✔️ 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐆𝐎 → ℎ. 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦

06 | L O N D O N

young blood, run like a river.
young blood, never get chained.

   PALE FINGERS WERE tucking down the sleeves of an old canary yellow jumper, hair tied up in a messy pony tail, and hazel eyes watching trees rush by outside the window. With a throbbing headache, Ember pressed her forehead against the cold glass and closed her eyes for a moment, again trying to catch a clear thought, but it was pointless. There was a mess inside her head she couldn't sort. From every corner of her mind, pictures of the last six months were flashing up, but she couldn't put the pieces together.

   With all her forces, she managed to surpress the uprising anger about the despair she felt. Anger, she exactly knew, would fuel the monsters she since yesterday were able to hold down again — and she wanted to keep it that way. She knew that just two compartments further down the train, Harry was sitting with Ron, and also she knew that she really should join them and escape this numbing loneliness. But Ember was too ashamed. Even though only fragments blinked up in her memory, she exactly knew she had said and done things, she could never take back.

   Woody jumped into her lap, causing Ember to flinch. The tiny owl snuggled her head into her stomach, and the girl carefully caressed his soft feathers.

   In no time the Hogwarts Express would reach London. She hadn't told anyone that she would leave Hogwarts for Christmas, and early in the morning, she had made sure that nobody did recognise her enter the train. With her oversized hoodie, the messy hair and no make-up, she looked so different to her latest appearance, and so much like every common Hufflepuff, that she quite perfectly gained her old invisibility beneath the crowd. When she passed her brother's compartment, he didn't notice her, and Ember slipped into the next free one she found, locking the door from the inside. Now all she needed to do, was sneak out of King's Cross Station undetected, what should be easy, because probably everyone would make a fuzz about Harry's safety that much, they wouldn't care for a small Hufflepuff girl.

   And just like she had predicted, it happened. There was a whole committee of guards waiting for Harry, so it was easy for Ember to vanish in the crowd, pulling a small trunk behind her in the one hand, the other one carrying Woody's cage, what gained her some curious gazes from some muggle passerbys, but as soon as she hit the loud and overfilled streets of London, nobody seemed to even care for the owl any longer.

   Ember had her aim; the only thing she had to figure out now was where to go. The only thing she remembered, was that it had been a five minute car ride back then to the start of her third year, when they drove from the Leaky Cauldron to the station. Considering the thick traffic in London, it couldn't be that far. She just had to take one of those small alleyways apart the main street.

   It was when Ember turned into one of those small paths, a strange feeling did overcome her in an icy shower. She fastened her steps, making her way further into this labyrinth of backyards, not daring to turn around. It took her a while to realise that it were those long shadows threatening her, and Ember started to shiver in her jumper, as suddenly snow started to fall silently from a gunmetal grey sky. She cursed herself for not wearing a jacket, and the sun was slowly sinking.

   Growling, the darkness started twisting in her guts, fighting to gain the upper hand, but with a clenched jaw, Ember pushed them back. The Leaky Cauldron couldn't have been far ... She had seen some of those old pubs and stores around here before, of that she was sure. But several minutes more hadn't brought her anywhere in sight of the old pub that hid the entrance to the magical world.

   Biting down her bottom lip, she stopped. Night has fallen over London, and the dim street lights didn't reveal enough for her to gain a sort of orientation.

   As a sudden sound appeared behind her, Ember's shivering body stiffened, she felt the tiny muscles in her ears tensing, as she listened into the night. Maybe it had been just a cat ...

   No! There it was again. Footsteps. Clearly coming closer from behind. Ember didn't hesitate, commanding her feet to move further on. A thin layer of snow by now covered the footsteps, revealing Ember's path, and she cursed herself for not being old enough to use magic to hide her trace.

   Whoever was following her, had fastened his steps, and so did Ember. Her breath came in stopes, her sides started to stitch, but mercyless she was chased through the alleyways.

   It had to be a muggle; there was no other explanation. A Death Eater would have already attacked her, wouldn't he? It for sure was one of those creepy old muggles, maybe a drunk guy, maybe a homeless. If he wanted to rob her, he would get bitterly disappointed. But what if he wasn't interested in her money? Ember's stomach turned and for a second she felt like she was about to throw up. What had she thought walking across London without even knowing the way?

   Her follower obviously didn't found pleasure in the thought of leaving her alone, and Ember was already running out of the breath she would definitely need to fight that creep. She wouldn't play the victim. Ember Potter wasn't a damsel in distress! No, if she was about to get murdered, she would go down fighting, and that guy wouldn't see it coming. All she had, was this moment of surprise.

   Begging it would save her arse, Ember ducked down behind some trash bins. She was out of reach of the street lights, so when her persecuted stepped in sight, she could see nothing but his silhouette. For a second he stopped, his neck bowing, his eyes searching the ground for her footsteps —

   It was now or never! Ember jumped out of her hideout with the sound of an angry lion growling in her throat, fists rimming into the man's stomach, and his surprised gasp was like a triumph. She didn't waste time; hitting and kicking and scratching every part of him she could reach within seconds, she thought she could really stand a chance —

   But suddenly he got a hold of her wrist, twirling her around, before both his arms wrapped around her, catching her arms, squeezing them against her sides, as he pressed her against his body. Unable to move her hands, Ember started kicking, but he lifted her into the air.

   "Hell damnit, would you finally stop?", he spoke in a voice that clearly swung with exhaustion, annoyance and — was this amusement?

   "Let — me — go!", Ember yelped, and he cursed in pain, as her feet met his shin.

   "Bloody shit, Ember Potter, tame your Hippogriffs for Merlin's sake!"

—

a/n:

THANK YOU SO MUCH, GUYS! 💕