The Potter Twins and the Prisoner of Askaban {3}

2. Runaways

"We're going down this road with tears in our rear view mirror. Far from home, but in the dark we know that we've got nothing to fear. So let's runaway, they will have to find another heart to break" ~ Runaways, All Time Low

We hardly even speak a word to each other as we walk through the streets, several streets away from our Aunt and Uncle's house.

Suddenly, Harry collapses onto a low wall, panting from the effort of dragging his trunk.

I join him on the wall, yet we still don't speak.

We're stranded here, with no where to go.
We're runaways in the Muggle world with nowhere to go.

The worst of it is that we performed serious magic, which means we're almost certainly expelled from Hogwarts.

"Harry, what do we do?" I whisper, shivering in the cold air.
"Ron and Hermione could help us. Or Tay even," he suggests.
"But we haven't got any way to contact them. We sent Hedwig to The Burrow."

Harry curses under his breath, and I notice the he is clutching his wand firmly.

My heart begins pounding as I realise what he must be thinking.

We're most likely going to be expelled, so what would a little more magic hurt?

"Haylee, we have our brooms, we could enchant our trunk-"
"Harry, do you really want to risk more magic?" I cut him off abruptly. "We don't want to make this situation worse."

"Would you rather be found by Muggle police and have to explain why we're alone in the middle of the night we spell books and broomsticks?" He hisses.

"Well, then get out the Invisibility Cloak."

He opens his trunk and begins searching for the cloak - but, of course, his trunk is incredibly messy.

A sudden prickling on the back of my neck gives me an uneasy feeling that somebody is watching us. Harry, who seems to have the same feeling, looks up from his trunk at the same time that I get to my feet.

"Lumos," Harry murmurs, pointing his wand foward. It lights the way before us.

I catch sight of a large, bulky outline, with gleaming yellow eyes and I suppress a scream.

I take a step back and the back of my ankle smashes against the gutter, causes me to fall backwards into the pavement, using my arms to break my fall.

Before I even have the time to moan in pain, I hear a loud bang, followed by a blinding light.

Harry grabs me and pulls me away from the gutter with a yell, just before a massive bus pulls to a halt exactly where I was laying.

"Thanks," I say breathlessly, looking the purple, triple decker bus up and down.

There is gold lettering across the windscreen, reading 'The Knight Bus'.

"Do you see it too?" I ask Harry, wondering if I was knocked silly by my fall.
"Yeah."

A conductor in a violently purple uniform leaps out of the bus and begins speaking loudly;

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this eve-"

He stops aprubtly, looking down at me in confusment, seeing as I'm still on the ground. I scramble to my feet and stand beside Harry, getting a good look at Stan.

"What were you doin' down there?" He asks, dropping his professional manner.
"I fell over," I reply sheepishly.
"'Choo fall over for?" He sniggers.
"It's not like I did it not purpose," I say, annoyed.