The Fallout by EveryThursday (reposted)

Thirty-Two

Day: 1473; Hour: 17

Hermione scans the store quickly as soon as the woman's back is turned, finding nothing but the trail of water and dirt her boots had made. The sign on the door and the clock on the wall tell her it's ten minutes until closing, and she can't even hear the wheels of a cart over the elevator music playing through the speakers. Hermione ducks under the counter before the cashier's back is even out of sight, staring at the computer for two seconds like she's never seen one before.

Her fingers feel stiff and awkward on the keys, and then she hits panic, opening the internet and trying to remember. The piece of paper Draco gave her is shaking between her fingers as she punches in the numbers and hits Enter. Her eyes track across the map quickly, counting twice before she closes the website.

"Shit," she whispers, grabbing a small stuffed animal from the box on the counter and using it to wipe up her mess on the floor. She slides back out to the other side of the counter, the eye of the little monkey scraping against the floor as she wipes at one more streak.

She stands up, fully expecting the woman to be back and staring at her, but she still doesn't see her. Hermione shoves the monkey deep into the box, catching an elephant before it hit the floor. The tiles were still dirtier than they were, but at least there were no puddles. She's about to turn and jet out of the store until she sees a red string, a savings card, a name tag, keychains, and a set of keys.

The directions she had gotten from the website said that P&P had been off by about ten kilometers. They would have to continue East for that long before hitting a left, and it wasn't going to be an easy task. They would no doubt be running along a Muggle highway, in the dark, like a bunch of crazy people. Her legs hurt with just the idea of it, the skin on her thighs and ribs chapped and rubbed raw, and she wanted this mission to be over already. The longer it took them, the better the chance that there would be nothing left when they got there.

Hermione doesn't even really think before she's reaching forward, grabbing the key with the black box at the end, the letter H marked in white. Her fingers are numb on the metal ring, twisting it quickly, and taking two keys off to get to the one she wanted. She pockets the one to a car, her nail cracking as she hurries to slide the other two back on again. Her heart is thumping wildly and she can make out the click of shoes over the music now.

Twist, twist, and two keychains jingle off one another. Hermione holds her breath, as if the inanimate objects will now get that silence is preferred. She slides it back to where she had grabbed it from, her eyes wide on the dirt-smudged brass, and lets her forehead hit her hand on the counter. On her third breath the cashier clears her throat. Hermione looks up to find her emerging from the aisle, and it takes her two tries to smile.

"I'm sorry, we can't do that. Do you have the address? I might know where it is, or you can buy a map..." The woman returns the fake smile and then drops the pretense when she spots the dirt on the counter.

"Oh. Alright, I'll just try Floo...calling one of my friends again. Thank you anyway!"

"Sure," the cashier mutters, bending to retrieve cleaner and a roll of paper towels.

Hermione has to remind herself not to run as she leaves, shoving her hand into her pocket to wrap around the car key. She turns sharply toward the side of the building when the doors close behind her, and she raises her hand, folding it and moving her thumb as if she's dialing a number. As soon as she passes the windows, she throws herself forward into a run, puddles of water slapping up into her jeans.

Seven heads snap toward her when she rounds the corner, and the young girl raises her wand. An Auror gives her a stern look and smacks her hand down. Draco's smug look isn't there, perhaps because he's gone on too many missions with her to not know when she's in a panic.