(A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews, I haven't actually read the Thief Lord, but whatever. Anyway, on with the story!)

-

It was sunny today, and today was Saturday. That meant that dinner would probably be good, and Cub liked that.

Usually they would break off in groups, him, newly dubbed Cub, and Pyg would scrounge together, Stalker and Lulu would keep each other company, but Ferret and Sable went alone. Ferret said he was always a rebel, and was never fond of being bossed around by a girl, much less by a younger girl. Occasionally Sable gets mad and storms off to fend for himself for a few days, but he always comes back and apologizes even though no one knows why he left.

"Cub? Are you spacing again?" Pyg asked in her quiet voice, which had become that of a best friend to cub in the past month.

"Sorry, we should go before the others think we got lost." Cub replied and the two began slipping through the city to their intended destination. Cub smiled as he remembered his first Sunday with the pack.

-

"Everyone up!" Ferret had called in her usual merry voice, bringing everyone to wakefulness.

Cub had emerged from the corner of their cave that he had claimed as his and saw everyone bringing forth small items that he recognized soon enough, Stalker had a makeshift Drum, Lulu had colored ribbon and Sable had a recorder that was worn. Cub watched them all as Lulu began tying the ribbons into Pyg's hair as the seven year-old squirmed in excitement. What was going on?

"What about Cub?" Sable asked, his dark voice did eventually become something one accepted.

"He can dance with Pyg, the two are inseparable anyway." Ferret replied, which worried Cub seeing as he had never danced in his life. "You're okay with that, right Cub?"

"But I don't know how…" Cub stated, and with the look Pyg was giving him he felt like he was being called a freak.

"It's easy Cub, I'll teach you." She said taking his hand, "Besides, as long as we look happy we'll be doing our job."

"What job?" Cub asked.

"How could we have forgotten?" Stalker said hitting himself softly on the forehead to indicate he thought himself stupid for forgetting, "Saturdays we perform on street corners for money, me and Sable play, the girls sing, and you two will dance."

"I'll take Cub if we need to leave in a hurry." Sable said looking annoyed, but they all knew that he was wrapped around the fingers of the two youngest.

"Why would we need to leave in a hurry?" Cub had been asking a lot of questions, they all agreed that it was his relatives had frowned upon such practice.

Ferret faltered at the question, "This isn't precisely something that the law likes, and if a cop catches us we will be taken straight to the orphanage."

That was lesson number one, never trust adults. They would always claim to be doing what's best, but it usually ended up with the kids being hurt. And Sable and Cub couldn't just forgive years of neglect and abuse, it was best to stick with kids. Dudley was a different issue, he had learned from evil, therefore he was evil himself.

-

Saturdays were always fun, festive music played by the boys, the girls singing funny lyrics, Cub and Pyg doing silly dances, the sound of coins dropping in Stalker's old hat, and at the end of the day a filling meal. Today was the usual Saturday bliss, though littered with several hundred renditions of Happy Birthday for Sable who hid is thanks in sarcastic remarks. At seventeen he was now the oldest and decided that he could deal with being led by someone younger.

-

On a Saturday morning almost two years later everything changed. We were in the middle of a performance when a group of cops appeared.

Lulu picked up her sister and Sable grabbed my arm and five pairs of bare feet began fleeing in the London streets and tried to slip down a short cut home in a dark Alley. Unfortunately nine years of practice with the pack was enough to catch us, all of us. Lulu was first caught because she was burdened with her sister's weight, at least they were kind enough not to take her sister from her arms.

Stalker was next, built for sly slip-aways instead of speed he was tackled on the hard street, all we heard was the sound of his drum rolling on the uneven ground behind us. Ferret got herself caught as a distraction for Sable and me, who slipped into nook between two buildings where he wrapped his arms around me. Both of us were shaking, we didn't do well with people. You can never forgive the people that hurt you, and when you've been hurt everyone seems after you.

Two cops pulled us out, but we fought the touch. Sable gave the skinny man holding his arm a black eye that made him fall on his back. Two other cops took Sable in a vice-grip that made the eighteen year-old frown in disgust. I was only able to almost gain freedom by wrenching my arm from his grasp, all he did was tighten his hold and bring both hands behind my back. Both of us were pushed into a car and we were off to some station where we were asked questions.

"How long have you two been living illegally under that bridge in London?"

"Seven and a half years." Sable replied with enough venom in his voice to kill an elephant. Even after living with him for two years his temper could still surprise you.

"Twenty-five months." I replied looking anywhere but there eyes, comforted by the fact I was near Sable. Unfortunately, the interrogator reminded me a lot of my uncle, the tone didn't help at all.

"Age?" The gruff man asked.

"Nearly nineteen."

"Ten."

"And your names?"

"Sable and he's Cub." Sable answered for me, the man turned red.

"Oh, yes, a joker, just like your little friends. I want your real names." The man practically growled.

"Nigel Hawthorn." Sable glared back.

"Harry Potter."

"Take them to the orphanage." The interrogator said and the guards went to grab us, but Sable backed away.

"We'll go without force, or not at all." The guards looked taken back but allowed us to walk on our own to the car, and from the car to the orphanage that loomed over us. Sable's face was unreadable, but I could sense he was unhappy about the predicament, I couldn't blame him.

-

(A/N: The next chapter will be in the orphanage. To avoid misunderstandings, Harry does not trust any adults, children only, he deals with Ferret and Sable because he met them while they were still teens. I'll try to update soon, but I'm also working on another fic. Please review, that's what made me update so soon!)