A/N: So, here I am for another chapter. Thanks to those of you who have reviewed so far and have stuck with this story so far. I know my updates have been kind of sporadic but I guess that's just the way the muse works sometimes. Hope you enjoy this one!
Disclaimer: Since I forgot the disclaimer on Chapter 2, this is a double disclaimer. I don't own anything or anyone you recognize. All I own is the family of OC's.
Chapter 3: When In London
Tom, the aged innkeeper at the Leaky Cauldron, sighed wearily as he stood behind the bar, wiping down the stained countertop one last time before he decided to turn in. There was just one customer left, a woman sitting alone at a table in the far corner, nothing to eat or drink before her, just… sitting. Tom frowned; the clock above the Floo Network fireplace read a little past one o'clock in the morning.
"Miss, I'm sorry, but the Leaky Cauldron has got to close for the night. I can getcha a room if you'd like." said Tom.
"Oh. No, I'm -- I mean… yes, if you would please. Yes." she muttered distractedly, gathering up the worn bag at her feet.
"Just you then, dear?" he asked.
"Yes, I suppose it's just me." The woman sounded terribly sad as she said it. Must've been left waiting by some bloke.
"Name?"
She hesitated for just a fraction of a second before answering, "Lissa, it's Lissa Tyler." Tom scribbled the name down on the ancient ledger and fumbled beneath the counter for the room key.
"That'll be 8 Galleons, miss." The woman -- Lissa -- dropped the appropriated amount on the counter. "Alright then, Room 13's all yours. Get some rest, Miss Tyler, you look like you need it."
Lissa gave him a wan smile and collected the little silver key with a nod before turning towards the rickety old staircase that led up to the other guests' sleeping quarters. Her room was, as expected, worn down with a thin layer of dust covering every surface. She really should have just gone somewhere else once it became apparent that they weren't going to show.
Three days. Three days, she had been forced to wait here every evening, and still her husband and daughter had yet to turn up. When they eventually did (because they would), she'd have to remember to warn them about their new name, Tyler.
Melinda Niall stepped into the darkened bathroom and started to undress. It had been far too long since she'd had the luxury of a real bath, and she intended to fully take advantage of the opportunity presented here.
She slipped carefully into the warm water and leaned back with a contented sigh. Tomorrow, she'd have to head over to Surrey with or without her family. Of course the whole thing would be infinitely easier if she had at least Arianna with her, seeing as the girl was in the same age group as her intended prey and would find it much easier to draw him in. It really wasn't very often a child was expelled from one of those wizard schools, and such a famous boy, if he had talent, could only be an asset to her goals.
The steam drifted up around her in a sparse little cloud, until the water started to cool and Melinda began what had once been a daily ritual, picking up the scratchy washcloth and a smelly bar of soap.
She would have her dear daughter back and soon; she had spent far too much time training Arianna to give up on her now, regardless of her husband's wishes. Melinda only wished that Seth had still been pure by the time she'd found him. Wishing of course, would accomplish nothing, but one could dream. She knew where Seth had gone off to this morning, knew just how thoroughly he had just betrayed her, despite how secretive and inconspicuous he may have thought he'd been. There was no going back now, for him.
-0-0-0-
"Dad, why is he coming?"
Dudley Dursley, besides the small addition of a little more muscle mass, had not changed much in the five years it had been since Harry last had to endure one of his birthdays. Vernon glared at Harry from the front seat, twisting around absurdly so that his bulk hovered over the air between them, as if it was Harry's fault he was here, tainting the air his fat cousin breathed on this, his special day.
"Don't worry, Duddy dear," Petunia cooed, "we won't let him ruin your birthdayparty again. You'll hardly even know he's there, won't he, boy?" she added, turning to Harry with a nasty look in her beady eyes. Harry shrugged and turned back to the window, expecting this day to be nothing less than a long, dull, and tiring ordeal, at least for him.
When he was younger, Dudley's birthdays had always been the worst part of living with his relatives; The stark contrast between their treatment of Dudley and Harry on normal days was already enough to convey the Durlseys' message of hatred for him loud and clear, but when he was little and still maintained that childish optimism, he couldn't help but harbor a little hope that on his birthday, when everyone else was given special treatment, he would get a small share of it himself. The Dursleys had proven him wrong year after year, stuffing candy and ice cream down Dudley's thick gullet and treating Harry with an extra dose of bitterness. Coat hangers, old socks, and icy frowns of disapproval -- yeah, he got the idea alright.
"It's not like I asked to be here, you know." he mumbled, too quiet for his relatives to hear. Dudley had started shouting and cursing at his mother, making his old tantrums seem a hell of a lot more innocent than they were now, causing Aunt Petunia to burst into helpless tears. Uncle Vernon was surprisingly quiet in the drivers seat and, glancing in the rearview mirror, Harry certainly didn't like the new, malicious light he saw in Vernon's reflected eyes. Harry doubted that that look meant anything good for him, but there really was not much he could do but wait for the axe to fall, so he settled in his seat and said nothing.
As they approached their destination, London, Uncle Vernon became more and more restless, shifting nervously in his seat, untrusting eyes flicking constantly from Harry's reflection in the rearview mirror to the black road throughout the entire drive. Harry was disgusted and a little surprised to watch growing sweat stains accumulate on Vernon's expensive new shirt.
Once inside the city, Harry noticed the subtle change in direction. For Dudley's birthday, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were planning to take their son to meet one of his friends at a movie theatre. Perhaps it was just coincidence that they seemed to be following the route to Kings Cross station and Vernon would eventually turn or simply stop before they reached it. But when Harry's uncle pulled up outside of the bustling train station, unlocked the doors, and turned around in his seat to glare at Harry with an air of triumph about his large form, Harry knew that it had definitely not been coincidence.
"Get out." said Uncle Vernon simply. Harry gaped.
"No. I'm not supposed to --"
"Are you daft, boy?" Uncle Vernon demanded, "You're not wanted here, never have been, and never will be. You've always taken advantage of our good charity as if you deserved nothing less, you little runt, and I've had enough!" Vernon was working himself up now, spittle flying from his wide mouth as he gesticulated angrily with a fat fist.
"Vernon," Petunia cautioned, placing a tentative hand on her husband's shoulder, "Vernon, they'll know…"
"I don't care. I've had enough! Did they ever bother to ask if we wanted to take the boy in, hmm? Did they not wonder if we would be able to afford the boy, the clothes we put on his back, the food we provide for his ungrateful, lying mouth? No! They never did, did they?" Aunt Petunia pursed her lips worriedly but subsided, leaning back in her seat and looking away from the scene playing out beside her. Harry would not give in so easily.
"I can't leave! Dumbledore said --" but his protests were cut short as his uncle lost all composure and bellowed in his nephew's face, "I don't care what some doddering old fool said! Barking mad, the whole lot of you! Now, you better get your sorry arse out of this car before I throw you out!"
"But I don't even have any of my things!" Uncle Vernon unbuckled his seat belt and violently threw open the car door, losing all patience. Harry scrambled away as Uncle Vernon wrenched the door open and lunged for Harry's arm, gripping him painfully hard, before angrily tearing the boy from his seat. Harry landed sprawling on the unforgiving pavement and watched stunned as his uncle got back inside the car and took off without a backward glance.
-0-0-0-
"Arianna, you have to get up." Seth said as he gently shook his daughter's thin shoulder. Arianna barely stirred.
"Mmm… go 'way…" she grumbled, eyes squeezed tight against the morning sunlight. "Don't want to,"
"Well fine, if you don't want to come with me to see your mother, then you don't have to. I'll just go by myself and leave you here. No sweat off my back."
"What?" Arianna was instantly wide awake, already scrambling to get out of the hotel bed and find her shoes.
Seth chuckled good naturedly but the smile couldn't seem to reach his hardened eyes as he lifted the worn sneakers from his daughter's grasp.
"We're not leaving yet, we still have to pack. We'll be meeting her at the Leaky Cauldron, a famous wizard's pub in London."
"But I thought we were supposed to stay away from wand-users, me and Mum at least."
Seth shrugged. "That's the meeting place and your mother agreed to it, so I guess for now the rule's been terminated."
"If you say so." said Arianna with a roll of her eyes. "So when are we going to meet Mum?"
"There's really no set time. We didn't actually get much of a chance to agree on any specifics before we left, so…" he trailed off uncomfortably at the guilt he saw spreading quickly across Arianna's features. "Ehem -- so we're just going have to wing it and wait for her to show up, I suppose."
"Okay…" Arianna mumbled dejectedly. She stood stiffly to gather the few belongings her father had brought for her during their brief stay at the motel and began stuffing them methodically into her simple rucksack. Seth sighed. The next few weeks were undoubtedly going to be extremely hard on Arianna, no matter how strong she wanted to appear. He wondered whether she would ever be able to stop blaming herself for the events he knew were sure to come.
"Are you sure she'll be here?"
Arianna wrinkled her nose as she gazed around the smoky pub and its strange customers, before she warily followed her father across the room, in the general direction of the bar.
"Am I even allowed to --?"
"Arianna!" The girl heard the shout and whipped around; Melinda stood at the top of the staircase with a large bag hanging on her shoulder and waved towards her daughter, a brilliant smile lighting up her features. Immediately, she made her way down into the pub and enveloped Arianna in a tight embrace. "Seth! I was starting to worry that you wouldn't come at all! Where were you all this time?"
"Got me and Arianna checked into a motel a couple of miles away. I had to heal the burns, set up a new account at Gringotts -- you know, the usual."
Melinda's eyes were warm as she leaned in and gave her husband a light peck on the cheek, leaving a wet, red set of lips at the point of contact; her joy, for all intents and purposes, appeared to be purely genuine, but there was a new darkness about her that Arianna could sense: anger.
She said nothing of it though, and slipped patiently into the background while her parents discussed the new arrangements.
"And I found this lovely house over in Surrey that has plenty of room for us and is in a nice little neighborhood. I was actually about to head over there when I saw you." Melinda waved her hand idly and her voice took on a more assertive tone. "I've already told the owners that we'll take it. We move in this afternoon."
Seth raised an eyebrow. "That's a little sudden, even for you Me-"
"-Lissa." she coughed discreetly.
"Right -- Melissa. Don't you think we should discuss it?" questioned Seth.
"Not unless you want to spend another couple of weeks -- months even -- waiting around in some run-down motel on the edge of town. We need a proper place to stay and we need to get Arianna enrolled in school again." said Melinda decisively. She crossed her arms and let herself fall back until she was leaning against the wall, sending out a silent dare -- or warning.
Seth sighed, "Another one?" They both knew that he was no longer talking about the house. Melinda grinned.
"We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"
-0-0-0-
The sun got lower and lower in the sky as Harry made his way through the crowd milling about on the sidewalks, moodily glaring into shop windows and contemplating his near future. One of four different scenarios could happen: the first being that, by some miracle, the Dursleys showed up to take him back, and this whole thing would be forgotten by the time they got home; Someone from the Order might come to get him and either leave him at his aunt and uncle's or take him to Grimmauld Place with Sirius; Death Eaters could show up and take him to Voldemort to await a painful death; or he could just be left here, wandering the streets and eventually get picked up by the police.
At the moment though, he was alone in Muggle London and at a complete loss as to what he should do, what would be an acceptable response to such a situation. His family had abandoned him. They had left him here to live or die on his own, not caring that he was their nephew and that they had lived with each other for the past fifteen years. There really was not much that he could do.
And so he walked on without a purpose or a destination until the light faded to darkness and he was forced to rest at an old bus stop. No one glanced twice at him, not the lingering pedestrians that were on their way home nor the police cruiser that sped by at about nine o'clock. What does one do when no one cares what you do?
A/N: Well, I hope you liked it. And what do you know? There were some actual hints at a plot here!
You know the drill: please review, it might inspire me to update sooner. What? No! I'm not trying to bribe you or anything. ;D