Disclaimer: This story is based on characters created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

AN:

Part I: Chapter 34

On the morning of August 31st, the day before they had to leave for Hogwarts, the city's sirens blared loudly, rudely waking up the whole orphanage. But they were letting out a different sound than the usual strident noise alerting a possible air raid; in this occasion the sound was low, monotonous and constant, sounding very ominous.

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Harry groggily as he sat up on his bed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Through the tattered curtains of their window, he even saw that the sun hadn't yet dawned.

Soon they were hearing the rush of frantic feet and fearful screams. Harry ran out of their bedroom, swiftly followed by Tom, to see all the children in the corridor or coming out from their own rooms, looking terrified.

"Are we going to be murdered in our beds!" wailed the caregiver Karen, standing rooted in place in her nightgown, clutching her chest in panic.

Just then, a series of harsh poundings resounded from the main floor, as if someone was impatiently knocking on their front door with all the strength they could muster, and all of them jumped in the air, further startled.

"Let me through!" snapped a voice, and Kathy Cole appeared, looking disheveled, carrying the only candle in the whole house.

Alice was behind the Matron, holding little Anne in her arms and protectively clutching her – one of the new children that had been sent to St. Jerome's from another orphanage that had shut down, before Christmas.

Harry wasn't even surprised to see that Kathy Cole had apparently spent another night sleeping in Alice's bedroom, crammed with Alice and little Anne. Since the start of holidays, the Matron had been staying over in the orphanage.

Tom had once sneeringly opined that Kathy Cole's husband, the nasty old Mr. Cole, greedy and well-to-do owner of some shops, must have fled the city taking his grownup children with him, leaving Kathy behind.

Nevertheless, they all trailed after her as Kathy rushed down the stairs and yanked the front door open.

There was a man there, looking vexed – a Constable, given his black uniform, the baton and pistol he carried on his belt, and the funny-looking, peaked helmet he wore.

"Who is the Matron of this orphanage?" demanded the Constable shortly as he glanced down at a piece of paper in his hand and read out loud. "A Mrs. Katherine Cole."

"I am," said Kathy, holding up her lit candle to peer at him with a frown on her face. "What's all this about?"

"Children are being evacuated from London," replied the man sharply, shooting the inside of the house a scathing look. "You have fifteen minutes to get your orphans ready."

Cries broke out at that, all the children sounding confused and scared.

"What does evakated mean?"

"Where are they taking us?"

"We can't leave! What about our stuff?"

"It was about time the Ministry thought about people!" someone yelled above all others, and Alice appeared in front of the Constable, apparently having set down little Anne to confront the man with an angered expression on her face. "I heard in the radio, the other day, that paintings from the National Gallery had been taken to Wales! Shameful it is, to care about art before the lives of people!"

"Count yourself lucky that the government spared a second thought on the orphans in London, missus," retorted the man gruffly, shooting a snide glance at his surroundings. "I wouldn't have, if it had been up to me."

"You cannot expect me to get everyone ready in fifteen minutes," interjected Kathy Cole sternly, bristling and jerking her head to a side like an angered horse. "Why wasn't I notified about this beforehand? Why didn't I receive any letters-"

"I'm just followin' orders, ma'am!" snapped the Constable irritably. "You have fifteen minutes or we're leavin' without you."

And he pointedly stepped to a side as he gestured at what was waiting outside.

It was a Ford COE Stake Bed truck, Harry saw as he peered out from the open front door; an enormous, army-type one, like the ones he had seen rushing down the streets filled with soldiers when he and Tom had been taking a series of Emergency Line buses to reach the district of the Leaky Cauldron.

"The children can only bring some essentials," continued the Constable, looking once more at his piece of paper as he began to read out loud, "Two pairs of socks, two pairs of pants – or dresses in the girls' case– two undergarments, and one pullover or jersey."

Kathy Cole stiffened before she spun around and loudly clapped her hands, as she yelled commandingly, "You heard the chap, children! Get dressed and bring those things from your rooms!"

Pandemonium ensued, with all the children disorderly rushing to their bedrooms, still looking confused and frightened but apparently also too scared about the possibility of being left behind, so they all followed the instructions as fast as they could.

Harry saw the Constable taking Mrs. Cole to a side, handing over a clump of things as they hurriedly whispered among themselves.

Without another hitch of breath, he covertly slipped closer to them.

"… to the countryside?" Kathy was murmuring, frowning deeply. "Are my orphans going to get separated?"

"Host families in the country are being paid by the government to take city children as guests," retorted the man curtly. "But that will not be the case of orphans. Some local, country schools have been turned into refuges. You and your orphans and caregivers will be living in one of those."

"For how long?" demanded Kathy Cole sternly.

"For as long as it takes!" snapped the Constable, before he added sharply, "I suggest, ma'am, that you help your orphans along. You've been appointed to a train that leaves in two hours and the streets are going to be congested. We must depart as soon as possible."

"Where does the train leave from?" piped in Harry anxiously.

At that, the Constable gazed around, before he glanced down and caught sight of him, his expression souring when realizing that an orphan was addressing him.

"From King's Cross station, boy," bit out the man with vexation, "where else!"

Harry nodded, feeling vastly relieved, and didn't stick around when Kathy Cole started badgering the man with questions again.

He instantly reached his brother and grabbed him by an arm, swiftly pulling him up the stairs.

"What are you doing?" hissed out Tom.

"We have to go with them," said Harry urgently as they entered their bedroom.

"We will not!" snapped Tom, glowering at him. "We'll go to Hogwarts. Tomorrow."

"Of course we're going to Hogwarts!" said Harry, as he hastily began to get dressed. "But it took us four hours to reach the Leaky Cauldron, if you'll remember. What if it takes us longer to reach King's Cross station tomorrow? What if there aren't buses left? I'm not taking the chance. We'll go to the station with them and spend the night there."

"You have a point," conceded Tom grudgingly, looking vastly annoyed by events.

Once they were dressed, they began to swiftly pack their belongings.

Harry was done in seconds, since he merely tossed all his things into his trunk. He didn't even have to waste time with Ulysses because the smart, little Scorcrup had apparently caught a drift of what was going on and had jumped into his basket without needing to be prompted.

Tom wasn't as quick, though. The boy was taking his time in neatly folding his clothes, as always, and orderly stacking his books inside his trunk, while dealing with Nagini.

"What do you mean that you're leaving?" the snake hissed, coiled on top of Tom's pillow on the bed. "You're not leaving me behind again – I demand that you take me with you!"

"You already know that Hogwarts doesn't allow us to have snakes as pets," hissed Tom, angered and impatient as he continued folding his clothes. "I'm not telling you again. You're staying here."

Peeved, Harry grumbled under his breath and stomped to Tom's bed, where the boy had neatly laid out all his things, and just grabbed them in his arms and unceremoniously dropped them inside his brother's trunk.

"The world isn't going to end if your clothes get wrinkly, Tom!" Harry snapped at him, slamming the lid of his brother's trunk shut when he was done.

Tom poisonously glared at him for that, but Harry ignored it as he caught sight of the empty cage on top of their nightstand.

"Where's your owl?"

"Lord Horkos goes hunting at night," replied Tom acerbically. "Evidently, he hasn't returned yet."

"Well, he'll just have to find us, won't he?" groused Harry as he grabbed the cage and shoved it into his brother's arms, adding in a low grumble under his breath, "And perhaps he won't and he'll make my day."

"Don't leave me!" hissed Nagini, no longer sounding furious but scared, wounded, and desperately imploring.

Harry bit his lip at that, but Tom utterly ignored her and didn't spare her a backward glance as he pulled his trunk outside the bedroom.

Harry followed suit, but once in the corridor he gently handed over Ulyssses' basket to his brother as he said hastily, "Start taking our stuff downstairs. I have something to do."

"What?" demanded Tom, piercing him with narrowed eyes.

Harry glanced around before he lowered his voice to a whisper, "I have to get Hutchins' letter from under the loose floorboard."

At with that, he slammed their bedroom's door shut on Tom's face.

When Harry reached the main floor, he encountered a flurry of frantic activity.

The caregiver Magda was taking the garments the children were bringing to her, packing them in rucksacks or tablecloths that she tied up with a knot, looking frazzled, weary, and ill tempered.

"Where do you think we're goin', Amy Benson? To a ball?" the caregiver snapped. "No, you can't take those silly hair ribbons with you!"

"We're not bringing along that flea-bitten cat!" she then yelled at Billy Stubbs, who had apparently gone to considerable efforts to find his pet.

The vicious cat certainly didn't look as if he was thankful for it, since he was spitting and hissing and squirming as he scratched Billy's hands and face. But the boy just stubbornly and resolutely held him tighter.

"I cannot leave Puff!" cried out Billy Stubb distressed. "What if a bomb drops on the house when we're gone? What if he dies!"

"We're not taking him and that's the end of the matter!" bit out Magda, looking disheveled and beleaguered.

Billy let out a wailing sob when he was made to drop the cat, which instantly dashed away, leaving the boy disconsolate.

Meanwhile, the Constable was standing by the front door, impatiently tapping a boot on the floor as he kept shooting glances at his pocket watch, as he announced, aggravated, "Five minutes left, folk!"

"Not those, lass!" Kathy Cole was berating Karen, who had come out of the kitchen, grabbing her apron's hem upwards to use as a basket, stuffed with apples, a plucked chicken, and loafs of bread.

The Matron then pointed a finger at Alice, who was just then stepping out from the stairs that led to the basement, wobbling and panting with the effort of carrying heavy sacks of beans under her arms and cans of food that were bulging from her apron's pockets.

"Follow Alice's example, you silly girl!"

"I said nothing about bringing food with you!" interjected the Constable as he caught sight of them. "There's no room for it-"

"I hardly think there'll be much food to be found in the countryside, will there!" yelled Kathy Cole angrily as she spun around to glare at the man with hands on hip. "I'm not letting my orphans starve for months – we're bringing as many sacks and cans as we can!"

The Constable scowled but wisely kept his mouth shut, since Mrs. Cole could certainly be intimidating and scary when in a fury.

A couple of minutes later, Kathy barked at them to form a line, and when they complied she went around hanging something from every child's neck.

Harry glanced down at the rectangular bit that was strung around his neck by a cord. The cardboard cover was brown, and in the small sheet of paper inside he found several things scribbled down: his name, gender, birthdate, and the address of St. Jerome's Orphanage.

"These are new things issued by the government," announced Kathy Cole. "They are called identity cards. It's of the utmost importance that you always have them with you." She shot them a stern look, as she added sharply, "If you get lost or separated from us, only by showing these things to an officer will they be able to know how to help you and what to do with you. Do you understand, children?"

"Why would we get lost?" someone asked frantically.

"Because such things happen!" snapped Kathy Cole impatiently. "We're not the only ones who are being evacuated – there'll be people rushing all around us!"

And with that, the caregivers began to herd them out of the house and into the street.

It was then when the Constable took a bag from the truck and started distributing its contents among the children.

"What's this?" a girl said nonplussed.

"A gas mask," breathed out Harry, staring at the one in his hands, recognizing it from Old John Bryce's description and how soldiers in the Great War had used them.

The Constable shot him a glower when the children who had heard him let out cries of panic and fear, glancing around the street as if expecting to suddenly find it filled with clouds of poisonous, lethal air.

"Silence!" roared the man, looking thoroughly fed up. "They're only a precaution. Now let's get moving!"

The Constable irritably began to help the children climb into the back of the truck, before he caught sight of Tom and Harry bringing their things over.

"What do you want those for?" demanded the Constable poignantly as he glanced at Lord Horkos' empty cage and Ulysses' basket, before he saw the trunks they were dragging. "I said you could only take with you some garments!"

At the man's angered shout, Alice and Kathy Cole snapped their heads around and hurried towards them.

"What's all this about?" said the Matron, frowning at them.

"They've said their boarding school is remaining open," Alice interjected quickly, looking flustered and agitated with worry.

"Nonsense!" bit out Kathy Cole crossly. "All schools have closed. They're coming with us to the countryside."

"But ours hasn't!" cried out Harry.

Kathy skewered him with a scowl, before she stated curtly, "Even so. You're coming along."

"We received a letter from our Headmaster," interjected Tom coolly, the lie smoothly rolling from his lips. "We are obliged to go. The school has evacuation plans of its own."

Kathy narrowed her eyes at him as she said crisply, "Where is this letter? I want to see it."

"I had no reason to keep it," intoned Tom calmly. "I threw it away."

"It's true!" piped in Harry adamantly, to then glance at them imploringly. "The train for Scotland leaves tomorrow. Can't we go to King's Cross station with you now?"

"Of course you can!" said Alice fervently.

"There's no train leaving for Scotland tomorrow," pointed out the Constable angrily as he glared at them. "What are you boys playing at?"

Harry was stumped at that, and could only stare at the muggle without knowing what to say.

"Our boarding school is a private, wealthy one," sneered Tom acidly, shooting the man a scathing look. "Our school hires its own train to take students up to Scotland."

"Orphans attending an uppity posh boarding school?" the Constable said sarcastically. "Sure, as if I'll believe that. Don't pull my leg, boy! Who do you think you're speaking to-"

"They aren't lying!" interjected Alice anxiously, before she straightened up to her full height and spouted out a lie herself as if it was an incontrovertible fact that cinched the deal, "I've seen the train with my own eyes!"

"There isn't any space in the truck for those things!" snapped the Constable, furiously gesturing at the trunks.

"We'll see about that! We're not leaving the boys behind!" bit out Alice before she ran up to the driver, who was impatiently seated inside the front cabin.

The man only scowled and glared, not moving an inch, clearly not liking to be ordered about by her. Though, when Alice began to hysterically shriek at him, the man soon paled and did exactly as she asked.

Their trunks ended up being stuffed in the front cabin of the truck, propped up, with Harry and Tom crammed beside them, leaving the Constable hanging outside one of the doors of the truck, grasping the frame and standing on the footledge.

"Let's get rolling, Pete!" commanded the Constable as he pounded a fist on the roof of the truck.

As they made their way towards King's Cross station, Harry saw that it was happening all over London.

The city was fraught with despair, fear, wretchedness, and foremost, with tears.

Similar trucks to theirs were parked along curbs, with policemen, officers, and other Constables herding children into them, with their parents standing in front of their homes, mothers wailing as they waved white handkerchiefs, husbands comforting them, saying it was for the best, that their children would be safe in the countryside, with strangers.

Furthermore, it wasn't only children who were being evacuated. Pregnant women or with babies or toddlers in their arms were also being taken into trucks, treated gently in their cases. And disabled people too, Harry saw when they passed by a hospital and an asylum.

King's Cross station was even worse. It was flooded with people: groups of children crying out, scared and sobbing, wanting to return to their parents, as they were led to platforms by policemen; invalids being hurried along by frenzied nurses; mothers with babies looking frantic as they jumped into departing trains; and even some children scattered here and there that seemed to have gotten lost from their group, standing in the middle of pushing crowds, looking terrified as they glanced around with fearful, wide eyes, waiting for an adult to take notice and help.

"Stick together, children!" yelled Kathy Cole at the top of her lungs so that she could be heard over the cacophony of the station. "Grasp each other's hands and don't let go! Whatever you do, DON'T LET GO!"

They all clutched each other frenetically, but it was impossible. The crowds were crushing and suffocating, and they found themselves being squashed and shoved at all sides.

And Harry couldn't even take a hold of any of his friends' hands, because he and Tom were fully occupied with dragging their trunks and the cage and basket of their pets.

When he saw that the distance between him and St. Jerome's group became larger and larger, till he could scarcely catch a glimpse of them through the crowds that seemed to have swallowed them up, Harry yelled frantically as he began to quicken his steps as fast as he could, "Wait! Please wait!"

"For what?" snapped Tom by his side. "We're not going with them, so what's the point of rushing to follow them?"

"I want to see them leave," said Harry in a soft voice. "I want to make sure they'll be alright. I want to say farewell to my friends and-"

He was roughly knocked over by a large woman bowling over the crowds with a shrieking toddler in her arms.

"Watch where you're going, you cow!" bellowed Harry furiously at her as he picked himself up from the floor before he was crushed by feet.

Darkly scowling, he rescued Ulysses' basket just in time before it was trampled all over, and lifted the lid to check that his Scorpcrup was well. Ulysses looked thoroughly disheveled and ruffled, with his fur standing on end, yet seemed unharmed.

Harry gave him a comforting pat on the head before he closed the basket and stuck it under an arm, grasping his trunk's handle once more.

"There they are!" he cried out joyously when he caught a brief glimpse of Alice and rest standing in a platform several feet away.

The caregiver was frenziedly glancing around, with hands anxiously clutching her chest, evidently looking for them.

Harry rushed forth, dragging his trunk with all the strength he could muster.

When he finally reached them, they had already started boarding the train. Though he was quick to release his trunk and gently settle Ulysses' basket on top when he saw Alice dashing towards him.

He was abruptly enfolded in a smothering embrace as Alice cried out, overwrought and distressed, "I'll write to you, no matter if I have to cross a whole county to find a Post Office. I'll tell you where we are and I want you to write back - you must promise! I need to know where you are and how you're faring, Harry. Promise, my sweet, lovely boy!"

"I will," mumbled Harry against the folds of her grey dress.

Alice pulled him away to gaze down at him with tearful eyes, as she tenderly swept a curl of hair from his forehead, nodding jerkily at him.

And before Tom had the chance to take a horrified step backwards, the woman launched herself at him and tightly crushed him against her bosom, as she said fervently, "Be good and brave, Tom. And take care of your brother!"

"Alice!" yelled Kathy Cole from a distance. "There's no time for partings. The train's about to leave!"

Alice released Tom at that, giving them a fearful, anxious glance filled with concern, looking extremely hesitant about leaving them there. While Tom was glowering darkly, as he dusted off his clothes with a hand as if wanting to get rid of the grime left there by the muggle's touch.

When the train's whistle shrieked loudly, Alice bit her lips and glanced at them again, but then ran back to the others.

Harry stood there, completely still, watching his friends.

"Why isn't he coming?" he heard Amy Benson yelling frenziedly, as she turned her face to look at him again. "What are you doing, Harry? Hurry!"

"Harry and Tom have decided to go to their school," Kathy Cole said loudly over the noise of the station, as she grasped the girl and began to shove her towards the train.

"What? He can't! We cannot leave Harry behind – what if we never see him again! What if-"

"Get in, lass!" snapped the Matron, pushing Amy inside.

Billy Stubbs and Eric Whalley, for their part, faintly waved their hands at him. Billy was clutching a pillow the boy had somehow managed to smuggle into the truck without the Constable noticing, clearly still hopefully believing that it could protect him from a bomb. And Eric was ashen faced, truly looking scared for the first time, giving Harry a weak, forced grin.

Harry stood rooted in place, as they all disappeared inside the train, as the train's wheels began to roll and rumble, as it became smaller and smaller, until it was a mere speck in the distance.

"Will we see them again?" said Harry quietly, his gaze fixed on the tiny dot.

He suddenly realized he should be frantic and desperate with worry, or even perhaps crying, because who knew what would happen to them – a bomb could very well fall in whatever country town they were going to live in, and kill them all- yet he only felt numb and empty.

"Hopefully not," sneered Tom scathingly as he turned around without casting a second glance.

Not even Tom's cruel, odious words pierced through the armor of insensibility that seemed to encompass him, and Harry trudged through the crowds, following Tom towards someplace in the station in which they could sit down.

During the night they spent in the railway station they didn't sleep a wink; between the constant flow of frantic evacuees rushing through, and King's Cross' clock chiming loudly every time it struck an hour, it was impossible. Not to mention Harry's frequent trips to the nearest loo, to make sure everything was well, given his situation. Though at least Tom wasn't suspicious. His brother seemed to ascribe his need to go to the bathroom to jitters and nerves.

Thus, when they were finally ensconced in a compartment of the Hogwarts Express the following morning, they were both exhausted and moody - the dark circles under Harry's eyes, caused by the stress of their 'holidays', being even more prominent.

Midway during the journey, Harry bit his lips, trying to rein it in, but failed again, releasing a giggle.

It made Tom snap his head up once more, to pierce him with narrowed eyes, whilst Harry scowled down at himself.

It happened again, and Harry fretfully squirmed on his seat, biting down on his tongue and pressing his lips tightly together.

"We should change into our school robes," said Tom sharply, abruptly standing up to open their trunks.

The boy tossed Harry's uniform on a seat before he stood in front of him with arms crossed over his chest, his dark blue eyes gleaming as he commanded, "Strip."

"What?" choked out Harry, gazing at him disbelievingly.

Tom's lips curved upwards as he intoned coolly, "I want you to strip off your clothes before me, little brother."

Taking an alarmed step backwards, Hary stared at him with eyes as wide as moons, as he said scandalized, "Are you hearing yourself? I'm not changing in front of you, you perve!"

And in the bat of an eyelash, Harry dashed to their compartment's door.

Tom swiftly blocked his way, shoving him back inside as he said calmly, "We've shared a room all our lives, I've seen you naked plenty of times." His dark blue eyes glinted as he trailed his gaze up and down over Harry, drawling softly, "You haven't anything that I haven't seen before, do you?"

When Harry stood there, speechless, Tom pounced on him.

"Geroff, you sicko!" yelled Harry frenziedly, batting his brother's roving hands away.

But it was to no avail, the moment Tom had him trapped and pinned against the compartment's windows, the boy tore off Harry's shirt, yanking it upwards through Harry's head, discarding it on the floor.

Frantically, Harry instantly covered as much as he could of himself with his skinny arms, stupidly feeling like a shy maiden protecting her innocence.

"I knew it!" snarled Tom furiously, glowering at him with a murderous look on his face.

"Hello, Master," hissed Nagini triumphantly, poking her head out from Harry's arms, from her place coiled around his bare chest.

At that, Harry dropped his arms, defeated, and glared down at her. "I told you not to move so much! Your scales tickled me, it made me giggle!"

Before the snake had the chance to open her maws to defend herself, Tom shoved Harry angrily as he snarled, "You know that snakes aren't allowed at Hogwarts-"

"I couldn't leave her in the orphanage!" interjected Harry hotly. "There's no one there, and Billy Stubbs was right. What if a bomb drops on the house? What if she died from that or from hunger?"

"Snakes are smart, they are survivors," bit out Tom infuriated. "She would have been fine!" He shot him a dark glower, as he added sharply, "I'm not getting expelled for this. I'm not taking care of her. This is your doing, so you deal with it!"

"Fine, I will!" snapped Harry crossly.

He gently settled Nagini on a seat, and as he changed into his Slytherin uniform he hissed disparagingly, "Your Master is a selfish, uncaring git, you know?"

Nagini bobbed her head up and down, shooting Tom harsh, reproving glances or wounded ones as Harry kept hissing similar things at her, all with the purpose of making Tom change his mind.

However, it didn't work. Once Tom had changed into his school robes, the boy gritted his teeth but nevertheless turned a deaf ear to Harry's and Nagini's hissed aspersions on his person, picking up a textbook and by all means making himself look as he if was wholly immersed in it.

Thus, it was so that Nagini's stay at Hogwarts began.