Disclaimer I don't own Harry Potter. All rights to the characters and universe the story belongs in belong to JK Rowling

Chapter 19 - A Way Out

The air was cold and a driving rain falling as Harry huddled his cloak around him and headed through a quiet Diagon Alley. He passed Weasleys Wizards Wheezes, which provided the only colour on a dull, dreary day and turned down Knockturn Alley.

Feeling the same sense of unease he always did when walking through the alley, he didn't linger. Harry delved deeper into the gloom that seemed to be an ever present and turned into a small side street. Without slowing his pace, Harry walked to the wall at the back of the alley and without blinking walked straight through it.

He arrived on a rather bland landing which had white walls, once pristine, now murky with a slight yellow tinge. Entering the station at the bottom of the stairs, Harry joined the group of four Aurors which were gathered on the platform.

'Morning All' he greeted, getting similar responses in kind from each member. 'So, we waiting for anyone else?' He asked tickling the catch of the gold chain on his neck activating the warming and drying charms that had been placed on it.

'No, you're the last one.' Said Trott as she poured blood from the vial in her hand upon the final pillar of the station. The carriage arrived immediately, with a now familiar screeching

Today they were going to the final station on the network, the one in Dover. They set off with grim expressions, none of them particularly liked the rides and were particularly grateful that todays would be short compared to some of their other journeys.

'How you been Sam?' Harry asked the curly haired Auror.

Sam grimaced, 'Not too bad thanks, I wish Wolfsbane potion would cure the headaches as well as the whole losing your mind thing though.'

'This train ride must be the last thing you need if your heads hurting.'

'Yeah, tell me about it.' Replied Sam with evident strain on his voice. 'What do you think we'll find?'

'Just another station I expect, although I'm surprised they chose Dover.'

'Why?'

'Well, even in the muggle world Dover itself is never that busy. It's not like London, Birmingham or Manchester. It's only really used… as a… port.' Somewhere in the back of Harry's mind a lightbulb went off 'BOLLOCKS.'

'What's wrong?' Asked Sam, jumping at Harry's outburst.

Harry started muttering quickly to himself as if trying to work something out.

'Harry,' Sam interrupted him and grabbed him by the forearm 'What is it, what are you thinking?'

Harry stopped muttering and looked Sam in the eye 'Dover's used as a port to Mainland Europe by muggles, they're doing the same.' Said Harry fully convinced.

'I'm not following.'

'We're pretty sure the Underworld Society are shipping Death Eaters out of the country, which is why so many haven't been caught.'

'And you think that they could have been going through Dover, via whatever place we end up in.'

'Yeah, we need to warn the others.' Said Harry standing up and ambling down the carriage. The speed and rollercoaster characteristics of their current method of transportation prevented him from striding purposely, so ambling and clinging to all surfaces would have to do.

He gathered the others at the front of the carriage as they had all spread out. 'I think this is how they have been getting people out of the country.'

O'Manda's eyebrows shot up 'What makes you think that?'

'I've been thinking, Dover isn't a hub of people. Not even in the muggle world. Its main use is as a port to Europe via a Ferry or the channel tunnel.' Explained Harry.

'What you think they're piggy backing onto muggle routes?' Asked O'Manda.

'Yeah, it makes sense. Due to the protections on each border, they can't apparate or portkey out of the country easily. Each portkey is tracked and I know there is illegal portkeys that get through, but that's a lot of hassle.'

O'Manda started rubbing his temple 'And Muggles are easy to confund so they wouldn't notice anyone extra going across and we probably wouldn't be checking.' He finished.

'Bugger, are we walking into a trap?' Asked Trott.

'I don't know. I think we should at least transfigure our robes into muggle attire. We'll stick out like sore thumbs.' Reasoned Harry. Everyone nodded in agreement and waited with grim expressions.

The carriage started slowing down gradually, instead of stopping though, it carried on at the slower pace as if it was waiting for something. Then it suddenly bolted again jarring the passengers before rolling steadily to a stop with a large clunk.

Trott went to open the door. 'Shit, it's still locked.' She Exclaimed. Before she could work on opening the door with magic, they started moving and a bright light started coming through the front window.

Harry was the first to recover. 'Merlin, they've attached us to the Eurostar.' He said pointing in front of them. Sure enough they had been coupled to a large train which was now passing quickly through a well-lit tunnel.

'So, when do we stop before we leave the country?' Asked Owens, speaking up for the first time. He took a look at Harry's shocked face 'We don't do we?'

Harry shook his head 'We'll be going under the channel now. Next stop France, either Lille or Paris. I can't remember.'

'So we've just exited the country illegally?' Asked Sam.

'That about covers it yeah.' Said Harry.

'How do we get back?'

'We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.' Said Trott, 'I've been to the French Ministry before so I can apparate us there for us to get back.'

'What happens before then though?' Asked O'Manda 'Do you think we should disguise ourselves in case there's someone to meet us when we get off.'

'Yeah we should.' Agreed Trott. 'The problem here is, they must know we know about the railway. So would they have a welcoming party or leave us to our own devices. This is either a trap or a dead end.'

'True, I wouldn't have thought they would be easy to follow. Maybe they have an apparation point set up for when they land. That way they wouldn't need to meet anyone straight away.' Said Harry.

'Yeah,' said Sam 'they could already have their identities set up. They could vanish from here without a trace.'

They went about changing their appearances in order to blend in and not look like themselves. Harry, as he was sure would be to the delight of the Weasleys, opted for cropped ginger hair with light stubble. Covered his face in freckles and used a glamour to hide his scar. He also disillusioned his glasses, so it looked like he didn't need them.

He transformed his cloak into a deep green coat and adopted loose fitting jeans, as well as black polo shirt underneath with a typically unrecognisable band logo on.

Once that was done, they all settled down into a comfortable silence to wait, Owens pulled out a copy of the Daily Prophet. He quickly scanned the front page and let out a bark of laughter 'Bloody hell Potter, I didn't know you had a son.'

Harry groaned and made to look at the paper. Trott got their first 'Oh he's so cute.' She said in that baby voice all adults seem to adopt. 'I can see why you went for that look, you match. Same hair, same eyes.'

Harry grabbed the paper off her, 'Shit, I was hoping to keep him out of the limelight.' Said Harry bitterly. It was a moving picture of Harry and Ginny trying to feed Teddy in the Three Broomsticks. Teddy had adopted the usual ginger hair and green eyes whilst around the couple. 'I'll have to ask them to write a retraction.'

'Why?' Asked Trott with a frown.

'Teddy's my godson.' Said Harry 'He's actually Tonks and Lupin's son.' Understanding crept onto the faces of the other Aurors. 'His hair's normally a vibrant blue,' that drew a laugh from the others who remembered Tonks' purple or pink hair depending on the day.

'He definitely looks like Remus doesn't he.' said Sam.

'Yeah he does. His eyes are actually his moms though.' Said Harry with a small smile.

'Well he certainly looks a happy chappy. Does he live with you?' Asked Trott gently.

'No, he lives with his grandmother, and I have him over the weekends. I can barely look after myself never mind a baby.' Harry chuckled.

'Tonks would love that photo with how happy he is.' Said Owens.

'You're all happy.' Whispered Trott.

Harry suddenly found himself with a lump in his throat and although he tried to say thanks, the sound just didn't seem to come out. He gave up trying and stared out of the window instead, wiping at the moisture at the corner of his eyes.

The train eventually slowed into a station, after about the amount of time it took Owens to finish the paper. Before they could move to get up though a female voice sprang through the carriage. 'You are now in Lille. Please make your way to the apparation point and make your way to your certified rendezvous point. Have a nice day.'

They walked out of the carriage and onto the busy platform which was full of muggles. After a couple of Confundus charms on the ticket officers they exited the station and walked onto the busy streets.

'Well there's no welcome committee.' Said Trott with a grin. 'So, what do we do? This is a dead end.'

'We need to find an apparation point to get to the French Ministry.' Said O'Manda as he strode away into the streets. The others followed him without word as they looked for a place to disapparate discreetly.

Harry looked around as he walked, there were large flat buildings, and the architecture was really impressive. He would like to come back here and explore the city, there was colour everywhere - on the buildings, in the windows and, of course, on the people themselves. He'd never seen people so extravagantly dressed.

The scenery, however, wasn't what Harry was looking for. He was trying to keep an eye out for anything suspicious, the flash of a mask or a whip of a cloak but there was none.

'You can't see anything either then?' Asked Owens.

'No, I'm trying to think where was marked on that map in France. I don't think it was anywhere near Lille though, so I suppose there's nothing to look for.'

'You don't seem convinced.'

Harry just shrugged 'I suppose I just can't let my guard down.'

'That's no bad thing.' Muttered Owens.

It hadn't escaped Harry's notice that he was more on edge than his colleagues. They were calmly taking in their surroundings, completely at ease in the city. It seemed that only himself and Owens felt something was off. He put his own unease down to being hunted for so long last year, he figured Owens had a similar experience.

Not feeling like broaching that particular subject whilst they were on a mission, which was how Harry was now classing their current situation. What else do you call accidentally entering another country illegally whilst disguised as an honorary Weasley?

George is going to get a right laugh out of this. As they walked deeper into the city Harry noticed an alley that the people around them didn't seem to see. Their gaze passed from one building and then straight to the shop on the other side without even looking at the gap between for a second.

Motioning to the others, he walked over, making sure to keep a comforting hand on his wand. They walked down around halfway to make sure they were covered by the illusion charm, when Harry turned to the rest of them. 'Right I think we can dis'

There was a loud cracking noises from around them and they suddenly found themselves at wand point from over 10 witches and wizards. The new arrivals started shouting at them in rapid French, Trott and O'Manda went for their wands only to be stunned on the spot.

Harry watched as a wand went flying passed him into the grasp of one of the women facing him. Glancing over his shoulder he saw Owens watching the wand with a glare. Harry caught his eye and slowly shook his head.

Sam had been shoved roughly to his knees as he had attempted to rush the line. The treatment didn't look gentle. Harry raised his hands above his head in a show of surrender and adopted a calm expression, which was quite the effort considering he was boiling inside. Rash action wouldn't help them now.

One of the men in front of him stepped forward and started questioning him in French. Harry didn't understand a word of it, he didn't get chance to interrupt though, as the man in front of him spoke without the need to draw breath. The man had an air of arrogance about him and was more than happy to look down his down his nose at Harry.

When he finally come to a stop and glared at Harry for answers. Harry just shook his head and said 'Anglais?'

'Course, you is Eenglish.' He spat. 'I asked who are you? What are you doing 'ere?'

'My name is Harry Potter, this is Manny Owens, Sam Bollinger, David O'Manda and Leanne Trott.' He answered gesturing to his colleagues in turn. 'We're Aurors, we were following a lead when we ended up in Lille.'

'Ha a fine story.' Said the French man. 'We watched you come from the Eurostar. We 'ad a tip that is how people have been entering France illegally. Zat is not to mention zat you are looking nothing like Harry Potter, no scar, no black hair. Non! Nothing like him.'

'That's what we were investigating.' Said Harry annoyed. 'We're wearing illusion charms.'

'Really.' In the blink of an eye the man brandished his wand at Harry who flinched slightly. There was an awkward pause for a couple of seconds before Harry felt the charms being lifted. His hair returned to its normal dark messy state, his stubble vanished along with the freckles and his scar was revealed.

At that point the woman who had disarmed Owens stepped forward and whispered something in French into the man's ear. When she was done, he looked them over thoughtfully 'OK, we will take you to ze Ministry. Will you come willingly?'

'Yeah we're on your side you know.' Said Harry irritably.

'Then you will 'and over your wands.' He held out his hand expectantly. Harry didn't move and raised an eyebrow at him.

'We can take zem by force if you prefer.'

Not really wanting to get in a fight with what he was guessing were a group of French Aurors, Harry reluctantly handed on over his wand. 'Will you at least wake them up?' He asked.

The Auror silently agreed and reawakened Trott and O'Manda after taking their wands along with Sam's. Someone then roughly took Harry by the forearm and disaparated without warning.