All characters in the story are the property of J. K. Rowling and Bloomsbury Books, with the exception of Eleanora Sterling and a few supporting characters, who are my own creations. This story is created purely for the entertainment of myself and other like-minded readers and no copyright infringement is intended.
This is probably the hardest thing I have ever undertaken with no hope of monetary gain... so please don't sue me!
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Chapter 38: Londontown
We had arrived.
I dared not give myself a moment to take stock of what had just happened. We had to find the portal, and quickly.
Consulting the map Dumbledore had given us, Severus figured out the quickest route. We kept a close watch out for suspicious figures as we went. We had no idea of the extent of Death Eater involvement.
"I hope that that Voldemort was arrogant enough to assume the minions he sent to Hogwarts were enough to foil us in our escape, and didn't send anyone ahead to intercept us here" Severus said. "Hopefully by the time he realises they weren't successful in capturing us, we'll be long gone."
"I doubt if he would have known where in the city we would be arriving, even if he did," I added. "I doubt he has enough people to cover the entire city!"
"That's what I'm counting on, darling. Anyway, no time to waste... which is the portal?"
We were looking for a green wooden arch covering a passageway at the side of a rowhouse.
"Do you see a glowing bubble around it?" I asked him. " I'm not able to see it."
"Yes, it does have a sort of aura to it," he confirmed.
Apparently we had to go through it and then come back out on to the street again, as it only worked from the inside. Checking to see that no one was watching us, we did as the map instructed.
Coming back out onto the street I instantly knew we had been successful. The traffic on this formerly quiet residential street was suddenly much heavier, and the rowhouse we had been next to was suddenly transformed into a greengrocers shop. Only the arch was the same.
"Now, I guess we should find a hotel to stay at. Suppose we get a cab downtown and see what we can find?" I suggested. I had no clue as to where would be a good place to stay, but at least money was no problem. We could pretty much afford to stay wherever we wanted, and pay cash for it.
I consulted the map to find a more major artery. "Hmmm. It might not be a bad idea to find a bank and get some of those large bills changed. I don't think we could pay for a cab with a £100 note." I said.
There was a bank on the next street and we changed £200 into smaller bills. "I think we had better get to an international bank next, and deposit some of this cash," Severus suggested.
"Now I wonder where we might find a branch of a Canadian bank, or an Netherlands International Bank office if there is such a thing. Damn... you know what we need right now? A computer with an Internet connection. I could find all this stuff out in minutes!"
I decided the first place we needed to find was in Internet café or library. Finally resorting to asking someone on the street, we were directed to a public library three streets over. They had free access and I was on-line to NIB's website in minutes and got the address of their London branch office.
While we were at it I looked up hotels and found one called the Kensington Arms in, surprisingly enough, Kensington. "Listen to this 'Discover the centre of fashionable Kensington and Chelsea, close to Harrods and the shopping district of Knightsbridge. The Gloucester Road underground station is a two-minute walk away.'" I read.
"Sounds ideal," Severus commented flatly, but I think he was a bit blown away by the whole computer thing, never having seen one before. He looked positively agog as I clicked and typed my way around the 'net, finding the information we needed.
"Well, let's see if they have any vacancies," I said. I entered the dates into an availability form and it looked like we were in luck. There were four rooms available for the next few days. I took out a small notebook I carry with me and jotted down the address.
Just out of curiosity I went onto flightsanywhere.com and started to look at flights from Heathrow to Parsons in Toronto, but the prices were pretty high. Business class was over $6000 for the two of us, and first class was almost twice that. (There was no way I was going economy with a suitcase full of cash at our disposal.) "I could book our flight on-line, except I don't think my credit card limit is high enough. I think we'll have to visit a travel agent and pay cash."
"All right, you've lost me again. What's a credit card?"
"It's this little plastic thing," I said, as I showed him one. "It lets you pay for stuff without really giving them any money it's more like a promise to pay. In a month or so you get a bill from the bank and then you pay THEM the money."
I think my explanation was going over his head. He was still staring sat the computer.
"This is fascinating," Severus exclaimed. "I had no idea anything like this existed... You say you have one of these machines at home?"
"I do," I said, "and am I looking at a future Internet junkie?"
"Well, naturally I don't have the first idea of how to operate one of these contraptions" he demurred.
"Hey if Algernon Welkin can do it, so can you. He has an e-mail address and everything."
"Ah, well, I don't think I'll be sending any 'e-mails' to Welkin today or anytime soon," he reminded me.
"Quite right. Anyway, I think we should probably go to our hotel now, so we can take a breather." I was certainly in need of one, not to mention a hot bath and a cup of tea, or better yet, a stiff drink. "Oh, and I probably don't need to mention this, but if anyone we're talking to refers to something you don't understand, just nod knowingly and I'll try to help you out."
"Of course."
We arrived at our hotel by taxi and checked in as Kate and Steven Parsons, in order to confuse anyone who might be following us. Naturally, we were immediately asked for a credit card.
"We would prefer to pay cash," I said.
"You may certainly pay in cash when you check out, if you wish, but hotel policy requires your credit card number as security," the clerk explained.
"What if we pay in advance?" Severus said, trying his best to twist his mouth into the semblance of a pleasant smile.
"It's highly unusual, Mr. Parsons," The clerk's eyes lighted on a thick wad of cash being pushed at him over the counter. "But under the circumstances, I think that would be acceptable."
"And something for yourself." Severus pushed his hand flat along the counter toward the man, looking into his eyes as he did so. The clerk accepted the "tip" with a smile as though he had just been handed at least a £20 note. I saw that he been handed exactly - nothing.
Our room was not terribly large but fairly comfortable and had a typically English homey charm about it, as well as the usual modern amenities. Likewise the bathroom was small but I was grateful to see it had a full sized tub rather than the shower stall so favoured in North American establishments.
But dread overtook me as I started to remember what I had done back there at Hogwarts. I was beginning to fall apart.
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NEXT: The Kensington Arms