Weasley cry frantically.
Ginny nodded and then spoke. It was darker in this tunnel than the last. "I'm fine, Mum, just annoyed," she told her and Molly nodded.
"Oh, Ginny, Harry, you must come back. It's a big misunderstanding. They'll understand when we give them the evidence!" she pleaded.
"What evidence?" Ginny demanded.
While Ginny and her mother argued, Harry's attention was drawn to Remus, who was stood behind Molly. He was holding up a sign that read "don't listen to her" and Harry's brow furrowed.
"Professor Dumbledore, he'll get you off, just like he did last summer," she explained to her.
Remus' sign was unnecessary. Harry knew that Dumbledore wasn't enough this time. They had to find their own way out of this. And, if Harry was honest, Dumbledore hadn't done a very good job of protecting Ginny when she was being taken away by aurors.
No, they had to run. Ginny and Molly were on the call for a good twenty minutes before Ginny hung up. "We have to keep going," Harry whispered.
"I know," Ginny agreed. "She's delusional if she thinks the ministry will give us a fair trial. No, we've got to do this our own way."
XXX
For the first day, Harry and Ginny took random paths and walked uphill and downhill and through thin tunnels and through tunnels that were basically rooms. They crawled through mud and almost swam through tunnels that were waist deep in water, but they never stopped. Having no idea how far they'd walked but being completely exhausted, they decided to stop in a wide tunnel to sleep. Using their rucksacks for pillows, they lay next to each other. They covered themselves with all the clothing they had brought with them. Fortunately, each had brought a Weasley sweater, but it wasn't enough. It was difficult enough being in the dark, cold tunnel, but their trip through the water tunnel earlier meant that they were both still wet. Harry knew that they were running the risk of illness, but they had no choice. They snuggled together as closely as they could, split a chocolate frog and tried to sleep.
When they woke, they had no idea of how long they had slept. Neither felt well-rested but they knew that the faster they got out of there, the faster they could get more food.
They stood again and walked. The self-replenishing water bottle Harry had had with him for quidditch was incredibly useful and they were just hoping that the small bits of magic it used weren't being tracked. They spoke to Sirius again and Ginny spoke to her mother and Bill, but there wasn't much to share. The Ministry had issued Harry's arrest warrant and a reward had been put out for both of them. Umbridge's body was being analysed to see what had caused her death and Tonks was trying to keep her eye out in the auror office, but it was top secret.
They spoke sometimes, but mostly kept to silence. Neither wanted to talk about the thoughts going around in their heads. Harry didn't think he'd ever been so scared. Even when he'd run away before his third year, he'd not felt the fear he was feeling now. Maybe it was knowing that he'd have not only the ministry on his trail, but Voldemort too. And Ginny was in more danger because she was with him.
"Where do you think we should go, Harry, when we get out?" Ginny said quietly and Harry sighed. He had no idea. He'd been thinking whilst they'd been walking. Surely, London was too obvious. They couldn't go anywhere near Surrey or Devon, because that's what the ministry would expect. They had to go somewhere unrelated to either of them, where they'd never been before, somewhere the ministry would have no reason to look.
"I dunno, Gin. I've been trying to think and I've got no idea. We need to go somewhere big, where we'll blend in, but we can't go to London. So, any other city. We've got no passports, so we can't exactly leave the country," Harry thought out loud.
"When we get there, though, I was thinking. We could sell our galleons. They're made of gold aren't they? And the muggles, they value gold, more than us anyway. I reckon we could sell the galleons and maybe we'd have enough money to get some food then," Ginny said enthusiastically.
Harry nodded. "You're right. Good idea. We'll do that and then we'll make a plan for how to get more money."
The walking was tiring and they were both losing motivation. The thought that they might have yet another day of this endless walking was unbearable. It was just as Harry was going to suggest trying to sleep that Ginny walked straight into a wall. They were at a dead end. They would have to turn around. It had been ages since they'd last taken a tunnel. For all of that walking to have been for nothing was unfathomable.
"Harry, Harry," Ginny said excitedly. "There are holes in the wall. I think they might be steps!"
Harry couldn't believe it. Was it over? Were they finally going to be out? Harry saw Ginny move in the dark and he moved as closely behind her as he could. He didn't want her to fall. If she hurt herself, he didn't know what they would do.
The holes in the wall were unsteady and they both wobbled more than one time. It was like rock climbing, Harry considered, only without the rope or the security that if you fall, you'll live. They must have been far underground because the steps went on forever. Harry heard Ginny cry out. "What?" he shouted.
"There's a door! Harry, there's a door in the roof!" she screamed and Harry let out a whoop. He heard Ginny struggle with it and then the glorious sound of a door that clearly hadn't been opened for years flap open. The light hurt his eyes, so used to the dark now. He could see Ginny and watched her clamber out of the door. He followed her swiftly, never so happy to feel grass.
They lay next to each other on the fresh grass, staring up at the bright blue sky and laughing with joy.
"And just who might you be?"
XXX
Ginny's heart jumped. That wasn't Harry's voice. She sat up, her backpack falling to the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Harry mimic her movements. There was a man stood in front of them, bald and tall. Ginny took in their surroundings as she pulled herself off the floor. They were in a pristinely kept garden. There were rose bushes and a fountain and the house in front of them was small and quaint. Ginny swallowed noisily.
Harry finally stood up next to her. "I'm so sorry, sir. We got trapped in a tunnel and this was just where it let us out," he explained contritely.
"Yes, and look what you've done to my bleeding grass!" he said in a strong Scottish accent. They both looked at where he was pointing and saw that, when they'd opened the trapdoor, they'd ripped up a load of this man's grass. "My wife's gone inside to call the police on the pair of you, for trespassing. She went in as soon as we heard your shouting underneath our land. Who the hell do you think you are?"
Ginny thought that the man was being rather inconsiderate. They hadn't chosen to come up on his land and they had apologised.
"No, sir, please, we're really sorry," Harry was begging. The word "police" hadn't meant anything to Ginny when she'd heard it, so she'd just ignored it. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like its meaning.
There was a siren in the distance. Harry's eyes widened. "Yes, it's quite handy having the police station so close," the man said to them.
"Where are we?" Harry asked the man desperately. Ginny looked at him strangely. That didn't really matter now did it.
"Can't you see Ben Nevis over there, you stupid boy?"
Harry grabbed his backpack. "Gin, we have to run," Harry told her. Ginny picked up her backpack too and threw it across her back.
"Oh no you don't!"
The man's wife had emerged from the house and she was holding a wand. Before Harry and Ginny knew what was happening, she'd fired off two stupefys and Harry and Ginny knew no more.
XXX
To say Sirius Black had been confused when he'd picked up his contact mirror and Harry had held his fingers to his lips was to say the least. But Sirius knew his godson so he acquiesced. He kept quiet and listened. Clearly, Harry and Ginny had been caught. The only lead he had to go on was "Ben Nevis". He knew it was a mountain in Scotland. He didn't know anything else.
He had to get to them. They were in more danger than they previously had been. He shouted through the house that they'd been caught and within seconds he had three Weasleys, a Lupin and a Tonks with him.
"Ben Nevis, that's where they are. They could see Ben Nevis from where they were. The muggle police have got them," Sirius said, continuing to listen to what was going on through the contact mirror.
"Ben Nevis?" Remus queried. "They'll be in Fort William. My family went there when I was a kid. I can take us," he told them certainly. Bill and Charlie had their wands out ready and Molly looked caught between fear and misery.
Tonks shot him down. "Take me. I can get them out," she said, flashing her auror badge. "I'm your best chance."
"Tonks, you'll be fired," Bill reminded her. Tonks shook her head. "You will be. They want Harry and Ginny. If you let them go, you'll be fired. They might even send you to prison!"
"Not if you come with me and obliviate them," Tonks added. Bill looked at her contemplatively, before nodding.
Remus spoke up, "okay, I'll take Tonks and then once she knows where she's going we'll come back for Bill and Sirius. Charlie, Molly, you stay here, just in case anything happens." The two Weasleys nodded their acquiescence, Charlie a bit reluctantly. "We'll be back soon."
Remus apparated away with Tonks. Sirius, needing something to do, fiddled with the contact mirror. He'd turned it off a few minutes ago. They didn't need Harry and Ginny being caught with it. It didn't take long for Remus and Tonks to return. "We saw them being taken into the police station. The stunners must have worn off, because they were awake and fighting it," Tonks informed them.
"Right let's go," Sirius said resolutely.
XXX
Harry was scared. He wasn't going to lie. He was absolutely petrified. He and Ginny had been separated, taken into different rooms. "Okay, son, why were you in that garden?" the police officer asked him. Harry hated being called "son" by people he didn't know.
He gritted his teeth. "We got trapped in an old tunnel and that was just where it let us out," he explained for what felt like the millionth time.
"And you didn't know it was going to let you out there?" he asked him and Harry shook his head vehemently.
"No."
"Okay, well, I'm not going to charge you for an accident," the policeman sighed. "I just need some details from you and I can make this go away. Can I take your name?"
Harry froze. If he told them his name, the ministry would be able to find them. "Erm, it's Dudley. Dudley Evans," he said, trying to sound confident when he felt anything but.
"Oh is that right?" the policeman said and Harry knew he didn't believe him. "And your girlfriend? What's she called?"
Harry struggled and then blurted, "Lily, Lily Dursley."
"Well, why were you calling each other Harry and Ginny in the back of my car then, son?" the policeman asked. Harry didn't speak. "Why are you lying about who you are?"
Harry didn't know what to do. What on earth was he going to do?
"Do you want to know what I think?" the policeman asked. Harry had a feeling he didn't. The policeman took a newspaper from behind him. On the front was a picture of him from the Triwizard Tournament and a picture of Ginny from when they went to Egypt. Harry swallowed, reading the headline. The ministry had told the muggle world about he and Ginny, that they were murderers and that they'd run away. "I think you're Harry Potter and your little girlfriend's Ginny Weasley. What do you think about that, son?"
"You're wrong," Harry stated, staring at his face in the newspaper.
"Well, I'm sorry about that, but we've already called the number they gave for if anyone sees you," the policeman said and Harry's heart stopped. The ministry would arrive any second.
There was a knock on the door. Another police officer stood there, Ginny by his side. "They're here to collect them," the new police officer said. The man in front of Harry waved him off and Harry stood, shaking. This was it. They were going to prison. To Azkaban.
Ginny took Harry's hand and he could feel her shaking. They hadn't even lasted- well, they didn't really know how long it had been. This new police officer led the two of them to the foyer, where they saw the ministry worker. There was only one, which Harry found confusing.
"Come on, then," the ministry worker said. "Thanks for finding them," she said to the police officer, shaking his hand. They were led out of the police station.
"Harry!"
Harry's heart stopped when he saw Sirius. His plan had worked. He'd turned on the contact mirror when they'd been in the garden.
Sirius engulfed Harry into a hug. "Come on, kiddo. Bill and Tonks are going to obliviate the lot of them now," he explained and Harry turned to see Ginny in the arms of her brother. Remus Lupin was stood behind Sirius and Harry grinned at him.
"Sirius, they've called the ministry. We have to go," Harry said urgently, just as several cracks sounded. The ministry had arrived.
XXX
It wasn't the ministry, Ginny realised immediately, as the cracks sounded and about twenty death eaters arrived. "Go!" Bill shouted, shoving her to Harry. Harry took her hand and ran. Spells were flying all around them. They were being pursued.
"I've got my cloak," Harry panted, pulling the cloak from under his jumper. Ginny almost screamed in relief. They continued to run, taking random turns. The death eaters continued to gain on them. Ginny was hit with a cutting curse and she cried out in pain. She could feel the blood seeping out of her, but they couldn't stop.
Harry finally had his cloak to full size and threw it over them both. They disappeared from sight and slowed down, stopping running. They heard the death eaters behind them swearing. Backs against the police station, they watched the death eaters scout around the area. Thankfully, there were too many people around for homenum revelio to work. The pair of them started skirting along the side of the police station, until they reached the corner of the building. They could still hear the death eaters.
"Let's go that way," Ginny whispered, pointing down a long road that seemed to be full of shops. Harry nodded and they started walking. It wasn't easy, walking under the cloak with someone else. They moved slowly, careful not to let the cloak slip. As the adrenaline wore off, Ginny realised that they didn't have anything with them anymore. Everything they had brought with them was gone. They didn't even have the contact mirror anymore. The galleons were gone, along with their plan to sell them to get some money. They'd absolutely fucked it.
XXX