I woke with a start, panic flushing my body. I managed to fall asleep at some point. Every single hair on the back of my neck stood erect, as if trying to detect what jerked me from such a rare sleep. Theo's ears were perked back like a cat. I would have laughed if I hadn't heard the same noise he heard. It was a loud crunch. Loud crunches translate into larger creatures. It wasn't just squirrels quarreling for acorns or a rabbit hopping for dear life. It was either a goblin or a human or something much worse.

I absently reached out for Theo because he was much more anxious than me and was a risk. He took my hand and I could feel him quietly exhale. Part of me wished that he wiped the clammy palm before I grabbed it, but that was just being nitpicky. That was old Riya surfacing her ugly head. I gave him a reassuring smile and made myself small against the tree branch I was leaning on. He did the same thing on another one. We were much more difficult to see if we pressed our bodies against the tree. The grime and dirt caked on our bodies and clothes also helped camouflage us.

Minutes passed and nothing came our way. Not even rabbits. I wouldn't call that a good sign necessarily, but we've seen worse and we really needed to keep moving. We silently climbed down the tree and made our way. We weren't wandering aimlessly, like I'm sure any onlooker would assume. Before all of the mail was being intercepted, my father told us to get ourselves to Cape Wrath up in the Highlands so we can catch a boat to Greenland. In Greenland, the Ministry of Magic will contact my parents in Goa, who will pay to have us shipped over to India.

With little more than a possibly broken compass, a backpack full of scavenged supplies, and two scrappy 17 year olds, we'd make it for sure.

"What are you thinking about?" Theo asked curiously eyeing my frown no doubt.

"What life will be like back in Goa. Do you think the goblins there will end up revolting too?" I lied a bit. I was thinking about how I was going to die in the woods caked in mud and one day maybe someone would find my body. If they found it they'd probably pick it over, scavenging supplies. We came to that crossroad once. We found a child, no more than fifteen, and we had to decide what to do. Our choice, to bury the dead instead of scavenge, is probably why I'll die out here. What if one more chocolate frog or pumpkin pasty or disgusting granola was all I needed to make it another day and I buried it with a dead girl.

"Doubt it. They've had seats on every council since the 17th century." Theo replied promptly with a reassuring look. Not a smile though. Never a smile.

"My parents will know what to do about Nora," I said suddenly when the lack of his smile overwhelmed me.

His expression blanked momentarily and I thought I lost him. He finally blinked and nodded blindly. For all we knew his sister was dead. Or worse.

"We'll get her back." I insisted with a final tone. Waves of guilt washed over me at the pain bringing her up must have caused him. I mentally cursed myself. I know better.

We walked in silence for a ways before Theo stopped suddenly, halting me by grabbing my arm.

"What's wrong?" I asked immediately searching the woods around me for goblins.

"Riya, I'm telling you someone is watching us." He replied in a tone far too serious for his personality. Theo was the gentle, sensitive one in the group. The one that tried to keep the peace. He wasn't the one to have a face of stone, even facing this nightmare we were living in. Borough High Street, Lavender Hill, Piccadilly Market.

I reached for my knapsack, digging through it for the short machete I nicked from muggle campers. Or possible fellow survivors trying to pass themselves off as muggles. Witches and wizards couldn't even trust one another now that Snatchers were everywhere, turning in their own kind for immunity.

"You need to keep that on your belt or something. We could have used it with the goblin yesterday." Theo grumbled.

"You really want to go at a goblin, full of unrestricted magic, with a glorified letter opener?" I teased. His lips twitched and for a brief moment I thought he was going to smile. He didn't.

"It's better than nothing," he said in a motherly, scolding tone.

"I suppose you're right." I relented. I looped it in my belt and we continued, glancing back every few meters. The dark baby hairs on the back of my neck prickled with that odd sensation. I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched and I had a feeling that Theo couldn't either.

"Part of me doesn't blame them, you know?" Theo asked conversationally. I knew what he was talking about.

"The goblins?" I asked for confirmation. His warm eyes met mine for only a moment. He always looked so tired. Maybe it wasn't because we weren't eating. Probably because we weren't sleeping. I think it was mostly because of Nora though.

"Yeah, I mean, this whole thing is wizarding kind's fault if you ask me," Theo said bitterly. After all, his sister was one of the Taken. Of course he was bitter.

"People are always looking for someone to hate." I agreed. We had both been very opposed to the anti-goblin and "lesser being" rhetoric we had to listen to from less open minded students back at Hogwarts.

"As long as there has been politicians there has been an oppressed minority used as a scapegoat to launch careers of said politicians. The Jews of Germany. The Muslims of America. The Irish of pretty much everywhere. And the goblins of the U.K." He listed out dismally
Just last year Professor Binns taught us about the Goblin Rebellions in classroom 4F while we pretended we were awake and paying attention. Theo was diligently scribbling notes, the big old nerd, and I was throwing wads of parchment at his head. Unfortunately, last year the Wizengamot also proposed the Goblin Registry Act that would force all goblins to register their magic with the Ministry using magic similar to the trace which all underaged witches and wizards were all too familiar. Unfortunately for the Wizengamot, goblins had paid attention to history. "Goblin magic is far too powerful not to be monitored" the Minister often argued in his speeches, with his obnoxiously nasally voice droning on and on and on. His voice was so lackluster he should have been a professor. "Greedy goblins are the reason our economy has taken a fall" reporters wrote in the Prophet, not caring about the inflammatory hate speech that they inspired. The goblins, it turned out, weren't going to be another scapegoat of history for politicians trying to launch their careers.

"The Silver Rule," Theo said playfully as we trekked onward. I laughed. I'd forgotten about the Silver Rule. The Golden Rule was taken so we invented the Silver Rule to take its place in third year. Carl Creevey thought it was okay to bully ickle firsties, but Theo was too quick for him.

"Don't be an asshole." I answered him.

"It's that simple!" He waved his hands in frustration. If the entire world would just take a few measures to not be assholes the world would be such a better place.

A crackle of leaves not more than a meter away sent me flying in the air in the general direction of the sound. Theo let out a surprised squawk. My body collided with something solid as I tackled it to the ground. The solid thing let out a groan of discomfort and a face appeared out of nowhere looking rather pained as I slid my machete out of my loophole and held it to the face's throat.

"Why are you following us?" I spat at the face. I recognized the face immediately but I didn't dare put my blade down.

The face didn't answer. He looked panic stricken. His dark hair and trademark brown eyes, the eyes of his mother, had been papered across every tabloid since my youth. I found myself thinking about those eyes quite a bit during my more desperate moments. I wanted to laugh for a moment thinking about how horrified twelve year old me would be if she could see me right now.

"I'll ask you again, WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING US?" I pushed the blade closer to his neck, causing him to sputter words.

"Riya! For fucks sake, you can't just slit James Potter's throat!" Theo exclaimed, rushing to James' side. I remained where I was, straddling him with the blade pressing cautiously against his skin.

"Watch me." I replied with a dangerous tone. He should know better than to challenge me, especially at a time like this.

"I'm—I'm supposed to be patrolling the area." He finally answered with an audible gulp.

"Why?" I asked, knowing why. His family must be camped out nearby.

James said nothing, clamping his mouth shut tight. He realized he'd give away his family's location if he opened his stupid mouth.

"Take me to your family." I demanded. Theo was shaking his head vigorously, James Potter doing the same.

"I really don't want to be at the other end of Harry Potter's wand, Riya." Theo voiced his concerns but they fell on deaf ears.

I pressed the blade harder on James' throat, blood beginning to trickle down my blade. I eased it back slightly.

"You'll have to kill me!" James said dramatically. I hate bloody Gryffindors and their annoying valor in all the wrong times.

I wound my free hand into his curly chestnut locks and hoisted him up with the blade still against his throat, close enough that trying to escape would be a death sentence. I pushed him to walk north first and he didn't respond. I stopped and turned him east and he didn't react at all. When I spun him south though the muscles in his back stiffened. I pushed him onward south and we stumbled slowly through the brush. About three kilometers in and far too many of Theo's speeches on why exactly I shouldn't have my blade on James' throat, James tensed up again and glanced to his right.

"Aha!" I laughed and we slowed to a stop. Every hair on James' neck was erect and I could feel his heart pounding through his shirt. I waited a few moments. If I was right, I'd be meeting the famous Harry Potter shortly.

"What the bloody hell do you think you are doing to my brother?" A voice rang as another boy materialized.

"Your brother? You must be Albus! Pleasure to meet you. I'd offer you my hand, but as you can see I'm a bit occupied," I said cordially. Despite the adrenaline coursing my veins, I wanted to seem calm and collected. I wanted them to know I was to be taken seriously.

"Let go of him!" The green eyed boy with a sour expression insisted.

"I will once I speak to your father!" I insisted.

He stared me down with a piercing gaze. He'd be handsome if he didn't look so arrogant. After what seemed to be an eternity, he turned around to fetch his father. My heart pounded, unsure of what kind of army I was bound to face.