James let his fingers of his left hand trail along the surface of the handrail and realized that it was smooth and sloped downward at a nice steady angle. There was vast space apparently before and below him. The tubing was now a banister, and there was nothing more familiar to the former Gryffindor as a mode of transport. Metal stairs made noises. Banisters didn't. They were also quicker.

Thirty seconds later James was crouching behind what felt like some kind of crate down in what he assumed was the abandoned Tube station. It was rough and wooden and square at least. Somewhere ahead of him came a metallic click, somewhere off to one side. Very happy, now that he had worn tennis trainers, James began working his way over toward the spot he mentally fixed as being the source of the sound. There were a number of these 'Ghost Stations' scattered around London, stations that had either out lived their usefulness or had never been opened up. Many tube stations had been used as bomb shelters during the last war, some of the ghost stations among them. The clicking could be coming from some piece of equipment doing god knows what, or perhaps a rat happily playing with something or other..or..

A Death Eater.

But would that be likely? Just sitting there, making little tell-tale noises? James thought not. Slipping silently through the dark, wand at the ready, he soon found the cause of the sound. Some kind of metal box, seemingly bolted to the floor, humming quietly to itself and ticking from time to time. James doubted that even the Muggles who came down here would really know what (if anything) it was doing. He certainly didn't. But he was now somewhere in the middle of the open space, leaning on a humming metal box. Where was his crate? Where was the stairs? Where the heck was anything, in fact?

Lil's was up at the top of the stairs. And somebody was coming down them, by the little soft sounds coming from up and behind him. Bones, probably. Lily would be quieter, he was sure. So Lily would be at the top of the stairs, Bones coming down and himself on the floor. And no sign of their quarry. Right, well somebody had better find out where he had got to. Closing his eyes, (Because somehow that seemed to make it easier to find his way in the dark,) James started across the open space in front of him. This technique had worked remarkably well in the secret passages of Hogwarts, and had the added benefit of keeping you from being blinded, if somebody suddenly decided to illuminate their wand tip. Station platforms tended to be pretty long, if indeed this was just an unused station, but it could just as well be an interconnecting gallery or some kind of storage room. In any case, there was no way of knowing how big the space was, or what was in it without some kind of light. But to make a light was to invite attack. So, blind-man's-bluff it would be.

Working his way across the open space James was delighted to find that keeping your eyes shut seemed to work pretty well outside of the passageways of Hogwarts, too. He discovered, on his slow silent journey three packing crates a row of what seemed to be oil drums another humming metallic box, something covered with a tarpaulin and a stack of timber. And then he saw it: a feint line of light at floor level.
Easing himself up to the door, James gently ran his fingertips over the surface: metal. Pressing his ear against the door James listened. Obscure, vague sounds reached him, muffled, distorted. People talking, or water running? Assume the voices; it would be safer that way.

Turning back into the void of the room behind him James flashed his wand twice. If there were Death Eaters in the room he would risk it. Still he ducked and moved to his right, to be on the safe side.