Chapter 25

The Neglected Northlands

There was a bit of silence after that. None of them had been quite sure where they were expecting to have to find Snape and Wormtail, but they certainly hadn't expected this.

"Like the Forbidden Forest?" asked Harry skeptically.

"Well... Not exactly like, of course," Lupin explained. "For example, there's a few less unicorns, and quite a bit more territory."

"Well... You know, I never quite had a problem with the unicorns, exactly," registered Ron. "How's it compare in the department of 'spiders that want to eat me'?"

Lupin thought for a moment. "I do believe there's a small colony of those in the Northwest Corner of the forest somewhere."

"Really?" asked Ron with a bit of a cringe.

"Yeah, but don't worry about them," said Lupin comfortingly. "It's not as if Snape and Wormtail would fare any better than we would with creatures like that, so they won't go into that area. Currently, they're comfortably positioned in the Southeastern portion of the forest."

"Well, that's good, at least," said Ron.

"I don't suppose we could just apparate there, though, can we?" asked Hermione.

"No, unfortunately just flying over the forest hasn't given me a clear enough picture of what it looks like to be able to apparate there. In fact, I don't have a very good idea of any of the surrounding areas, either. So it would appear that this will be a more of a broomstick-scenario."

Both Ron and Harry's faces immediately brightened.

"There's not enough invisibility cloaks for all of us, so we're going to have to go at night and fly high until we get over the forest, and we'll have to land far enough away from the gits so that they can't see us, but overall, it should be fun," said Lupin with a bit of a grin.

"Beats apparating, definitely," said Ron excitedly.

"For you lot, maybe," grumbled Hermione. It wasn't that she hated flying or anything, she just didn't relish it particularly. Especially since they were talking about what promised to be a rather long ride during the night which, in spite of the fact that it was April, would still get rather nippy, especially at high altitudes.

"Oh, come on, don't be all sour," urged Ron. "At least it means you'll get to see Harry and I being very happy."

"It's been entirely too long since I've been on a broom," agreed Harry.

"Which night are we going?" asked Hermione.

"Well, tonight's as good as any, considering that it means the first day you'll miss will be a Sunday. We could be out tracking them for more than a day, though, depending on whether they keep on the move once we land. So, you lot might have to miss a couple of days of class," said Lupin.

"This is starting to sound like quite a camping trip," said Ron. He thought for a moment. "Have we got a tent?"

Lupin chuckled. "Yes, but just one. It's enchanted, though, so we should have enough space. It still might get a bit cold at night, though."

"Sleeping in the same tent, are you?" asked Ginny skeptically. "You and Hermione better behave yourselves," she teased.

"Really," said Lupin. "For all our sakes. Remember, it's just the one tent."

"Don't worry about the cold, though," said Ginny. "I learned this charm that can be used to make a blanket self-heating."

Harry thought back to the last time she had used that charm, Valentine's Day night. "It works quite well," chimed in Harry.

Ron shot Harry a glare, "No, no, nothing like that. It was the night of the Witches' Wine fiasco."

Ron blushed a bit, apparently remembering that night all too vividly. Meanwhile, Ginny and Hermione grinned at each other.

After she was finished grinning, however, Hermione's facial expression transitioned seamlessly into a frown. "I really don't relish missing class, though. I mean, I understand this is more important and everything, but... Rubbish! I'll talk to MacMillan tonight and make sure he takes good notes on Monday so I can look over them... I mean, so we can look over them," Hermione revised, looking at Ron and Harry.

"That sounds like it'll be lovely," said Harry sarcastically, thinking that he was looking forward more to the upcoming Horcrux-themed camping trip than another late-night study-session with Hermione and Ron.

"At any rate, my advice to you all would be to take the day off, and Harry, Hermione, and Ron should meet me back here at 8:00. After that, I'll take you to a place about a hundred-fifty kilometers from the forest, and we'll fly in from there. The flight should take less than two hours," said Lupin.

"Now, just so we're clear," said Ron, "you are suggesting a day off, right? Like, no homework, and no studying, correct?"

"I think you lot can afford it," said Lupin with a grin. "We're going to have a rough day, at least, ahead of us. A bit of relaxation first can't hurt. And, Hermione, if it makes you feel any better, I'll be sure to quiz you lot on DADA as we're trudging through the woods."

"I'm not sure you realize what you're getting yourself into," cautioned Ron. After that, the meeting was adjourned.

Ginny and Harry spent their day largely in taking a long walk around the Hogwarts grounds to take advantage of the warm weather.

They talked about many things, and for a long time, both seemed to avoid the topic of the upcoming trip. But finally Harry brought it up, after glancing around to make sure that no one was in earshot. He realized that no longer having to be so guarded with what he said in certain circumstances might be one of the things he was looking forward to most when the war was over. That and no longer having to live with the creeping knowledge that there were usually at least several people actively trying to get him killed. At any rate, he said, "So, do you think we'll catch them?"

"Of course," said Ginny, squeezing his hand, which she had been holding for quite awhile.

"Me too, of course," said Harry, grinning sheepishly. "I just wanted to make sure you thought so too."

"You really want my opinion?" asked Ginny.

Harry was caught somewhat off guard, but still responded, "Definitely."

"Well... It almost seems too easy. And I know that shouldn't make me nervous, but... Well, so little has been easy lately, it's just... creepy, almost. Do I sound crazy?" she asked.

"Kind of, but it's justified by circumstances, so don't worry about it," said Harry, smiling.

"Well, good then. Also... I don't know. It seems wrong to me that Lupin's going to be there. I mean... I know it's good that he will be and all, it's just... I can't even explain it. It gives me a bad feeling."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "He wants to come, though, and I wouldn't feel right telling him no. Besides, I think he feels it's somewhat his responsibility to help deal with Wormtail and Snape."

"Well... It's just... This probably sounds odd coming from an outside perspective, but... You guys are the Golden Trio, you know?"

"Yes, I've heard the term before," said Harry with a bit of a laugh.

"Well... It just seems that the three of you together can take on pretty much anything. I'm just concerned that adding another person might change things somehow," said Ginny.

"Well, now you do sound a bit out of your mind," said Harry. Ginny looked a bit hurt for a moment. "Don't get me wrong," he corrected himself. "I don't mean that I'm not taking you seriously, it's just, I can't tell Lupin something like that, you know? And besides, where was this 'Golden Trio' theory when you were asking to come?"

To Harry's relief, Ginny laughed. "I was rather hoping you wouldn't bring that up. You're right, though, I suppose. I know I'm just being silly. It's not like I care much for Divination or anything, and that's not even what this is, it's just a feeling. But it's probably just nerves about knowing that you're putting yourself into danger again. Not that it can be helped, of course," she specified, to preempt any statement to that effect by Harry.

Harry smiled again. "I'm glad that you're so understanding. But I do hope we're not gone for too long. I'll miss you."

"How could you help it?" asked Ginny with a sly smile.

Harry found it was quite convenient that they had reached a pausing point in the conversation, because at that moment, with that cute little smile on her face, she looked so beautiful that he couldn't help but kiss her. At that point in the conversation they sat down in the grass behind the castle for an impromptu snogging session.

After what seemed to Harry like much too short a time, he heard Ginny's stomach grumble. "Cue for dinner, you think?" asked Harry hesitantly, not particularly wanting to get up.

"Could be. I mean... the snogging is wonderful, of course, but... you know what they say... 'Woman can't live on kisses alone,'" she said.

"Who on Earth says that?" Harry asked.

"Well... I might start now... I thought it was rather clever," said Ginny with a smile.

"All right, come on, then," said Harry, jumping up so he could help her up as well. He reckoned that it was a bit of a tribute to their relationship that Ginny didn't mind Harry making those kind of stupid chivalrous gestures for her. He wasn't sure that Dean could've gotten away with the same. He was glad that he could, though, because he rather enjoyed being nice to her like that.

"I really hope we're back by Monday," said Harry, as they began to walk back to the castle.

"Me too, Harry, me too," said Ginny.

A few hours later Harrry, Lupin, Ron, and Hermione once again met up in McGonagall's office. McGonagall, of course, was there as well, and she surveyed them from behind her desk.

"I'm fairly certain this will be one of your more simple missions, especially with Lupin along to keep you out of trouble with the local... wildlife... in the forest, but... Well, good luck," she finished somewhat awkwardly. Harry reckoned that this was McGonagall's way of telling them that she was worried about them. She never had been great at showing her emotions.

"So. Shall we be off, then?" asked Lupin in a conversational tone.

They had been carrying their broomsticks through the hallways in the first place, with Hermione borrowing one from the school. Now Lupin was walking with them carrying a broomstick of his own. If anyone encountered them coming down the corridors like that, they would assume they were mad. But Harry, and apparently McGonagall as well, was of the opinion that if all the other students were able to guess was that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were randomly leaving the castle at night, they were in a rather good position. Besides, there had been several other aspects of their Horcrux hunt that had been rather impossible to hide, such as the fact that Harry now always walked around with a glove on to cover his hand which had been maimed several months before. The other students at Hogwarts no doubt had come to expect such strange behavior from Harry and his closest friends. They must instinctively have known better than to pry too deep into the reasons for these eccentricities, but Harry was sure that there must be quite a rumor mill flourishing to make up for the lack of actual knowledge on the matter.

"It's good that you all brought your cloaks," said Lupin, surveying them, as they stepped out of the castle. "It's still warm on the ground, but you'll be glad for the warmth once we're zipping along at high altitudes."

"Yeah," said Ron. "Hermione made us. We've also got Ginny's enchanted blankets packed in our bags," he said, motioning to his satchel. "Would you like yours awhile, in case you get cold on your broom?"

"Sure," agreed Lupin, so Ron began to dig in his bag to find Lupin's blanket.

Several minutes later they were off the grounds so that they were able to apparate. Once they did, Ron, Harry, and Hermione spent a little bit of time glancing around to try to figure out where they might have ended up. It turned out that they were, approximately, in the middle of nowhere.

"It's best not to take off in a residential area," Lupin pointed out.

"Makes sense," agreed Harry.

"At any rate, we need to go generally toward the Northeast," said Lupin as he removed a compass from his pocket. "But all you really need to do is follow me. And, er... Ron and Harry, I rather expect that you might find it necessary to follow in a less than straight line, but... just make sure not to get any lower to the ground than I stay, all right? If you need to do any dives or anything, just climb above me first, all right?"

"That should work," agreed Ron, grinning at Harry. Then he revealed. "Er, I may have brought a quaffle."

Lupin practically roared with laughter, and Harry looked at Ron somewhat amazed.

"How'd you get hold of a quaffle?" he asked.

"Well, Fred and George sell them at their shop. Hermione let me sneak out and buy one today after we found out we'd be flying," he said.

"Just... don't drop it on anyone," said Lupin cautiously.

"Of course not," said Ron and Harry in unison.

Harry and Ron quite enjoyed themselves on the flight over to the forest, and Hermione, watching her boyfriend and her best friend having so much fun, could not help but have a bit of a good time herself. She even caught the quaffle herself a few times.

As they began to come in sight of an unnecessarily large number of trees that Harry could only assume comprised the Neglected Northlands, Lupin flew back to them to warn them to expect to come in for a landing soon. And, sure enough, Lupin soon began to lower his broom to the ground, in a clearing surrounded by a bunch of trees.

By the time the trio had gathered around him, Lupin had pulled out the Marauders Map of the United Kingdom and was looking at it with his lighted wand. "Snape and Wormtail seem to be in the same spot they were when we left, so they must have stopped for the night. And, given the fact that I'm tired enough that I'm afraid my reaction time might have been compromised, I think we should follow their lead, there. We'll try to wake up before them in the morning, and go longer than them... I was watching them today, and they don't seem to be in any particular hurry to get to where they're going. Assuming that they're doing anything except hiking to pass the time. I must say that I rather doubt that's what's going on, though. I've never known Snape to be much of the out-doorsy type."

"Well, sleep sounds fine to me," said Harry.

"Well, we're going to have to take it in shifts, to make sure we don't get eaten," pointed out Lupin. "Does anyone want to volunteer to take the first shift? You can stay in the tent, just listen to make sure you don't hear anything particularly nasty-sounding outside. The stuff we're worried about is apt to make quite a bit of noise, as the creatures in this forest aren't particularly known for their stealth. In fact, they'd probably wake us up before they got here even if we all went to sleep, but it's always good to have at least one person who's not still too groggy to find his or her wand if we end up in a panic-situation."

"I'll take first shift, I brought a book to read. Does anyone if I keep my wand lit?" asked Hermione.

No one answered, so Lupin said, "That sounds all right. I'll take the second shift. Who wants third?"

"I will," answered Harry.

"Ok, then you wake Ron up once your two hour shift is over. Then we should all be ready to go by 6 in the morning. Also, whoever is on shift, make sure that you keep an eye on the map to make sure that Wormtail and Snape don't sneak up on us while we're sleeping. Of course, it's pretty unlikely, considering they shouldn't know we're here, but we've got to be on guard."

Ron and Harry grumbled good-naturedly about the hardship of being awoken on a Sunday at six, but soon everyone but Hermione had fallen asleep.

All four watches passed with no more noise than the light scampering of creatures that soundedlike squirrels, and the next morning they gathered outside the tent as Lupin passed around some breakfast from a bag he had brought along.

"They're only about ten kilometers away," said Lupin, looking at the map. "I would've landed us closer, but this is the only really convenient clearing near where they are, and the most important thing was to make sure they had no chance of spotting us on our way in. We can't assume that they haven't equipped themselves with omnioculars, which would allow them to see better in the dark. Now that we're on the ground, we can approach safely. At any rate, as long as they don't start moving away from us too soon, we might be able to catch up with them within a couple hours of walking."

Unfortunately, at about 9:00, after they had packed up and been walking for about an hour, Lupin glanced back down at the map, and swore.

"Well, they've started moving again," he pointed out angrily. "This could very well complicate things for us."

"We've got to have gained on them at least, haven't we?" asked Hermione.

"Well, yes, of course... we're only about 5 kilometers away now. But they're moving almost directly away from us, so we're basically just going to be keeping pace with them from here on out."

"They can't know we're following them, can they?" asked Harry suspiciously.

"It's hard to be sure of anything in the magical world, but I'd be completely amazed if they knew where we were right now. The only way they could know we're here is if somebody told them and I've been looking at the map long enough to know that there are no wizards other than us in this forest, so that couldn't have happened. I'd say it's just an unfortunate coincidence that they're moving away from us. But that doesn't make it any less annoying," concluded Lupin as he picked up his pace slightly.

After a couple of meal stops and several rest stops, they were still about 5 kilometers away from their prey by 7:00 when Lupin announced that Snape and Wormtail appeared to have stopped for the day.

"Do you think we can catch them tonight?" asked Harry.

"Probably not before it gets dark. And I'm not sure that I want to catch them after dark. It's a lot easier to do battle in the daytime," pointed out Lupin.

"Good point," admitted Harry, who was still a bit disappointed that they weren't going to get all this over with tonight. Frankly, the sooner they were finished with this, the sooner he could see Ginny again. He briefly wondered whether or not it made him pathetic that he missed her so much after slightly less than 24 hours. Then he decided that he didn't really care whether it made him pathetic or not.

"Still, if we keep moving now, we can get close enough to them that we should be able to overtake them in the early morning, and have this all sorted out by lunchtime," said Lupin.

"And we'll only have to miss one class!" said Hermione excitedly.

"And we can have lunch in the Great Hall," pointed out Ron with a bit more excitement than was strictly justified. "No offense to your bagged meals, of course, Moony." Recently, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny had gotten into the habit of calling Lupin "Moony" to his face. He seemed to like it, so they had made it a habit.

"No offense taken," said Lupin with a grin.

They stopped about an hour later, once they were within about two kilometers or so of Snape and Wormtail.

"I'll take first watch," Harry volunteered, after they had set up the tent and gotten situated.

"No, don't worry about it," said Lupin. I'm not too tired, and if everything goes well, I'll have plenty of time to sleep tomorrow."

"How could you not be tired, after walking so much today?" asked Hermione, skeptically.

"All right, that was kind of a lie," admitted Lupin. He pulled a flask from his pocket, which reminded Harry oddly of the imitation-Moody from 4th year. "But I've got a potion in here that will perk me up a bit, and I would rather be the one doing the watch, since we're so close to them now. Anyway, walking twenty kilometers isn't nearly as exhausting as turning into a werewolf."

"You're not planning to sleep at all tonight?" asked Hermione.

"Trust me, even though I'm tired, I don't want to sleep. Frankly I can't stop thinking about tomorrow and how many wrongs I'm going to be able to set... well, as close to right as they can ever be set," said Lupin.

Hermione had sounded concerned, but Ron and Harry were quite tired after being woken up so early and walking all day, even if it was hardly past 9 o' clock yet. In the end, they all decided to trust Lupin's judgment, though Hermione admonished him to wake her up right away if he decided that he wanted to get some rest.

However, the first person Lupin woke up was Harry, and that wasn't until 6 o' clock the next morning.

"Wormtail's on the move," were his first words to him.

It took a moment for the words to stop sounding utterly ridiculous and actually register in Harry's still somewhat groggy mind. When they did, he said, "Just Wormtail?"

"Yeah," said Lupin, looking down at the map, as if for confirmation. "And he's actually come pretty close. It's weird, he did something like this yesterday morning, too. And the morning before, when I first started watching them. He walks for awhile, stays in one spot for a bit, and then apparates back. It's really weird, but he's been doing it consistently. And that's frankly just enough to make me just about certain it's not a trap."

"What could he possibly be doing?" asked Harry.

"I don't know... Maybe he doesn't like to go to the bathroom so close to Snape if he doesn't have to," suggested Lupin. "Or maybe he just needs to have a little bit of time each day away from the slimy git. I know I would if I were in his shoes."

"Fair enough," registered Harry. "Are you planning to do something about it, then?"
"Yes," said Lupin. "Which is why I woke you up."

"I'm up, too," registered Hermione.

"Me too," said Ron, who then paused before adding, "What's going on?"

"I'm going to go deal with Wormtail," said Lupin. "He's separated from Snape now. It'll be easier this way."

"How close is he?" asked Harry.

"He's actually really close," said Lupin. "About half a kilometer away."

"He must have been moving for awhile, then," registered Harry.

"Yes, but I didn't wake you until I was sure he was coming close enough to make this more convenient than just taking them on together," explained Lupin.

"Makes sense," registered Harry. "Do you want us to come with you?"

"Er... No, actually. I'd kind of rather if you lot didn't have to see me do this," Lupin said somewhat awkwardly.

Harry, however, understood.

"Just watch the map, and, if Snape starts moving toward Wormtail and I, come let me know. You're closer than he is, so it shouldn't be hard," said Lupin.

"Okay," agreed Harry, as Ron and Hermione nodded. "We'll pack up the tent while you're gone."

"Good luck," said Hermione, as Lupin began to walk away through the trees until he was obscured from sight.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione took turns glancing at the map as they magically took down the tent and began to pack things up.

However, several minutes after Lupin left, just as they were packing up the last of the camping equipment, Harry got a weird feeling, and he shivered. Since it was just before dawn on an May morning in Scotland, it certainly quite balmy, but he knew it wasn't the weather which had made him shiver.

He turned to Ron and Hermione. "Did you guys feel that?" he asked with a bit of worry that he couldn't even figure out why he was feeling.

"Yes," answered Hermione, who sounded just as nervous.

Another glance at the map showed that while Snape had stayed in the same place, Lupin had reached Wormtail. Harry got a quill out of his pocket and zoomed in to confirm that neither of them were moving. At all.

This was probably fine. It probably just meant that Wormtail had stopped, and that Lupin was standing in one spot watching him, waiting to strike. But somehow it seemed ominous.

"Reckon we should go to them?" Harry asked Ron and Hermione.

"Yes, I think so," said Hermione, and Ron nodded in agreement.

They brought the map with them, and Harry thought quickly enough to grab his invisibility cloak, although he wasn't quite sure why he thought he might need it. And soon, they were making their way through the forest to where Lupin and Wormtail were. And they were running, though none of them knew why.

Once they reached the spot where Lupin and Wormtail were, they quickly found that their running was justified. Both Wormtail and Lupin were already lying on the ground.

Hermione quickly ran over to Lupin and found that he still had a pulse. But he was clearly unconscious and none of them knew what had happened or whether he would survive. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione as they gathered around Lupin's motionless body.

It was just the Golden Trio again.

A/N: Please review. :)