Day 35: Bus 1

[misterprince.livejournal.com]

Sanji woke up groggily to find his nurse already in his room. He gave a sleepy and half-hearted "Buh?" before realizing that nurse meant dayshift, and he'd fallen asleep after dinner.

"Shit!" He sat up abruptly, which gave his nurse a start. "Nami-swan!" How had he allowed himself to sleep through an entire night? What if she'd tried to return to the basement? What if she'd been waiting for him to appear and protect her? He'd let her down!

"There, there. Calm down." His nurse set a familiar flannel shirt down on the bed and Sanji eyed it with confusion. The last time he'd worn that had been... "Sorry I didn't knock or anything, but I was so excited~!" A pair of jeans followed the shirt. "Today is the field trip into town! Aren't you looking forward to it?"

The chef had to admit, the town had been an interesting enough place the last time he'd been. If he could find Nami early on he might even be able to lead her around... So he didn't complain too much as he changed into the other outfit (which he really wished they'd let him keep - anything was better than the regular gray) and was led out to the first of the buses.

He took a seat near the front, hopefully easily visible to any of his crew - especially to a certain member of his crew.

[for Usopp!]

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[jugezmoipas.livejournal.com]

Saying she was surprised that it was morning would've been an understatement. Fleur had intended on going out and hopefully finding something useful last night, but it seemed she had instead fallen asleep after dinner.

The witch frowned and was murmuring quietly to herself when the nurse arrived. Fleur had expected this to be like the other days in this place, but that thought was pushed aside once she noticed the clothes the older woman was carrying.

"Good morning, Jaime dear," she greeted cheerily, ignoring the irritated noise Fleur made at the name. "I'm sure you're excited about the field trip today, so I'll just leave these here and step outside so you can change." The woman gave her patient another cheery smile before laying the clothes on the bed and leaving so she could change in peace.

Fleur might've normally objected to something like that, but she couldn't ignore the idea of finally getting to leave this horrible place. Even if it was for a 'field trip', being outside and away from the building brought an opportunity that she couldn't afford to overlook. And the clothes, she had to grudgingly admit, weren't too bad either; the blue skirt and white blouse were certainly preferred over the usual outfit, at any rate.

Once changed, Fleur allowed the nurse to fix her hair back into a braid before she was lead out to the... well, she wasn't sure what they were, but the nurse called them buses. Fleur was wary of the large, strange-looking things but she hesitantly climbed into one, after witnessing others do the same.

Sitting in the first empty seat she found, the witch couldn't help bur wrinkle her nose slightly. This wasn't anywhere near as nice as the Beauxbatons carriage had been.

[undesirableone.livejournal.com]

Harry still felt pretty shaky from being sick for so long, but he didn't want to miss out on the chance to get away from the hospital. The nurse brought him his town clothes, clothes that, Harry noticed, still were made up of Slytherin colours (green t-shirt, black jeans, green and black shoes). He grumbled but figured the nurse just picked them out because they matched his eyes.

Coughing into his hand, Harry climbed onto the bus and looked around. His heart skipped a beat when he saw a familar face.

"Fleur!" he called, too surprised not to keep his voice down. He still sounded a little horse, but was otherwise healthy. He went to her. "Do you mind if I sit down?" he asked, lowering his voice now.

He was torn between the total and complete relief at seeing someone he knew, someone who was practically family now, and the horror at the thought that Fleur was now trapped here at Landel's.

[jugezmoipas.livejournal.com]

Fleur had taken to staring out the window, impatiently tapping her foot against the floor as she waited for the buses to set out. She wasn't paying attention to people still boarding buses, but that changed the moment she heard a familiar voice call her name.

"'Arry?" she replied, immediately turning to look for him. It was always a pleasure to see him, but she'd never been as relieved as she was now. With a smile, Fleur nodded to his question and motioned to the space beside her.

"I did not know zat you were 'ere also. I am so glad to see you!" And, just like the, the gravity of the situation struck. No matter how happy she was to finally see someone she knew, Harry shouldn’t be here.

"But, no," she continued, shaking her head at the realization, "you should not be 'ere. Ziz place, eet is... absolutely 'orrible."

[undesirableone.livejournal.com]

Harry sat down next to Fleur carefully. He didn't want to get too close in case he was still sick but he also didn't want to be away from her. Harry grinned, but it was with the same mixture of happiness and disappointment that Fleur spoke with.

"I've been here for a while," he said. "I've been sick for a few days though." He frowned, letting his worry get the best of him. "When did you get here? Is anyone else here?" He looked around the bus, as if scanning for Weasley red hair or Hermione or even Snape. "Are you okay?" He didn't like the idea that she may have been through a Nightshift while he had been sick in bed.

There were so many questions to ask Fleur and so much to talk about, but he wasn't sure how much he should give away. Fleur seemed old enough that she had at least been married to Bill, but what else did she know? Snape had had no memory of the last few years. What if Fleur also was from some time earlier than him? What if she was later? The thought hit him and he suddenly wanted to ask when was the last time she had seen Ginny.