Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 114: Stay Hidden
"Do I really have to get on that?" Bella stared at James's broom with a hint of concern.
"Yes?... There is no better way to leave the castle." James was holding his broom, having one foot over one of the large windows of the seventh floor.
"We're not going to travel all the way to my house on that, right?" Bella asked.
"Of course not, that would take too long. It will only be until we leave the wards, then I can Apparate us there," James responded.
"Okay…" Bella said with hesitation. "I just don't like heights all that much. I'd rather stay on the ground."
"Yes, I can see that." James mounted his broom and kept it floating just outside the window. "But I can assure you that I know what I'm doing."
"I know that! I have seen you play Quidditch… okay fine, here I come." Bella climbed the window with care. "Don't look down, don't look down…"
"I wasn't looking d—"
"I was talking to myself!" Bella exclaimed. "I'm trying to—ahhh!" As she was about to put her other foot on the ledge of the window frame, she slipped and her body fell forward.
James lowered the broom a bit while grabbing her arm and pushed her onto his lap while she kept screaming. "That was an interesting way to mount the broom."
"James! Don't let me go! Ahh!" She was now looking directly down. Since they were currently on the highest floor of the castle, the view was quite something.
"I won't, but we need to move away from here. This was supposed to be a quiet exit, but that ship has sailed with all the screaming." James commanded his broom to fly away.
"W-wait! You can't carry me like that! Let me go on the ground," Bella demanded.
"We will descend once we are outside the wards. If I go down here, someone could see us. It's still very early, and there may be students around the fields."
"Noo! I wanna get down!"
"If you don't stop screaming, I'm going to have to silence you," James told her.
"Wait, James! Le—" Bella's mouth became shut all of a sudden, and she was unable to say one more word.
"I warned you…"
<><><><><><><><><><><>
It was starting to darken in the streets of London.
Near the entrance of a vacant alley, two young people appeared out of nowhere.
"Here we are." James looked around to make sure no Muggles were close by. This was unnecessary, as they were already covered with a Muggle-repellent charm so no one would pay attention to them.
"Mmm!." Bella tried to make noises.
"Your house is just two blocks away." James waved his wand and cast a Tempus charm. "We still have an hour before the meeting starts."
"Mmm!" Bella smacked him on the shoulder.
"Right… the silencer." James waved his wand at her and dispelled the magic.
"James!" Bella huffed.
"Don't give me that. You were yelling too much and gave me no choice," James pointed.
"I…" She took a moment to calm down. Now that she was no longer flying through the air, she felt much better. "Alright… fine. Let's forget about what happened."
"You mean about you screaming like crazy because you were afraid of heights?"
"Yes, that! Don't tell anyone about that. I have a reputation to maintain," Bella said.
"You have a terrible reputation," James pointed out.
"And I will maintain it. No one bothers me that way."
"As you wish, My Lady. But before we go anywhere..." James pulled a cloak from his pocket. "These will be your garments for the evening."
"What is that? Other than the ugliest cloak I have ever seen. You don't really expect me to put that on." Bella glared at it with disgust.
James moved some of his magic through the garments, activating the runes engraved into it. "No one will notice you in any case."
Bella saw James's arms disappear beneath the cloak. "You got an invisibility cloak?"
"I mentioned to you before that there were going to be conditions. This is one of them. You will stay under this cloak and keep your presence hidden. Under no circumstance will you speak or make any noises that would give away your position."
"You want me to stay hidden the entire time?! Absolutely n—"
"You said before that you were going to agree to any of my conditions in order to attend this meeting. And you are already rejecting the first one I mentioned."
"I didn't know you were going to ask me something like this. I want to speak with my grandfather. That's the whole point of coming here," Bella complained.
"No. The whole point of coming here was because you were worried about Lord Pollux's well-being, and you wanted to make sure he was not going to be harmed by those other Lords. You can do that under the cloak, where no one will see you or know of your presence. This is not up for debate. If you don't agree to this, I will send you back to Hogwarts."
"You can't do that."
"Do you really want to test me?" James's tone left no room for argument.
"But… why?" Bella asked.
"For your own good. You don't want those Lords to know you are listening to their conversation. It will just make their response more violent. Trust me, I understand how they think."
Bella took the cloak in her hands. "Why use a cloak? I know how to use the invisibility charm."
"The charm is not meant to be maintained for long periods of time and is much easier to detect than a high-quality cloak like this one. We just need to apply a silencing charm on your shoes, and no one will detect your presence."
"This is high quality?" Bella looked doubtful.
"Do you agree to my condition or not? We don't have all the time in the world."
"Fine, I'll stay beneath this cloak, but… if my grandfather is ever in danger, I won't stay hidden and watch it all happen without moving a finger," Bella responded.
"Your grandfather won't be in danger tonight. That's what I'm here for."
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