With an agonized, crushing sensation, blackness descended over Sirius' eyes as he and Dresden were squeezed through a straw and pushed along a lengthy distance, reappearing several dozen yards away and the better part of a block from the burning wreck.
A moment later it exploded in a torrent of flames and petrol, sending out burning shrapnel and a mighty heatwave in every direction.
Dresden gasped down a breath as he rematerialized, and pain coursed through his already strained body at his first disapparation. Sirius merely laid down on the ground with more relief than anything else that he was still capable of the technique on this world, even though his skull felt like it was clenched in a madman's vice-grip.
The elder wizard stifled his groan and turned it into a low note of misery at the back of his throat, but at least the headache dulled to a rough throb when he shakily lifted a hand and used it to turn himself away from the glaring sun overhead.
Beneath the pain came a slow leak of relief in that, yes, he could still apparate on the foreign world, and further still, that he had not splinced either of them in the process.
Beside him Dresden panted for breath, and his eyes were wide and filled with something akin to panic as he blinked them open and shut several times in rapid succession, apparently processing the unlikely survival and escape method to some degree.
After another few moments the rest of the city sounds began to bleed over through the sort of muted bubble that had formed around them on return, among the noises being foremost the loud blare of police sirens, the numerable and indeterminable voices murmuring at the accident, and the faint flicker of the burning parts that had come nearest.
"Bloody hell," Sirius finally spoke, sitting up slowly and glowering at the crowd for the increased beat behind his eyes. He spared Dresden a once-over and noticed the shock written into his features, even though his breathing had calmed to some degree, and he was shooting a dim look through the pedestrians legs toward the ruined car and back at them.
"Are you alright?" Sirius asked quietly. Dresden managed to frown at him and hunched over, pressing the fingers of one hand against his eyebrows and rubbing furiously.
"Stars and stones..." he half-whispered hoarsely. "I was pinned down... and you..." as he spoke he looked up and met the foreign-wizards eyes, and something beneath the expression stood out; a low glimmer of fear, but next to it, some degree of wary respect.
Sirius watched his reaction in concern.
"You saved our lives..." Dresden trailed off as his eyes widened beneath a sudden realization, and his look seemed to go stark white. "The sword!" shoving up to his feet a moment later, Dresden grabbed a nearby mailbox for support, hesitated a moment longer to steady himself, and surged forward and into the crowd in the direction of the burning wreck.
Sirius clambered up after him as the first emergency response vehicles drew up to the scene.
An hour and two separate denials regarding the need for a trip to the hospital later, and both men were sipping from mugs of slightly warm coffee inside of the police station, having signed all of the necessary forms to report the accident and, as best as possible, attempt to relay what had happened from start to finish.
Dresden was slightly better off mentally as the time passed, until he was close to his usual irritable tone, but it contained an underlying note of abject concern, and he only managed to disguise his occasional wince of pain behind his heavy getup.
By that point the machine that the worker behind the desk was taking notes on began to short out and falter with a groaning sizzle of smoke, drawing a frustrated tone from both her and him while Sirius sat back and watched in tired bemusement.
I don't know how valuable that sword was, but given his reactions so far, that scrap that was recovered by the police is driving him spare. He thought about the same time, and chuckled quietly as the muggle device gave up its drawn-out fight at last.
She spared him a look that could have curdled cheese.
"I'm telling you the truth," Dresden repeated for the eleventh time through gritted teeth, slowly rapping out a drum staccato with his left hand and capturing her attention again.
The woman managed to turn her glare at him for several more seconds before she finally stood up, gathering the papers into her arms and stepping through the door behind her desk without another word.
The younger wizard swore and shoved his mug onto the desk irritably, turning back to face Sirius. "Alright, explain!" He ground out at last, striding back over to the seats and dropping down just out of his reach.
Sirius shrugged, taking a moment to sip what was left from the bottom of his foam cup before answering. "I told you last night- it's called Apparation or Disapparation, depending on your perspective. And is this really the right place to be going over such a subject? I may not have believed you earlier when you said a mortal sniper might be situated outside of the bar, but given how close our collective bacon just came to being fried into a charred crisp, I'm more than a little paranoid about sharing information aloud." He answered over the course of a minute and several breaths.
Dresden scowled at his logic, but couldn't fault it. He remembered the flash of white that had collided with them, and faintly the outline of two figures, blurry though they were- and far paler than could be considered healthy.
For a long moment he sat on his anger and suspicion and general dismay, before a voice he had not expected to hear piped up shrilly.
"Harry!" A young woman called as the desk-worker returned, dragging the younger by one arm before thrusting her toward the cutout bar at the side, which was quickly vaunted over.
Sirius blinked at her choice of 'clothing', displaying as it was, while in the back of his mind he found the idea that Dresden carried the same name as his godson to be some kind of irony or very strange coincidence.
Dresden likewise blinked at the colorful outfit and hair style the youth was in, and he rose with a frown, recognizing the voice if slightly distantly.
"Molly?" He asked carefully, eyes wide at the changes she had undergone since last they spoke face to face.
Then he scowled, stood up, and shrugged out of his duster and swept it over her shoulders as she approached to hug him. "Stars and stones, girl, what are you doing in here and why are you dressed like that?"
Her expression flashed through several emotions quickly in response- surprise, remembrance, anger, and finally settled on mingled annoyance.
"I'm here because you didn't answer my one phone-call last night!" She stated accusingly, stepping back but not slipping out of the heavy garment, despite the frown that accompanied it.
"I was busy!" He responded irritably, waving his right hand at Sirius, "And you still didn't answer my questions; why were you arrested and trying to contact me instead of your parents?" He paused to drag the edges of his duster a little closer over her revealing figure with a grimace.
"Please don't tell me it involves your current attire," he added almost as an afterthought.
Molly glowered at him and turned away to hide the faint blush, focusing on the desk worker- who in turn had gathered up the appropriate forms to release the girl into their custody, rather than continue the migraine inducing argument with the supposed 'wizard'.
"If its all the same to you, I'd rather we discussed that another time." She said toward the clock over the door she had come through.
Dresden marched around to face her, shuffling slightly on one ankle, but she turned toward Sirius and then stepped back as if just noticing him.
He smiled wanly and raised a hand in greeting, which piqued her curiosity, and something more, examining his rough-cut features and slightly haunted eyes for a moment, and the way the bridge of his nose was slightly raw, before trotting over to sit down next to him as she recalled what Dresden had said.
Said wizard growled quietly to himself and turned to face the desk worker and the additional paperwork she shoved toward him the moment they nearly-met each others eyes. "What is all this crap?"
"Release papers. Take her or leave her here." The woman answered flatly.
Dresden paused a moment to consider that, and her current state, and then snatched the pen up and began to scramble through the forms with a careful eye and muttering mouth.
"So who are you?" Molly asked Sirius curiously, inhaling the slightly burnt, faintly coppery-smell, and the odor of stale coffee that surrounded him with a crinkled nose.
"Wizard Black," he supplied lightly.
"Molly," she returned just as simply, sniffing again. "Is that gasoline?" She asked.
He smiled with fatigue around the edges, nodding. "A pleasure to meet you, miss Molly," he responded without any real desire- while the Veela-lookalike back at the bar may have seemed close to the age of consent, the girl before him now still looked like a girl beneath all of the effects she had going on, even if she wasn't that far off from maturity.
Sometimes he really did hate how well developed his sense of smell was.
Molly settled back into the chair after that, occasionally giving him an appraising glance, while they both waited for Dresden to finish up.
"Alright, I've had about as much as I can take for the day regarding unpleasant surprises and the like," said younger wizard began as he dropped the pen down and marched back over to them, scowling.
"Black, we'll deal with what happened tonight or somewhere tomorrow; honestly, I could use a good nights rest before trying to wrap my mind around it. Molly- lets get the truth of the matter knocked out on the cab ride home, and I do mean your home." He said firmly.
She shifted in her seat uncomfortably and tried to imitate the glare the desk-woman had been wearing. "Now." Dresden added, and her defiant look wavered.
Sirius stood up and stretched. "If its all the same, perhaps a stop at the grocery for food would be welcome?" He interjected neutrally.
Dresden opened his mouth to deny it, but his stomach rumbled pitifully at the thought of going another night without a proper meal and betrayed him. Molly immediately latched onto the concept.
"I could use a bite to eat, too."
Some time later, pushing a creaking cart around with a furious scowl in place, Dresden led the three of them toward the cabbie parked out in the middle of the lot with his engine idling. His expression darkened once the few bags were stored in its trunk and he had squeezed into the back seat next to Molly, who was next to Sirius.
"Just how much are you charging a minute?" He demanded after seeing the meter. The driver flicked his cap up lazily and stared at him through the rear view mirror.
"You done moaning or you wanna add up the expenses some more, guy? Got a destination in mind?" The driver responded.
Dresden growled out an address, and Molly let out a barely concealed sigh of relief that it wasn't her parents'. A moment later and the gearbox groaned, the engine coughed and spewed out black fumes, and they were on their way.
As they rode the Warden directed his irritation onto the young woman. "Care to explain what happened to get you locked up for the night?" He demanded in a low whisper.
She attempted to shrug without success. "A misunderstanding regarding a friend," she stated the words she had prepared the night before and drilled herself on in the long hours since.
Dresden frowned, sensing more behind her message. Cops didn't usually lock people up for no particular valid reason, and though it had been a couple of years since he had last worked with Michael or really had a chance to see the Carpenter family, he rather doubted Molly would have gotten herself involved in anything truly illegal.
"And?" He asked.
Molly shot him a bland look. "And what? They misunderstood the scenario, we misunderstood their intentions, and we all misunderstood one another and wound up causing a minor disturbance and resisting of arrest." She said evasively and rather quickly.
Sirius recognized that particular method from fourth year, and he smiled at the futility of it; none of the Professors had taken their excuse at face value, except for Professor Flitwick once or twice.
It had just as little effect of convincing Dresden as it did them.
Staring her in the eyes, his frown deepened when she turned her head away after a fraction of a second and focused on the view out of the window on Sirius' side.
"You can spill it now or in front of your parents, Molly. Do it now and I might find your side of things agreeable and stretch the truth of it," he stated, having no intention of lying to Michael but every intention of avoiding Charity and her sniping tones.
"What is there to stretch?" She challenged without facing him.
Dresden scowled at the back of her hair. "Have it your way."
End Chapter Four.