"Mum, mum, take the left here."

The sedan quickly swerved across the dividing line on the narrow road. In not quite dangerous proximity, a horn sounded as the boot cleared a potential collision by a few meters. The driver in the Vauxhall gave Ellen a dirty look, partially in disgust at her driving and partially at the fact that she was driving a near new red BMW convertible in an area that had been down on its luck for two generations now. Ellen ignored the look as she squinted at a sign, took the turn and then took another turn forty seconds later. She parked the car.

Hermione hopped out of the passenger seat and reached for her purse. Her mother watched her daughter lightly finger her forearm, confirming that her wand was secured and invisible. This entire week she was not using magic for anything other than the immediate task, but she felt as if she was running down the Strand starkers without her wand being with her. They had driven around most of the realm and had made at least one stop per day exactly like this stop. The small industrial park had a few acres of storage sheds with bright orange metal doors in back. They walked up the gatehouse where an old man with half of his natural teeth was watching a Champions League football match on replay.

As they got close to the door, they heard the old man swear as an attacker went down hard in the box and the only response from the referee was an arm pointing for a goal kick.

"Completely agree, and I think he could have carded him, hard tackle from behind with barely an attempt to play the ball… Shameful."

"Utter bullocks, the referees are getting worse every year… but I'm sorry, you're here for a reason and not to just watch footie with me. How can I help you, Ms.? "

"Puckle, Emma Puckle and my daughter Jane. We're looking to rent out a small storage space for Jane."

"Very well, what size and how long?"

"Not too big, perhaps 8 to 10 square meters and not sure how long? At least a year, probably more than that. Do you have anything?"

"I have a few 9 meter options for you, air conditioned and weather proof are twenty pounds a month, regular units are twelve pounds per month, all with a two month security deposit and you provide your own locks. That acceptable?"

"More than reasonable, let's take a look at the weatherproofed unit first."

The three of them walked through the yard. The old man punched a code into a unit on the wall and they entered a narrow shed with a dozen doors on each side of the hallway. He led them down to #C0012 and rolled open the flexible door. It was a simple space, clean, a smooth concrete floor illuminated by a sixty watt light bulb hanging from the ceiling glowing with an off-yellow light.

"Is this accessible at any time?"

"Yes, all clients get their own entry code, eight digits, you choose your own numbers… any other questions?" The old man was tiring. An easy sale would allow him to get back to his footie.

"Jane?"

"I like it, not too far from school, and it is a nice drive here… perfect spot for my art"

"We'll take it. Can you accept two years in cash?"

"Definitely, two years of cash is more than enough certainly ma'am" The old man smiled. This was an easy sale and no hassle of trying to collect every month.

They walked back to the small office in silence. As they went by, a middle aged couple with two children in the rear drove past them in a green Morris with the boot pried open. They stopped at one of the regular sheds and the wife fumbled with her keys to unlock the storage even as the children attempted to "help" unload the boot. The exasperated father encouraged them to play tag and to look out for any other autos that could damage their family's vehicle. This was far more helpful.

Thirty minutes later, Ellen and Hermione had unloaded a trio of rubberized crates onto a trolley and pushed them to their new unit. They entered the unit and pulled down the rolling door. Each bent at their knees to take their share of the eighty kilogram weight of each box and placed them on the floor. Hermione pulled out her wand and cast half a dozen monitoring and protective charms on the unit as Ellen emptied the first crate which had a pair of camp stoves, a dozen cannisters of gas, and cartons upon cartons of stews and soups and canned fish. Hermione unloaded the second crate with medical supplies including bandages, over the counter drugs, a few bottles of antibiotics and pain relievers that were of questionable legality given the forging of a prescription that a local chemist had filled and even more food. The last crate both mother and daughter emptied of blankets and clothes. A small radio, dozens of batteries and several gallons of water along with boxes of powdered milk were all that was left. They emptied it, and soon Hermione cast stasis charms on all of the food even as her mother spread a thin line of cat and fox urine to keep any critters away from the cache. They exited the small room and locked the door with both a combination lock and half a dozen more spells that Hermione muttered under her breath.

This was the last cache. Each of the eight caches that they had set up could keep three teenagers fed and safe for a month. They were all registered under different names and had been paid in cash for at least two years. The magic that Hermione used was very low powered. The only thing that was distinctive was the use of a protean charm tied to a bracelet that her mother had bought her two weeks ago that would trigger if someone attempted to use magic to enter. Everything else was passive monitoring that Dumbledore himself had trouble detecting at more than six inches. They had spent a week at Grimmauld Place working on their spells and he had gone through several iterations until he was sweating with effort to detect something that he knew was there.

Mother and daughter left the small village just east of Chester. An hour later, they were enjoying the wind whipping through their untamed hair as they accelerated on the A55. The practical aspects of the trip has been successful. Now the two women were heading to Penmaenmawr Beach for three days of sun and relaxation.

Ellen had needed a break and now with the practice not being their concern except as contract consultants, she could take a break. She looked at her daughter sitting just to her left, and for once, Hermione was not worried. She was not taking on the weight of the world or of both worlds. Her hand was out the window and she smiled as she tilted it upwards and her hand flew backwards and then she changed the air foil and floated forward.

Ellen turned on the radio and out blared a song that she and Hermione had sung many times when she was too young to go to school. The first few guitar notes had brought her back and both mother and daughter started to scream:

Got a good reason

For taking the easy way out

Got a good reason

For taking the easy way out now

She was a day tripper

One way ticket, yeah

For a moment, the world was right.