Night had fallen and the cold air made me shiver. I wanted nothing more than to pull my hand out of Harry's, but his anger made me rethink. I'd never seen him like this before, and it put me on edge. Fortunately, I once again ran into my cat, Nyx. Snatching my hand back, I scooped Nyx into my arms and held her close, already relaxing slightly as I followed Harry down the streets.
"Harry," I started slowly, watching his expression carefully. He didn't look at me. "What exactly is the plan here?"
"Don't have one," he told me simply.
I rolled my eyes as he sank onto the low wall outside the park we always went to. Keeping his wand in his hand, he lowered his head into his hands wryly. "Where are you going to go?"
"Arty, I can't stay there!" he snapped at me.
I scowled, hesitating a moment as Nyx rubbed her head into my neck. "Stay with us," I sighed. "I'm sure Luke and Mia will understand, especially if Mia knows your Aunt Petunia."
Harry snorted at me darkly. "I doubt that. Luke isn't exactly my biggest fan, is he?"
"Well you can't stay here!" I exclaimed moodily, slumping onto the wall beside him. Nyx shifted uncomfortably in my hold, but Harry groaned quietly under his breath, spinning his wand through his fingers.
"You saw what they're like, Arty," he scowled. "Last summer, Ron had to break me out of that place. The summer before that, Hagrid had to show up and terrify them before I found out the truth about everything, and this year, I blow up my Aunt."
"Yeah, they are a bit . . ." I trailed off, unable to find the right word to describe them.
Harry scoffed. "Right."
"You still can't sit here all night," I grimaced. "Can't you send a letter to Ron? You stayed with him last summer, right?"
"He's in Egypt," he frowned. "His Dad won some money in a competition in the paper. I thought you read the Daily Prophet?"
"Used to," I sighed. "Mia won't let me touch it anymore, with all this about Black." Harry raised an eyebrow at me. "Don't even ask. You remember I said she wouldn't let me go to Hogsmeade this year either? Well the longer he's on the loose, the worse she gets. And Luke's no better. He goes in a mood every time the subject comes up, and I swear he was trying to convince Mia to keep me out of Hogwarts this year. It makes no sense, I know that, but every time I ask, they freak out. I gave up a few weeks ago."
"If they're that paranoid, why are you out so late?" he questioned.
I hesitated, my left hand twitching again. "Didn't really ask. Mia's in bed with a migraine and Luke only just got back from work. I left him with Rosie and legged it."
"They're going to go mental when you get back," he winced.
"Probably," I shrugged. "But they go mental every time I get back. You should have seen them at the end of term. The rant Luke pulled over the Chamber of Secrets at King's Cross? That was nothing compared to Mia when we got home."
Harry laughed with no humour. "You should probably be getting ba-" He cut off suddenly, straightening out and tightening his grip on his wand.
I blinked, my own hand twitching toward my wand. "Harry?" He shushed me and waved me away, staring at a dark alleyway across the street intently. Before I could ask what he was doing, he stood up and muttered, "Lumos!"
"Great," I mumbled sourly. "More magic."
He ignored me, stretching out his wand in front of him as he neared the end of the street. I pushed myself to my feet and peered around him, just in time to see a pair of large, glistening eyes before a deafening bang rang in my ears and the blare of headlights hit us.
"Harry!" I yelled, dropping Nyx on instinct and lunging forward to drag him back. He stumbled with a surprised yelp, just as a large, triple decker purple bus jolted to a halt in front of us.
A tall boy of about eighteen with a bad case of pimples jumped out, clearing his throat. His eyebrows knitted together as he caught sight of the two of us, staring at him wide-eyed and stunned.
"Cat got your tongue?" he smirked, pointing very deliberately toward Nyx, whose fur was stood up in irritation as she circled my legs. Rolling my eyes, I scooped the cat back into my arms as Harry straightened out.
"You're hilarious," I told him dryly.
Apparently, he didn't like my tone very much. "Are you getting on the bus or what?" he huffed, folding his arms over his chest.
"Depends," Harry frowned. "Where does it go?"
"Anywhere you want," the boy said, spreading his arms out as though this was a stunning achievement.
Harry snatched up his trunk, rummaging through it for a small money bag. "How much to the Leaky Cauldron?" He dipped his hand into the bag and tossed a fist full of silver Sickles at the boy, who beamed and took his trunk from him happily. Before Harry could say a word, I plunged my hand into the pocket of my jeans and fished out a small handful of spare change, which fortunately covered a lot more than an emergency bus trip to London.
"What are you doing?" he frowned.
I scoffed. "You think I'm leaving you alone wandering London? Are you insane? Besides, it's not like I've got a lot of choice in the matter, is it?" For a second, he looked perplexed by the idea, but as I stepped onto the bus, subconsciously scratching my forearm, his face dropped.
"We really need to figure that out," he said, his voice catching in his throat.
"You're not kidding," I scoffed darkly. "But that can wait. Right now, you're running away from home." I held my hand out toward the bus and he frowned at me as he hauled himself up beside me.
The bus didn't have seats. Instead, a row of beds sat on each side, none of them occupied. A slim spiral staircase stood to the left about halfway down the bus, leading up to the second deck. Real, crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, brightly lit and tickling delicately in a non-existent wind.
The boy put Harry's luggage on the bed right behind the driver, and before he could direct me anywhere else, I dropped onto the one beside it, still holding Nyx close. The boy snorted when he saw the cat again. "Animals don't tend to like this ride," he winked at me. I raised an eyebrow, but he didn't elaborate, banging his fist on the back of the armchair the driver was sat.
All of a sudden, the bus lurched forward with such speed, I yelped and flung an arm out to catch myself on the edge of Harry's bed. Harry wasn't so lucky, groaning as he landed on the floor, flat on his face. Nyx screeched, leaping out of my arms and landing on the end of Harry's bed, digging her claws in and refusing to move.
"Told you," the boy smirked.
"Thanks," I replied sarcastically.
No one spoke much after that. Harry had managed to drag himself back onto the bed, his mouth clamped shut as he tried not to be sick, and I was too busy trying to judge just how bad Luke's yelling was going to be when he found out I'd ran off. Mia was going to have kittens, especially with the fuss over Black.
Trying to take my mind off it, I perched myself carefully on my bed, pulling my knees up to my chest to shield my arm from view as I rolled back my sleeve. The green pattern was still there, glinting strangely in the light from the chandeliers overhead. As I got more and more used to seeing it, the more beautiful it look. Drawn in green ink, it swirled and curved elegantly, about two inches thick and six inches long. I'd tried, on many occasions, to figure out why I'd suddenly got it, but I couldn't find a single explanation. It wasn't until I realised Harry was staring at me that I managed to pull my gaze away from it, rolling my sleeve back down hastily as the bus jerked to a halt.
"The Leaky Cauldron!" the boy announced with a wide grin. I rolled my eyes at him, finally paying attention to the name badge on his jacket, which read Stan.
"Thanks," Harry mumbled uncertain, grabbing his trunk and rubbing his stomach with a wince. Carefully, I managed to pull Nyx off the bed sheets, cradling her soothingly in my arms as Harry and I made to step off the bus.
"Ah! There you are Harry!"
The two of us started, staring at the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. He was a short, plump man, dressed in an emerald suit with white hair and tired looking eyes. He was smiling at Harry in something that looked like relief. Or at least, he was until he saw me.
"And you must be Artemis Williams?" he asked, and I was nearly ninety per cent sure he was worried I'd say yes.
"Yes, Minister," I nodded, casting a sideways look at Harry. His expression made it look like he'd just smashed his head through a brick wall.
"Well, I'm glad I've found you both," he beamed, stepping in between us and clamping a hand on our shoulders. I immediately wanted to push him out of the way, almost shuddering away from him, but I held myself in check. "Whatever would your families say if they heard you were wandering the streets alone at night while we have a mass murderer on the loose?"
"They'd probably pray he killed me," Harry mumbled sourly.
"And I can't repeat what Luke and Mia would say," I grimaced honestly. Fudge laughed nervously at the pair of us, steering us toward the Leaky Cauldron and ushering us through the door quickly.
"Tom!" he called, and the toothless landlord suddenly appeared in front of us, grinning oddly. "Can you have us a private parlour? I'd like to have a small talk with Harry here. And please escort Miss Williams to one of your spare rooms. We don't want her uncomfortable for the rest of the night, do we?" He let out another laugh I didn't understand, and Harry blinked at me in confusion. I just shrugged at him.
"Of course, Minister," Tom nodded enthusiastically, leading us all down a small hallway. As soon as he'd unlocked a private parlour for the Minister and Harry, he turned back toward me with the same strange smile. "Follow me, Miss Williams."
I nodded with no conviction, stepping up the stairs with a strange twisting in my stomach. He led me straight through the corridors to the end of the building, where he unlocked the furthest door and held up an arm to show me through. I smiled gratefully, slipping inside and taking a deep breath. Suddenly, looking at the two comfortable four poster beds and oak furniture, I was absolutely shattered. My shoulders actually sagged with exhaustion at the mere thought of sleep.
"If you need anything, Miss Williams, just shout," Tom told me kindly.
"Thanks, I will," I smiled again, and waited until he'd shut the door before sighing again. Nyx leapt gracefully out of my arms, padding toward the nearest bed and curling up on the pillow to go to sleep. "Oh, so you get first choice?" She ignored me completely.
I was planning to wait for Harry to finish speaking to the Minister before going anywhere or doing anything, but when I saw it was almost eleven o'clock at night, I remembered Luke and Mia. Hurrying back downstairs to the bar, I asked Tom if there was any way to send them a letter, and he smiled and informed me that the Minister had already sent it. Though I knew he was just trying to be helpful, I really wished he hadn't bothered. Receiving a letter from the Minister of Magic was going to make this sound a whole lot worse than it was, and I knew I was in serious trouble.
"He asked them to drop your things off tomorrow morning," Tom added. "I'll inform you if they reply, Miss Williams."
"Thanks, Tom," I grimaced, gulping hard as I took to the stairs again. Harry was already on the landing outside his room, yawning widely.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," I sighed. "You?"
"Surprisingly, yeah," he nodded with a frown. "They're not even punishing me for using magic."
"No offence, but with a family like yours, I'm not at all surprised," I snorted with a roll of my eyes.
"I guess so," he shrugged. "Night, Arty."
"Night, Harry," I replied, pushing my door open and slipping inside. Nyx lifted her head as I shut the door behind me, and I snapped my fingers at her impatiently. "Don't even dare think you're sleeping there, missis."