AN: Hi guys! It's been a long while since I posted here, but I've been going through a ton of old writing on my computer and have found a couple of older stories that I never published but which I think deserve to see the light of day rather than festering away in the depths of my hard drive. I've thoroughly edited the ones worth keeping over the last few weeks and this is the first of them, so hopefully a few of you out there can enjoy it!

Just a quick note for film-only fans before we get started, for context; in the books during the war Voldemort's name is branded 'Taboo', making it a tracker, so that anyone who says it is instantly accosted by Death Eaters/Snatchers. This is how the gang are caught by the Scabior and Greyback in the book, when Harry accidentally says the name, being the little rebel that he is. All the best, and thanks for reading!

SERPENTS

Chapter One:

The Chase

The sun was ageing in the sky as the two young Wizards sat out by the lake, basking in the last of the day's fleeting warmth as the clouds burned a glowing pink, so bright they had to squint to enjoy them properly. The afternoon they had allowed themselves to enjoy the sunshine had made a welcome change from the past two weeks spent hiding out in a nearby Muggle hostel. Celestia, the more nervous of the two, was very aware that they had spent too long enjoying themselves without interruption. Their luck would have to run out eventually.

"We should get going," she said to her friend, who was throwing the last of his sandwich out to the ducks on the water, orange ripples reflecting back up at the sky. "It'll be dark soon."

"Just five more minutes," Al said, then smiled as he saw the doubtful look on the girl's face.

"Oh, alright. Ten, maybe. There's still a little sunset left. We should enjoy it while it lasts."

Celestia tossed the crusts of her own bread out to join Al's on the lake, where a pair of solemn white swans quickly scooped them up, the smaller birds weaving between their wings. Muggle families were packing up picnics on the benches around them, their children laughing, dogs barking, all having come to enjoy the fragile burst of September sunshine. For a moment at least, they could forget that winter was on its way.

Five minutes went by. Celestia hugged her knees a little tighter. She had to let Al have this, that she knew. It was the little moments like these which reminded him what they were fighting for. They only reminded Celestia what she was missing, and left her with a dull ache for what she had left behind.

The sky was quickly turning bronze, welcoming the darkness. Celestia always felt far less safe in the dark. Al was smiling to himself, his eyes on the setting sun.

"Do you remember that one summer back at school when we snuck out to the Great Lake after every Care of Magical Creatures class to watch the Selkies dancing in the water?"

"Of course I remember." Celestia laughed a little, fingering the necklace about her throat. "I'll never forget the look on your face when Hagrid told us it was because it was mating season. I'm sure that green-haired one had her eye on you."

Al chuckled. "What can I say? I'm irresistible to women, even the scaly ones. It's a curse."

Celestia nudged him teasingly. "You keep telling yourself that, stud."

There was a noise from behind them which sounded suspicious. Celestia turned quickly, instantly on edge.

"Did you hear that?"

"Relax, C. It's probably someone's dog, or maybe a nice little bunny rabbit. No need to jump at every noise."

The young Witch wasn't so convinced. She was mistrustful at the best of times, and the past few months had been far from those.

"We're on the run, remember. I can't help but be a little jumpy. At this point I'm half expecting Voldemort himself to jump out of the bushes..."

Al looked at her suddenly with wide, anxious eyes. Celestia's heart skipped more than a beat. She had never seen someone look so frightened so quickly.

"...What?"

Al was up on his feet in a moment."We need to go."

He pulled Celestia up from the grass, not even pausing to pick up their scattered belongings before dragging her away from the scene. Celestia didn't understand, but she trusted Al enough to go along with whatever he thought was best. He was visibly terrified, and pulling Celestia so violently towards the forest at the edge of the oxbow lake for coverage that the last of the Muggle families around them were beginning to stare. One man shouted after the two of them, no doubt believing they were having some sort of a domestic and thinking himself the hero for intervening. Al ignored him, picking up the pace.

"I told you about it, I told you. On Potterwatch Rapier said that the Ministry have made the name Taboo, they can track you from it! You say the name and bang!- they've got you-"

There were a series of loud cracks and sounds of shock from the Muggles by the lake. Al turned at the sound, but Celestia didn't need to; it was the unmistakable sound of people apparating.

"...Snatchers."

"They won't cast anything in front of the Muggles," Celestia panted as they ran into the coverage of the woodland, already a little short of breath, "that gives us a head start."

"Yeah, of about two seconds. They just apparated for all to see, looks to me like they already thing they've won this war and are past caring what the Muggles think. Just keep running! Get your wand ready!"

Celestia did not need telling; she already had it out, The familiar curvature of her laurel-wood companion comforting in her hand. Her thumb rested atop the carved snake's head, its body wound from the base of the wand, coiled up to the half-way point. The young woman searched her mind for hexes, but came up blank; all she could think was run, run, run.

Celestia reached up to her throat and snapped her necklace free as she moved, breaking the glittering links. She clenched it tightly in her fist; it had been a gift from her mother, bearing the letters of her name moulded in soft rose gold. The snapping of twigs and crunching of mulch as they swept through the forest was the only noise which came to meet their heavy breathing.

The terrain was difficult but not impossible to navigate. Soon, though, they began to hear footfalls and yells, and then the hexes came, bouncing off the trees around them and devastating the natural order of the forest. The two fugitives continued to run, following the river upstream in all haste. Celestia readied her wand, keeping it firm in her grip, and began her assault.

"Impedimenta!" Celestia cried, and fired randomly backwards hoping her Jinx would hit one of their pursuers. She didn't stick around long enough to find out whether she had been successful. The two young spell-casters fired the jinx and a variety of others over and over at the men chasing them, dodging the onslaught which came back their way. Al narrowly avoided the Cruciatus curse, which crackled red against the trunk of the tree it hit instead.

"They're not playing around," the young Wizard gasped, his words janky and laboured, "keep running, we can leave them behind if we just-!"

"Locomotor Mortis!"

Before Al could finish his sentence there was a flash of purple light, and suddenly the young Wizard dropped like a stone at Celestia's side, falling sideways and vanishing with a colossal splash into the calm evening river. Celestia was already five foot ahead by the time he hit the water, stumbling to stop herself; she screamed over the edge of the lake for Al, but there was no sign of him bar from the huge ripples which now disturbed the river's surface.

Celestia looked back at her pursuers. There was nothing she could do for Al except scream his name. Her hesitation had lost her precious seconds. On instinct she ran, and kept on running, as a new haze of hexes rained down around her.

"Confringo!"

A bolt of yellow light zoomed over Celestia's head and struck the tree ahead of her, blowing a portion of the tree apart in a haze of yellow light. The force of the blast was so intense that it threw the girl backwards into the dirt, where roots from the surrounding trees began to rip themselves from the ground and tie swiftly around her legs. Celestia cried out in panic, but her wand was still in her hand; she would not be beaten yet.

"Relashio!" Celestia screamed, and a jet of purple sparks burst from the end of her wand, sending the vines momentarily scrambling; it was enough for her to get back on her feet. Five feet or so behind, the man who had cast the spell shouted something unsavoury.

The young Witch thundered through the forest as fast as she could, but the man was so close to her, and clearly far better at running than she was, that he closed the gap within moments. His fingers had clawed their way into Celestia's hair, his nails scraping her scalp, sending her backwards with a scream, his other hand coming to a close around Celestia's wrist; he released her locks and pulled her around to face him with a beaming, crazed grin.

"Alright, lovely? Fancy a game of Kiss Chase?"

"Relashio!" Celestia shrieked again, and the spell worked a second time, loosening the Snatcher's grip and allowing her to dart into the trees again. This time the Snatcher didn't waste breath on insults; already running after her, he extended his wand and yelled,

"Colloshoo!"

Celestia narrowly avoided the hex which would have gummed her shoes to the ground and left her stationery. The look on the Snatchers' face stayed in her mind; he looked as though he'd been enjoying himself, as though his work were a game to him, something to be enjoyed. She weaved around bushes and trees as she fled, trying to make the chances of a curse hitting her as minimal as possible; she put some distance between herself and the Snatchers, their footfalls failing behind her, and for a moment it seemed that she might escape. Thick black chains snaked themselves around the trees either side of her as she thundered on, missing her by inches.

Just keep running, Celestia thought to herself. They can't kill you if they can't catch you-

"Gotcha!"

There was the tiniest whooshing sound, and suddenly the girl felt her throat close up as if she were choking. Her legs forgot all about running and crumpled beneath her, sending her skidding across the forest floor. She dropped her wand into the dirt, hands clawing at her neck, desperate for air; it was less than a moment before one of her attackers fell upon her. Celestia was aware only of a grey blur as he lifted her with a huge hand, turning her in mid air and casting her back down again. Celestia went skidding through the woodland mulch on her back, her bulging eyes staring up at the evening sky now rather than the filthy forest floor.

That view was stolen in a moment as a Snatcher bared down over her, his hot breath in her face. Her attacker was different from the one who had grabbed her by the hair, a huge beast of a man, well over six foot, as wide as a door frame and almost completely covered in grey, matted hair. His teeth were like razorblades and his muzzle was red; he bore his fangs at her, the stink of him like a butcher's shop, and Celestia almost managed a scream.

"Easy, Greyback!" Called a voice which sounded barely out of breath, the first of the Snatchers she had encountered jogging up beside them. "I've told you before, we'll never make a profit if you keep eating all the merchandise."

After a moment the huge man reluctantly climbed off the hysterical girl, leaving her choking on the ground. She turned on her side, gasping, and saw blood on her arm through a huge tear in the sleeve of her jacket; the man who had attacked her had cut her badly from her elbow up to her shoulder, seemingly with his nails. The site of the blood made her panic, and her inability to breathe became even worse.

The other Snatcher was tutting, swaggering about the scene as though he owned the forest and everything in it. He stepped closer to Celestia, standing over her as she lay on her back, one foot either side of her torso, staring down at her. Her hair was wild from her attempted escape, sprinkled with leaves and twigs. Her face was quickly turning from the same shade of pink as her pretty sundress to an asphyxiated purple.

"You going to behave, Missy?"

Celestia couldn't answer, not even a nod. The Snatcher flicked his wand and released her all the same.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Celestia raked in air, as much as she could manage, closing her eyes and focusing on nothing else. For a long time the two Snatchers looked down at her, both a little entranced, but for very different reasons. The young woman looked thoroughly spent, breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling as she raked in breath after breath. The caddish Snatcher let out a low whistle.

"Blimey. I'll hand it to you, Fenrir, she does look tasty. I almost fancy a bite myself."

"She's got my scent on her," his partner growled. "Reckon she's mine now."

The other Snatcher backed off a little to get a better look at her, tutting as though scalding a child and not a fully-grown, frightening man.

"That's not how things work around here, my hairy friend, I thought you'd have picked up on that by now. It's share and share alike here, unless it's someone's Birthday or I say otherwise. At least when I'm through with her there'll still be something left to share."

The huge man bared his teeth, but said nothing more, reeling back towards the branches of a shadowy tree.

Celestia, hardly hearing what they were saying, was more focused on a dull throbbing in one of her toes, and the horrible constricted sensation in her chest. Remembering where she was and the company she was in, she managed to work herself into a sitting position, staring in terror at the two men. The first looked ravenous, the second bemused. The man who had tackled her to the ground was just as terrifying to look upon a second time as he had been before, menace blistering all throughout his body, his eyes alive with something frightening which she couldn't put a name to. The other Snatcher was quite his antithesis, smaller and lithe, with a mellow, disinterested face and a cool expression. He might have been observing a bee dancing over a flowerbed so much as a frightened, bleeding young woman, such was his disposition.

"Gave us quite the run for our money there, madam, I'll give you that. Almost hit me with one of those Impedimenta's back there. You got a name?"

Celestia took a moment to breathe, and to think. Just as she had feared, the dark had come in all too quickly. The sun had disappeared through the trees and now they hovered at the cusp of night.

"Charity," she answered; the name of her favourite teacher had been the first to come to mind.

"Charity what?"

"Tanith," she said, giving the surname of Lamia, a Pureblood friend from Hogwarts whom she had shared a dormitory with.

The Snatcher nodded. "Ey'are, Greyback, give us the logbook."

"I haven't got it," the larger man answered.

"Then who the bloody hell has?"

The two derailed into a quiet argument and Celestia looked about for an escape; after a fleeting moment she had to resign herself to the fact that running would not be a good idea, not now that she was in such a state; she'd had a narrow window of escape, and that window had been closed. It was the Snatcher's job to be quicker than her, and she was sorely outnumbered; there were at least three other men who had been in persuit of her and Al, though she wondered where they had got to. Celestia wished she had known what was coming when Al had dragged them into the woods; had she understood she would have made him stay, that they might blend into the crowd of Muggle families where the Snatchers would be unable to find them and less likely to throw around any magic. They might have been able to slither away undetected.

Get up, Celestia told herself, and pushed herself into a crouching position. The pain in her foot was so terrible she had to grit her teeth to restrain a yelp as she moved. As she raised herself she was careful to push the necklace in her hand down into the ground, covering it with her foot the moment she stood and grinding it down into the mud; the Snatcher had keen eyes, however, and even while arguing seemed to catch a glint of it as she'd feebly transitioned from sitting to standing. He reached a hand out towards her and snapped his fingers.

"A-a-aah," he warned, flicking his wrist at her, bringing his argument with his subordinate to an abrupt end. "Saw that. Move."

Celestia frowned, hesitant. She stepped back all the same, not wanting him to touch her. As the man bent to the ground she saw a burgandy-red streak running through the length of his scruffy dark hair. He spotted the necklace on the ground and picked it out of the mud, wiping away the mulch on the cuff of his sleeve.

"Celestia," he read aloud, as the gold cleared up. "Pretty name for a pretty young lady. Odd you should be wearing this, seeing as your name's Charity."

Celestia scalded herself. Stupid, she thought, stupid and sentimental. She should have thrown it while she ran.

The Snatcher smirked a little, pleased to have caught her out. He pocketed the necklace then turned away as two more members of their group finally caught up.

"Ah, you've managed to get the lad out, then. Lovely."

Celestia watched the pair of mercenaries dragging along a heap of wet clothes which could only be Al. One of the two Snatcher's was dripping wet, too.

"Bloody freezing in there," he grumbled, "too cold for swimming. I could have died in that water, Scabior."

"I should be so lucky, Gurpton. Cast a stupid curse, you deal with the consequences. Fancy throwing a leg-lock spell at the poor bastard when he was running next to a river."

Gurpton flung the soaked boy down with a huff. Their leader cocked an eyebrow.

"'ang on a minute, where's Rex?"

"One of 'em got him with a jelly legs jinx. He's wobbling his way over now."

"Oh, give me strength. I feel like a ringmaster sometimes, dealing with you idiots."

Celestia swept past the leader of the gang and fell upon Al, clutching tightly to his clothes and shaking him. He was drenched all over, and wasn't moving.

"Al," Celestia whispered to the boy, speaking as quietly as she could. "Al, please... wake up... you have to wake up..."

"You haven't killed him, have you?" the head Snatcher said nonchalantly to his men. The bickering started up again, and Celestia shook the boy even harder.

"Do something!" Celestia barked at the leader; he raised his brows at her outburst, but withdrew his wand from its holster and pointed it at her companion, muttering an incantation. A rope of water span out from his mouth and splashed out onto the earth; the boy shuddered a breath, and there was a spluttering sound as he reared into consciousness, leaning into Celestia's arms and vomiting river-water into the grass. A couple of the Snatchers made sounds of disgust, and the leader stepped back far enough as not to get any on his boots.

Celestia clung to Al in relief, hardly even minding the vomit, the pair of them gasping for air, and she was quickly almost as soaked with river-water as her companion from their contact. She eyeballed the Snatcher, unsure of what to make of him.

"I'm okay," Al said, barely a whisper. The two clung to each other as though they were the last people in the world.

"I wasn't expecting this tonight, boys," Scabior said loudly, circling the pair. "Couple of lovebirds lost in the forest. How romantic."

As Al's surroundings came to him his protective instincts kicked in, and though he could barely sit upright, he did his best to stand, Celestia dissuading him all the while, and addressed their leader. Celestia stood with him, firm at his side, holding him up with one arm. Al coughed loudly.

"You can do what you want with me, but leave her out of this."

"Who's 'her,' the cat's mother?" Scabior said, and took a foppish step towards the girl. "That there is Celestia. We've been having some fun while you were splashing about in the paddling pool, getting to know each other, like."

"She doesn't want to get to know you," Al said, sternly, and shrugged himself between the two, out of Celestia's grip. He was the same height as the Snatcher, though bent a little from his exhaustion at the river. The leader of the group smiled a little, looking to Celestia over the boy's shoulder, and she felt herself go cold all over.

"You've got yourself a brave one, 'aven't you? There's me told, and no mistake. Tough little bleeder, he is, half-drowned and still trying to fight. Let me guess- a Gryffindor? We'll soon kick that out of you, lad."

"Hufflepuff," Al said proudly, standing a little taller. The Snatcher laughed loudly, throwing back his messy hair.

"Well, not to worry; we can kick that out of you, too."

The dripping-wet Snatcher stepped forwards to give Al three sharp kicks, which sent him quickly back down to the ground. Celestia went down with him at his side, shielding him from any further blows; then she caught sight of what she'd forgotten, only a metre or so out of her reach, and dove for her fallen wand. As her hand made contact with the wood, the foot of one of the other Snatchers came down hard upon it. There was a slight cracking sound; whether from her hand or the wand, Celestia could not tell.

The Snatchers watched on as the girl screamed loud enough to wake the rocks. She gave another shriek of pain as the Wizard shifted his weight, prising her crumpled fingers apart and picking up the rod.

"Nice, this. All hand-carved, maybe elm-wood. Good weight to it."

He was still standing on her hand. Celestia choked out a whimper, her fingers twitching desperately.

"Ease off," Scabior said, holstering his wand and watching the girl closely as his subordinate backed away. The little wood Nymph was shaking all over. "Stop acting like an arsehole and give us your coat, Matterly."

"But I'm chilly."

Scabior could hardly believe his ears. "Did I ask if you were bloody chilly?! Hand it over, you numpty!"

Matterly did as he was told, surrendering the coat to his boss along with the stolen wand. None of the other Snatchers so much as batted an eyelid as their leader moved slowly over to the shivering girl and knelt down beside her, pocketing her wand before making a show of pulling the coat over her shoulders. Matterly rolled his eyes as he watched Scabior with the girl, cooing at her as though she were a kitten.

Nine times out of ten on a job, he would make a beeline for the girls. If there was more than one in a catch, he would pay all of them a little unwanted attention and pick a favourite to torment until he grew bored. It wasn't always the prettiest he'd zone in on, either; the spitters, the screamers and the blondes tended to get the worse of it. Unfortunately for their newest captive, she fell into the last category through no fault she could have anticipated. The Snatchers waited to see if she would fall into either of the others.

Most of the fugitives they'd captured recently were of school age, Hogwarts runaways making a break from the Carrow's tyranny, but she was more woman than girl. Scabior found the change refreshing.

"There we are," Scabior said softly, ensuring the coat lay smoothly over her shoulders. It was a huge sheepskin thing, dirty grey streaked with mud from its various misadventures.

"That's better, isn't it? Last thing we want is you catching your death out here."

Celestia remained frozen, his gentle handling making her uneasy. Kindness from a man, especially one so otherwise depraved, usually meant they wanted something.

"Stop them," she pleaded, her eyes wet with tears, flitting between her friend, who was still being given the occasional kick, and their captors. "Please, tell them to leave him alone."

The mercenaries' eyes stayed locked on her own. His were cold, and very blue, calm as the surface of the lake had been before Al had fallen in.

"That ratty little boyfriend of yours seems to think he wears the trousers 'round here, but I think you're the one with the brains, Celestia. I can see you've got the sense to know when it's time to shut up... and, I hope, when it's time to sing like a canary. I'll do you a deal, sweet'art. You tell me who the two of you are- the truth, mind- and I'll get them to leave off 'im."

The man put a hand into his pocket and drew out a small silver bottle, translucent enough that she could see the liquid inside.

"Veritaserum. I don't want to make you drink it, but if I think you're being dishonest with me again, I'll force it down your throat."

Celestia ignored the vulgar joke made by one of the Snatcher's in response. She could see no other choice but to tell him the truth. It was clear enough from the way they had run that they had something to hide, and he had already got the upper hand of her by finding the necklace. This night had been humiliating enough without having this criminal half-choking her on truth serum.

"I'm Celestia Monanchor. He's Aloxus Sprout, Pomona Sprout's nephew."

The Snatcher half-glanced at Al, curled up on the ground. "Sounds familiar. She's something to do with Hogwarts, ain't she?"

"Herbology professor," Gurpton piped up, nodding his head. "Has been since I was still at the school. I liked the old bat's lessons. They're Purebloods, the Sprouts."

Scabior frowned slightly. "He's no Mudblood, then."

"Sympathiser," Matterly said, his nose already buried in the book the Ministry had provided them with. "Nothing too serious. Fancies himself a hero, or a saint, by the looks of things; wanted for hiding runaway Muggle-borns in his family 'ome. Should get a good thirty Galleons for 'im, I reckon."

"Not bad," the leader said, raising an eyebrow. "That means we're looking to make at least fifty. And you, my lovely? It would break my heart to hear you're a Mudblood."

"I'm not," Celestia said, a little too quickly. "I was a Slytherin."

The Snatcher glowered. He looked disappointed; suddenly there was a wand in his hand, carved black wood which was so well-used- or perhaps abused- that there were noticeable chunks missing out of it. It's tip had been carved into a sharp point, which Celestia quickly felt the sting of as the Snatcher pushed it up under her chin. She refrained from wincing.

"I thought we agreed to no lying."

"They always say they're Slytherin's," Matterly sang, as though he repeated this every night, "think that's what we wants to 'ear, but none of the buggers can tell us where the common room is."

"You take the door on the right side of the entrance hall," Celestia said, making sure her eyes didn't leave their leaders'. She prayed they showed her honesty. "It's in the dungeons, all carved rock and crystal. The windows look out into the lake, sometimes you'll see Grindylow's go by. The water turns the light all green."

The Snatcher looked surprised. Celestia could still hear Al moaning as kick after kick was dealt to him.

"And look," the girl said, desperate to give the mercenary more proof. She thrust her crushed hand in his direction; he took it gently in his own. In amongst the burgundy bruising which was already blossoming, she boasted an intricate platinum ring, in the shape of a serpent coiled around her finger. Down its back ran a train of sea-green emeralds. It was not the sort of ring usually owned by a woman so young.

"Where d'you get this?" The Snatcher said, enraptured.

"It was my Grandmother's engagement ring. You see, we've always been Slytherins."

Scabior nodded, a little taken aback. "Looks like we really have caught ourselves a fellow snake." He rubbed his finger over the gem, brushing away the dirt put there by Matterly's boot. "This must be worth a pretty penny."

Celestia nodded, leaning closer to him so that only he would hear. "More than triple what the Ministry would give you for bringing us in."

Scabior couldn't help a smile creeping onto his face. Clever little minx, he thought. Clever enough to know that begging rarely got anyone anywhere. Bargaining, however...

"Leave off the lad," he barked, and the other Snatchers backed away from the boy, leaving him bleeding on the ground. Aloxus gave a few moans of pain but did not stir.

"Well, good for you, Celestia. There's not many Mudblood's get into Slytherin."

"I told you, I'm not a..." she hesitated at the word. "...Mudblood."

"Got her, Scabs," Matterly said, shaking his logbook in his boss' direction. "Monanchor, Celestia Anne. She was at the safe-house with the boy, they've been missing since it was raided. Says here they were the only two who got out."

Scabior frowned. He couldn't fathom it. "Well, what's it say about her blood status?"

Matterly scanned the list again. He shrugged, surprised. "It doesn't. Just says, 'Questionable.'"

"What? Give it 'ere." Scabior read over the entry more than once. "What the bloody hell's 'Questionable' supposed to mean?"

"Means up for debate, you know, morally suspect-"

Scabior smacked Matterly over the head with the log book. "I know what questionable means, you pissing idiot. But what does questionable blood status mean? I've never seen nothing like that on the list before."

He was looking at the girl, expecting her to answer. She was wide-eyed, shaking her head.

"Law enforcement bloke who put me in Azkaban the first time was a Monanchor," Gurpton piped up. "Nasty piece of work, he was. He made a bit of a name for 'imself when he was on the scene; classic old family, uptight pricks. Very proud of their pure blood."

Scabior's brow was furrowed, the wheels ticking in his mind. He handed the book back to Matterly and turned his attentions to the shivering girl.

"So you were living in that safe house what, out of the goodness of your heart? Helping to shelter blood traitors and fugitives? Doesn't sound like a very Slytherin thing to do. And I can't see there's many pureblood Slytherins would spend their time running 'round the woods with a Hufflepuff sympathetic to the blood traitors' plight. What's the story, then? Ministry's after your do-gooder boyfriend, you're keeping him company on these long lonely nights?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Celestia said.

Scabior chuckled. "Hear that, lads? He's not her boyfriend."

There were a few murmurs from the group at large. Scabior could see how uncomfortable the girl was. Her eyes pleaded for permission to go to the boy, crumpled on the ground. He nodded his consent.

"Go on. Kiss him better."

Celestia fell upon Al quickly, shrugging the borrowed coat from her own shoulders and wrapping it quickly around those of her friend. She stemmed the flow of blood from his nose and mouth with the sleeve of her her wet jacket and tried to sooth him with her words. He was ice cold to the touch, and shivering all over.

"I'm sorry," Celestia said, wiping his face and holding off her own tears. "This is my fault."

"Y-you shouldn't have t-t-told them," Aloxus shuddered, shaking his head. "You s-sh-shhouldn't have."

"I know, but I had to. We'll be okay, I promise. It's alright, Al, it's alright..."

"The M-mm-ministry's s-sh-shhut," he hissed; he was missing a tooth, and blood ran from his mouth as he spoke. "Because of P-ppotter."

He was right. Celestia remembered that he had told her as much from the Potterwatch broadcast; the Chosen One and his friends had torn through the Ministry of Magic, leaving chaos in their way, and between a broken statue, possessed paperwork and a rumour of several Dementors running riot in the court house, several departments had been temporarily closed down, and no more 'criminal admissions' were to be taken until all was back in working order.

As Celestia took a proper look at the band of Snatchers, she could see that they did indeed look as though though they had been caught unawares, perhaps enjoying a few days away from the Snatching trade until her foolish mistake had set the alarms ringing. The biggest of them, Greyback, had what she now understood to be blood on his muzzle. She realised then what he was, and why he had torn at her flesh and pounced on her in the manner that he did. Their leader wore his thin shirt half-buttoned, a dark green military-style vest hanging loose over the top; he had definitely gotten dressed in a hurry. Gurpton, who had taken the dive into the lake, was wearing a pair of very wet slippers.

Al squeezed hard at his friend's arm. When Celestia looked back to him, she saw that there was terror in his face.

"No Ministry," he repeated, trying to keep to a whisper; he paused to swallow a gobbet of blood. "Means no m-money. They'll k-kkkill us."

The chill in the air grew suddenly more bitter. Al was right. Snatchers didn't have a reputation for patience. Celestia clung tighter to her friend.

"You can take the ring," she called to their leader in her desperation, fear rattling her voice. "It's worth thirty runaways. Just let us go."

Scabior had been lost in thought before her pleas brought him back. He slowly set himself before her again, and reached out to touch her cheek; she bowed her head to avoid him. He exhaled half a breath, a sound like a smile. His fingers traced up into her windswept hair, ruffling through a handful of curls.

"How very generous of you."

Celestia had learned long ago, as many women unfortunately must, that allowing a thing to happen will not stop that thing from happening, but it would often times prevent the situation from becoming any more painful than it already stands. She did not want the Snatcher to touch her, but she also didn't want a black eye for her troubles, or for things to escalate further. As such she didn't resist when the Snatcher ran his calloused fingers across her collarbone and laid his palm to rest pressed flat to the side of her throat. She only turned away from him, and pretended she was somewhere else.

"I vote we do 'em here," Matterly said as the girl cringed away, sitting down on a nearby log; the chill was getting into his bones. "Won't take five minutes. Saves keeping them around camp for the next few days until the Ministry's back in order."

At the back of the group, the Werewolf was getting angsty.

"I'll take care of that one for you," he said to Scabior, his eyes fiery. Celestia finally recognised that flame as hunger.

"You've just eaten," Scabior scalded him nonchalantly, not looking away from the girl, his hand still connected with the curvature of her throat. He could feel her pulse beating wildly beneath her skin. "Don't be a pig."

"Might be an idea," Gurpton said, "I'm freezing my nads off in this cold. Do the lad in here, we can still collect half the bounty if we bring in the body, and their wand's'll be another ten galleons. Take the girl back to camp, she can warm all of us up until the Ministry opens its doors again."

Matterly gave a low chuckle. Scabior was more interested in the girl than in whatever plans they were making. He watched for her reaction to Gurpton's threat, but found none. She was very still now, frozen but for her hair quivering in the frigid breeze. She wasn't fighting his touch; it was the fright, he expected, which she could hardly be blamed for; he wouldn't want to listen to people making such plans for him, either. He brought his lips up close to her neck, breathing her in, his fingers resting at the column of her throat. She did cringe away then, and fought with him a little as he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger; when she tried to turn her face away, he pulled her back, hard. He could feel her jaw trembling.

"Now listen here, beautiful. As much as I appreciate your resourcefulness, you're in no position to negotiate. So here's what I'm thinking-" he raised his voice then for the benefit of his men- "I take you, and the ring. Sell one, keep the other... though I'm not quite decided on which I'll keep, yet."

There were jeers from the company. The back of the Snatcher's hand trailed down Celestia's neck, heading towards her chest, the stag-shaped ring on his finger cold against her skin. She caught his hand in her own and pushed him away, firmly, knocking herself a little off balance. The Snatcher gave an amused laugh.

"Alright, tetchy. Snappy little Veela, aren't you?"

The boy groaned his disapproval. He was wavering on the edge of consciousness. The Snatcher chuckled, watching as he tried to haul himself into a sitting position.

"Go on, my son; almost there. Tough bugger, you are. Not many can take a kicking like that and sit up to tell the tale. You sure you're not a Gryffindor?"

"You can't do this," Aloxus said, wavering. "You have to take us to the M-ministry, it's the l-law."

"See, the best thing about the Snatching trade is there ain't no law. None that gets enforced, anyway. I can do whatever I want with you, and your lovely little friend."

"D-don't touch her," Aloxus managed, struggling to his knees. "Leave her alone."

"Might do. Might not. Let's hear it then, 'Puff; what's so special about this one? Does she do any tricks?"

Aloxus spat blood and drew in a shaky breath, which turned quickly into a fit of coughing. The Snatcher raised an eyebrow.

"Guess I'll just have to find out for myself."

More jeers from the men, more laughter this time. Celestia swallowed hard, her thin veneer of composure beginning to crack. She was shaking with fear. Her hands were still up, ready to protect herself as best she could.

Scabior stopped laughing. He collared the young Witch and pulled her roughly to her feet, where she gave a pained gasp as her foot made contact with the ground. Scabior pulled her clear out of the reach of her friend the Hufflepuff, who lashed out in weak protest. Gurpton saw to it that he stayed down.

"I'll take this one back with me," Scabior said, wrangling the protesting girl, "do the gentlemanly thing and get her out of these wet clothes."

There was a cheer from the group. Al wrenched towards the Snatcher desperately, even in his beaten state.

"Leave her alone!"

"'Aven't you 'ad enough yet?! The lad's really got his Scotland yard on for a kicking. Tuck 'im up, Gurpton!"

With one more swift kick to the head, Aloxus was knocked out cold. Celestia gave a groan of displeasure.

"We'll finish things up here and meet you back at the camp," Matterly said lightly, standing up from his seat on the log.

"Just make sure you save a bite for the rest of us," Greyback seethed from the treeline. His presence seemed to hang over the company like a dense fog.

"You wish. No way I'm taking this one back to camp," Scabior said, struggling to keep a hold on the girl as she twisted to free herself, the tears coming now to break up the screams. He always hated the tears. "A tent is no place for a lady. I'm taking her back to my place. I intend upon enjoying my unexpected 'oliday before the Ministry says it's all hands back on deck. It'll be nice to have a little civilised company for once."

Celestia screamed in frustration, the sound shaking through the trees as she buckled.

"You've got a live one there, Scabs," Gurpton said, chuckling. "Real screamer."

"Well, you know me, I like a challenge. This one just needs breaking in."

"No," Celestia barked, and her voice was surprisingly commanding despite the tears. She wrenched once more under his grip. "I won't go with you."

"No one was giving you the option, sweetheart. I'll tell you what you'll do, as you're bloody well told, unless you wanna stick around and watch your boyfriend breathe 'is last."

Again Celestia screamed; there was no one but the Snatchers around to hear her.

No need for all that, beautiful," Scabior said, holding her back to his chest, laughing with his men. He brought up a hand to stroke her cheek. "There'll be plenty of time for screaming later-"

The girl bit down hard on his wrist. Scabior let out a yelp like a dog which had been kicked, composure cracking, ripping his arm from her in a flash.

Things became suddenly very quiet. Realising there was nowhere to run to, and that the Werewolf would probably savage her if she tried, Celestia stood almost still, having turned around to face Scabior, who she perceived to be the second biggest threat. Matterly hissed through his teeth; this wouldn't be pretty. Scabior hated the biters. All stayed very quiet, but for the girl, whose feverish breathing was audible. The rest of them knew what was coming; she did not.

Without a word Scabior grabbed hold of her right arm with both hands, pulled her close despite her protests and snapped his teeth around her wrist, giving her just the same treatment but with twice the amount of force, cutting into her skin. Celestia screamed like a Banshee, falling away from him the moment he let her go. The Snatcher was riled, wild in his anger as he stood over her. He kicked at the ground, rather than her face.

"Yeah? How'dya like that, you little animal?!"

He shook his wrist to alleviate the pain and allowed her a panicked sob before pulling her back to her feet and holding her at arms-length by the hair. His bite had drawn blood; hers had not.

"I'm n-not going w-with you," she said through shaky sobs, more panic than pain, her fingers trying to prize away his own. Scabior softened, allowing her to straighten herself up.

"Alright. You're welcome to go back to the camp with this lot," he said, turning the girl by the shoulders so that she was facing the direction of Greyback. He was almost drooling, so irate he was at having had to abandon his earlier meal to chase down these two fugitives. Once they went cold he wouldn't touch them. Scabior squeezed hard at the girl's bloody shoulder, feeling how tense the muscles were beneath her skin. He breathed hot into her ear.

"...But I don't fancy your chances."

Celestia's breathing was laboured. She was more frightened, perhaps, than she had ever been. She was very aware of the wolf hovering at the back of the group, his ravenous gaze lingering on her bleeding arm, and of her friend, crumpled on the forest floor, and of the man who had claimed her, his hands locked around her body, ready to take her away. In a last ditch effort, Celestia began to buck and scream again, fighting with all her might to free herself. He lowered his voice then, speaking directly into her ear.

"I told you, enough. You'll keep still unless you want to end up splinched."

Celestia had seen the effects of splinching once before. The thought of it happening to her was enough to scare her into momentary submission. The Snatcher seemed satisfied, and loosened his grip a fraction.

"Now, you lot, whatever you're going to do with the lad, do it quick, before the Muggles catch on. We've caused enough raucous in this town tonight already."

He steadied the girl, ready to disapperate. "See you in a few days, idiots. Try not to kill each other while I'm gone."

There was a loud cracking sound, a final scream from the young girl, and suddenly the unlikely pair had vanished into the blackening night.

Chapter two will be up in a few days guys. Let me know if you'd like more, and please leave a review if you can!