Harry with blonde hair looked so odd to her, that she couldn't help but do double-takes every time she turned to look at him. Their train ride had passed by with nothing of importance happening, and it was already morning when they arrived in Edinburgh. Hermione proceeded to hail them a cab, and they were now on their way to the small town of West Linton, a short distance Southwest of Edinburgh.
The cab driver remained blissfully quiet for the entirety of their ride, and it wasn't long before they arrived at their destination. Hermione had picked West Linton out on the map due to the town's relative distance from any larger cities, as well as due to the fact that it had a small population, none of whom were supposed to be wizards.
The hotel they were to be staying in, 'The Gordon Arms', stood before them, its appearance that of a traditional house one might find in this area, the building built entirely from stone. There were a few cars parked in the car park, but it didn't seem too crowded. It honestly looked like a perfect place for them to lie low for a bit.
"Right, we'll be staying here for a bit, at least until everything dies down a bit." She told Harry, who didn't look as sure as she was.
"This looks like a rather fancy hotel, do you have enough money to pay for a long stay here?" That was a very fair point, one that she had debated on while they drove here, but had in the end decided their safety was of paramount importance.
"No, I have enough for maybe 2 weeks, considering we need a part of that money to buy some other things too. When I run out, I'll simply conjure up some more." She said self-consciously, her feelings of shame deepening as she spotted Harry's scandalized look.
"But that money will eventually disappear."
"I know it will, but what other option do we have? I'll make sure to pay them back after this thing is all over." She crossed her arms across her chest, her shame reduced by the smoothening of Harry's expression.
"You're right, sorry. And I'll be the one paying them back, they're saving my life after all." She just nodded at that, feeling glad he didn't escalate on the issue.
"One last thing before we go in." She said grabbing his wrist and making him look at her.
"We need fake names." He quirked an eyebrow at that, before nodding as he seemingly deemed her idea as good.
"I'll be Jack Smith." Harry said confidently, and it was now time for Hermione to lift an enquiring eyebrow his way.
"Dunno, just seems like an incredibly generic name. There were like 3 of them in Little Whinging." He shrugged, causing her to slap his shoulder before bursting into a fit of giggles.
"Fine. And I'll be Emily Smith." She said unthinkingly, only realizing she'd used the same surname as Harry's eyes widened.
"Are we supposed to be siblings?" He asked, giving her a way out of her unintentional blunder. But Hermione felt like a pair of siblings renting a room for a few weeks wasn't a very good cover story, so she took a deep breath and replied with her own idea.
"No, that isn't a believable cover story. We're recently married, and are staying here until our new house gets built." She could see he was a bit thrown by this, but he was also a lot smarter than he gave himself credit for, and she could see his brain soon come to the same conclusion hers already had.
"That does seem logical. I suppose we're lying about our ages too?"
"Mhm, we're both 19. Come on, Mr Smith." She told him smilingly, linking their elbows together and making their way to the hotel's lobby. A young, disinterested woman sat behind the register, looking up at them as they entered, a large smile immediately plastered onto her face.
"Hello, how can I help you?"
"We'd like to take a room, please." Hermione responded pleasantly, and the woman behind the counter smiled pleasantly in return.
"How long do you intend to stay?"
"A few weeks, probably."
"A few weeks? That is a long time." The woman questioned, looking at her with a weird look. Hermione proceeded to give her their cover story, making sure to burrow a bit deeper into Harry's side. Maybe it was her slightly shaky voice, or Harry standing still as a statue next to his supposed wife, but Hermione could see the receptionist wasn't convinced. And then her eyes flickered towards their hands, and Hermione realized her blunder. She forgot their wedding rings.
Swearing under her breath, she extracted her wand from under her jacket, casting a quick nonverbal confundus just as the receptionist was beginning to open her mouth. Her suspicion immediately subsided, the earlier smile returning to her face.
"You can stay however long you want. Will room 4 be to your liking?" The receptionist asked, giving them a short rundown of what the room had. Hermione nodded along without listening, feeling beyond guilty at using her magic to get what she wanted, but this really was their best option.
They were soon given the key, Hermione paid for the first week of their stay, and then the receptionist led them to their room. She wished them a nice stay, before leaving. Finally, they were alone, in a place as safe as it got. Hermione felt her entire body relax, her shoulders dropping for the first time in what felt like forever.
It didn't hurt that the room they were given was also very nice, a single king-sized bed dominating the space, next to which was a window with a spectacular view towards the Scottish forest. Next to the bedroom was a small living room, a small TV facing a moderately sized sofa, a rectangular table in between them. A small kitchen and bathroom completed the list of rooms.
"Um, Hermione…" She heard Harry say from the direction of the bedroom, and she returned to where he was standing.
"Hm?"
"There's only one bed." She couldn't help but laugh at the horrified look on his face, deciding to tease him a bit.
"You look like sleeping next to me would be the worst thing ever." She said with a mock pout, enjoying the way his entire face turned crimson, his mouth opening and closing uselessly.
"Wh- no, that isn't what… I wouldn't mind sleeping… but…" She decided to take pity on the poor wizard, pressing a finger against his lips and shutting him up.
"Harry, we can use magic. I'll just conjure a second bed."
"Right. Of course. Stupid me." His cheeks turned even redder if possible, and she couldn't help but laugh at his flustered state. How could he on the one hand be willing to walk to his death not 8 hours ago, yet on the other still be such an awkward and unsure boy. The reminder of just how close to losing him she got immediately chased the moment of levity away.
"I don't know about you, but I'm still dead tired. I'll need to get some sleep, and then we can go to the shop in the afternoon." She told him with a yawn, feeling the exhaustion starting to catch up on her. She did manage to catch a few minutes of sleep on the train, but that barely lasted to get her here.
"Yeah, I second that idea. I'm knackered." Hermione nodded at that, before using her magic to levitate the large bed to one side of the room, before conjuring up a much smaller bed next to it. Harry, the gentleman he was, immediately took the smaller one for himself, making her roll her eyes in fond exasperation. Almost as soon as she lay down, she was fast asleep.
She awoke an indeterminable time later, groggily blinking her eyes open. Only to hear pained pleas coming from the bed next to hers, her eyes widening and sleep leaving her in a rush. Harry still lay on his side, but the lines on his face were tense, and he was muttering what appeared to be senseless words.
"Headmaster… Don't want to die." She gasped as she put the two and two together, scrambling from her bed and crossing the distance. She sat down on the side of his bed, taking hold of his extended arm with her left, and starting to rub his back with the other.
"Shh, Harry, you're safe. I won't let anything happen to you." She told him in a near whisper, her words working almost as effectively as a dreamless sleep potion. The tense lines on his face relaxed, and his breathing evened out. His hand had grasped her own in a tight grip, making her rather stuck in her current position. Unwilling to wake him up, she simply sat on the side of the bed, leaning against the headboard with his hand still held tightly in her own.
Taking a look through the window, she estimated the time to be around noon, meaning they were in no rush. Ah well, getting some more sleep couldn't hurt.
As Harry woke up, there was a few seconds of complete peace about him. He felt well-rested, he was laying in a comfy bed, and birds were singing somewhere outside. That all lasted for only a moment or two, as his memories of the past 12 or so hours flashed through his mind. His talk with the headmaster, the fear he felt about dying, the desperation as he realized there was nothing that he could do…
And then Hermione, storming into his room after knocking out two Aurors. Hermione, saving him from death, despite having nothing on the line herself. He had always followed what the headmaster had told him, but this… He didn't want to die. He didn't care if he was selfish, but he was immeasurably thankful for what Hermione had done. She had saved him, plain and simple, paying a terrible cost in regard to her own dreams and future, he knew, and he would be forever indebted to her.
He looked around at that, feeling a hint of panic as the person in question was nowhere to be seen. But he calmed himself, there was no reason for her to leave him now, after everything she'd done to get them here. His fears somewhat allayed, he stood up, smoothening his crumpled hoodie, before walking towards where the living room was.
Hermione was sprawled out on the sofa, her socked feet resting on the table as her eyes flew across a thick book, looking completely engrossed in what she was reading. He merely stood there for a few moments, observing. What did he do to deserve having her in his life, was what he wondered, his cheeks reddening as he realized she had spotted him staring.
"Harry. Slept well?" She asked seemingly completely unperturbed, before setting the book on the table and stretching.
"Yeah, surprisingly so." She looked at him questionably for a moment, before nodding to herself. Harry just looked on in confusion.
"That's good. Come on, we must leave soon, I'd like to be back before dark." She said standing up, before checking the time and humming softly. And so they went, walking towards the nearest shop, their boots crunching through the snow. The town felt incredibly homely to Harry, with the snow covering the houses and landscape.
The small shop in the centre of the town was nearly empty as they arrived, with only a few cars parked in front of it, and not many more people inside it. They both bought themselves some hygiene products, some food and a few more pieces of clothing. They had overspent a bit, but Hermione claimed she still had enough money for one more week of rent. After that, they would have to start using their magic to get by, something Harry wasn't entirely happy with.
"You know, I didn't expect running away would be so… calm, I guess." He said after they'd exited the shop, both carrying a shopping bag in each hand. Hermione hummed at his thought, before looking reproachfully at him.
"Don't jinx it, Harry. You know how much trouble likes finding us." That was entirely true, Harry knew, and he sometimes wondered what he'd done in some previous life to deserve all this shit being pilled onto his plate.
"You know, I had thought about just running away after our fourth year." He said quietly after a few moments, feeling more than seeing Hermione ground to a halt beside him.
"You were?" She asked whilst turning to face him, but Harry just stared resolutely at the floor, shrugging awkwardly.
"Well, the thing at the graveyard was still fresh in my mind, and then you weren't sending me any letters…" He was staring at the snow-covered ground, unable to meet Hermione's gaze, "Then the whole thing with me being expelled happened, and I just couldn't handle it." He admitted quietly, ashamed of his thoughts back then. He felt Hermione bump her shoulder into his, a familiar look of concern and guilt in her eyes.
"That… we… I shouldn't have listened to Dumbledore. I knew how you'd be feeling, and I still ignored you. You know, I intended to come visit you, even got my parents on board to drive me there and all." Harry looked up at that, having never heard that story before.
"Why didn't you?" He asked sounding almost a bit hurt, aware just how much a visit from her would have helped that summer.
"Dumbledore happened. Told us that whole stick about the owls being intercepted, and I just… caved. Merlin, I was such an idiot." Now she sounded genuinely angry at her past self, and despite wishing she'd made a different choice Harry wasn't about to let that stand. He bumped her shoulder in return, giving her a comforting smile.
"Hey, you had no reason not to trust Dumbledore. Heck, I would still trust him even now. And who knows, maybe he was right." He quickly elaborated at Hermione's scathing look, "Look, I don't think he's a bad person, he just takes a look at the larger picture first. If I really am a Horcrux, then I will have to die for Voldemort to lose. That's just reality." He felt his gut churn at that thought, while Hermione once again stopped dead.
"I already told you I won't let that happen." The conviction in her voice was heartening, but Harry knew that Dumbledore was rarely wrong.
"Hermio-" He tried explaining his point, but she didn't give him a chance, dropping her bags to the snowy floor and reaching up to place her hands on his shoulders.
"I will find a different way. I promise. Just give me some time." He couldn't tear his eyes away from hers, the determination in them shining like a lighthouse in the middle of a storm. And Harry felt like a drowning sailor, being pulled towards the light. Her resolute belief that she would find a way gave him hope. It wasn't often she failed when she set out to do something.
"Well, it's not like we have anything better to do." He decided to lighten the mood with a joke, causing Hermione to roll her eyes good-naturedly before picking up her bags and continuing on their trek back to the hotel.
"There is one more thing I think I need to apologize to you for." The hotel was already visible up ahead when she next spoke, her reluctant tone piquing Harry's interest. He nodded for her to continue.
"That blasted book…"
"Hermione…" He interjected, that whole incident feeling like it had happened years ago, not days.
"No, Harry, listen. I overreacted. I knew I was overreacting even as I bickered with you. I'm just… really sorry. You of all people really didn't need that from me." Harry just waved dismissively, slightly uncomfortable with her apologizing for that.
"It's fine. I understood where you were coming from." He said simply, but Hermione shook her head adamantly in response, her bushy curls flying in all directions.
"No, trust me Harry, it was pure narcissism. While yeah, I was concerned about your safety too, but mainly I felt angry you were doing better than I was. I was jealous, plain and simple." She sounded so upset at herself, but Harry had already sussed out ages ago that those were the reasons for her behaviour.
"Hey, don't kick yourself about it. I would be mad too if I were in your position and somebody stole my well-deserved top spot due to getting a slightly upgraded version of the standard book." His words didn't seem to completely assuage her of her guilt, but she did seem to relax somewhat. Their conversation was cut short by their arrival at the hotel. They gave a quick 'hello' to the receptionist, before heading directly back to their room.
"I think we need to start learning magic on our own." Harry was in the middle of putting the beans they'd bought into the fridge, pausing in his action at her sudden comment.
"Uhm, dunno if you forgot, but I can't really cast any magic for a few more months." He felt rather confused, but Hermione didn't look deterred.
"The trace tracks the wizard through his wand, Harry. We'll simply share mine to cast. I admit it probably won't work for you as well as your own, but you should still be able to learn the motions and feeling." He barely understood all she was saying such was the speed with which she said it, and he couldn't help but chuckle. She glared at him.
"What?"
"Nothing. It's just… you didn't manage to go even a day without learning something new." Her glare at him intensified, and he lifted both hands in a placating manner. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing, or that you're wrong. It's just… very Hermione, really." Her glare melted at that, and she rolled her eyes playfully, before lightly tapping his shoulder with her fist.
"Like you said, we have plenty of time… And I brought books." His grin somehow got even wider at that, while she turned away to hide her blush.
"Course you did."
"How about this one?" Hermione asked him, pointing at the spell in the book they were reading. He looked at the spell, before shaking his head.
"No, I'd rather not freeze somebody to death." She hummed at his response, crossing the spell from her growing list. They had been at it for a few hours now, just going through Hermione's book of spells she'd nicked from the Grimmauld library… wait, technically those were his books now, so borrowed would be a more apt description, he thought with a smirk.
"Harry." He snapped from his thoughts, finding Hermione watching him expectantly.
"W-what?"
"I asked whether you think we should try learning apparition too?" He recomposed himself, thinking on the question for a bit before answering.
"That sounds like it would be tough to do on our own, no? Weren't we supposed to have a teacher teach us?" Hermione didn't seem to agree with his answer, pointing a finger at a specific passage in the book.
"It doesn't look too hard. It says we just need to follow the three D's. That should be easy enough."
"Eeh, I'm glad you believe in our skills, but don't you think we have enough to learn already?" He asked diplomatically, pointing to the long list of spells she'd already picked out. Plus, he'd once heard Mr Weasley talk about the possibility of splinching, and he really didn't want to accidentally splinch his hand off. Hermione again hummed thoughtfully, before nodding in agreeance, much to his relief.
"Come on then, let's begin!" Hermione was practically vibrating such was her excitement, and Harry chuckled fondly.
And to his immense surprise, learning spells with Hermione was shockingly much more exciting and fun than he'd expected. They alternated in casting with her wand, the vine wood feeling a bit unfamiliar in his hand, as if the wand was aware he wasn't its owner but was still allowing him to use it. They went over some of the less dangerous spells first, including ones they already sort of knew.
"That is not what the picture shows!" Hermione argued in between laughter, while Harry tried to mimic the wand movement shown in the picture.
"Oh, come on, I'm doing exactly as it's pictured. I even do the little swishy thingy at the end." He argued half in jest, and half in actual annoyance he wasn't getting it right. Hermione gave him one of her patented eye rolls then, before scooting over to his side and grabbing his hand with her own, her fingers wrapping around her wand across his. Harry felt his cheeks turn red, and he could see her cheeks turning crimson as well, but as she spoke there was nothing but calm in her voice.
"Here, do it like this." She said, doing the movement with him. They did it one more time, with Harry also speaking the spell out loud, and pink light erupted from the tip of the wand. The spell flew through the air, before striking Harry's jacket that was hanging on the coat racket by the door, instantly turning it a bright pink colour. His eyes widened, while Hermione burst into roaring laughter.
She was laughing so hard that no sound was escaping her, and Harry couldn't help but join in, the pair leaning against each other to try and stay upright. Several times over the next few minutes they came close to calming down, but a single look towards his bright pink jacket set them off again. When they eventually calmed down, Harry realized Hermione was leaning against him with the length of her entire body, her head resting against his shoulder.
"Who would have thought running off could be this fun, huh?" She asked him, her breath hot on his neck and he shivered, covering it up with a cough.
"If we learnt spells like this in Hogwarts, I think it would have made everything 20 times better." He replied with a small smile, acutely aware of all the points of contact between the two of them. Hermione didn't seem to be that bothered, chuckling and leaning into him a bit more, her arm wrapping itself around his back. Harry was never one for gestures of physical affection, but this was… nice. Yes, it was nice, he thought as he relaxed into her impromptu half-hug, putting his own hand around her.
They sat there for a good 10 minutes like that, heads leant together and sides touching knee to shoulder. Hermione didn't seem bothered by it, so Harry tried not to be either. He was certain he was comfortable with such a level of touching only due to it being with Hermione. He trusted her, she knew him, and she was the one to get him used to hugging in the first place. She and Mrs Weasley were the only ones to ever do it really.
He felt such a strong surge of affection for the woman next to him at that, knowing she could have been sitting in the Hogwarts sixth-year dormitory right now, worry-free and getting ready for another day of school. Instead, she was here with him, on the run having saved his life, still giving him constant support and care. And suddenly, he was desperate to let her know how much she meant to him.
"Hermione…" His serious tone must have shown, as she immediately turned to look at him, her face mere inches from his own.
"I… Thank you so much for doing this. For saving me. I don't think I tell you enough just how much I appreciate what you've done for me. Not only in regards with this, but with everything through the years. I would have been a goner several times if it wasn't for you. Just… thank you." He could tell his sincere speech had surprised her, tears beginning to form in the corners of her eyes. It seemed for the first time he could remember; he'd rendered Hermione Granger speechless.
"Harry… I… Thank you. That means the world to me. But know that I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now." Damn blast it, now he was getting teary-eyed as well. She surprised him then by closing the distance between them, leaning against him and pressing her temple against his own in what he considered a very tender gesture.
"As you said yesterday, Hermione. You and me, against the world." He echoed her words, feeling her arm around him tighten.
"Always Harry. You'll always have me. I'm not leaving." The two of them remained in that position for a long while, drawing strength from each other's love and friendship. Together, Harry knew, they could achieve anything, and he was now certain they would get that Horcrux out of him.
