𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗔 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗧

ACT TWO, CHAPTER SIX
on the run.

TRIGGER WARNING: blood

VENUS GASPED AND sat up straight, her palms digging into what seemed to be leaves and twigs. She glanced around for a moment, her eyes blinking to get adjusted to the gold and green around her. Venus really had no idea where they were, obviously in some sort of forest.

She then glanced over to the people next to her, and her eyes widened in shock. Venus scrambled onto her knees and crawled over to them, a just-as-disoriented Harry following after her. Hermione was also on her hands and knees by Ron's head. As for Ron . . . blood drenched his whole left side and his grayish-white face stood out against the leaf-strewn Earth. The Polyjuice Potion was wearing off, leaving him in a state between his usual self and Cattermole. His hair turned redder and redder as his face drained of the little color it had left.

"What's happened to him?" Harry asked.

"Splinched," Hermione answered, her fingers already by Ron's sleeve, where the blood was wettest and darkness.

Venus watched in horror as Hermione tore open Ron's shirt. Her stomach churned unpleasantly as Hermione made Ron's upper arm all bare. A great chunk of flesh was missing in his arm, scooped cleanly away like a knife had been taken to i.

"Venus, quickly, in my bag, there's a small bottle labeled Essence of Dittany—"

"Yeah," Venus breathed out. She got off the ground and sped to the place where Hermione had landed, grabbing the tiny beaded bag. It would take forever to search through it, so she opened the bag and got out her wand. "Accio Dittany!"

A small brown bottle zoomed out of the bag. She caught it in her shaky hands and ran back to Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Ron's eyes were now half-closed.

"He's fainted," Hermione revealed, who was also rather pale, looking like herself again besides the gray hair in some places. "Unstopper it for me, Harry, my hands are shaking."

Harry took the bottle from Venus' shaking hands and wrenched the stopper off. Hermione then took it and poured three drops of the potion onto the bleeding wound. Greenish smoke billowed upwards and when it cleared, Venus saw the bleeding had stopped. The wound now looked several days old with new skin stretched over what had just been over flesh.

"Wow," Harry commented.

"It's all I feel safe doing," Hermione admitted shakily. "There are spells that would put him completely right, but I daren't try in case I do them wrong and cause more damage . . . he's lost so much blood already . . ."

"How did he get hurt? I mean, why are we here? I thought we were going back to Grimmauld Place?"

Hermione took a deep breath, looking close to tears. "Harry, I don't think we're going to be able to go back there."

"What d'you—?" Harry began.

"As we Disapparated, Yaxley caught hold of me and I couldn't get rid of him, he was too strong, and he was still holding on when we arrived at Grimmauld Place, and then — well, I think he must have seen the door, and thought we were stopping there, so he slackened his grip and I managed to shake him off and I brought us here instead!"

"But then, where's he? Hang on . . . you don't mean he's at Grimmauld Place? He can't get in there?"

Hermione nodded. "Harry, I think he can. I — I forced him to let go with a Revulsion Jinx, but I'd already taken him inside the Fidelius Charm's protection. Since Dumbledore died, we're Secret-Keepers, so I've given him the secret, haven't I?"

There was no pretending. Venus knew she was right. If Yaxley could not get inside Grimmauld Place, there was no way that they could return. He could now even be bringing other Death Eaters in there by Apparition. As gloomy and oppressive as the house was, it had been their one safe refuge with a now-nice House-Elf. Venus frowned to herself. Kreacher was probably making steak-and-kidney pie that her, Harry, Ron, and Hermione would never eat.

"Harry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Hermione, it's not your fault," Venus told her softly.

"If anything, it was mine . . ." Harry trailed off. He then took out Mad-Eye's eye from his pocket, and Hermione recoiled, looking horrified. "Umbridge had stuck it to her office door, to spy on people. I couldn't leave it there . . . but that's how they knew there were intruders."

Before Hermione could answer, Ron groaned and opened his eyes. He still looked gray and his face was glistening with sweat.

"How d'you feel?" Hermione whispered.

"Lousy," Ron replied, wincing as he felt his injured arm. "Where are we?"

"In the woods where they held the Quidditch World Cup. I wanted somewhere enclosed, undercover, and this was—"

"—the first place you thought of," Harry finished.

Venus looked around. It was apparently deserted. But if he Death Eaters found them within minutes the last time they had Apparated to the first place Hermione thought of, who said it wouldn't happen again?

"D'you reckon we should move on?" Ron questioned.

Harry shrugged. "I dunno."

Ron still looked pale and clammy. He had made no attempt to sit up and it looked like he was too weak to do so. The prospect of moving him was way too daunting.

"Let's stay here for now," Harry stated.

Hermione looked relieved. She sprang to her feet.

"Where are you going?" Ron inquired.

"If we're staying, we should put some protective enchantments around the place," Hermione responded. She raised her wand, and stared to walk in a wide circle, murmuring incantations as she went. There were little disturbances in the surrounding air. "Salvio Hexia . . . Protego Totalum . . . Repello Muggletum . . . Muffliato . . . you could get out the tent, V . . ."

"Tent," Venus repeated. "Right."

She went back over to the bag. Using another Summoning Charm, she got the tent. It emerged in a lumpy mass of canvas, ropes, and poles. She bent down and started to disentangle the tent pegs.

Harry started to help her. "I thought this belonged to that bloke Perkins at the Ministry?"

"Apparently he didn't want it back, his lumbago's so bad, so Ron's dad said I could borrow it," Hermione said, waving her wand. "Erecto!"

She pointed her wand at the misshapen canvas. In one fluid motion, it rose into the air and settled, fully constructed, onto the ground before Venus and Harry. Venus jumped backwards, her back pressing against Harry's arm as a peg flew out of her hands. It landed with a final thud at the end of a guy rope.

"Cave Inimicum," Hermione recited finally. "That's as much as I can do. At the very least, we should know they're coming, I can't guarantee it will keep out Vol—"

"Don't say the name!" Ron interrupted, his voice harsh.

Venus, Harry, and Hermione all shared a look.

Ron moaned a little as he raised himself to look at them. "I'm sorry, but it feels like a — a jinx or something. Can't we call him You-Know-Who — please?"

"Dumbledore said fear of a name—" Harry argued.

"In case you hadn't noticed, mate, calling You-Know-Who by his name didn't do Dumbledore much good in the end," Ron snapped. "Just — just show You-Know-Who some respect, will you?"

"Respect?"

Venus placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked down at her, and she just shook her head. It wasn't worth arguing with him when he was in a weakened condition like that.

Together, the three of them half carried, half dragged Ron through the entrance of the tent. The interior looked like a small apartment, or in Venus' memory, a normal New York City apartment. It was complete with a bathroom and a tiny kitchen. Harry shoved aside an old armchair and lowered Ron carefully onto the lower bed of a bunk bed. Even this very short journey had made Ron turn more white. Once they had settled him on the mattress he closed his eyes again and did not speak for a while.

"I'll make some tea," Hermione voiced, pulling a kettle and mugs from the depths of her bag and heading towards the kitchen.

Venus took her hot drink with a smile and took a sip. Although she definitely still preferred coffee — always a New Yorker at heart — the tea was nice.

Ron broke the silence. "What d'you reckon happened to the Cattermoles?"

"With any luck, they'll have got away," Hermione replied, clutching her hot mug for comfort. "As long as Mr. Cattermole had his wits about him, he'll have transported Mrs. Cattermole by Side-Along-Apparition and they'll be fleeing the country right now with their children. That's what Harry told her to do."

"Blimey, I hope they escaped." Ron leaned back on his pillows. The tea seemed to be doing him good, since a little of his color had returned. I didn't get the feeling Reg Cattermole was all that quick-witted, though, the way everyone was talking to me when I was him. God, I hope they made it . . . if they both end up in Azkaban because of us . . ."

Venus sighed. She had no idea if Mrs. Cattermole not having her wand would prevent her from Apparating alongside her husband. In her best wishes, she hoped they had left the country fully.

"So, have you got it?" Harry asked Hermione.

Hermione blinked. "Got — got what?"

"What did we just go through all that for? The locket! Where's the locket?"

"You got it?" Ron shouted, raising himself a little higher on his pillows. "No one tells me anything! Blimey, you could have mentioned it!"

"Well, we were running for our lives from the Death Eaters, weren't we?" Hermione protested. "Here."

She pulled the locket out of the pocket of her robes and handed it to Ron. It was quite large. An ornate letter S, inlaid with many small green stones, glinted dully in the diffused light shining through the tent's canvas roof.

"There isn't any chance someone's destroyed it since Kreacher had it?" Ron questioned hopefully. "I mean, are we sure it's still a Horcrux?"

Venus reached forwards and took the locket, staring at its perfect shape. "Probably. If it had been magically destroyed, it would show."

She then handed it to her boyfriend. Harry took the locket and turned it over in his fingers. He then tried to pry the locket apart with his fingers. That didn't work, so he attempted the charm Hermione had used to open Regulus' bedroom door. Nothing happened again. Venus, Ron, and Hermione all tried, but none of them could open it.

"Can you feel it, though?" Ron inquired in a hushed voice, holding it tight in his clenched fist.

Harry stared at him. "What d'you mean?"

Ron handed it back to him. Harry held it close. Venus knew what Ron meant. When she had been holding it, she felt something. It was either her own blood pulsing through her veins, or this Horcrux had a tiny metal heartbeat.

Venus looked at Harry. "What should we do with it?"

"Keep it safe till we work out how to destroy it," Harry answered. He then hung the chain around his own neck, dropping the locket out of sight beneath his robes. Harry stood up and stretched, looking at both his girlfriend and Hermione. "I think we should take it in turns to keep watch outside the tent. And we'll need to think about some food as well." Harry then noticed Ron attempting to sit up, who had turned a nasty shade of green. "You stay there."

They placed the Sneakoscope Hermione had given Harry for his birthday on the table in the tent. Venus, Harry, and Hermione spent the rest of the day sharing the role of lookout. However, the Sneakoscope remained silent and still upon its point all day. The woods remained deserted apar from occasional birds and squirrels, either because of the protective enchantments Hermione had spread around them or because people rarely ventured this way. Evening brought no change. Harry lit his wand and swapped places with Venus at ten o'clock, pressing a quick kiss to her forehead.

Venus felt herself getting hungry and light-headed. Hermione hadn't packed any food in her magical bag since she assumed they would be returning to Grimmauld Place. Venus and Hermione had only found some wild mushrooms from the nearest trees, which Hermione had stewed in a billycan. It was absolutely disgusting, but Venus ate on, knowing that she at least needed something.

As Harry kept watch, Venus sat in a chair, absentmindedly reading a book Hermione had brought for entertainment. However, she wasn't really reading. Her mind was so many other places. How her parents were in America, how Charlotte and Elijah were going back to a Death-Eater infested Hogwarts, how they had so many more Horcruxes to find with no clues on where to get them . . .

Suddenly, there was a thud from outside of the tent. Venus' head snapped up. Harry. She instantly shot to her feet and ran out of the tent, Hermione right behind her. Harry was sprawled on the ground, passed out besides the tent. Venus' eyes widened and she dropped to her knees next to him.

"Harry," Venus voiced, placing her hands on his shoulders and shaking him. "Harry, come on, wake up."

With a gasp, Harry opened his eyes and panted a little. He looked up at her, reaching up and taking one of her forearms in his hand. Venus helped him to gently sit up.

"Dream," Harry said, attempting to look innocent. "Must've dozed off, sorry."

"I know it was your scar!" Hermione admitted. "I can tell by the look on your face! You were looking into Vol—"

"Don't say his name!" Ron yelled from the depths of the tent.

"Fine. You-Know-Who's mind, then!"

"I didn't mean it to happen!" Harry insisted. "It was a dream! Can you control what you dream about, Hermione?"

"If you just learned to apply Occlumency—" Hermione began.

Harry looked to Venus, clearly not wanting to listen, and Venus stared at him worryingly. "He's found Gregorovitch, Star, and I think he's killed him, but before he killed him he read Gregorovitch's mind and I saw—"

"I think I'd better take over the watch if you're so tired you're falling asleep," Hermione interjected coldly.

"I can finish the watch!"

"No, you're obviously exhausted. Go and lie down."

Hermione dropped down in the entrance of the tent, looking stubborn.

"Come on," Venus whispered to Harry. "Let's go inside."

Venus stood up and offered his hand out to him. Harry took it, and holding hands, they walked into the tent together. Ron's still-pale face was poking out from the lower bunk. Harry let go of Venus' hand and climbed into the one above Ron. He then gestured Venus to join him. Her face feeling hot, she climbed up and laid next to Harry on the bed. It was a bit of a squeeze with the two of them up there, but it would do.

"What's You-Know-Who doing?" Ron asked in a low voice so Hermione wouldn't hear.

"He found Gregorovitch. He had him tied up, he was torturing him."

"How's Gregorovitch supposed to make him a new wand if he's tied up?"

"I dunno . . . it's weird, isn't it?" Harry paused for a moment. "He wanted something from Gregorovitch. He asked him to hand it over, but Gregorovitch said it had been stolen from him . . . and then . . . then . . . he read Gregorovitch's mind, and I saw this young bloke perched on a windowsill, and he fired a curse at Gregorovitch and jumped out of sight. He stole it, he stole whatever You-Know-Who's after. And I . . . I think I've seen him somewhere . . ."

It all went silent. The noises of the surrounding woods were muffled inside the tent, and the only thing Venus heard was Ron's breathing.

Venus rolled her head over so she was looking at Harry in the darkness. "Did you see what the thief was holding?"

"No . . . it must've been something small."

Venus hesitated. "Do you think You-Know-Who is after another thing that he could turn into a Horcrux? I — I know it would be dangerous for him to make another one, and Hermione said he had pushed his soul to the limit already, but . . . maybe he doesn't know that."

Harry thought it over. "Yeah . . . maybe."

Why had Voldemort killed Gregorovitch if he needed another wand? What was he trying to find? Why was he so far away when he had the whole Wizarding world and Ministry of Magic in his hands? Nothing made sense about it.

Venus didn't have much time to ponder. Because while laying down, in the dark, next to her boyfriend, her head slumped against Harry's shoulder, and she drifted into sleep.

╞════════ ༺ ༻ ════════╡

VENUS AWOKE EARLY the next morning, blinking the sleepiness out of her eyes. She could hear Ron and Hermione still sleeping, but the boy she had fallen asleep next to wasn't there. Venus took the covers off of her and climbed down onto the ground, putting her shoes on and creeping out of the tent. She spotted Harry standing by a gnarled and old tree a little ways from the camp. Venus slowly approached him, crossing her arms across her chest. She looked down and saw there was a small cross in the bark of the tree.

"I buried it," Harry told her, staring down at the ground. "Mad-Eye's eye."

Venus looked up at the tree. "Seems fitting for his personality, this tree."

"That's why I chose it." Harry paused for a moment. "Hey, um . . . I just wanted to say, uh . . . thanks, for sticking by me. Not sure what made you want to date me, but it's been a whole lot better within all this craziness to have you here."

Venus grinned slightly at him. She turned her body to face him, and Harry did the same, placing his hands gently on her waist.

"I told you, I'm with you always," Venus responded softly. "That includes now."

Harry smiled back down at her. He then leaned down and kissed her, their first proper kiss in days. After a couple of moments they pulled away, grinning at each other underneath the rising sun.

They walked back to the tent, hand-in-hand, and waited for the others to wake. Once they did, they started to discuss what to do next. Venus, Harry, and Hermione felt that it was best not to stay anywhere for too long, and Ron agreed, only under the condition that their next move took them within reach of a bacon sandwich. Hermione then started to remove the enchantments she had placed around the clearing while Venus, Harry, and Ron got rid of all the marks that might show that they had camped there. Then they Disapparated to the outskirts of a small market town.

Once they had pitched the tent in the shelter of a small space of trees and surrounded it with freshly cast defensive enchantments, Harry ventured out under the Invisibility Cloak to find some food for them. However, he only returned minutes later, empty-handed and looking pale. Venus had immediately rushed up to him in concern. All he could do was mouth the word Dementors.

"But you can make a brilliant Patronus!" Ron protested.

"I couldn't . . . make one," Harry let out, reaching up and clutching Venus' wrists as she placed her hands on either side of his cold face. "Wouldn't . . . come."

Venus nodded, trying to make him feel better through the disappointment in the tent. "It's okay. You're okay."

"So we still haven't got any food," Ron commented.

"Shut up, Ron," Hermione snapped. "Harry, what happened? Why do you think you couldn't make your Patronus? You managed perfectly yesterday!"

"I don't know," Harry admitted, sinking down into an old armchair, and Venus sat on the arm beside him, just like they used to do in the Gryffindor common room.

Ron kicked a chair leg and noticed Hermione's disapproving expression. "What? I'm starving! All I've had since I bled half to death is a couple of toadstools!"

"You go and fight your way through the Dementors, then," Harry argued.

"I would, but my arm's in a sling, in case you hadn't noticed!"

"That's convenient."

"And what's that supposed to—?"

"Of course!" Hermione cried, slapping a hand to her forehead that stopped the bickering. "Harry, give me the locket! Come on—" Hermione snapped her fingers "—the Horcrux, Harry, you're still wearing it!"

She held out her hands. Harry lifted the golden chain over his head, and immediately, Venus saw that a weight had been lifted off of his chest — literally.

"Better?" Hermione questioned.

"Yeah, loads better!" Harry exclaimed.

"Harry, you don't think you've been possessed, do you?"

"What? No! I remember everything we've done while I've been wearing it. I wouldn't know what I'd done if I'd been possessed, would I? Ginny told me there were times when she couldn't remember anything."

Hermione looked down at the locket. "Hmm. Well, maybe we ought not to wear it. We can just keep it in the tent."

"We are not leaving that Horcrux lying around," Harry stated firmly. "If we lose it, if it gets stolen—"

"Oh, all right, all right." Hermione put the locket around her neck and tucked it out of sight down the front of her shirt. "But we'll take turns wearing it, so nobody keeps it on too long."

"Great, and now we've sorted that out, can we please get some food?" Ron said irritably.

"Fine, but we'll go somewhere else to find it," Hermione responded. "There's no point staying where we know Dementors are swooping around."

In the end they settled down for the night in a field belonging to a lonely farm. They had managed to obtain eggs and bread, and they had made scrambled eggs with toast.

"It's not stealing, is it?" Hermione inquired in a troubled voice. "Not if I left some money under the chicken coop?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "'Er-mynee, 'oo worry 'oo much. 'Elax!"

It was, in fact, much easier to relax when they were comfortably well fed. The argument about Dementors were forgotten in laughter that night, and Venus could feel her spirits slightly lift, kissing Harry as he went to go take the first of the four night watches.

This was their first encounter with the fact that a full stomach meant good spirits and an empty one meant bad spirits. Venus wasn't really surprised at this though, because Charlotte always got irritable when she was hungry at Hogwarts. She would get quiet when she was hungry and got annoyed more easily, but tried to keep high spirits. Harry did all right, probably because he had apparently not been fed much at the Dursleys'. Hermione bore up reasonably well on the nights when they managed to scavenge nothing but berries or stale biscuits, her temper perhaps a little shorter than usual and her silences rather stern. Ron, however, who was always used to three large meals a day, was very unreasonable with his hunger. Whenever lack of food merged with Ron's turn to wear the Horcrux, he just became downright unpleasant and had an attitude Venus knew Penelope Lestrange would not put up with.

Ron kept asking so where next? He never had any ideas himself, but expected Venus, Harry, and Hermione to come up with plans while he sat and sulked about low food supplies. Accordingly, Venus, Harry, and Hermione spent hours trying to decide where they might find the other Horcruxes and how to destroy the one they already had. Their conversations became increasingly repetitive as they had no new information.

They recited the places that were important to Voldemort, which Dumbledore told Harry he believed that's where he hid them. Most of them where places where locations that Voldemort had lived or visited — the orphanage that he had been born and raised, Hogwarts since he got his education there, Borgin and Burkes which was his job after completing school, and Albania since he spent years of exile. These formed the basis of their speculations.

"Yeah, let's go to Albania," Ron voiced sarcastically. "Shouldn't take more than an afternoon to search an entire country."

"There can't be anything there," Hermione insisted. "He'd already made five of his Horcruxes before he went into exile, and Dumbledore was certain the snake is the sixth. We know the snake's not in Albania, it's usually with Vol—"

"Didn't I ask you to stop saying that?"

"Fine! The snake is usually with You-Know-Who — happy?"

"Not particularly."

"I can't see him hiding anything at Borgin and Burkes," Harry said, breaking the nasty silence. "Borgin and Burke were experts at Dark objects, they would've recognized a Horcrux straightaway." Ron yawned pointedly, and Venus gave him a warning look. "I still reckon he might have hidden something at Hogwarts."

Hermione sighed. "But Dumbledore would have found it, Harry!"

"Dumbledore said in front of me that he never assumed he knew all of Hogwarts' secrets. I'm telling you, if there was one place Vol—"

"Oi!" Ron protested.

"YOU-KNOW-WHO, then!" Harry shouted. "If there was one place that was really important to You-Know-Who, it was Hogwarts!"

Ron scoffed. "Oh, come on. His school?"

"Yeah, his school! It was his first real home, the place that meant he was special; it meant everything to him, and even after he left—"

"This is You-Know-Who we're talking about, right? Not you?"

Venus resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Ron was currently tugging at the chain of the Horcrux around his neck.

She took a deep breath. "You said that You-Know-Who asked Dumbledore to give him a job after he left."

"That's right," Harry confirmed.

"But Dumbledore thought he only wanted to come back to school to try and find something, possibly another founder's object, to make another Horcrux?"

"Yeah."

"Yet he never got the job," Venus continued. "So he probably never got the chance to get a founder's object and hide it in Hogwarts."

"Okay, then," Harry cut in. "Forget Hogwarts."

Without any other leads, they traveled into London. Hidden beneath the Invisibility Cloak, they searched for the orphanage where Voldemort had been raised. Hermione stole into a library and found out in their records that it had been demolished many years before. They visited its site and found a tower block of offices.

"We could try digging in the foundations?" Hermione suggested.

Harry shook his head. "He wouldn't have hidden a Horcrux here."

Even without any new ideas, they continued to make their way through the countryside, pitching the tent in a different place each night for security. Every morning they made sure that they had removed all clues to their presence, then set off to find another secluded spot, traveling to Apparition to more woods, to the shadowy crevices of cliffs, to purple moors, gorse-covered mountainsides, and once a sheltered and pebbly cove. About every twelve hours, they passed the Horcrux between the four of them. Venus hated having it on — it only made her stress and anxiety increase. However, the one who was the most affected by it, besides Ron, was Harry. He would wince sometimes, the same wince he did when his scar hurt.

"What?" Ron demanded whenever he noticed Harry wince. "What did you see?"

"A face," Harry muttered every time. "The same face. The thief who stole from Gregorovitch."

And Ron would turn away, not even trying to hide his disappointment. Venus knew that Ron was hoping to hear news of his family or of the rest of the Order of the Phoenix, but Harry could only see what Voldemort was thinking at the time. Right now, it was that thief. Hermione and Ron would always get impatient at the mention of the thief, evidently desperate for a lead on the Horcruxes. Venus would always listen to Harry's rambling like she always did.

The days stretched into weeks. Ron and Hermione started to have conversations without and about Harry. Venus never participated in these conversations because talking quite literally behind her boyfriend's back was not on her agenda. She always gave him a kiss on the cheek whenever he would see Ron and Hermione fall silent when he came close.

Venus could tell what Harry was thinking. He thought he was a poor leader, which wasn't true. Ron was only making it worse by not making an effort to hide his bad mood. But it wasn't Harry's fault that they had no locations or anything about Horcruxes. She would often sit with him at night, just offering her comfort just in case he needed it.

Autumn rolled over the countryside as they moved through it, now pitching the tent on piles of fallen leaves. Natural mists joined those cast by Dementors, and wind and rain added to their troubles. Venus and Hermione were getting better at identifying edible fungi, but that couldn't make up for their continuing isolation, the lack of other people's company, or their total ignorance of what was going on in the war against Voldemort.

"My mother can make good food appear out of thin air," Ron stated one night as they sat in the tent on a riverbank in Wales.

He prodded moodily at the lumps of charred gray fish on his plate. Venus glanced down at Ron's neck, and sure enough, the Horcrux was there. She let out a breath and looked back down at her plate. It was only a little longer when Ron would take off the locket and his mood would improve slightly.

"Your mother can't produce food out of thin air," Hermione responded. "No one can. Food is the first of the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfigur—"

"Oh, speak English, can't you?" Ron snapped.

"It's impossible to make good food out of nothing! You can Summon it if you know where it is, you can transform it, you can increase the quantity if you've already got some—"

"Well, don't bother increasing this, it's disgusting."

"Harry caught the fish and Venus and I did our best with it!" Hermione argued. "I notice we're always the one who ends up sorting out the food, because we're girls, I suppose!"

"No, it's because you're supposed to be the best at magic!" Ron shot back.

Venus wanted to slam her head against a wall.

Hermione jumped up. "You can do the cooking tomorrow, Ron, you can find the ingredients and try and charm them into something worth eating, and I'll sit here and pull faces and moan and you can see how you—"

"Shut up!" Harry shouted, getting to his feet and holding up both hands. "Shut up now!"

Hermione looked outraged. "How can you side with him, he hardly ever does the cook—"

"Hermione, be quiet, I can hear someone!"

Venus sat up straighter and listened hard. Then, over the rush and gush of the dark river beside them, she heard voices. Her eyes widened and she got up. The Sneakoscope wasn't moving.

"You cast the Muffliato charm over us, right?" Harry whispered to Hermione.

"I did everything, Muffliato, MuggleRepelling and Disillusionment Charms, all of it," Hermione answered. "They shouldn't be able to hear or see us, whoever they are."

There were heavy scuffing and scraping noises, plus the sound of dislodged stones and twigs. Several people were clambering down the steep, wooded slop that descended to the narrow bank where they had pitched the tent. Venus pulled out her wand, holding it tightly.

The enchantments they had cast around themselves would be sufficient in the near total darkness to shield them from Muggles and normal witches and wizards. if they were Death Eaters, then their defenses were about to be tested by Dark Magic for the first time.

Voices became louder but not clearer as the group of men reached the bank. The owners were probably around twenty feet away, but the rushing river made it impossible to tell. Hermione snatched up the beaded bag and started to rummage. After a moment she drew out four Extendable Ears and threw one to each of them. Venus inserted the end of the flesh-colored strings into their ears and fed the other ends out of the tent entrance.

"There ought to be a few salmon in here, or d'you reckon it's too early in the season?" a weary male voice called. "Accio Salmon!"

Venus could hear distinct splashes and then the slapping sounds of fish against flesh. Somebody grunted in appreciation. Over the murmur of the river there were more voices, but they weren't speaking English or any human language. It was rough and unmelodious, a string of rattling, guttural noises. There seemed to be two speakers, one with a slightly lower and slower voice than the other.

A fire danced to life on the other side of the canvas. Large shadows passed between the tent and flames. The delicious smell of salmon baking came in their direction. Then came the clinking of cutlery on plates.

"Here, Griphook, Gornuk," the first man offered.

Goblins! Hermione mouthed.

"Thank you," the Goblins replied together in English.

"So, you three have been on the run how long?" a new, pleasant voice asked.

"Six weeks . . . seven . . . I forget," the tired man answered. "Met up with Griphook in the first couple of days and joined forces with Gornuk not long after. Nice to have a bit of company." There was a pause, while knives scraped plates and tin mugs were picked up and replaced on the ground. "What made you leave, Ted?"

Venus tilted her head. She remembered Penelope saying something about her Uncle Ted, and how Tonks had said her father's name was Ted. Was this Ted Tonks? Venus snuck a glance at Ron, who also seemed shocked.

"Knew they were coming for me," Ted responded. "Heard Death Eaters were in the area last week and decided I'd better run for it. Refused to register as a Muggle-born on principle, see, so I knewit was a matter of time, knew I'd have to leave in the end. My wife and neice should be okay, they're Pureblood. And then I met Dean here, what, a few days ago, son?"

"Yeah," a familiar voice agreed.

Venus' eyes widened in excitement and she shared a look with Harry. It was Dean Thomas, their fellow Gryffindor.

"Muggle-born, eh?" the first man questioned.

"Not sure," Dean stated. "My dad left my mum when I was a kid. I've got no proof he was a wizard, though."

"I've got to say, Dirk, I'm surprised to run into you," Ted admitted after a moment of silence. "Pleased, but surprised. Word was you'd been caught."

"I was," Dirk revealed. "I was halfway to Azkaban when I made a break for it, Stunned Dawlish, and nicked his broom. It was easier than you'd think; I don't reckon he's quite right at the moment. Might be Confunded. If so, I'd like to shake the hand of the witch or wizard who did it, probably saved my life."

Ted spoke up again after it was quiet. "And where do you two fit in? I, er, had the impression the Goblins were for You-Know-Who, on the whole."

"You had a false impression," the higher-voiced Goblin said. "We take no sides. This is a wizards' war."

"How come you're in hiding, then?"

"I deemed it prudent," the deeper-voiced goblin stated. "Having refused what I considered an impertinent request, I could see that my personal safety was in jeopardy."

"What did they ask you to do?" Ted inquired.

"Duties ill-befitting the dignity of my race. I am not a House-Elf."

"What about you, Griphook?"

"Similar reasons," the higher-voiced Goblin agreed. "Gringotts is no longer under the sole control of my race. I recognize no Wizarding master."

He added something under his breath in Gobbledegook. Gornuk laughed.

"What's the joke?" Dean asked.

"He said that there are things wizards don't recognize, either," Dirk translated.

There was a short pause.

"I don't get it," Dean admitted.

"I had my small revenge before I left," Griphook explained in English.

"Good man — Goblin, I should say," Ted corrected hastily. "Didn't manage to lock a Death Eater up in one of the old high security vaults, I suppose?"

"If I had, the sword would not have helped him break out."

"Dean and I are still missing something here."

"So is Severus Snape, though he does not know it," Griphook joked, and him and Gornuk roared with malicious laughter.

Venus felt her heart rate increase. Did this mean . . .

"Didn't you hear about that, Ted?" Dirk questioned. "About the kids who tried to steal Gryffindor's sword out of Snape's office at Hogwarts?"

"Never heard a word," Ted announced. "Not in the Prophet, was it?"

"Hardly. Griphook here told me, he heard about it from Bill Weasley who works for the bank. One of the kids who tried to take the sword was Bill's younger sister."

Venus felt her grip tighten on her Extendable Ear. Some kids from Hogwarts had tried to steal the sword of Gryffindor? Her chest swelled with pride. They were rebelling.

"She and a couple of friends got into Snape's office and smashed open the glass case where he was apparently keeping the sword," Dirk continued. "Snape caught them as they were trying to smuggle it down the staircase."

"Ah, God bless 'em," Ted replied. "What did they think, that they'd be able to use the sword on You-Know-Who? Or on Snape himself?"

"Well, whatever they thought they were going to do with it, Snape decided the sword wasn't safe where it was. Couple of days later, once he'd got the say-so from You-Know-Who, I imagine, he sent it down to London to be kept in Gringotts instead."

The Goblins started to laugh again.

"I'm still not seeing the joke," Ted voiced.

"It's a fake," Griphook told him.

"The sword of Gryffindor!"

"Oh yes. It is a copy — an excellent copy, it is true — but it was Wizard-made. The original was forged centuries ago by Goblins and had certain properties only goblin-made armor possesses. Wherever the genuine sword of Gryffindor is, it is not in a vault at Gringotts bank."

"I see," Ted said. "And I take it you didn't bother telling the Death Eaters this?"

"I saw no reason to trouble them with the information," Griphook answered smugly.

Ted and Dean now joined in with Gornuk and Dirk's laughter.

Dean then asked the question that the people inside the tent were waiting for. "What happened to Ginny and the others? The ones who tried to steal it?"

"Oh, they were punished, and cruelly," Griphook replied.

"They're okay, though?" Ted added quickly. "I mean, the Weasleys don't need any more of their kids injured, do they?"

"They suffered no serious injury, as far as I am aware."

"Lucky for them. With Snape's track record I suppose we should just be glad they're still alive."

"You believe that story, then, do you, Ted?" Dirk inquired. "You believe Snape killed Dumbledore?"

"'Course I do," Ted stated. "You're not going to sit there and tell me you think Potter had anything to do with it?"

"Hard to know what to believe these days," Dirk muttered.

"I know Harry Potter," said Dean. "And I reckon he's the real thing — the Chosen One, or whatever you want to call it."

"Yeah, there's a lot would like to believe he's that, son, me included. But where is he? Run for it, by the looks of things. You'd think, if he knew anything we don't, or had anything special going for him, he'd be out there now fighting, rallying resistance, instead of hiding. And you know, the Prophet made a pretty good case against him—"

Ted scoffed. "The Prophet? You deserve to be lied to if you're still reading that muck, Dirk. You want the facts, try the Quibbler."

There was a sudden explosion of choking and retching, plus a good deal of thumping. Dirk had apparently swallowed a fish bone.

"The Quibbler?" Dirk spluttered at last. "That lunatic rag of Xeno Lovegood's?"

"It's not so lunatic these days," Ted argued. "You want to give it a look. Xeno is printing all the stuff the Prophet's ignoring, not a single mention of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks in the last issue. How long they'll let him get away with it, mind, I don't know. But Xeno says, front page of every issue, that any wizard who's against You-Know-Who ought to make helping Harry Potter their numberone priority."

"Hard to help a boy who's vanished off the face of the earth."

"Listen, the fact that they haven't caught him yet's one hell of an achievement. I'd take tips from him gladly; it's what we're trying to do, stay free, isn't it?"

"Yeah, well, you've got a point there," Dirk admitted. "With the whole of the Ministry and all their informers looking for him I'd have expected him to be caught by now. Mind, who's to say they haven't already caught and killed him without publicizing it?"

"Ah, don't say that, Dirk," Ted murmured.

There was a long pause filled with more clattering of knives and forks. When they spoke again, it was to discuss whether they would sleep on the bank or retreat back up the wooded slope. Deciding the trees would give better cover, they extinguished their fire, then hiked back up the incline, their voices fading away.

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now why couldn't they just have hidden the horcrux in hermione's beaded bag huh

also why did voldemort make his horcruxes such notable items like I would've made mine a grain of sand and no one would've found it ever