Run || Harry Potter FF

iii || hitchhiking

The next morning was awkward to say the least. "So, uh, I thought we could walk to the next village today." His face was red and it had been that color since we'd woken up. He had apparently turned over in the middle of the night and cuddled up against me to warm up. Needless to say, he was embarrassed.

"Walk? I don't think so," I said adamantly. We were standing outside of the house now, leaning on the fragile-looking yet surprisingly sturdy structure. The ground was wet and muddy, bathing my white tennis shoes in icky brown muck which I was currently trying to scrape off with a stick. It was no use though, since we'd be trekking through it again soon so I quickly gave up, throwing the stick on the ground in annoyance.

"What else are we supposed to do? I've been walking from place to place for weeks now," Draco argued. He seemed to be getting over his earlier embarrassment, or at least forgetting about it momentarily.

"Can't we do that magic thing that you did yesterday?"

"What part of 'they're tracking all magic use' did you not understand?" 

I sighed. "Well, we're sure as hell not walking. I'll think of something," I promised, already digging in my bag that was wrapped across my torso. I grabbed a hair tie and put my hair up, which is what I always did when I had to think.

"Why is your shirt all red?" he asked once my hair was up.

I looked at him curiously before stretching out my shirt so I could see what he was talking about. I groaned when I realized what had happened. "The rain got my hair wet... This color always stains everything," I explained, trying to get rid of it to no avail.

When I realized it was a lost cause, I began digging through my bag again, which was completely soaked on the inside.. My heart lept when I saw my cell phone and I took it out with a grin on my face. "I can just call my parents to come get us!" I squealed, attempting to turn it on.

But it didn't work. Frustrated, I tried again. Nothing. "Great! My phone is ruined. God, my parents are going to be so mad..."

I heard Draco snort from where he was standing. Just as I was about to say something, I remembered that he didn't even have parents anymore. And here I was, worrying about what mine would say about my phone. My problems were so insignificant in comparison. "I know how you feel...," I began. "About the parent situation, I mean."

"Do you?" he said in a grim tone, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, sort of. I mean, obviously my parents are still alive but...remember when I said that I got into Oxford but couldn't go because of...stuff? Well, my dad got cancer and I swear, for months, I honestly thought he was going to die. It was so hard..."

"Well, the difference is that your parents are still alive and mine are dead."

I looked down at my feet. "I know. I'm sorry."

Silence fell between us. Once again, I felt like a helpless, pathetic idiot--a feeling so familiar. I busied myself by searching my bag once again. And within that was my, our, nirvana. My hands wrapped around a soggy wad of cash that I had forgotten was in there. "Money," I breathed, thanking the heavens.

I ripped it out and counted it. Forty pounds. It may not have been much but in that moment, it was as valuable as a million. But what were we going to do with it? There wasn't a train station around... And we obviously didn't have a car... "We could pay someone to take us back to my village...," I suggested.

"So you're saying we should hitch a ride with some stranger?"

"Says the guy who just spent the night with 'some stranger'!" I said, my voice rising. If we were going to get out of here, he would have to start cooperating a little.