Chapter 24: Runaway
Everything was prepared. Kiba had emptied out his room and packed everything into his trunk. Magic was a weird thing and quite unexplainable, if anyone saw the extension charm that Lupin had placed on the trunk then Kiba had no way out.. how would anyone explain that anyway. He only had to find the right moment to slip out undetected, which proofed difficult. Madam Helaway rarely went to sleep. Always lingering in the living room, not letting Kiba escape. Suddenly Kiba found himself hating the orphanage and it's inhabitants, and it scared him, the amount of hate he began feeling.
'it's because of Tom, i know it!' Kiba told himself so he wouldn't feel guilty. But deep down inside he knew, that Tom hasn't created this hate. No, he only elevated the emotion.
Kiba sighed as he dipped his feather into some ink.
'Dear Hermione,
I hope you're enjoying your summer. Mine has started on a bad note and has continued getting worse ever since. I don't know why but I've really begun to hate it here recently.
And in addition. I think that my Friend Faye, i told you about her during our first year, has been adopted and nobody told me anything.
I'm going to leave Leverton's, which means i might lose contact for a while. I'll let you know if i found a place to stay.
Happy Holidays,
Kiba.'
He wrote similar letters to Ron and Harry and sent them all off with Kuzon. "i might not be here when you come back, if that happens then head for the Leaky Cauldron"
'Alright' he flapped his firey wings, grabbed the envelopes and flew out of the window.
"Where's he going?" asked a girl from behind Kiba. He jumped and turned quickly, fearing what she might have seen or heard.
"Elizabeth, how long have you been here?" he asked trying not to panic.
"I just came up. Dinner is ready" she said "but where is your bird going?"
"His name is Kuzon. He's going to stretch his wings, he needs to fly every now and again" he said getting up from his chair. "Let's get downstairs"
Kiba sat at the table all by himself, waiting for his turn to get up and get some soup.. 'Tonight, I'm getting out'
The conditions were perfect. Lucy had gone to her own home for the weekend and sleep seemed to have finally caught up to Madam Helaway. Kiba picked up his heavy trunk and carried it down the staircase as quietly as he could but stopped just before heading out the front door. He looked to the door beside the staircase.. Madam's office.
The door unlocked before Kiba even touched it as it seemingly smelled his intentions. He grabbed the keys to the front doors and then remembered something. The last time he was in that office. 'there were letters, from Faye' he remembered. He searched the drawers and found a folder bearing her name, and it was filled with letters and papers. He wanted to take it with him but he couldn't. He flipped through the pages quickly, he needed to know for sure. And then he found it. The adoption papers. singed by Kenway. 'this is from.. 1991..'
He dropped the folder to the ground sending the letters and papers everywhere. He stumbled out of the office and fumbled the keys as he tried to open the front door. "so you are leaving" a voice spoke from behind him. He freezed and barely breathed. "I thought so when you send Kuzon out. You told him to fly somewhere, and that you would follow soon.. or something" it was Elizabeth. She stood by the door to Madam's office and had her arms crossed. Kiba finally unlocked the door and tossed the girl the keys as he tried to display nothing but confidence.
"Lock up after me, will you?" he said grabbing his trunk. He zipped his jacket up and left the building, not looking back as he strolled into the darkness of the night. Elizabeth stood motionless outside the front door, watching the boy leave. She knew his confidence was faked, and she knew he had no idea where to go.
Kiba began walking in the rough direction of London deciding to rather walk then call the Knight Bus. His head was spinning, he had no idea what to do from there on out. He had left school and home and all the money he had would probably not last for a lifetime.. maybe he would find a job in Diagon Alley cleaning or something of the like. Kiba stopped walking when he heard steps in his near vicinity, he looked around himself but no one was in sight. Not in the garden or the houses nor the woods on the other side of the street. He walked on, now more weary of his surroundings, attempting to spot any movement in the darkness.
He could feel it. He could hear it. And it screamed run and hide. The unnatural rustling of leaves, the cold breeze touching his exposed skin, the uneasiness he felt. He knew it, he was being watched. Carefully, intently. But whoever, or whatever, was following seemed to have no plans of catching him. The steps could only be heard when Kiba himself walked, and when he stopped, they stopped too. When Kiba yelled, making the pursuer aware that he knew he was there, only the faint echo of his voice could be heard bouncing off of the trees. He didn't like it, not for a second.. and who could blame him.
Kiba's steps grew heavy as hopes of reaching London before Dawn quickly faded and sleep seemingly fought with the remaining consciousness of the young Parselmouth. His eyelids grew heavy and his eyes closed as he took another step which failed and send him falling. But he was caught by the shoulders with a firm grip. "what's a young man like you doing out on his own at this time?" asked the dark skinned man with a low and calm voice.
"I'm on my way to London, sir" Kiba replied distancing himself a step from the stranger.
"on your way? You are in London boy" he replied with an amused smile.
"I am? Well I'm trying to find a specific… could you point me towards King's Cross? I'll find my way from there" Kiba asked.
"King's Cross" the man chuckled "you're in luck, that's where I'm headed myself. You can tag along if you'd like" the man began walking and Kiba hesitantly followed, unsure as to what the man might intend with him, or if he was luring him somewhere for that matter. "tell me boy. Where exactly are you headed?"
"A place to spend the next few nights," Kiba replied "but i doubt you know of it"
"Oh? I just might," the man replied with a chuckle "you never know how much another knows until you ask"
"alright. It's called The Leaky Cauldron" Kiba replied with a smirk thinking he could silence the man.
"I thought you were a wizard," the man said simply "Hogwarts i presume?"
"yes. Well, not anymore" Kiba replied
"oh." The man said in Surprise "because of the incident? I saw it in the daily prophet, though i didn't believe it at first. I mean, the memory of He-who-must-not-be-named possessing a student, it sounds ridiculous" he said as he shot Kiba a curious look, most likely hoping to get a more detailed story but Kiba said nothing. "is that why your parents withdrew you?"
"oh, i don't have… i decided myself. I felt like it wasn't safe" Kiba said
"Oh, I'm sorry. But i think i do understand where you're coming from, but i don't think you had to withdraw" the man said stopping to face the boy "the danger is over right? And i mean, Dumbledore is one of if not The most powerful Wizard alive" he paused and placed his hand on the boys shoulder "Dumbledore will do everything in his power to protect the students of Hogwarts" he started at Kiba with a knowing expression "and i don't think anyone holds a grudge against the poor boy that was possessed. I know Dumbledore won't" he winked at Kiba and disappeared.
"But-" Kiba sighed and looked up at the clock that hung inside King's Cross station. "five in the morning… i better reach the Leaky Cauldron soon"
Not thirty minutes later the boy stepped into the pub. Unlike the last time he was here the air was fresh, and there was barely anyone. One witch sat at a small corner table with her back to the boy. Her hair was firey red and fell past her shoulders, she stirred her teacup with her spoon and read the newspaper that was spread out on the table. "Good Morning! Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron" Tom the bartender and innkeeper called into the silence of the room "Mister Scamander, was it?" Kiba spotted the witch turning her head slightly before he turned his back to her to face the friendly man.
"Call me Kiba, Please"
"Well, Mister Kiba. How can i help you?" the man asked stepping out from the bar to better see the boy.
"Ummm.. i was wondering if i could stay in the inn for a while" Kiba asked shyly
"of course, but no more then three days for underaged wizards and witches" he added as he saw the smile from the boys face fade.
"Oh.. i thought that.."
"Yes? Out with it"
"what if i worked for you, and in return you let me stay here" Kiba suggested quickly. Being an employee must be reason enough to stay longer.
"Look, i can't make you an official employee. But listen," the man bent down and talked much quieter "if you help me cook and clean in the evenings and mornings then I'll get you a room here" Kiba nodded and the two shook hands in silence "follow me!" Tom said loudly
Kiba followed him up the creaky stairs and shot one last glance at the witch and their eyes met. She looked rather serious and secretive. He was sure she had listened in on the conversation, but what she intended with that information he did not know. Tom brought Kiba to a room at the end of one of the many hallways. The room was small, had a bed and a small table along with a closet and a window which overlooked Diagon Alley. "This should do, eh?"
"thank you!" Kiba said as he looked out of the window.
"You start tomorrow morning. Now lay down, you look like you've been up all night for the last five days!" and with that the innkeeper left the room and closed the door. Kiba quickly slid into the bed as he felt a wave of guilt wash over him.
'everyone will be worried sick… but what do i care.. they all lied to me!' he turned to his side and pulled the covers over his shoulder as he shut his eyes and drifted off.
The next week's Kiba was happy. Almost as happy as he had been when he first got to Hogwarts. He worked the mornings and evenings in the Leaky Cauldron and in his free time studied music. He had bought multiple books on different instruments and notes and wanted to learn to how to play them, even if he didn't own any instruments. The young boy avoided going into Diagon Alley as he wanted to associate with the magical world beyond the Leaky Cauldron as little as possible.
Kiba didn't regret giving up his Wand, he didn't believe he could return after what he had done. But his happiness in the Leaky Cauldron began to fade with each passing day. Not only was he missing everything he had in the Muggle and magical world. But he also felt that he was under surveillance, by someone. The woman with the firey red hair that he saw on his first day came in often and always sat at her usual corner table, with her back to the rest of the inn. Sometimes, the woman brought along a man with a prostatic leg and a eye that seemingly had a mind of its own strapped to his head. And whenever she wouldn't be there someone else was at her table with the same posture as her.
But it all got worse one night. When Kiba had the feeling it all began anew.. when Kiba experienced another nightmare! The dream was blurry, and the images flashed through his mind rapidly, showing the boy things he couldn't recognize at first. It began with Kiba himself, walking into a dark Forest. The dark Forest then showed animals of different sizes. A Stag, wolves, a doe, rats, horses, dogs, cats and many more before they all changed into wizards and witches. The full moon was revealed through the crowns of the trees before the wizards blasted the boy out of the forest sending him to the greenhouses at Hogwarts where all the mandrakes sat quietly in their pots of dirt. Kiba could see roaches crawling all over the place which ultimately devoured him entirely leaving him to stare into black nothingness.
A place untouched by anyone. No light.. No voices.. nothing. Just the void itself.
The boy felt his heart beating in his chest at an abnormal rate but it wasn't just his heart, there was a second. Kiba could feel it's beat second to his own. It felt smaller than his own but it beat with equal force and determination to supply the boy's body.
Kiba opened his eyes and gasped for air. He stood paralyzed in place… 'am i still dreaming?' he thought. Before him it was. The forest he had been shown but that wasn't what paralyzed him. How he had gotten here didn't bother him either. What stopped the boy from moving was a pair of gleaming eyes that stalked him through the thicket of the trees.
Kiba pressed his eyes shut and rubbed them strongly. He was scared, scared that if he'd open them that the eyes would still be there. He carefully opened just one of his eyes and scanned the Forest before him. Nothing.. no steps, no glaring eyes, nothing at all. He sighed heavily as he moved along the road and then he saw her again. The last with her firey red hair, and she was.. looking at him. No, stareing at him. "crazy old lady" Kiba muttered.
He walked through the vast streets of London and then, just before reaching the Leaky Cauldron he spotted a man, limping due to his prostatic leg. 'Odd' he thought he entered the inn, greated Tom and the regulars like he did every day and headed up the stairs towards his room. But little did he expect someone to stand by his window.
The old wizard turned around at the song of the door and greeted the confused boy. "I reckon that you're surprised to see me" he spoke calmly. It seemed like the man had reinvented his look a bit. His beard now had a band that tied it together near the bottom, and his robes were more slim then they had been.
"A bit" Kiba replied "what do you want?"
"Well, you said you couldn't forgive yourself" Dumbledore began gesturing for Kiba to sit down on the bed "but i do. And i wanted you to know that none blame you for what happened"
"you've already told me that," Kiba replied stareing at his feet.
"yes.. but to show you, that no one blamed you, I've issued a trial. And the ministry of Magic demands your appearance" Dumbledore said
"A trial?" Kiba asked in confusion.
"Yes. If you're found guilty, like you think you are, then you shall suffer the consequences"
"and if they say I'm not?"
"Then you can come back to Hogwarts, knowing full well that you are not guilty" Dumbledore smiled at the boy as he looked over his half-moon spectacles.
"fine. It doesn't matter anyways. When I'm found guilty or not.." Kiba said 'i can't forgive… me'
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An: I'm back!
