Chapter 26: Too Much Time on a Bus

I found myself knocking on Carol's door, an envelope in hand. Part of me wished she wouldn't answer just so I could stay just a bit longer.

"Hermione, dear, how are you? Did your cat knock over anything too important?" Carol asked.

"Oh no," I said with a weak smile. "But I have to travel again for my job. It was a surprise, so I don't have anything prepared. My friend Harry is going to take care of things for me, so I wondered if you could give this to him when he stops by."

"Absolutely. Goodness gracious, your job must really keep you busy," Carol said.

I nodded. "Thank you so much, Carol."

As soon as she went back into her flat, I pulled out my wand. I cast every protective spell I could think of on Carol's flat, and I could only hope that it would be enough of a deterrent that the Death Eaters would merely pass it by.

I had hoped I wouldn't need to, but I had made a plan for this very possibility. Now was time to put it into action.

When I apparated to my house, I found that the wards hadn't been tampered with, but it was just a matter of time before Death Eaters came barging in.

I found Draco in the library, clearly debating over several different books. Despite how terrible reality was, I found myself smiling. "You can bring both."

Draco startled, but smiled shakily. "I think I will. I was just… remembering. I remember seeing you with these books quite a lot."

I looked at the books and was surprised to see my copies of Hogwarts: A History and The Tales of Beetle the Bard. The two were easily the most worn books I owned, and Draco had noticed. Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I said, "Let me see the bag for a moment."

He handed it over, and I managed to transfigure the small, beaded bag into a black fanny pack.

Draco looked at it distastefully. "What is that?"

"It's called a fanny pack. It's the height of Muggle fashion," I lied, offering it to Draco. "It clips around your waist."

He furrowed his brow. "Clips?"

"Oh, I forgot that wizard clothes don't really have buckles like this. Let me show you."

We spent too much time simply enjoying our last moments like this, moments that we could pretend life was normal. But every moment that we waited put Draco at a higher risk of being found.

I was indecisive at fist. One way or another, this was going to come to a fight; I could feel it in my bones. I was as prepared as I could be, which was already more prepared than I had been during the war.

It would be enough. It had to be.

How to travel had been a long, hard debate for me for quite a while. When it finally came down to it, I apparated us to a very rural town in Canada where I managed to get a ride to the nearest large city. The person giving us the ride was a Muggleborn who headed the Canadian sect of the golden trio's fan club.

From that larger city, Draco and I boarded a Greyhound bus to Anchorage, Alaska. As we boarded the bus, I could tell Draco was excited to experience his first bus ride. Vehicles in general seemed to fascinate him. I just hoped he could retain some of his wonder after spending an eternity on a Greyhound.

Eyes bright with excitement, Draco was practically bouncing in his seat. "So this moves all by itself? It's not pulled or pushed by anything?"

"No, it's a machine like the Hogwarts Express, just not magical. It runs on fuel," I said, feeling the questioning eyes of the people in front of us. Smiling thinly, I told the couple, "He's recently reformed Amish. It's his first bus ride."

The couple nodded in understanding, and before they turned back, the man said, "My daughter has an Amish friend."

I launched into a ridiculously long explanation of how vehicles work. It was by no means a full explanation, but Draco seemed to hang off of every word.

He asked me about more and more muggle things, anywhere from technology to… cultural aspects of muggle life. I explained things as well as I could, but sleepless nights were beginning to catch up with me. Before I realized it was happening, my eyes closed, and I drifted off to sleep.

This time around I didn't dream. Instead, as I slept I simply felt an overwhelming sense of peace and safety. It also smelled like a forest of fir trees.

I found myself curling up more, asking in the serenity that enveloped me. I stayed just like that for as long as I could stretch out my nap, and even then I kept my eyes closed a little longer, unwilling to leave my unexpected haven.

Finally the call to wake was too strong. I opened my eyes to see hints of sunlight beginning to wake the world around us. My head was leaning up against something firm and warm Gently moving my head, I found myself nestled against Draco's chest, with his arms keeping me from escaping.

Fully aware of my situation, I felt my face turn bright red, radiating heat. I tried to formulate a way to extricate myself from his arms without waking him. Before I could though, he mumbled, "Stay, Hermione."

At his voice I froze, slightly mortified. "How long have you been awake?"

Draco cracked a single silver eye open. "Long enough to know you'd be embarrassed. We're running for our lives, Granger, you're allowed to relax for a moment, Especially if it means cuddling with me."

"You're terrible," I mumbled into his chest.

"You really should have expected something like this when you stuck us together on this bus for so long," he grinned.

I smiled, but it didn't last long. "We're almost there, so let me warn you. I'm taking you to a place where they can help you safely regain all of your memories. My method is working, they can just offer some… alternate methods."

Draco finally let me go, but part of me (most of me) missed his arms around me. I sat up straight, trying to assess the state of my hair.

"I trust you," he said abruptly. "I know you'll do everything you can to keep me safe."

Exhaling a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, I smiled back at him. "I'm glad."

Looking at me earnestly, he said, "I hope one day you can come to trust me too."

An unexpected giggle broke free. "I wouldn't kiss someone I didn't trust."

HE said it with much the same attitude that one would throw down a gauntlet. Before I could talk myself out of it, I darted forward and pecked him on the lips. Then I whispered, "We remember that differently then."

Draco was stunned for a moment before he blushed bright red and looked away. "You can't just do that! I wasn't ready."

"You practically dared me to! I am a Gryffindor, after all," I said, feeling my face turn equally red. "Besides, we're adults. I don't know why you're acting so shy."

"I don't know!" he said, sinking into his chair. "All I can say is that I'm glad that you're a better kisser than Pansy Parkinson."

Grinning wickedly, I raised an eyebrow. "You remember snogging Pansy Parkinson?"

"I remember feeling disgusted after kissing Pansy Parkinson," Draco hurriedly corrected.

I smiled faintly. "I'll believe you this time. Just please never go into detail about your past relationships."

Draco wriggled his eyebrows. "Getting all hot and bothered?"

"How do you feel knowing that Ron was a really sloppy kisser? Honestly, sometimes it felt like I was kissing the giant squid from Hogwarts, especially when-"

"Point taken," Draco interrupted. "Let's never talk about any of this again."

"Agreed," I said, "We're pulling into our bus stop."

"We finally get to leave this cursed vehicle?" Draco asked.

"Yep."

While Draco celebrated, I began gathering our things back into the fanny pack that was once my beaded bag.

At the bus stop, Draco stared wearily at a seemingly homeless old man that was lounging across one of the benches. His hair was matted and dirty enough that it was impossible to determine what color it actually was. He wore sweatpants a few sizes too big that looked like they were in jeopardy of falling off at any moment, while his t shirt was a size too small. The size of the shirt was inconsequential as it was so tattered that it could barely be considered a shirt any longer.

Draco tensed. "That beggar is staring at us. Be ready to fight."

With a sigh, I steeled myself to walk over to the man. "Martin, could you try to look at least halfway decent?"

"Not in public," he said in a surprisingly silky voice. "Follow me."

Draco looked incredibly worried as he trailed after me to Martin's car.

I sighed. "Must you flaunt the Porsche every time I visit?"

"We have to spend more time in a vehicle?" Draco groaned.

"This is going to be a lot nicer than the bus," Martin promised. "And yes, Granger, I do have to flaunt the Porsche for you. I'm still determined to get you to work with me."

Settling into the incredibly comfortable passenger seat, I tried to keep my face impassive. "I'm sorry, but I can't deal with this disguise, it's positively putrid."

"I nearly forgot." Procuring his wand, Martin mumbled a few words and his features melded from dirty homeless man to a man with fantastic hair and piercing green eyes. It was a face that more than a few girls had fallen for in university.

Twisting in his seat, he stuck a hand out to Draco. "Ian Martindale, pleasure to meet you. I'm sure Hermione has told you all about me."

Draco stared Martin down warily. "She's never mentioned you."

"I am truly wounded, Granger. You really should tell your friends about your future partner," Martin said dramatically.

Massaging my temples, I said, "Draco, meet Martin. We went to university together, and he used his intelligence to start a wildly successful business, which he wants me to join as well. But I won't, because I'm trying to use my life to do good, not get rich."

"You could do both with me! You're too good for the Ministry of Magic, they don't appreciate you nearly enough. Speaking of people not appreciating you, congratulations on escaping marriage with Weasley. He was always an idiot, and Hermione Weasley just sounds like a crime against humanity," Martin said smoothly.

Draco nodded sagely. "I think I might like this guy. He's got a good head."

I rubbed my temples again. "I have a bad feeling about this."

A/N: Hey, I'm alive! Things have been completely insane for me lately. My college classes are kicking my butt this semester, I just got a job, and I wrote like five essays in this last week alone. I also lost my notebook for a while and didn't have time to rewrite the chapter, but I found it and all is well! This chapter isn't my finest, but hopefully you guys still like it. As always reviews and follows are greatly appreciated (and when I get an email to notify me it reminds me that I should be writing). For once I'm not typing or posting this at an absurd time of night, but there probably are a few typos because I recently got a kitten who really enjoys walking on my laptop when I'm using it.