Chapter 3: A Grim Old Place
Leo Black strode confidently down the street with his rucksack thrown over his shoulder, headed in the direction he knew would lead him out of Little Whinging. He threw a grin over his shoulder at the green-eyed bespectacled boy that followed behind him, a much larger rucksack thrown over his shoulder. Leo gave a small frown at this before turning around and taking the rucksack from his cousin and handing the boy his much lighter one in return. Afterward, the two continued on their way, finally managing to exit the neighborhood and walk farther than they'd walked before.
"Er, Leo?" Harry finally asked.
"Hmm?" Leo hummed in response.
"Do you know where we're going?"
"London. We need to get our school supplies, after all," Leo shrugged.
"How are we supposed to get to London and where are we supposed to go to get this stuff?" Harry persisted, beginning to grow concerned that Leo had, once again, not thought this all the way through.
"A bus and I dunno," Leo frowned in thought. "Might have to flag down one of our people to find out. All else fails, we just find a place to lay low and wait for those Hogwarts people to find us."
"How will they know where to find us if we're not home?"
"They knew we slept in a cupboard, Harry," Leo snorted. "I'm sure they can...find...us."
Leo slowed to a stop, an angry expression on his face. They knew we lived under the stairs...this whole time... why the bloody hell did no one come to save us?! I swear, if I meet this Stumblebore or Minnie person, I'm going to give them a piece of my mind... He continued to rant internally, resuming walking as he did so. He considered what he'd do or say when he met them, he'd have to be careful, after all.
Not only would they be wizards, they also held the tickets to Harry and Leo's new life away from the Dursleys. Leo may want to give them what for, but he didn't want to jeopardize their chance to go to Hogwarts in the process. Wonder if Dad was a wizard too... bet he'd know how to get out of this mess.
Suddenly, an idea occurred to him. He was a wizard now, meaning he could use magic. That meant that he could use magic to track his Dad down – a locator spell, or a tracking spell. I need a wand first though... Leo scratched his chin as the duo arrived at the bus stop, wondering where he could procure one.
The two waited there for half an hour, unable to say much when a portly man and a wrinkled old lady joined them. When the bus finally arrived, Leo dug around for money in the side pocket of the rucksack before boarding the bus after the older lady, Harry following close behind. The bus driver took a moment to scrutinize them.
"Shouldn't choo be wif your parents, lads?" The man asked in a thickly accented tone.
While Harry panicked internally, Leo responded swiftly with, "We're meeting up with our dad in London. Had to pick up some stuff from our aunt and uncle's."
"And where's yer mum?"
"Home sick," Leo shrugged. "She can't leave the bed, and Dad really needed the stuff, so we volunteered to go get it for him."
The driver stared at him for a moment before giving a many gap toothed grin and saying, "Such sweet boys. Keep tha pounds, lads. Save it fo ya poor mum."
"Thank you, sir," Leo grinned. "My mum and dad really appreciate it."
With that being said, Leo grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him to the very back of the bus and away from everyone else. They settled in a pair of seats off to the right with Harry sitting next to the window and Leo next to the aisle. When the bus finally started moving, Harry seemed to relax somewhat before turning to his cousin and blinking at him in surprise.
What he had failed to notice earlier was that Leo wasn't wearing his usual pink or tie-dye attire, but instead a dark red hoodie and a pair of frayed jeans. Harry briefly wondered where he got the clothes from before remembering that Leo had a tendency to take five-finger discounts at stores or steal money from the Dursleys and buy them. Harry never complained or berated him, after all Leo always made sure to bring him something back as well.
"You're not wearing pink," Harry finally stated.
"Gotta blend in," Leo shrugged in response, drumming his left fingers on his knee.
"But you didn't even know we were leaving -"
"Truth is, Harry, I'd been thinking about leaving for awhile," Leo sighed, turning to look at the boy. "I was planning to do it after we turned eleven, but I wanted to be prepared in case something happened and I had to leave immediately. Like now."
"Were you ever going to tell me?" Harry demanded.
"Yeah, but not until the day before," Leo replied honestly. "That or I would've written you a note... I didn't actually want to say goodbye to you, Harry. I knew you would try to change my mind."
"You – you were going to leave me behind – at the Dursleys?!"
"Shh," Leo hissed, placing a hand over his cousin's mouth. "Only until I could find my dad and he could give us a new home. I didn't want to drag you along on a dangerous journey... I- I was worried you'd get hurt."
Harry removed his hand before asking, "So, what changed? Why're you bringing me along now?"
"You heard Petunia. We're officially wizards – freaks," Leo shook his head in disgust at the word. "If they hated us and treated us poorly without officially knowing before – how bad do you think they'd treat us after the fact? No, it was much safer for you if you came along."
"And how is it any safer out here now than it was this morning?"
"Did you see what I did in the kitchen? Powers like this, I can protect us both, Harry," Leo grinned widely.
The bus ended up dropping the duo off near King's Cross Station, a name that Leo swore he remembered from somewhere. After a moment of intense thought, Leo reached into the rucksack Harry was carrying and dug out his Hogwarts letter. He opened the envelope, looking around inside to find a ticket that told him to take the train from Platform Nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock.
Deciding that they didn't have anything better to do at the moment, Leo led the way into the station and looked around before spotting Platform 9 and Platform 10. But where's 9 ¾? Leo pondered with a frown before smacking himself in the forehead. It's magical, so it's probably hidden. Meaning we won't find it until we follow some other wizarding family who's boarding the train... meaning we have to wait until September 1st. He let out a loud groan of impatience, drawing attention from nearby pedestrians who looked at the two unaccompanied minors oddly.
"What're you lookin' at, ya nonce?" Leo questioned a man who had been staring at them a bit too long.
The man gave an affronted look before sniffing and wandering off, muttering about rude children. Harry nervously grabbed his grumpy cousin by the arm and slowly pulled him out of the train station. Leo allowed himself to be led away, his foul mood from earlier that morning returning with a vengeance. It was only once they had left the station well enough behind that Harry finally released his arm.
"Where do we go from here?" Harry asked, looking around the large city with wide eyes.
"Dunno," Leo shrugged before hearing a loud growling noise coming from Harry's stomach. "How 'bout some pizza? We passed a decent-looking place on the way to King's Cross, probably only a few minutes away."
Harry nodded eagerly at the thought of food, receiving a wide grin from Leo as he led them down Euston Road in the direction of the Pizza Express. True to his word, it only took about five minutes to reach the place, where they were promptly sat at a table and given menus to order food. They decided on a large cheese pizza – banking on there being leftovers to munch on later – and a couple of waters. Leo stared longingly at the picture of a chocolate cake on the menu before sighing as he handed it to the waiter. Much as he wanted some chocolate, he and Harry needed to preserve their money as much as possible.
They ate quickly once the food arrived, taking half of it to go once they were done. Leo left the appropriate amount of money on the table – including a generous tip – before the duo exited the restaurant. They debated where to go next before it was decided that they'd just wander about for a bit until they discovered someone or something that seemed magical.
After an hour of just walking around the city – the only 'magical' things being the shops that taught you how to pull rabbits out of hats and other nonsense like that – the two found their way onto a street called Grimmauld Place. Tall, dilapidated houses looked down on them from every side as the two passed numbers eleven, twelve, and thirteen. Leo continued walking, not paying attention to any of the houses until he noticed that Harry had stopped, staring at number twelve with a frown.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Leo inquired, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he walked over.
"Nothing," Harry shook his head. "I just think it's odd that they skipped from eleven to thirteen. What do you think happened to twelve?"
Now it was Leo's turn to frown in confusion.
"What're you on about? Twelve's right there," Leo replied, pointing at the house.
Sure enough, to his eyes at least, stood Number 12, Grimmauld Place. It was quite a bit larger than the houses on either side of it, to be sure, but Leo felt that only made it all the more noticeable. It was a bit shabbier looking than the rest of the houses, as though the owner had decided the outside wasn't worth the upkeep any longer. The windows were so dirty Leo couldn't see through them, and black paint on the walls looked as though they had been peeling for years.
"No, it's not," Harry insisted. "It's just an empty lot."
"No, there's -" Leo began before letting loose an audible gasp of realization.
Staring at his cousin with barely contained excitement, Leo grabbed Harry by the arm and led him toward the house. They walked up the worn stone steps and stared at the door. Its black paint was shabby and scratched. The silver doorknocker was in the form of a twisted serpent. There was no keyhole or letterbox. Leo held up a fist, prepared to knock on the door when something strange happened. As soon as his hand made contact with the door, it swung open. Harry gave Leo a surprised and bewildered look, now able to see the house as well its interior.
They stepped over the threshold into the almost total darkness of the hall. Leo could smell damp, dust, and a sweetish, rotting smell; the place had the feeling of a derelict building. As soon as Leo had stepped foot inside, he heard a soft hissing noise and then old-fashioned gas lamps sputtered into life all along the walls, casting a flickering insubstantial light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy hallway, where a cobwebby chandelier glimmered overhead and age-blackened portraits hung crooked on the walls.
"Who dares enter the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black?" a voice croaked to their left as the door slammed shut behind them.
The duo jumped in surprise before turning to see the oddest creature that they had ever laid eyes on. Except for the filthy rag tied like a loincloth around its middle, it was completely naked. It looked very old. Its skin seemed to be several times too big for it and though it was bald, there was a quantity of white hair growing out of its large, bat-like ears. Its eyes were a bloodshot and watery gray, and its fleshy nose was large and rather snout-like.
"Er...," Harry mumbled intelligently.
Leo rolled his eyes before squaring his shoulders and saying in a voice full of as much confidence as he could muster, "I'm Leo Castor Black. Who're you?"
The creature's eyes widened in shock and surprise as he stared at Leo. The blonde's confident smile faltered somewhat as an awkward silence ensued between the trio. Leo opened his mouth, about to attempt to break the awkward tension that surrounded them, when the creature threw himself at his feet, sobbing loudly. Leo exchanged a bewildered and slightly appalled look with Harry, unsure of what to do.
"Er, can you please stop that?" Leo finally said. "It's making Harry uncomfortable."
Harry gave him a dirty look before blinking in surprise as the creature shot back up to its feet, standing up straight as it tried to stop its sniffling. The two humans exchanged another befuddled glance before Harry gestured for Leo to take the lead. The blonde gave a gruff sigh before turning back to the creature, unsure of what to say. How about introductions, Leo? That's always a good place to start. Leo remarked dryly.
"Um, who are you, exactly?" Leo finally asked.
"Kreacher is Kreacher," the creature – appropriately named Kreacher – bowed.
"Er, right, of course it is," Leo blinked after a moment. "What are you, exactly?"
"Kreacher is a house-elf, Young Master," Kreacher bowed even lower, his nose almost touching the ground.
"What's a – wait. What did you just call me?" Leo inquired.
Kreacher raised his head, his expression slightly confused as he replied, "Kreacher called Young Master by his title. Young Master is the heir to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black."
When Leo continued to look confused, Kreacher beckoned the boy to follow him. Leo exchanged an apprehensive look with Harry before the two followed after the house-elf. Before long, the three of them entered what appeared to be a drawing room, a long, high-ceilinged room on the first floor with olive-green walls covered in dirty tapestries. The carpet exhaled little clouds of dust every time someone put their foot on it and the long, moss-green velvet curtains were buzzing as though swarming with invisible bees. However, Kreacher led them to the opposite side of the room where a tapestry hung.
The tapestry looked immensely old; it was faded and looked as though something had gnawed it in places; nevertheless, the golden thread with which it was embroidered still glinted brightly enough to show them a sprawling family tree dating back (as far as Leo could tell) to the Middle Ages. Large words at the very top of the tapestry read:
The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black
"Toujours Pur"
Leo scanned the tree with mild intrigue, eyes widening slightly once he reached near the bottom. There, beneath Walburga and Orion Black was the name Castor Perseus Black. A line connected his name to a blackened spot and from there connected downward to Leo Castor Black. That...that's my name. That's my dad's name right above it... Leo turned slowly to look at Kreacher.
"Kreacher...is this my house?" he asked.
"Yes, Young Master," Kreacher bowed once more. "Kreacher welcomes Young Master Leo home."
A/N:
the22nddoctor: You're getting a bit ahead of me there, mate. ;)