WHO: Harry Potter and Ginny Potter; Harry Potter and James Potter; Harry Potter and Sirius Black. WHEN: December 5th. WHERE: The North Pole. SUMMARY: Harry ventures into the North Pole post-bus drop-off and looks for his family. WARNINGS: Swears, anxiety.
Part of him wanted to scream and another part of him recognized that there was no point to it. He'd tried disapparating, but found himself exactly where he stood on the bus, unmoving. He was frustrated even as he slid the red coat over his shoulders and tugged a green hat over his ears. The scarf followed, a noisy thing that jingled with every step he took as he carried himself off of the bus and into the snow. The warmth of the clothing was a surprising comfort as the vicious wind of the blizzard began to bite into him.
Harry was alone. He knew. He'd been alone on the bus and he was alone when he'd stepped off of it. But there, in the dark, with the wind whipping and the snow accumulating terribly quickly at his feet, he wondered if there was anyone else dumped off into the middle of nowhere as he had been.
The patronus darted out from his wand and into the night, a blur of blue and shimmer, a majestic stag looking at him with curiosity before disappearing into the fluster of flakes coating him like a freshly dressed beignet.
But the crunch of steps were solo. His tracks quickly disappeared in the mayhem of the storm. There was no going backward, only forward, so he trudged until he saw the dim light on the horizon. The faint chorus of 'Silent Night' ushered him forward. He should have grown tired, but the idea of having been kidnapped and dumped in Siberia was not a promising prospect. Before he could get much further, he walked right into the side of a house.
After rubbing his head a little to head off the sting, he noticed the lights had grown brighter. In fact, he'd bumped into, it seemed, an entire village, or at least he assumed, by the outline and similar light structures dotted in his line of view. Though the snow was so thick he could barely see two inches from his face, much less his watch, which would have told him that his family was safely at home, where they ought to be.
It seemed unwise to shout 'Hello, is there anyone out there?' when he didn't know who 'anyone' could be. He continued on, taking small shuffling steps, until he reached a sheltering ledge that allowed him to step out of the snow and catch his breath.
"Where am I?" he mumbled to himself as he attempted to take his surroundings in.