"Gone," Dumbledore repeated, almost hollowly.

The doctor nervously shifted from foot to foot, tugging at his crisp white official St. Mungo's robes. "...Yes."

There was a rush to answer him the second time, but Lily's voice, shrill and unyielding, pushed down all the others. "Gone? Gone? How can she be gone!? You said she was under the highest security, and -"

He flung his hands as if to cover his head; baby Harry snuffled and started to whimper. "It was security for being attacked from the outside, not inside! She knocked out the nurse that was supposed to be watching over her, and managed to get back her wand - there was a window open, but they all go out to the first story, you know, since you said to put special precautionary measures in -"

Dumbledore seemed to be the only one who didn't look in some way angered or worried. He merely held up a hand. "Did she take the bag I left with her personal possessions?"

The doctor paused a moment before frowning. "She... took some of it, I think. Not the entire thing."

"I see." Fortunately Dumbledore's calm seemed to spread around the others, especially to Lily. He gave a small sigh. "Very well, then."

"You... meant for her to take the bag, sir?"

"Of course."

The doctor bit his lip a moment, but Sirius asked the question somewhat demandingly. "So you left it for her to take? If you knew she was going to go, why did you -"

"Knew? Certainly not. Hoped she would choose more wisely, but made sure she would go prepared nonetheless? Yes." Dumbledore just barely smiled. "In a week's time, we'll easily have all that we need to track her."

The doctor gulped audibly, raising his hand as if this were a classroom before speaking. "Sir, she... she doesn't have a week. She has three days, maybe, if all the healing magic nicely affixed itself."

"Three days?"

"Yes, sir. Three."

--

She had her boots. Her boots were very important, because they were her favourite, even if now they had blood spattered on them. The nurse's change of clothes made acceptably muggle fashion, she thought, even if things didn't fit quite right. The trenchcoat was something she could hide herself in well enough.

The misconception that after the first few steps, things would get easier, still haunted her. Things did not get easier. The pain grew worse, and now her fingers trembled so hard she could barely turn the pages of the phone book. But it was a pleasant distraction from being surrounded by muggle things in a muggle world, the stench of the Thames and the rain-slicked concrete making her nauseated. She would realize later that it was a bad idea, that the setting had made her intoxicated into foolish ideas, but it was so early in the morning and the shadows seemed to be closing in on her at every turn.

She fumbled to find the right page and the right name before finding the right coin and feeding it to the public telephone. Slowly punching in the number, she leaned against the side of the telephone box for support, focusing on trying to breathe as she listened to the ringing.

"Hello? Hello?" She had to pause to gasp and force her voice to be as normal as possible. "Yes, I know what time it is. Don't hang up, don't hang up, all right? Yes, I know Father's sleeping, I'll be quick. Listen - listen - all right, go to the kitchen phone. But don't hang up." She bit her lip, took in a large breath and sighed it out. "No - no, just try... listen, Mother, just listen." She stopped herself as her tone became snappish before relaxing into letting her voice shake.

"I just need to come home for a few days. Just a very few days, all right? I promise, I won't - yes, I know Father told me not to come home, but - listen, Mother, something's happened, something bad, and I need..."

It was then that she stopped talking, because she knew what the flustered protests gone to flat buzzing meant. Slowly, she pulled away the phone receiver from her head and stared at it blankly. Waste of perfectly good money.

But she could pretend that it bought her the right to sit in the phone booth until she felt it was light enough outside to walk safely.