The Minister's Daughter

6. On The Road

"PARKER!" Maurice heard the Prime Minister's voice when he picked up the phone. "Get in here this instant!"

Less than five minutes later, the time that Parker took to pull his pants on and run down the hall, he was standing in front of his fuming boss, listening to him recount the recent developments.

Katherine was also there as Mr. Granger had called on both of them. After yelling at them for leaving Hermione alone with Potter - the fact that it had being his idea seemed to have slipped Mr. Granger's mind - he ordered them to locate his daughter.

"Contact Potter! I'm sure she's still with him," he shouted. "I can't believe I trusted him!" Turning back to Katherine and Maurice, he said, "You two find her and bring her to me as soon as possible. I will not leave this country without my daughter!"

................................................

"Chicago!?" repeated a surprised Harry. "Hermione, do you know how far that is? Chicago is not around the corner."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "I know that, Harry. I did take geography classes, you know. Besides, it's not like I'm going to walk there. I'm sure there's plenty of ways to get there."

Harry looked at her questioningly. "You're going to go all the way to Chicago... on your own?" he asked teasingly.

"Yeah," she replied in a defensive way. "You think I can't take care of myself?"

"Well," he started mockingly. "I've had to save your arse more than a couple of times... in just one night! I can't imagine what would happen if you were to travel all the way to Chicago alone."

Hermione raised her chin. She didn't like to hear that, even if he had meant it only as a joke. Without saying one more thing to Harry, she turned her back on him and started walking towards the edge of the sidewalk.

Harry sighed. "Perhaps she is the spoiled girl I thought," he reasoned. Still, she was his responsibility until the moment one of her agents would replace him. So, after taking a deep breath, he ran after her.

By that time, Hermione had already hailed a taxi and was getting in. Harry barely reached them in time to jump in after her. When she noticed that, Hermione threw him a killer look and turned her face in the opposite direction.

"C'mon Hermione," he started, trying to smooth things out. "I was just kidding. Please don't be mad."

Hermione turned to look at him. "Don't you EVER doubt again, not even for one second, that I am capable of taking care of myself."

Mocking a salute, Harry raised his right hand and touched his forehead. "Yes, milady!"

Not being able to keep an angry expression anymore, Hermione laughed at his silliness while slapping him playfully on the arm.

"By the way..." he whispered in her ear. "How were you planning to pay for the taxi when you have no cash?"

Hermione turned to look at him. She had totally forgotten about her moneyless situation. "Well, I... uh, was going to..." But Harry never got to hear what she was going to say as they both started laughing at the same time.

Just then, the driver interrupted them. "Where to?" he asked.

Harry turned to look at her expectantly.

"The train station?" she said in what sounded more like a question. The driver nodded and focused his attention back on the road.

"The train station?" Harry repeated. "I thought you'd be taking a plane."

Hermione shook her head. "No. That's exactly what my father would expect me to do," she explained. "Hopefully this will buy me some time."

When the taxi arrived at the train station, they got out. Hermione took a look around and noticed something across the street. "I need to get some cash," she told Harry. He turned to see what she was pointing to and saw an ATM machine. They crossed the street and walked over to the machine. Once Hermione got what she needed, they headed into the station.

"What time does the next train to Chicago leave?" Hermione asked the woman behind the counter.

"It left an hour ago," she informed them. "The next one leaves at noon." Hermione looked disappointedly at Harry. She didn't want to wait that long. "If you want," the woman spoke again. "You can take the train to Columbus, Ohio. It'll take you half way there, and it's leaving in fifteen minutes."

Hermione's face quickly brightened. "Brilliant!" she said animatedly. "Give us two tickets, then," she said, looking at Harry. She was glad to see he had no objection to that.

"Hermione..." said Harry quickly, handing her some money.

Hermione, however, pushed his hand away without taking the money. "It's okay, Harry," she said nonchalantly. "It's on my Dad!"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I don't like!"

..................................................

Katherine and Maurice were standing outside Tony's. They had asked around to see if anybody knew where Harry and Hermione had gone the night before. Nobody had been able to give them any leads. They were disappointedly looking at each other. Coming there hadn't helped them one bit.

"Now what?" asked Maurice after he tried Harry's cell for the hundredth time, getting no response.

Kath took her time to reply. She paced around slowly, pondering the situation. After a while, she said, "Knowing Hermione, I can tell you she's going to do everything she can to not be found."

"Oh, that's just great!" said Maurice with a hint of sarcasm.

Ignoring his remark, Kath continued her out-loud thinking. "She knows that we could ask for police assistance, even when her father wouldn't fancy it." Kath continued pacing as Maurice looked expectantly at her. "Of course, the best way to stay out of our sight would be to... leave the city!" she said, turning to Maurice.

"Leave the city?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah! The Minister's obviously going to send agents all over the city. They're going to look under every rock for her. So... the smart thing to do would be to go where we wouldn't look for her."

Maurice was still not convinced. "I don't know... Do you really think she'd leave the city alone?"

"She's not alone. Potter's with her," Kath reminded him.

"How do you know he's still with her?" asked Maurice, trying to fight back her theory. "What if he left her? What if he took her back to the hotel and then she took off on her own afterwards?"

"No. I don't think he would do that," she quickly replied without a trace of doubt in her voice.

"How can you be so sure?" Maurice quickly spat out. "You barely know the bloke!"

"I've got a feeling, okay?"

"Alright, missy... If you're so clever, tell me where, according to you, Hermione would go? She doesn't know anybody in this bloody country!"

Kath thought about it for a while. In just a matter of minutes, her face brightened. "Actually, she does know somebody," she said triumphantly. Looking at Maurice's open mouth she continued, "Cynthia!"

That name didn't do anything for Maurice. He still looked puzzled.

Kath, who had been Hermione's escort at boarding school, knew all about Cynthia and her friendship with Hermione. After she explained those facts to Maurice, he asked, "And where does this Cynthia person live?"

"Chicago," she simply replied. Once again, Maurice's mouth fell open. Before he had time to process this new piece of information, Kath said, "Call the credit card company. Hermione didn't have enough cash. Find out if she's purchased a plane ticket to Chicago."

............................................................

Hermione admired the scenery through the window of the train compartment she was sharing with Harry Potter. They had just left the big city behind and now the train was speeding through smaller, not-as-sophisticated-as-NYC cities.

She sighed in relief. The farther away the train got from New York, the more relaxed and liberated she felt. She sat back on her seat and closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the rhythm of the train's movement.

She opened her eyes and found the emerald green eyes of Harry looking right at her, a smile in his face. He was resting in the seat across from hers. Hermione smiled back at him.

For a few silent minutes, they stared at each other. Hermione couldn't believe her luck. She was beginning an adventure along with a very nice guy. The fact that he was British seemed unbelievable. They could've crossed each other in the streets of London and never noticed it. It amazed her to see that faith brought them together in a city miles and miles away from their homeland.

Just then, a question came to her mind. "Harry, why did you come along?" she asked as her eyes never left his. Harry was not expecting this question. For a while, he didn't know what to say that would sound convincing enough so she wouldn't suspect his real reasons for following her.

Before he could find a suitable answer, Hermione spoke again, "I'd hate to know that I ruined your plans. You seemed to like New York."

"Don't worry," he finally said. "I was beginning to get bored there. It's best to see other places then, right?" Even though his voice sounded normal and relaxed, Hermione noticed that he avoided her eyes.

"Is that the only reason?" she asked tentatively, leaning a bit forward. Her brown eyes were desperately trying to read between the lines and find the real reason for his tagging along. Her suspicions, however, were not even close to the reality. Deep down, she hoped Harry had agreed to travel with her only to get to know her a bit better and to spend more time with her.

Trying to keep his eyes neutral, Harry dared looked back at her. "What other reason could I have?" he whispered, leaning forward as well. His gaze was so strong that she wasn't able to hold it.

Hermione sat back and tried to look calm, though her insides were boiling. She took a few deep breaths to slow down her heart and made an effort to resume a casual conversation. "Well, I'm sure you'll enjoy it," she said, looking at her fingernails to avoid his eyes, which she still felt on her. "I didn't read anything about Chicago, since I hadn't planned to leave New York. But I've heard Chicago also has plenty of interesting things to see."

"I'm sure I'll enjoy it," he said softly. When Harry noticed that she was beginning to blush, he smiled and took his gaze off of her. "What have I gotten myself into?" he thought, hoping this wouldn't cause trouble for either one of them.

.............................................

"Well," said Maurice after he hung up the phone. He had just called the credit card company. "She has not booked any flights," he informed Kath. They were sitting in the car, which was still parked outside Tony's. "But she made a cash withdrawal form one of those ATMs about an hour ago."

"Smart move!" said Kath impressed. "Using cash so we can't trace her that way, uh?" She went quiet for a second, pondering the information. "Do you know which ATM, its location?" she asked quickly, pulling out a street map of the city. Maurice handed her a piece of paper where he had written the address the customer service lady gave him.

Quickly, Kath was able to point out the street corner where Hermione had obtained the money. Her eyes scanned the surrounding area. She immediately noticed something that called her attention.

"Look!" she said. "A train station."

Maurice looked up at her triumphant expression. "You think she took a train to Chicago?" he asked, a hint of incredulity in his voice.

"Yeah," quickly replied Kath. "She's obviously trying to go the opposite way from our expectations. I'm sure Hermione guessed we'd first look at the airports. Taking a train would buy her some time."

Maurice smiled at his partner. He had to admit she was a clever woman. "Alright," he finally agreed as he started the car. "Which way should I go?" he asked ready to take directions from her.

Minutes later, they arrived at the train station. "Have you seen this girl?" Kath asked the woman at the counter. She and Maurice were asking to all of the attendants to see if any of them could recognize Hermione's picture. "She was accompanied by a tall, handsome guy."

Maurice made a disbelieving noise deep in his throat at Kath's words.

"Oh yes!" the woman replied, looking at the photo and ignoring Maurice. "They wanted to go to Chicago."

With a triumphant look, Kath turned to face Maurice. He simply shrugged his shoulders and looked away. "How long ago were they here?"

"Their train left about an hour ago," she informed them. Kath placed the picture back in her pocket and was about to walk away when the attendant called out to her, "But they didn't take the train to Chicago."

Maurice and Kath looked at each other. "Didn't you just say..." Maurice started, but the woman interrupted him.

"Yes. They wanted to go there, but that train had already left. So they took the one to Columbus, Ohio. It takes them half way there."

Kath thanked the woman and pulled Maurice out of the station. "Let's go!" she said, taking the car keys from Maurice. "We need to get a map of Ohio."

Maurice looked questioningly at her and asked, "And just where the bloody hell is that?"

..................................................

Four hours after the train departed form New York, Hermione's stomach growl like an angry beast. Luckily, she now had enough cash to satisfy that need.

Harry and Hermione went into the dining car and ordered some sandwiches. Since neither of them had eaten much since the day before, they devoured their food silently as the train took them closer to their destination. After their hunger was satisfied, they walked lazily back to their compartment.

Hermione dropped into her seat and started going through her handbag. She took out a tiny mirror and a lip gloss. Harry smiled as he looked as she put some gloss in her pink lips. He thought her lips looked just fine with nothing on, but that lip gloss did made them shine in such a way... it made him feel like sucking them and biting at them and...

"Whoa... Stop Potter! What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" he asked himself as he realized what he had been thinking. "You're not supposed to think about her like that. She's the Prime Minister's daughter! You're supposed to protect her, and thoughts like those are not going to do any good."

Trying to empty his mind of impure thoughts, Harry cleared his throat and made an effort to speak casually. "So, this friend of yours... you think she's going to be willing to have you for a while?"

"Oh yes!" quickly replied Hermione, shifting in her seat to bring her legs up onto the empty seat. "We were together in boarding school, but I haven't seen her in three years," she informed Harry.

Hermione put her stuff back into her handbag as she continued talking, "She asked me to stay over loads of times, but my Dad never let me. He couldn't even think about sending his daughter alone across the ocean!"

She looked out the window for a while. "At first he was right," she said softly. "I was twelve the first time I asked him. After we finished school I was almost sure he would allow me to come. After all, I had graduated with honors... you know, did my best. But his answer was the same. He wouldn't even hear of it."

Harry looked at the expression on her face and couldn't help voicing his thoughts. "I assumed your father would grant you every little wish you ever had." Hermione looked at him mockingly. "I always thought you were a rotten spoiled daddy's girl."

Hermione laughed at his words. "You couldn't have been more wrong!" she declared once she was able to talk. Slowly, her laugh faded away and a weird expression appeared on her face. "I reckon if Mum hadn't died, my life would've been completely different."

Her brown eyes avoided Harry's as she looked out the window.

Harry knew perfectly well what she meant by that. His life would also have been very different if his parents were still alive. "At least you had your dad," he said slowly. She turned to face him and found understanding in his eyes. "I lost both my parents when I was one. I know how you feel, but I'm sure you agree with me it's better to have one parent than none at all."

Hermione nodded silently. Finding out about this part of Harry's life made her feel even closer to him. Deep in his eyes, she could see a tender part of him that she longed to know more of.

..................................................

Maurice's mobile phone suddenly rung. "Parker here," he answered. "Sir! Yes, sir. We've found something."

Kath looked expectantly at her partner as he talked on the phone. Wanting to hear what the Minister had to say, she stood right next to Maurice and pressed her ear close to the phone. Maurice rolled his eyes at her, but he didn't move.

"We found out she bought a train ticket to Ohio," Maurice continued.

"What?" came to Minister's voice from the other end of the phone line. "Ohio? What are you talking about?"

Maurice cleared his throat and explained their findings to the Minister, "She obviously wanted to avoid getting caught in the city and decided to go where we wouldn't find her."

"There is no place where I can't find her!" the Minister quickly spat. "I can't believe this! I'm due back at London to attend a very important meeting..." A pause followed Mr. Granger's words. After a while, he spoke again, "Is Potter still with her?"

"We believe he is, sir," answered Maurice.

Once again, silence followed. The Minister was not totally sure whether that information calmed him or worried him even more. After a while, he said, "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I have to go back home. After such unreasonable behavior, I can't wait for Hermione to come to her senses and return willingly. You and Williams will have to deal with this in the quickest, most discrete manner. I don't want the media to hear about this."

"Of course, sir," Maurice quickly replied. "You can count on it!"

.........................................................

The door to the compartment Harry and Hermione occupied slide slowly. A tall and painfully slim man walked in. His appearance was no better than one of the homeless men Hermione had given her money to. He could use a hot meal, but not as much as a good bath.

"Hello there," he said cheerfully as he walked in. "Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked, walking over to the seat next to Hermione.

Not waiting for them to reply, he sat down and dropped a rather worn down backpack in the floor next to him. Hermione smiled as he sat down while Harry's eyes carefully watched his movements.

"Thomas Schott," he introduced himself, stretching his hand out to Hermione.

"Nice to meet you Thomas," Hermione replied in a friendly way as she grabbed his hand. "I'm Hermione, and this is Harry."

Thomas tightened his grip on her hand, a bit harder than usual. He also held to it longer than socially acceptable. "Pleasure darling," he said as he continued to shake her hand. "It's great to meet such a beautiful lady."

Seeing that he wasn't letting go of her hand, Harry moved forward, closed his fist around Thomas' wrist and pulled it off of Hermione. Thomas looked questioningly at him for a few seconds, but his expression quickly changed to a big smile.

"Nice to meet you, too," Thomas quickly said to Harry.

Harry, not fancying the intruder that much, didn't return the smile or the greeting. But Thomas ignored Harry's cold attitude and turned to Hermione.

"And where are you two heading?" he asked.

"Chicago," Hermione replied.

Thomas chuckled and covered his mouth with his hand. "Forgive me, honey," he said, removing his hand from his mouth and placing it on her arm. "But I believe you're in the wrong train. This one's heading to Columbus."

"I know," Hermione said, smiling. She explained to him how they had decided to take this one and were planning to take another one in Columbus.

"Have you ever been to Chicago before?" Thomas asked, turning around in his seat so that he was now facing Hermione.

When she replied it was her first time, Thomas started telling her all he knew about Chicago. According to him, Thomas was an expert on the city and repeatedly bragged about how well he knew his way around. Forgetting all about Harry being in the compartment with them, Thomas involved her in a loud conversation.

Eventually, the slow movement of the train, the talk, but most of all the lack of sleep from the night before began to rock Hermione to sleep. When she finally closed her eyes, Thomas fell completely silent.

Harry couldn't be happier. He really disliked the guy and was anxious to get rid of him.

Thomas shifted once again in his seat, trying to find a comfortable position. Minutes later, he was also sound asleep. The only difference between him and Hermione was that loud snores were coming out of his mouth.

Exasperated, Harry looked out of the window while he tried to block out the annoying sound. He didn't know which was worse: his snoring or his talking. Slowly, Harry's tiredness won him over. The little sleep he'd gotten the night before made him fall asleep rather quickly. So deep, he was finally able to tune off the loud snores.

Hours later, after a long ten-hour trip, the train began to slow down. A voice through the speaker system announced their arrival in Columbus, Ohio.

Harry rubbed his eyes to rid them off sleep and stretched his arms out. Immediately, he noticed Thomas was gone. He sighed, feeling relieved. He looked out the window and saw they were arriving at the station.

"Hermione," he said softly, shaking her shoulder gently. "We're here!"

Hermione let out a moan and shifted in her seat, but she didn't open her eyes. He hated to wake her up. Just then, the train came to a complete stop. Harry called out to her once again, a bit louder this time.

"Hermione!"

This time she opened her eyes and looked questioningly at him as if for a second she didn't recognize him. "C'mon," he said, pulling her arm to help her get up. "We have to get off."

Hermione's mind finally cleared. She looked out the window and smiled. Turning to face Harry, she smiled brightly at him. "Let's go then."