I'll Catch You (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

Misdemeanours at St. Mungos

"Do you have your wand?" my dad asked, standing in front of the door with his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"Yep" I whipped it out and flourished it around in the air.

"Galleons, sickles, and knuts?" he raised his eyebrows and pushed my wand down to my side.

I jingled my pocket change in response, rolling my eyes and blowing my hair from my face. "Can I go now? I could have been there already if you hadn't decided to give me the third degree!"

"One more thing" he smiled and opened his arms. "Give your old man a hug" he sighed and I wrapped my arms around his torso for a few seconds. "Be careful Ace."

"I know, I know" I laughed and pulled away. "I'll be back after dinner, I love you!" I said and walked out the front door.

The long walk from our third floor apartment to the end of the drive gave me time to build up my courage. The last time I had been on the Knight Bus, I had driven myself straight into the clutches of the death eaters. I couldn't help but think that maybe the Knight Bus was a bad idea.

But I tried to suck it up. I tried to steady my shaking hand as I slowly pulled my wand out of my cloak and held it out in front of me. I tried to calm my breathing as I waited for those three seconds for the bus to arrive in front of me. I tried all of these things, assuring myself that I was going to be alright...And I succeeded.

The door whipped open as quickly as the bus had appeared in front of me and Stan stepped down. "Hello I'm Stan shunpike and I'll be your conductor this evening" he yawned before he even looked at me. "And this is your driver Ernie Prang."

He looked at my face as I shoved the fourteen sickles into his hand. "Hey, I've seen you before" he narrowed his eyes towards me. "You've ridden this bus before."

"About six months ago" I laughed awkwardly and sat down on the seat. He walked to the back of the bus and returned with a cup of hot chocolate, handing it to me with earnest. "Oh no, you keep it for yourself."

He smiled and took a quick sip before leaning against one of the standing posts and crossing his arms. "Ashley, right?"

"Acelynne" I corrected and looked down at my hands. The light coming off of the giant chandelier flickered for a moment and my eyes tried to readjust to the dimming light. A sudden jolt of the bus sent all of the curtains crashing down and blocked the sunlight from seeping in.

"So how's that father of yours?" the lights flickered again but Stan's face remained illuminated by the eerie glow that seemed to make its way through the thick curtains. He raised his eyebrows and took another deep gulp of the hot chocolate.

"Excuse me?" I looked back up at him with narrowed eyes. I moved back in my seat and drew my knees up to my chest, creating a physical barrier between myself and him.

"I said, so how's that boyfriend of yours? You know, the ginger bloke I saw you with last time?" he looked back at me with cautious eyes and opened the door for another passenger. "And where are you headed anyways?"

"St. Mungo's. But yeah, he's good" I shrugged and pressed myself against the cold window pane of the bus.

"Oh" Stan look to the ground and shuffled his feet for a few moments before looking up again with a detached look in his eye. "Well, your stop won't be for a few minutes. Are you sure you don't want some hot chocolate?"

"I'm sure" I said tersely and stared at the curtain that was still covering the windows. The lights flickered overhead once more, and that's when I knew that I wasn't fine.