Disclaimer: JKR owns it all.
Written for Song-Fic Boot Camp
Prompt28: Ask for directions and then say, "That's not how you get there!" song-prompt: Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf
Little Rascals!
Dexter Williams was a private assistant who worked in a fairly large company, and like most bosses, his boss was a complete tyrant. He had been sent by his boss, Richard Call, to pick his sister up from the station. Apparently, his personal assistant also had to do all these odd jobs. He had been waiting and waiting outside the station with a large placard holding her name, but she hadn't arrived yet. Mr. Call had also failed to provide him any other details except that she was arriving this morning and that he had to be there at eight am. Since then, he had promptly waited. He had tried to reach Mr. Call, but had been told that he was busy at the moment; so he simply guessed that her train had been delayed for some reason.
Clucking his tongue, he looked at his watch; it was going to be eleven in few minutes. He cussed silently, tapping his feet in frustration. While considering giving up this job and looking for a new one, he noticed two young boys, twins, coming out of the station. His eyes searched for adults accompanying them, but he didn't find any. His eyes narrowed and he looked around. The boys seemed to be whispering to each other and they looked a little scared.
"Hello," Dexter said, approaching them. Their eyes widened, and they looked at each other once.
"It's alright; I'm here to help." He smiled at them kindly, not wanting to scare them further.
"We are not," one of them said, pointing to the placard in his hand.
"Oh I know," Dexter chuckled, tucking it at his side.
They just stared at him with a determined expression, all the horror long gone from their face. "Are you lost?" Dexter asked them, hesitant. Of course they were lost! Why else would two young boys be standing at the train station alone? He felt stupid for even asking it, but he just wanted to appear friendly.
They simply shook their heads in reply. "Where are your parents?" he asked, when they didn't reply.
"Around," they said together.
"Around? Are they here?" he clarified, looking around.
They just shrugged. Dexter was starting to feel quite suspicious, something about them was different. Were they really lost and just lying to him about their parents? Of course, all kids are taught never to talk or answer to strangers, and he was a stranger to them.
But if their parents were here, then they would indeed be panicked and searching for them frantically.
"Okay, I'll take you back to-"
"Do you know how to get to the zoo?" one of them said, cutting him off.
"Why do you want to go there?" he asked, suspiciously.
"To see the animals!" They grinned at him.
"Are you here with your parents?" he repeated patiently.
"Please tell us how to get there."
"Um, I'm not sure I should. I really do want to know where your parents are," he told them with a little authority.
"But we are on our own! We'll be meeting up with Mum later." The same boy protested.
Dexter thought for a while, they didn't seem that young, just a couple ten or eleven year olds; he had seen young boys roaming in London on their own. And they just wanted to get to the zoo, which was not very far away. Maybe the fact that he saw them at the station alone made him little suspicious.
"Okay, the zoo is not very far. You need to walk down straight from the station, take the right by the bridge, and from there, take a right. Walk straight ahead, for a couple of minutes, that's it.
"Alright? Did you get it? I'll write it down for you," he searched his pockets for some paper.
"But that's not how you get there!" both of them said and started to laugh.
For a moment, Dexter stared at them, surprised.
"FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY!" A shrill voice came from behind him, and startled him. It was a plump middle-aged woman with quite a furious look on her face.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? I WAS SO WORRIED! I THOUGHT SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU! HOW DARE YOU LEAVE WITHOUT INFORMING ME? DON'T YOU TWO HAVE ANY SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY?"
Dexter was actually quite scared of this red-haired woman who was shouting at the boys in obvious wrath, but the worry in her eyes and posture was evident too; obviously their mother. People from around two feet were staring in their direction. He shrugged nervously and looked at the boys. They had lost their cheeky grins and were looking quite afraid. He was sure he would have been too.
"Excuse me Madame?" he tried to get a word in.
"Oh!" she turned toward him. "I do hope they weren't troubling you or anything, I saw them laughing and I know my sons too very well to understand that they must have played a prank on you in some way or other." The way she spoke to him, it was obvious that she was very kind.
"Oh, it's not a problem! They are just kids, right?" He smiled nervously.
"Yes, but these two are a handful," she mumbled.
"No worries, it was all in the name of fun."
"Okay, we should be heading back now. Let's leave you two!" she added sharply.
As Dexter watched the family leave, he heard the two boys mumbling about how she jumped to conclusions and their mother replied, "I'm your mother. I know!"
Smiling, and missing his own mother, Dexter took a deep breath, thinking of how he should pay her a little visit soon. Someone tapped his shoulder.
"Dexter Williams?" He would have recognized this woman even without Mr. Call's description of her. She was too much like him.
"Yes, ma'am," he nodded.
"Shouldn't you be standing in the front waiting instead of loitering around? Does my brother pay you to have me search for you?" her nasal voice complained.
Definitely Mr. Call's sister.
AN: I'm not really good at writing humor, I rather prefer angst and depressed stuff, but I hoped this wasn't lousy.
Please do review! =)