The sun had risen and was high in the sky by the time the two of them made it to shore. The rocks underneath them were painful to lay on, but they were too exhausted to care. And their journey was not yet over.
Where are we? Olivia asked, laying her wings out as flat as she could.
No idea. We need to find out that and what day it is. Sirius rolled over, trying to stand back up.
Why does the date matter? Olivia watched the dog fall multiple times before he successfully stood.
Once Hogwarts starts, it's going to be a million times harder to catch Peter.
Oh, right. Olivia had almost forgotten about Pettigrew, but it was obvious Sirius had not. Can I change back into human form now? There's no way my wings are going to fly again today.
Sirius stretched out, and leant his head down next to Olivia. Hop on, you can ride until you recover. Besides, we still have the prison uniforms on.
Olivia bent her wings slightly to get up, letting out a sharp chirp. But after a moment of adjusting, she was perched on top of Sirius's shoulders. He whimpered slightly at the extra weight but insisted that it was fine.
What first? Olivia asked Sirius, who seemed to have already thought this all out.
Find clothes and change first, we need to burn these uniforms. Then we go back to my house.
Your house?! Isn't that the first place they'll look? Olivia said as they made their way on the trail. They passed all sorts of green fields and foliage as they went, but the village up ahead didn't seem to be getting much closer.
I never owned it, Dumbledore bought it once my mother wanted to give it up. It's the Order's Headquarters. Sirius explained, trying to move quickly without making his legs give out again.
What's the Order? Will Dumbledore be okay with us there? Olivia remembered Dumbledore of course, but I'd had been years since she'd seen him. The mention of his name also reminded her of her training, and swore as soon as they were safe she would explain that to Sirius.
The Order of Phoenix fought against Voldemort in the first war. Your parents and I were a part of it. And Dumbledore knows we're innocent, he shouldn't have a problem with it. Besides, what does he even use it for?
They were both lost in their thoughts as thy made their way into the small village. The signs said it was called Felixstowe*, and it looked to be a harbour town, though it was facing an inner river as opposed to the North Sea. Once the two had gotten into the residential neighbourhoods, they started a lookout for any clothes they could nab- after all, it was easier to get stuff from a simple clothesline than breaking into a store.
After much searching- Olivia even stretching her wings back out to see over fences- they had only found a long dress for Olivia that was much too big and a button shirt and trousers for Sirius which hung off him in very poor ways. Olivia kept her uniform on under her dress, feeling plenty uncomfortable in the functionality of the garment.
After changing in odd alleyways and praying they wouldn't be noticed, they made their way into the main part of town.
"What're we doing now?" Olivia asked as other people started to pass them on the sidewalk. Thankfully no one took much notice of the odd pair.
"I'm going to go see what our best odds of getting to London are. Do you want to try one of these stores for some clothes? That dress doesn't seem to be working," Sirius commented, seeing the striped collar creeping up over the hemline of the long grey dress. Olivia was also forced to hold it closed, and kick her feet as she walked to prevent tripping. Sirius was lucky- the shirt and pants were both black and fit him decently enough.
"How am I supposed to get out of the store with the clothes on?" Olivia asked in a hushed tone, looking around even more.
"Find a changing room with a window," Sirius said offhand, seeing a sign outside the library boasting tourist information*, "Do you see the library over there?"
Olivia looked down the street and nodded. Sirius continued, "Go in there once you're changed. Find me, and if anyone asks, I'm your uncle. Sound like a good plan?" When did I get so good at actual plans and not just prank ones? Sirius thought to himself.
Olivia nodded again, "I shouldn't be long." And made her way into the nearest store, called Madison Boutique*.
The store only had one or two other patrons in it, and Olivia ducked between the racks to find something simple and functional. She swiped a small T-shirt, pair of denim shorts, some black sneakers, basic socks and underwear and all that, and a backpack to boot. She was heading to the changing rooms in the back when she saw a stylish pair of sunglasses and decided to treat herself. Those plus a scrunchy for her wild mane and she was to the changing rooms.
"May I help you, miss?" An attendant asked, looking suspiciously at the girl in the oversized dress.
"I had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction earlier, so my uncle took me here to get more clothes. May I having a changing room to try this on?" Olivia invented a backstory, which the attendant seemed to believe and led her to a room.
Olivia saw that there was a small window up high and thanked the attendant, who left her alone. She felt a little guilty about shoplifting, but reminded herself that she was already a wanted criminal which didn't help much at all.
The clothes were baggy on her skin and bones frame, but they fit well enough. She tied her hair back in the scrunchy (which she'd never done before, so it took her a few tries), put on everything she'd nabbed, and put her old clothes in the back pack. They'd have to burn the uniforms later to properly dispose of them, but for now they just needed to be hidden away.
Once she was ready to go, she morphed into her crow form with relative ease. After checking herself out in the mirror- I am a pretty sweet bird- she flew up to the window.
Without even thinking, she'd flown full-speed into the closed glass. She managed not squawk as she collapsed to the ground, thankfully, and changed back into her human form.
"I'm such an idiot, no wonder I didn't get into Ravenclaw," Olivia scolded herself quietly, going on her tiptoes to open the window. She had started growing, of course, but the rations at Azkaban seemed to put a pause on her growth spurt. And the ceiling-height window was almost out of her 5'5" range**.
Once the window was open, and she had checked that no one was around, she changed into her crow form and made her way out of the window. She flew quite a distance away before changing back in a secluded little spot, walking quickly to the library.
Sirius had talked to the librarian at the counter all about transportation and had found a reliable public bus that could take them to London. It was a two-Hour ride, but thankfully they only had to wait ten minutes until the bus took off.
He was making small talk when Olivia came in looking extremely anxious and all-around jumpy.
"You ready to go? We've got a bus to catch in ten minutes." Sirius informed her, the librarian he had been talking to deciding to speak up.
"Hello there, I'm Linda. You must be Mr. White's niece I've heard about." She said nicely, shaking Olivia's hand, "Well the bus picks up by the post office, so you two might want to get a move on. It was nice meeting you, Stephen."
"Not as nice as meeting you, Linda. One last thing, what's the date today?"
Linda checked her desk calendar and happily replied, "It's August fourth."
Sirius said a friendly goodbye after that and they made their way outside, where they speed-walked to the bus sign outside the post office.
"How are we going to pay for the bus fare?" Olivia asked as they got there. The others waiting on the bench paid them no notice.
"I swiped a rubbish Oyster card from the Librarian. She said she never used it and that it was out of money anyway." Sirius explained, showing off the card.
"If it's no good, then how are we supposed to use it?" Olivia quipped, crossing her arms at the older man.
"Have you never ridden the bus? You get a free ride after you've run out of money. And we're only going to be using it once." Sirius explained, rolling his eyes at the teenager.
"Can't say I've ever used the bus," Olivia said under her breath, which Sirius snickered at before the bus pulled up. They got on with the old card no problem, though the machine flashed angrily at them. Once on the bus, they got seats to themselves and Olivia proceeded to doze off almost instantly.
~~
*This information/place is real, but is definitely not accurate to the time period in which this story. Also any descriptions are completely made up by me.
**Yes I know that seems tall for 13 year old, but girls usually hit their growth spurts around 10-14, and boys 12-15. Since Harry reaches 5'10" (book logic, not movie) and twins tend to be the same height, she'll probably reach 5'9" at least. And yes, this took a lot of research to decide on.
After all those asterisks, I don't think much of an author's note is needed here. Although I am sorry this chapter took so long, length plus immense stress made me take a break.
Anyway, please leave feedback and I hope you enjoyed!