MIXTAPE

Rating: M

Synopsis:
"Harry, it's Hermione. If you listen to this tape then my parents are dead and I'm missing. I'm stuck in the US with a new name and no wand and somehow Malfoy's here, too. He watches me, I think. Maybe he's trying to kill me, I'm not sure, but if you get this tape then something has happened to me. Just listen to the tape, Harry."

Prompt:
#24: AU- traveling to the Americas to hide from Voldemort's control, two unlikely teens are forced to work together to survive.

Writer: xxxkia

Author's Note:

Welcome to my entry for the Strictly Dramione Spring Fest Exchange 2017. Despite it being Spring, it turned out rather dark, so please read the Warnings before you start reading.

I have to admit that I was inspired to write this after I finished Thirteen Reasons Why but it will be nothing like that story, I only adopted the idea of recording a tape.

The story is technically a two-parter, similar to the two sides of a cassette tape. Make sure to turn the tape around after you finish the first side ;-)

The timeline of the story is set from the summer of '97 until summer of '98. That means that it starts in the summer between 6th and 7th Year and that it ends a few weeks after the final battle. Please note that 6th Year ended in mid July. Hermione wanted to obliviate her parents in mid-July and therefore returned home. After that she planned on going back to the Burrow from where she wanted to help relocate Harry before his birthday. As she never made it to the Burrow from her parent's house, the events following Harry's relocation happen without Hermione. Due to that, Ron never left Harry during the Horcrux hunt. Everything will become more clear in the story.

Thanks to my betas WinterWillows and naarna!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Warnings: Kidnapping, Torture, Self-Harm, Graphic Description of Violence/Self-Harm, Graphic Description of Sexual Situations, Harsh Language, Attempts of Murder, Men Hunt.

Words: 33 154

Table of Contents:

1: A-Side

2: Eject and Turn

3: B-Side [Recovered and Rewound]

4: Off the Record

5: Bonus Tracks

Chapter 1:

A-Side

Harry Potter couldn't believe it.

He won the war, he beat Voldemort. Voldemort was dead!

Sitting on the debris in the courtyard, Harry stared into nothingness while those thoughts rushed through his head. Hogwarts had been attacked and they had fought until the end.

And now everything was over.

Harry heard some cheers coming from the Great Hall and he turned his head slightly to look towards it. He looked around himself.

Hogwarts was broken, they were broken but they probably would heal.

Hopefully.

Broken stones and glass littered the courtyard. There was smoke and ash in the air and Harry lifted his head towards the sky. He was finally able to breathe.

"Harry?"

The black-haired wizard turned his head and saw his best friend stumble towards him, face full of dried blood and frowning.

"Hey mate," Harry said as Ron came closer.

"I missed you in there. You were suddenly gone, so I went looking. Don't run out on me like that." Ron scolded and Harry nodded. He had just left because Ron had been with his family and he hadn't wanted to interrupt their moment.

"What you thinking about?" Ron asked further and finally leant against the piece of rock Harry was sitting on. He groaned from the effort.

"What do you think?" Harry mumbled and kicked a stone away. "All this celebrating, it's great. You can't imagine how happy I am that he is gone but I just can't stop thinking about her."

"Hermione's fine," Ron tried to convince him but he didn't really believe it himself. "Wherever she is. I bet she fought her way through it like we did. She killed Nagini after all!"

"But why hasn't she returned yet? She's been missing for almost a year now. The only contact we had was when Voldemort grew weak enough, so I got into his head when Nagini was killed. I heard him talk about how he tried to hide the snake overseas but the 'Mudblood' had found her and killed her. We don't even know if he was talking about her, if the 'Mudblood' that killed Nagini really was Hermione." Harry turned to face Ron, wanting some kind of response, but Ron didn't have one.

Last year, between the summer of Sixth and Seventh Year, Hermione had returned to her home for a few days, so she could Obliviate her parents and keep them safe. She was only supposed to be gone for two days, then she would go to the Burrow from where they would prepare the mission to pick up Harry before his 17th birthday.

But during the first night, the Granger house had been attacked by Death Eaters and when the Aurors appeared, the house was in flames and the only two bodies in there belonged to Hermione's parents.

There was no trace of Hermione and at first they thought that she had made it out, that she was hiding somewhere and meeting them later on.

But she never showed up.

And when they went to pick up Harry, she wasn't there and then they waited at the Burrow but she didn't show up there either. After Bill and Fleur's wedding, Ron and Harry had to flee and they went on the run to search for Horcruxes. Without Hermione.

Months passed and there was not one sign of life. And slowly, everyone lost hope.

They had first thought that the Death Eaters, who attacked her home had taken her with them, but they never received a message. She never was used as bait or to taunt them. Even when Ron and Harry were kidnapped at Malfoy Manor, there was no trace of her. Bellatrix was vicious but Harry thought that if they held her somewhere captive that Bellatrix would have used that moment to gloat about it.

There was a moment in January, when Harry receive a vision of Voldemort grieving about Nagini and being in rage about her death. Harry knew that Voldemort had an unhealthy obsession with the snake and that's when he realised that she had been a Horcrux as well.

And that somebody had killed her.

If it was an accident or if the someone knew that she was a Horcrux stayed a mystery. Ron first thought that it was a trick like the time with Sirius, just to make them believe Nagini was gone and when Harry would fight Voldemort in the end, believing he destroyed all the Horcruxes, Voldemort would tell them that they hadn't. But Harry knew that it was genuine, he had felt it somehow. Nagini was dead and they were one destroyed horcrux closer to their win.

He hadn't been able to see, who did it. But the term Mudblood fell and somehow, Harry had hoped that it was Hermione and that wherever she was, she was still alive and helping him win this war. That's what he believed and that's what kept him going.

He had wished that she had showed up for the battle suddenly, fighting side to side with him but the vision with Nagini had been the last one, if it even was her, and in the end, Harry slowly believed that he might have been wrong about his assumption.

"Any word about Malfoy?" Harry then asked and looked up. Ron shook his head.

"His parents are close to having a stroke. They're asking everyone inside if they have seen their son. Apparently after failing to kill Dumbledore, Voldemort had some sort of special mission for Draco and since then, they haven't seen or heard from him again. They only followed Voldemort to the battle because he told them that Draco would be at Hogwarts. When they realised that he wasn't, oh boy, you should have seen their reactions. I was standing close by when one of the Death Eaters told them that Voldemort had stalled them for this whole year to keep them in his ranks and be able to use their Manor as his lair. He laughed at them for being so gullible and said that Draco has probably been dead for months. Lucius exploded him before he was able to finish the sentence. Exploded him, Harry! I mean it was completely wicked, even I have to admit that. And I didn't even hear him mutter a curse. Just like that, boom!"

"Yes, just like that."

"Anyway, Shacklebolt was talking to them when I left to find you. Because they helped out in the end, their sentences will be lessened and they might be spared from Azkaban. I mean, Narcissa saved Fred's life. But because nobody knows where Draco is and what he might have done, it will be hard to get him out of a sentence as well. If he's still alive that is. They will interview the captured Death Eaters to find out more. They'll also ask about Hermione." Ron rattled on and Harry wondered how long he had been sitting out here already and where Ron had got all this information from.

"But I think that we should all go home first, Mum said-,"

"I really don't care, Ron." Harry hissed back and instantly felt bad about it. He had to push Hermione out of his mind during the battle to keep himself from being distracted but now that he had the freedom to think again, she was instantly back in his thoughts.

"I'm sorry," Harry apologized and finally got up from his rock. "Let's get back inside, I think I need to see some more familiar faces."

Ron nodded wordlessly and shoulder to shoulder they walked back into the Great Hall to celebrate their win.

They all returned to the Burrow that night, exhausted, bloodied and bruised. They needed sleep and food and medical attention.

But nobody could sleep and so it came that the whole Weasley family and Harry were sitting around the kitchen table and nobody said a word. They all just were.

Harry was about to force himself to break the silence and tell everyone to go to bed, when there suddenly was a loud bang and then something dropped in his lap while the kitchen started to smell like sulfur.

The sound had made everyone jump up and draw their wands out of habit. For a moment they thought that the war wasn't over but when nothing happened, they all settled down again.

"What's this?" Harry asked, holding up the small parcel, which was wrapped in brown paper. His name was written on the front and he instantly recognized Hermione's handwriting.

There were more symbols written on the paper and Harry handed the parcel over to Mr Weasley and Bill, who leant closer to get a look.

"That parcel was put under a bequest charm. I recognize the symbol from a Dark Arts book," Bill answered as his father paled.

"What's a bequest charm?" Harry asked confused.

"It's a charm that lets someone bequest something to someone else in case something happens to them. It's actually illegal to use it because nowadays a Ministry worker needs to take care of a testament and perform it. You put the bequest charm on an object and when you die or are in grave danger of dying, the charm activates itself and will send the object to the recipient. People sometimes use it to inform others of their death, like they put the charm on their actual testament and put their lawyer as recipients and when they die, the testament goes immediately to the lawyer. This way the remaining family can't forge the testament or destroy it. But the charm itself is complicated. You need to gather ingredients, some of them are illegal, brew a potion and then use the potion to bind the charm to the object with the written symbols you see on here. You say the charm while writing down the symbols with a special quill, using the potion as ink." Bill explained to him and Harry's eyes darkened with each sentence.

"What? Who would make it so complicated? Who would put Harry as their recipient? Who di—," Ron's words got stuck when he leant closer to look at the parcel over Bill's shoulder.

Who died? Harry knew that those was the question Ron had wanted to asked but like Harry, he had recognized the handwriting immediately. He grew paler and looked up to meet Harry's eyes. Horror was written all over his face.

"What? Who sent it?" Mrs Weasley asked now nervously.

"Hermione," Harry mumbled. "The handwriting is Hermione's."

The room grew silent at that, they all exchanged glances until Ginny spoke up.

"Shouldn't we contact anyone? Bill said that they could be in grave danger, so maybe it's not too late yet. We could get the Aurors to search?"

"Search where?" Ron spat out. "They looked for Hermione already. Even now they are searching Death Eater lairs across the whole of Britain. We searched all over for her. I asked the bloody Malfoys and they didn't even know that she was missing."

"Ron's right, without any lead, there is no point in searching. There are no limits for the bequest charm. It can be used worldwide, so she could be anywhere really," Bill answered with a grave face.

"Maybe we should open it?" Fred suggested then and everyone turned to him.

"Maybe she just sent us the clue!" George added and that's when Harry started to wake from his trance like state.

Harry reached out and Bill gave him back the parcel. It wasn't big, maybe the size of a small wallet. "Can I just open it?" Harry asked and Bill nodded.

He ripped open the paper and ended up with a rectangular plastic box on his hand, which he stared at mutely.

"What is this?" Ron asked in confusion when he stepped closer Harry looked up at him.

"It's a cassette tape," he answered but Ron still didn't seem to get it. He opened the box and took out the black tape with the white label.

Play it, Harry! was written with a blue pen on the label and Harry stared at Hermione's handwriting again.

"How does it work?" Mrs Weasley asked and Harry looked at her.

"Uhm, you play it. In a cassette player, Mr Weasley, do you have one?"

"I think so! Just a minute." Mr Weasley got up and hastily walked towards his garage; he came back a moment later with a small device, which Harry immediately recognised as the right player.

"Is this the right one?"

"Yes, perfect. Does it work?"

"It runs on batteries."

Harry nodded and greedily took the player to put it on the table in front of them. He put the cassette in, with Side A to listen.

He looked around them one last time, then he breathed out and pressed play.

Harry, it's Hermione. If you are listening to this tape then that means that the bequest charm worked and that you have received my parcel. I'm not sure when and where you will receive it but I hope that it won't happen in a bad situation.

Maybe you have found out about the charm before you got the chance to find a cassette player to play this and you already know what it means. The bequest charm will activate when something happens to me and only then, you will receive this tape. I'm sorry that it had to come this far.

You probably know that my parents are dead, Harry. And I don't know if you think I am, too or not. I'm not.

Yet.

At least while I'm still recording this tape. I'm in Chicago at the moment and have been in the United States for a while. I'm sure that you found out by now that I'm not in England anymore.

It's October now, so it has been around four months since the ambush. During the attack on my parents, I was hit by a curse which threw me into a wall and knocked me unconscious. The next time I woke up, I was in a Muggle hospital somewhere in the US, North Carolina, I think. When I woke up, it was already mid-August, so I had been out for a while. They told me that I had been involved in a road accident, that I had been run over by a car. I tried to run away but the police were able to catch me because of my weak state and because I have no wand.

I had an ID with me but there was a fake name and a fake birthday on it. I have no idea how I got it but the picture on it is me, it's just the data that was forged. At least that's what I thought. That it was fake. But then my so-called parents suddenly showed up and it became clear that I was put in their daughter's place. They were afraid of me but played along for the authorities in the hospital and the police. I think they were blackmailed, somehow. I think the Death Eaters, who brought me to America, caused Heather Green to get in a accident and they put me in her place, so that I received medical treatment in her stead. I don't know why they didn't heal me, maybe the curse hit me harder than they thought and their only option was to bring me to a Muggle hospital.

I don't know if Heather is still alive or not but it seems that her parents believe that she is, otherwise they wouldn't have agreed to this whole charade. Heather and I look slightly alike but I think that they put a charm on the ID, so that it was my picture instead of the original one. The Greens, they just moved into this town a few days before the accident. Because of that, nobody would know what the real Heather looked like and I would just take her place.

I met the Greens shortly after the police found me and they loathed me. I probably would too because I'm the reason why their daughter was injured and is probably held captive somewhere. I don't know if it was short notice that I was brought to them or if it was planned. It didn't really look like it. But they were smart, they knew what they were doing when they choose the Greens.

I had to stay in the hospital for a few days and because of my escape attempt, I was supervised the whole time. My escape caused the police to take an interest, which then brought a social worker into the situation. The Greens were nervous, I noticed that when they met with the social worker and me one afternoon in the hospital. It was something they hadn't planned.

But because of the social worker, I was suddenly enrolled in the local high school and the Greens didn't look happy. I think they were ordered to take me home from the hospital and lock me up. But now they had to let me go to school, otherwise the authorities would raise questions.

They didn't talk to me much, I think they weren't allowed but they said that we are being watched and that I shouldn't do anything stupid. When I first arrived at their house, I knew that it was charmed somehow. It's basically a prison for the three of us. They don't work and have probably been forced to stay at the house the whole time so that they could watch me. They also told me that if I try to run away then the Followers will force them to go to the police and declare me missing if not dangerous. That's when I understood why they have given me this whole new identity. I first thought it was to be able to admit me to a hospital but if the Muggle police were to declare me missing or wanted, then it would make things so much more difficult for me. If my picture got out, I wouldn't be able to board a plane or cross a border. I could, once I have a wand again but at the moment I would be stupid to try.

The people who control the Greens, I call them Followers. I don't think they are full Death Eaters, but I think that there are some Death Eaters here in America and they have started to gather a new group. Maybe they do it for Voldemort or for themselves, I don't know yet. But I know that they have contact with Death Eaters because he is here.

Malfoy, he's here too. Draco, not Lucius, well… uhm.. so he suddenly showed up at the high school as well. New student and all that. He didn't say much, he wasn't disguised or anything. He was just there and watched me.

So, when I wasn't locked up in Heather's room, I had to go to school. The Greens somehow contacted the Followers and they allowed me to go. I was surprised at that, that they would let me leave the house to spend hours at a busy high school. I already guessed that it would come with some consequences and you have no idea how right I was.

I was watched there. And this time, it was obvious. Malfoy was in all of my classes. He must work with the Followers or maybe there are actual Death Eaters here after all. I didn't know what to do, but he followed me around at school the whole time. I think he followed me every time I left the house in the morning until I returned. I tried to ask the Greens, but they refuse to answer me.

So, I went to the high school every day and Malfoy was there, and I knew that I needed to flee as soon as possible.

I have no idea what Malfoy is doing here in America. But I believe that he's here to kill me.

We didn't speak, which was quite odd and I guess despite everything, I wanted to talk to him so badly. He was the only face I knew. But he wouldn't comply. It unsettled me and after he arrived I knew that I needed to leave as soon as possible.

I was at the Greens' house for two weeks, then I was able to escape. It was pure luck that they didn't catch me before I was able to leave town.

But I escaped. I still had no wand, but I escaped, Harry. I've been on the run since then, and I've done things I'm not proud of but it was necessary. But because I have no wand, and no idea how to get one, I think that they are going to catch up with me soon.

Their trick with the fake name worked, by the way. The other day, I saw my picture all over the news. They said that I had a mental illness and that I was a danger to society and that I needed to be caught immediately. Or well, that Heather Green needed to be caught. It made things harder for me, like they had intended that it would. I had to cut my hair and change the colour, had to change my clothes as well.

I'm not sure what to do anymore, or if I will ever be able to get home. I have no idea about the Magical Society here in America, where it is and how to reach it. If I knew, then I would try to get there; but what if their Ministry is corrupt as well?

This morning, I bought this tape recorder and this tape, and I'm hoping that I will get a wand tonight to be able to send you this tape with a bequest charm. I read about it just before we left Hogwarts and it's the only thing I can think of right now.

But if I manage to work the charm and if you are listening to this now, Harry, then that just means that in the end, I failed anyway. I might have gotten a wand and put the charm on it, but if you receive it that means that something happened to me.

That he happened to me. Malfoy is close, I know it. And maybe I can tell him to give you this, so he can gloat about killing me. It would be horrible but in the end you would still get this tape and be able to learn the truth.

Because this is what I'm doing here now, Harry. I want to use this tape to tell you exactly what happened to me up to the point where I'm caught or injured or worse. I want to give you this. And who knows, maybe I'm still alive and will be able to put something in Side B as well. Who knows, right?

So, in the following, I will tell you in detail what happened to me since I woke up here up to the point where I am now. I'm recording this on October 18th in Chicago but the story starts in a small town in North Carolina, where I woke up on August 24th, almost one month after the attack on my parents.

The hospital smell burned in her eyes and everything hurt when she was finally able to blink them open. She had been conscious a few times before this, but she had been too weak to actually open her eyes.

Now, she was finally able to open them.

Her body hurt and her lungs hurt and she needed water. There was a nurse in attendance and she helped Hermione to drink from a glass of water.

"It's alright, slow down there, Heather. Don't drink too quickly."

She wanted to tell the woman that her name wasn't Heather, but she wasn't able to use her voice. Everything was too hazy and she blinked, afraid that she would fall back asleep again.

"She's awake?"

"Yes."

"Good, let's call her parents then."

Parents, Hermione thought, what parents? Her parents were dead, killed by Death Eaters, she remembered it now.

But it became too much and Hermione fell back asleep; the next time she awoke, an unfamiliar woman was leaning over her face, gushing about how she was so glad that she was still alive.

"You scared us, Heather. Thank God that nothing serious happened to you. What a miracle," the woman said and Hermione was confused. She tried to frown, but everything hurt.

"Mrs Green, I will go get the doctor, he will be able to tell you more," another voice said; Hermione guessed that it was the nurse. A door opened and then it fell shut. The woman above her disappeared.

"How much longer will she be in here?" A third voice asked.

"I don't know, Rick. But you've heard those people, we have to take her home and make sure that nobody questions us."

"But won't they ask her about details on the hit-and-run? The police have already been at our house asking questions."

"They said they took care of it. That we have to follow the instructions if we want to see our daughter ever again. And the instructions said to get her home from the hospital and lock her into Heather's room."

"But I think the whole case will cause them to bring in a social worker and school starts soon. What will we tell her?"

"I don't know, that we home-school her? Or that she's still too weak to attend school? At least social services hasn't contacted us yet."

"What if we contact the police?"

"Shh, Rick. Have you not seen what these people were able to do? They will kill us, they kill Heather if we don't do what they say."

"But why us, Nicole?"

"I don't know, Rick. Be quiet, I think they are coming back."

The world around Hermione started to blur again and she couldn't concentrate on the voices anymore. Her body hurt and it was quite painful, so she drifted back to sleep.

"Hey Mudblood! Wake up. I need you to wake up."

Hermione was shaken up roughly, causing her to groan in pain. She blinked against the bright light of the room and tried to open her eyes but it hurt too much.

"I will put a spell on you, so you will get out of here sooner. We can't lose any more time. You will be a good girl, do you understand me? You will go with the Greens and if you do anything stupid, then those innocent Muggles will be killed because of you. Do you understand me?"

Hermione was just able to nod slightly. Moments later, she felt the tingling of magic in her legs and arms and she knew that the spell would help her gain control of her limbs again. The process hurt and she wanted to force herself to see who was at the bed but she wasn't able too and by then it became too much and she fell back into darkness once more.

It was dark outside the next time she woke up. Her room was dim and this time it was easier for her eyes to adjust. She had started to wake up more with each time and having that spell performed on her had helped immensely.

They told her that she had been in a coma for a month already and that she needed to take things slowly. Because she had only laid in a bed, her muscles had reduced and she would have to rebuild them first. They had said that walking would be difficult in the first few weeks but Hermione knew that because of the spell, she would be able to get out of bed as soon as she felt up for it.

It was her head and eyes mostly, that still needed recovery time.

The people from before hadn't returned yet but she remembered their conversation and it didn't mean anything good.

She nearly screamed when she read her clipboard and found out that she wasn't home in England anymore.

America. Someone brought her to America after the attack on her parents' house. It had hurt worse than anything else. The grief and the pain she had experienced when she remembered what had happened. The nurses believed that it was caused by the aftereffects of the coma and they gave her pain medication, which Hermione welcomed gladly.

The clipboard also told her that she wasn't Hermione Granger anymore. Heather Green was the name on it and on the second day after she woke up, one of the nurses told her that a social worker would come to see her soon. She remembered the conversation again and knew that the real parents of Heather Green had been dragged into this as well.

Hermione leant back against her bed and finally, things started to clear up for the first time. Her head didn't hurt anymore and her eyes adjusted themselves to the darkness of the room.

She needed to flee was her first thought. This was the chance she had and she needed to take it. If the Death Eaters, who killed her parents, had brought her here, then they wouldn't just leave her be. She would probably be watched further or held captive. This hospital stay could be her only opportunity.

Thanks to the spell, she was able to sit up in her hospital bed and pull out the IV from her arm. She had only her hospital gown on but in the closet next to her bed was a set of simple clothes. She tried to be as quiet as possible when she put on the jeans and the black hoodie before carefully opening her door to peek into the hallway.

She needed to be quick and she knew that she had no idea where she was or where to go. She had no wand and no money but she knew that those foster people worked for Voldemort and anything would be better than being held prisoner by them.

Everything worked perfectly until she reached the door at the end of her corridor. She tried to open it but it was locked somehow and she cursed under her breath, turning around to find another exit. But despite the healing charm, it was exhausting for her to walk and and she felt her head begin to ache again.

"Hey you! What the hell do you think you're doing?" It was a man's voice and Hermione panicked. She tried to open the door with clammy palms but then she was grabbed from behind by a security guard.

They brought her back to her room, changed her back into her hospital gown and she had the IV inserted before they were giving her heavy medication, which made her dizzy and sleepy. Maybe tomorrow, she would get another chance.

There had been no other chance.

The hospital had informed her parents as well as social services and they all showed up the next day. Her stunt had drawn some attention to her, so now she definitely would be assigned to a social worker.

Rick and Nicole Green did not look amused by this news. In fact, they looked scared as hell when the police officer told them that a social worker would come by their house in the next few days and also when Heather was home again.

Something had gone wrong and Hermione almost felt sorry because she had caused it. The Green people looked stressed and they jerked at every little sound. They faked interest in her wellbeing when a nurse or a doctor was around but once they were alone, they refused to touch Hermione or even look at her.

She tried to talk to them but they wouldn't even let her start a sentence.

"Don't you dare talk to us, girl! You are the reason why those people showed up on our doorstep and destroyed our life. You destroyed our life! And I bet you are one of them as well, a freak! We will do anything they ask us to in order to get our Heather back. And if you pull such a stunt again, then god help you!" Nicole Green nearly screeched at her and Hermione had closed her mouth again.

Poor, innocent people, her arse.

"You listen to my wife, do you understand?" Rick Green had added. "We were instructed to get you out of here once you wake up and then lock you up in the house for good but now we have to deal with the police and social services as well."

After that, she had to spend two more days at the hospital before her vitals were good and she was able to walk freely and without problem. Nobody really questioned how she was able to recover so quickly. After that, she was escorted out of the hospital by the unfriendly-looking couple.

They drove her to a small house in a suburban area. She wasn't allowed to ask any questions when she was pushed into the house. They shoved her into the room on the first floor, warned her again to not do anything stupid and then locked the room. It was charmed somehow, the window didn't open nor break and Hermione knew that she was stuck here now.

They brought her food later on but they still didn't talk and were gone before she had a chance to ask. They left a bottle of pain medication with her and she felt relieved, she knew that she would still need them in the first few days.

The next day, Hermione saw a car draw up outside the house. A smartly dressed woman got out and Hermione hoped that it would be the social worker. She was right because a few moments later, the door to her room was opened and her fake dad dragged her out.

"We need you downstairs. Tell that lady that everything is fine and try to somehow tell her that you can't go to school yet." Rick Green was short and nearly bald. He looked quite average, not someone who would stand out amongst a crowd.

Hermione nodded and followed him downstairs, hoping that she could use this situation to her advantage somehow.

The social worker was chatting with Nicole Green, a tall woman with dirty blond hair and high cheekbones. They were drinking coffee and when Hermione entered the room, the two of them looked up.

"Ah, Heather, I'm so glad that you feel better already. I just explained to your parents that I signed you up for the coming school year. King High School is a really good school and all the teachers there are so excited to meet you. I forwarded all your information because I'm afraid that you have to have attendance record. Every teacher needs to sign it but to make things easier, I already sent out all the information."

"That is so kind of you," Nicole bit out and now Hermione understood what was going on. Because of the social worker's eagerness, everyone at school knew about her already and if they kept Hermione from showing up there, then that would draw attention and everything would probably end up at the police.

She almost laughed out loud at that.

"But, I think that Heather doesn't feel well enough to attend school yet. Right, honey?" Rick interfered and pushed against Hermione's shoulder slightly.

Hermione opened her mouth but the social worker interrupted her. "Nonsense. The school is aware of her condition and Heather can see the school nurse whenever she needs to but it would be good for her to get out of the house and be a little active. I expect her on Monday to show up at school to get her attendance record signed. I have to insist."

Nicole Green smiled tightly at that but agreed and once the social worker left, they brought her to her room again. However, this time they didn't bring her any dinner later on.

Hermione had actually felt bad for them in the beginning, she still did somehow and she had wanted to help them get their daughter back, but it was clear that that wouldn't be so easy.

That night, Hermione laid on Heather's bed and thought about what she should do next. It was clear that the Greens would need to contact the people who held their daughter captive to tell them about the request of the social worker. They would have to take care of things or otherwise it could cause some trouble.

If they somehow had to let her go to school it would be another chance for her to flee. They wouldn't be able to follow her around in the school the whole time with all the other students around.

At least, that's what Hermione hoped.

She would go to school.

The Greens told her so the next day when they brought her food again. To please social services and to avoid any questions, they told her. They must have reported it back to whoever was controlling them because they also told her that she would be watched in school.

On a school day, they would bring her and pick her up, no bus. She never was to leave the school grounds or else she would be punished.

Hermione wasn't sure what to expect but she made sure to prepare herself.

Monday happened fast and before she knew it, she was standing in the parking lot of the school, Nicole Green waiting in her car, so that she could make sure that Hermione would enter the building.

The first day was busy. Hermione went to the office to get her timetable and her stuff, her locker number and combination and what not. It felt so different than Hogwarts, especially because she had known that the new year had started there as well.

Oh, how much she missed it.

While she walked to her first class - AP Calculus, apparently Heater seemed rather smart - she thought about how they would watch her in here. Would they pose as teachers?

She was late, having lost her way and when she finally opened the door and have the teacher the slip, she looked around the class and froze.

She expected much but not that.

There, perched in the last row, next to the only other empty table, sat none other than Draco Malfoy.

She didn't hear the comment from the teacher, something about two new students and that he hoped that she would be able to settle in quickly.

All she could do was stand there and stare. She heard snickers from the other students but she ignored it. All she did was stare at Malfoy.

He was dressed in black - of course he was - black trousers, black jumper and he stood out like a lamp in the night. His pale white skin and that white blond hair drew all the attention to him. His grey eyes were calculating and they never left hers.

She wanted to do anything to him. She wanted to scream and slap him while at the same time she wanted to beg him for help. The latter vanished as she walked down the row towards her seat and when she spotted it.

His sleeves were rolled up and there it was, etched on his pale forearm.

The mark of a Death Eater.

She literally felt how the colour drained from her face and her eyes flickered from his arm up to his eyes. She frowned and for a second she thought that she saw regret in his eyes but it was gone and then the teacher told her to take her seat.

She couldn't follow the lesson, even though a tiny bit of her had been excited to learn something during all this mess. She was giddy at biology and science, even more so at English because it meant that they would read Muggle books.

But the fact that Malfoy was here, in this American high school, wouldn't leave her alone. She wanted to glance over but she didn't dare, so she stared straight ahead for the whole period. She had no clue what was going on in class but she just couldn't make herself break her stance.

It was worse than torture.

The next class wasn't any better. Again, Malfoy was there, and he had somehow managed to get another seat close to hers. This time he sat on her right instead of her left and she stared straight forward again.

The next one was pure torture because he was seated behind her and everything in her body screamed at her to not turn her back to him but she had no choice. She had furiously taken notes, keeping her head down and by the end of the lesson, she was sweating from exhaustion.

She walked to her locker in the break and she knew that he was watching her amongst the crowd of students. She didn't spot him, yet she knew he was there.

You will be watched.

She had expected something but not this.

"Hey, you are new, right?"

Hermione flinched and nearly smashed her locker door into her fingers.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to scare you. I'm Monica by the way." the girl had straight brown hair, wore glasses and smiled in a friendly way at Hermione while she held her hand out.

Hermione was pretty sure that it would be bad to make friends but the girl was so persistent that in the end she smiled and shook her hand.

"Hi, I'm Her...Heather."

"Nice to meet you, Heather. If you need anything, let me know. Directions to classes, introductions to the cafeteria or to the library, no matter what, I'm here."

"That's nice of you. Do you help every new student?"

"No, not really. I would like to after I've seen the other newcomer. He's a hottie, right?" Monica giggled and Hermione forced herself to keep from gagging.

"Yes, ha, totally," she lied while at the same time she tried to sound as American as possible. She wondered if someone would comment on her British Accent but nobody seemed to care. It was possible that they had put a charm one her while she was in the coma, one that would make her voice and words sound too random to remember.

"I mean, look at him. He's so different than the guys here," Monica gushed and turned around to look a certain way. Hermione followed her and that's when she spotted him again.

"... hair, and have you seen that tattoo,"

Monica rambled on but Hermione didn't really paid attention.

Had she seen his tattoo, seriously?

"Bloody bastard," Hermione whispered under her breath, her hand balled to fists and she stared at him, their eyes meeting across the hall.

He had the nerve to smirk at her.

He was leaning against his locker, hands in his trousers while he ignored the crowd of students which walked past him. He ignored the curious glances some of the guys threw him, just as he ignored the obvious attention-seeking from the girls. He just watched her across the hall and she saw that he had rolled-up his sleeves and there it was.

The Dark Mark.

It wasn't cool or hot or anything else Monica was telling her. That girl had no idea what is was. Nobody in this bloody school had any idea what it was about.

What it really meant.

And how much death it would bring.

The bell rang and Monica told her that she would save her a seat at lunch. Hermione walked to her next class and resigned herself to being near him again.

He didn't speak to her, just watched and it made her uneasy because she constantly expected him to strike, not sit down next to her in Chemistry. But he did and she couldn't help it.

She tried to listen to the teacher, who was explaining an experiment to them at the front; that's when she heard Malfoy snort next her her. The sound startled her too much and she looked over at him surprised and saw how he just shook his head in disbelief.

"Bloody Muggles. Barmy, the whole lot," Malfoy muttered under his breath and Hermione's eyes widened at his words. But then his eyes snapped up to meet hers and she turned away from him.

She was afraid.

She didn't want to admit it at first but now she was pretty clear about it. When Malfoy was here to watch her, then that meant that he had helped to bring her here, that he worked with those people who blackmailed the Greens.

That he took part in killing her parents.

Hermione's pencil snapped in half and she felt his eyes burn in her side but she refused to look up. She stared down at her notes, her vision became blurred as the tears treated to spill over.

"Ms Green, are you alright? Do you need to see a nurse?"

Hermione wanted to say no, she didn't want to move or get up because she knew that meant that she would run the risk to look at Malfoy.

"I can take her."

His voice was smooth and so different than she remembered. As the teacher seemed to agree because the next moment, a hand grabbed her arm and dragged her out of her seat. She stumbled out of the classroom, his hand hurt her arm and she couldn't see anything from all the tears.

The door fell shut behind them and they were alone in the empty hallway.

"Gran-," he started but Hermione didn't let him finish. She whirled around and caught him by surprise. The smacking sound of her hand hitting his cheek echoed in the hallway."Don't you dare say that name, Malfoy! Don't you dare to touch me. You are evil and vile. You are a coward and a murderer and a bloody Death Eater."

He had just time enough to draw up a Muffliato around them before she had been able to scream those words in his face.

"Shut. Up." Malfoy growled, his eyes frozen but Hermione didn't care anymore.

"You want to kill me? Go ahead and do it. Just fucking do it, Malfoy!"

"Will you just shut your stupid mouth, Mudblood!"

"Make me!"

He was furious, she knew him well enough to realise that but she was so full of anger that she just couldn't help it. It was stupid and reckless and she knew that because she felt his wand against her neck in the next moment.

"For Salazar's sake, Granger. Don't make this more complicated!"

Hermione wanted to retort something, but after another poke of his wand into her throat, she relented. Her anger no longer sustaining her, tears started to blur her vision once more, and her throat felt blocked, leaving her unable to speak.

"Let's just get you to the bloody nurse," he said with a growl before grabbing her arm to pull her down the hallway.

"What are you—?"

"I told you to shut your mouth! Don't ask stupid questions. I'm here to watch you, so don't do anything stupid, I will interfere, and you aren't going to like it." He stopped to face her. "And stay away from the other students," he added, emphasised by another icy glare.

Hermione was surprised when she realised that they were indeed standing in front of the infirmary, only to be dragged inside by him so that she could receive more pain medication. She was relieved for half a second when she was allowed to stay, but then Malfoy managed to convince the nurse to let him stay as well.

He wasn't joking when he said that he would watch her. No words, only a constant cold glare.

He didn't talk and she didn't ask any more questions. Him being there was enough.

Feeling better again, she was finally released from the infirmary, just in time for the lunch break. To her surprise, there was no sign of Malfoy on her way back to her locker to put her things away for the break. Yet she didn't doubt one second that he was still around, watching her.

His last words rang in her ears when Hermione entered the cafeteria, where Monica tried to get her attention. She knew that it was better to stay away from other students, and Muggles in general, at least for now, so she did the only thing she could do in that moment—she ignored Monica, and instead sat down at an empty table in the far corner of the cafeteria.

Every day passed the same way - Mrs Green would drive her to school and as soon as she stepped out of the car, Malfoy was there, never leaving her truly alone for one moment.

They sat next to each other in every class. He followed her everywhere except the bathroom but even there, Hermione had the feeling of being watched. She would pretend to listen to the teachers and then spend her lunch alone. She didn't talk to other students and then would walk out of the school where Mrs Green was waiting with the car again.

Every day of the week happened exactly like that. On Friday afternoon, Hermione would be locked into her room again, which thank Merlin, had its own bathroom, and then on Monday she would be let out to go to school.

Two weeks happened like that and Hermione complied without any incidents.

At some point, she had wondered if Malfoy was really only there at school or if he was following her to the Greens' house as well. Maybe someone else supervised the house. They probably did, anything else would just be plain stupid.

She undressed in front of her window once, she had no clue what she was thinking but just one simple reaction would be better than the endless watching. She did it slow to make a point. She wanted him to know that she knew.

But the next day at school, he didn't react in any way and she knew that she was slowly starting to lose her mind.

He would wear a black jumper every day and have his sleeves up for her to see the Dark Mark on his pale skin and it made her own skin crawl because she knew why he was showing that symbol to her.

Always a bloody black jumper with his bloody sleeves rolled up and his bloody Dark Mark on display as if it was something to be proud of. Evil bastard.

Hermione stared down at her lunch tray, her plastic fork poked around in the mashed potatoes and she sighed before she threw the fork down in disgust, looking up to take a sweep of the cafeteria and all the other students around them.

It was the third week of school now and things didn't look much different than last week.

Some were loud and obnoxious and like in a bad movie, it was the jocks on their table who acted like complete idiots. On another table, girls were giggling and laughing, their heads together as they probably gossiped about the girls from another table.

She caught sight of the nerds and how they gathered around some handheld game thing. She had no idea what it was.

It all was just so ... senseless.

The hard plastic bench she sat on was uncomfortable and the food was terrible and there was noise everywhere. The school was decorated in blue and yellow, the school colours were literally everywhere, often accompanied by the school mascot. Go Sharks! and all that nonsense.

She hated it and then she hated herself because, after all, didn't she dress in maroon and gold for six years, carrying around the lion proudly on her chest?

It's a different kind of pride, she tried to tell herself but it didn't make the situation any better. She just didn't like it here, end of story.

The bell rang harshly and Hermione got up, taking her tray with her to the next dumpster where she threw in her uneaten lunch before she put the tray on the pile next to it.

She walked to her last class and she was late but she didn't care. She slipped into the classroom, earned a disapproving look from her teacher, whose name she didn't know and then walked way into the back to slip into the seat in the last row, the one by the window.

Like always, she didn't listen to the teacher, simply didn't care about World War II because hell, she had her own war to fight. And somehow she had been prevented from doing it.

The night when her parents were killed still haunted her every day. It kept her awake at night, not wanting to relive the experience of losing her real parents over and over again in nightmares; the fact that she was held captive like a prisoner did nothing to improve the situation.

It had happened during the night, of course it happened during the night. She had heard the screams and woken up to find them in her home, her parents' house and there was nothing she could have done. There were five Death Eaters, she believed, she wasn't sure but she tried to fight them and it was all too much and then the house was set on fire and there was this hex, which threw her into a wall and she had passed out and then there was nothing.

The memory of her parents' death only added to her already existing anxiety. She didn't believe that she was brought here to play happy families with the Greens who looked like they were close to losing their minds as well. She was here because something was going to happen soon; waiting for it, however, was hell.

To relieve her frustration, Hermione wanted to let out a groan, or bang her head on the table, but she kept from herself from doing it. Instead, she turned to the side to look at Malfoy again. She didn't really care that she did it in a pretty obvious way. After all, he always let her know that he was watching her, so she could let him know that she was watching him too.

Frankly, he wasn't impressed. He just sat at the table next to hers and he didn't even bat an eyelash at her.

Her glance drifted over his black jumper, his rolled up sleeve and she wanted to hiss at the mark on his arm but then something stopped her.

There across his forearm, right above the mark, was a cut. It was red and angry, blood crusted along the wound, but it was clearly done to cut the mark in half.

She looked up at his face but he stared into space, not even at her and that was when she realised that his impeccable appearance wasn't so impeccable anymore, now that she paid attention.

The collar of his jumper was wrinkled as if he had pulled it away from his neck a few times already. She spotted that the skin in the hollow of his neck, where it meet with his shoulders, was an angry red, similar to the red of his skin around the cut on his arm. He moved his head suddenly to stare back at her and the jumper shifted and Hermione spotted the holes by his collarbone. It was a bitemark, similar to those cliché bites from a vampire. Two dark holes next to each other, the skin around them red and inflamed.

Fang bites, she mused. But then she narrowed her eyes.

No, not fang bites.

Snake bites.

He turned his head from her and he broke his posture by reaching up and tugging at his collar, so that the marks were hidden beneath it again.

It was the first time that she watched him the entire time while he didn't look at her.

She wanted to say something, anything, but when the bell rang he shot up from his seat and practically fled the classroom before Hermione was even able to open her mouth.

She knew that the Greens were at the end of their tether. They were shaky and jumpy, their eyes were red and Hermione was sure that they didn't get a second of sleep during the night.

Unfortunately, their angst meant consequences for her. Her dinner grew sparser every day and because the food at the school was grotty, she didn't get food to gather strength and she knew that a weak body would mean a weak mind and she needed her mind. It had to compensate the fact that she was wandless.

It happened on the 1st of October. It was a regular Thursday and when Nicole Green dropped her off at school, she seemed fine.

But as soon as she entered the building, Hermione knew that something was wrong.

She couldn't put her finger on it and Malfoy was there in all her classes and he was watching her again but something was different.

In her last period, when the bell rang, she was drawn back once more because something about today just felt off. The students around her gathered their things and tried to get out as fast as possible. She looked over at Malfoy and watched him get up with one smooth movement, which did not only draw Hermione's attention but that of several other girls.

But he ignored the others like always.

Because he was only watching her.

Hermione shook her head at that, reached down to grab her backpack when a shadow suddenly fell over her. She tried to look up from where she was bent down but it turned out to be difficult. Closing her hand around the strap of her bag, Hermione straightened and came face to face with a black jumper.

She slowly raised her head, coming face to face with Malfoy.

"Granger," he drawled under his breath and she felt it on her face. He was standing way too close and the proximity made her slightly dizzy. She swayed, just a little but enough so that her hand accidentally grazed his jumper.

For a small, absolutely insane moment, Hermione thought about how nice the fabric felt but then she shook her head and looked up to meet grey eyes, cold and calculating.

"What?" she dragged the word out, hoping to sound annoyed and make it clear that in the end, she still wasn't afraid of him.

He just smirked down at her.

She was standing close to him, closer than she should and she still felt his breath on her cheek. He just looked down at her and she stared up and they spend a moment in absolute silence, just staring at each other challenging.

"It's time," he finally wrung out and it looked as if he was struggling with something.

She's never been that close to him in her life before. Even the time she hit him in third year, there had been a certain gap between them. But now, she nearly pressed her breasts flat against his chest and as her hand started to fidget around, her fingers scraped the fabric of his trousers accidentally.

She scolded herself for drifting off, then she narrowed her eyebrows at him in confusion.

"Time for what?"

"Time for you to run."

She stared up at him again, completely frozen this time and that's when she caught the movement in his right hand out of the corner of her eye. It was just a small move, nothing special but it drew her attention to the fact that she saw the outline of his wand in the sleeve of his jumper. She also noticed that the sleeves were down for the first time as well.

So many first times between them in less than a few minutes.

Cursing herself for that kind of thought, her eyes widened and she stumbled back from him, bumping against her table. She looked around and saw that the classroom was empty except for them.

"W-what?" she stuttered out again and there was a twitch in Malfoy's eyes as if he wanted to say something but he didn't.

"You have to run! Right now! Out of this school, away from the car!" He hissed, then he groaned and his right hand snapped to his left arm to grab it tightly.

"NOW, GRANGER!"

Hermione scrambled away, dropped her backpack, which only held her books anyway and then she fled from the classroom, leaving Malfoy behind. She stood in the empty hallway, looking left and right and feeling disoriented before she headed for the exit.

She pushed the double glass-door open, the sun greeted her and she had to blink first. One sweep of the parking lot told her that it was empty, no car was waiting for her.

"There you are!"

Hermione flinched back at the voice and turned around to find Nicole Green standing close to her, her posture unnaturally crooked. The woman smiled at viciously and Hermione stumbled backwards.

"What do you want? Who are you?" She slowly walked backwards and now she was able to spot the car parked by the street, driver door open and the engine running. Her glance flickered back to Mrs Green, who walked slowly towards her while Hermione kept walking backwards, slowly in the direction of the running car.

"Ah, Mudblood, don't you smell delicious?" The woman, who definitely wasn't Nicole Green anymore, hissed and Hermione saw the snake like movements as the woman followed her, treating her like prey.

Hermione's eyes flickered back to the school and she caught a flash of black by the door and then Malfoy stumbled out, looking dreadful even from afar. One hand pulled at the collar of his jumper and when he spotted Hermione and the woman, he pulled his wand and pointed it at them.

Hermione's eyes widened because she had no chance to flee like this but then the woman laughed and when Malfoy stumbled closer, she saw that his wand wasn't directed on her but on the other person. If it even was a person.

"Draco~~~~," the woman hissed, dragging out the name.

"You poisoned me," Draco spat, his wand trained on the blond woman. "Nagini," he added and Hermione gasped. The woman's head snapped around and the blue eyes of Nicole Green were gone, instead the slit yellow eyes of a snake looked back at her.

"Crucio!"

Malfoy's hex made Hermione flinch but it was the snake he aimed for but missed and Hermione watched with horror how Nicole's mouth opened wide and the snout of a snake appeared from the back of her throat. Suppressing the urge to gag, Hermione finally woke up and she stared at Malfoy quickly, who prepared to fire another hex at the snake.

"The Mudblood's mine, how dare you jeopardise my task!"

Malfoy's words rang in Hermione's ears but she had reached the car, slammed her foot down at the same time as she smashed the door shut and the car sped away from the school, leaving Malfoy and Nagini behind.

She had no idea if she was followed or not but she guessed that it wouldn't be this easy. She continued to drive down the road. She had no idea where it led to but turning around wasn't an option anymore. Her foot was on the gas pedal and she just hoped that she wouldn't crash into anything. The high school was at the edge of the town and the road Hermione was currently on was rather empty, leading towards what looked like an industrial area, backed by a small patch of trees. There was a river in front of the small forest, Hermione had seen that one from the school grounds already and there was a bridge ahead of her. Hermione sped towards it but then she decided that she needed to slow down a little to cross the rather narrow-looking bridge.

She stepped on the brake, which she had ignored until now, but when she pressed down, nothing happened. She tried it a few times but the car didn't slow down and Hermione realised that it had been tampered with.

Cursing, she weighed out her options - either she hurtled across that bridge somehow or she would miss it and end up speeding down the riverbank straight into the river. Jumping out would be another one but then her decision was made when a car appeared on the other side of the river and was about to cross the bridge, which was too small for two cars and Hermione couldn't risk another life and so she wrenched the steering wheel around and the car drove off the street, onto grass and down the riverbank.

Hermione heard the sound of brakes, probably from the other car and she had no idea what to do when she automatically reached for the door, opened it and let herself fall out of the car right before it crashed into the river.

She was hurled through the air, a soundless scream on her lips and then her body hit the ice-cold water of the river with a painful splash.

She swallowed water and the current immediately carried her away, just in time before the car crashed into the river as well. It caused the water to go more wild and she tumbled around, her lungs burning and then she hit her head on something and would the water carry the car after her as well? Would she be crushed by it at some point?

She had no sense of what was happening, just the pain everywhere and she knew it would be over soon with the coldness of the water, and the fact that she wasn't able to reach the surface. She choked, water entering her mouth and she wanted to cry and scream and then the river flattened out and Hermione was able to reach the ground and the next moment she broke the surface and gasped for air.

The river became shallow and broad and she was able to stand easily now. She turned around and saw that she had been carried away a good distance from the bridge. She saw the other car still standing there and two figures, which made Hermione duck down into the water again.

Her head hurt, she had a laceration on her forehead, she knew that because she reached up and her fingers came back wet and bloody. The water was cold and she was freezing but she forced herself to stay down and to follow the river further. She spotted some bushes near its edge a few meters away and she wanted to get out behind them. Otherwise she might be spotted when she crawled out in the open.

When she reached the bushes she looked back and saw the two figures still standing by the bridge. She had no idea if they had seen her jump out of the car or not but she didn't think about it further and then used the branches of the bushes to pull herself out of the water.

She checked her surroundings and saw that if she climbed up the steep riverbank, she would only be a short run away from the forest. It was really only a small grove, she already could see the building of a company on the other side of the trees. Ducking behind the bushes, she looked back towards the bridge once more and then she heard the sirens of a police car in the distance.

She had to get away before the police arrived and so she forced herself to get ready and then she sprinted up the hill with a pant and across a dirt road, which ran along the forest's edge and then she disappeared into the trees.

She didn't wait, didn't look back but jumped through the undergrowth of the trees. Logs and branches were in her way but she told herself to continue because the police were the least of her worries. Malfoy and the bloody snake were a whole different story and they would be faster than her. She reached the edge and found herself in the parking lot of some grey and dark looking building. She had been right with the industrial area because chimneys towered against the sky and around her was the sound of loud machines and cars. She ducked away again and spotted a row of parked lorries. They were rather small and had tarpaulins in the back, which were only held together by two buckles.

Hermione wondered if she should hide in one but then she jerked back, when she heard two voices. She leant carefully forwards and saw that a man was standing next to the driver's side of the lorry behind which she was standing. She wasn't able to see the other man.

"Hey, Josh, dude, you heading out again?"

"Yeah, some intern screwed up and 200 units are missing in an order. The boss needed someone to drive them over immediately and I volunteered. It's just a two-hour drive, so I said that I'll do it if I can get off earlier tomorrow."

"Your choice, man. But take the outer road, something's blocking the bridge into town."

"Will do, thanks. See ya tomorrow!"

Hermione didn't listen to the rest, she immediately reached for the lowest buckle on the tarpaulin and opened it. She heard the car door slam shut and the lorry start and she heaved herself into the back of it just when it started to drive. She was able to buckle the two tarpaulin sides together again but they didn't completely close, so the two sides were open beneath the buckles and as the car picked up on speed, Hermione felt a draft of cold air.

She was still wet and drenched from the river and she knew that it would be her death if she would sit two hours in the direct draft of wind. She turned around and spotted a few boxes behind her. The back wasn't really crowded but it wasn't really big either, yet she managed to squeeze herself between two boxes and found an empty space behind them. She cowered down behind a box and was glad when she wasn't able to feel any draft there. There was even some sort of fabric draped over the boxes and she pulled it off of them. She knew that she had to get out of her wet clothes and so she stripped carefully, even though it wasn't so easy as the lorry drove over potholes.

When she managed to get her jeans and jumper off, she wrapped the rather ratty fabric around herself. It smelled horrible but she was so cold that she really hadn't another option.

She arranged her clothes on the boxes, hoping that they would dry a little but she doubted it. In the end, she sighed and sat back, pulling the fabric closer around herself while she leant her head against the box.

Now, she needed to hope that she had really managed to escape.

She had jumped off the lorry while the driver had taken a bathroom break. She checked first where they had parked and when it turned out to be a petrol station near a town's edge, next to the highway, she decided to give it a go. She had no idea how long they were driving but the sun had set and she was sure that they would reach their destination soon. As the man had to deliver the boxes in the back, Hermione didn't want to risk to stay in there any longer. Having him find her hiding in there would probably have ended badly.

So, she had put on her damp clothes again, and when he disappeared around the corner of the small store at the station, she had opened the tarpaulin again and jumped out. It was pure luck that nobody saw her do it. She quickly walked away from the lorry and headed towards the street, which led into what looked like a big city.

It was already dark outside and only the streetlights gave her some light. She was in another industrial area again, which was probably better than in some suburb, where she would definitely draw some attention.

Her head was still hurting and her lungs burned and her body ached but she kept on walking until she couldn't anymore. She looked around and found herself in front of some building, which looked like it was abandoned. There was a broken barrier and Hermione looked left and right before she quickly slipped past it She had taken the fabric from the lorry with her to have at least some sort of blanket to sleep under. She wandered the empty parking lot and looked at the building with its broken windows and graffitied walls.

She tried to find an entrance, ignoring the No Trespassing sign at the doors. They were all locked but then she came upon a building in the back, which had no doors. She walked inside and critically looked around before she sighed in defeat. The floor was dusty and dirty and she knew that she really didn't want to sleep on there. She then found a back room, and nearly squealed when she spotted an old first-aid cabinet hanging on the wall. Praying, she opened it and found an old and nearly empty bottle of rubbing alcohol and some rather yellow-looking gauze.

"Can't get worse," she mumbled before she put the fabric down and screwed the bottle open to put some of the alcohol on the gauze. She dabbed it around on her forehead, hoping that she were able to clean it.

She hissed in pain at the sting and let out a row of curses.

In the end, she didn't stay there.

She took the bottle and the rest of the gauze and then continued to walk further into the city. She was in Durham, North Carolina, she found that out after walking by a advertisement of a local supermarket.

She was still cold, her body hurt and she had no money or any idea where the hell she should go next. She thought about what to do and the only thought that came her was that she needed to get money from somewhere. With money, she could get food and clothes and a bus or train ticket to somewhere else.

Her legs started to hurt but she forced herself to continue and after a while she came upon a busier part of town. There were a few stores around, a drug store, which was open 24/7 and some pizza place, which didn't look exactly welcoming. She passed them quickly and then continued down the street until she reached a rather busy intersection. She kept her head down and tried to stay in the shadow of the buildings when she spotted the drunk group of people coming in her direction. It was a group of girls and they were giggling and stumbling along with difficulties. Hermione spotted the handbag one of them was carrying in one hand rather than having the strap of the small bag around her shoulder. She was walking outside, another girl on her arm while she laughed at something loudly.

Hermione bit her lower lip, guilt pooling in her stomach but there was no other way, she told herself.

She started to walk fast and when she drew level with the group Hermione bumped into the girl on the right, who yelped drunkenly and let go of her handbag when Hermione grabbed it and gave it a tug.

"Sorry," she mumbled as the girl staggered and with her all the others. They were too surprised and occupied with trying to catch their balance to pay attention to Hermione, who shoved the handbag into the thick fabric in her arms and pressed it against her chest.

She heard the girls laughing behind her and it was clear how drunk they really were when the other girl didn't even notice that her handbag was gone from her hand.

Hermione sped up, crossed the street and kept walking. She looked back every now and then but nobody was following her. She huffed out air in relief.

She didn't dare to take the handbag out of the bundle of smelly fabric for another while to see what was inside but she slowly felt hungry and her clothes were still wet and cold. When she passed a still open second-hand shop, she stopped and finally pulled the small bag out.

There was a purse inside, a bunch of keys, a lipstick, two condoms and a roll of peppermints. She opened the purse and found that the girl had nearly 300 dollars inside, plus a credit card and her ID. Looking up at the second-hand store, Hermione didn't think much and entered the empty store, the clerk at the cash register didn't even look up.

Hermione quickly went through it and besides a new pair of jeans, a jumper, and a dark hoodie, she also got a backpack and a woolly blanket. After paying, she quickly changed in one of the improvised dressing rooms, stuffing the rubbing alcohol, the gauze and her damp clothes into the backpack.

Outside the store, she dumped the fabric and then continued down the street until she reached another drug store. Thinking about the credit card in the purse, she quickly got inside and bought as much as she could think of. She got water and some snacks, new bandages and rubbing alcohol. She got a pocket mirror, wet wipes and more hygiene products. She bought a map of North Carolina and also of the east coast of America and then she added three bottles of pain medication as well.

The cashier gave her a funny look, especially with her slash on the forehead but Hermione just smiled at him sweetly and said "Rough night!" and then paid with her stolen credit card.

From Durham, she managed to get to Charlotte by train. She had gotten food and directions to the train station and from there, she had taken the first train in the morning to Charlotte.

Once she was there, she stole some more money, again from a drunk teenager and again, she felt really bad about it. She stayed the night at the cheap Motel and showered and used the bed to get a few hours of sleep before she traveled to the next city.

She had no idea what to do but the day after that, she was sitting in a diner having breakfast, when she spotted her face on the local news. Her car accident was talked about and the story was that Heather Green stole her parents' car and crashed it off the bridge, and then fled. It wasn't so bad, Hermione first thought, until they came to the part where Heather's parents, Rick and Nicole Green, were found murdered inside their house, and apparently the dead bodies had been mutilated and were covered in bite marks, with their intestines gone.

Heather was declared dangerous and mentally unstable and any sightings should be reported immediately. It was the wrong name but it was clearly a picture of Hermione and she wondered if she was still registered in the UK and if she could pretend like this was just a really, really odd coincidence. At least, they said that Heather was American and with her British accent, Hermione hoped that she would sidetrack people. But she knew that it wouldn't be enough and therefore made another trip to the drug store and bought hair dye, fake glasses and some scissors.

She cut off her hair with despair. Now, it ended just below her ears, the back was shorter and the curls still stayed, so it looked a little puffed up at first. After that, she dyed it black and tried to get the curls out a little to make it more wavy than curly. She put on the glasses and threw away her old clothes because those were the ones Heather was last seen in.

After that, she bought a bus ticket to Atlanta and from there she continued to Louisville.

She never stayed longer than two days at the same city and always made sure to be on the move. She tried to find a magical community somewhere but she didn't know what to look for and so it turned out to be an impossible task.

She had read about Magical America of course, the history of the MACUSA, which was located in New York, but she didn't know how the regular wizard or witch lived in America. She thought about heading to New York but that would be the obvious answer and she would probably be awaited there.

She tried to spot odd people, which didn't fit in and she asked for potion ingredients every now and then but people just sent her off to supermarkets or other regular stores.

When she arrived in Chicago, she had the feeling of being followed again. Not that she hadn't had the feeling before but this time it was different. It felt closer, having to look constantly over her shoulder different.

She got a room at an ordinary motel and then roamed the city for more supplies and the chance to get some more cash. She got rather good at stealing, much to her dismay.

She walked by a yardsale and something caught her eye and she bought it for ten dollars.

Contacting Harry and Ron was constantly on her mind. Asking for help, getting back to England, it was her priority besides surviving and she often thought about how to do it. She had no owl and virtually no chance of finding one. Of course, she could send a regular letter but she had no address to send it to. Harry was gone from his aunt's place, the Weasleys had no real address and Grimmauld Place couldn't be found. She doubted Hogwarts had a Muggle postbox.

There was a spell on her mind, which she had studied last year. She had found it in the Restricted Section of Hogwarts Library and it had been on her mind for a while now. The bequest charm was illegal and complicated but it wasn't impossible.

With a little research in a public library, she would be able to collect the right ingredients for the potion. The main problem was the missing wand for the spell and the special quill, which needed to be a feather from a thunderbird.

If she only had a wand.

Hermione continued to think about what she could do to get a wand, when she spotted them. Dressed in black, they stood at the street corner and talked quietly but intensely. Walking past them was insane and yet, Hermione ducked her head and made sure to hold up the muggle device she just bought. As she came closer, she caught their American accents and deflated a little.

"So, what about the Mudblood now? Still no trace?"

"They are close. Rowle said that she's in this city and that they will get her in the next days probably. The Malfoy kid tasted blood and is hellbent on finding her. He probably better should after the punishment he received when she was able to flee."

"Still the snake?"

"Oh hell yeah. That fucking beast did some work on him."

"What should we do until then?"

"Wait for instructions. We will get an update tonight. At the docks."

Hermione hurried away and then slipped into a busy burger place. She went to get something to eat before she seated herself in a dark corner of the place and waited.

Malfoy was here in Chicago.

She had been right about her feeling. He was here and he had followed her. And he almost found her. She would have to leave the city right now, but then again, what good would it do? They would just follow her again.

And now, she at least had an advantage. They would meet tonight at the docks for an update on something. Maybe it was on her or maybe it was on something else as well. If she left then she wouldn't know and how high were the chances that she would manage to eavesdrop on another conversation like that?

Maybe she would be able to follow one of them and take their wand.

What else did she have to lose? If she left, then she had nothing. If she stayed, then she had at least a small chance.

Determined, Hermione got up and left the restaurant. She walked back to her motel, locked the door and closed the blinds on the windows before she put her purchase from this morning on the bed.

It was a tape recorder.

After she had bought it, she went to the drug store to get batteries and an empty tape. She had been on her way back when she had spotted the two men.

She wanted to record the tape for Harry, tell him about what had happened to her until today, October 18th. She figured that the tape would be harder to figure out than a simple letter, in case the Death Eaters intercepted it. She thought about sending it via post again but then decided that the bequest charm would do.

If she was able to get a wand tonight, she would put the charm on the tape in the next day or so. Having a wand should gain her another advantage. She would take the tape with her tonight, in case she didn't get a wand. She pinned her hopes on Malfoy's ego, that if she was caught, then maybe she could convince him to give it to Harry. He probably would do it to make a sick point in being the one who delivered Hermione Granger's last words to the famous Harry Potter.

Malfoy would do it, she was pretty sure of it.

But her top priority as to try and get a wand and put the charm on the cassette tape. Maybe she had gained a few more days before they caught up with her. Who knows?

She sighed and sat down on the shabby motel bed, put the batteries in the recorder and put the empty tape in. She sighed again, took a deep breath and then pressed record.

"Harry, it's Hermione..."

And this is it, Harry. The whole story. And I'm currently sitting on this motel bed in this room, and tonight I will go down to the docks and do my best to get a wand.

So many things could happen there. I could die, be captured, flee with or without a wand. Maybe I'll get a wand and then they will still catch me a moment later. Or maybe I get the wand and flee for two more days and then they catch me. Or for a week, a month, I don't know.

So many things could happen but there are only three ways for you to obtain this tape. Either it's given to you by a Death Eater after my death, or I was able to cast the bequest charm before something happened to me, or it was given to you by me. Or maybe you'll never receive this and it's all been for nothing.

At the moment, the first one seems to be the most realistic, doesn't it?

I know, what a stupid idea to go to the docks but I have no choice, Harry. I hoped I would, but I don't.

No matter when or if you ever receive this tape - I love you, Harry. And you, too, Ron! I love you both so dearly, I can't even put it in words.

If the war is over and you won, then congratulations, Harry, I knew you were able to beat him! If the war is still going, then keep on fighting, Harry. I know that you will win in the end.

Always fight, Harry, no matter what.

This side is almost full, so you will probably have to listen to Side B to find out what happens next.

If it's empty, I was caught tonight. If it's not, then I wasn't.

Only one way to find out.