REASONS TO STAY ⁰¹- HP Rewrite

i. the case of the run-down car

O N E .
❝ the case of the run-down car ❞

Tuesday, August 31st, 1971

THE RUN-DOWN CAR started making a funny noise three hours into their trip to London, and all Remus could think of was that it should have been expected. They'd had the car since before he had been born, it was a wedding gift from his grandfather on his mother's side.

"It'll be fine," Hope murmured in Welsh, more to herself than to her son. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened, turning her knuckles white. "We can make it."

Doubtful, thought Remus, but he didn't say it. It had been a stressful ride. Caron, Remus' five year-old sister, had taken to wailing in the backseat because she was tired and bored during the first hour on the road. Both Remus and Hope struggled to get her to stop because Caron had squeezed her eyes shut until she could have her way, which cut off any method of communication. Caron was completely deaf.

Also, there was the fact that Remus' father was nowhere to be seen that morning even though he had promised to be present. A work emergency, he wrote on his note. This left Hope to hastily figure out how to make it to London in time for Remus to catch the Hogwarts Express by herself. Originally, Lyall was meant to Apparate them near one of Hope's muggle sister's house right in the heart of England, but with him gone, she was forced to drive almost six hours with a young, deaf child and an eleven year-old magical boy.

The car spluttered.

"Fuck," Hope hissed, switching to English, her accent thick. 

The car was still moving, but it was evident that it would stop sometime soon. Hope barely managed to reach the side of the road before it completely gave up.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck."

Remus chewed on his lip anxiously. "What are we going to do, Mam?"

Hope checked the rear view mirror to find Caron sleeping, blissfully unaware of their current situation. She sighed, closing her eyes briefly before unbuckling her seatbelt and stepping out of the car.

Remus knew his mother was quite skilled when it came to cars, as her father had taught her pretty much everything there was to know as a professional mechanic. But as he watched her pop the hood of the car up and groan at something she'd seen, he knew there was nothing she could do to fix the car at that moment.

It took a while before Hope finally appeared again, standing by her son's door, gesturing for him to roll down the window. Remus quickly obliged, his sweaty palms fumbling with the handle.

"Okay, we don't have many options since we're in the middle of nowhere," Hope began, sweat already gathering on her forehead. "I saw a sign a few miles back, there should be a village nearby. We can leave the car and walk there, maybe they'll have a telephone I can use to call your aunt."

Remus nodded, chewing on his bottom lip once again. "D'you think Aunt Pip'll pick us up? We still have a little over two hours to go."

Hope rested her forehead against the upper side of the car window, licking her chapped lips as she thought. "I don't think she'll be able to drive all the way here, but maybe she knows someone who can? I don't know, I just know that we can't stay the night here. It's too dangerous."

While butterflies swirled around his stomach, Remus agreed. They were stranded in the middle of nowhere, it'd be illogical to remain in the car without any plan or solution. They needed to be in London that very night, although that didn't seem very likely with the way things were going for them.