Chapter 5
"Are you sure this is how muggles dress?" Catriona asked again, fussing with the rips in her tights and trying to tug her skirt down to a more respectable length. "I've seen magazines, the women in them didn't look anything like this."
"I know, you showed me," Ursula said tiredly, squinting as she tried to apply her eyeliner in the warped, stained mirror of the public bathroom. "That was a copy of Good Housekeeping. Not really the look we're going for."
"And we're going for this look why, exactly?"
"Nothing else has been working so far. We need to change up our tactics."
Catriona shifted uncomfortably. "I feel stupid. And I won't be able to run in these shoes."
"Tough. If we want to find Black and Lupin, we have to be able to blend in with the types of people they associate with."
"And in your head that means dressing like these... what did you call them, Bunks?"
"Punks. I understand it's the name of the music they all listen to. Or some sort of political movement. Definitions vary."
Catriona gave her a look. "That seems like the kind of thing we should know about if we're going to be mixing with these people."
"Unimportant. If someone tries to talk to you, just say something positive about an ark." Ursula paused. "No, hang on. That's Christians. Anarchy, that's the word. Or complain about whatshername, the muggle prime minister. Thatcher. That'll get them ranting and you can just slip away while they're distracted."
"How do you know so much about this?"
"Kingsley reads a lot, and he's interested in going into Muggle Liaisons after the war, if the Auror thing doesn't work out. It's all he talks about at family dinners."
The bathroom door clanged open and they both stopped talking hurriedly as a woman in a heavy coat and skirt came in, pulling two little girls by the hand. She took one look at Ursula and Catriona where they were leaning against the sinks and immediately tugged her children back through the door, snapping at them about finding a toilet with no rabble-rousers when they complained.
Ursula nodded, satisfied. "Good. That means we look the part."
Catriona stared after the woman, bewildered. "Muggles divide themselves on everything. How is it we're the ones at war and not them?"
"Believe me, they're at war," Ursula said, putting her makeup away and shaking out her hair. "It's just that it's so big you can't really see it happening. Now come on, we need to get to Manchester."
"Are you sure that's where we should go? Sheffield's been useless, and Henry didn't turn up anything in Leeds or York."
Ursula dug around in her pocket for the pen they'd been given, taken from Remus Lupin's flat and enchanted to track the whereabouts of the owner. She let it lie flat in her hand and did a quick 'point me' spell.
"This is still saying to head north-west," she said after a minute. "And Henry wants to get started on Scotland. If there's nothing in Manchester or Lancaster we can meet him and Valerie in Glasgow to re-evaluate."
"Better than nothing, I suppose," Catriona sighed, frowning at her reflection one last time and zipping up her jacket. "If they stay put for a while we might have a chance at narrowing down on them."
"You okay to apparate?"
"Should be as long as there's still some ginger root left."
"Merlin as my witness, you will get over this nausea problem if it's the last thing I do."
"Bugger off, I never asked for this."
"Merlin's pants this is ridiculous," Sirius groaned, slumping back in her seat. "Is this ever going to end? I'm in agony."
"What's ridiculous is that you've never experienced train delays before. How is this a new thing for you?" Remus asked distractedly, plying Harry with a box of raisins to keep him from trying to wriggle out from where he was wedged between them on the train station bench.
"Okay, you know the only train I've ever been on was the Hogwarts Express. This is not new information. The only times I ever went anywhere far away outside school, it was back when my family was powerful enough that they could ignore the carpet ban."
"Still, you never even considered this as a possibility?"
"Get off your high horse and go talk to the man with the clipboard. I've got Harry."
"Ugh. Don't let anyone take my seat."
Remus hauled herself up off the bench and glared away a middle-aged man who had been hovering hopefully nearby, apparently under the impression that he wasn't perfectly visible in the crush of people waiting for the train tracks to be cleared of leaves. His face fell and he shuffled off, presumably in search of another bench to lurk next to.
She shouldered her away through the throng, glancing back at Sirius and Harry several times, towards the harried-looking man who had been burdened with the unlucky task of answering the questions of what seemed like several hundred angry commuters.
"Look, I'm sorry but I can't give you an exact timetable at the moment!" he was shouting over the general din of a large amount of irritated people packed into a relatively small space. "What I can tell you is that the tracks are being cleared as we speak and we'll soon have you on your way."
"Any chance you can give us a guess about which trains will be going soonest?" Remus asked, shoving to the front. "Like, which ones were about to leave when they got shut down?"
The man sniffed at her and checked his clipboard. "The express to London Euston and a few regional services out of the city were ready to leave when we had to cancel them. It's likely that they'll leave first. It'll be in the announcements."
"Where are the regional ones going?"
"There's one towards Liverpool and one to Preston where you might be able to connect for services to Leeds and Lancaster, but again, I can't say for sure-"
"Cool thanks."
Remus left him mid-sentence and pushed back through the crowd, her eyes immediately finding Sirius where she was still sitting with Harry in her lap, deliberately sprawling so she took up two seats at once and attracting a lot of glares. She moved over when she saw Remus coming, letting her plonk back into her seat.
"So it looks like we're heading for Preston and from there to Lancaster, unless you fancy going back to Liverpool or London."
"I mean, they won't expect us to be in the same place twice," Sirius mused. "But the Aurors will still be all over London, and if the Order's on our tail they might have only just reached Liverpool. We should carry on north."
"That's what I thought. Keep your ear out for what platform the Preston train's leaving from, then." She turned her attention to Harry, who was a little pink in the face and clutching his red plastic beaker. "And how are you doing, kiddo?"
"He fussed a bit while you were over there, but I gave him his drink and he calmed down again. I think this teeth are bothering him."
"We should get a teething ring or something next time we see a chemist. Don't let me forget."
"Can we get some less stupid clothes at some point as well? They don't have to be all lesbian-y, but we can definitely do better than this shitshow."
"Sirius, you're in jeans and a jumper. You couldn't look more normal if you tried."
"Exactly."
"We've had no one fitting those descriptions stay here, I'm sorry," the woman at the desk was saying apologetically. "You're sure you can't remember the name of the place your friends are staying?"
"Well we wrote it down, but someone went and lost the piece of parch - ahem - the piece of paper," Ursula said, glaring at Catriona, who was rolling her eyes theatrically. "Meant to be meeting up with them for a nice day out, and instead we've spent the whole morning trawling around every bloody guesthouse in the city!"
"I've said I'm sorry a thousand times, what else do you want from me?"
"You could start by not leaving your brain on the pillow when you get up every morning-"
"Well then maybe you could try moving your bed away from the wall since you're clearly getting out on the wrong side-"
"Oh, for-"
"Look," the receptionist said hurriedly. "If you go down the tourist office they'll have a list of hostels in the area, you could have a butchers and see if any of them ring a bell. It's just round the corner from Piccadilly Station."
Ursula immediately dropped her angry expression to smile prettily at the woman. "That's very helpful," she said. "Thank you."
"Anarchy in the UK," Catriona added as they left.
"O...kay?" the woman said a beat too late, staring blankly after them.
"Okay, let's play a game to pass the time," Sirius decided. "How many of these people do you think aren't wearing any pants under their clothes?"
"Are you being serious right now?"
Sirius grinned, her eyes glinting delightedly. "I think you'll find that I'm-"
"Oh shit-"
"-always Sirius, thank you for asking."
Remus buried her face in her hands, partly to hide her amusement and partly in genuine despair. "I walked right into it. Heard it as soon as I said it. Christ, that was brutal."
"It's good that you can admit when you've been owned," Sirius told her. "It's a talent many do not have."
"Mostly I'm just too tired to argue with you, to be honest."
"I bloody told you to get some sleep last night. Will you get some rest on the train?"
Remus shrugged. "We'll see." She sat up and stretched. "Should we walk Harry around a bit? I don't reckon he'll last much longer like this."
"I think he's alright for now."
Harry, who up to this point had been babbling quietly to himself and playing with his plastic elephant, immediately threw the toy on the floor and started to cry.
"Yeah, probably had to happen that way," Sirius sighed, scooping up both Harry and the elephant. "You've got the bag?"
"Yeah. Let's take him outside, I think the sun's come out a bit."
"Well that's useless," Catriona commented as the two of them stared at the very definite 'CLOSED' sign hanging on the door to the tourist office.
Ursula sighed and looked around, lunging out to tap on the shoulder of a passer-by. "Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to know when the tourist office opens, would you?"
The woman shrugged. "Wouldn't know love, sorry. Never seems to be open, that place. You might find something in the train station down the way there."
She carried on up the street, leaving Ursula and Catriona to glare at her retreating back.
"Well sod it," Catriona said after a few moments, throwing up her hands. "Let's go and check the bloody train station."
"You never know," Ursula said in a hopeless sort of voice. "We might just run straight into them on their way out of the city."
"Ha. You should make jokes more often."
Remus tilted her head back and closed her eyes against the morning sun, hanging low and bright in the autumn sky. The breeze was chilly and the air was thick with exhaust fumes, but Harry had calmed down for being outside and away from the crush of people in the station. Sirius was holding him by the hands and walking him up and down a relatively empty stretch of pavement, letting him chatter away happily.
"We should take him to a park at some point," Sirius said. "Let him run around, have some fun. I think we can risk it."
"Maybe, yeah," Remus agreed. "Once we know for sure they're not tracking..."
She trailed off as a face in the crowd caught her eye.
"Remus?"
Remus didn't reply, squinting against the sunlight as she tried to figure out what she was seeing. "What in god's name are they wearing..." she muttered.
"Remus."
"Sirius, pick up Harry and take him back inside as unobtrusively as you can," Remus said in a low voice. "Get to a quiet corner, out of sight. Go now."
Sirius was frozen where she stood. "It's them? You're sure?"
"Ursula Shacklebolt and one of the Murray sisters, dressed like Punks for some reason. Sirius, move."
"Fuck."
Sirius bent down and lifted Harry into her arms, shielding him with her body as she walked swiftly into the station. Remus waited for a beat and followed, just catching up with Sirius as she turned a corner and disappeared down the side of the left luggage office.
"Okay, okay," Sirius breathed when they found a dark corner to stop in, wands already out. "Disillusionment charms."
“Yeah. But Harry won’t like that - can you still do that moving muffliato you and Prongs were working on?”
“I think so. Do you know a way out of here?”
“I say we try for a train. Better than having to play cat-and-mouse all over the city,” Remus said, cocking her head and listening hard.
Like an answered prayer, a nasal voice came rattling through the tannoy system.
“The train on platform 3 to Preston is now boarding. The train on platform 3 is now boarding, thank you.”
“Can we make it?”
“Only if we get a fucking move on. Here, give us your head.”
Sirius leaned over and let Remus tap her wand on the top of her scalp, feeling the cold trickle of the disillusionment charm wash its way down the back of her neck. To her surprise, it covered Harry as well, causing him to jerk in surprise and start to fuss.
“I’ll do my own, you handle the muffliato before they hear him,” Remus said, trying to get the wand position right on top of her own head and tapping hard.
Sirius muttered the words she and Prongs had modified together and listened as the din of the train station softened to a muffled drone around them.
She nodded, satisfied, as Remus filtered out of sight, leaving the barest impression of herself visible against the dingy walls.
“Okay. Let’s run,” she said, clutching Harry closer to her chest.
“Stick to the sides, don’t try and run through any groups,” Remus warned, making sure her backpack was on properly.
They took off.
“It was them, I’m telling you!” Catriona said, looking frantically around the station. “Fuck, where did they go?”
“You’re absolutely sure?”
“NO! That’s exactly why I’m yelling it was THEM I’M TELLING YOU!”
“Okay you need to bring it WAY down-”
“There!”
Catriona pointed frantically as a couple of the people out of the stream heading towards platform 3 staggered suddenly, as if they’d been knocked into by someone no one could see.
“Sorry!” Remus shouted over her shoulder as the commuters she’d crashed into went flying like bowling pins.
“They can’t hear you, doxybrain!”
“Whatever! Quick, catch the doors!”
“Fuck – run then!”
“I’d be able to if it wasn’t for these stupid shoes!” Catriona half-screeched as they hobbled between a couple of startled-looking businessmen.
“They were a good idea at the time and you kn- oh bollocks, I think they’re already on the train!”
Catriona followed Ursula’s pointed finger and saw the same thing she was seeing – a set of doors that couldn’t quite close all the way, as if an invisible bag had gotten stuck between them.
“I’m gonna fucking murder something,” Remus grunted, tugging frantically on the backpack. “Sirius, stop laughing and fucking help me here!”
Ursula and Catriona skidded to a messy halt at the edge of the platform just as the train started to move, ignoring the looks they were getting in favour of swearing loudly at the retreating vehicle.
“Calm down, there’s another one in like fifteen minutes,” said a bystander, staring at them oddly.
Ursula ignored this as well and tugged Catriona towards one of the timetables being displayed along the platform. “Come on, we have to figure out where that train’s going.”
"Welcome aboard this northern railway service to Preston, calling at Swinton, Farnworth, Middlebrook, Rivington, Chorley…”
“Okay, decision time,” Remus whispered as they huddled down in the corner of the carriage outside the toilet, making themselves as invisible as possible. “Should we stick with the plan and go all the way to Preston, or assume they saw us get on this train, pick a random stop and head off in a different direction?”
“I say the second option,” Sirius replied, stroking Harry’s hair and cuddling him close, thankful he’d seemed to mostly enjoy all the running. “Find somewhere isolated where we can change our appearances properly, see if we can figure out how they’re tracking us and block it.”
“Bearing in mind that they can apparate, and we’re still relying on public transport. We might need to make another quick getaway.”
Sirius thought for a moment. “What if we got hold of a couple of brooms?”
“Sirius, we’re travelling with a baby. He won’t be able to handle that kind of change in air-pressure.”
“Yeah, I’m aware,” Sirius replied, her mind already whirring with possible solutions. “But I bet we could use that modified shield spell – you know, from when we tried to make our own fireworks and needed protection from all the explosions? If we combined it with a bubblehead charm and got it to kind of isolate around Harry – that way he’d definitely be able to breathe properly and it’d keep him warm. Then all we’d need is some kind of safety harness.”
Remus considered this. “It’s risky. But it might be worth it if it helps us avoid another incident like the clusterfuck back there.”
Sirius nodded, smiling. “I’ll start figuring out the theory, you steal the map sticking out of that guy’s bag and see if you can work out where we might be able to find some brooms.”
Remus gave her a thumbs-up. A few shifty glances around and a whispered ‘accio’ spell later they were deep into planning, trading ideas back and forth, filling Sirius with a warm kind of nostalgia.
“I think I remember my dad mentioning a few small wizarding communities around here,” Remus said, motioning to a cluster of villages in the Yorkshire Dales. “If we get off at the next stop and start heading north-east, it might throw them off just long enough to give us a new head start.”
“You’re sure?”
“Well no, but it’s the best we’ve got right now. We could see if we can get hold of a tent as well, that might make things easier.”
“Moony come on, I thought you knew me better than th... oh."
Sirius trailed off as she realised the name she’d let slip, the one she’d been actively suppressing the urge to use.
Remus’ face had closed over, her eyes shuttered and her jaw set. Sirius didn’t need to know what her own expression looked like to know the emotions she was projecting.
“Remus, I…”
“Don’t, Sirius,” Remus said, turning away. “Just. Please. Not now.”
Sirius watched her for another moment, and nodded. She turned back to her notes, gently tugging the pencil she’d been using out of Harry’s grasp before he tried to eat it.
“Okay,” she said quietly. “Okay.”