A west side short story part I
January 16th of 1984; 5 am:
Sirius followed Alexa's father's car all night until the man stopped around 5 am at an "Esso" gas station. After filling his gas tank, Mr. Acker parked his car in a parking sheltered from the snow by a long zinc plate. Sitting on the top of one of the high lampposts illuminating the highway, Sirius watched him get out of his car and walk quickly inside the gas station, rubbing his hands together.
Sirius waited for the man to come out for a long moment in the cold until he decided to leave his spot and look for him, tired of holding his wand above his head to shelter himself from the snow. He apparated behind a van, then walked inside the station.
Once inside, he let a satisfied sigh as he felt his body warming and started to walk discreetly between the shop shelves, looking for Mr. Acker, until he found the man sitting at a table, his hands holding a plastic cup across from another man. Sirius stopped and stayed hidden behind a shelf, surprised to hear Mr. Acker and the other man talking in English and not German. The other man looked older, had white hair, was wearing a fluorescent safety vest above a black jumper, and from what could reach Sirius' ears, also had a North American accent.
"I'm sorry to make you come here this late, Benji, but I have a plane to catch in two hours," The man said.
"Of course, Mattis… What's so urgent?" Mr. Acker asked.
Mattis nodded at the tv on the wall on which president Reagan was doing a speech. "That idiot, us and the soviets…Everyone is an urgent idiot."
"He's just a puppet playing for the applause…America is far away; Europe won't accept another war. The memory of the last one is still fresh, and by now everyone has too much to lose," Mr. Acker said.
"The situation in the east is bad, Benji. Incredibly delicate. They believe the west is seriously planning an attack. So, if the KGB is, for now, holding them until they get some solid evidence, others press for a preventive initiative," Mattis said.
"You can be sure Moscow has eyes and ears in every embassy in Europe; if they had a single piece of evidence, we wouldn't be talking right now," Mr Acker said.
"I know…But we received some new information. Some leaders need this war to happen to survive the anger they're and low approval they're dealing with in their own countries," Mattis said.
" You mean a false flag?" Mr. Acker asked.
"That's what we are afraid of indeed", Mattis said, sliding a folder on the table toward him.
Mr. Acker opened the folder, read the file, and asked, "Sirius Black? Is it a nickname?"
"That's what we believe…Because as hard as we've tried, we couldn't find a single trace of him anywhere. The MI6 describes him as a lone wolf… Anyway, he's responsible for a mass murder in London a few years ago and escaped from jail only six months after his arrest. He has been on the run since but did some gloomy work in France a little bit more than a year ago. Apparently, he follows the same modus operandi. He hits then disappears for months before repeating again somewhere else, and we seriously doubt that he randomly chooses his targets," Mattis said.
"What makes you think he'll choose Germany this time? This is probably the most surveilled place in the world right now…." Mr. Acker said.
"And would make his action impossible to ignore…And he can't hide forever," Mattis said.
"I see…Some big fish hired him in exchange of a new identity and a one-way ticket to a communist country where he would live happy forever and after..." Mr. Acker.
"…In exchange for a last job equivalent to the reward," Mattis said, finishing Mr. Acker's sentence.
"What makes you think this is where he could reappear?" Mr. Acker asked.
"There will be an important meeting in Hamburg between a NATO commissioner and top generals from NATO members to discuss the possibility of deploying our weapons here in the west to keep the east and the Soviets at bay," Mattis said, making Mr. Acker sigh.
"That would be just the same as an open declaration of war," Mr. Acker said.
"I'm only the messenger, Benji," Mattis said.
"Call off the meeting, take it somewhere else…Don't make it easy for him!" Mr. Acker said.
"No," Mattis said.
"Excuse me?" Mr. Acker asked.
"Actually, we want to attract him toward it. We want it to be his next target. It will be easier to anticipate him if we know in advance where he's going instead of searching a needle in a haystack … " Mattis said before Mr. Acker interrupted him.
"Are you insane? What if he succeeds? What if he's the one who plays with you?" Mr. Acker asked.
"He's not…We have a reliable source," Mattis said.
"Who?" Mr. Acker asked.
"Classified!" Mattis said, standing up. "All we got is in the file, Benji. Good luck," he added before leaving.
Mr. Acker took his time to finish his coffee. Sirius took advantage of it to go back outside and approached his car. He whispered 'Alohomora', turned into Padfoot, then snuck inside the Trabant trunk, covered himself with a blanket behind the man's suitcase, and waited silently for long minutes before he finally heard some noise outside the car before Mr. Acker started his car's engine and took back the road.
During the ride, Sirius wondered about Alexa's father and the nature of his work. Now that he thought about it, Alexa talked a lot about her mother, and to be honest, the woman wasn't of a quiet nature herself. But, when Sirius asked her about her father, she shrugged and said he had a boring job in an assurance company.
After some time, the car stopped again, and Sirius guessed the man was just keeping his promise to his wife. The situation could be funny, but Sirius was intrigued about how much effort the Aurors and the ministry of magic were trying their best to catch him. Of course, no one planned to attack a muggle meeting, at least not him…But he had to admit that the story they made up to mobilize the muggle authorities was interesting, even if completely useless.
However, he got lucky to overhear the two men talking. Starting now, he would move as Padfoot, and now that Alexa can care of herself, it was maybe time to say goodbye before involving her in serious trouble with the ministry. Sirius knew best how fast justice was in the wizarding world, not to talk about the punishments, even for minor offences.
About two other hours, the car took a curve and soon started to drive slowly, while traffic noises sounded outside, informing Sirius that they had finally arrived in Hamburg. Sirius took back his human form and delicately opened the car's trunk a few inches to have a look outside. They crossed a bridge abode what could only be the Elbe, then soon arrived in a neighborhood where Mr. Acker stopped his car in front of a residential building with clinker bricks.
The moment when Mr. Acker was about to open the trunk, Sirius desapparated to appear again behind a street corner from where he peered. The man, visibly intrigued by the cracking noise Sirius made, was kneeling next to a tire, inspecting it. Sirius watched him turn around his car before grabbing his suitcase and entering the building.
Sirius transformed to Padfoot and moved away. After spending part of the night repeatedly apparating in January's cold and the other curled inside the car's trunk, Sirius was so exhausted his legs barely could hold him up, and his paws hurt at the contact with the cold street pavement. Sirius paced along the deserted walkway along the Elbe River, shivering as he faced the howling wind covering the traffic's noise.
As he approached an old Newspaper kiosk, he remembered the summer of his fifteen years, when he and his friends had gone for a trip around Europe, so it wasn't his first time in Hamburg. He recalled the day when James and Sirius pushed Peter into the river ignoring Remus' protests. Today, watching Padfoot's image reflects on the water, he wished he could travel back in time and add an anvil to that son of bitch ankle. Sirius turned his back at the river and climbed the stairs leading to Hamburg's city hall square, where passers-by gathered around the street performers animating the place, looking curiously at the dog walking alone.
The walk ended short when Sirius noticed how one man stood still among the middle of the passing-by, looking at the dog. The man was tall with brown hair and was one of the only two men still alive to know exactly who the dog was. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Remus stepped forward. Sirius started to run as fast as he could and left the place to cross the road, forcing the cars to brake hard to avoid hitting the dog, they tyres grinding loudly on the asphalt, covering the noise his pursuer made while apparating to catch up with him.
Sirius had to desapparate. Arrived in an alley between two high buildings, he transformed back to his human form, but in his rush, his foot plunged in a pothole, and Sirius fell loudly on the floor. Lucky for him, his fall made him dodge a red lightning fired at his back. Sirius turned over on his back and saw Remus, a few meters away from him, raise his wand, but before he could cast his spell and finish him, Sirius went for it and hurried to desapparate directly from the ground.
A few seconds later, he abruptly fell on a wooden floor, hitting his head on it. A moment later he heard a voice say: "Geht es Ihnen gut?"
He sat on the floor and saw a young blonde woman rush to him and crouch near him. "Haben Sie sich verletzt?
"I'm fine, I just tripped…" Sirius said.
"Oh, a tourist…Sorry, we don't have any customers so early, so I mopped the floor. Are you sure you're fine?" the girl asked.
"Yes, I should have paid attention," Sirius said, trying to stand up.
"Let me help you!" She said, helping him to stand up then sit in a booth.
"Where am I?" Sirius asked, looking around him.
"Hum…Well… You're in a bar, the Wohnzimmer bar since 1984!" the girl said, showing the space around her.
"You guys opened two weeks ago?" Sirius asked.
"Sixteen days!" She said.
"Congratulations…But am I still in Hamburg?" Sirius asked.
"Of course you are! You need some coffee! I'll be back!" She said before walking away towards the counter.
Sirius rubbed his forehead, sighing. Remus had been so close to catching him. What was he doing in Hamburg? That was what Sirius asked himself before the answer came naturally to him. Of course, he was after him and the source the guy Mr Acker met in the gas station talked about. Dumbledore must have sent him! Remus knew him better than anyone…But how did he find him so fast? Did he, just like Sirius, wanted to take a walk in a place they shared a moment at a few years ago? Or was it nothing more than a coincidence? … Anyway, starting now, even Padfoot wouldn't go unnoticed, as Remus would have revealed his secret by now. If not to the ministry of magic, he would have told it at least to Dumbledore and perhaps other members of the order of the phoenix.
"Here!" the girl said, placing a cup of smoking coffee on the table in front of his hands, smiling at him.
"Thank you!" Sirius said." I'll also like to order something to eat"
"Sure! We have a Breakfast menu for 11,25 Deutschmarks," the waitress said.
"I'll take that," Sirius said.
After the waitress disappeared behind a door, Sirius took out his wand and transfigured his paper napkins into the money he would need to pay for his order. Then, his attention went to the television broadcasting the same speech he saw earlier in the gas station while spying on Mr Acker.
"They are the focus of modern evil in the world, so let us pray for the salvation for all the people who live in that totalitarian darkness; some would have us accept their world and accommodate ourselves to their aggressive impulses…."
Then the image switched to another man, this time speaking in German "If the Soviet Union is not prepared to provide security for Europe through disarmament, then we must provide security through the deployment of American medium-range missiles."
The waitress returned and put a tray with brown bread, butter, marmalade, ham, and some gouda in front of him.
"If you want me to switch to another channel, just ask," she said, nodding at the television.
"Why would you?" Sirius asked.
"They've been playing the same thing over and over for hours...as if we're not anxious enough," The waitress said, looking annoyedly at the image.
"You think a new war is about to break out?" Sirius asked.
"Until now, both sides have been testing each other for years, but recently things have escalated to a new level. So, who knows…Maybe" She said, "Is it your first time in Germany?"
"Yes, I'm staying here for a few days," Sirius said.
"Are you thinking about crossing the border and see how life is on the other side?" She asked.
"No…I don't really care to be honest," Sirius said.
"You don't?!" She asked, looking offended.
"I'll be off in a couple of days or sooner, so…" Sirius said.
"So, you think a third world war won't reach you?" She asked. "What's happening here isn't a German problem! It's everyone's problem!"
"Sorry…I just have my own issues…Have you ever been to the east?" Sirius asked.
"No…But some of us hope to force the state to back down from the missiles and favor peace through dialogue. You may have seen us on TV, organizing peaceful marches and demonstrations against war. We intend to travel to the east and show that there is no danger from the East Germans. That we're just the same people after all," she said.
"I like the idea…But, what's stopping you from reunifying?" Sirius asked.
"We're trapped in the middle of an ideological war. For the soviet union, east Germany is an outpost to expand their ideology to the rest of Europe, same for the united states here in the west, so it's not in their interest to let Germany reunify to be an independent country again…And there is also the fear that a new unified Germany could be followed by the emergence of a new Nazi regime or at least that Germany becomes an economic power that would swallow up the other non-communist European countries" She said.
"It seems very complex," Sirius said.
"If you want to hear more about it, we're having a meeting this afternoon at this address," she said, writing it down on her order pad before tiring the page and handing it to him. "By the way, my name is Emma."
"I'm Evan; nice to meet you," Sirius said.
"Nice to meet you as well; I hope to see you again this afternoon, Evan," Emma said before leaving to welcome new customers.
Sirius took his time to finish eating his breakfast. The events had followed one another too quickly since the evening, and this small discussion had soothed him after his sudden meeting with Remus and his narrow escape. He seriously doubted that Remus had already given up and gone back to England. Far from it, he most certainly would have warned Dumbledore and the German Aurors by now. Hamburg would undoubtedly be on alert; their magical transport departments would have deployed an anti-apparition ward so they detect and track the magical signature of anyone who would try any kind of magical transportation. To make it harder, he couldn't count on Padfoot either.
More important, it would be a bad idea to avoid going back south to Alexa for now, and to be more cautious, he would wait some time before contacting her. Even using a phone instead of an owl, Sirius couldn't tell for sure if their conversation would be private or intercepted.
Tired of walking in circles, Sirius returned to his starting point. After another observation, he noticed that right in front of the apartment occupied by Mr. Acker, there was another building of the same height, of which one of the apartments had all its windows blinds lowered.
Sirius counted the floors before appearing inside the building's lobby. He found a row of mailboxes that confirmed his suspicions to his right. The mailbox that matched the apartment he was interested in was filled to the edge with mail, and some letters had fallen on the floor.
Sirius carefully climbed the stairs to the fifth floor, then approached the apartment's door he was looking for. He glanced behind him and then put the tip of his wand against the door. He whispered, "Homenum Revelio," and, a few seconds later, he was sure the apartment was empty a few seconds later.
"Alohomora", Sirius whispered again before gently pushing the front door after hearing the lock open.
Once inside, Sirius closed the door behind him and stepped into the darkness. He swept the dust in the air with his hand and coughed as he moved forward. The entrance led to a short hallway, a living room and closed doors to bedrooms or a bathroom. Standing on the wooden floor of the living room, Sirius was surrounded by discarded old wooden furniture and a couch covered with a dusty sheet, while in the corner of the living room was an old mobile stove. After exploring the apartment, he found two empty bedrooms and a bathroom that, to his delight, had not been disconnected from the city's water network.
After consideration, Sirius decided that the place would be perfect for a hideout. It provided more than adequate comfort for a squatter in its current state, but Sirius couldn't be satisfied with it. So, he took out his wand and began working.
The first thing Sirius did was to completely soundproof the place to avoid raising the neighbors' curiosity. Next, he built wards to keep out muggles and other unwanted visitors and keep the place invisible to anyone but himself. To do that, Sirius started tagging the walls with Runes, which he linked together and repeated the same process for each apartment room.
After a busy hour, he managed to protect and completely hide the place, finally creating a secure safe house for himself after more than a year on the run. For the moment, it would be enough, but he would consolidate it gradually if needed.
Once the first step was completed, he began to clean the place. Sirius raised the blinds and opened the shutters of the windows to ventilate and cast away the dust that hovered freely around him in the air and the mould that infected the walls, repaired the plumbing, then progressively, with the help of his wand, Sirius led the apartment gradually returned to its best state.
While searching in the drawers of the old furniture, he found various broken decorative objects he transfigured into a big bed that he assembled in one of the rooms, then into a table, armchairs, and a carpet for the living room before duplicating the old mobile stove he had found to place each one in the different rooms of the apartment and lighting a fire in each one. Once done with his work, Sirius took off his leather jacket and let himself fall on the living room's couch, freshly refurbished, exhausted. Even with the help of magic, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of compassion for the old house-elf at 12 Grimmauld Place, who had to deal with a house more prominent than the building.
Hello everyone! I have been away for a long time because this short story had been in my mind for some time, and didn't want to go any further without adding it. So, I took my time to do some research, think about how it could affect the rest of the story and write all the chapters before posting again. I hope you'll like it; please read and review!