A/N: I've been very busy and writer's block-y lately, but hopefully I'll get back into the groove from here on out. I'm kind of a fan of this chappie, even though it's pretty short.
Naturally, having just been to Paris for the first time and having absolutely fallen in love with the city, I had to send the characters there. After all, the Draco and Hermione in my other in-progress are currently in NYC, so I just had to send this couple to my second favorite city :-)
Incidentally, I have never ridden the Chunnel (English Channel tunnel) train, so pardon me if the experience is totally off. I tried to do some research.
o0O0o
"So, do we have a deal?"
"Yes, I suppose we do," Draco said, "Just give me a little time. Keep acting normal, and I'll come get you when the time comes."
"Which will be…"
"Which will be when I bloody well say it is!" Draco was obviously still slightly sore over Aniela's 'test'. She glared. "Within the week, hopefully," he allowed. "I have to make sure my father can't get into my Gringotts account."
"Fair enough," was all Aniela had time to say before a jiggling of the doorknob interrupted their conversation.
"And how are you two getting along?" Mrs. de Conti asked.
"Oh, very well, mother."
o0O0o
Fortunately, neither Aniela nor Draco had to wait a full week for their escape. Barely three days later, Aniela woke up at precisely 2:47 a.m. to a tapping on the window of her bedroom at her parents' Wiltshire mansion (recently purchased as a place for them to stay when visiting from Italy, as Aniela would be expected to live in England with Draco). Draco was outside her window on his broomstick, knocking impatiently on the thick glass pane. She groggily opened the catch and stuck her head out.
"Hurry up! Grab your things and get on, you don't have time to get dressed!"
Aniela looked distastefully at the single broomstick, but threw on a cloak over her dressing gown and pocketed her already shrunken and lightened trunk. Draco tentatively held out a hand to her, which she grasped tightly as she clambered out of the window and onto the broom, clasping her hands around his trim waist from behind. He flinched slightly at the contact, before relaxing.
"Your guards saw me fly over," Draco explained once they were high in the air, "that's why we had to get out so quickly." He pulled the broom to a clean landing a few minutes later in a large, empty meadow and grabbed Aniela's wide cloak sleeve, disappearing on the spot.
Aniela stumbled slightly as they reappeared in the shadows of a deserted city alleyway. She gave Draco a disgruntled look.
"Hey, it's better than a 160 kilometer broom ride in the cold," He said.
"You could've warned me," she grumbled, transfiguring her nightclothes and cloak into a simple silk dress and wool coat to match Draco's muggle attire. "Where are we, anyway?"
"London, of course," Draco replied as they stepped out into the well-lit street. They began walking briskly down the sidewalk.
"The Ministry keeps tabs on apparition into and out of the country, so we'll have to use muggle transportation if we don't want my father to track us down. Which we don't."
"So where are we going?"
"Paris, for now. It's easy to get to from here, and I know my way around. We used to vacation there when I was a kid. We'll stay out of the wizarding community, though- my father's contacts might recognize us. Oh, by the way- from now on I'm Dan Morgan and you're Anne Morgan, nee Capelli. We're newlyweds who met when I was studying abroad in Florence. "
They managed to buy Chunnel tickets relatively easily, considering their minimal knowledge of muggle money. Draco had changed a good amount of galleons to Pounds and Euros when he stopped by Gringotts.
The early morning train was far from crowded, and Draco and Aniela had a comfortably-sized compartment to themselves. Draco, having been awake now for nearly twenty-two hours straight, settled his tall frame across four seats and drifted off. Aniela watched him, deep in thought, and did not even realize that she herself had fallen asleep until she woke with a start. It didn't take long to figure out why- Draco was making pained noises in his sleep, clearly in the thick of some terrible nightmare. He flipped over to face Aniela, in the seat across from him, and she could see his eyes moving quickly beneath fluttering eyelids and a furrowed brow. Hesitantly, she reached out to prod his shoulder. He jerked away from her finger, but did not wake. She finally took hold of his bicep and shook him slightly. He started, eyes jerking open, and sat up so quickly that the back of his head made harsh contact with the windowpane behind him. He winced and brought his hand to his head, turning away from his traveling companion.
"Sorry," he said awkwardly, still not looking at her. How strange it was to be woken from his nightmares by their very subject. Although he supposed he always was- he himself was the subject that truly frightened him.
They were nearing the end of their two and a half hour journey, and for the next ten minutes, neither said a word.
o0O0o
Please review and give me feedback! I'm talking to you, lurkers ;-)