I had this written out months ago, but write after I finished my laptop crashed. Guess what didn't save?!
Let me know how it is.
At two-thirty in the morning, Harry Potter hopped off the night bus outside of the Leaky Cauldron. He pulled his cloak tighter around himself, flattening his fringe before tugging his hood down farther. He quickly made his way through the pub and into Diagon Alley. He made a beeline to the bank, thankful that there were only a few people nearby due to the hour. He quickly had a goblin escort him to his vault and took out what he assumed to be a few thousand pounds. He wasn't too sure of the currency exchange rate, but hopefully it was good. He quickly asked for half of it to be converted into muggle pounds and left the bank, wary of eyes on his short stature.
Taking a sharp turn out of the bank, he glanced around for any suspicious activity, sighing in relief at how empty the alley was as he made his way back to the cauldron. He had only taken a few steps when a tall figure stepped out of the shadows of a side alley, blocking his path. He glanced behind him, only to see another person behind him, equally as tall and imposing. He turned sideways and backed up, frightened. He held his wand in a death grip in his pocket. There was no way they had already found out he was gone. It was near three in the morning, only an hour had passed since he had left.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Little boy all alone, frightened… Isn't it past your bedtime, little boy?" The first man drawled out, stepping toward him slowly. The light from the enchanted torches illuminated his face, boney and pale with a horrifying scar from eye to opposite cheek. He smirked once more. "Awe, Little boy looks scared. I promise we won't hurt you, so long as you give us those goodies you got from the bank just now."
His sidekick gave a short cackle, "Don't lie to the kid now, B. We both know he's not gonna make it out of this alley without injury. Where would the fun be in that?" He had his hood on, shielding his face from view even as he exaggerated looking Harry up and down. Harry's eyes widened, not liking where this was going. He slowly pulled his wand farther out of his pocket when the scarface turned to his buddy.
"True, true. Just such a classic line, I couldn't resist. Who would I be to pass up on such a prize, though?" He gave a light laugh and turned back to Harry, stalking closer until he was only a couple feet away. "C'mon kid, cough it up and maybe you'll make it away from here alive. Take this as a lesson, never wander around without mommy nearby." Harry subtly glanced at their hands. Neither of them had their wands drawn yet, but he could sense that would change soon. It was now or never.
"Flipendo! Fumos! Vermillious!" He shot a rapid fire amount of spells off, knocking the first guy over and creating a large smokescreen to move out of the way of the lunge from the creeper. Quickly shooting red sparks into the air and ducking into the side alley the man came from. He heard shouts behind him.
"Where the hell did the pipsqueak get a wand!"
"I thought you said he couldn't be older than eight!"
"Grab him!"
He seriously hoped that the smokescreen lasted long enough for him to get away, or for help to find him. He glanced back, he was nearing the end of the ally and was unsure what to do when a door suddenly opened to his right and he was pulled inside. He let out a small yelp before a hand slipped over his mouth and pushed him against the wall. He struggled before his arm was roughly shoved behind him and jerked to the small of his back. A young voice whispered into his ear.
"Shh. I'm not gonna hurt you. Those guys are some pretty messed up dudes. I'll let you go if you can be quiet, okay? I swear you're safe here." He waited for the nod before slowly taking his hand off the kids mouth and releasing his arm. Sighing in relief when the young man kept quiet. Harry slowly turned around to face him, opening his mouth to say thank you but stopping when the man quickly shook his head and brought his fingers to his lips. He snapped his mouth shut, stiffening when he heard voices getting closer ranging from sadistic and laughing to snappish and angry.
"Come out, come out, little boy. We just want to play a bit."
"Don't worry, we'll be nice to you. Maybe we can even show you some new tricks."
"Come on kid, don't be shy. We're going to find you, best to just tell us where you are so we don't get angry."
There was low grumblings he could barely catch, "kill…damn kid…bastard…pay…fucking kid…saw my face…aurors."
He wasn't quite sure what they were saying, but the young guy in front of him had gone pale. They held their breath as the voices got closer, staring at each other with wide eyes.
"C'mon Pipsqueak. You've been naughty, mommy's wand isn't a toy. I'm sure she wouldn't like to hear about you playing with it! If you come out now, we promise she won't find out!" He heard faint whispering and sucked in his breath as he realized what they planned to do to him. His face went ashen, and the young male placed a calming hand on his shoulder causing him to flinch. Reassuring or not, this man was a stranger. How could he know if he was trustworthy or not.
"Hey! You two! Shut the hell up, some of us are trying to get some sleep! Aurors are on their way, I suggest you stop picking on children!" An old lady had open her window above to yell at them, proceeding to call out insults as they scampered away before they got caught.
Harry slid down the wall, adrenaline wearing off fast as he started shaking. He had nearly been brutally murdered, maybe more. He let out an uneasy breath, looking up as someone crouched in front of him. He had ice blue eyes and short dirty blond hair, well-muscled but looked to be around 25. He seemed kind enough and was keeping his distance now, which Harry was grateful for.
"You okay, kid? You really shouldn't have been out this late alone, where're your parents?" His brow furrowed in innocent curiosity.
"Oh. Uh… My mom is taking care of my sister, she's sick. And we ran out of medicine so she sent me out to get some money." It was obvious he was lying, but he was too exhausted to care what the guy in front of him said about it. He quickly stood back up and made for the door. "I should go, she's probably worrying." A hand pulled his arm back before it could reach the handle.
"Uh-uh, not happening. Those guys aren't the only ones out there, and they might be waiting for you. You aren't going anywhere. Not alone at least." He pulled the kid over to the table a few feet away and pushed him to sit down. "Why don't you call your mom to come get you. I'm sure she'll come get you when she hears what happened." He obviously knew Harry was lying through his teeth.
"Uhm. No, I should really go. She's worrying. We don't have phones and all, to poor… Anyhow, thank you for saving me." He managed a large fake grin and made to stand up, only to be pushed right back down.
"If you want to think me for saving you, do it by not endangering yourself again. If you're so insistent on leaving here, I'll walk you to your house myself. He walked back to the door, grabbing his cloak and gesturing to the kid still sitting. "C'mon, let's go."
Harry's mind worked furiously to think of an excuse or some way to get out of this. Eventually, he stood up and slowly followed the man to the door. It was still dark out, but Harry found himself more comfortable now that he wasn't alone. They walked past the leaky cauldron, where Harry stopped outside the door. The man eyed him expectantly as Harry studied his shoes. "Actually…I don't… I don't have anywhere to go…I was just gonna get a hotel room for the night…I have the money…"
The man sighed knowingly, turning to his right and beckoning for the kid to follow him. They walked for a few blocks, before finally stopping at a decent-looking muggle hotel.
"Okay. Listen… " He paused, unsure of the kid's name.
"Harry." The kid glanced at his shoes, seemingly embarrassed by the name. Who could blame him? After all, being named after the boy-who-lived was increasingly common after the war.
"Muggle hotels don't rent to minors. So I'll do you a favor and get you the room for you. But only for two nights, and you've got to promise me to be safe and not wander around at night. I don't want a young kid like yourself walking these streets at night. We don't need another repeat of tonight. You don't have to explain anything, I don't expect anything in return. I just want to make sure you're safe. I've heard horror stories about those muggle child services. I don't know what your living situation is at home, but I suggest you find a friend to stay with."
He walked away after Harry nodded and handed him a few hundred pounds, looking slightly bewildered at the adult allowing him to stay, and moved to the lobby to check him into a room. He came out a few minutes later, and gestured for the boy to follow him. The room was average, at best. A supposedly king-sized bed on one wall, with a nightstand, table, and recliner beside it. A small desk, and a tv stand sat opposite, a sink directly ahead with the bathroom crammed next to it. He paused just inside the door, handing the boy the key to the key to the room, along with a small crystal necklace with a piece of paper.
"You have tonight and tomorrow night, then checkout is at noon. Be out before then. The necklace is for emergencies only. Activate it by saying custodio iter, it's written on that slip. Memorize it. So long as it's touching your skin, it will work, so keep it under your shirt."
Harry looked at the blue crystal in awe. "Thank you, sir."
The man gave a small chuckle, "Call me Alexander. It's about time I got back, though. Stay safe, kid."
Alexander gave a small wave and walked away, discretely tucking the second key card into his pocket. Just in case.
He sighed and got under the covers for a couple more hours of sleep. He would have to leave early to maintain his head start. Crack of dawn and he would be off. Hopefully it would be enough of a start to get everything done. He took off his glasses and placed them on the nightstand, rolling over to hug the pillow beneath him and lying his head sideways to look at the bare wall.
He laid there for a few moments, staring blankly at the wall and wondering if maybe Charlie was right. Maybe he couldn't look after himself. He was just a weak kid, couldn't even stop a couple of thugs. He shivered at the thought of what could have happened and sunk into the mattress, willing himself to just fall asleep and never have to get up. Deciding that sulking would do nothing for his situation, he began to mentally plan out the next day. He didn't remember at what time he finally dozed off, just that tomorrow was going to be one hell of a long day.
He woke up before the sun was up, showered and got ready, and was out the door with a new determination.