Breakout

Bill had made an excuse to go wandering about the children's home, telling the weary-looking woman that he was going to the loo, and tried to find some back door or open window that he could get himself, Percy and the baby out of safely. He was going to have to explain why they didn't have a felly tone number or an address soon and then things would look suspicious.

He had heard about how Muggles dealt with neglectful parents from one of his dormitory mates at Hogwarts who had lived in a care-home before Dumbledore came to visit and told him that he was a wizard.

Bill shuddered at the thought of Ronnie and Percy being taken away and put 'into care' because they had been neglected. What if they got split up? What if they got split up and tried to run away, Ronnie had done it once already, and they weren't able to find them?

Bill took a deep breath in and let it out as he leaned against a wall and rubbed his face roughly. He was overreacting, he knew that, and it was only because of how scared he had been earlier on. Hearing a Muggle please man telling him that Muggles took other people's children away had made his stomach tighten. He was thankful for the nice old couple that had looked after his little brother and made sure he was taken somewhere safe. He reminded himself to go into town the following day and try to find out who they were from the please man so he could thank them.

He snorted with laughter. As if he was going to be able to walk tomorrow. His mum was going to do her nut when she found out.

"He's a sweet little boy, your brother," a voice said from an open doorway.

Bill jumped and looked up to see a dark-skinned girl with long straight black hair leaning out of a darkened room in her dressing-gown and slippers.

"Oh, hi," Bill said as he tried not to look anywhere below the girl's chin, "what was that?"

She giggled and stepped out of the room quietly, closing the door behind her softly, and nodded back down the hallway to the playroom.

"The little nude boy, he's your brother isn't he?"

Bill sniggered and nodded.

"Oh right, yeah, that's little Ronnie."

"I was with Sheila when he was brought in," she said as she stepped a little closer to Bill, who fixed his eyes on hers with even more determination not to look anywhere he shouldn't be, "he was crying until he saw me and then he just stared for ages."

Bill blinked and nodded. He didn't know what he was nodding about, but he couldn't concentrate on maintaining eye contact and speaking at the same time. The girl chuckled and looked back down the hall.

"We found out what fascinated him about me in the end though," she grinned before directing her large brown eyes back onto Bill's face, "he thought I was made of chocolate!"

Bill's face fell and he suddenly cursed Ronnie and his naïveté inside his own head.

"I'm so sorry!" he said.

"What for? I thought it was really sweet," she beamed, "he's never seen someone like me before, then?"

"He stays home a lot," Bill tried to explain, "he's only little, so my mum worries about infections and stuff."

"What, like the one he's got now?" the girl said with an arched eyebrow.

Bill laughed and shrugged.

"Well, yeah."

The girl extended her hand to him and before he could stop himself he was looking down at it, dumfounded with shock.

"I'm Hina," she said as she waited for Bill to take her hand and introduce himself.

When Bill remained frozen she moved her hand forward and took his to shake it.

"Sorry," Bill said as he tightened his grip and moved his own arm, "I'm Bill."

"I can tell," she said with a smile.

"Huh?" Bill frowned, still shaking Hina's hand.

"You have a panda face, your brother said that you got punched in the nose and got a panda face!"

"Oh," Bill said, cringing that this pretty girl now knew that his younger brother had knocked him out cold that night, "yeah, that was me."

"So," Hina said, glancing down at their hands, still clasped but no longer shaking, "have we finished now?"

"Oh, sorry!" Bill said as he snatched his hand back and felt himself blushing as Hina giggled.

"That's okay, I enjoyed it, you don't get a chance to have a good long handshake these days, do you?"

Bill couldn't look at her at all now. He was making a total prat of himself.

"So how old are you, then?" Hina said, taking up the conversation seeing as Bill was in 'rabbit in headlights' mode.

"Thirteen," he managed to spit out.

"Oh I thought you were the same age as me, I'm eleven," Hina said, "You don't look thirteen."

"So everybody tells me," Bill mumbled as he remembered all his classmates marvelling at Charlie and his mature stature when he started at Hogwarts the September before.

"I didn't mean that in a bad way," Hina said, her eyes widening as she worried that she'd offended him somehow.

"No, I know, I just wish I was a bit bigger, that's all. At least big enough to thump Charlie back!"

Hina laughed at this, and Bill forced himself to meet her eyes once again. He smiled back at her awkwardly.

"I've never seen you at school, I'd remember you," she said with what seemed like awe, which threw Bill totally, "do you go to Bardsley Comp?"

"Uh, no I go away to school," Bill said while fiddling with his hands.

"Oh," Hina nodded, "is it cool or do you hate it?"

"It's great," Bill nodded enthusiastically, "nobody asks me to baby-sit there!"

Hina chuckled at this and Bill felt unnaturally pleased with himself.

"So you're looking for a way to sneak out, aren't you?" Hina said, knowingly.

Bill's face formed a defensive mask.

"No."

"Liar," Hina mumbled.

"I'm not, I'm just stretching my legs!"

"So you're not worried about what your mum and dad'll do to you when they find out how much you messed up tonight?" Hina said with a smug look on her face.

"No," Bill said again, completely unconvincingly.

Hina shrugged and reached out for her door handle behind her.

"Oh well I'll just tell that boy Charlie that you'd prefer to wait, then."

Bill grabbed Hina's arm and held her back just as she turned the door handle and the door clicked open.

"What?"

Hina's face broke into a wide grin and she put her finger to her lips before pushing the door wide and pointing to her open window. Bill clamped his hand to his mouth as he saw a beaming Charlie waving at him before putting his finger to his own lips and pointing at the sleeping figure of another girl sleeping in the bed beside Hina's vacant one. Charlie's face was glowing in patches where the ointment was reducing his blisters and he held up a thick jumper of his and big woollen socks, obviously brought for little Ronnie.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Hina whispered, "Go and get your brothers!"

As the three of them crouched beside the open window and dressed the sleepy Ronnie in the jumper, which went right down to his feet, and shoved the socks on him, Hina was keeping watch at her open bedroom door.

"Wan-g'home," Ron muttered sleepily as Percy scooped him up in his arms and held him tightly.

"Shhh, it's alright, Ronnie, we're taking you home now," Percy said softly, "be a good boy and go back to sleep."

"Give him here, Perce," Charlie said as he reached through the window to take Ronnie from his younger brother.

"No, I've got him," Percy said protectively as he clung on to his baby brother as if afraid of losing him again.

Charlie rolled his eyes and huffed.

"You can't climb out while holding on to him like that, you'll fall or drop him or something."

"I won't drop him," Percy said with outrage.

"Just pass him through to me and then climb out and I'll give him right back, okay, mother hen?" Charlie said with annoyance.

Percy stiffened and cradled Ronnie even more protectively then before.

"He wants me, I'm not letting him go."

Charlie huffed and looked past Percy to Bill, who understood where Percy was coming from, but hated his timing all the same. Suddenly the door closed, and so did the light that was illuminating the room from the hallway.

"Sheila's heading towards the playroom, she's going to see you've gone," Hina hissed across her darkened bedroom, "Quick!"

Bill felt Hina's body brush past him as she flung herself into her bed, ready to feign sleep if the door opened, and he looked back to Charlie desperately. Charlie gritted his teeth with determination and grabbed hold of Percy firmly. Percy clung on to Ronnie and squeaked as Charlie lifted him off his feet and out through the window. Just as he heard Sheila's voice raising the alarm, Charlie set Percy down on the ground and extended his hand to pull Bill out.

He put his foot on the window ledge and whispered over his shoulder.

"Thanks, Hina, g'night!"

He reached out for Charlie and felt his strong fingers curling around his arm and yanking him outside. As Bill landed heavily and steadied himself against Charlie's chest Percy set off with the sleeping Ronnie rubbing at his face with the overlong sleeves that flapped loosely beneath his little hands.

"Leg it!" Charlie ordered before tearing off into the darkness with long powerful strides.

Bill set off after his brothers and hoped that they'd got away with their prison-break.