And off we are.
I wandered through the familiar muggle streets, which were usually filled with people walking and chatting, and shops filled with orange lights and merry feelings. But now I walked around the empty alleyways of the town, and everything seemed dead, like all life got sucked out of it every night. The only people I spotted on my walk through the streets were teens huddled in groups with the smell of cigarettes and skunks practically dripping from them. Or homeless people whose only things they shared were mean stares and toothless smiles. I just tried my best to keep my head down and be as quiet as possible. The last time I had been out this late had been with all the Marauders. We had been walking around, goofing off, and the streets had seemed much more silly and bright. But I feel a lot less confident with only myself and my wand to keep me safe.
But, of course, with my stupid Gryffindor luck, a group of three ruff looking teens approached.
"Hey, kid, you don't look like you belong out here at this time." Said a teen who looked like he was only a few years older than me but he was still insanely tall and just all around big.
"Yeah, Whatcha doing out here? You look like a west-side-rich kid." If this had been any other situation, I would have laughed out loud. This kid was about the scruffiest teen I’d ever seen. He had a thick accent, and didn’t seem like he could punch a hamster, let alone a teen like me.
"I'm just passing through," I said confidently, pushing past the scruffy kid.
"Wait just a moment, old money. We're gonna need somethin' from ya' for just passn' through!” Said the third kid, do you remember when I had said the first kid was big? Well this teen seemed to be twice his size, and at least three times the size of me. He had a long, sickening scar on his face, just above his chin. Which might have contributed to his look of being an actual giant. These kids looked like they had been through the worst of it.
"Well, sorry," I started, keeping my voice even and deadpan, "I don't have anything you'll want. I don't have any money." Which wasn’t a lie, all I had was a bit of food and basically a stick in this world.
"Screw that, I know you got somethin' for us. You got that hoiti-toiti voice." Said thick accent boy.
The big guy stepped up and grabbed my collar. And although I had fought with magic many times, I had never had a physical fight, not counting the roughhousing with Sirius and Peter. (Remus was too good for ruff housing) So, the punch I then received on my cheek surprised me so much that I cried out in pain. One of the other guys tried to grab my bag, but I elbowed him in the chest and wriggled out of the big guy's grasp. I fell onto my hands and knees, and although I had no clue how to fight, I could run. And I did so. I bolted out of sight as fast as I could. I knew those morning runs would come in handy someday.
Only after I was panting and felt like I might fall over dead, did I stop running. The teens hadn't bothered to chase me, which I was very thankful for. The only problem was that I now had no idea where I was. I thought I had run up the main road, but I was now in the middle of nowhere. I'd never been this far out. Fields surrounded me, and I couldn't see any sight of the next town I was heading for. I pulled out the map, but because I didn’t know where I was, I didn’t know how to get to my destination.
"Ugh!" I grunted, sitting down on the side of the road. This was becoming much more of a pain than I had thought it would be. And now my adrenaline had decreased. I found that my cheek was starting to hurt more and more. I reached up to touch it. My skin was puffy and thin, and when I gingerly pressed down on it, a stinging pain shot through my face. I hissed and retracted my hand quickly. 'Well, that really freaking hurts.' I thought bitterly. I stood up angrily, letting out a frustrated huff. Then a louder huff, then a scream of frustration. This was turning out to be a stupid idea, it was impulsive and horribly thought out, and now I'm on a random street, with probably a black eye, and I have no idea where Regulus' house is! Maybe I should've waited and gotten Sirius to come with me, gone in the day, or gotten Mum and Dad to help. But no! James Potter just had to go rescue Regulus the moment he realized that was even a possibility! I thought bitterly to myself. But the image of Regulus alone in his room floated across my mind again, and I realized this might be a stupid god awful plan, but there was nothing I could do now. I've gone too far to stop now. So, I glumly started the trek across the empty road.
It was almost pitch black, only the moon was guiding me along the road. I wasn’t really sure if I was going the right way, but I glumly thought that I'd at least get somewhere at some point. And even though it was the very middle of the night, there was a gentle hum of a car engine from afar. I quickly hopped off the road. It wasn’t like I was doing anything wrong, but I still found myself ducking down behind the ditch. Apparently I didn’t hide fast enough or well enough, because I heard the car slow, and come to a stop. I flattened myself to the side of the ditch, and slapped my hand to my mouth, to keep as quiet as possible. I could hear a man getting out of his car, the rocks under his shoes making a loud crunching noise. I tried not to think about how it could be a murderer ready to jump onto me and slit my throat. Or maybe a kidnapper, who was going to take me into his basement and never let me out again.
“Hey, is anyone out there?” Said the man, his voice was clear and loud, although it sounded like he was a smoker.
I heard him walk closer to where I was hiding. I squeezed my eyes shut, and held my breath.
“I can see you, d’know? It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.” He said, suddenly right above me. I opened my eyes and removed my hand from my mouth. I looked up to see a young man, in his mid twenties. He had dark hair that was currently in front of his eyes. He swept it out of his face, and held his hand out. He didn’t really seem like a murderer, just a normal dude. This might be a good thing, but it was also externally embarrassing.
I quickly tried to compose myself, and grabbed his hand quickly, standing up and dusting off my clothes. Apparently laying in a ditch doesn’t make you the cleanest. I took a breath and looked up, meeting his eyes, they were similar to Sirius’ in that they were so dark they could be mistaken for black. Although this man's eyes were more warm. They felt aged and wise, like with one glance this man could read you fully, but somehow not in a scary way.
“So,” The man said, ending the awkward silence that had fallen upon us. “Do you often lay around in ditches? Or is it a once a week type thing?” He asked jokingly. I chuckled, feeling my shoulders untense a bit.
“Nah, it’s more of a when I get the chance, sorta thing.” I joked.
“Ah, I get it. So where you heading?”
“To the next town, but I’m not really sure where it even is.”
“Oh, it’s just down the road, I’d be happy to lend you a ride.” He smiled kindly. “The name’s Youssef, what about yourself?” He asked. kindly extending his hand.
I grabbed it and shook it, “James, James Potter. And I mean if you’re offering.” People always say never get into a car with a person you’ve never met, but this guy seemed nice, and hey, what’s a little adventure every once and a while.
“Potter? As in the Potters who live in that giant cottage in the town over?”
“Heh, yeah. My extended family always said it was small…” I said awkwardly, I had no idea that the muggles knew about my family name as well.
“Small?! I bet you could fit my house in it about six times over!”
We continued to banter back and forth while we got into the car. I briefly explained what I was walking around for, albeit leaving out the part that it was a rescue mission and making it sound more like I was sneaking out to see a friend. To which he only laughed, and idly replied, “I used to do that all the time, until I got my own place, that is.”
Eventually, we made it to the next town. The sun was starting to rise, and I was glad of it. The sun made everything less spooky. Youssef dropped me off in front of the first house. Although it took a minute to convince him, I was fine here, and I would find my way around. We waved goodbyes and Youssef was riding into the sunrise.
As I entered the small town, I had been worried that it would be an eerie sort of town, but it was as cute and quaint as any small British town. All the people who walked down the streets seemed to be walking to work or enjoying a morning jog. Everything seemed to be calm, which I was thankful for. The whole town gleamed with the light of the morning sun, as I walked, there were several businesses that were opening up. However, these people were almost too polished. Because instead of assuming I was just some drunk teen, they gave me worried and concerned looks. One kind young lady even came up to me and asked me if I was alright, to which I just said I was 'quite alright,' and 'just got into a little tussle in the town over.' (Even I’ll admit I sounded like a prick) She just tutted and smiled, saying,
"Keep yourself out of trouble, okay?"
I promised I would and walked on. Smiling as I went.
But after at least an hour of wandering around, I lost a bit of hope. I hadn't seen any house that looked remotely like the Black Manner, I had assumed that it would be painfully obvious which house it was. From what I had heard, the whole building radiated with a gloomy spirit. I kept getting turned around, and I was getting quite hungry. So I sat down with a little huff and rummaged through my rucksack. I pulled out the snack I had brought for the journey and sincerely thanked my past self for the snack. I bit into the soft pastry my mum had made only a few days ago. I closed my eyes briefly, allowing myself to relax for a moment. Even though this trip might be a little bit of a shit show, I’m glad I did it. And man, I’m so glad Youssef found me, because I wouldn’t have been here until one PM if I had walked. Oh Merlin, how am I going to bring Regulus Black all the way back to my house? Will his parents come look for him? Will he even want to go with me? Too late now, I suppose.
I stuffed the last bit of the pastry into my mouth, and stood up wearily. Well, I thought, might as well get going again. I looked around, and began the track through the now busy town.
The small quaint town had quickly turned into a small city, with tall buildings leering down at me. The bright morning light turned into gray skies. I looked up into the sky and it rumbled tauntingly. I quickened my pace. I hoped that me and Regulus would be able to duck into a store to wait out the storm, but first I needed to find him.
Finally, after too many pitying stares, and too much walking, I came across a house that fit Sirius’ description perfectly. It was every bit as gloomy as he had said. It stood next to many other houses, all slightly crooked. But you could tell which one was the blacks. Partly because of the small sign above the door that read, The Black Family Manor, but also because of the sheer look of the thing. The windows glared down witheringly, every plant near it was shriveled up, like they had been subject to evil curses, and somehow the bricks looked darker and less brick colored then the rest of its neighboring houses. Surely no one could look at this house and think it could be anyone's home.
I stood in front of the grim house for only a moment, before slipping my invisibility cloak out and wrapping it around myself. I took a steadying breath and walked up to the side of the house. Now I knew Sirius had complained about his room not having any windows, and how Reggie always got all the natural lighting. So, as long as Regulus’ room hasn’t got a sky light, it should be behind one of these windows. I carefully gripped one of the bricks and pushed myself up off the ground. I climbed up the wall slowly, praying to every god I knew that I wouldn’t fall. Once I reached the window, I peered through, seeing an almost empty room. The only thing in it was a bed and books. Lots and lots of books. The floor had only a small carpet half under the bed, the walls were a green that almost looked gray if there had been more light, the walls were lined with dark brown molding lining the crease between the ceiling and wall and the floor and wall. Although, the rest of the room was filled with books stacked up or thrown across the floor. I figured there was no one else in the world who would have that many books than Regulus Black. I opened the window silently, and thanked the gods when I found it unlocked. I slipped inside and shut it carefully. The room smelled just as you would expect. It smelled like paper, ink, and books. I breathed the scent in slowly, noticing that Regulus was nowhere to be found. I figured that was to be expected, as it was morning and he was probably eating breakfast in a suit or something stupid like that. I moved to the only corner in the room that was not filled with books, and sat down. I closed my eyes for a moment. As I hadn’t slept for two days now. So the rest was greatly appreciated. Although, I did have enough sense to keep my cloak on