Harry and Amelia Potter

3.2

Harry and I rush upstairs to grab our trunk. Packing it quickly with everything we need in order to run away. We realized it's our only option.

"We used magic outside of Hogwarts, we broke the Statute of Secrecy, we broke the law. The Ministry probably already sent Aurors to come and take us to Azkaban!" I exclaim as I stuff my trunk.

"Calm down, Mia. We'll hide somewhere. Maybe we can go to the Burrow." Harry suggests.

"And put the Weasleys in danger! No way!"

We finish backing our things and run back down stairs.

"You bring her back! You bring her back now and you put her right!" Uncle Vernon cries.

"No! She deserved what she got!" Harry tells him. He moves to grab Harry and I.

"Keep away from us." I state, holding up my wand.

"You're not allowed to do magic outside school."

"Yeah? Try me." I glare.

"They won't let you two back now. You've nowhere to go." He cowers away.

"We don't care. Anywhere's better than here." Harry says and we walk out the front door.

Harry and I walk down the street, trunks in tow, getting further and further from Number Four Privet Drive.

We stop, glance around and see an empty play ground. It's completely empty, and the swings creak gently on rusted chains. A tiny carousel, kissed gently by the wind, turns slowly. We drop our trunks and sit on the curb.

"What do we do, Harry?" I ask, resting my head on his shoulder.

"We need a plan."

I jolt my head up and give him a raised eyebrow. "Yes, thank you captain obvious. But what is the plan?"

"I don't know, you're the older twin." He says matter of factly.

"Only by three minutes!" I huff out. "How about we go to The Leaky Cauldron? We can get a room for the night and figure out where to go from there."

Then a car alarm goes off in the distance, causing us to jump. A dog barks a few houses down, while leaves brush against each other in the wind.

I have a feeling. A feeling like, we're being watched. I stand up, and look around. My eyes gaze the area, until the land on a dark shadow in the bushes across the street. I nudge Harry and he stands. Pointing to the shadow, we both focus on it.

Then a big, black dog steps into view, baring it's teeth. Growling, like it's about to attack us. We stumble back, tripping over our suitcases, and falling to the ground.

Then, a triple decker bus flies towards us and comes to an abrupt stop.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus... emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor for this evening."  A young man reads off of a card and looks forward. Not seeing anyone, he looks around until his eyes stop on us. "What you doing down there?"

"We fell over." Harry informs him.

"What you fall over for?"

"We didn't do it on purpose." I say, getting up and brushing myself off. Then I help Harry to his feet.

"Well, come on, then. Let's not wait for the grass to grow."

I walk to the front of the bus to see if the dog is still there. It's not.

"What you looking at?" Stan asks me.

"Nothing." I mutter.

"Well, come on, then. In." He says, slightly annoyed. We move to grab our trunks. "No, no, no. I'll get those. You two get in."

We step up into the Knight Bus seeing multiple wizards in beds, fast asleep, some awake and reading the paper. All looking out of place.

"Come on. Come on. Move on, move on." Stan says. We find an empty bed and have a seat. "Take her away, Ern."

"Yeah, take it away, Ernie." A tiny head hung from the rear view mirror says. "It's going to be a bumpy ride."

The driver floors it and the bed rolls back. Harry and I try to stop ourselves from rolling around too much, but we are failing miserably.

"What did you say your names were?" Stan asks us.

"We didn't." I say, still being knocked back and forth, side to side by the reckless driving.

"Whereabouts are you headed?" He asks.

"The Leaky Cauldron. That's in London." Harry tells the man.

"You hear that? 'The Leaky Cauldron. That's in London.'" Stan mimicks Harry.

"The Leaky Cauldron." Ernie, the bus driver, states. "If you have pea soup... make sure you eat it before it eats you."

I look to Harry, completely dumbfounded by these wizards. Where on earth did they come from? Harry looks out the window, noticing the muggles living their normal lives on the streets.

"But the Muggles. Can't they see us?"

"Muggles? They don't see nothing, do they?" Stan asks, we shrug our shoulders. "No, but if you jab them with a fork, they feel."

"Ernie, little old lady at 12 o'clock!" The tiny head yells.

The driver slams on the breaks and Harry and I fly forward, smushing our faces on the window.

"Ten, nine, eight... seven, six, five... four, three, three and a half... two, one and three quarters." The tiny head counts down the elderly woman as she slowly walks on the crosswalk. She finally gets out of the way. "Yes!"

"Who is that? That man." I hear Harry ask Stan. I look at the paper the young wizard is holding and see the dirty man with shaggy black hair.

"Who is that? Who is...?" He trails off. "That is Sirius Black, that is. Don't tell me you've never been hearing of Sirius Black. He's a murderer. Got himself locked up in Azkaban for it."

"How did he escape?" I ask, seeing the headline.

"Well, that's the question, isn't it? He's the first one that done it. He was a big supporter of... You-Know-Who. I reckon you've heard of him."

"Yeah." Harry mutters.

"Him we've heard of." I add.

"Ernie, two double-deckers at 12 o'clock." The tiny head shouts again. "They're getting closer, Ernie. Ernie, they're right on top of us!" The driver pulls down on a lever and everything slows down. "Mind your head." As we begin to squeeze through the two muggle buses, our bodies squeeze tight.

It feels like I can't breathe. Like I'm holding in my breath, and if I release the air, my body will combust. Finally, we pass through and everything goes back to normal.

"Hey, guys? Guys? Why the long faces?" The tiny head jokes.

"Yeah, yeah. Nearly there. Nearly there." Stan says, waving it off.

The bus then comes to another abrupt stop, sending Harry and I against the window. Again.

"The Leaky Cauldron. Next stop, Knockturn Alley." Ernie informs us and opens the door to let us out. When the door opens, a man, well, a troll looking man, steps forward.

"Mr. and Miss Potter, at last." He smiles at us.