Runaway

by Jiwwy
 
 

Chapter 5
And Out of Them
 

Hermione was quite silent the rest of the day. At about noon she fell asleep on the couch again and

Draco, who seemed to be suffering a bout of insomnia, decided to go around the house by himself.

Hermione’s room was first. He hadn’t even seen it yet. Everything was pale periwinkle or a book.

He looked around the neat room and walked along the wall to her desk. There was a bookshelf set
over it full of muggle books. The bookshelves were the only unorganized parts of the room. Draco
assumed Hermione had given up on organizing them because she’d just take them back down again
right after, and smiled to himself as he looked closer at the titles. Anne Frank: The Diary of a
Young Girl, Lord of the Rings, a student manual, and one called Support Your Local Wizard.
Draco wondered what a wizarding book was doing with all these muggle books and took it out…

A smaller book came out with it.

He picked it up. Diary. Under that, in a neat, pretty handwriting: -of Hermione E. Granger.

January 1991-December 1992.

Draco stared at the cover, debating with himself. Even Amnesia Draco couldn’t resist his instincts,

and he sat down in Hermione’s chair and opened the book to February 9th.

 

Diary-

                Valentine’s Day is coming up. I don’t think I can take it. They’ll pull the pranks again,

I know it. What I don’t know is why. Admittedly, the ‘secret admirer’ cards worked when we were
seven, but every year after that?

                I suppose they’re just trying to remind themselves how great they are, like Mom said.

I don’t think it’s that nice a purpose.

                                                                                                                                            Hermione

Draco stared at the page. People pranked Hermione? How mean. He flipped forward to October 31st.

It was long.

 

Diary-

                Today has been… well, I’m not really sure what it has been, but it was something. It

started out earlier after class. I was walking out with Harry and Ron in front of me when Ron
said, and I quote, “It’s no wonder no one can stand her. She’s a nightmare, honestly.”

                I felt like throwing up. It was muggle school all over again. It was all I could do to

keep from crying right there.  I know maybe I overreacted, but… Well, you know how much
that hurts.

 

Draco didn’t. He did, however, feel quite a powerful urge to punch Ron.
 

 

                I went into the bathroom to cry… I knew if I went back to the dormitory Lavendar

and Parvati would pretend to comfort me and then tell Ron. They did come in once, but I hid.
I think maybe they heard me anyway… That’s not what’s important, though. Up in the Great
Hall Professor Quirrel had come in, announced a troll in the dungeons, and fainted. Harry
and Ron had been stupid enough to actually go and chase the troll while everyone else was
being herded to the dormitories.

                I was about to go upstairs, when suddenly I heard the stomp of huge feet. I was just

standing next to the line of sinks and saw it in the mirror. The troll. A door slammed, the troll
ignored it. I ran to the back wall, trying to stay as small as I could. Trolls are terribly
nearsighted, you know.

 

Draco didn’t.
 

                Before I knew it, I heard a voice. I couldn’t tell what he said, but another yelled “Oy,

Pea brain!” it took a while for me to realize that the voice was Ron, talking to the troll. Ron was
trying to save me.

                Most of what happened after that I don’t remember, but I do remember Harry on the

troll’s back and Ron using a perfect levitating charm, if not a little forceful.

                They finally knocked it out and the professors came in. Against my better judgment

I took the blame. Of course, I was the reason they were there, right?

                …Anyway…I think we’re on better terms now.

                                                                                                                                            Hermione

 

He flipped about again. A spark of recognition hit him and forced him to read the December 17th entry.

 

Diary-

                Trouble with Malfoy again. I don’t know why he’s so mean to Harry. I don’t know

what happened when they met each other, but surely even if Harry had attempted to murder
Malfoy and all of his family it wouldn’t have caused this sort of meanness. He’s been teasing
him every chance he gets, even when he passes us in the halls, about how Harry isn’t going
home for Christmas break. He doesn’t say anything, but I think it hurts Harry, even just the
tiniest bit… how low could Malfoy go, insulting Harry’s family like that?

                                                                                                                                            Hermione
 

Draco stared at the page for a few seconds, until he finally recognized the name Malfoy… It was his

surname. He breathed deeply, just now noticing the picture in a frame on the desk. Hermione cradling
the huge ginger cat he’d seen sulking about, kissing a black-haired boy on the cheek. A red-head was
grimacing in the background as he struggled with a tiny, roly-poly owl. There was a lump in Draco’s
throat as he set the diary back down.

***

Ginny searched in her pockets for a pony-tail holder and looked around when she finally fished one out

and put her hair back. Fred and George could certainly find their way around. They’d already found the
quiet muggle town that lay just outside the forest.

“Gin, come on,” Ron said, taking off his cloak and putting it in his backpack, motioning for her to do

the same. They got them stuffed in and she wiped a smudge of dirt off his nose. They had to look
presentable when they ventured out into the muggle town after all.

The only place they’d been where there were more muggles than wizards was London, going to school

at Hogwarts. And Hermione’s house of course.

Fred and George were up ahead, waiting. They too had only jeans and tee shirts on. “Where exactly

are we going to go?” Ron asked as he and Ginny approached.

Fred looked at George, who shrugged. “Post office, I suppose. Does anyone know Hermione’s address?

Not sure any other of our friends have addresses.”

Ginny remembered a bit of it, she thought. She’d once spent the night at Hermione’s house.

“The food store too. I’m hungry.” Fred added as they broke out of the woods.

“None of us has muggle money.” Ron said.

They searched their pockets again, just to make sure. Fred had a five pound note. Too bad none of

them knew what this amounted to in galleons, let alone dollars.

“They have to let in a few poor bedraggled kids who’ve had no food for a full twelve hours, right?”

Ron asked, staring down at the five-pound note. He smiled half-heartedly at Ginny as they entered
the post office. Fred sauntered up to the lady behind a window. Fred sauntered naturally most
places he went.

“What’ll you have, kids?” she said, playing idly with a paperweight.

Fred hesitated. “Er…” he looked back to his siblings. “One moment.” He turned and made a face

at Ginny. “What address, Gin?”

She stared stupidly and shrugged. “Erm, I’m not sure of the town… but it’s 508 Cherry Lane.

Probably. If, er, if I had a map I could probably pick it out,” she said, looking up at the woman,
who nodded and handed her a little brochure-sized map of North Carolina. Ginny stared at it.
“Er, it’s in Britain.”

“Hence the accents,” George called from the back wall.

“Bloody right, old chap. Cheers!” Fred called over his shoulder.

The lady raised an eyebrow. “You kids on vacation? Where’re your parents?”

Ginny shook involuntarily and Fred coughed at the same time. The lady took off her spectacles.

“I think we have some maps of Britain in here somewhere,” she said softly, getting up and walking
around a corner. Ginny bit her lip and looks around at Ron and George, now both leaning on the
far wall in front of a poster advertising the different sizes of package holders and the values you
could get for buying bigger ones. Ron smiled weakly at her.

A few seconds later the lady returned with another brochure. Ginny unfolded it and looked it up

and down. “There.” She pointed to the little dot right under Liverpool.

(A/N: Jiwwy has spent a good half-hour looking for any damned town within 400 miles south of
Liverpool. By the Internet’s response, there are none. *Clicks more* Make that within FIVE hundred…)

The lady studied the point where Ginny’s bitten nail hit the paper for a bit, then smiled back at them

for a bit. “Don’t you guys have a letter?”

“Urm, we were kind of wondering if you had some parchment we could borrow.” Fred said

uncomfortably.

“Parchment?” She raised her eyebrow again.

Ginny glared. “He- means… paper.”

The lady nodded slowly and handed them a pen and a sheet without looking at the stack. Fred stared

at it while Ginny wrote out a short note. Ron and Fred came up to watch her. She’d taken Muggle
Studies last year, but no one thought she’d actually get much use out of it.
 

Hermione-

                We need help. You-know-who-

 

-The pen shook, leaving a mark next to the name, recording the shivers that Ginny seemed to be having

more and more-
 

                -intercepted us. Mum and Dad are gone. It’s just the twins and Ron and I. We’re fine but we have no money. Can’t go back to Grandmother’s. In muggle town. Please send help.

                                                                                                                    -Ginny, Ron, Fred and George

 

Ginny stared at the letter sadly before handing it to the lady.

The lady took the sheet of paper and froze with it. None of the kids had seen, but she’d been reading it.

She nodded softly as she folded it and put it in an envelope. Finally she spoke. “You don’t have anywhere
to go, do you?”

Ginny stared at her, then at Fred and George, who were watching each other.

George finally spoke. “I guess not?”

The lady nodded slowly. “Listen. I’ll mail this, on the house. And… if you kids want a place to stay, I’ve

got an extra bedroom back at my house. You could stay there for a while if you’d like.”

Ginny nodded to Fred. Ron did too. “That sounds really nice. Thanks.” He finally said once the twins

exchanged their opinions in that way only twins have.
 
 
 

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