chapter 3
Harry sat in the passenger seat of the car lost in thought. Everything was gone. Cyrus had managed to grab a few things out of the house but everything else was gone. The only place Harry had ever considered home went up in smoke. He had so many questions but no clue how to ask them or even what he would say. His primary thought was why? which was quickly followed by the usual who, what, and how. Harry noticed they had been driving for some time as it was now mid afternoon, but he had no recollection of the time passing. He glanced over at his father and what he saw shocked him. Blood and ash streaked his face, his shirt was torn slightly and there was a cut on his cheek. He had some mild burns on his arm but the thing that surprised him most was the long length of dark wood that rested in his lap in easy reach. Harry didn't know why he had grabbed that, but it seemed like his father felt more comfortable now that it was in arms reach. Harry was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost didn't realize his father had started speaking. "I don't know how they found us. The bastards must have been searching for months." he slapped the steering wheel hard and let out a string of curses. "I can't believe I got so careless. We had been doing so good, keeping our heads low, hell I don't even know how they knew that we were still here." Cyrus trailed off as he watched the road, after a short while Harry noticed they passed a sign "London 30 kilometers". They spent the rest of the ride in silence but stopped at a rest area right before they got into London proper. "we can catch a bus into London from here. i have a place we can stay at for a little while until we decide what to do next. get out and go sit by the bus stop, i have some stuff i need to grab." Cyrus said leaving no room for discussion. Harry quickly got out and walked up the road a for a moment to the bus stop, a few moments later Cyrus walked up behind him and Harry could almost see the glow of a small fire behind him but figured it was a trick of the light. One thing he did notice however, was that Cyrus' cuts had healed up and he was slowly sliding the stick into a jacket pocket. "we should probably go shopping tomorrow, get you some new clothes, god knows we both need them" Cyrus said with a slight chuckle. As they waited for the bus everything came tumbling out of harry. "What happened? why did the house burn? who found us? what did you mean about keeping our heads low. What is happening!" harry practically yelled this out, his words becoming more and more frantic as he seemed to start to panic. Without warning Cyrus wrapped him in a hug, holding the shaking boy to his chest. "I'm sorry harry" Cyrus began in a quiet voice. he glanced up at the bus schedule and then sat down with harry still in his arms, after a moment he let the boy go and let out a small sigh. "I'll start from the beginning, you see after you left this morning, i received a knock at the door."
pov change: Cyrus 3 hours prior
*knock knock knock*
Cyrus rose from his position on the couch, he had not been expecting any visitors today, and it was Sunday. There was no post on Sundays. This immediately put Cyrus on edge as he reached into his desk drawer for his wand. He edged closer to the door before a high pitched voice made his blood run cold. "ohhhh noxxxxx, where are you sweetieeee" this voice was followed by a strange child like giggle. Cyrus immediately sprinted for his room as the door exploded in a burst of splinters, blurs of green raced towards Cyrus and he was forced to dive head first into the bathroom. Quickly shooting back a few spells of his own, Cyrus shot a quick overpowered lumos to act as a makeshift flash bang. He raced into his room, grabbed his duffel bag and moleskin pouch, before casting a blasting hex on a nearby wall to make a quick exit. As he ran out of the house he looked behind him, it was already going up in flames and… yep. there they were. death eaters. fuck. Cyrus ran deeper into the housing complex behind their house and cast an alohomora on the first car he saw. In his defense, he was in a rush. It was at that moment that he realized a crucial piece of information. harry would return from his run soon, with a renewed sense of urgency Cyrus slammed the car into reverse, and flew down the block, definitely breaking a few speed laws in the process, as he rounded the corner harry came into view. Relief swept over Cyrus but he could still see some of the dark robes figures behind the house, slamming the break he came to a stop right in front of harry. with a quick, "get in" they were on the road
harry pov, Present
Cyrus finished his story and Harry sat in silence, while he did not understand many of the spells his father described, he assumed they did some damage judging by the state he had been in before they reached the bus stop. The bus arrived shorty after and the two men boarded it in silence, Cyrus paid the driver and gave him an address to an apartment complex in the middle of London. They made the ride to the apartment in near silence, only breaking it occasionally for small talk. It was almost dinner time when they reached the apartment, they quickly went in and Cyrus went into his room to change. When he came out a few minutes later they decided to call a local Chinese restaurant for take out. As usual Harry got General Tso's chicken and Cyrus got Beef chow mein. This had been their order for as long as Harry could remember and he doubted it would change any time soon. After eating their meal brief small talk ensued before Harry went to his room to do a quick stretching routine and head to bed. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.