Runaway

"So - where do we - go now?" James panted. He and Sirius had just run through a labyrinthine maze of backstreets, on the off chance that Anna was following them.

"Diagon - Alley," Sirius gasped. He leaned against a wall, taking slow, deep breaths.

"I know, but - how?"

"Dunno."

They were silent for a few moments while they got their breath back, and then James spoke, although he sounded doubtful.

"My dad once said something about some sort of bus," he said. "You stick your wand arm out, or something..."

"Yeah, but we don't have wands, do we?"

"Which hand do you write with?"

"Left."

"OK, so on the count of three, stick your left arm out - one, two, three!"

Sirius flung out his left arm as James stuck out his right, and true to form, a huge purple bus appeared out of nowhere with a loud bang. The doors slid open, and the two boys exchanged a look before walking up the steps.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus!" a cheerful middle-aged man exclaimed. "Five Sickles will get you anywhere you want to go!"

"Diagon Alley," Sirius said.

"Right-o," the man said happily. "Get your foot down, Ernie - we don't want to keep them waiting!"

The bus jolted sharply with another bang, and the two boys both fell over. The conductor roared with laughter as he helped them up, and they sat down on one of the beds, which were in place of seats on the bus. Now that they were moving, Sirius wasn't so sure that this was a good idea. Yes, he was free, but how long would it be before James' parents came looking for them?

"So, what are your names, then?" the conductor asked, as Sirius paid him ten Sickles.

"Er - Tom. Tom White," Sirius said. "And he's Edward. We're cousins." The conductor looked at James, as though wanting him to clarify the story, and James nodded.

"Bit young to be travelling alone, aren't you?"

"We're meeting our grandparents in London," James lied. "They're taking us Christmas shopping."

The conductor seemed satisfied, and he sat down on a bed opposite them as the bus gave another loud bang, moving instantly to a remote little village. The doors slid open, and a woman, probably in her late twenties, got onto the bus.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus!" the conductor said, jumping up. "Five Sickles and we can take you anywhere."

"You could take me to Diagon Alley, then?"

"Certainly!" the conductor beamed jovially. "You have this bed, here. You'll be getting off at the same time as these two - makes our job a lot easier, that does."

The woman looked over at them, and Sirius shifted nervously under her gaze. He had the strange feeling that he'd seen her before - she was pale and thin, with dark brown hair and smoke-coloured eyes.

"Well, seeing as you're the only ones aboard, we'll go straight to Diagon Alley," the conductor said, clapping a hand on the driver's shoulder. "Off we go, Ernie!"

The bus appeared with a bang outside The Leaky Cauldron, gateway between the Muggle (non-magical) and wizarding world. Sirius, James and the woman got off the bus and went into the pub.

"Maria - glad you're back!" the barman called to the woman. She cut her way through the crowded pub and went behind the bar.

"Where do we go now?" James hissed.

"I don't know," Sirius muttered. "Maybe we should go to the bar and ask."

With some difficulty, they fought their way to the bar, and Maria peered down at them.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"We - er...could you show us how to get into Diagon Alley?" Sirius asked hopefully. Maria laughed.

"Not at this time of night, I won't! How old are you?"

"Thirteen," Sirius lied.

"Yeah, of course you are," Maria said, smiling at them. "Are you on your own?"

"Well...sort of."

"Got any money between you?"

"A bit."

"You wait here. I'll clear it with the old man, see if you can't stay here for the night."

She went over to the barman, said something to him and nodded in the boys' direction. The barman shook his head, Maria said something else, and he shrugged. She came back over smiling.

"Follow me. He says you can stay as long as you behave yourselves and pay us in full in the morning."

~***~

"Sirius?"

"What?"

"I don't like it here. I miss home."

"Well, we can't go home," Sirius said savagely. "Not yet. I'm gonna find my dad, and then you can go home."

"But what if your dad's...well...dead?"

"Then...I don't know. But I've got to try, haven't I? You go home if you want, but don't you dare tell them where you are."

There was a pause, and then James spoke into the darkness.

"I'll stay with you. You can't go around London on your own." Another pause.

"Thanks."

~***~

"Sleep well, boys?" Maria asked pleasantly, coming over to the table where they were finishing breakfast.

"Fine, fanks," Sirius said with his mouth full.

"Good. Are you staying another night, or would you like to pay us now?"

"We'll pay you now," James said quickly. "We...er...have to go."

"All right...two nights' stay, plus two full breakfasts...that'll be nine Sickles. Each."

Sirius gaped at her, and opened his mouth to protest, but James kicked him under the table.

"Just pay it...we've got enough," he said in a low voice. Grudgingly, Sirius took a gold Galleon and one silver Sickle and dropped them into Maria's hand. Her smile widened, showing a gold tooth.

"Thanks," she said, slipping the money into her pocket and picking up their empty plates. "Oh, and Sirius," she called, when she was almost at the bar, "I'll be sure to owl your mother and tell her you were here."

Sirius felt his insides freeze, and suddenly he remembered where he knew Maria from. Before his father had disappeared, she had regularly come round to the house, selling fruit and vegetables from the back of a van. She and his mother had struck up an unlikely friendship, although she hadn't been to the house in years.

"Run," he muttered to James, and they ran out of the pub, back into Muggle London.