Different Worlds

THIRTEEN - UNDERGROUND

Sebastian's POV

After we finished eating Sophie ran upstairs so she could dress for our another journey. Ominis rented us a carriage so we didn't have to walk all around London again. The driver was already waiting for us in front of the house. Ominis could simply apparate since he was traveling alone and to the wizarding parts of the city whilst me and Sophie were going to the merely muggle parts of it.

As Ominis found out, Carman's wife was muggle. Our theory was that their daughter was also a witch and her mother was strictly against it. Carman's wife had to hate that part of her daughter so much that the poor kid was trying to hide it, suppress it, trying to please her mother. Till the end she developed an Obscurus.

Carman probably didn't recognize what was happening until it was too late. He took his daughter and left. Maybe it got better for a moment if she was away from her mother's influence but the Obscurus was already poisoning her. And now, he was running out of time.

"Ominis said we can use the Underground on the way back. What is it?" I asked Sophie as we got off the carriage which immediately left.

"Oh, it's a really efficient way of transport. It's something like a train but it goes, oh well, underground, hence the name. Traveling through the city is much easier since they built it," she explained. "They are constantly building new lines and extending the existing ones."

"That is quite clever actually."

"It does really look abandoned." Sophie changed the topic. We stopped in front of an old half ruined house. Most of the windows were broken and the main door was refuted. "Alex!" Sophie breathed out and quickly ran towards the door, seeing something I didn't.

"Soph!" I tried to hold her back but wasn't quick enough.

Luckily she didn't enter the house and stopped by the door. She lifted something from the ground and turned back to me.

"He was here," she was waving her hand in front of my face. I had to take a step back so I could focus on the thing she was holding. It was a piece of cloth, a more specific piece of sleeve with a silver cufflink. "I gave him these cufflinks last Christmas. He promised me he would wear them everytime we met. He was here, Sebastian."

"Eyes!" I looked at her sternly.

"Wha-"

She was confused at first but soon understood. She closed her eyes and turned around. I took a risk and entered the house so I could cast a few spells again away from prying eyes and Sophie's eyes. The house was empty but they had to be here recently. The little gold particles were much more vivid than last time, flickering in the air, and suddenly disappeared in the ground.

"He is not here anymore," I said after I left the house again.

"Are you sure?" she looked back at me again, her eyes still full of hope. "We didn't even explore the inside."

"Yes, Soph. Trust me. He's not here, but I have an idea where he could be," I grinned at her.

"You do?"

"Did you say that the Underground system is constantly expanding?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I bet no one is working on it right now since the ground is frozen and it is too cold for digging tunnels right now. Those unfinished tunnels could be perfect for hiding, don't you think? Do you by any chance know where the next line will lead?"

Her eyes lit up again. "I think I read about it in the newspaper. The next line should actually be relatively close from here," her eyes lit up as she realized where I am going with this.

"Okay. We'll do it like this. Firstly I am going to contact Ominis. He should know where we are heading, just in case. Also he would be worried sick if we didn't return on time."

"How do you want to contact him?" She looked at me like I was crazy.

I didn't answer, just put one of my palms over her eyes. She sighed loudly and put her hand over mine so I could move away. It was weird casting spells in front of her like this but I didn't have many other choices. I was still probably breaking the secrecy law but at this point I didn't really care.

Only after I started spending time with Soph, I realized how much I was depending on magic. I will have to work on that.

I quickly checked if Sophie wasn't looking and casted Patronus Charm so I could send a message to Ominis. I watched the small blue orb disappear in the distance and only after I was completely sure it was gone, I went back to Sophie.

"Fine. First part done."

"Please no more 'close your eyes'. I feel really stupid doing it," she grinned at me.

"Secondly we will go and explore the underground. Do you remember the rules?" I completely ignored her remark again and looked at her with a serious expression. I couldn't promise her anything. The only way I was able to protect her was by magic.

"I can't leave your side, I have to listen to you and I'll let you talk to Carman if we find him," she started counting.

"Good. Let's go then," I smiled at her.

The way to the Underground was quite short. One of the entrances was indeed really close from where Carman's wife used to live. There were people everywhere, bumping and pushing each other, trying to get home from work. I quickly grabbed Sophie by her hand so we did not lose each other. She was holding my hand tightly, leading the way. She was the expert here so I let her.

"Here," she pulled me closer and pointed to the signs which said 'Under construction' and 'Unauthorized entry prohibited'.

"If I am not mistaken this path leads in the direction of the house."

"I think you are correct. That is promising, right? This corridor should empty in a moment. The train must have just arrived."

So we waited. Sophie was right, the big crowd slowly faded until we were the only one left in the small passageway. We checked both ends for the last time before we entered the dark tunnel. I was just thinking if I should use my wand to cast Lumos because it was pitch dark in here when I heard the familiar POP sound.

Someone spoke behind us, Sophie let out a quiet yelp and I could feel her whole body twitch since our hands were still intertwined.

"Are you mad Sebastian? Sending Patronus like that? I could be in the middle of the street! You are so lucky I was already back to my house so nobody saw it," Ominis started scolding me, half yelling half whispering.

"Ominis?" Sophie pulled her head away from my chest, where she buried it just a second ago since Ominis probably scared the life out of her. He must forgot she was with me, since he was so pissed off at me for using the Patronus Charm, and apparated here.

"Oh, Sophie," he realized his mistake. I laughed silently at the paradox. Ominis yelling at me because I could expose the wizarding world whilst he apparate himself right in front of a muggle.

"How did you get here so fast?" I could only imagine the baffled expression on her face since the tunnel was still pitch black.

"Ehm." It was the first time when Ominis was left speechless.

"You know what. Forget it. Let's continue."

"Fine. I'll go first," Ominis commanded, going closer to us. He probably took Sophie's other hand, pulling our little human train forward.

We walked slowly, tripping and stumbling. The ground was quite uneven here and the darkness made it difficult to orientate. I had no idea how far we went. I just guessed that Ominis had his wand somewhere hidden, secretly navigating him.

"Is that light?" Sophie asked hesitantly.

I wasn't quite sure myself, blinking a few times to make sure my mind didn't just play tricks on me. But after another ten steps or so it was clear that it was light in front of us. There was a cavern or something ahead of us. The light was brighter and brighter as we got closer until suddenly...

"ALEX?!"