sassy bad girl hannah (habbott) wrote in caged, @ 2013-08-26 21:17:00 |
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It was close to evening in Diagon, and Lavender had in her mind perfected the "plan" she and Hannah had concocted up in Hannah's bedroom earlier They had carried a small supply of food cobbled together from Lavender's pantry that day on a trial run, some bread, cheese, canned goods, just basic necessities but things that would likely be welcomed by someone who was starving. They'd packed it all in a backpack and left it discretely by a sleeping wandless who was located near a few others in one of the more secluded parts of Diagon. Still there was no guarantee it would be shared or that someone wouldn't take it before he woke up. So Lavender tried to plan it out better. She'd gone out again under guise of stocking her mother's store, and scoped out where the wandless slept in the quiet alleyways. There were a few good spots to leave boxes, and hopefully they would be quick to pick up on what was in them if they smelled of food. Once she had an idea she met Hannah back at her place after her work duties were done, and the two of them prepared the small, inconspicuous boxes for delivery. "I feel bad for them when we're in school," Lavender said. "But I guess we can't afford to feed them forever either. Not when we're still paying the Ministry money." "We can only do what we can," Hannah told Lavender. And they were doing what they could. It wasn't really enough, though, for all that she said it was. She knew that things were only going to get worse for them, but she wouldn't let herself worry that they were just prolonging the problem. But maybe Harry would come back soon, she thought with a shiver. They all needed him to. He wouldn't wait forever. "I think we've got it all," she said. There wasn't much to pack, and she was clearing out the pantry, but at least it would do some good. She packed everything into a magically enlarged basket and hung it over her arm. It was heavy, which was good. She gave Lavender a nod and the two of them walked from Hannah's fireplace to the Leaky Cauldron's. Hannah didn't waste a moment, she knew that they had been a bit too talkative on the journals and that someone could come and find them. But there was a part of Hannah that didn't care. She wouldn't call it bravery, just necessity and wanting to help. "We better be quick," she said. "Where should we leave the boxes?" "I've found places," Lavender said. "Along between the little alleys amongst the shops. It's where they seem to sleep some of them." She threaded her arm through Hannah's, the two of them looking for all purposes as if they were off doing marketing. Diagon wasn't what it once was, that was for certain, it was quieter and a little emptier, there was an air of nervousness about it. Or maybe that was just her. "Up here," she said quietly. There was a man there, begging, he looked to be the age of Lavender's grandfather maybe. Hannah saw him. And although she wanted to go forward to talk to him, she set down a box and didn't make eye contact. She moved forward as though she hadn't done just that. She kept moving until they were near someone else. This time she did make eye contact, just enough to give a nod as she set the box down. There weren't that many boxes compared to the Wandless, but then again by Lavender's calculations there should have been more. It made her think about Hermione or other people they knew. Where were they and what was happening to them? Ahead there was a side alley where a group had formed, and Lavender eyed them, poking Hannah slightly. "We could leave them the basket," she said quietly. It seemed easier, but also more cowardly somehow. "Okay," Hannah said, willing to take Lavender's lead. She was still on edge after the earlier near-arrest, and so although she likes to be a leader, there was something relaxing about setting the basket down. Now they had left it, now they would be able to go home with clear consciences. As the basket slipped out of her fingertips, though, a great, bright lumos shone on them. Two men and one woman stood watching them. One of them was a hard-faced MLP member who had questioned them earlier that day. The other two were new, but they looked just as troublesome as the other. "You're feeding the Wandless again," said Officer Spinks. It was a statement, not a question like it had been earlier that afternoon. "Didn't you learn your lesson this afternoon misses Brown and Abbott?" "They've had their warning," said the female officer. "Time to take them in." "P-please no," said Hannah. "We didn't had anything out." "So you think you can skirt the law?" said the thing. He glowered at them, shining his lumos right in Hannah's eyes. "We'll show you how things are." Lavender heard the nervousness in Hannah's voice and stepped forward, her eyes on the officers. Earlier she had cried, but this time her chin was raised up firmly. "Please let us go," she said quietly. "We haven't done anything wrong. We've simply left our basket unattended for a moment, we can't help it if theseā¦ " her voice faltered as she tried to find a suitable word she refused to call them undesirables .. "people picked it up." She folded her arms and regarded them with tenacity that showed she wasn't budging. "Yeah," said Hannah, strengthened by Lavender's resolve. "We didn't do anything wrong." The three officers scoffed. Without any warning they body-binded the girls and set them floating with a leviosa. "You know you did wrong, we caught you, and now it's off to jail with you." "Azkaban?" Hannah squeaked. "No, you won't have the pleasure," said the female officer. "Not tonight, at least." She gave Hannah a scathing sort of look, and Hannah wondered why she had received it instead of Lavender. Lavender opened her mouth in outrage as they were bodybound and hauled up in the air and tried to struggle against the spell, but obviously completely failed at it. "Thugs! You're the ones that are wrong! PEOPLE ARE STARVING AND YOU'RE ARRESTING TEENAGE GIRLS! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" It was a shriek that sent doors opening all down Diagon and even though she was immediately silenced, Lavender felt a small thrill of satisfaction until she saw at one window her own mother's horrified face. She quelled nearly instantly, but inside she was still outraged. This wasn't right. It simply wasn't. Hannah admired Lavender. She always had, and as her friend yelled at the top of her lungs she knew that she always would. She kept quiet. She was furious inside but she was also scared. Hannah had always wished she had more courage but it seemed like she would never have it. She, too, saw Lavender's mum and her insides clenched. They were going to be in big trouble. The cell was dingy, it was dark, and it smelled of rotten peanuts. They had a blanket to share and a small candle to keep the light on. There were screams, horrible screams, that rang out through the small jailhouse. Hannah didn't know who else was out there, and she didn't want to know. She wondered if her dad had been called or if he was trying to find her. Now that they were in jail, Lavender felt a little less certain about their actions but she was also too stubborn and angry to admit it. It was horrid and dirty and smelled atrocious, not to mention that they'd been searched and had their wands taken and then shoved into this small cold cell. "At least we're together," she whispered, snuggling close to Hannah under the blanket and shivering as someone down the narrow corridor screamed again for help. She hoped there weren't rats. Please don't let there be rats. "You don't think they'll send us to Azkaban, do you?" "No," said Hannah more confidently than she felt. "Not Azkaban. We have to go to Hogwarts, right?" While she had long considered the mandatory attendance to be bothersome to others (although she wanted to go back), she had never felt so thankful for it. There was no way she was going to Azkaban. She had pure-blood. But she felt dirty for thinking that, for knowing it. It was true, and it made her feel like a bad person when she knew that Justin was probably there rotting away in a worse cell than this. Worse screams. Worse smells. Hungry. She curled up against Lavender with a shiver. "Right," Lavender said, trying to sound more certain than she felt as well. She kept her eyes open, looking around the dim cell. There were only a handful of days left until they had to go back to school. That was something. "Let's just hope they don't keep us here until then." |