A couple hours later, Harry was back at the park, anxiously waiting for Gilbert to return. Harry had been able to quickly and quietly sneak back into his house to retrieve his few belongings, and then sneak back outside again. He would not be returning to the Dursleys' ever again.
Just as Harry was beginning to think that Gilbert had changed his mind, the crimson-eyed boy reappeared, leading a blonde boy about Harry's size.
"Hey, Harry! This is my brother, Ludwig. He's coming with us. West, say hi to Harry," he said quietly, smiling down at his little brother.
"Hi."
"Hi, nice to meet you. Okay, what do we do now?" Harry asked.
"First, we have to get out of the city."
The group wandered their way out of the city, following Gilbert's lead.
"How do we know where to go now?"
"We go north. See that star?" Gilbert replied, pointing at the sky.
"Yeah."
"If we follow that star, we'll be going north. Sooner or later, we'll reach the school by following that star."
"Really?"
"Yup."
"Wow, you're really smart."
"Course I am! I am the oldest after all. Wait, how old are you?"
"Seven."
"Yup! I'm older!"
"... Gilbert?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you be my big brother?"
Gilbert was surprised by this question, but quickly pulled the dark-haired boy into a hug.
"Of course I will! The three of us, we're our own family now. Let's just forget everything that happened before now. We'll be better off that way."
"Okay."
The trio continued walking in silence for another hour or so before Ludwig spoke.
"Big brother?"
"Yeah?"
"... I'm tired…"
Gilbert frowned, looking at the sky. "Let's keep going a little while longer, okay? We'll stop and rest when it gets light out."
"Okay."
As the sun began to rise, the trio was completely exhausted, having walked for hours. They were in a forest of some sort.
"Can we rest now, big brother?" Ludwig asked, practically falling asleep as he stood there.
"Alright. Let's make a shelter under one of these trees," Gilbert said, taking off his backpack and pulling out a blanket. He threw it over a low branch, creating a makeshift tent. After taking Ludwig's backpack, he pulled out several more blankets, laying them out to create a bed.
"Okay, sleep time. Come on," he said, holding the top blanket up for the younger two.
They crawled underneath the blanket and snuggled up next to Gilbert, both falling asleep almost instantly. Gilbert just watched them sleep for a moment, running his fingers through their hair. As he pulled his hand away from Harry's hair, he noticed the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.
"Merlin's beard, you're Harry Potter," he whispered, eyes growing wide with shock.
He had just run away with the savior of the Wizarding world.
AN: Please let me know what you think so far!
