CHAPTER 4: ILLEGAL ENTRY
Panic flooded O'Bannon. His arms began to shake.
"Ma'am. Sit back down." The older stewardess, who had an elongated face covered with too much make-up, ordered Rosa.
"Me? What about him?" She stabbed a finger at Little Nicky, who was completely wrapped in his mother's arms. "Tell him to stop kicking my chair! And do something about this turbulence!"
"Ma'am, stop shouting. You're disturbing the other passengers."
O'Bannon looked from Rosa to the other stewardess, a petite young black woman, who made her way toward the front of the plane.
"Hey, give her a break." Jared grasped Rosa's shoulders protectively. "This is her first flight."
"That's not an excuse for screaming and threatening a little boy," said the stewardess.
"That 'little boy' has been a brat since before we left the damn airport!" Rosa bellowed mere inches from the stewardess' face.
"Ma'am." The stewardess' tone became more demanding. "You will settle down right now. Are you aware of the legal penalties for disrupting a flight?"
O'Bannon gulped. Waves of hot and cold washed over him. Would they turn back to Boston? Or this long into the flight would they head for Iceland instead? Would the cops detain Rosa? All four of them? How the hell could they alert the Order of the Phoenix then?
Another bout of turbulence jolted the plane. The older stewardess swayed from side to side, as did Rosa.
"Will you do something about all this shaking?" Rosa pounded a fist on the top of her seat.
"There's nothing we can do about it," the stewardess replied. "And if you don't calm down right now we will press charges against you."
"Don't threaten my cousin," Jared warned.
The stewardess drew back her head. "Are you threatening me, Sir?"
O'Bannon clenched his teeth. He'd hoped Jared would be able to settle down Rosa. Instead he seemed to be making things worse.
O'Bannon undid his seatbelt and got to his feet.
"Sir." The stewardess turned to him. "Please sit down."
"Look, she's my friend, all right?" O'Bannon held up his hands non-threateningly. "I'm just going to help her."
"You have to return to your seat," the stewardess demanded.
O'Bannon bit his lip. Now he risked being arrested as soon as they landed.
But he had to press on.
"Please. My friend grew up on a farm. She's never even been to a big city until today." He hoped the BS line he used with the security guard at Logan would score at least a couple points with this stewardess. Right now he needed every advantage he could get, no matter how small. "Just let me talk to her, okay?"
Without waiting for the stewardess' permission, he slid around her and stood face-to-face with Rosa.
"Rosa." He gently held her shoulders. "You have to calm down. Everything's going to be fine, okay?"
"No it's not." She shook her head, her voice trembling. "I-I can't do this, Jimmy. I can't be on this damn thing any more!"
O'Bannon wrapped his arms around Rosa and drew her into a fierce hug. He pressed his face into her hair, his lips inches from her ear.
"Think about the mission." He prayed he'd said it softly enough for only Rosa to hear. He had a good idea the sort of alarm bells a statement like that would set off for the crew of a Trans-Atlantic flight.
O'Bannon felt Rosa tense in his arms.
"Rosa, you have got to get it together. If they divert this flight, if they arrest us, there's no way we're going to get to England. If we don't warn the Order, a lot of people there are going to die. My friends are going to die."
Rosa took a slow, ragged breath.
"You have trusted me since we were eleven." O'Bannon stroked Rosa's curled black hair. "I'm asking you to trust me now, and believe me when I tell you everything's going to be fine. As bad as this turbulence is, we'll get through it. We'll land in Scotland without any problems. You have to believe me. Say you believe me."
She took another breath, this one a bit steadier. "I-I do, Jimmy."
"Okay. Now c'mon. You're gonna be an auror. You can tough this out. I have faith in you."
Rosa's embrace tightened. He, in turn, hugged her tighter. He pulled away and stared into her face. Rosa's eyes glistened. Her bottom lip trembled.
"You okay now?" O'Bannon cupped Rosa's cheek.
She gave a short, sharp nod. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll be fine."
"See?" O'Bannon turned to the stewardess. "She's all right now. Okay?"
The stewardess didn't change her stony expression. Her harsh gaze flickered back and forth from O'Bannon to Rosa.
"Lindsay." The other stewardess reappeared. "The captain wants to know if we need to declare an emergency and divert to Reykjavik."
O'Bannon held his breath as he stared at Lindsay, pleading silently with his eyes. A horrifying vision played in his head. He and his three friends sitting in some jail in Iceland while Death Eaters and dark creatures rampaged throughout England.
Please . . . please.
The stewardess drew a breath. She turned to her partner. "Tell the Captain it looks like the situation is under control." She then aimed a stern look at Rosa. "But if there is one more outburst from you, we will divert this plane and you will face legal repercussions. Understand?"
Rosa nodded, the moisture in her eyes growing by the second.
"I don't want her sitting anywhere near my son." Little Nicky's mother glowered at Rosa.
"Hey, Lady." Jared whipped his head toward the woman. "This wouldn't have happened if your kid wasn't acting like a maniac."
"Don't you dare call my Nicky that!"
Jared opened his mouth to rebut that. O'Bannon emphatically slashed his hand across his throat. He already lucked out diffusing one situation. He doubted the flight crew would tolerate another.
Jared closed his mouth and just narrowed his eyes at Little Nicky's mother.
"We do have a couple empty seats near the front of the plane, Lindsay," said the other stewardess.
Lindsay nodded. "Okay. Miss, we're going to move you to the front of the plane. And I want one of you with her." She looked from O'Bannon to Jared.
"I'll go." O'Bannon nodded. He took Rosa by the hand and followed the other stewardess. Jared patted his cousin on the back before she left.
O'Bannon half-gazed at the floor. Little tingles crept over his neck as he felt the eyes of the other passengers on him.
The other stewardess silently directed them to their new seats. Rosa took the middle one while O'Bannon sat along the aisle. He glanced at the portly couple across from him. Neither of them looked thrilled at sitting near the "out of control" passenger.
He turned back to Rosa. She slumped in her seat, not facing him.
"You okay, Rosa?"
She responded with a barely perceptible nod.
"You sure?"
"Yeah." Her voice nearly broke.
O'Bannon frowned. Rosa was definitely not fine. His neck muscles tightened, fighting down the lump forming in his throat. Rosa had to be one of the most confident, strong-willed witches he'd ever known. And she had crumbled into a trembling, terrified mass before dozens of Muggles. He could feel the embarrassment radiating from her body.
And there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Rosa did not like to show weakness. But right now it looked like she was about to break down. O'Bannon knew if he tried to comfort her she'd probably yell at him to leave her alone.
The last thing he wanted was for Rosa to do any yelling.
He reached down and gave Rosa's wrist a gentle squeeze. She barely acknowledged it. Instead she tried to curl up best she could into a ball and hide from the judgmental eyes of the passengers and flight crew.
XXXXX
The rest of the flight to Dublin, Ireland passed without incident. The quartet had an hour-fifty minute layover before proceeding to Glasgow International.
"I'll be in the ladies room," Rosa stated as soon as they entered the terminal. She didn't wait for any of them to reply before she took off for the nearest bathroom.
"Damn, I've never seen her lose it like that before." Jared shook his head as he watched his cousin shove open a bathroom door.
"I don't know," said Artimus. "That turbo-linz stuff was pretty nerve-wracking. I can't understand it. The Muggles can put something that big in the air without magic, but they can't stop it from shaking?"
They stood against the wall across from the bathroom and waited for Rosa.
And waited . . . and waited.
Fifteen minutes passed without any sign of her.
"Too bad we don't have a second girl in our little group." Jared shifted his weight from his left foot to his right. "We could send her in there to check on Rosa."
O'Bannon sighed. If it hadn't been for that Slytherin bitch and her damn Projection Potion they might have had another girl with them. Rana Rollingsworth.
"You think she's crying in there?" Artimus winced, as if what he had just said was heresy. They all knew Rosa hated crying, even in private. "You think maybe one of us should talk to her when she comes out?"
Jared emitted a choked-off laugh. "Be my guest. You really think she's gonna wanna talk about what happened on the plane?"
"Well, we are her friends," Artimus went on. "I figure we should say something about it."
"You wanna play MBS healer with her, be my guest." Jared referred to mind, body and spirit healers, or what Muggles would call a psychologist. "Just don't be surprised if she hexes your ass off."
Artimus' shoulders sagged.
Five minutes later, Rosa strode out of the ladies room. The mask of determination she wore still couldn't conceal her puffy, red eyes.
"Um, Rosa," Artimus muttered, his eyes darting away from the witch's face. "Are you -"
"Let's get something to eat." Rosa cut him off. She spun on her heal and walked away.
O'Bannon turned to Jared and Artimus and nodded for them to follow. They said nothing about Rosa's "incident" during the rest of their layover. The tone of her voice made it clear.
The matter was not to be discussed. Ever.
XXXXX
The sun was setting by the time the reached Glasgow. The dragon-sized butterflies rematerialized in O'Bannon's stomach as he stepped off the plane. The mission filled his mind. He prayed they had no difficulties finding Dumbledore or McGonagall. He tried to block out the consequences if they failed.
Don't think that way. As a hockey player, he knew the word "failure" could not be anywhere in your head from the moment you hit the ice. When you started thinking, what if I fail, the chances increase that you will fail.
Positive thoughts, he told himself. We will contact the Order of the Phoenix and they will stop You-Know-Who's reinforcements.
"So what now, Fearless Leader?" Jared asked him.
"Well, Hogsmeade isn't too far from here. We just need to find a nice, secluded place and Apparate to the village."
"No."
The three boys turned to Rosa. O'Bannon cranked an eyebrow. "What?"
"I don't think we should Apparate to Hogsmeade."
"Well we can't Apparate to Hogwarts. The protective charms around it won't allow it. Hogsmeade's right next door to the school. That's out best bet."
"No, what I mean is, the way the security climate is in this country, we may draw attention to ourselves Apparating into Hogsmeade itself. It'd be best to play it safe and Apparate just outside the village."
A smile stretched across O'Bannon's face. Now this was the Rosa he knew and loved.
"Good idea. Now let's find let's find someplace where no one's around."
The four continued through the terminal. O'Bannon figured they'd have to wait until they got outside to find a secluded spot until he noticed a door to his left that read AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY. It had a small glass window at head level. He peered through it and found no one in the corridor.
"C'mon. Over here." He headed over to the door.
"Um, Jimmy. You sure about this?" Artimus slowed his pace. "I mean, what about that sign?"
"Trust me, we're not gonna linger long enough to get caught."
O'Bannon tried the handle. Thankfully the door was unlocked. He opened it and ushered Rosa, Jared and a reluctant Artimus through. As O'Bannon stepped through, he glimpsed a squat man with receding dark hair in a shabby brown suit across the terminal from him. He gave O'Bannon a curious stare. O'Bannon shut the door behind him, wondering if the guy might tell airport security about this.
Even if he does, we'll be long gone by the time they get here.
"Now?" Jared asked.
"Not yet." O'Bannon looked over his shoulder at the small window on the door, then back down the corridor. "Let's go around the corner. We can't take a chance on any Muggles seeing us." Trespassing in an airport was one thing. But to risk violating the International Statute of Secrecy? That kind of trouble O'Bannon wanted no part of.
They strode down the corridor and turned the corner.
"Ooff!" O'Bannon struck something. The world spun for a moment. He blinked and found himself staring at a pot-bellied security guard with thin white hair.
"'ear now. What are you kids doing here?"
O'Bannon's jaw silently worked up and down. Jared responded with a string of "ums."
"We, uh, took a wrong turn," Artimus stammered. "We're sorry."
"Sorry isn't going to cut it, laddie. This corridor is out of bounds to anyone not wearing the proper identification." He tugged his ID badge briefly. "And since none of you are wearing a badge like this, you're all going to have to come with me."
O'Bannon's jaw fell. This couldn't be happening. He managed to talk the stewardess out of diverting the plane when Rosa freaked out, and now they might still be arrested on the ground.
Dammit. I should have just found a place outside.
"Larson to control," the guard spoke into his radio.
"Control here," came the crackling response.
"I've got four teenagers, Americans by the look of them, in an out of bounds area."
A pause. "Right, bring them to the holding area and let's sort it out."
O'Bannon's heart pounded. How long would they hold them? Would they be arrested?
We didn't really do anything bad. Maybe they'll just fine us.
Or maybe they kick us out of the country.
"Right, follow me." Larson jerked his head toward the other end of the corridor.
Fear clawed at O'Bannon's insides. He had to do something.
He checked down the corridor, then looked Larson up and down.
That's when he realized the guard wasn't armed.
"Actually, I think we're just gonna . . . RUN!!"
O'Bannon took off. Jared and Rosa hurried after him a split-second later. Larson gawked at them, shocked into inaction.
"Art! C'mon on!"
Artimus took a nervous glance at Larson, then darted past him.
"Stop!" Larson shouted. "Stop!"
He grabbed the hood of Artimus' blue sweatshirt. The young wizard yelped and twisted around, trying to break free. Larson continued to pull on the hood. He yanked the sweatshirt completely over Artimus' head.
"Art!" O'Bannon skidded to a halt and started back to his friend.
Jared dropped his backpack to the floor, unzipped it and reached inside. Seconds later he pulled out his wand.
"What are you doing?" Rosa's voice went up an octave.
"Stop squirming, dammit! Larson yanked harder on Artimus. The young wizard grabbed his stretched out hood and tried to pull away. He dragged Larson a couple steps into the middle of the corridor.
At that point the guard's back was to Jared.
"Inflammo."
A flicker of flames burst under the heel of Larson's left shoe. A perplexed look fell over his face. He stared down and gasped.
"Yah!" He jumped back, releasing his hold on Artimus, who stumbled backwards. Larson stomped his foot on the floor.
"C'mon!" O'Bannon hurried over to Artimus, grabbed him and dragged him down the hall.
Larson had stomped out the little fire by the time the quartet rounded the next corner. Artimus finally managed to pull his sweatshirt over his head. O'Bannon let him go.
That's when two more security guards appeared at the other end of the corridor.
"Oh, c'mon!" O'Bannon hollered in frustration.
"Hold it right there!" One of the guards ordered as he and his partner ran at them.
O'Bannon turned to an office door next to them and grabbed the handle. Locked.
"Jared!" O'Bannon positioned himself between his friend and the charging guards.
"Patefacio!"
The door swung open.
The guards drew closer.
O'Bannon herded everyone inside. It was a small, simple office; a desk with a computer, a couple chairs, a filing cabinet and framed photos of airplanes on the wall. O'Bannon pressed a hand on the door and pushed.
It stopped before it could fully close.
He threw his entire body onto the door. Teeth clenched, O'Bannon groaned and pushed with all his strength. He could feel two bodies on the other side of the door pushing back.
"Don't make this harder on yourselves," the strained voice of one of the guards filtered in from the outside.
O'Bannon grunted and kept pushing. His feet slid back and inch.
Artimus threw his weight against the door. Then Jared wedged himself between the two. Rosa pressed herself against her cousin's back.
They pushed, and pushed, and pushed.
The door banged closed.
O'Bannon slid his hand over the knob and pressed a small button in the center, locking the door.
The quartet backed away. O'Bannon stared at the knob. That wouldn't stop the security guards for long, especially if they had keys, which he assumed they did. They probably had ten, fifteen seconds max.
That would be all the time they needed.
"Apparate!" He turned to his friends. "Now!"
He heard a metallic clack from outside, a key being inserted into a lock.
Another sound filled the office. Four sharp cracks. Darkness enveloped O'Bannon. An invisible force pulled his body in a thousand different directions.
His body returned to normal, but the darkness remained. Well, he did see some little shards of light around. Not much, though.
He spun around. Leafless trees and clumps of sticks that would have been bushes in spring or summer surrounded him. He also noticed Jared, Rosa and Artimus around him. O'Bannon bent over, hands on his knees, and drew a deep breath.
"You okay, Jimmy?" Rosa walked over to him.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just . . ." He sighed loudly. "Man, that was close."
"Thanks for helping me back there." Artimus nodded to Jared. "Still, that was a little dangerous. I mean, you might have hurt that guy."
"Hey, I made sure to reduce that spell's power. A little hotfoot wasn't gonna hurt him."
"Point is," Rosa said, "we got out of there. And I'm guessing that little village over there is Hogsmeade."
O'Bannon peered through the darkened forest. He could see the silhouettes of several old wooden buildings clumped together. Lights burned in the windows of a building he recognized right away. The Three Broomsticks pub.
"Yup. We're here." O'Bannon couldn't help but smile. At times he worried they might never even get to England. But they got through Rosa's freakout over the Atlantic, they eluded the security guards at Glasgow, and now they were at Hogsmeade. And right next door lay their destination. Hogwarts.
We made it. By God we made it.
O'Bannon waited for the others to pull their wands from their backpacks. "Let's go." He strode through the woods with renewed confidence.
"Where to now?" asked Rosa.
"Let's see . . ." O'Bannon checked Hogsmeade to get his bearings. "Closest secret passage would be that-a-way." He pointed to his left. "About a quarter-mile behind Gladrags clothing shop. It'll take us right into the school laundry room."
"Laundry room?" Jared slowed his gait. "Won't that mean servant elves? Crap, they'll rat us out as soon as we show our faces."
O'Bannon held up a hand. "Not servant elves, house elves. We don't have to worry about them. They're friendly, and they just don't have it in them to tell on students. Best thing, you don't have to tip them to get them to do anything. All you have to do is ask them."
Jared's eyes widened. "Wow. I like 'em already."
O'Bannon smiled and resumed his pace. A tingle of thrill went through him. After telling his friends about Hogwarts over the past several months, he couldn't wait to actually show it to them.
The corners of his mouth curled. He unfortunately wouldn't be able to show them a lot. If everything went according to plan, they would sneak into Hogwarts, find Dumbledore or McGonagall, and sneak out without anyone else knowing they were there. That meant he couldn't introduce them the Fred and George or Ginny or Lee or Angelina or Harry Potter or Michael Corner or Seamus Finnigan or any of the guys and girls who had become . . .
"HALT!!"
The voice boomed through the woods. The quartet spun in all directions, wands raised. Who the hell could be . . .
"JIMMY O'BANNON!! BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC, YOU AND YOUR COMPANIONS ARE UNDER ARREST!!"
TO BE CONTINUED