This is a story I started a long time ago, and just got around to publishing. With school picking up, I'm not sure how much more I'll be able to add anytime soon.

1111111111 Will be used for transitions in time, place, or focus.

Harry trooped back to the tent, carrying some wild strawberries and mushrooms, edible both, he hoped, longing for the feel of a warm dry blanket and a mug of strong tea once he was back inside. Nudging the tent flap open with his foot, he looked around the cozy interior of the tent, if it could be called that, after being magically expanded and furnished.

Hermione was sitting in her plush backed chair, wrapped up in both a book and a blanket. Ron was sitting in the kitchen, attempting to scratch enough food together for a meal. Listening, Harry could hear Ginny upstairs, humming a tune while she worked. He couldn't tell what she was doing, exactly, but she only ever hummed if she was lost in thought and busy making something. Lastly, Leah, a blonde American that had hooked up with the group a few weeks before on the streets, was using her wand to form dust clouds into various, amusing shapes.

"What'd you find?" Ron called to him. "Any better than before?"

"Not really," Harry answered back, "about the same. I wish we would settle next to a farm or stream, just so we could actually know what's food and what's not."

"Well, don't worry, things could get worse," Leah called to them over a swirling imitation of a full turkey. "At least we haven't had to eat Hermione yet."

"I heard that," Hermione called over the top of the book, Advanced Transformations for Advanced Spellcasters. "Honestly, I don't know what it is with your sense of humor, but I wish you wouldn't find so much amusement in our troubles."

"It's not amusement, exactly," she happily retorted, "it's just that I'm a chronic optimist."

Ignoring the small talk, Harry walked over to Ron and deposited his meager findings on a counter. Speaking in an undertone, he told him, "Honestly, if we don't find more things soon, we'll be in a worse situation than before." Harry was referring to the moment of depression when the first four had sat on the streets, almost uncaring about going on. If not for the arrival of a lost but street-tough Leah, they probably would still be sitting at the curb of a street somewhere.

"True, but we can't let the others know about it, we'll just have to start searching farther away," Ron whispered back just as seriously. "I guess, for now, we'll just take less and lead the girls on as if nothing was different."

"Would you two stop whispering so suspicious like over there?" Leah called at them. "Cheer up. Play a game of poker or something."

Poker had been introduced to them by her while they were still on the streets. At first, they didn't understand how she won so much against the older people she played, but it made sense once they discovered that she transfigured her hand every turn while they weren't watching.

"I think I'll just go for a walk outside," Harry said. "Ron, you coming?"

"No, I want to beat her fair and square for once," came Ron's reply.

"I'll go," came a voice from the stairs. Ginny was standing there, and probably had been for some time. "You need at least one person to watch your back, the way you attract trouble. Besides," she added in undertone, "we haven't had a chance to be alone for almost a week."

Feeling his stomach do a flop, Harry let himself be led by the hand back to the door. "Don't stay out there too long, you two," Leah called at them. "Dinner will be ready shortly."

"Never fret, we'll be back," Harry replied with half of a comical bow in her direction, then ducked out of the tent with Ginny, both girls laughing.

"It's different now, isn't it?" Ginny asked him after they had walked a short distance from the tent. "From when we first met, I mean."

"I would say so," Harry replied, putting his arm around her waist and holding her closer to him. She was shivering. He hoped it was just because it was a cool evening "At least we can actually talk face to face."

They walked on, going a bit deeper into the woods than they should have, never knowing that they were being watched from two sets of very different eyes.