"Dad I need to borrow the car or somehow find the money for a ticket to Belbroughton today."
Jack didn't even need to look up from his book to reply, "Ora, no."
Despite convincing herself he would somehow say yes all evening, she wasn't quite sure what else she'd been expecting him to stay.
"Is it because it's expensive?" Ora asked, "Because I will find the money to pay you back, I'll bartend, shine shoes, I'll even sell myself into the night..."
She trailed off as Jack looked up horror-stricken; maybe that wasn't the best example for her to lead with, "Well, definitely no, now!"
Ora leant against the door frame, digging her fingers into the paintwork as Jack closed his book, "Ora, what is this about? Why do you need to go to Belbroughton all of a sudden?"
"I think Sirius is in trouble at James's house," She replied, "Trust me, he said so in his letter and I'm worried which is why I need to borrow your car."
With a sigh, Jack heaved himself up, "Okay, show me this letter."
She was about to run and get in when the contents of the letter came flooding back to her and she grinded to an abrupt halt. When she'd described Sirius, she'd described his good traits and played it off as innocent teenage relationship when it was far from it. Her Father would probably prefer Sirius to be in danger if he saw Sirius's requests.
"Um ... I can't do that ... but you can trust me," She suggested, "I'll buy you a box of chocolates ... that would win me over."
Jack did not look impressed, "Ora, I do like chocolate - "
"Who doesn't?"
"But I want to see this letter before I fork out money or drive you down to Belbroughton," He folded his arms, "Why don't you want me to see it?"
"Um ... no reason. You know what, he did send a reply which had James's address in, can I just show you that instead?" Her father didn't have to say anything, his knitted brows said enough. She continued speaking, whilst slowly retreating up the stairs, "You know what ... I might be able to show it to you. Stay there, don't move. I will try and be less than five minutes ... in that case, maybe you can move but don't hide or anything, okay?"
"Where would I hide? I'm over 6' tall," He pointed out before giving her a wry smile and disappearing back into the living room again. Ora waited a few seconds before manically dashing up the stairs, scrambling up practically on her arms and legs.
She vaguely remembered a spell that erased ink and thanks to the trace having disappeared almost a year ago, she could actually use it. Sadly, magic wasn't particularly her forte and ten attempts later, the letter looked a little charred, ripped and significantly more ripped than before. Annoyingly, the word 'nudes' was still there, a cruel little taunt. After managing to finally get rid of the words, she brought it down to her father, feeling a little sheepish.
"Dad ... here it is."
Jack took the letter from her, barely glancing at it before handing it back, "Ora, this has obviously been tampered with. I'm not letting you take my car or paying for a train fare for you to go and see Sirius."
"No, Dad, you don't understand ... it came like that, Sirius is ... punk," She lied but her father merely smiled.
"Ora, when I was a boy, I used to play up emergencies as your Mother always had a way of solving them, I reckon your boyfriend is doing the same thing," Jack replied, "My advice is to leave it for a little bit, boys that age are ... not always the nicest. Write back to him but don't do anything hasty."
"But Dad ... hasty is fun and he doesn't have a nice family, it could be a real emergency!"
"Ora, it's getting a bit late, maybe you should head up to bed," Jack replied, "He's staying with a friend, right?"
"Yes."
"And does his friend have nice parents?"
"I think so."
Jack sighed, taking a seat again, "Then I'm sure they can solve it, he doesn't need you to do it. You should get some sleep, Ora, you'll feel better in the morning."
The logical part of her brain was telling her that Jack was right, Sirius was dramatic and did enjoy self-inflicted trouble yet the crazy side was telling her he was definitely dying or in some sort of trouble.
She'd never been one to disobey her Dad, bending the rules was her speciality. Technically, he had advised her to get some sleep, not ordered her to, hence his usage of the word 'should' and not 'must'. She jotted this down as this would come in handy later. Furthermore, he'd told her she wasn't to take his car but had never forbade her from taking someone else's car. Leaving the house hadn't been mentioned either...
"Sorry, Dad," She murmured as she snuck out onto the landing after everyone was in bed, "Should have been a bit clearer."
•••
Usually, at night, the street around Dawid's house was quiet and secluded, the only sounds coming from the occasional owl or bird (and even that was easily solved by a simple fox hunt). If there was one thing he thought he'd never see, it was Ora hastily parking her bike in his garden at eleven o'clock.
"Ora, is everything okay - "
"Grandpa, do you have a car?"
"No, why would I?"
At this, Ora looked down at her feet, "Because I need a car. I don't know why I thought you would though, maybe because you once said you hated apparating."
"Well, I don't," Dawid ushered his granddaughter in, peering around just in case danger had followed, "Ora, is everything alright?"
Unlike usual, Ora remained standing, pacing melodramatically around the room, "I think Sirius is in danger, and I need to go to him. Grandpa, he might be dead, very dead or just very in pain ... I don't even know what I'm saying."
"Ora, is there any chance you're just tired? Maybe you should head to bed, I can set up the sofa bed - "
"No, Grandpa, I'm not tired! I'm never tired at this time," She huffed, "I'm not! I need to get Sirius, Grandpa, he might be sick."
It felt like all of Ora's law skills came down to this moment and she gave it her all, presenting him with every argument that came to mind. However, it turned out to be one simple statement that convinced Dawid: Ora would have helped me. Her Grandmother had taken risks for the people she loved, Dawid knew that more than anything. For a few minutes, he was silent, trying to figure out exactly how to tackle the situation before eventually saying what she wanted to hear:
"Ora, I don't have a car ... but I can help you get one."
She wasn't quite sure how she'd ended up with Dawid as a Grandfather, who in his own special way was just as wild as Miria. After seeing Dawid effortlessly get into his neighbour's car (who apparently deserved it for stealing his weed-killer), Ora was now convinced that all car thieves had to be wizards or stealing cars was just ridiculously easy, either one would work.
"Grandpa ... " She said as she began to get into the car, "Why are you helping me with this? Aren't you worried I'll crash?"
"A bit but it would take more than a car crash to kill you, Ora," He replied, "And you told me you had a driving license, plus there's a map in the car. Anyway, I think it's essential for teenagers to have some sort of adventure, if not they get it out later in life..."
Neither of them needed to say the name, they both knew who he meant.
As she drove away, a sudden bout of nerves washed over her but she pushed it aside. If Dawid saw hesitation, there was a high chance he'd backtrack on his tired, reckless decision and that was the last thing she wanted. At first, it felt like she couldn't remember a single thing her shouty driving instructor had taught her, only managing to recall the strange mole shaped like Ireland above his lip. The car stalled every few minutes and hill starts proved to be near impossible but after a little while, it came back to her.
Thanks to the wonders of levitation, she was able to keep the map suspended in front of her; one or two people looked mildly confused but thanks to the late hour the motorways were mostly clear. When she was travelling with her family, they insisted on playing story tapes, an insufferable nightmare, but as it turned out Dawid's arse of a neighbour had amazing music taste, in particularly Blondie. Never before had Heart of Glass felt so appropriate as she zoomed down the motorway for her ever confusing boyfriend.
•••
The journey would usually take a little over an hour but due to the fact she was multi-tasking, it took a little longer as she kept finding herself driving towards the same crummy cottage over and over again. After two hours, her eyelids were drooping as she finally parked in the driveway of James's majestic house. She was starting to see where James got all his confidence from, the house was spectacular, complete with Hogwarts-worthy turrets. Sadly, she didn't have much time to focus on this, dragging her feet along the driveway as she knocked on the door, sincerely hoping Sirius was in so she didn't have to spend her night in a stolen car.
As she stood by the door, the utter craziness of her night finally set in: Her grandpa had stolen a car for her and she'd driven to pick up her boyfriend against her Dad's wishes. Still, she had no time to further think this as the door swung open, revealing an elderly woman, with a striking resemblance to James staring back at her. Within seconds, the woman had her wand raised.
"Who are you?"
"Um, Ora," She replied, the tiredness setting in now rendering her somewhat vocally useless.
"What are you doing here, Ora?" Mrs Potter asked suspiciously, still refusing to lower her wand.
"I'm ... I'm tired," She replied, "And I'm also dating Sirius..."
Mrs Potter lowered her wand marginally, "I think he may have mentioned you ... what are you doing here at ten past one?"
"I ... sorry, can I come in? Being outside at night is slightly terrifying, especially as my hair tends to light up in the moonlight which makes me kind of a walking target," She replied and the elderly woman stepped aside, locking the door multiple times behind her.
"I came because Sirius wrote to me, said he was in some sort of imminent danger," Ora replied, to which Mrs Potter's eyes widened.
"He is? Oh dear, he hasn't said anything to me, James, him and Lily - "
"Lily's here?"
"Yes," Mrs Potter replied, "Arrive yesterday morning. I've hardly seen the three of them as of late, even with my open door policy. Did he really say imminent?"
"Well, not exactly but from what he said it sounded terrible. Is he awake?"
Mrs Potter didn't seem to hear as she, as her name implied, started to potter around, pacing around, "Imminent danger. Oh, I wish he would tell me these things before they occur, so me and Fleamont don't have to get them out of trouble."
"Can I see him - "
"Mum?" They were interrupted by the sound of someone at the top of the majestic staircase. The two women turned around to see a tired James Potter lurking, looking strangely bare without his signature glasses, " ... and Ora?"
"Yep," She gave a feeble wave.
He produced his pair of glasses from his pocket, putting them as he walked down the stairs, "It's one in the morning, what is ... oh no."
The two womens' eyes widened, with Mrs Potter calmly asking, "What is it? Is Sirius okay?"
James looked between them, "He ... is fine and I think I see what happened..."
"Is Sirius okay?"
James looked down at his feet sheepishly, "He's okay now but I reckon he won't be after you've got to him ... Mum, don't worry, it's a joke, she's not actually here to hurt him ... just means she'll be angry."
Mrs Potter was still not convinced, taking several minutes of reassurance before she agreed to return to her room, leaving James and Ora alone. By now, Ora's worry had faded into vague irritation, only amplified by her tiredness.
"So - "
"Just tell me what the danger was and how much of a waste stealing a car and driving two hours was."
"You stole a car?" James asked before shaking his head, "Sorry, not the point but we will get to that. I feel like it's best if you hear it from Sirius himself ... because I don't want another tickling jinx. Oh, if it makes you feel slightly better, I heard him talking about the truth clause. It's a good one, I think, like a contest. Think she was called Nina and she was trying to ditch him too, they eventually got stuck trying to climb out windows that were next to each other ... does that cheer you up?"
She raised an eyebrow, the lines on her forehead deepening, "What do you think?"
"I'll take it as a partial yes."