Sept 2nd, 1889 — Magical London

Isaac had barely even left for Hogwarts, but already Kate was feeling stir crazy being all on her own. She'd convinced her chaperone to take her shopping, just to get out of the house. There was a fabric dealer Kate had heard about in London, so they headed there — but as soon as they entered the magically concealed neighborhood, a crowd pressed in around them. Surely this couldn't be normal for the area? Kate wasn't even sure how they were going to get through. She started forward, but realized quickly that she'd gotten separated from her companion.

"What's happening here?" she asked a nearby man.

  

Kieran was here for work, but he was also trying to figure out if Jude was there. If this was an ABC action, it was also a glaring conflict of interest - and not one he particularly wanted to have to deal with. It also seemed like it could get dicey - there was that spark of impatience in the air, the sort that said someone's getting arrested today.

So he was perhaps a little short with the girl when he said, "Labor action. It's a protest for better working conditions."

  

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set by MJ!

His answer only left her with more questions. Better working conditions for who? Better how? If they didn't like their jobs, couldn't they just go get new ones? Admittedly, having never needed a job before, Kate was a little oblivious to what the concerns of the working class might be.

Before she could ask anything, though, a spell whizzed overhead. Kate turned her attention in the direction it had gone, only to see a brick wall knit itself together in the alley behind her. The entrance to the neighborhood which she had just passed through had essentially disappeared.

"What did they do that for?" she asked shrilly, unable to keep a note of panic from her voice.

  

"Shit," Kieran said. He stood on his toes, tried to see where the spell had come from. No such luck. Shit. It wasn't any use being here to report if he couldn't tell who was escalating, and it was going to be worse if they were doing what he thought. It wasn't easy to lock an area of magical London down to apparition - but a potentially-riotous crowd offered one of the easier settings.

"Not sure," he answered the girl, "You here with someone, or?"

She looked wealthy enough that she probably wasn't unattended; but, also, if she was, she probably wouldn't be asking him questions.

  

Kate was more accustomed to hearing profanity in foreign languages; her father kept some rougher company, and while they presented themselves very well when they knew she was watching, they often slipped quickly when they didn't. That being said, the Englishman's meaning wasn't lost on her. This wasn't good.

"Mrs. Daws," she said, as though this would mean anything to him. "She was here just a moment ago, but I don't know where — we were trying to buy a bolt of fabric."

  

That was more or less what Kieran had expected, but he didn't like the answer regardless. "Alright," he said, "You're going to want to stay close, then." He dropped his notebook into the pocket of his jacket, and pulled his wand out, instead - wand sparks were starting to fly back and forth overhead and he had a bad feeling about the direction this was going.

  

Kate watched with wide eyes as he switched his notebook for a wand. "What are you going to do?" she asked, but moved a step closer to him all the same. She didn't know who he was or what had brought him here, but she trusted him marginally more than the rest of the crowd. He, at least, had been upset about the alley closing up behind them, which meant he wasn't one of the people trying to trap everyone here for unknown purposes.

  

"I'm not sure yet," Kieran said, because he wasn't. Couldn't hex his way out of it, couldn't back through the brick wall. At least he knew some good security spells - but even those had limited mileage in a crowd like this.

So they didn't have anything he could do here.

"Grab my sleeve," Kieran said. It wasn't very polite, but it was the only option. "I'm going to see if apparition is still up here."

  

Kate hadn't had much exposure to the concept of apparition — the area that she'd lived in Morocco was too crowded for wizards to just go vanishing left and right without someone taking notice — but she knew what it was, and knew that if successful, it would mean the two of them would be somewhere else, and Mrs. Daws would still be here. Somewhere.

"Where are you going to try to go?" she asked uncertainly, raising her hand but hesitating before touching him. She wasn't sure she trusted him enough to have him whisk her away to places unknown, just the two of them — though, admittedly, this crowd would be a good deal of work to stage as some sort of cover for a kidnap or mugging. On the other hand, though, even if this stranger's intentions were entirely pure and the crowd was being organically rowdy, could she just take an out and leave poor Mrs. Daws behind to fend for herself amongst the rabble?

  

Kieran wasn't sure apparating was a good idea, even as he considered it - with everyone shoved in so close, he may accidentally bring a passenger or two, and who knew where that would go.

"Away from here," he answered, standing on his toes and trying to see where the crowd ended. He hadn't actually gotten to an answer before someone behind shoved him, and he stumbled forward, nearly dropping his wand.

---

  

The shove sealed the deal for Kate. Things were actually starting to get violent, and she decided that being anywhere with this man — who, at least as far as she could tell, seemed to be calm and collected — was better than being here.

She rushed forward so as not to lose him as he stumbled, and clung tightly to his sleeve. "Alright," she said hurriedly. "Let's go."

  

Kieran tightened his grip on his wand. "All right," he said, and pictured the front of Gringotts - white, marble, and hopefully quiet. With a crack! the two disapparated, and after the tightly-squeezed whirl of apparition landed in front of a riotless Gringotts bank.

Thank Merlin.

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