AN: Filler chapter? Maybe. Sorry for not posting any new chapters on Happenstance or on this one. School is kind of fun but I have seven classes and I need to focus since it's the year I graduate in. I'm going to start on the next chapter of Happenstance tomorrow, Thursday, so it looks like I'm going to be posting one new chapter a week, this week is Contrails.

Disclaimer: Still don't own Harry Potter

XxX

The sun shining threw the broken window woke Hermione up before the cat did. Opening her eyes, she was surprised to find that she was the first up. Usually it's was one of the boys that did so. Untangling herself from her nest of blankets, she went over to tend the fire. All that was left really were a few dimly lit coals, gently blowing and adding a few small twigs allowed the flames to erupt into a small fire. It rose no more than a few inches into the air, but it was enough to warm the small area just a little.

Crooks pawed his way over to her, purring and brushing up against her leg. He wasn't big; she had thought that he was the runt of his litter. Ron had given him to her on her birthday last year, and he had never grown any bigger. They named him because of the broken crook in his tail; they also only kept him because he kept the rats away in the house.

Batting away at his attempts on attention, she stood to wake the boys up. The shop owners would soon be opening their stalls for the day. Harry was buried deep into his blankets; it usually got really cold during the night, so he actually had a good plan. Peeling back the covers and shaking him awake, she moved on to Ron.

Ron, no matter how cold it got, always through off his blankets during the night. As usual, he only had one leg covered, and was snoring loudly. After spending many years together, it no longer bothered her. Shaking him away also, she went to get ready for the day.

Sometime later, they were eating the little remands from the night before. Nothing went to waist, even the now empty milk bottles would be cleaned out and re filled with water. Each having decided on the plan for the day, headed out into the city to bring home the days dinner, whatever could be found or stolen was going to be divided up evenly upon their return.

Heading in a different direction then yesterday, Hermione made her way to the east side of town. The baker would recognize her immediately, so it was always best to leave that area alone for a while before going back. If she didn't, then she would be caught and sent to jail.

Making her way around the shops, she easily blended in with the other people that were heading to work or were there to buy their food for the day. Her stomach growled when she eyed an apple stand. Glancing around, she made her way around again, this time closer to where the stand was, and when the seller was talking to someone else, quickly snatched an apple from the pile and quickly stuffed it into her pocket. Walking away like she hadn't done anything, when she was well out of sight of the seller was when she took it out and bit into its soft flesh.

Her stomach appeased for now, she walked around some more before she had found a discarded newspaper from that day. Her parents had taught her how to read before they died, so she had no trouble with scanning the pages looking for the want adds. When they had been younger, she had taught Harry and Ron to read as well so that they could do the same thing that she was. Stealing could only get you so far, after all.

Seeing a few note worthy jobs, she folded the paper and stuffed it into her pants pocket before heading to the job site. It wasn't something great or grand, the person in the add only wanted someone to come and help them move stuff from one house into another. The pay was low, but then again, the pay was low on every job no matter what it was.

The person had turned out to be a woman. She was elderly, so the help wanted add seemed for real. Usually it was just richer people who didn't want to do anything that posted them up.

"Are you the lady that posted the work add?" She asked, deepening her voice to sound more like a male.

"Yes, I had wanted to move these boxes into a house a few blocks from here." The lady said while gesturing to a pile of boxes behind her.

"No problem, just tell me where you want them." Hermione said as she lifted one of the heavy boxes onto her shoulder.

The woman smiled softly and led the way. After a few hours of moving boxes as well as unpacking, Hermione was ready to head back home. The old woman had been kind enough to supply her with a free lunch, but she had slipped all the untouched food into her over coat pockets. As she was about to head out, the woman stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I don't have much in money, but you have been such a help to me that I want to give you something." The woman said, steeping back into the house to retrieve something.

Hermione looked puzzled, but stayed rooted to the spot. She had thought that the food had been her payment. After a few seconds, the old woman came back to the door.

"Here, my grandson gave these to me, but I'm afraid I'm much too old to be using them." She said softly while handing Hermione three peaces of paper.

Hermione looked down at the papers and gasped.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry but-" She couldn't finish her sentence as the door closed in her face.

Dazed, she sat down on the few stone steps leading up to the house and looked at the paper again in the dim light.

They were three tickets for a boat that would be leaving to France in a few days. Suddenly, the voice she had been hearing in her dreams replayed itself as she sprinted back to her friends.

Attends un peu, nous serons ensemble bientôt.

Wait a minute;we'll be togethersoon…