Liberty- A Harry Potter Fan Fiction.

Chapter Three- Knightmare.

A/N. So this is totally not my best, but I had a disaster involving two chapters i'd spend ages doing being deleted. I wanted to upload something though, so I finished this off. It isn't brilliant, but I hope you enjoy it. Much longer chapters coming tomorrow-possibly two if I can recover my other one! Please keep reading and everything and commenting. Forty something reads; i'm proud of that actually, since it's been going for two days. Again, all rights to JK Rowling and the amazing people who let me use their OC's. <3 

Oh and one more thing...Jess, this chapter is for you. As requested, I think you'll find a cookie mention near the end ;3

Chapter Three-Knightmare.

About half an hour after her incident with the Snatchers, Ari reached the end of the forest. She was glad-despite the constant fog caused by the breeding of Dementors everywhere, it was turning out to be a fairly warm day. She could tell that this was indeed the place Ascadelia had told her about- an old, deserted dust road that didn’t look like it had been driven on for years. There was nobody in sight, save a couple of doves perched in a tree, singing their merry song. Ari had always liked that sound- there were a couple of doves at Hogwarts that often sat outside her dormitory window, tweeting away. It reminded her of the place she knew as home, despite having been there for a much shorter time than she had her real home.

Taking another cursory glance around to be sure nobody was watching, Arianna stuck out her wand. BANG! This time, the girl was ready for the commotion as a large, purple triple-decker bus appeared in front of her. The Knightbus. The girl had travelled on it only once before, when she was about five. It had been just before Christmas and her Mother had taken the two girls to London for the day, shopping. It had been a marvellous day, full of many seasonal treats and playing in the snow. Like a winter wonderland. This was one of the rare memories that Ari remembered fondly, one of the rare days when her Mother had been happy. There was no doubt in the girl’s mind why this was- Austin had been working all day.

As the doors of the Knightbus opened however, the girl could see that much had changed since she had used it. Instead of a cheerful conductor- not Stan Shunpike of course, he’d have been much too young at that time-there was a stern faced, rather muscular man, staring harshly at the girl. “Yes?” He barked, looking rather impatient.  “I need to go to London. The Leaky Cauldron.” Arianna said tentatively, climbing gently onboard the bus. “Name and blood status?” The conductor asked, black eyes staring menacingly at Ari. “Oh Mitchell, must we go through this every single time?” The second voice came from Ernie, the driver. He had been there that day, almost eleven years ago. Ari remembered him- on the way back, he’d ordered the conductor to give Calista and her free hot chocolate because ‘it’s the season of good-will’. His face was tired, his tone exasperated. Clearly, he was not impressed by the changes that had taken place.

“I’ve told you many times, Ernie. We have to keep track of who’s using the system and where they’re going. Ministry’s orders.” The conductor-Mitchell, apparently- boomed. Ernie himself sighed sadly, looking at Ari as if to apologize. The girl bit her lip. Tracked? That could potentially cause problems, but then again, what other option did she have? This was the plan she’d made, it had to be stuck to. “Arianna Davis. Pureblood.” She winced, feeling like she should be lying. It was always better to tell the truth; but in this instance, did that apply? It was too late by then, anyhow. Handing over her money, Ari made her way to the top floor at the very back, tucked away. No questions asked that way.

Arianna sank into the arm chair, gazing out of the window. The bus was just as fast as she remembered it, throwing everything around. Thankfully, the girl was prepared this time and held on tightly to the chair. Ari allowed herself a sigh. She’d made it this far, something she was doubtful would happen. A few years ago, this part of her journey would have been the first. With new security measures though, there were now designated pickup points around the country. Hence why she had to walk for a few hours from Godric’s Hollow, just to board the bus. Asca had said the journey to London could take anything from fifteen minutes to a couple of hours and, when the former past quickly, Ari assumed it would be a while. This didn’t surprise the girl- when was anything ever easy in her life?