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Chapter 11Ana pounded frantically on the door to Severus' flat—a place she had only been to a handful of times before today.
She needed London—now. She hadn't seen him for a few days now and she was getting desperate. The situation hadn't been this grave in years, and she didn't know what to do without her best friend.
Suddenly the door flew open underneath her small fist and she nearly fell into the open doorway.
"Ana? What the hell are you doing here?" London asked, all traces of sleep fleeing in the face of his distraught friend.
"Please come home Lonnie. It's so cold. We need you there."
London took in her damp, shivering form and cursed. "Get in here." He tugged her in and slammed the door shut behind them. "Why the fuck did you wait so long to come get me? Damn it girl you're soaked through."
He quickly changed her clothes, wringing out the icy damp and replacing it with a dry, warm heat. "There's a fucking blizzard out there right now, and you're wandering around like some sort of fucking idiot in the goddamn snow. No fucking sense at all."
"I had to get you."
He wrapped one of Sev's throws around her shoulders. "Shut up. Sit down and get warm again. Going to fucking kill yourself walking around in this."
"The others…"
"I know. I'm coming. Let me get my things."
He grabbed a pair of jeans and slid them on quickly, while he changed the fire so it was fully out. He pulled on a T-shirt and jumper, followed by a ratty hoodie and the jacket Sev had given him last Christmas.
"Hurry," Ana whispered, still in shock from the freezing temperatures.
"You should stay here," London said, taking in her still shaking form. "I'll start the fire again. Stay here and stay warm. Sev won't care."
"No, I'm coming with you."
London hesitated for a moment before nodding. He grabbed a heavy parchment as he walked toward the door. "Can you look at this for me? Sev sent it two days ago and I haven't had a chance to have anyone look at it for me."
She smiled and put the parchment in her pocket. "Are you going to change us there?"
"Yes. Hold tight," he said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in close.
In a moment they were standing outside the warehouse.
He held on to her for a moment, allowing her to regain her bearing. Changing like that was never easy for his non-magical friend, London knew, and with the state of her health earlier, he was frankly amazed she was still standing.
After a brief moment she shrugged his hands off and turned toward the warehouse.
They both rushed to get inside, wriggling through a broken window and rushing through the abandoned outer rooms to reach the innermost rooms where the rest of their friends would be sleeping.
Even in the 'inner' rooms though, they had little more protection than being outside. The walls were all partially collapsed, missing huge sections. Almost every window had been smashed long ago.
Dorian entered the room that he usually shared with Ana and Nick and cursed loudly.
All of his friends had piled into the single room in a pathetic attempt to pool their warmth and make it through the bitterly cold night.
There were fourteen kids sleeping in a pile together, covered only by tattered and damp jackets and clothing.
He reached out his fingers and touched Angel's threadbare coat lightly.
"Fuck. They all like this?" he asked Ana, immediately working on drying and warming all of their clothing.
"Yes."
"How long?"
"Few days."
"Why the hell didn't you get me sooner?"
"No reason to make you suffer along with the rest of us. You deserve a nice place to stay Lonnie. No one grudges you that."
"Well they fucking should. What the hell is wrong with me? I date some rich bloke for a bit and he completely fucks my head. Living out there—"
"London! Sev had nothing to do with this. The storm came up, no warning. Even if you weren't dating him, even if he hadn't offered you his flat, you might have been out. You always wandered a lot, 'specially during the winter."
"I would have been here," London said bitterly, crawling over Nick to get to little Mikey, a four year old who had been abandoned only a few months previously.
The child shivered almost violently, his lips nearly blue with cold. He pushed his energy into warming the child gently, scared to risk anything too powerful and too quick.
"Fuck that," Ana snapped. "You would have been in someone else's bed and you know it London. You came when we needed you. That's all that matters."
London sighed. She was right. He hated it.
"You got any food here? You been eating?"
Ana shrugged. "Some. It's been hard getting out. And we try to keep at least one or two of us here with Mikey. He's too little to leave on his own yet."
"I'll go find us something when I'm done."
He worked in silence for a few minutes more, feverishly warming the huddled group as best he could. He knew that it wouldn't last though, with the snow and sleet standing in small piles inside the building, and the icy wind skating along the bare floorboards.
"You gonna read me my letter?" he finally asked gruffly.
She smiled and pulled it out of her pocket, smoothing the crinkles fondly.
"London—" she began. "Hm…still no 'dear'? Not a very romantic chap, is he?"
"Shut up and get on with it. I could have managed that bit myself."
She cleared her throat and started again.
"London—
"I assume that all is well with you, as I have not heard from you since I last saw you in October.
"The end of term is nearly here, and I have only to complete the end of term exa—exa—exami—" she stumbled over the long word.
"Examinations," London supplied. "Sev uses that word a lot."
Ana shook her head and smiled. "Right. Let's see…
"I will be able to return to the flat on Friday evening as Albus has assig--assigned other professors to ac—accompany the children's train.
"If you need anything before then, write me immediately.
"Yours, Severus"
"Friday evening, huh?" London said, turning his attention to changing a few of the larger holes in the walls, particularly those close to the ground. He couldn't risk doing too terribly much without risking the police taking note.
The other kids he lived with were well aware that there was something odd about him, and they knew better than to question strange happenings.
"'S what it says," Ana said, looking over the neat writing once more. "Bet you miss him."
London shrugged.
Ana laughed. "That's bloody rich. I know you've been pining for him since he left."
London finally stopped his work and sat down, leaning heavily against the repaired wall to recoup. "It's weird, you know? I mean, all this time, I go home with how many people? And they none of them mean a damn to me. I leave in the morning and go on my way."
"And Sev's different, in't he?" she said, handing back the letter.
He ran his fingers over the letters for a moment, lightly tracing the dark ink. He hated it that he couldn't make out the vast majority of the smooth swirls on the page. "Yeah. No fucking clue why."
"You gonna stay with him?"
London shrugged again. "Long as he'll have me, I guess."
"Maybe forever then."
London shot her a glare. "Stop fucking around. He's some sort of brilliant teacher and I'm no better than a whore who can't even read his own letters."
Ana slid in closer to him, enjoying his body heat. "Not hardly. And you do know the letters, you just can't make out the words."
London rolled his eyes. "You know what I meant, Ana."
"Well, so what? So you're not some cushy snob with eight fancy school degrees? You're still really smart, and funny and damn sexy."
London sighed. "Maybe you're right. I dunno."
They sat in silence for a moment before London stood abruptly. "We should go get something to eat. We can have it ready when they wake up."
Ana took his hand to stand up. "OK. Where to? Marian's will be closed."
"Eh…I got a few pounds. Let's go to Primo's and get a few pizzas."
"Sounds divine. I haven't had anything hot in days."
The two made their way out into the storm to get food for the rest of their friends.