Chapter 5 - Identities

[DarkChild]

*Chapter 5 *

Identities

It was as if a large weight had been dropped in to Will’s stomach the minute he set off with his Godfather. It felt as though his stomach was an open wound and swirling around madly. Marcus put a hand around Will’s shoulder and suddenly the weight was blissfully lifted off of him. He sighed deeply, grateful that he could now breathe properly. He also felt gloriously warm. For the first time ever an adult actually cared about him and was true to his word.

‘’You alright Will?’’ Marcus asked him as they made their way to the London Underground.

‘’Yes sir. I’m fine but-‘’

‘’Now where do ya git off like that?’’ Marcus asked roughly, stopping near a telephone booth and gripping his shoulder.

‘’Get off where sir?’’ Will asked, utterly perplexed at the situation.

‘’Callin’ me sir!’’ Marcus spat. ‘’ ‘S if I’m some sorta royalty or somethin’!’’

‘’I’m s-sorry.’’ Said Will. He was feeling unnerved. When he lived with his biological parents he was brought up to treat them with the utmost respect and do whatever they asked of him.

‘’Call me Marcus.’’ Marcus told him after some thought.

‘’Sure, but can I ask something?’’ Will asked as they walked down the steps to the Underground.

‘’Ask away, dear boy.’’ Marcus said, pulling off his cloak and folding it around his arm.

‘’Uh – forgive me, but you seemed much more – er – smart up at the Sojourn place.’’ Will said in a small voice. To his surprise, Marcus laughed heartily.

‘’Jus’ a lit’le act I put on for prats like Ron Weasley.’’ He admitted. ‘’But in reality I guess you can say I’m no more articulate than an insecure troll, I suppose.’’ He added sheepishly.

‘’Got any Wizard clothes on ya?’’ he asked, peering around his shoulder, a meticulous expression on his face.

‘’No, everything’s in my trunk.’’ Said Will, feeling happier than he ever had before in his eleven years.

‘’Good, because we are goin’ on the London Underground.’’ Said Marcus. ‘’An’ I don’t think Muggles would take kindly to a shabby set o’ robes or a box full o’ dragon liver.’’ He laughed, shaking his head. ‘’Poor feeble-minded Susanne Dorbane.’’ Said he added with a shake of his head. ‘’Not very bright in most fields of magic, you know Will.’’ He gave him a subtle wink and then they were jostled in to the crowd of Muggles, and Will watched interestedly as Marcus peeled part a crumpled up batch of Pound notes and handled the Muggle money surprisingly well.

They sidled along the train to find a good seat. There weren’t many people going where Marcus lived obviously as the only other occupants seemed to be an unshaven, overworked, peaky-looking man who was using a copy of The Sun as a blanket and snoring sparingly. Another occupant was a woman wearing a ridiculous frilly purple dress with an enormously floppy hat with a small grouping of fake grapes coiling around the brim. She was immersed in a romance novel and dabbing at her large green eyes with a lilac handkerchief at certain moments. Will thought she must be some sort of struggling actress as she wept openly and shouted in a haughty, Shakespearian voice- ‘’No! Benjamin! How could you leave Deborah! You were madly in love!’’ at the most inopportune moments possible. Another occupant was a quiet boy, perhaps a few years older than Will himself, with an unruly black ponytail and blue eyes wearing a pair of jeans and an oversized dark red sweater emblazoned with a gold lion. He was reading a book entitled – The Laws of Physics for Dummies.

‘’Who’s Susanne Dorbane?’’ Will asked interested, eager to hear something light and airy about the world he came from, but was never really exposed to it. Marcus leaned forward, a smile on his face and dimples in his cheeks.

‘’Susanne Dorbane is a scatterbrained witch.’’ Marcus began. ‘’She lived in Cardiff, went to Hogwarts, a few years younger than me. Her mind was sharp at Hogwarts. She got in to Ravenclaw- You know what Ravenclaw –‘’ Will nodded.

‘’Yeah, I was able to nick some of my mum’s old books.’’ He said.

‘’You look peaky.’’ Marcus said suddenly, grabbing Will’s face and examining it closely. ‘’They feed you there?’’

‘’They did. They aren’t that horrible. Only Ron and his nephew were. Hermione and Ash-‘’ he stopped. Thinking about Ash was painful for him.

‘’It’s alrigh’. You two will see each other soon. She’ll go to Hogwarts. An’ ya aren’t bad blood Will. You’ll end up alrigh’.’’

‘’Tell me more ‘bout Susanne Dorbane.’’ Will persisted eagerly.

‘’Sure. Well brilliant mind, Susanne. Then she had a little run-in with You-Know-Who-‘’

‘’Volde-‘’

‘’Shut up, Will!’’ Marcus hissed. ‘’Don’t you dare! Anyway-‘’ Marcus continued in an anguished whisper. ‘’-After her lit’le run-in, Susanne wasn’t herself. Her brilliance was gone. She was a scatterbrained person who always forgot the bylaws and everything. Still does. Chatters on about the Ministry and Apparates everywhere, but Dumbledore – bless him – seemed to think she had a firm head on her shoulders and we can trust him.’’ Marcus bowed his head out of respect. Will nodded. He knew about Dumbledore being murdered years previously, although his father and anyone else he questioned on such a matter didn’t tell him anything.

‘’Why did You-Know-Who –‘’ Marcus put a finger to his lips.

‘’Not now, Will.’’ He whispered. ‘’We’ll talk more when we reach my house.’’

The train lurched to a stop causing the aspiring actress to tumble off of her seat and reveal a mass of black curls flying around her peaky face that had, moments before, been concealed by the floppy hat and the teenager having to straighten his thick, black glasses.

‘’Mum-‘’ the teenager began in a whine.

‘’Well normal fifteen-year-olds do not read The Laws of Physics for Dummies Tyler!’’ she hissed at him.

‘’Well they’re hard to do, mum!’’ Tyler spat, aiding his mother back in to the seat.

‘’No, no, don’t bother Tyler.’’ The woman said, standing up. ‘’We need to be off now.’’ The woman caught sight of Marcus and Will, her eyes boring into Will’s, as if out of fear.

‘’C’mon, mum don’t be dodgy.’’ Tyler told her, laying a hand on her arm and hastily covering up the title of the book with his free-hand.

‘’But-‘’ the woman began.

‘’Mum, don’t you have stew cooking?’’ Tyler said crossly.

‘’I-‘’ the woman sputtered before her son had dragged her off the train.

Will looked at Marcus questionably, who just shook his head and slid an arm around his shoulders.

‘’Sometimes you cannot hide your true identities, Will. Remember that. ‘Course you look just like your father, you know.’’ Marcus said to him in a hushed voice as they walked off the train.

‘’I KNOW!’’ Will found himself shout suddenly. ‘’AND I DON’T WANT TO BE REMINDED OF IT!’’

‘’I understand.’’ Said Marcus quietly. ‘’I know.’’