Runaway
Prologue
By: KZerina
It had been five whole minutes. Hermione had been finding many nit-picky things about which to complain having to do with her boyfriend, Harry Potter. These were anything from his love of Quidditch to his grades, which weren't that bad anyway. The two had never fought in their two years of dating, or even in their six years of friendship, and this was a one-sided argument. Hermione argued, while Harry stood there with a mixture of confusion and fear on his face that grew even more confused as she threw her silver pendant necklace with sapphires surrounding a ruby lightning bolt, the most precious symbol of their relationship, at him. He barely caught it as it ricocheted off his chest. He looked at it and swallowed hard. Hermione stormed out of the boys' dormitory with a snort.
She stomped into her dormitory and was going to fume while sitting on her bed, but then she stopped. She realized what she'd just done. She was totally overcome, and she broke down and cried herself to sleep that night.
When she woke up and went to breakfast, she found Ron sitting at the Gryffindor table examining a large bruise on his upper arm.
"Where's Harry?" she asked him.
Ron shrugged. "I didn't want to touch him. He might give me a matching set." He pointed at the ugly purple mark on his arm.
"Harry did that?" Hermione asked in astonishment.
"Yeah. He was being all zoned out. I went to see if he was all right. I touched his shoulder to get his attention, and he punched me, though I'm not sure if he realized it. He made no other responses to anything."
Hermione moved her attention to not crying. She hadn't meant to do this to him. She didn't know what she was doing or why she was doing it. She couldn't believe that she'd yelled at him for no reason whatsoever.
"Are you all right, Herm?" Ron asked, concerned. "You look like you're about to break down."
"That's because I am, Ron. You don't know why he's like that, do you?"
"No, he wasn't exactly very talkative last night, and he was still sleeping when I got up this morning, or at least he looked like he was asleep." Ron put his arm around her and held her while she fought back the tears. "It'll be okay, Herm. He'll get over it."
"He might, but I don't know how long that'll take. I'd tell you what was wrong with him if we weren't in the Great Hall."
"You know?"
"Yeah, but I'll have to tell you later."
Ron nodded and held her comfortingly. Hermione still felt like crying, but her red-haired best friend's willingness to help kept her from doing so. She was quite grateful to him for that.
Both ate breakfast quietly and went back to the Tower together.
"You know," Ron said, "if we're not careful, everyone's going to think you're cheating on Harry."
That comment made Hermione want to cry even more; though she couldn't blame Ron for his ignorance of what happened the previous night. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly and deeply. Ron stopped and looked back at her.
"What? Did I do something wrong?"
"Not since you didn't know. You mentioned Harry's and my relationship. It's just a touchy subject."
"Touchy? Why?"
"That's what I have to tell you about."
"Bloody hell. You mean it's-" Ron stuttered.
"Over," Hermione finished. She choked back tears as she sat on the couch behind her and put her face in her hands, where tears leaked through. Ron sat down next to her and held her as a best friend, trying unsuccessfully to comfort her.
"So that's why he's acting weird, but if you're crying, and he wants time to himself, who ended it?"
"I did. I don't know what happened. I just-I don't know."
She turned away from Ron, tears still welling up in her eyes. She wiped them away with the sleeve of her robes. "I'm going to my room," she told Ron. "I'm going to lie down. If anyone asks, I don't feel well."
As she went upstairs, Harry brushed past her. They bumped shoulders, and Harry didn't even mutter an apology as he normally would for anyone, nor did he look back. He didn't seem to notice Ron sitting on the couch as he swept through the common room and out of the Tower. He didn't seem to be in a pleasant mood, though she couldn't blame him after what she'd done to him.
Hermione sighed and continued on her way. She went and lay down on her bed, crying into her pillow. She ignored her dorm mates when they asked what was wrong or gossiped in the corner. She couldn't believe what she'd done. How could she have done that to Harry?
She was lucky it was a Saturday since she cried herself to sleep even though it was morning. She couldn't keep herself from crying. She couldn't bring herself to go to Harry and explain, either. She just couldn't let him see her like this-blotchy, puffy eyes; red, wet cheeks; hyperventilation. He couldn't see this, not even a glimpse.
As she gained some of her senses after walking up around noon, Hermione took Hogwarts, A History out of her trunk and began reading it. Halfway through the first page, she shut the book and put it away since she even had trouble reading her favorite book. She just lay on her bed and clutched her pillow to keep from crying.
A rap on the door caught her attention. Maybe it was Harry coming to see her and tell her everything was all right between them, even though they had a bad time with the breakup, but she soon found out that she was hoping for too much. Ron had come to see if she wanted to go eat lunch.
She replied with an affirmative, though it was a sad response since she'd gotten her hopes up.
"I'm sure it'll be okay once he cools off," Ron tried to comfort. "He can't stay mad and aloof forever."
"Never underestimate him. He can do anything he sets his mind to."
Hermione sighed and put on a pair of shoes, almost on the wrong feet. Crookshanks approached and demanded attention that he didn't receive to which he was very indignant.
During a very silent lunch, Harry came in sat at the end of the table closest to the doors. Many of the students looked at him, but one glare from his burning, green eyes made them turn back to what they were doing. He ate and left-nothing more, nothing less. Only what was necessary.
The teachers who noticed looked concerned, even Snape. He may hate Harry, but even he can tell when something is wrong with him and doesn't want him to be that way since it could possibly be dangerous for him and his precious Slytherins.
Hermione was worried for Harry. She decided to let him cool off and then apologize to him for her stupid outburst. Hopefully he would calm down soon. She couldn't stand not being able to talk to him.
Hermione finished her lunch and went back to Gryffindor Tower to read something. She was hoping to at least see Harry, but he wasn't there. He'd probably gone off to think somewhere, like the lake or the Quidditch pitch. He'd return soon, possibly cooled off after his time to think; then she could talk to him.
She went to her dormitory, semi-smiling that she'd be able to talk to him that evening and everything would be back to what it had been, before the previous night. Hermione pulled out the book she had checked out of the library a couple days earlier and continued reading it.
Later, Parvati and Lavender came in blabbering about Harry and how angry he seemed. They were curious to know why he was that way and why Ron and Hermione weren't with him. When they asked, Hermione put her book away and left the room, heading for the library, where she would have a chance for peace and quiet, away from all the gossip in her dormitory. Normally she would just tune it out, but this time the subject involved someone too close to her heart. She couldn't stand it. They never even thought about what they were saying or what it could mean to the other people around them. They were so inconsiderate.
Hermione grabbed a book off the shelves and sat at a table reading it. She noticed someone sitting in a corner, moving quickly. Several books were scattered around him, and he was examining them carefully and scribbling on the parchment in his lap. She tried to look more closely at what he was studying so intently. It was then that she realized the boy was Harry, and he was examining a multitude of maps of Great Britain.
His eyes were filled with the same fiery stare, as they had been earlier, showing her that Harry was still angry so she couldn't talk to him now, even while they were alone. The concentration in his eyes, along with the bonfire, worried her. She wasn't sure what he was going to do with those maps he had or what he was writing down.
She didn't want to talk to him right then. It would just make matters worse than they already were. She couldn't do that. She wanted to be able to talk to him, but their relationship, even as friends, was sitting on the edge of a rocky cliff.
There was no sign that Harry had even noticed her sit down. She watched him for a few minutes before getting up and leaving him to his geographical studies. She checked out the book she'd picked up and left the library, but she wasn't sure where to go. She didn't want to go back to her dormitory for fear of the gossip chain hitting her up for information again, but then where should she go?
The pitch-the Quidditch pitch, that was it. She could be in Harry's favorite place in the entire world and have a part of him there without him actually being there to accidentally bother. It would have to do until she could talk to Harry again.
Hermione sat in the Gryffindor bleachers reading her book, and before she knew it, the sun was setting, and the owls were leaving for their nightly hunts. She headed back to the castle and went to dinner in the Great Hall. Harry hadn't shown up during any of the time she was at the pitch. Ron said that he hadn't seen anything of Harry since lunch, which was almost the same between everyone else who, if they had seen him, had only seen him passing in the hall.
Hermione knew this wouldn't boil over anytime soon. Harry wasn't communicating with anyone, not even Ron-no one.
After dinner, Hermione went to the common room and read more of her book, nearly to the end. Harry swept up to his dormitory, and Hermione assumed he'd gone to bed since he wasn't seen again before she went to bed, which was later than usual.
As she went to sleep, Hermione thought more about what she'd done to Harry and how he might be feeling. She realized how long it might take him to get over what she'd done since it was so sudden and uncalled for. She sighed and lay there for a while, eventually falling asleep.
Hermione woke up a little earlier than she usually did. While she showered, she decided that no matter what kind of mood Harry was in when she saw him next, she was going to talk to him and apologize for her actions. If he was still mad at her, so be it. At least she would get it over with and on her way to recovery.
After drying her hair, she went down to the common room to wait for Harry since it was still early for him. She lay back on the couch and waited. It seemed like hours before Ron came down.
"Ron, where's Harry?"
"Not now, Herm."
"Yes, Ron, now."
Ron looked at her. Hermione glared back. She wasn't going to let Ron go anywhere until he told her of Harry's whereabouts.
Ron's gaze slowly moved from hers as he sighed. "Come on."
Ron turned and trudged back up the spiral staircase. His attitude worried her. She wasn't sure what to expect when they reached the boys' dormitory. He wasn't dead, was he? No, Ron would be even worse off than he was if Harry had killed himself.
They reached the door, and Ron placed his hand gently on Hermione's shoulder before opening the door. He entered first with a sad face. He stepped aside for Hermione to enter and allowed her to take in the scene that had been revealed to her.
Harry's bed was completely unruffled. Not a wrinkle was in sight. His bedside table was clear of everything but a couple of candles. She didn't see anything wrong with the place. He'd just cleaned up after himself before going to breakfast.
"What?"
Ron looked at Hermione wide-eyed. "'What?' Herm, look. His trunk is gone," he said. He dragged her over to Harry's wardrobe and flung the doors open. "It's empty. Everything of his disappeared. It's gone. He's gone."
"Gone?"
Ron nodded. "He ran away, Herm. He's gone.."
"That's what he was doing with the maps…. Gone. He's gone. No…he can't be gone…. Harry…. No…."
Hermione sniffed and burst out of the room, tears streaming down her cheeks. She threw herself on her bed and cried harder than she'd ever cried before in her life.