Avrille lay face down on the ground, praying for oblivion. The cries of the men hunting her echoed around the forest, but she had no strength to run from them any more. The ragged remains of her clothes rested on her skinny shoulder, tears in the fabric revealing old scars and open wounds that were unbelievable in number for a girl so young. She crawled behind a small bush as the sounds of the hunters slowly became further away. Avrille did not move, just lay in the dirt. She had lost everything today; everything she had ever cared about was gone, and here she was, left alone, beaten and starving. She did not want to think about the terrible things she had done that day. As she drifted in and out of an uneasy unconsciousness, she heard faint footsteps in the dry grass advancing towards her. But she did not care if they found her now. At least it would be the end.

As Severus slowly and silently made his way through the forest under the protection of the invisibility cloak, wand drawn and occlumency at the ready, he wondered about the girl that he had been sent to find. He knew that she was being kept in some kind of village in this forest, but that today there had been some kind of disturbance and now he did not know where to look. It was quite by chance that he saw a sparkling of dark hair on the ground next to his foot, and as his eyes moved from her hair to the lifeless face and the defeated body, he knew he must have found her.

Avrille sensed the man close to her. At first she thought he had not seen her, before realising that he had merely stopped and was staring. She sensed that he was not one of the men seeking to kill her, but a man with an entirely different, unknown purpose. She shook the weariness from her body and cleared her head, before jumping upright in one fluid motion that caused her seeker to almost stumble back in shock. She confronted him, hands at the ready, and Severus realised she did not have a wand. He wondered why she had her hands out as if she was going to cast a wandless spell, when he was suddenly hit hard in the chest by a spell he had never felt before. He lay on the ground in shock, wondering what the hell was going on. He was still wearing his invisibility cloak.

Avrille summoned the cloak to her, revealing her adversary. He stumbled to his feet and drew his wand, but immediately found it flying through the air to her outstretched hand. Incredible, Severus thought bitterly, that this girl who can do these spells seemingly without a wand has been hidden from the wizarding world for so long.
Avrille looked up at the stranger, who was glowering at her and brushing dirt from his black robes.

'What do you want with me?' she demanded, he green eyes flashing with anger.

'There's no need to be rude,' Severus spoke in a quiet, low voice. He was completely consumed by the fire in her eyes and the confidence in which she held herself.

He cleared his head, and spoke again in an agitated tone, 'I had come to take you away from this place. Though I clearly did not realise that you had escaped already.'

'Then you have no business with me anymore, seeing as though I have already escaped.' Avrille spat back at him.

'And what a fine job you seem to have done of it,' Severus retorted, indicating her tattered clothing stained with blood and dirt. Avrille raised her eyebrow, unimpressed, and Severus immediately doubled over in pain, a blinding pain which had come out of nowhere but felt like every corner of his mind had been filled with an excruciating pain. He did not yell out, and it lasted only a second before Avrille receded her mind from his.

As he breathed deeply, trying to regain his composure, Severus thought he was starting to understand what Dumbledore had been talking about all those weeks ago during their last meeting.

Avrille threw Severus' wand down at his feet and turned to stalk off. Obviously this stranger did not want to kill her, but she did not trust him and wanted to get away from him She did not know how much longer she could keep up this confident façade; her wounds were paining her greatly and she thought she might pass out if she didn't eat or sit down soon. Severus, bending down to scoop up his discarded wand, took a few quick steps and was next to her again.

He decided to be straight with her. 'Professor Dumbledore sent me to find you and bring you back to Hogwarts, his school.'

'Oh, really?' said Avrille sarcastically, 'And I'm the Queen of Sheba, then, am I?' her eyes flashed again, 'Leave me alone, Death Eater.'

Severus started at her words, and wondered furiously how she could have known. He narrowed his eyes and decided to give her a taste of her own medicine, 'You know nothing about me, Avrille!'

His words rang in her ears. Avrille almost fell over at the sound of her name. She positioned her body in the defensive once more, and decided this man was worth investigating.

'How do you know who I am?' she asked, furious that she had been caught off guard.

'Well, as it turns out, Professor Dumbledore and I only found out of your existence two months ago, and discovered your whereabouts a few weeks after. Naturally I was sent to find you as soon as possible, to confirm if the rumours were true.' Severus watched her to gauge her response.

She stared coolly back at him, unimpressed again. 'Well, congratulations.' She said haughtily, ignoring the fogginess that was beginning to overcome her mind,

'Professor Dumbledore must really be the great wizard I have read about. No one has ever found out about any of us, although it is not due to lack of effort on our behalf. What makes you think I will come with you? What do you want with me?' she repeated angrily.

Severus sighed in annoyance. This girl was going to be a bigger handful than he thought.

'Because Hogwarts is where any witch or wizard your age belongs.' He decided to give it to her all at once, 'And it also happens to be where your brother, Harry, lives during the term.'

Avrilles eyes almost fell out of her head, they opened so wide. But only for a split second before they closed into angry slits.

'I have no family.' She said in a low hiss, before she turned and stormed away. This was the final straw for her complaining body, however, and she found herself falling to the ground, succumbing to the unconsciousness that had been threatening to overtake her all afternoon.