London, Underground
Date: BACKDATED to 30 October, 1997 Characters: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger Location: Ye Olde London Towne Private/semi-private/public: Semi-private Summary: London, baby. Status: Complete
Going into Muggle London was always a strange experience for Ron. He couldn't get over how many Muggles there were! And they all looked like they were dressed for funeral, wearing black from head to toe. They reminded him, marching forward and staring straight ahead, careful not to make eye contact with anyone or to fall out of step. Then there was the noise! He was used to noise but this was sensory overload - the car horns and radios and telly-visions in shops. It seemed constant and came from a thousand different sources. Ron was so busy taking all this in, he nearly walked into one Muggle who'd been talking on something Hermione claimed was a mobile fellytone.
He felt a bit out-of-sorts among Muggles. It wasn't them but how bloody useless he felt. Unlike the other two, this entire world was foreign to him and he no insights, no special knowledge. Harry lead the way, Hermione was going to do the research and him? Ron was going to tag-along.
As usual.
Hermione really wasn't keen on going into Muggle London as of just yet, but she knew that it was important that they do. And she also knew that she would have to keep an extra eye on Ron at all times; Ron, like his eccentric father, seemed to have a tendency to get overly excited when it came to Muggle things. And honestly? She wasn't in the mood to draw any unwanted, or unneeded, attention to them. It was better if they kept themselves away from anything that would inevitably get them into trouble; it wasn't like the Death Eaters were complete morons, after all, since she was absolutely sure that they would probably be monitoring the Muggle world, as well. And that meant keeping Ron away from automobiles. That was all she needed - Ron attempting to drive!
When he nearly ran into someone, Hermione had winced and sank her teeth into her lower lip. "Ron!" she hissed, and instantly reached out to seize his wrist to pull him closer to her side. At least then if anything happened she would be close enough to hopefully prevent it.
"Be careful, please? We can't draw any more attention to us than we might already be gathering!" she snapped, and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was finding it to be more and more difficult to control her temper while she was wearing this forsaken locket, but one of them had to and it just so happened to be her turn. She really couldn't wait until they destroyed it once and for all.
Ron's attention had been drawn to the Muggles on the road. Driving a car didn't look that difficult, he had reckoned it'd be easier than flying one. From the looks of it, all you had to do was: pay attention to the signs, avoid the other cars and know enough profanity and rude gestures for when you didn't. He already had the last part down.
When Hermione had chastised him, he'd been momentarily distracted by her hand on his wrist before her words sunk in. "Right, yeah."
Concentrating on the task at hand was no good because as it was, he only had the foggiest idea about what they were going to do. Trying to keep his voice low, Ron asked, "So is that," his voice dropped to a whisper, "You-Know-Who's orphanage?"
"Yeah...but, something's off, here. It's supposed to be right there, where that office block is. I've only seen it in Dumbledore's memory, but the building I saw looked nothing like that." Harry sighed in frustration. "I...I don't know....d'you think we should ask somebody if it's around here?"
This was bloody fantastic. He finally thought of something, something real that they could do that honestly could have done something....and it was starting to look like another dead end.
Hermione frowned once she saw what Ron was looking at and she was incredibly tempted to begin telling him that they wouldn't have time to take a joy ride today; their task today was much too important to be dilly-dallying around and they really just needed to focus on their goal. What good would it do them to be distracted by something as trivial as a vehicle? Besides, they didn't want to be seen and that would be a far cry from being considered 'inconspicuous'.
As they approached the site where the orphanage should have been, Hermione's lips pursed as she stared at it quizzically - where was it? "Perhaps we could find a library nearby? They must have information on everything that has been built and torn down. Perhaps we have the wrong location?" she suggested with a frown and let her eyes sweep across the area. This was ridiculous.
"Come on, there must be a library around here somewhere."
Leave it to Hermione to look to a library for the solution. In a world gone mad, it was reassuring to have these brief moments of familiarity. Harry looked up and down the street...there wasn't much, a Tube station, an Offie, a row of Council Flats.
"Let's pop in to that Newsagents and ask, right? Maybe we can get Ron a Flake bar to keep him occupied or something." And, if Harry was talking about his mate as if he were an unruly toddler, well, he'd just have to deal with it, or, better yet, stop touching every car, bollard, and post box they passed. It was getting really annoying.
Ron's attention snapped back to the other two when Harry said that. What the bloody hell was a Flake Bar? Saving that to puzzle over another time, he grumbled, "Sod off, Harry."
They'd come all this way to go to a library. That figured. Looking across the street where the orphanage was supposed to be, Ron frowned. From the way Harry had described it, he didn't think an orphanage would fit in with the tall, modern buildings that made up this area. Yet, Harry was certain that this was the right place. "Maybe that is the orphanage."
As soon as he said it, he realized no orphanage - Muggle or Wizard - would look like that. Which meant if they were in the right place, the orphanage was probably long gone
Hermione rolled her eyes at the two of them and sighed heavily. The locket was making her more agitated than usual and it was taking all of her willpower not to reach out and hit the both of them in the back of the head. They were so ridiculous at times! Boys.
"I don't know. It wasn't a wizarding orphanage, was it? Do you even know the name?" she asked, nose now wrinkling up considerably as she stared at the lot where the orphanage should be. There really was a fairly large chance that it had been demolished since that sort of thing happened nearly every day, but it was still disappointing to come here only for it to not be here. And it really wasn't improving her mood any at all.
"Fine. But stop arguing you're giving me a headache and I already have enough of one!" she trilled, a scowl crossing over her face like she had inhaled a foul smell or something. She couldn't wait until one of them took the locket away from her.
"Uh...it was...damn it." Harry squinted his eyes shut and pinched at the bridge of his nose. "There was a woman named...Mrs. Cole, I think....I'm not sure of the orphanage name, but the street names were right there, and there was a big number 613 on the gate. That should be the proper address."
Ron yawned pointedly. This was going to be another waste of time, he could tell. They'd be better off getting food while they were here so at least they'd have something to show for the trip. Looking at Hermione, he asked, "So where are these Newsagents who will tell us where a library is?"
"That's a Newsagent right there, Ron. It's a store, alright?!" Harry tried not to sound exasperated, as he knew on some level he'd been just this clueless on his early trips in to Diagon Alley. But, really, when things were so tense and urgent, it felt somehow offensive to have to explain basic Muggle things along the way. "The bloke working the till in there probably knows a bit about the neighborhood and such. They sell snacks, usually, too, so if we have Muggle money we can get some candy or crisps or something."
Hermione's temper was rising and she could feel it. She didn't want to snap at the boys as long as she didn't have to, and so taking a deep breath seemed like the appropriate choice for the moment. She knew what the locket did to each of them, and she honestly wasn't in the mood to fly off of the handle at the present moment in time. It seemed a little useless when they had a task to complete.
"I have some money in my purse," she replied quietly, already fishing for some of it so that they could get some food. Perhaps they could even stop in at a small restaurant to eat. "But maybe there's somewhere to eat around here if you'd rather do that?" she suggested, now counting the money out in her palm since she had made sure to store enough of it so that they would be able to at least survive this little 'camping' trip of theirs.
"Let's go," she snapped suddenly and started toward the Newsagent.
Harry followed Hermione towards the Newsagent, grateful that in-depth discussion of such mundane matters seemed to be stopping. He stuck his hands in his pockets and curled his fingers reassuringly around the little treasure he had stashed there this morning before Apparating to London.
They had been growing there, so close to the tent, sheltered from the wind by a lichen-covered stone, and yet still warmed by the afternoon sun. He had sat on that rock all night, seething over his friends' imagined betrayal, aching for the comfort of a soft hand and a steady voice. He had dozed briefly, his Horcrux-influenced dreams of treachery and isolation kept at bay by sheer will and a deep fixation on a freckled throat and warm, brown eyes. When he woke the next morning, his face was pressed into soft earth, his nose tickled by a single cluster of bright blue Forget-me-Nots. Harry had torn the flowers from the ground, greedily stuffing them in his pocket as a waking talisman against all the loathing and terror that seemed to hang around his neck every day, even when the locket itself was elsewhere.
Now, as they opened the jingling door of a London newsagent, Harry was possessed of a very particular idea, one that had little to do with Dark Magic or ancient orphanages. Approaching the newsagent, he gave a casual smile, sliding 50p across the counter. "Could I have a stamped envelope, please? And...I was wondering....is there a library hereabouts? I'm afraid I got a bit turned around coming out the tube."
The newsagent grunted as he took Harry's money and slid the envelope across the counter. "Yeh. Dat happens alot, mate. Stupid 'exit via subway.' Dey shouda redone the station when they put that office block up last year, bleedin council. There's a library down the way...Jes go down and take yer first left."
"Thanks." Harry grabbed the biro from next to the till and quickly jotted the address to the shadow post box that was transferred to the Hogwarts Owl Post. He wrote in a perfect imitation of his Uncle Vernon, a scrawl quite unlike his own that had previously been liberally applied to several concerned notes from his Primary School teachers, and once to a disciplinary note of Dudley's. That favor had allowed Harry to eat his own lunch for nearly a week.
Ron glanced at Hermione in confusion, he might not have been paying enough attention but he was certain he would have noticed if either had mentioned sending post. When the Newsagent-bloke produced the envelope with one lonely stamp on it, he crinkled his nose and muttered more to himself than anyone else, "That's not enough."
"Who you writing to?" he whispered once the Newsagent was out of earshot.
As evidenced by his question, he wasn't paying attention to what Harry was writing but instead on how the Muggle self-inking quill-like thing seemed to write. The lines were thinner than a quill's but smoother too.
"Not actually writing, just....eh....nothin." Harry crammed the envelope in his pocket and shrugged. "Just in case, I guess." Certainly a change of subject was in order.
"Bloke says there is a library just down the way. Let's go." And he turned and headed toward the door. "You two get whatever you're getting, I'll see you outside."
Hermione watched the exchange between Harry and the man, and like Ron she was curious about the letter. Instead of questioning him about it like Ron had, Hermione chose to pay attention to what Ron was doing. "It's a pen," she hissed and forcefully grabbed at his elbow. "Come on, do you want to get something to eat here? I brought enough money, I think," she whispered, not really wishing to draw attention to them. This was definitely not the place nor time for that.
She blinked as Harry made for the exit and soon enough she rolled her eyes before turning back to Ron. "In such a hurry," she muttered. "He was never in a hurry to go to the library when we were at school though, now was he?" she mumbled, obviously agitated from the locket. "I hate this thing," she muttered with a scowl as she readjusted it around her neck.
"Er, yeah," he said, looking around the store, trying to figure out where the food was amongst all the brightly-colored packages. Finally, Ron settled on a packet of crisps and an apple.
Gesturing vaguely towards where the locket was, Ron asked, "Will you be able to research with that thing on?" Hermione didn't seem to have as bad of a time of it as him and Harry but it obviously wasn't a picnic. When it was his turn to wear it, the whole world seemed to narrow and all he could see were his fears, worries and disappointments till they overwhelmed him. He wasn't just useless with it on but for hours after as he tried to shake off all the negativity that hung around him like an anchor.
Harry left his two friends fussing over the snacks in the newsagent. Standing outside on the pavement, he stared down in to his open hands. In one, he held the crumpled envelope he had just purchased. In the other, the small clump of Forget Me Nots that he had pulled from the ground in the early hours of the day. Before he could stop and think, he stuffed the flowers into the envelope and sealed it. Before he could think again, he walked the few metres to the red column on the corner, and dropped it in. There. It was done.
Hermione grabbed a few extra bags of crisps so that they could have them later, and she paid the cashier the appropriate amount before reaching out to take Ron's wrist to pull him toward the exit. "I'll be fine," she snapped in reply, lowering her voice and wincing at her own tone. "Sorry. It just makes me a little edgy. I didn't mean to snap at you," she sighed and brushed some of her hair out of her eyes as she stuffed the extra bags into her purse.
Once they were outside, she fell into place beside Harry and attempted to smile at him. "I bought a few extra things for all of us to eat later if we need it," she shrugged and started off in the direction that the man said that the library was in. "Let's go. I'd like to get in and out as quickly as possible."
"I can walk, Hermione," Ron muttered, pulling his wrist from her grasp. Normally, he'd rather enjoy the contact but not if she thought he was some toddler she had to babysit. Following her outside, Ron scowled when she smiled at Harry and attempted to hide it by taking a bite of his apple.
He'd wanted to tell her he'd wear the locket while she was in the library but didn't get a chance before they were headed off towards the library.
All those weeks in the forest, longing for civilization, and now, here they were in London and Harry wanted nothing more than to get back to their hidden tent. There were just too many people about, and even though they were in Muggle London, Harry still felt as though any one of the passersby could spin at any time and reveal a Dark Mark. So many people, so much noise, so much confusion...it was draining.
When they got to the Library, they paused on the front steps. "Should we all go in and stick together, or should Ron and I stand guard out here?"
Hermione glared at Ron for a split second as he pulled his wrist from her hand. She looked slightly hurt by this but she quickly managed to cover it up with a scowl. Fine. If he didn't want to be close to her then fine, he didn't have to. Though it made her wonder if the little things that had gone on between them lately meant absolutely anything to him or if it just happened because he didn't want her to run back to Krum or something. Typical. If he didn't actually feel anything then he might have told her at least instead of being so rude about it!
She sniffed loudly and strode past them. "Stay out here. It might look suspicious if all three of us are bent over a book," she replied curtly, her tone rather snotty and stung by her own mental revelations. Of course Ron didn't fancy her. Why would he? Prat.
She slipped into the library quietly and managed a weak smile to the lady at the front desk even through her foul mood that was brought on mostly by the atrocious piece of 'jewelry' that was hanging around her neck. It didn't take her very long to locate their records and to find out that the orphanage had been demolished some time ago. Great. With a frown firmly set upon her features she exited the library and sighed halfheartedly. "It was torn down years ago, Harry. Perhaps we could dig through the foundations?"
Ron watched, befuddled, as a now snitty Hermione left them to go in the library. As long as he lived, he was certain he would never understand how girls' emotions could just change on a Knut.
After finishing his apple (and remembering just in time to toss the core into a rubbish bin rather than vanishing it) Ron was about to ask Harry if he knew what could be holding up Hermione when she appeared.
"Well, that figures. Another trip and nothing to show for it."
Harry spared Ron no more than a glance for that. Again, with the whining. Wanker.
"Well, I guess it's back to the tent, then? At least we're hidden back there, I feel like sitting ducks out here."
"Ron," she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose out of sheer irritation. The whining really was becoming rather old, but she would keep her opinions to herself for the time being. She needed to learn to take control of herself once the locket was around her neck and she felt that keeping her mouth shut was probably a safe way to do such a thing.
"Yes, let's go then. I'm not feeling entirely comfortable about being out in the open like this. Anything could happen, and I'm sure that You-Know-Who probably has people impersonating as Muggles just to see if we would make an appearance. Come on," she replied and took a hold of both of their hands to lead them into a dark alley. Once she glanced around a few times to be certain that no one was paying attention to them, she quickly apparated them back to their campsite.