Different Worlds

FIVE - LONDON

Sebastian's POV

As always I woke sooner than her.

Yesterday was quite scary. I definitely didn't expect three Dark Mongrels attacking us. If I was there with Alex or even alone there would be no problem. Mongrels were actually pretty easy to defeat. But I was with Sophie and she was muggle. And I simply panicked. I didn't know how to react. I didn't know if I should pull up my wand and risk her to see me use magic.

And when she fell from the slope I panicked even more. I didn't know how deep it was, if she survived it. After I dealt with the bests with a few quick spells I instantly ran towards the edge and saw her lying there, motionless. Apparating down was easy. And when I saw her from up close I could see the enormous pain written all over her face but she was alive.

I was glad that Alex forced me to learn a few basic healing charms. She had broken legs and a big wound on her head. Nothing I couldn't handle with a few charms and one potion. After I was sure she was okay I put her to sleep and apparated us to the station. I would be much happier if she decided to go home after this experience but I was quite sure she would want to continue. Hopefully the city would be a little bit safer. There weren't any beasts at least and the chances that some wizard would attack us in the middle of some street was quite small.

"Wake up, squirrel," I called to her softly. The train started to slow down and I could see the city from the window now.

"What is the plan now?" She asked me as we were slowly walking from the station.

"We could use some kind of base. I can rent us a room in some inn again."

"NO. I mean why spend more money when I had an apartment here. It's small but it will do. I don't want to owe you more than necessary."

"Fine. Lead the way then."

We walked for probably another ten minutes. The whole time I tried to be as close as possible to her. After what happened yesterday I couldn't help myself but feel a little bit paranoid. I noticed every stare of every man we passed by. And there were many of them.

"We are here." She suddenly stopped and I looked at the building in front of us. It was the tallest one in the row and there must be several apartments in it, probably one at every floor. "Now we have to sneak you in," she bit her lips nervously.

"What do you mean - sneak me in?"

"The owner of this place is quite strict and has a few rules. The first and most important one is 'no visitors'."

"You are such a rebel," I chuckled.

"Shut it and follow me. We have to get to the third floor. The first and the last steps are quite squeaky so try to avoid those."

"Don't worry, I could be quite sneaky," I winked at her and followed her to the front door

"Madame Reeves?" She yelled into the house.

But there was no answer so she quickly waved at me and started pushing me towards the staircase. We were almost there when some rustling sound behind us made us freeze.

"Sophie, dear, is that you?"

"Hurry up!" She pushed me again and I ran up the stairs as fast and as quiet as I could, avoiding the first and the last step as she told me to do.

She turned back and hurried to the opposite direction, blocking the door with her own small body so the owner wasn't able to enter the hallway and see me. There wasn't enough time to make it to her room so I hid on the second floor.

"You're back early. I thought you wanted to spend some time with your brother." The owner was some old lady with an annoyingly high pitched voice and blond wig on her head.

"Yes, but he had to travel unexpectedly for work," Sophie lied instantly.

"Did you enjoy the few days at least, dear?"

"I did, it was lovely. Hopefully next time we can spend more time together," She lied again. Being attacked by wild animals, falling from the cliff and almost dying was far from lovely.

"Good. You are young. You have all the time in the world, dear," she patted her cheek in what could look like a motherly gesture but I could hear a hint of jealousy in her voice. "Go rest, long train rides can be really tiring."

Both women turned around and headed in the opposite directions. I stood still until I was absolutely sure the old lady was gone. I didn't even realize I was holding my breath until Sophie closed the door behind us.

"That was close. She kicked out three girls already when she found out they were sneaking friends in their rooms," Soph let out a deep relieving breath.

"She does love her rules."

"I told you she is strict. But it is safe here and cheap. There are not many places where they are so tolerant of young single women. She has no problem finding another roomer," she explained as she walked to the small living space.

I quickly looked around. I was standing in a tiny hallway. The living space was connected to the small kitchen and had two doors, one on each side. I guessed one was leading to the bedroom and the other to the bathroom. The space was almost too small for even one person but maybe just because of that it felt so cosy and homey. There were some framed photographs on the walls and even on some shelves. Quite a lot of them were with Alex.

"Your bed," Sophie pointed to the couch and threw a pillow and blanket at me.

"Are you sure? I thought you liked sharing a bed with me," I smirked at her, catching it with no problem.

"One more world and I take those back," she threatened and I had to laugh again. She looked too cute when she tried to look angry or intimidating. "Uh, you are impossible. Stay here! I will go buy us some food. I will be right back."

"I could go with you." My paranoia was back.

"No need for that. There is a small bakery just around the corner. It should take me more than five minutes. Plus we can't risk Madame Reeves seeing you. She Is probably still lurking in the hallway."

"Fine," I agreed reluctantly. It was late morning after all. Should be safe enough. Alex would kill me if something bad happened to her.

Whilst she was gone I could at least try some tracking spells. I pulled up the map of London I bought just specifically for this. The thin golden line which appeared on the map after I casted the spell was barely visible. I wasn't sure if it was because the spell worked worse on the map than it would work in streets or if it was too long since Alex was here. Maybe both.

The line started a few streets from the place I was just in. He had to apparate there and continued by foot after then. But he didn't make it here, for some reason he changed direction and continued south instead. The line ended in the middle of the street somewhere around Whitehall. It wasn't possible he would apparate away, it was too risky and someone could see him.

There had to be something in there. I knew something was there but I could remember what.

I quickly marked the place and repealed the spell. Just in time when Sophie entered the apartment again.