Chapter 35

It had definitely been a long couple months in the woods. Theo would be lying if he said it wasn't. Just because he had been in slightly better shape than Dirk didn't mean that he was well adapted for the lifestyle. He was a Pureblood, born and raised to live with nothing less of the best, and living on the run was not something he was used to.

But it was no longer just the two of them. In the months after he ran away from the Wizarding world, it had taken a turn for the worse. With Voldemort taking over the Ministry, it seemed like no one was safe. Ted Tonks, the husband of the outcast Black sister had joined up with them just last month in an attempt to keep his family safe.

Dean Thomas however was an entirely different story. The boy, like many other muggleborns, had left his family in an attempt to keep them safe. When Ted, Theo, and Dirk had found him, the boy was freezing, starving, and almost half dead.

The sight of the former Gryffindor had left them all stunned. However, as soon as Thomas spotted them, he immediately had pulled his wand on the Slytherin.

"I'm warning you, stay away. I'm not afraid to hex you, you Death Eater," Thomas threatened. He staggered up from the area he was huddling in and attempted to fling a curse.

Thankfully for him, Ted stepped up. He held up his arms. "Dean, you remember me right? Nymphadora's father; we met at the Christmas party a few years ago."

Dean looked conflicted. He appeared to be recalling a memory; however the look of distrust did not leave his face.

"I remember you. But it doesn't explain why you're with him. How do I know you're not trying to catch me and turn me in for the Muggle Registration? Ted Tonks may have already been captured, and you could be impersonating him under a Polyjuice potion."

Ted drew out his wand, and immediately Dean tried to stun him. Thankfully, the wizard's aim was poor due to his lack of nutrition.

"I'm not going to hex you; I'm going to cast an enchantment removing spell upon myself, so that if your accusations were correct, then my true self would be revealed."

Dean nodded in agreement. "Okay, but if you try anything funny, I won't miss next time!" he said, trying to cover up for his previous attempt at a spell.

"Finite Incantatem" Ted said, and as the white light surrounded him, Ted Tonks' appearance did not change.

"Does that satisfy your concern, Dean?" Ted asked him, not unkindly.

Dean looked relieved as he dropped his tense mask for a moment; however, it was immediately placed back on his face when he remembered that Theo was among them.

"It doesn't explain him still," Dean said with a glare in Theo's direction. "Why exactly are you with a Death Eater if you're supposed to be on the run for them?"

"I'm not a Death Eater, Thomas. I'm on the run because I don't want to be one," Theo said with a sigh. He didn't like telling people about it; it was his own business and no one else but his. But due to his father's history and reputation, Theo did not have the luxury of being private about his intentions.

Thomas was probably one of the most cynical people on the planet, as he did not appear to believe Theo's story. But Theo didn't blame him; he probably would be sceptical too if he was placed in Thomas' situation.

Theo rolled up his sleeve to reveal his empty left forearm. "See, no Dark Mark." When Dean looked expectantly at his other arm, Theo let out an exasperated sigh as he rolled up the other sleeve as well. "Does that satisfy your curiosity, Thomas?"

"Yes, for now. But if I find that you somehow managed to conceal your mark, I won't hesitate to kill you."

"Why are you on the run, Dean?" Ted asked him softly.

"I don't know about my parentage. My mum's a muggle, but my father left us at a young age. I have no way of knowing if he was a wizard and no way of knowing what that makes me. Honestly, even though I'm enjoyed my upbringing, I can't help but wonder if he is a wizard, because it meant that I wouldn't have to be here."

Tonks sat him down and pulled out some of the food they had in storage. He heated it up with his wand and gave it to the young runaway.

"Here, eat this. It will make you feel better," Ted said gently as he handed the boy some food.

Dean might have been civil to Theo over the course of the last month, but it was only recently that he was starting to warm up to him. While the boys may have had their differences in the past, they were able to get along together for a mutual benefit so they could both survive.

There were also two Goblins, Griphook and Gornuk, who had only recently joined up with them. It seemed that Voldemort was no kinder to Goblins than he was to other wizards who had failed him.

And now, they were all sitting around a fire, attempting to keep warm while they talked about why they were on the run and what they had done prior to their exile. They took turns reminiscing about things they missed from civilization.

"I miss football," Dean said with a dreamy look upon his face. "I haven't heard any news about what has been happening in the game and I would give anything to know the score of the latest match."

While Ted appeared to know what he was talking about, Theo had no idea. "What's football?"

Dean looked at him incredulously. "You've never heard of it? How is that even possible? Do all purebloods live under a rock or something?"

From the corner of his eye, Theo could see Ted smirk as he raised a cup to his lips in an attempt to hide his actions.

Theo gave the Gryffindork a glare. "I have no idea what any of that even meant, but I am going to assume you are being ignorant about the pureblood upbringing. I have no reservation towards those of other blood statuses but I grew up as a pureblood, which means I have no knowledge of the muggle world, and any sort of things they fancy."

Dean Thomas raised his hands in defence, "I get it, I get it. Football is only the greatest sport to exist ever. Basically, like Quidditch you have two teams, and each of these teams have different positions. There's only one ball, however, which both teams need to use to aim into the other teams' net, which there is only one of too. They can only kick the ball, and if anyone but the goalie, who's like a keeper, touches the ball, there's a free shot. The offences' job is to try and score it into the net, whereas the defence are supposed to protect the keeper. And then there's the midfield who are supposed to assist both the positions."

Theo looked confused, "But why would anyone want to kick a ball?" he asked the others, completely baffled. "Doesn't it crush your toes? If anyone attempted to kick a quaffle they would be in immense pain."

Ted and Dean burst into laughter. Even Dirk, who had been silent the entire time, cracked a smile. The only ones who didn't react were the two Goblins, who currently were huddled near each other and were discussing something among themselves very quietly.

"The ball is virtually weightless, so kicking it couldn't hurt you at all," Ted explained. He picked up a rock near where they were sitting and using his wand, he transfigured it into a ball that was white in colour but had black hexagons patterned all over it. "Here, give it a kick."

Theo still had his reservations, but he decided to give it a try. He placed the ball in front of him, and pulled his foot back slightly. He gave the ball a good kick, and was rather surprised to watch it soar through the air. He barely noticed the impact the ball had on his feet! It was incredible to watch the ball's flight. Theo knew instantly why Dean Thomas was so enthralled by the game of 'football' and knew that it must have been a sight to watch.

He suddenly became aware that all eyes were on him. Dean's mouth was wide open, while Ted's eyes wore a look of shock. Dirk, on the other hand, was displaying both of Dean and Ted's symptoms. Even the two Goblins looked over from their conversation.

"What?" He asked, feeling conscious of the attention he was getting.

"Bloody Hell, mate. If I knew you could kick like that, I would have recruited you to play a game of football ages ago," Dean said first, breaking the silence.

Theo was caught off guard for a moment, but quickly recovered and added a smirk to his face. "Well of course I am; what did you expect?"

Dean, however, knew Theo well enough to know when he was joking and did not remark.

Dirk looked over at them all, "Don't you worry if we will come across Death Eaters or Snatchers if we just sit out here in the open like this?"

Theo shook his head. "It's good to be cautious, but Snatchers aren't exactly quiet. If they were around, we would hear them. And there is no reason for Death Eaters to be out here. Most of them are destroying villages or making an attempt to capture Harry Potter."

"Bah, what good would finding Potter do anyone? It's not like he will save us," Gornuk said angrily as he looked over at where they were sitting.

"You can't be serious," Ted said, with a stunned look on his face.

"He's the Chosen One for a reason. He knows how to bring You-Know-Who down, and will save us all," Dean said.

"Oh really?" Griphook said, joining the conversation. "So where is he? He's gone into hiding, I tell you; too busy trying to save his own hide from You-Know-Who to care about the rest of us."

"That's not true! It's not as if he can be in the open; if he were, then he would be an easier target. The only way he would be able to stay safe long enough to do whatever it was that he had to do, is to disappear from the rest of the world."

"And in the meantime there are stupid children left and right risking their lives to try and show their support. If you ask me it would be better for everyone if someone found a solution which didn't involve waiting for Harry Bloody Potter to save us all," Gornuk said fuming.

"Wait, what do you mean about the children? Has anyone in particular done something to catch the Death Eaters' attention?" Theo asked suddenly. He was worried that Blaise might have publicly rebelled and gotten himself killed. Honestly, that was the last thing he needed to hear at the moment.

"The Weasley girl; her, along with Longbottom and Lovegood were caught a short while before we left, breaking into the Headmaster's office."

"Ginny?" Dean asked in shock. "What happened? Is she alright? How about Neville and Luna? What were they trying to steal?"

"Many questions you ask," Griphook said. "They were caught trying to steal the sword of Godric Gryffindor. Doesn't matter anyway; it was a fake," Griphook said. "Why do you think He was so angry, enough that we'd have to leave?"

Dean digested this for a moment before realizing he still didn't know what happened to his ex-girlfriend. Theo watched as he clenched his fists at his side, with anger towards Snape.

"What was their punishment?"

"They were sentenced to go into the Forbidden Forest with the half-giant," Griphook said.

Theo watched as Dean let out a breath. With Death Eaters crawling over Hogwarts, it was a relief that the worst punishment they received had not been being used as a target for foul spells and hexes, but simply spending time in a forest with someone on their side, and he knew that that was what Dean was happy about.

"Oh, that's good," Dean breathed.

"The Weasleys don't need any more loss in their family," Ted said, with a soft tone to his voice

"We should keep moving," Theo said suddenly. He couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw the air move slightly. He knew that a disillusion charm had been cast, and the fact that it wavered slightly meant that someone on the other side had nearly penetrated their charm accidently.

"What, why? We've been travelling for so long; can't we just spend the night?" Dean said with a groan.

He knew how the boy felt. If it were up to him they would stay in one place as long as possible; but it wasn't safe; they had to leave.

Ted seemed to sense that something was up and quickly got to his feet. "Theo's right. We should keep moving," his voice said with an edge.

The others seemed to get their meaning, and using their wands the group packed up the few belongings they had.

It was always Theo who apparated them to a new location. He was the best at picking random locations in the middle of nowhere, so the task was left to him. The others grasped on to him, and he closed his eyes to visualize where he wanted to go.

*pop*

Weasley had been in a bad mood all day. They had only been camping out in the forest for a week, yet to Draco it seemed like an eternity. He had no idea what it was that had set off the ginger this time, but one thing was certain; tensions in the camp were running higher than ever.

Weasley had singlehandedly insulted Hermione and her cooking, which was quite good for the circumstances she was reduced to, complained about the current conditions, made attempts to guess whose fault it was that the Death Eaters had shown up, which Draco was the main suspect for, and told Harry off for having more money than his family. Draco wasn't quite sure how the last argument had started, but Ron had managed to piss off everyone one way or another.

Draco was lighting a fire when an alarm had gone off. The sky above him was blinking, and he knew that someone had tripped a safety ward that they had placed around the premise.

Hermione and Harry came running out of the tent, and Weasley put down the fish he had been attempting to eat, while making horrid sounds of disgust every few moments.

"Someone's near," Harry said worriedly. "Could it be the Death Eaters? Are they here?" His voice raised an octave slowly.

Hermione cast a charm quickly and Draco watched as she found which way the intrusion attempt was.

"Whoever is there is in that direction," Hermione said, as she pointed north of their camp.

"We should check it out," Draco said, attempting to keep his voice levelled. He knew it wouldn't serve any point to show his nervousness.

The parameters on where they had set up weren't too large, so whoever it was were really close to where they were.

The four of them walked over in that direction. It was Draco who first noticed the weird object in their vicinity. It was a white spherical object, coloured with back spots.

"Stay away from it," he commanded Harry as he saw the boy approach the object. "We don't know what it is; the Death Eaters may have created some new weapon to lure us out. It could be weakening our defences as we speak. We should leave."

Harry laughed, "Mate, it's a football. I doubt Death Eaters would even know what it was," he said.

Draco was confused. "A what?"

"It doesn't really matter much, other than the fact that it's a muggle object. There's probably a family camping out here somewhere."

That made sense to Draco. The wards they had set up were to keep out other people; it didn't say anything about muggle objects.

Hermione however shook her head, "No, the muggle repellant ward has an even wider range than the others. There's no way any family could be within several kilometres of us. And no one has a range of a kick that far."

"We should go closer," Ron said suddenly. "Stay in the bounds, but try and figure out who is here before we leave."

Harry nodded. "Okay," he said, and Draco knew that it meant that they would have to go near the boundaries. It was risky; if they got too close they might accidently step out, but he knew as long as they stayed inside, they would be safe.

The closer they got the more voices he heard. The first one he recognized was Theo's. His breath caught in his throat. So his friend had gone on the run to avoid being a Death Eater. He felt relief, knowing that he was still alive.

The group was comprised of four people and two goblins. He recognized Thomas, a Gryffindor in his year, and Ted as well. He was shocked to see his uncle on the run; he had been safe a few months ago. Was his family in danger because of him? He knew it couldn't be the case; not since no one knew that he was alive.

"Wait, what do you mean about the children? Has anyone in particular done something to catch the Death Eaters' attention?" Theo said, and Draco immediately tuned in to their conversation

"The Weasley girl. Her, along with Longbottom and Lovegood were caught a short while before we left, breaking into the Headmaster's office."

"Ginny? What happened? Is she alright? How about Neville and Luna? What were they trying to steal?"

Draco saw the blood drain from Harry's face. If something happened to her, he knew that Harry would never be able to live with himself.

"Many questions you ask," a Goblin said. "They were caught trying to steal the sword of Godric Gryffindor. Doesn't matter anyway; it was a fake. Why do you think He was so angry, enough that we'd have to leave?"

"What was their punishment?" Thomas asked worriedly.

"They were sentenced to go into the Forbidden Forest with the half-giant."

He saw Harry let out a breath, knowing his ex-girlfriend hadn't been harmed.

"Oh, that's good," Thomas said, obviously relieve.

"The Weasleys don't need any more loss in their family," Draco's uncle said sadly.

Draco knew it must have been killing his uncle to have to be separated from his family, and he wished he could step out of the bounds to say something.

Draco saw Ron start to trip over a branch as he leaned closer to hear what the group was saying better. He knew that the boy was about to fall out of the safety area as he saw the air start to move. He quickly pulled him backwards, and Ron landed on his butt.

"We should keep moving," Theo said suddenly, and Draco knew he took note of the shift in the air.

"What, why? We've been travelling for so long; can't we just spend the night?" Thomas complained

He knew how the boy felt. If it were up to him they would stay in one place as long as possible; but it

"Theo's right. We should keep moving," his uncle said, sensing something was up.

Draco watched as the others apparated away, clinging on the Theo. At least he knew that his friend and uncle were alright for now.