- CHAPTER THREE -

A Well-Planned Adventure

The snide comments, insults, and outright bullying only got worse the following day.

Saturday started out as usual, with Harry and Hermione sitting by themselves at the end of the Gryffindor table for breakfast. But when the post owls descended into the Great Hall to deliver the day's mail, Hermione immediately felt that something was off.

Students were shooting looks at Harry and her, there was a lot of derisive laughter, and several students shouted comments across the hall. She couldn't make out all that was said, but none of it sounded particularly flattering.

"...had to take the spotlight, Potter?"

"He's such a braggart!"

"...arrogant Potter! Always knew..."

"...can't help yourself, can you?"

It wasn't difficult to see that the Daily Prophet was the reason for the commotion, with the way students congregated around those few who had received a copy of the newspaper.

Hermione looked down the Gryffindor table and observed Neville, who had also got the paper, as he read it with a frown on his face. When he flipped past the first page, Hermione saw a huge picture of Harry plastered over half of the front page.

She rose from the bench and stomped the few yards towards her classmate.

"Let me see this," she growled and snatched the newspaper out of the surprised boy's hands.

Hermione's eyes narrowed with anger when she saw the headline.

HARRY POTTER: HIS LIFE, HIS WORDS
By Rita Skeeter

She returned to her seat and slammed the newspaper onto the table, allowing for Harry to read it, too.

"I knew it," he groaned as soon as he saw the front page. "I knew she would just make everything up. Now, everyone... They'll all think I..."

"Just- just ignore them, Harry. It doesn't matter," Hermione said with a sigh, though it sounded rather dispirited even to her. She knew very well how much Harry hated any kind of attention and how much this would embarrass him.

Apprehensive of what she would find, Hermione began to read the article in full. Her indignation only increased with every sentence she read. The article went on and on with supposed quotes from Harry, but she knew immediately that Harry would never have said any of the things that were attributed to him. All in all, the text somehow portrayed him both as a broody kid who still mourned the death of his parents and as a reckless glory-hound who broke rules just to get some more fame to his name.

The most irksome lie, however, was spared for the end of the article. Hermione almost choked when she reached the second-to-last paragraph of the text.

Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of the company of one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born girl who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school.

She observed how Harry's eyes also widened when he read about their supposed relationship.

"But- but we're not together!" he exclaimed, his cheeks blushing crimson.

She was slightly hurt by his tone, but Hermione knew he didn't mean it the way it sounded. He was simply feeling embarrassed and probably dreaded the students' reaction to the article.

"And it wouldn't be anyone's business if we were," she said with a level voice, pretending not to notice the quizzical glance he shot at her. "This is all rubbish, anyway. How anyone can take this rag seriously is beyond me."

With that, she crumpled the Prophet together and forcefully chucked it on the floor next to her. Only a moment later, it occurred to her that the newspaper had been Neville's, but she couldn't bring herself to care about her act of some minor property damage. That paper shouldn't be read by anyone, anyway.

"I think I'm done with my breakfast," she said to Harry. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, I think I lost my appetite," he replied with a scowl. "Let's get out of here."

They both rose from the table and quickly left the Great Hall, turning towards the stairs to return to Gryffindor Tower.

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this," Harry said miserably as they walked along.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Hermione replied consolingly. "Don't blame yourself for other people's actions!"

"If I had just declined talking to Skeeter-"

"How would that have stopped her from making things up about you?" Hermione asked with exasperation. "She would still have written her usual tripe."

"I suppose," Harry conceded. "I expected the Prophet to write something like this about me, but I didn't think they'd drag you into this, too."

"Don't worry about it," Hermione replied. "Besides... To be honest, Skeeter actually didn't write anything negative about me. Quite the opposite, actually. She only wrote that I'm among the top of the class, which is true, that I'm pretty, which isn't true but still flattering-"

Harry made some indistinctive noise at that, but Hermione just went on. "-and that we're together, which isn't true but also isn't- it's not exactly insulting to me, as far as made-up stories go... She only made you look bad."

"Well... I- I guess..." Harry replied with a frown, giving her another strange look. She wondered if she could dare to hope that even a frustratingly oblivious boy like him had got a hint as broad as this.

"But people will still give you a hard time because of this," Harry continued.

Hermione shrugged in response. "By now, I think we've weathered worse."

"Well, that's true," Harry agreed, his mood perking up slightly.

He gave her a small smile. "I suppose we'll manage a few more days here..."

Hermione halted at hearing that. "A few more days?" she repeated, beaming at him. "So, you're sure? You agree that we should leave?"

"Yes," Harry affirmed with a nod. "I... I trust you on your conclusion that I probably don't have to compete in the tournament. And leaving... It's something I never thought about before. I didn't want to return to the Muggle world. But..."

He shrugged and smiled at her. "I suppose it'd be nice to leave all this drama here behind. Like with the Prophet this morning. It... it just seems to get worse every day. And then there's the danger, too, I suppose. So, to leave but to keep most of what's best about the magical world... that sounds pretty good to me..."

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione said softly and gave him a brief but heartfelt hug. Being his oblivious self, he probably had no idea just how romantic his statement had been, but that didn't stop her heart from fluttering a bit.

"I'm glad you agree that we should get away from here," she continued a moment later. "But that means we have a lot to prepare. There is much we have to find out!"

"To the library, then?" Harry asked with a grin.

"Yes," she replied. "Let's just fetch our book bags first."

After the brief detour to Gryffindor Tower, Hermione and Harry quickly made their way to the library. They found themselves a desk in a secluded corner away from prying eyes, where they could safely begin to plan their escape.

"Now, what do we need to research?" Harry asked once they had sat down next to each other at the small desk.

"Several things," Hermione replied. "We need to learn more about the magical communities in Europe and how to make contact with them if we need to. And we need to learn how we can avoid being detected. If we trigger the Trace every time we do magic, we wouldn't last long on the run. So, we need to find out how the Trace works and if it works outside of Britain, too. And we need to find out how we can stay hidden."

"All right..." he said, nodding slowly. "Maybe I could read up on the magical communities and leave the research on the more complicated stuff on magic to you? I don't think I- I mean, it's just... You're better with magical theory, and you know about Arithmancy and Runes, so..."

"No, that's fine," she replied quickly, "It's a good plan. You look up how to get into other magical quarters like Diagon Alley, and I'll look up the Trace and if it's the same everywhere in Europe... Great! Let's get going!"

They both got up and scoured the shelves of the library for the necessary books. Soon, their small desk was covered with books on travelling, European wizarding culture, and magical tracking.

Thankfully, no people bothered them in their quiet corner of the library as they spent the entire morning with their research. Of the handful of students walking by, none gave the pair more than a passing glance. Hermione was grateful for it. Otherwise, one of the passers-by might have wondered why she and Harry were preparing for the tournament by reading titles such as Magical Detection: A Comprehensive History, Travelling Guide for the Adventurous Wizard, or The Strange Habits and Customs of our European Cousins.

As she read the books, Hermione soon realised that there was not much information on the Trace available, and the little information there was seemed to be rather contradictory. It didn't matter, however, as she discovered that the Trace would only work in Britain. Most other countries had fewer restrictions on underage magic.

So, Harry and she only had to leave the country, and they wouldn't have to worry about the Trace any longer. But they might still be tracked by other magical means.

Deep in thought, she nibbled her bottom lip, trying to think of ways to ensure that they would stay hidden. There might exist some charm to block all kinds of tracking attempts, but would she be able to find it and then learn it in time?

Hermione was brought out of her musings when she suddenly noticed from the corner of her eye that Harry had stopped reading the book in front of him and was looking straight at her. His eyes were transfixed on her face. Her lips, to be exact.

What was that all about? Hermione halted her nibbling on her bottom lip as she focused on Harry, trying to figure him out.

He didn't notice her peering at him. Instead, his gaze slowly, almost imperceptibly, left her lips and began to travel downward.

Was he... was Harry checking her out?

Hermione halted her breath as Harry's eyes moved down her neck and for a long moment rested on her chest area. She was just beginning to debate with herself whether she should maybe adjust her posture a bit when he snapped his head back towards his book, his cheeks taking on a slightly pink tinge.

Hermione also averted her eyes and looked back onto the open book in front of her, though she couldn't stop herself from smiling impishly. She wasn't offended by Harry checking her out, quite to the contrary. She felt rather gleeful about it. As far as she was aware, this was the first time Harry had ever looked at her in a way that suggested that he knew she was a girl.

Getting him to think about her in a different light had been her goal with her comments on relationships in the morning. And apparently, it was working. She hadn't expected him to catch on that quickly, if she was honest about it.

This in itself didn't mean much, of course. Him checking her out didn't mean that he would ever be interested in her romantically. But it was an encouraging first sign. At least, he was apparently starting to figure out that she was indeed female.

She knew that there were far prettier girls in the school; her hair was a mess, and her teeth- well, her teeth were fixed now, weren't they? She was also not too unhappy with her figure since she started developing. She would never have the measures of someone like Lavender, but-

Hermione gave off a huff of annoyance and shook her head angrily. She really needed to get a hold of herself. Harry's life was at risk here! She couldn't waste time acting like a love-struck silly girl when she needed to focus on the task at hand.

As she had finished reading the books and Harry was apparently done, too, it was time to share their results.

"Harry?" she asked the boy, who was still staring intently at the book before him.

"Huh? Uhh... What?" he replied in a loud voice as he looked up at her.

"Are you done with the research?"

"Oh, yes, sure, I'm done," he said quickly and handed her the list he had been writing.

Hermione skimmed over it briefly, noting that there were far more magical communities in Europe than she had expected. There were five magical quarters in France alone, the most probable first stop for their escape. All in all, Harry had listed almost fifty magical quarters, each with a description on how to enter them.

"Well done, Harry!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. "That will help us a lot!"

"I suppose. But it might be best if we try to avoid any magical communities," Harry pointed out. "The news would probably get to Dumbledore soon if we're spotted somewhere."

"Right," Hermione agreed. "We'd have to disguise ourselves, of course, but at least we know now how to get in touch with the other magicals in those countries. Or if we need some supplies, we know where to go..."

"Right. So what about you?" Harry asked. "Have you found out anything useful?"

"Well, there isn't much on the Trace, and what little there is, is pretty confusing," Hermione began. "It looks as if they don't want us to know how it works."

"That's probably true..." Harry muttered.

"Now, we might be able to avoid the Trace by stealing a wand from an adult or an of-age student, but I'm not sure. We might also not be detected if we only do magic in proximity to magical areas like Diagon Alley..."

"But... that wouldn't be very practical," Harry said with a frown. "And finding a wand that works well for us would be difficult, too."

"Yes," Hermione agreed. "But it doesn't matter, anyway. Because if we leave the country, we won't be tracked. The Ministry can't track us abroad. And most countries in Europe don't track underage magic..."

"They don't?" Harry wondered.

"No. In France, Spain, and Italy, underage magic isn't restricted in the way it is in Britain. They allow kids to practise small spells on their own. The only thing they track are high-level spells in proximity to Muggle settlements. It's meant to protect Muggles against magical attacks."

"That's neat..." Harry commented. "That makes a lot of sense, actually."

"Yes," Hermione agreed. "And the German Magical Confederation tracks all magic everywhere, and you need a permit every time you want to cast spells outside your home or designated wizarding areas."

"Huh," Harry responded with a chuckle. "That's maybe a bit much?"

"Maybe," Hermione replied with a shrug. "But I get where they're coming from. It's really the only way to reliably keep the Statute of Secrecy and protect Muggles from wizards. And they have to protect their Muggle population both from Pureblood Supremacists and the remaining Magical Supremacists who supported Grindelwald."

"Oh, I see," Harry said, nodding slowly.

"The Low Countries and the Scandinavian Ministries have a mix of the French and German approaches," Hermione went on to summarise. "They only track magic close to Muggle settlements, but all kinds of magic are prohibited there... And nothing at all is tracked in Russia, I think. I didn't find anything on the rest of Europe."

"That's all right," Harry said. "So, what do you think? Should we go to France first?"

"Yes," Hermione agreed. "France is a good first stop. And then we can travel the Continent..."

She paused as she observed Harry, who nodded along, a bright smile on his lips. She could see that the idea appealed to him greatly, which came as no surprise to her. He had never been able to travel like her, so of course he would feel excited about the prospect now. And the kind of freedom that would come with it would also be completely new to him. For that matter, it would be new and exciting for her, too.

She grinned back at Harry and went on. "Yes, we can start in France, and then we can just go wherever we want. We should probably move every few days to make it more difficult to track us..."

"Right," Harry agreed.

"And..." Hermione hesitated, becoming more serious again. "While we're speaking of tracking... We have to make sure that no one can find us with magical means like a Point-me Spell, or an owl with tracking charms."

"Or house-elves!" Harry added. "If Dobby could find me two years ago, the house-elves at Hogwarts could probably find us, too."

"Yes, right..." Hermione muttered, frowning slightly. "We need a spell to protect us. Some kind of anti-tracking charm against magical detection, owls, house-elves, Dumbledore's Phoenix, and so on. That's probably difficult... I'll look into the advanced charms and runes textbooks, and hopefully I'll find something... But if I don't... I don't know what we could do..."

Harry nodded thoughtfully, but only a moment later, he broke into a huge grin. "We should ask Sirius! He'd need those charms to stay hidden!"

"Huh," Hermione laughed out. "Of course! That's a great idea!"

"Though..." she remarked after a pause. "How would we get in touch with him?"

"Oh, right," Harry said, "I forgot to tell you. I got an owl from him last evening. We'll talk next weekend. He told me to be in the common room at one in the morning the night from Saturday to Sunday."

"Ah, good," Hermione replied. "We'll ask him then."

"Should we..." Harry began hesitantly. "Should we tell Sirius what we're about to do when we speak with him? Maybe... I don't know... Maybe we could try to join up with him?"

"I... I don't know," she replied slowly. "We don't know where he is, and getting to him might be dangerous..."

"Well, maybe. But shouldn't we at least ask him?" Harry protested.

Hermione frowned. She understood Harry's eagerness, but she felt much more wary of involving Harry's godfather. Would it really be wise to tell Sirius of their plan to run away? If they told him of their suspicions regarding Dumbledore, would he keep a level head and not do anything rash? And would he believe them in the first place? She wasn't sure.

Remembering another tidbit of information, Hermione arrived at a conclusion, but it wasn't one that Harry would like.

"Well..." she began carefully, bracing herself. "Another thing is whether we can trust Sirius with our plans..."

"What?" Harry exclaimed, giving her a hurt look. "Why wouldn't we be able to trust him?"

Hermione sighed. "You wrote to him that your scar hurt this summer, right?"

"Yeah?" he answered with a frown. "So what?"

"And what was his reply?"

"I told you before," Harry replied defensively. "He told me to talk to Dumbledore."

"Right..." Hermione said slowly. "To Dumbledore... Sirius didn't tell you to go to Saint Mungo's, the magical hospital. Or to talk to a healer, or to Madam Pomfrey. But to Dumbledore. Honestly, what business is it of the Headmaster that your scar hurts? What qualification does he have to examine a curse scar? He has masteries in Transfiguration and Alchemy. He's not a healer. So, why does Sirius tell you to talk to Dumbledore?"

"I... I don't know," Harry said sullenly.

"And I don't know, either. I'm sorry, Harry," she said sympathetically. "But clearly, Sirius has a very high opinion of the Headmaster and thinks you should listen to him on matters that don't concern him and that are outside his area of expertise, despite how bad his track record at looking out for your welfare actually is."

"So, Sirius isn't trustworthy either?" Harry asked dejectedly.

"I don't know that he isn't. But as long as we don't know for certain that he is, I think we shouldn't talk to him about our plans," she said, giving the boy a heartfelt, apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Harry. I'm sure that Sirius cares about you. It- it's just..."

"It's just that he might trust Dumbledore too much," he grumbled. "Yes, I get it. You're probably right."

"I'm sorry," she said again, reaching for his hand and giving him a slight squeeze. And she truly was sorry. Maybe her paranoia was getting the better of her right now, but in her mind, they really couldn't be too careful with whom to trust. Best not to trust anyone for now. They couldn't afford to make a mistake.

Harry sighed. "It's all right. I get it. If he thinks he needs to protect us and tells Dumbledore..."

"Exactly. We can't risk it," Hermione said. "That doesn't mean he doesn't care about you. But we don't know where he would stand when we're up against the Headmaster..."

Harry nodded resignedly. "Fine. We'll just ask him for the charms he uses to stay hidden, then... We'll need an excuse for why we're asking that, though."

"Good point," Hermione agreed. "We'll think of something before next weekend."

Harry nodded, and there was a small pause between them.

"What else is there to plan?" Harry then asked after a while.

"Well, next, I think we need to think a bit on what supplies we need and what we have to buy before we escape," Hermione replied.

"I mentioned before that it might be a good idea to buy a magical tent," she continued, hesitating slightly. "And... well, the thing is... I don't have many Galleons, and I don't expect my parents to give me any money, so we'd have to rely on your gold for all of this. Do you think you have enough money in your vault to buy a magical tent and to last us for three years while travelling? I promise I'll pay you back for my living expenses!"

"What? No!" Harry protested. "You- you don't have to pay me anything back. You're sacrificing so much by coming with me – I still don't quite get why you would do this for me – so I'll be glad to pay for it all. I don't know how much a wizarding tent costs, but I have loads of Galleons in my vault, it should be enough."

"Loads?" Hermione repeated. "Have you- haven't you ever counted it?"

"Uhm, no," Harry admitted, a bit embarrassed. "But I'm pretty sure that it should be enough for what we want to do."

"Honestly, Harry, why would you never count your money or ask for an account statement at Gringotts?" she asked with some exasperation. "How are you supposed to do any financial planning if you don't know how much money you have?"

"Well, how am I supposed to know these things?" Harry grumbled. "No one ever bothered to tell me..."

Hermione opened her mouth for a retort, but she halted when she realised that Harry was right and that she was being unfair. How would he know these things? Harry's relatives had probably never given him even a single penny to his name, let alone taught him how to properly handle finances.

She launched herself at him and hugged him tightly. "Oh, Harry, I'm sorry! I keep forgetting... and that's not okay either! I... You should've learnt these things while growing up, but of course you didn't... not when you grew up with these- these horrid people... I'm sorry for berating you..."

Harry sighed. "I... It's all right, Hermione. I still should've figured out it'd be smart to ask for these things..."

Hermione shook her head slightly and continued to hold him. "Don't worry about it. I'm sorry..."

As Harry awkwardly closed his arms around her and hugged her back, she also realised something else. Evidently, Harry had never been shown any love or affection while growing up with his relatives. He probably wouldn't know how to express his feelings. He wouldn't have a clue about what to do even if he did start to fancy her.

If she wanted anything to happen between them, it would be up to her to take the initiative. But that would have to wait. There were much more important matters that required her attention at the moment.

Hermione exhaled deeply and let go of Harry, trying to gather her thoughts.

"So..." she spoke up again after a long pause. "Are you sure you have enough gold to buy a wizard tent? I'd expect it to cost several thousand Galleons. That's a lot of money. But don't worry, if that's too much, we could-"

"It's fine," Harry interrupted her. "Several thousand Galleons should work with what I have at Gringotts..."

"Oh..." Hermione muttered, a bit surprised by his confidence. "All right. Fine. Good. Then that's one less problem we have to worry about. Perfect. Now, there's much more we have to prepare, of course. As I said, I think we should list all the supplies we need to bring along. We could start with the books and everything else we need for our education. I think that's what we should do now. Could you maybe take a look at-"

"Let's maybe have lunch first?" Harry interrupted her, chuckling slightly. "Please?"

"Right. Sorry," Hermione replied with a bemused shake of her head. Of course she had lost track of time while researching in the library. Just like she always did. "Let's tidy up and go, then."

#

When they entered the Great Hall, Hermione noted that if anything, the animosity of the student body towards Harry and her had only got worse since breakfast. Ignoring the many hostile glares that greeted them, Harry and Hermione sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table, and they continued trying to pay no mind to the many snide comments and insults hurled at them while they were eating in the Great Hall.

Harry wore a permanent scowl on his face during the meal, but Hermione thought that he was remaining remarkably calm, all things considered. She, too, found it rather easy to ignore the abusive comments. Knowing that they would soon leave all this madness behind them really helped her to keep her composure, and she suspected that it was the same for Harry.

A small part of her still wanted to stomp towards the head table and scream at the faculty, at Dumbledore, for their negligence and their stupidity, for allowing all this bullying to continue unchallenged, but she knew that it wouldn't do any good and would only draw the Headmaster's attention towards Harry and her.

She knew that they needed to keep a low profile for their last week at Hogwarts while they prepared for their escape. Starting fights with the staff was the last thing they should do right now, no matter how satisfying it might feel.

As such, the best they could do for the rest of the day was to keep their heads down, ignore the spectacle around them and avoid the rest of the students as much as possible.

It was what they did for the following week, too. Hermione and Harry kept to themselves as much as possible and spent their entire free time in their secluded corner in the library, where they were left in peace.

When they weren't in lessons or at meals, they continued to gather information on the magical communities both in Europe and further abroad. They would probably just stay on the Continent, but it was always best to be prepared.

They also made a detailed list of all the supplies they had to get before they left. Most items on that list were things they would need to continue their education, like textbooks and potion supplies. Even more important, however, were enchanted bags to store their belongings, and the wizarding tent for them to live in.

But Hermione felt confident that she and Harry would be able to get everything they needed. She had seen the store in Diagon Alley that sold wizarding tents before, and she knew it would be possible to buy a tent that was equipped with almost everything one needed to live in it. That greatly reduced the number of things they'd have to buy separately. And any non-magical items they might need could easily be acquired on their travels.

All in all, their plan became more and more concrete over the following days. Spending that much time on research was taxing, especially for Harry, but Hermione was confident that their effort would be worth it.

They were also falling behind with their schoolwork, but she knew it wouldn't matter in a week. Harry had been quite surprised when she had agreed to his suggestion to ignore all homework assignments that were due only after their planned departure date. The time they ordinarily spent on writing essays they now dedicated to their preparations.

During lessons, they only put up a token effort, the bare minimum to not draw any undue attention to themselves. If any of the staff noticed her and Harry's drop in performance, Hermione hoped the teachers would blame it on preparations for the tournament.

By Friday, Hermione felt that they had everything planned out as well as it could be. That evening, they sat huddled in a quiet corner of the Gryffindor common room, talking quietly among themselves to not be overheard.

"All right, is the list complete now?" Harry asked with a small smile.

"Yes, I'm done with it," she confirmed. Just that evening, she had added the last potions and potion ingredients that they might need.

"Anything new that we need to get in Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Harry asked.

"We should try to get some potion supplies in Hogsmeade, yes," Hermione replied. "Apart from that, it's still the books, mostly. And the bags, so we can travel lightly without big trunks on your broom. I think a handbag for me and a backpack for you, both with Undetectable Expansion Charms, would work best. When we have that, we have to buy all the textbooks for the subjects up to seventh year, so we can continue our studies independently. That's all, I think. Those are the most important things, apart from the tent."

"And we'll get that Tuesday morning in Diagon Alley," Harry added.

"Right," Hermione said and began to reiterate their plan one more time. "Late in the evening on Monday, we'll leave here, disguise ourselves, floo from the Three Broomsticks to the Leaky Cauldron and get a room there for the night. Then, we'll go to Gringotts as soon as they open in the morning, exchange some Galleons into Pounds, or maybe French Francs, and buy a magical tent in Diagon Alley."

Harry nodded along. "And then," he continued, "we'll fly with the Firebolt over the Channel, and we'll be in France before lunch."

"And once we're in France, we'll stay below the radar and never go near any magical areas without a good disguise. We'll live in the tent, and we'll travel all over Europe and just go wherever we want to go," Hermione finished.

"Great," Harry said with a grin. "So, Hogsmeade tomorrow. And then, three more days."

"Yes, three more days..." Hermione repeated, returning the smile.

Harry nodded, his eyes shining with anticipation. "I can't wait."

"Neither can I," she replied brightly.

And it was true. She really couldn't wait to get away. There would be no more drama and rumour mongering, no more danger and assassination attempts, and no more interfering adults whatsoever. Only the two of them, learning magic at their own pace, travelling around Europe and exploring foreign magical communities, and hopefully growing much, much closer to each other in the process. It would be brilliant. She just knew it.