Chapter 13

- Wanderers -

For the next week the group was able to stay hidden from the world, the radio being the only way of knowing what was happening. Everyday, Teddy and Hermione would wake up and immediately reapply the protective enchantments hiding their campsite. Then they'd all gather round the small kitchen table in their large tent and try to figure out ways to destroy the Horcrux, which they all took turns in wearing.

Everyone was tired, hungry and frustrated, which only helped the Horcrux do its job. Whoever was wearing it would turn sour in less than half an hour. Teddy hated the feeling, being angry at his friends, then regretting it as soon as he took the locket off.

Even without the locket, the relationships between certain people were beginning to waver. Ron had developed a bad attitude towards everyone and everything. Hermione and Arkie had been found arguing over which fungus was safe to eat. Harry had stopped talking to anyone and Teddy spent most his time alone outside, as he had no one to talk to.

Arkie would occasionally join him on his regular walks, but she would barely speak a word and only answered his questions in one word.

In short, despite being surrounded by friends, Teddy felt alone.

One night, that begun like every other night, where they would gather inside the tent without speaking, eat bowls of mushroom soup and listen to the list of missing people names spilling from the radio, Hermione left halfway through dinner. After a while, Teddy walked outside to follow her. She was standing at the edge of the clearing, staring into the trees.

She glanced over her shoulder when she heard his footsteps approaching her. "Do you worry about them? About your parents."

"All the time." He replied. "I'm worried about a lot of people."

"I wonder if I'll ever see them again. My parents." She sniffed, holding her arms to her chest.

Teddy looked down at her sadly. "I'm sorry about your parents. I heard about it from Ron... I'm sorry you had to wipe their memories." She nodded a thanks, staring at the ground. Teddy wrapped his long arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to his side. Suddenly, there was a distant crack and Hermione's sobs stopped abruptly.

She took a step forward, standing near the edge of the enchanted barrier. A group of men, dressed in dirty, travelers clothes were walking past the clearing. Teddy gave a quick intake of breath as a large beast of a man carried an unconscious witch in his arms. The witch was bound by the hands and looked thoroughly beaten up.

"Snatchers." Hermione whispered, gesturing to the wizards from the other side of the magical barrier.

"Hold up!" The leader of the Snatchers, a lanky wizard with long black hair tied up messily and his body wrapped in leather, held up his hand to stop the others. "What's that?"

"What's what?" A Snatcher snarled, leaning against a tree in a bored fashion.

"What's that smell?" The Snatcher leader, whom Teddy recognised as Antioch Scabior, walked closer towards the barrier diving him and the hidden fugitives. He sniffed loudly and both Teddy and Hermione held their breath. Teddy tried to remain calm while Hermione looked panicked. There was a loud thud! One of the Snatcher's had dropped the witch's body. "What you doing?" Scabior hissed, ambling back to the group.

"It's heavy."

"Oh, sorry. Do you want me to carry it?"

The Snatcher didn't seem to catch on to his leader's sarcasm. "Yeah, thanks." He grunted, attempting to pass the unconscious witch to the slim, almost handsome Snatcher.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Scabior huffed, pushing past him. "Pick it up." Soon the group had disappeared into the forest.

"Good to know both of your enchantments work." Harry said from behind them. Teddy had been unaware of his presence and turned around slowly. Hermione took an intake of breath. "He could smell it. My perfume." She said, walking past them and back to the tent. Both Teddy and Harry speed-walked up to her.

"We have to leave." Teddy said what they all knew. He glanced up at the tent, Ron was standing in the doorway, watching them unfriendly.

"I've told you," Hermione said. "Ron isn't strong enough to Apparate."

"Well, then, we'll go on foot." Harry replied. "And next time, Hermione, as much as I like your perfume, just don't wear any."

They walked for hours. Teddy was a relatively fit person, having had to put up with Anna's dueling fitness routine back at Hogwarts. But the journey was difficult either way. No one talked as they walked, no one had the energy nor the right mindset to focus of both walking and talking at the same time. Luckily, they didn't have to carry anything thanks to Hermione's life saving pouch.

They walked for days, never making camp in the same place twice. One day they were walking through an endless field of grass. The sight was beautiful, with vibrant grass and a stunningly blue sky, but it stretched on for what felt like miles. For hours nothing new ever rose over the horizon other than the boiling hot sun.

Arkie walked beside Teddy, swaying left and right tiredly as she walked. The locket swung around her neck. "How much further?" She whined.

"Shouldn't be too far." Teddy had replied for the third time that day.

Another day they had, had to hide in an old barn, watching as Death Eaters flew across the sky in great plumes of black smoke. On that day it'd been Teddy's turn to wear the locket. He sat alone in the corner of the barn, wondering if this forever be their daily routine. Running from Death Eaters, never staying in one place too long.

The whole group looked like a mess, with unwashed hair, that deserved a trim, dark circles under their eyes and the boys all needed a shave. Was this their new lives?

Teddy scratched an itch on his hand violently, thinking to himself. 'I should be anywhere but here! Why did I ever think of coming? I was fine, a medical miracle. But now Harry's dragged me into... this! I should be with my father, even if my father's a coward and my mother's-'

"Hand it over."

He jumped. Arkie was beside him and he quickly put the Horcrux in her hand, feeling instantly better. The two stared at each other for a second, pressing their foreheads against one another in a deep, quiet moment.

Finally, they reached their next campsite. A rocky cliffside, hanging beside a vast lake that reminded Teddy of the Black Lake at Hogwarts. It was nightfall by the time they arrived, but by now they'd gotten into the rhythm of setting up camp quickly. Teddy begun to set up the protective enchantments while the others prepared dinner.