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8 AUGUST, 1993

     THERE WERE A LOT OF THINGS that Robyn Abrams could deal with. The Weasley twins and their constant tomfoolery was something that she had gotten used to over the years, and her friend Flynn's explosive temper wasn't impossible to cool off (as long as their friend Lisa was around, that is). Not even nasty old Snape, the greasy-haired Potions master whose attitude was as rotten as the ingredients used in his potion-making, could set her off.

     But when her parents began to speak ill about her friends, calling Rose Figg a magical abomination from her Muggle-born and Squib bloodlines, claiming that Flynn Black was as psychotic as her murderer of a father, and saying that Lisa Potter should've died along with the rest of her family, that was crossing the line.

     Robyn had been carrying a load of laundry down the stairs when she overheard her parents saying just those things. She dropped the laundry basket. It landed on the floor with a loud thud, and the two figures standing in the kitchen jumped, startled. Her mother and father, the Frays, turned to meet Robyn's angry stare, their perfectly polished appearances momentarily faltering under their adopted daughter's glare.

     "What the hell is wrong with you two?" Robyn snapped. "Why do you have such a problem with my friends?"

     Robyn's mother, Janice, frowned in disapproval. "Watch your language, Robyn."

     Janice was a Ministry official and had close ties to important people within the government, like the Malfoys and the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Her long, sleek brown hair was usually pulled tightly into an elegant up-do, and her piercing gaze judged everyone around her as though they were lesser beings, seemingly unworthy of her attention.

     "Don't tell me what to do," Robyn shot back. "I'm tired of listening to you two criticize my choice in friends. Just because they're not pure-bloods like you—"

     "We're your parents, you will do as we say, and we have every right to be critical of your poor choices. That includes your choice in friends," her father, Johnathan, said sharply.

     Johnathan was a hit wizard who hunted down criminals, though he worked independently from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry. He was part of the group that helped capture Flynn's father, Sirius Black, when he murdered Peter Pettigrew and twelve Muggles along with him. Johnathan was balding and had a cold, hard, emotionless stare.

     "The only poor choice I've made was dealing with you two for as long as I have! You're not even my parents, you're just a pair of assholes that I'm forced to live with!" Robyn yelled, anger filling her, and for a moment, a shred of her friend Flynn sprang forward to take control, but Robyn suppressed it, storming away and back up the stairs, leaving the basket of dirty laundry on the floor, and threw open the door to her room. Her temper was usually something that could be controlled, but getting into fights with her adoptive parents always made her more angry than usual.

     She pulled her trunk out from underneath her bed and began searching around her room for things she needed. Her wallet, filled with Muggle paper money, could be useful, as Robyn wasn't sure exactly where she would be headed that night.

     A couple of wizard coin purses were thrown into the trunk as well. She thought for a minute before reaching in to grab a handful of galleons and sickles and stuffed them in her pocket, just in case. 

     After a few minutes of haphazardly throwing things into her trunk, Robyn was packed and ready to go. Gripping the handle of the trunk in one hand and her owl's cage in the other, she exited her room and headed back down the stairs, being careful not to shake around the owl cage much, for her pet eagle owl, Eira, was perched rather calmly inside. Her grey and black feathers ruffled slightly when Robyn swung the cage over the railing to avoid it colliding with the rest of her belongings, and she hooted in alarm when the cage nearly went crashing right into the torso of her mother.

     "Neither of us were forced to live with each other," her mother nearly yelled. "We took you in willingly when you were only a baby, we've fed you and clothed you and treated you like one of us!"

     Robyn rolled her eyes and used her shoulder to push her mother out of the way. Janice gasped as she stumbled backwards into her husband. "How dare you!" She shrieked.

     "Oh, fuck off, woman," Robyn snapped. She set Eira's cage down before swinging open the front door, the cool night air flooding into the small home in Magnolia Crescent.

     Picking the cage off the ground, she looked back once more, glaring at the sight of her two furious parents.

     "Maybe you weren't forced to take me in, but I highly doubt I had any choice in the matter," Robyn growled, her dark brown hair flying around her face, gusting in through the open door. "Don't come looking for me. I won't be back." 

     And with that, she slammed the door behind her, dividing the space between her and her adopted parents with a sense of tense finality. For the first time in her life, Robyn finally felt free of her parents' suffocating grasp.

     The only lights outside were the streetlights that illuminated the sides of the road with a harsh, yellow glow. They flickered as she crossed underneath them, hauling her heavy trunk behind her. The wheels kept getting stuck on cracks and bumps in the sidewalk, delaying her stride. This would have been a great annoyance, had she known where she was planning to go.

     But Robyn had no clue where she was headed. Her instincts simply told her to walk forwards, and so that was what she did. Robyn didn't necessarily pay attention to where she was; rather, her mind was occupied on where she was going to sleep tonight.

     Turning a corner, she saw ahead of her the familiar park she played in when she was young. In the dark, cold, rainy night, however, the park didn't seem as fun and welcoming as it once did. Now, it felt almost haunted, and Robyn had a terribly awful feeling about continuing down that road.

     Robyn shook her head. She was being ridiculous. So she started down the sidewalk, tripping over uneven cracks, causing Eira to hoot out in discomfort as yet again, her cage was jostled around.

     Suddenly, down the street, a streetlight flickered, and Robyn saw the shape of another person approaching her quickly. Before she could think, she dropped the trunk and owl cage on the ground and yanked her wand from her boot, pointing it forwards at the approaching figure. Eira let out a hoot of discomfort as her cage hit the pavement with a loud CLANG. 

     "W-Who goes there?" Robyn stammered out cautiously, raising her wand as the person neared closer. The figure hesitated.

     "I-Is that...Who is that? Robyn?" The figure called back. Their voice definitely sounded familiar...

     "Harry?" Robyn gasped, stuffing her wand back in her boot and scooping her trunk and owl cage back up off the ground. The streetlight above flickered back to life, revealing a grinning boy with messy black hair, broken glasses, and an infamous lightning bolt scar.

     "What are you doing out here?" she asked, making her way over to her young friend. Eira hooted in greeting to Harry's snowy owl Hedwig, who let out a friendly trill in response. Robyn and Harry sat down next to each other on the curb underneath the flickering streetlight, trunks and owls behind them on the pavement.

     "Well, I blew up my aunt Marge," he grumbled. "I couldn't really stick around after that, so I left. What about you?"

     "Got into a fight with Janice and Johnathan," Robyn said, shrugging. "This is the worst one we've had. I just can't take it anymore with them."

     Harry nodded sympathetically. A cold gust of wind pierced through the stagnant air, and the streetlight above the two students flickered before sputtering out, leaving Robyn and Harry in complete darkness, the silvery moon providing only a faint, distant glow far above them.

     Robyn looked behind her hesitantly. The playground seemed even creepier and more dangerous than it had before, the merry-go-round creaking as the wind slowly pushed it around.

     Robyn and Harry gave each other an unsettled look when a rustling sound came from the bushes across the street. Robyn caught a flash of movement from out of the corner of her eye and jumped.

     She stood up cautiously, Harry following right behind. Creeping from the brush was a giant, black dog with mangled fur and glowing yellow eyes.

     Harry bent forwards and reached his arm out, gripping his wand tightly. It almost looked as if he were trying to hail a taxi.

     Suddenly, an invisible force threw the two of them backwards. They landed harshly on the sidewalk, and a triple-decker purple bus zoomed up and parked right in front of them. Its doors stood open, and a late-teenage boy leaned haphazardly against them.

     Robyn instantly knew what this was: Harry had mistakenly hailed the Knight Bus. Robyn used the Knight Bus frequently, hitching a ride whenever she and her parents had a row. 

     The teenage boy resting against the bus doors, who couldn't have been older than nineteen, was Stan Shunpike, the conductor.

     Stan wore an extremely baggy purple uniform that looked three sizes too big. His face was ridden with acne and his dark auburn hair was already receding up his forehead. Every time Robyn hitched a ride on the Knight Bus, Stan flirted endlessly with her. At least he did, until a trip when Flynn and Lisa happened to be accompanying her. Flynn had noticed Robyn's obvious discomfort towards Stan's relentless advances and nearly attacked him until Lisa pulled her back. Lisa simply warned Stan that he needed to back off or she wouldn't hold Flynn back the next time.

     Needless to say, Stan stopped after that.

     "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike and I will be your conductor this evening," he read off of a small index card before shoving it in his pocket. He looked forward, furrowing his brow in slight confusion, before looking down to see Robyn and Harry sitting back on the curb.

     "Bloody 'ell you two doin' down there for?" he asked.

     Robyn rolled her eyes and stood up, brushing herself off. Sticking her arm out, she gripped Harry's arm and helped him up as well.

     "We fell over," Harry muttered under his breath, but clearly not quietly enough, as Stan was able to still hear him.

     "Wha'chu fell over for?" Stan seemed genuinely confused as he stepped off the bus to grab their belongings and lug them onto the tall, purple bus.

     Robyn shot the conductor a glare. "Oh, shut it Stan, it's none of your business anyways, just do your damn job."

     Stan took the trunks onto the bus and returned after a moment, his eyebrows raised. 

     "Sorry, that was rude," Robyn mumbled. Stan shook his head and waved her off, turning around to grab the two owl cages that still sat on the pavement.

     Robyn grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him onto the bus with her. They peered around the side of the bus, trying to catch a glimpse of the spot where the looming black dog was, but it seemed to have vanished.

     Robyn and Harry sat on one of the beds on the first level of the bus. While Harry looked around the bus in awe, Robyn said "hello" to Ernie, the bus driver, who wore huge, thick glasses that gave him a bit of an owlish appearance. He waved back at her and smiled, but said nothing.

     "You've ridden this thing before?" Harry asked her.

     Robyn nodded. "I reckon I've caught a ride on the Knight Bus about four times this summer already. It's how I get around, really. Oh, and quick warning, it's going to jostle you around a bit when it starts moving, but you get used to it."

     "Alright, take it away, Ernie!" Stan called once he had brought the two owl cages on the bus, setting them down next to an empty bed by the door.

     The little, old bus driver shifted into gear and took off down the road, lurching the bus forward. Robyn held onto one of the bedposts to keep herself steady, but Harry wasn't expecting the sudden acceleration and instead was thrown backwards, grabbing onto her arm for support.

     Once he was mostly upright, Harry looked at Robyn with a mild look of shock on his face. "Wh-what — how fast is this thing moving?"

     "Pretty quick, but don't you worry 'bout nothin'..." Stan spoke up, a small grin on his face, before trailing off, as if trying to remember something, but just simply couldn't. "Woss you say your name was again?"

     "I — I didn't," Harry replied, combing his hair down with his fingers to cover his scar, as Stan had begun to suspiciously eye Harry's forehead.

     "Well, woss your name, then?"

     Robyn moved to give Stan some false name, but Harry answered first. "Neville Longbottom," he said. "Does this bus go anywhere?"

     At that, Stan threw back his head and let out a loud laugh. "Never heard a name like that before...and yep, anywhere you like, long's it's on land, o'course. Can't do nuffink underwater."

     He completely bought that, Robyn thought. He seriously believes that Harry's name is Neville.

     "How much will it be to get to London?" Harry said quickly.

     "Eleven sickles," replied Stan with a bored expression. "Firteen'll getcha 'ot chocolate, and fifteen'll getcha an 'ot water bottle and a toofbrush in whatever color you want."

     Robyn pulled out a couple of galleons from her pocket and flicked them at Stan, who barely caught them before they rattled to the floor. "I'm headed with Neville to London, and get me a hot chocolate, will you?"

     Harry pulled out a galleon as well, handing it to Stan with a nod and a "thank you."

     Stan pocketed the money, handed Robyn a hot chocolate, and leaned back against the side of the bus with a yawn.

     Harry looked beyond Robyn and out the window to see they were barreling down the road at an insanely high speed; objects seemed to bounce out of the way as the bus encountered them, trees and mailboxes leaping to the side to avoid collision with the large purple bus.

     Stan pulled out a newspaper, unfurling it and opening it up to read the contents. It was the latest edition of the Daily Prophet, Robyn realized. She hadn't read it yet; she was planning on reading it once she was done with the laundry. Clearly, her plans had changed.

     A large, moving photograph of a man with unruly hair, sunken cheeks and a crazed look in his eyes blinked slowly at Robyn and Harry. Harry's eyes widened as he seemed to recognize him.

     "That man!" said Harry quickly. "He was on the Muggle news!"

     Robyn shot Harry a darkened look. "Of course he was on the Muggle news, Har-Neville."

     Harry's brow furrowed, a confused look on his face. "Why do you say that?" he asked.

     Stan closed the Prophet to look at the image on the cover and nodded. "Sirius Black." He ripped the front page off and handed it to Harry. "You oughta read the papers more, Neville."

    Robyn scooted down the side of the bed so Harry could raise the paper up to the candlelight. The headline read:

     The article continued to tell about Sirius Black, the notorious mass-murderer who had killed thirteen people before getting captured by the Ministry's hit wizards, like Johnathan Fray.

     "Black woz a big supporter of You-Know-'Oo," Stan was saying to Harry when Robyn finally tuned back in. Her thoughts had begun to drift to stories of her adoptive father and how he held Sirius Black down single-handedly, allowing the other hit wizards to tie up the killer and haul him away to Azkaban.

     "What, Voldemort?" Harry said, as if absentmindedly.

     Robyn's eyes went wide as she nearly fell backwards onto the floor in horror; Stan's pimples went white, and Ernie jerked the steering wheel so hard that an entire farmhouse had to leap out of the way to avoid being struck.

     "Are you out of your mind?!" Robyn nearly shrieked, her heart pounding. "What are you doing going around saying his name out loud for?"

     Harry looked around, eyes wide at the three of them. "S-Sorry," he said hastily. "I forgot..."

     "Forgot!" Stan muttered weakly. "My 'earts goin' that fast..."

     Robyn took several deep breaths as she stared at Harry. He's mad, she thought, going around just casually letting out his name like it's no big deal.

     "So — so you said Black was a supporter of You-Know-Who," said Harry, trying to prompt Stan and Robyn back into the conversation they were having beforehand.

     "Yeah," Stan replied, still rubbing his chest as if to calm himself down. "Yeah, I did, didn' I. He was very close to You-Know-'Oo, they say."

     "After Harry Potter defeated You-Know-Who," Robyn continued, "most of his supporters were tracked down or came out and turned themselves in. They knew it was over, with You-Know-Who gone and all." Robyn practically knew the whole story by heart; she'd heard it from her parents countless numbers of times.

     "But not Sirius Black," Stan said. "I 'eard he thought 'e'd be second-in-command once You-Know-'Oo'd taken over-"

     "But that's just a load of rubbish," Robyn interrupted, shooting Stan a sharp glare. "You-Know-Who would never appoint someone second-in-command, and Black would've been a fool to think that he would."

     Stan yawned, clearly bored by the sense of reasoning Robyn had shown him. "Anyway, they cornered Black in the middle of a street filled wif Muggles an' Wizards an' Black took out his wand an' 'e blasted 'alf the street apart. A wizard got it, an' so did a dozen Muggles what got in the way."

     "And all Black did was laugh," said Robyn sadly.

     "Laugh?" said Harry, looking shocked and disgusted and horrified all at the same time.

     "All he did was laugh, and when my father showed up with reinforcements, he went with them, just laughing. Reckon he was mad, though," she said.

     "An' now 'e's out," Stan said, scanning the newspaper once more, before turning to the bus driver. "'Ow'd 'e do it, Ern? Beats me 'ow 'e did it. I don't fancy 'is chances against them Azkaban guards, eh Ern?"

     "Talk about summat else, Stan, them Azkaban guards gimme the collywobbles," Ernie shivered.

     Robyn leaned over to whisper in Harry's ear, "Nobody's ever broken out of Azkaban before. It's the highest level security Wizard prison in the world. Sirius Black's the first one that's ever broken out." Harry turned to give Robyn a wide-eyed look. He's less informed about the Wizarding World than Rose's mother, she thought.

     "Right then," Stan clapped his hands, a grin sprouting on his acne-covered face. "Where in London is you two 'eaded off to?"

     Robyn stayed silent, as if to tell Harry it was his decision.

     "Diagon Alley," he said.

     "Righto, 'old tight, then," Stan replied, and with a loud BANG! they were off.

      It wasn't very long before Ernie slammed on the brakes, stopping right in front of the old pub that brought witches and wizards from Muggle London into Diagon Alley — the Leaky Cauldron.

     "Thanks," Harry said, bounding off the steps and onto the ground below. Robyn was close behind, waving good-bye to Ernie and Stan before hopping off. Harry turned around to grab his luggage, but Robyn froze, the silhouette of a person approaching from the door to the Leaky Cauldron.

     Glancing back, Robyn saw that Stan had seen him as well, noted by the shocked expression on his face as he ogled the sight in front of them.

     The Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, approached from the shadows and laid a hand upon Harry's shoulder. "There you are, Harry."

     If it was humanly possible, Stan's eyes widened even more as he shouted, "Blimey! Ern, come 'ere, come 'ere!"

     Robyn sighed and pushed her way around the Minister and Harry and stepped back onto the Knight Bus. Shoving Stan backwards, she stormed in to grab her belongings, which lay on the ground next to the door. Eira hooted in annoyance, and Robyn whispered a quick apology to her owl as she hopped back off the bus.

     "Get out of here, Stan. It's not polite to stare," she said finally, as the doors to the Knight Bus swung shut and the triple-decker purple bus zoomed off into the night.

     She followed Harry and the Minister inside the pub, where the Minister carted Harry off to a room. The poor boy looked back at Robyn, a scared look on his face. She glanced at him apologetically, mouthing the word "sorry" before turning to Tom, the old, wizened landlord. "I'll take a room, please," she said.

     Once she was shown to her room, she dropped her trunk on the floor and set her owl's cage down on the dresser. Opening the little lock, she let Eira out of the cage and went to open the window to let her out to stretch her wings.

     "It's been a long night," Robyn said, stroking the black and grey feathers of her eagle owl. "Be back by morning, alright?"

     Eira hooted in response before soaring off into the night. Leaving the window cracked, Robyn turned away before collapsing onto her bed, absolutely exhausted.

     It had truly been a long night.