For Harry, five o'clock could not roll around quick enough the next
day. Breakfast was not out of the ordinary, neither was lunch, for both
which meals Harry was ordered by his Aunt to prepare and serve. Harry was
surely not going to miss feeding his fat lump of a cousin and his aunt and
uncle every morning, noon and night. Harry found himself counting down
hours, minutes, and seconds until he would finally and forever be free of
the custody of his aunt. Yes, in 7½ hours, Harry would be on the way to 12
Grimmauld Place where his new home would be waiting.
'In almost 7 hours, I'll never have to look at Dudley's face again!' Harry thought gleefully to himself as he made a mental list of things to look forward to never having to do again. It would be thought one person wouldn't have a very long list, but not Harry Potter. He made a list so long, that he would've wagered a good portion of Galleons that it would take up more parchment than one of Hermione's Arithmancy essays, if he had a mind to put it to paper.
Somewhere near the quiet muggle village of Ottery St. Catchpole, in another part of England, the Weasley's were packing up to go to Grimmauld place for the remainder of the summer.
"MUM!" Ron yelled down the rickety stairwell, "WHERE'S MY OWL?" Ginny, who was in between his big mouth and downstairs winced as he bellowed, and thought to herself, 'How would she know, you git, he's your little problem, not ours!'
"How should I know, Ron! He's your owl, not mine, that's your problem, love, not mine!" Molly shouted back.
Ginny's eyes widened and she whispered, "That's scary, that is! Oh I'll end up just like her," she added with a slight whine. She went back to sorting her socks and her new robes. At Diagon Alley yesterday, her mum had treated her to several new robes, and even a brand new set of dress robes.
Sometimes if Ginny drifted far enough off into a reverie, she favored the idea that it was nice having enough to buy brand new things, even if it meant a quieter household, and less time per year seeing her brothers. But then she'd always snap back, and it would be then that she would trade all of her new clothes and even wear Ron's old robes.... well maybe not that, but she would give up all of her new possessions to have the Burrow full of laughter and shouts and hugs, and warmth and even the odd noises coming from Fred and George's room again. But all of her brothers save Ron, were gone off on their own. Bill was still in Egypt, Charlie in Romania still, as always with his beloved dragons, Percy was still estranged from the family, though Ginny knew that if he'd give up his darned pride, and if her brothers would too, that they could have him back, and things would be better, at least a bit. Fred and George had taken an apartment above their venue in Diagon Alley (poor Angelina), and Ron was starting to drift apart, despite having a year left at Hogwarts.
Sighing, Ginny got up off of her bed and began to fold her robes to stack them in her suitcase. Careful to arrange her robes so they would not wrinkle, she placed them in the old tattered and dusty suitcase that Ron had brought down out of the attic for her, and slowly closed the top, and zipped it up. She crossed the room to her bed and sat down on the purple and yellow quilt. Picking idly at a loose thread on one of the seams, she stared out of the small window on the wall next to her bed. The modest hexagonal window provided a view of the Weasley's backyard, and the low stone wall that surrounded the grassy courtyard.
Movement in the corner of the window caught Ginny's attention, and she looked down from her daydreaming stare, to the worn path from the house to the shed. Ron was crossing the yard with difficulty, with four broomsticks slugged over his shoulder, and lugging a large black wooden box, which he was dragging behind him, tipped on it's end, inching along the dusty path. He stopped, and swore as the edge of the heavy trunk collided sharply with the soft spot on his heel. Ginny could see his mouth moving as he swore and dropped the box with a dull thud. Ginny smiled at the sight, and turned away from the window.
She laid back and rested her head on the pillow. Staring at the low ceiling, she tried to think of anything that she'd forgotten to pack. Drawing a blank, she closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. She could hear dishes clinking faintly downstairs, and her Fred and George bustling around in their room down the hall, emptying their room, to move their things to Diagon Alley. She curled her legs up under her and rolled onto her side, breathing in the comforting smells of her house, something backing in the oven, the fresh scent of flowers from a candle, the slightly old smell of the walls around her, like plaster, and wallpaper, and all of the aromas that had been absorbed over the years.
Ron trudged up the stairs slowly, his heel still aching from earlier that afternoon when he tried to pull that blasted Quidditch crate to the house, so they could take it with them to Grimmauld. He made his way up the narrow steps, and passed the landing where his room was, past Fred and George's, their door, strangely, hanging wide open to show an empty room inside. He kept going 'till he reached Ginny's room, her door was closed. He knocked gently, and stood in the dark hallway, waiting for a response. Nothing. He slowly turned the knob, and the first thing that hit him was the hazy, late afternoon sun rays. The sun was close to setting, it's warm rays hit the back of the Weasley house, and streamed in all of the west facing windows, like the tiny hexagon in Ginny's room. Sunlight fell on Ginny's head, illuminating her auburn red hair, giving it streaks of bright, fiery red. Creeping over to her bed, he bent down, close to her face, and took a deep breath. "GINNY!!! WAKE UP!!!!" he bellowed inches away from her ear. She bolted up, and he tore out of the room, laughing all the way down the hall.
"RONALD WEASLEY! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!" she shrieked from her room, too drowsy to go after him.
"You better hurry up, we were gonna leave without you!" her brother yelled from downstairs.
'I'm surprised you didn't' she thought to herself. With so much activity constantly going on at the Burrow, it wasn't hard to overlook things, or even people. She picked up her heavy suitcase, and braced it against her thigh. Ginny was just grateful that she didn't have to heave her Hogwarts trunk down the stairs, Molly had seen too it that Ginny and Ron were packed for school and ready to go the night before, and then enlisted the twins, Ron and Remus to deliver the trunks to Grimmauld early, so as to facilitate moving the next day. Working her way steadily down the winding flight of stairs , she dragged the baggage behind her, bumping it step by step to the bottom.
"Good, Ginny, now we can go," Molly Weasley said as she looked up to see her daughter stepping off the bottom step into the kitchen. "Here, doll," Molly employed an old pet name, motioning to Ginny with a flower pot full of sparkling powder. "Go ahead, Daddy's already there, and Ron will come after you, remember now, speak clearly!"
Ginny took a pinch threw it into the flames, and stepped into the hearth. "12 Grimmauld Place!" she shouted with her eyes scrunched closed. Spinning wildly, she stopped abruptly, and upon opening her eyes, she could see Tonks and her father smiling from the kitchen in front of her.
"Hurry up now, love, Ron'll be directly behind you then." Her dad said as he pulled her luggage out of the green flames. She stepped out, and the flames flashed yellow again.
"Wotcher, Ginny!" Tonks said with a wink as she brushed the soot off of Ginny's shoulder. The flames behind them flashed green again with a roar, and Ron slowed to a halt from spinning in the expansive grate.
Watching Ron travel by Floo was always a laugh, he was so tall that even in large fireplaces, when he arrived, all you could see was Ron's chest down. He hunched over and crawled out of the hearth, straightening up. "Where's everyone else?" He asked as he coughed out a bit of ash. His shaggy hair was twisted in a whirlwind from spinning in the flames and dashed with soot, turning it grey rather than the regular carroty color. He had soot on his face, and the sole of his shoe was smoldering since he was still standing rather close to the fire, which had since flashed back to regular again.
"They've gone to get Harry, only Remus and Kingsley, everyone else is at a meeting for the Order." Arthur answered, shooting water lazily out of his wand at Ron's foot. Ron shook his head violently to rid his hair of soot.
"Dad! I thought you said I could go with Dumbledore to get him!" Ron pouted, looking about four years old.
"Change of plans, I'm going in for work late today, and I am to take you and Ginny to Fred and George's to help them settle in, after you unpack your things here, says your mother." He nodded significantly at their bags and then turned to the fire to help Mrs. Weasley, who had just appeared in the fire with a box of food.
"Didn't want it to spoil while we won't be home," she explained to nobody in particular, indicating the box of food in her arms. Arthur stepped forward quickly and took the box from her, setting it on the kitchen counter. He turned to the refrigerator, to put it all away, but Molly spoke up, "Oh, no Arthur honey, there's no room here, I'm sending that along with Ron to the twins."
Ron and Ginny turned and started up the steps together, into the long hallway of the first level. They trudged down the dark hallway, and started up the second flight of stairs to their respective bedrooms.
Slowly making their way through London from the Ministry, Remus and Kingsley Shacklebolt walked to a stairwell on the corner of the street, leading to the Muggle Underground. "I hate this thing," Kingsley muttered as he dropped a token into the slot and walked through the turnstile. Remus followed behind and glanced around the large area, packed with Muggles. 'I love it,' Remus thought to himself, 'All these strange Muggles and the ingenious things they come up with!' The sat down on a bench, waiting for their train after trying to figure out which one they wanted using a large, and confusing map on the wall.
If someone were to take notice of the two men sitting quietly on the beat up bucket seats all lined up in a row, they wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary about the men. They were dressed impeccably, suits and one carried a rolled up paper, perhaps a newspaper. The tall black man was bald he looked to be about forty, he had a goatee and a stern expression, and carried an umbrella. The other man was younger, shorter, but sturdily built, with flecks of gray in his hair, and light wrinkles around his blue eyes. He had thin glasses on, and every now and then he'd consult his watch, and then look around. Remus and Kingsley had done an excellent job blending in, just as they were supposed to.
Their train came, and they boarded it, and sat down. Forty minutes later, they arrived at the last stop on the Underground, and got off. They climbed the steps to the street, and came out in a run down bus station. The woman behind the glass at the counter looked up and nodded in greeting. They nodded back, and walked to the glass door. Stepping out onto a trashy street, they started down the sidewalk towards a wood at the end of the block. They reached the dark and gloomy forest, and Remus checked his watch. "We're running behind, it's already past five!" he commented.
"Just Apparate, we'll get there." Kingsley said, as he disappeared without a sound. Remus followed suit, with a slight 'pop' as he disappeared, only to reappear in Surrey, thirty kilometers from where he began. Shacklebolt was leaning against a tree waiting. "I hope you're not the one who has to help Harry with his Apparating, he won't learn a damn thing!" Kingsley ribbed as the two started walking. They had appeared in a narrow alleyway on Magnolia Street. Another street over, Harry was pacing the hallway right outside his old cupboard like a caged tiger. 'Where is Professor Dumbledore?!' Harry thought desperately. He glanced at his wristwatch, and it showed that it was 5: 37 already. Dudley came waddling into the room, and leaned on a door sill, "Waiting for your friends...?" He asked with a sneer, "Maybe you should pack a lunch, because from what I gather, you'll be waiting a long time....," He paused to let the remark settle, "Because you haven't any friends!"
Harry glanced up at Dudley, faintly aware that he had just said something, and judging by the smirk on his face, he was waiting for a rise out of Harry. "Go Away Dudley, before I hex you." Harry mumbled, using the automatic line that got rid of Dudley every time. Just then there was a sharp knock at the door, causing Dudley to jump slightly, and waddle quickly down the hall past Harry into the kitchen. Harry looked into the peephole to see who it was, and was relieved to see it was Kingsley and Remus. 'But where's Professor Dumbledore, then?' he thought with a slight panic. Unbolting the locks, he swung the door open and ushered the two wizards inside. Remus set to shrinking all of Harry's luggage for easier travel, and Kingsley tapped Harry on the head with his wand, sending a funny tickling sensation over his face.
"I've put a charm on you so you don't really look like yourself, safer to travel with now." Kingsley explained. Remus pocketed Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage, and Harry called out to the Dursleys.
"I'm leaving now, maybe I'll see you, maybe I won't!" he smiled at the thought of never seeing them again, and stepped over the threshold onto the path. The three of them set off down the street towards the bus stop, as Remus explained the plans to Harry, and why Professor Dumbledore hadn't come personally as promised. They turned onto Magnolia Street, and Kingsley said good-bye and started towards Mrs. Figg's sidewalk.
"From here on, it's just you and I, first stop, Diagon Alley: The Leaky Cauldron for a place to stay, and then to Gringotts, and we're getting there the Muggle way." He finished. A comfortable silence was left between them, and they sat patiently at the bus stop. Harry broke the silence with a question, "Why not take the Knight Bus?"
"The less magic in the area, the better, you know, lay low." Remus answered. The bus they were waiting for took about ten minutes, and the ride was about twenty five minutes long, there were only two stops before they reached their destination, and only one other person was on the bus, an old man, who looked like he'd fallen asleep. The sun wasn't visible anymore, and the dusk sky was a light purplish blue color, with streaks of bright pink, and occasional patches of orange. Harry and Remus got off the bus at a stop in a busy downtown area of a small city on the edge of Surrey County. Harry had never been there before, but Remus seemed to know the way, so he followed along. They stood on a corner and Remus hailed a taxi as he took out a small billfold from his breast pocket inside his jacket. Remus counted out an exact amount, and clenched it in his hand as he stuffed the rest back into his pocket. He held open the door and slid in after Harry.
"King's Cross, London," He said with a thick Cockney accent. The driver glanced in the mirror, and pulled out into traffic. They left the downtown area behind, and got onto an exit ramp. Speeding down the highway, they made it to Kings Cross in a little under a half an hour. Remus paid the Taxi driver, and they hopped out onto the busy sidewalk outside the main entrance to the train station. They crossed the street at a red-light and wound their way down busy streets until they reached the famed Leaky Cauldron. Harry opened the door and stepped inside.
'In almost 7 hours, I'll never have to look at Dudley's face again!' Harry thought gleefully to himself as he made a mental list of things to look forward to never having to do again. It would be thought one person wouldn't have a very long list, but not Harry Potter. He made a list so long, that he would've wagered a good portion of Galleons that it would take up more parchment than one of Hermione's Arithmancy essays, if he had a mind to put it to paper.
Somewhere near the quiet muggle village of Ottery St. Catchpole, in another part of England, the Weasley's were packing up to go to Grimmauld place for the remainder of the summer.
"MUM!" Ron yelled down the rickety stairwell, "WHERE'S MY OWL?" Ginny, who was in between his big mouth and downstairs winced as he bellowed, and thought to herself, 'How would she know, you git, he's your little problem, not ours!'
"How should I know, Ron! He's your owl, not mine, that's your problem, love, not mine!" Molly shouted back.
Ginny's eyes widened and she whispered, "That's scary, that is! Oh I'll end up just like her," she added with a slight whine. She went back to sorting her socks and her new robes. At Diagon Alley yesterday, her mum had treated her to several new robes, and even a brand new set of dress robes.
Sometimes if Ginny drifted far enough off into a reverie, she favored the idea that it was nice having enough to buy brand new things, even if it meant a quieter household, and less time per year seeing her brothers. But then she'd always snap back, and it would be then that she would trade all of her new clothes and even wear Ron's old robes.... well maybe not that, but she would give up all of her new possessions to have the Burrow full of laughter and shouts and hugs, and warmth and even the odd noises coming from Fred and George's room again. But all of her brothers save Ron, were gone off on their own. Bill was still in Egypt, Charlie in Romania still, as always with his beloved dragons, Percy was still estranged from the family, though Ginny knew that if he'd give up his darned pride, and if her brothers would too, that they could have him back, and things would be better, at least a bit. Fred and George had taken an apartment above their venue in Diagon Alley (poor Angelina), and Ron was starting to drift apart, despite having a year left at Hogwarts.
Sighing, Ginny got up off of her bed and began to fold her robes to stack them in her suitcase. Careful to arrange her robes so they would not wrinkle, she placed them in the old tattered and dusty suitcase that Ron had brought down out of the attic for her, and slowly closed the top, and zipped it up. She crossed the room to her bed and sat down on the purple and yellow quilt. Picking idly at a loose thread on one of the seams, she stared out of the small window on the wall next to her bed. The modest hexagonal window provided a view of the Weasley's backyard, and the low stone wall that surrounded the grassy courtyard.
Movement in the corner of the window caught Ginny's attention, and she looked down from her daydreaming stare, to the worn path from the house to the shed. Ron was crossing the yard with difficulty, with four broomsticks slugged over his shoulder, and lugging a large black wooden box, which he was dragging behind him, tipped on it's end, inching along the dusty path. He stopped, and swore as the edge of the heavy trunk collided sharply with the soft spot on his heel. Ginny could see his mouth moving as he swore and dropped the box with a dull thud. Ginny smiled at the sight, and turned away from the window.
She laid back and rested her head on the pillow. Staring at the low ceiling, she tried to think of anything that she'd forgotten to pack. Drawing a blank, she closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. She could hear dishes clinking faintly downstairs, and her Fred and George bustling around in their room down the hall, emptying their room, to move their things to Diagon Alley. She curled her legs up under her and rolled onto her side, breathing in the comforting smells of her house, something backing in the oven, the fresh scent of flowers from a candle, the slightly old smell of the walls around her, like plaster, and wallpaper, and all of the aromas that had been absorbed over the years.
Ron trudged up the stairs slowly, his heel still aching from earlier that afternoon when he tried to pull that blasted Quidditch crate to the house, so they could take it with them to Grimmauld. He made his way up the narrow steps, and passed the landing where his room was, past Fred and George's, their door, strangely, hanging wide open to show an empty room inside. He kept going 'till he reached Ginny's room, her door was closed. He knocked gently, and stood in the dark hallway, waiting for a response. Nothing. He slowly turned the knob, and the first thing that hit him was the hazy, late afternoon sun rays. The sun was close to setting, it's warm rays hit the back of the Weasley house, and streamed in all of the west facing windows, like the tiny hexagon in Ginny's room. Sunlight fell on Ginny's head, illuminating her auburn red hair, giving it streaks of bright, fiery red. Creeping over to her bed, he bent down, close to her face, and took a deep breath. "GINNY!!! WAKE UP!!!!" he bellowed inches away from her ear. She bolted up, and he tore out of the room, laughing all the way down the hall.
"RONALD WEASLEY! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!" she shrieked from her room, too drowsy to go after him.
"You better hurry up, we were gonna leave without you!" her brother yelled from downstairs.
'I'm surprised you didn't' she thought to herself. With so much activity constantly going on at the Burrow, it wasn't hard to overlook things, or even people. She picked up her heavy suitcase, and braced it against her thigh. Ginny was just grateful that she didn't have to heave her Hogwarts trunk down the stairs, Molly had seen too it that Ginny and Ron were packed for school and ready to go the night before, and then enlisted the twins, Ron and Remus to deliver the trunks to Grimmauld early, so as to facilitate moving the next day. Working her way steadily down the winding flight of stairs , she dragged the baggage behind her, bumping it step by step to the bottom.
"Good, Ginny, now we can go," Molly Weasley said as she looked up to see her daughter stepping off the bottom step into the kitchen. "Here, doll," Molly employed an old pet name, motioning to Ginny with a flower pot full of sparkling powder. "Go ahead, Daddy's already there, and Ron will come after you, remember now, speak clearly!"
Ginny took a pinch threw it into the flames, and stepped into the hearth. "12 Grimmauld Place!" she shouted with her eyes scrunched closed. Spinning wildly, she stopped abruptly, and upon opening her eyes, she could see Tonks and her father smiling from the kitchen in front of her.
"Hurry up now, love, Ron'll be directly behind you then." Her dad said as he pulled her luggage out of the green flames. She stepped out, and the flames flashed yellow again.
"Wotcher, Ginny!" Tonks said with a wink as she brushed the soot off of Ginny's shoulder. The flames behind them flashed green again with a roar, and Ron slowed to a halt from spinning in the expansive grate.
Watching Ron travel by Floo was always a laugh, he was so tall that even in large fireplaces, when he arrived, all you could see was Ron's chest down. He hunched over and crawled out of the hearth, straightening up. "Where's everyone else?" He asked as he coughed out a bit of ash. His shaggy hair was twisted in a whirlwind from spinning in the flames and dashed with soot, turning it grey rather than the regular carroty color. He had soot on his face, and the sole of his shoe was smoldering since he was still standing rather close to the fire, which had since flashed back to regular again.
"They've gone to get Harry, only Remus and Kingsley, everyone else is at a meeting for the Order." Arthur answered, shooting water lazily out of his wand at Ron's foot. Ron shook his head violently to rid his hair of soot.
"Dad! I thought you said I could go with Dumbledore to get him!" Ron pouted, looking about four years old.
"Change of plans, I'm going in for work late today, and I am to take you and Ginny to Fred and George's to help them settle in, after you unpack your things here, says your mother." He nodded significantly at their bags and then turned to the fire to help Mrs. Weasley, who had just appeared in the fire with a box of food.
"Didn't want it to spoil while we won't be home," she explained to nobody in particular, indicating the box of food in her arms. Arthur stepped forward quickly and took the box from her, setting it on the kitchen counter. He turned to the refrigerator, to put it all away, but Molly spoke up, "Oh, no Arthur honey, there's no room here, I'm sending that along with Ron to the twins."
Ron and Ginny turned and started up the steps together, into the long hallway of the first level. They trudged down the dark hallway, and started up the second flight of stairs to their respective bedrooms.
Slowly making their way through London from the Ministry, Remus and Kingsley Shacklebolt walked to a stairwell on the corner of the street, leading to the Muggle Underground. "I hate this thing," Kingsley muttered as he dropped a token into the slot and walked through the turnstile. Remus followed behind and glanced around the large area, packed with Muggles. 'I love it,' Remus thought to himself, 'All these strange Muggles and the ingenious things they come up with!' The sat down on a bench, waiting for their train after trying to figure out which one they wanted using a large, and confusing map on the wall.
If someone were to take notice of the two men sitting quietly on the beat up bucket seats all lined up in a row, they wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary about the men. They were dressed impeccably, suits and one carried a rolled up paper, perhaps a newspaper. The tall black man was bald he looked to be about forty, he had a goatee and a stern expression, and carried an umbrella. The other man was younger, shorter, but sturdily built, with flecks of gray in his hair, and light wrinkles around his blue eyes. He had thin glasses on, and every now and then he'd consult his watch, and then look around. Remus and Kingsley had done an excellent job blending in, just as they were supposed to.
Their train came, and they boarded it, and sat down. Forty minutes later, they arrived at the last stop on the Underground, and got off. They climbed the steps to the street, and came out in a run down bus station. The woman behind the glass at the counter looked up and nodded in greeting. They nodded back, and walked to the glass door. Stepping out onto a trashy street, they started down the sidewalk towards a wood at the end of the block. They reached the dark and gloomy forest, and Remus checked his watch. "We're running behind, it's already past five!" he commented.
"Just Apparate, we'll get there." Kingsley said, as he disappeared without a sound. Remus followed suit, with a slight 'pop' as he disappeared, only to reappear in Surrey, thirty kilometers from where he began. Shacklebolt was leaning against a tree waiting. "I hope you're not the one who has to help Harry with his Apparating, he won't learn a damn thing!" Kingsley ribbed as the two started walking. They had appeared in a narrow alleyway on Magnolia Street. Another street over, Harry was pacing the hallway right outside his old cupboard like a caged tiger. 'Where is Professor Dumbledore?!' Harry thought desperately. He glanced at his wristwatch, and it showed that it was 5: 37 already. Dudley came waddling into the room, and leaned on a door sill, "Waiting for your friends...?" He asked with a sneer, "Maybe you should pack a lunch, because from what I gather, you'll be waiting a long time....," He paused to let the remark settle, "Because you haven't any friends!"
Harry glanced up at Dudley, faintly aware that he had just said something, and judging by the smirk on his face, he was waiting for a rise out of Harry. "Go Away Dudley, before I hex you." Harry mumbled, using the automatic line that got rid of Dudley every time. Just then there was a sharp knock at the door, causing Dudley to jump slightly, and waddle quickly down the hall past Harry into the kitchen. Harry looked into the peephole to see who it was, and was relieved to see it was Kingsley and Remus. 'But where's Professor Dumbledore, then?' he thought with a slight panic. Unbolting the locks, he swung the door open and ushered the two wizards inside. Remus set to shrinking all of Harry's luggage for easier travel, and Kingsley tapped Harry on the head with his wand, sending a funny tickling sensation over his face.
"I've put a charm on you so you don't really look like yourself, safer to travel with now." Kingsley explained. Remus pocketed Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage, and Harry called out to the Dursleys.
"I'm leaving now, maybe I'll see you, maybe I won't!" he smiled at the thought of never seeing them again, and stepped over the threshold onto the path. The three of them set off down the street towards the bus stop, as Remus explained the plans to Harry, and why Professor Dumbledore hadn't come personally as promised. They turned onto Magnolia Street, and Kingsley said good-bye and started towards Mrs. Figg's sidewalk.
"From here on, it's just you and I, first stop, Diagon Alley: The Leaky Cauldron for a place to stay, and then to Gringotts, and we're getting there the Muggle way." He finished. A comfortable silence was left between them, and they sat patiently at the bus stop. Harry broke the silence with a question, "Why not take the Knight Bus?"
"The less magic in the area, the better, you know, lay low." Remus answered. The bus they were waiting for took about ten minutes, and the ride was about twenty five minutes long, there were only two stops before they reached their destination, and only one other person was on the bus, an old man, who looked like he'd fallen asleep. The sun wasn't visible anymore, and the dusk sky was a light purplish blue color, with streaks of bright pink, and occasional patches of orange. Harry and Remus got off the bus at a stop in a busy downtown area of a small city on the edge of Surrey County. Harry had never been there before, but Remus seemed to know the way, so he followed along. They stood on a corner and Remus hailed a taxi as he took out a small billfold from his breast pocket inside his jacket. Remus counted out an exact amount, and clenched it in his hand as he stuffed the rest back into his pocket. He held open the door and slid in after Harry.
"King's Cross, London," He said with a thick Cockney accent. The driver glanced in the mirror, and pulled out into traffic. They left the downtown area behind, and got onto an exit ramp. Speeding down the highway, they made it to Kings Cross in a little under a half an hour. Remus paid the Taxi driver, and they hopped out onto the busy sidewalk outside the main entrance to the train station. They crossed the street at a red-light and wound their way down busy streets until they reached the famed Leaky Cauldron. Harry opened the door and stepped inside.