Disclaimer: I own Liam, Stef, Eldo and Brono and Matt Shunpike. But nothing else.
Author's Note: Chapter three is out at last. Took a hell lot of time, can't say why and I hope it lives up to expectations.
Again a HUGE thanks to anyone who reviewed my Chapter two. I am so grateful *sniff*
PG13 because of violent considerations and some slang.
Chapter3: Aliases and Pubs
Sirius did not stop sprinting until he had put six Lanes between himself and Number Twelve. But then his energy began to fail him so he slowed down to a brisk walk. His feeling of savage triumph had reached its peak. His plan had been pulled off, flawless, though in Regulus's bedroom, in the last minute, he had changed something. It had occurred to him, only then, that he might as well not return to Grimmauld Place after his affairs in Diagon Alley were done. Though his wizarding supplies would cost him only fifty Galleons, he had made off with a hundred. He had heard, that there was an inn in Diagon Alley. He had decided to stay at the inn till September the first.
The next question he was faced with, was how he was going to get to Diagon Alley. He had heard Andro talk about a certain Knight Bus. All you had to do was stick out your wand arm, and the bus would screech to a halt in front of you. Though this sounded delightful, Sirius was confident that the bus wouldn't come roaming the Lanes of Grimmauld Place. He resolved to head for the Muggle Highway, which ran parallel to Lane Seven and try his luck.
He kept walking, trying to keep up a brisk pace, the sooner he got there the better. It would only be a matter of a few hours before his household woke up, and realized he was missing, and if he was still in the vicinity Grimmauld Place, he was sure to be found. He tried to keep calm, but the adrenaline pumping through his body was making it difficult. He clutched Regulus's wand tightly in his right hand. He had reached the end of Lane Ten. Now a right turn, and he would have to go straight ahead for the Muggle Highway.
As he turned into Lane Nine, he noticed three shadows looming in the distance. Who would be roaming around at two thirty in the morning? Nobody as far as he could think, except ,'Damn,' he muttered. 'Rioters, I totally forgot,' The rioters had now come close enough for him to see them clearly. With a jolt, he realized that they were carrying broken bottles, that were sharp at the edges and were stained with something that looked horribly like, 'Blood!,' Sirius gasped, shocked. He had thought that the riots were nothing but a stupid protestation demonstration. He hadn't thought that they would take such a violent turn.
'Who's there?,' one of them asked sharply. 'Liam? Is that you? well, we've been driven from Lane One, the coppers brought guns, we managed to isolate and kill a few of them, with these broken bottles, Eldo took a nasty bullet in the neck, and we took their guns - shotguns and SMGs - pretty powerful, so now we've got some firepower. The whole mob's on Lane Six, right now, and Stef and Brono are giving the coppers some fire.'
Sirius's heart went cold. These people had killed and were planning to kill more. And they were blocking Lane Seven. He had to now find an alternate route, or he would meet with the very fate he wanted his family to think he had met with. 'Liam?,' the man said again and took a few steps forward. He saw Sirius clearly for the first time, and his jaw dropped. 'What the-, a kid!'
'Er - yeah,' said Sirius, feeling tongue tied.
'What are you doing here?' the tallest man asked, shadowing Sirius.
'Er, taking a walk,' Sirius stuttered. The only way he could escape these rioters was to perform magic. But he wasn't sure if it was allowed.
'Look here kiddo, we aren't playing games. Everyone knows there are riots going on. No sane person would take a walk,' said the third man, whose stomach was drooping over his sides.
Sirius eyed the man's muscles nervously. 'I was er - told to come here,' he stammered.
'By who?,' asked the tall man, taking a step forward. 'Don't tell me your mama asked you to fight the rioters off', he chuckled at his own joke.
'She's quite capable,' muttered Sirius to himself. The men didn't seem to hear him.
'So who told you to come here?,' asked the tall man again, his expression was now dangerous.
Sirius decided that he had to hex these men. That was the fastest way to end their interview. If he let the men continue interrogating him, they would probably be done by sunrise.
'A man,' said Sirius, whose voice was not trembling anymore. He was mentally choosing with which spells he was going to hex these men.
'Hey what's that your holding?,' asked the fat man, pointing at the wand. 'A stick. With which you're going to beat us?,' he chuckled.
'No,' said Sirius, still rehearsing the incantations of the appropriate hexes. 'It was given to me'
'By the same man who told you to come here?,'
'Yeah,' Sirius muttered. The men exchanged glances.
'Look here kid, was this man short? and thin? with a long nose?,'
'Guess he was,' Sirius muttered distractedly.
'Liam must have put a message in that. Give it to us, kid,' said the fat man.
'No I won't,' said Sirius. 'I need it'
'For what? Look here, our friend Liam wants to send us a message, so he gave you that stick, to give to us. Understand?,' the fat man stepped forward.
'I don't see why I should collaborate with you rioters,' said Sirius, his lips curving upwards in a grin, 'Why should I make your job easy?'
There was silence for a second. Then the tall man stepped forward.
'Because if you don't, you're going to be beaten into unconsciousness,' he hissed raising his fists.
'I am afraid that you are about to meet with that very fate, as you'll see,' Sirius said, the murderous look, lighting his eyes.
'Stupefy!,' he cried, pointing his wand at the tall man. The jet of red light that blasted from his wand hit the man squarely in his chest. He flew backwards and hit the floor, unconscious. At this the fat man stepped backwards. Sirius sent a stunner that hit him in the stomach. He doubled up and collapsed. Watching his fellow rioters' fate, the third man turned around and began running. But Sirius sent a stunner that hit him between his shoulder blades and he fell on his face.
Sirius sighed with relief. Though he hadn't been in any real danger, it had been the first time he had ever looked into a murderer's face. There had been a haunted look on each of those men's faces that had made Sirius feel quaky. He resolved never to commit a murder, he never wanted his face to be like those rioters.
He glanced at his watch. The rioters had taken fifteen minutes of his precious time. He wanted to be safely aboard the Knight Bus by three' o clock. He knew that it was now impossible to get to the Muggle Highway via Lane Seven. The rioter had said that the mob had been pushed into Lane Six, which meant that it was suicide to take the normal route. He could distinctly hear the distant yells of the rioters.
His only chance was through a dingy alley which ran between two rows of mansions. It's opening was in Lane Twelve, which meant he would have to retrace his steps. He had been through that alley only once before, when he was being chased by Regulus and he knew it led to Lane Seven.
He hurriedly sprinted through Lane Ten and Eleven back to Twelve. He looked around for the opening of the alley, spotting it behind some dustbins. He jumped over the dustbins and ran headfirst into the dark alley feeling the heat in his neck rise. He knew that this place was infested with cats, animals he hated with all his heart. But he had no choice. Firing sparks from his wand, so that the cats wouldn't come close to him, he sprinted through the alley, wincing as he saw pairs of green eyes eying him.
After what seemed like eternity, he saw the alley widen into a road. He jumped over another group of dustbins blocking his path and sprinted out into Lane Seven. He could see the Muggle Highway beyond a thicket of trees and hear the cries of the rioters behind him. In the distance, he thought he could see police cars approaching the scene. He hurriedly sprinted towards the Muggle Highway and stopped when he reached it, panting, he had almost done it.
He glanced at his watch one more time. Ten minutes to three 'o clock. If the Knight Bus didn't exist or it didn't come for some reason, his whole plan would be foiled. Feeling stupid, he stuck out his right arm and held his breath, trying to calm the blood that was rushing through his ears and the adrenaline that was pumping inside him.
For a few seconds nothing happened, and Sirius considered lowering his hand and collapsing on the floor from exhaustion. As he began to lower his hand, there was a mighty BANG. He jumped backwards, startled, and what he saw in front of him made him all the more. A violent purple, triple-decker bus had appeared out of the thin air.
A pimply faced, jug eared youth, in a purple uniform to match the color of the bus jumped out. 'Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for a stranded witch or wizard, Matt Shunpike at your service -,' he paused for a moment as though not used to not being interrupted and spotted Sirius for the first time.
' 'Choo standing there for? Get in the bus,' he said, goggling at Sirius as though he had never had a passenger more interesting.
'Yeah - thank you,' said Sirius, feeling relieved, and Matt Shunpike helped him up the steps into the bus.
As Sirius entered the bus, the door closed behind him and with another BANG, the bus was off again.
'What's your name?', asked Matt, still goggling at Sirius as he grabbed a notepad and a pencil.
' er - Aben Bernard,' he said, saying the first name that came to his head.
'Aben Bernard,' muttered Matt as he scribbled the name on the notepad. 'And where are you going?,'
'Diagon Alley,' said Sirius, quite sure of it this time.
'Di'gon Alley,' muttered Matt as he scribbled it, 'Okay Aben, it'll cost fifteen Sickles for a bed, but fo' seventeen you get hot chocolate and -'
'I'll take some hot chocolate,' said Sirius hurriedly, digging into his waist pocket.
'That'll be seventeen sickles,' said Matt and he resumed goggling at Sirius.
Sirius dropped the money in Matt's outstretched palm. Matt pocketed it and then said, 'Your bed's on the third deck, I'll show you there'
Sirius followed Matt up the stairs to the third deck. Nobody took much notice of them, they were most of them asleep, which was good, as Sirius kept telling himself. They had reached his bed, and he removed his slippers and slid under the sheets. Matt went to get his hot chocolate and returned a minute later with a steaming mug of what tasted like hot water and brown corn flakes.
After he drank half of his 'hot chocolate', Sirius put the cup on the bedside table, pulled the blanket over himself and settled down for a small nap, which was occasionally disturbed by the loud BANGs of the Knight Bus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An hour later, he was awoken by Matt, who was saying 'Aben, we're at Di'gon Alley. Get up quick before that nuthead driver BANGs off again'
Sirius awoke with a start, and jumped out of bed, knocking over his half empty cup making Matt curse. 'Um...sorry,' he said, not quite knowing what would have been better. 'Oh, you go on, or should I show you the way ag'in?,' asked Matt, glaring at Sirius.
'Er, no, it's okay,' said Sirius rushing towards the stairs as Matt continued to mop the floor and curse. He jumped two stairs at a time (which was rather dangerous, considering how narrow and steep the staircase was) afraid if Matt had been serious about the 'nuthead' driver. Once he was at the bottom deck, Sirius sprinted towards the door, waking many sleeping passengers up, causing them to curse him as well.
As he reached the door, the driver swung around and gave him a look that clearly said, 'Hurry up and scoot'
The door automatically swung open and he jumped out feeling elated. There was no stopping him now. He did a jig around the platform, oblivious of the fact that the tramps on the road were eying him apprehensively. He noticed a tiny, grubby looking pub and on a crooked board beside it, the letters 'The Leaky Cauldron' were scribbled. He had heard about it, and knew it was the entrance to Diagon Alley.
He walked into the pub, noticing the barman who was bald and was fast asleep, his head propped on his knuckles. He walked over to him, glancing at his watch. It was four thirty. No wonder the barman was asleep. 'Excuse Me,' he said loudly. The barman woke with a start and let out a yelp and fell off his set when he found himself staring into Sirius's face.
'Sorry about that,' said Sirius, though he wasn't exactly sure it was his fault. 'No problem,' he muttered climbing to his feet. 'Though I must say, at this time? Anyway, why do they call us a twenty four hour inn?,' He seated himself shaking his head.
Sirius was trying hard not to laugh. 'I was wondering,' he said, trying to keep his voice straight, 'If I could lodge here for sometime'
'Sure,' said the barman giving him a toothless grin. 'How long?'
'Till September the first,' said Sirius crossing his fingers.
At this, the barman let out another yelp and nearly fell of his stool, which began to rock dangerously on one leg. Sirius leaned forward and caught the man by his shirt, and managed to pull his stool back onto its three legs.
'Thank you, thank you,' muttered the man distractedly, 'Yes, till September the first, that will be,' he paused for a moment as though calculating something, 'forty five Galleons'
'Perfect,' said Sirius. 'I'll pay before checking out'
'All right then,' said the man, 'I'll show you where you'll be sleeping, I'm Tom, by the way, just follow me'
'Lead the way,' said Sirius smiling at Tom.
Tom jumped off his stool and began walking towards a flight of stairs. Sirius looked around the pub which was to be his home for a whole month, and then followed Tom.
Marauder laughs his head off