CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.
WHO'S WAVERLY HART
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Amandla decided right then and there that she hated the feeling of Apparating. Her stomach swirled inside her, twisting and scrunching up until she felt a massive wave of nausea all while her mind scattered. Whatever had been in her thoughts before were scrambled and she honestly felt like her head was a mess and she was going to puke. And when she handed, clutching Corey's hand tightly, her knees became weak and she began to pummel towards the ground before he helped her back up.
He held her steady as she felt her legs could give out any moment and he leaned then against a wall of a building in the middle of the street in London. Amandla looked around frantically as everything inside her head pieced together again, but her ears were still ringing and the only thing she could hear was her heart beating rapidly in her chest.
Taking a moment to close her eyes, take a deep breath and allow the ringing to stop, she opened them to black spots clouding her vision. So, she shook her head and closed her eyes for another second. Everything was fine.
"You alright?" Corey's voice was full of concern but Amandla throat felt so dry and she only nodded. "You're looking a bit pale."
Her eyes took in the street. The ground was wet, signaling that it had just rained there, and she heard the laughter of a group of drunken men in the distance which spiked a bit of fear in her heart. They could be spotted any moment. "Where are we?" she asked after another pause.
Corey, for the first time, glanced up and looked around, "A block from Lee's flat, I'm guessing. Come on, this way."
He led them to the right, still holding onto her tightly like a China doll that could break at any moment. She didn't mind, it was nice to have someone who cared for her. Amandla watched the lamp posts as they passed and calmed her heart down. "How do you know his address?"
"Potterwatch," Corey rolled his eyes, answering if it were obvious, "I told you I listened to it. How else would I know where the guy is?"
"Sh!" Amandla was quick to hush him and lower her own voice, "We need to be quiet."
"I think us whispering might be more suspicious."
"And I think that I don't wanna die," Amandla snapped back at him, "You don't know who's listening."
Corey didn't answer, turning his head away from Amandla and kept his eyes searching every place she wasn't at. She could feel the guilt for her words creeping up inside her and she sighed. "Look...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."
He still didn't look at her and she knew that he wouldn't for a while. He muttered a short 'this way' and returned to silence. She hadn't meant to snap at him, but she was paranoid. The promise of Hermione, the wonderful play that she dreamed of, she wanted that to come true. She wanted that happiness, but first she had to survive.
Drunken men still laughed and an old woman passed them on the street. Amandla wanted to reach out for Corey, a little piece of comfort, but refrained. He was still cultivating in his anger, mostly sadness, and she didn't want to upset him even further.
She didn't know how long they were walking, Amandla never kept track of anything of that sort, but it seemed that soon enough they were standing outside of an apartment complex. Well, more like Corey stopped abruptly and she then ran into him as she had been looking at the ground and paying no mind to him.
(That was a lie, all she could think about was how she had hurt her friend – the last thing she wanted to do.)
"We're here," two words. Four words total since she snapped, but they came in pairs of two. Amandla swallowed her guilt.
Corey pulled open the door letting Amandla go in first before following her into the lobby. He didn't even spare the woman at the desk a look before heading to the lift which was to the right, Amandla sending her a smile. They waited a moment for the lift to open before walking in as Corey jabbed the button for the fifth floor quite harshly. Amandla pretended not to notice.
There was no music, only the silence that had been there when they were walking outside. Amandla realized for the first time she was shivering still as her hands went into the pockets of her jacket. The lift opened, they walked out. Ten doors down from the left, Corey knocked on the door three times, pausing, and then four more.
The door opened, revealing the boy they knew from Hogwarts. Lee Jordan, more commonly known for being the friends of Fred and George Weasley being an amazing commentator for Quidditch. Well, that had very opinionated and biased. Still, Lee smiled quite warmly at the door before ushering them inside quickly.
"Come in! Come in! You never know who's watching," the way he said it was different from Amandla before. She had been harsh, he was warm, quieter but nicer. Lighter. Even had a sparkle in his eyes. "Oh, you'll be glad to know that I have a room available for you. Dean Thomas just left – you know him, right? He's in your class – so you don't have to sleep in the living room."
Then, the Jordan noticed the rosiness in Amandla and Corey's cheeks and the way they still had their hands in their coats. "You must be cold, right...I'll have a cuppa for the two of you in a second. 'Til then, there's a fire in the living room. Make yourself at home."
The two did, walking into the living room and placing down their bags as Amandla took the couch right in front of the fire. It had obviously been moved forward quite a bit to really feel the warmth, she suspected that many people had visited Lee and he never found a reason to move it back as long as more people came. Corey, though, sat on the chair beside the couch and a little bit farther behind it, obviously not wanting to stay near Amandla.
It didn't take long for Lee to come back into view with two warm cups of tea, which he handed to both his guests. Amandla graciously took hers, the cup's warmth soothing her cool fingertips.
"Sorry if there's a bit of mess around here," Lee apologized, "When I mean Dean just left, I mean it was maybe two hours ago. He's actually meeting up with Ted Tonks, who's hiding as well. I would help you find them, but they didn't tell me where they were going, don't blame them though. Sorry, I'm rambling aren't I? The point is, I just haven't had a chance to clean up the guest room."
"It's alright," Amandla took a sip of the tea, her tongue scorched in the process yet she still smiled at the male. "Thanks for letting us stay here."
Lee waved it off, "Don't worry about it. I wanna help as much as I can. But I gotta warn you, I only let people stay for up to week. I once had a Death Eater show up here, thankfully I wasn't keeping anyone."
"A week's too much, we just need a night or two to figure out a plan," Amandla said for both her and Corey.
"Like I said, I would help you with that, but I don't know anyone else willing to keep you. Dean said something about the forest, but I don't think that's safe either. No place is."
Amandla nodded solemnly, thinking about his words, "Is that why you do Potterwatch?"
Lee blushed slightly, "Yeah...I guess. Well, that, and I don't really have many to talk to these days. Fred and George are busy with their shop and I'm here in London...I liked talking to the radio, and now I have people to stay with me every now and again."
"What are you going to do after? The war, I mean," Amandla clarified, biting her cheek as she saw as his face fell.
It was only down for a moment before he plastered another smile, "Probably get a roommate, maybe a girlfriend. Really, I haven't been thinking much about it, don't even know if I'm going to live to see that future. You?"
"Finish school, maybe," Amandla knew what she wanted; to see a play with Hermione, be with Hermione, but she didn't tell him that, "I don't really know what I wanna be – job wise – though."
Lee laughed, "Believe me, neither do I. Right now, I'm just working at the bakery across the street."
Before Amandla could say something else to continue the conversation, Corey placed his empty cup down rather loudly to gain their attention and asked, "Lee, where's the guest bedroom?"
The older boy looked quite startled since Corey decided to actually talk but managed to shake himself from the state of shock, "Down the hall and to the right. Room next to the bathroom."
He nodded and left with his bag without another word, leaving Amandla to apologetically smile at Lee, "Sorry about him, he's in a mood right now."
Lee just smiled again, "It's alright, Amandla, don't worry about it."
―
Two hours later, which was filled with conversation for the first and then listening as Lee broadcasted Potterwatch, Amandla found herself standing in front of the closed door of the room she was supposed to sleep in. She could just sleep on the couch, it would be easier on everyone except her back, but she didn't think she could handle the couch for more than one night.
Sucking in a sharp breath and giving herself a small pep talk, Amandla turned the knob and opened the door. Turning on the light, she saw Corey lying in the bed already in his pajamas and staring at the ceiling. There was a tense silence.
"I'm sorry," Corey finally said, just another two words. Two. Only two. He continued though, "But I don't wanna die either, or be the reason you die."
"And I won't," it was an empty promise, she couldn't guarantee she would survive, but Amandla would say anything to comfort him, "And neither will you." She couldn't decide who lived and died, though.
He scoffed, "You can't say that. I just...needed time to think. I didn't mean to be so cold to you and Lee."
"It's alright, and Lee will understand," Amandla moved to sit next to him on the bed and place her hand on his shoulder in a comforting touch.
"And he'll only let us stay a week. I don't know where we'll go, and he said the forest wouldn't be a safe option either. We're running out of options here, Amandla," Corey stressed, sitting up.
A woman named Waverly Hart gave her the news...
Amandla gasped quietly, thinking of the numbers in the journal, the words that were placed in the headers that didn't make any sense. Now they did; it was an address. Waverly Hart was the answer to everything. "Corey! I think I know somewhere safe we can stay!"
"Where?" Corey asked quite suspicious about this change, about the way her eyes lit up at the revelation.
"Waverly Hart!"
"I don't get it."
"She was the woman who came and told my mum that my Uncle Aiden died. He even wrote about her in the journal he kept before giving my mum. I bet I know where she lives, and surely she'll let us stay!" Amandla cheered.
"Why? Because she was Aiden's girlfriend before he died or something?" Corey asked.
"Shut up, Copernicus," he rolled his eyes at his full name, "And maybe. Death Eaters won't know to look there either."
"Alright, say we go. How long do you think she'll let two teenagers she barely knows stay at her place? I say that the odds aren't too likely," Corey said.
"We only need a few days, like here with Lee. Then we can move on, maybe even to another country. I hear France is nice."
Corey looked at her for a few moments, studying the features on Amandla's face before ultimately sighing and muttering a, "Fine, we can go see this Waverly chick if you really wanna."
He could see that this meant a lot to her. It was more than survival, it was getting to know her uncle, and maybe even more about her own mother. Amandla hugged him tightly and he reciprocated it, not an ounce of regret in his decision to go along with this.
Whatever to make her happy. Happiness seemed to be fleeting at the time.
hi yeah there's only like two chapters left in this