Brisance: the shattering effect of a high explosive.

March 18, 1998

Another house was on fire. Flames leapt into the star-strewn black sky, catching on trees that crowded in thickly around the shabby, tumbledown old house. Collin dove into the undergrowth as the windows shattered behind him, hauling Dennis by the elbow. All around them, dark shadows fled into the woods, other Muggle-borns skittering like mice from their burrow. Spells flashed in the open space between the house and the forest, and he could hear Snatchers howling with laughter at the sport.

In the half-light, Collin felt for a place to hide. He found a shallow dip at the base of a low pine tree and shoved Dennis into it before wriggling down beside him. The branches pressed against their backs as mud seeped into their fronts and all they could see through the needles was the roaring orange light.

"We'll be alright," Collin whispered in his brother's ear, trying to drown out the noise of their third safe house crumbling to ash. "We're always alright."

"It's gonna blow!" some rough voice cried and a stampede of snatchers thundered past their hiding place, dragging their captives behind them.

Collin threw himself over Dennis as an explosion rocked the forest. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed Dennis's face into the ground, winding his fingers through his brother's mousy curls as heat rushed over them like dragon's breath and flaming chunks of debris rained down on all sides. He could feel Dennis shaking hard enough to make his teeth clack together. When he opened his eyes, he saw one of Dennis's round, brown eyes staring vacantly at him.

Collin pulled him back further into the protection of the tree's damp roots and wrapped a protective arm around his shoulders. "It'll be alright. We'll find the others in the morning, at the rock, and get a new place."

Dennis said nothing.

They stayed under the pine tree until the forest was frosted in the gray light of dawn. Dennis might have slept fitfully, but Collin scarcely blinked, even when the trampling footfalls of the snatchers and their raucous calls had faded. He barely dared to breathe in the hushed silence of the burned wood. But when it was light enough to see, he cautiously squirmed his way out of their hiding place. Once he was sure there was no danger, he reached back and hauled Dennis out after him.

Crouched double, they half-ran, half-crept through the shadows, jumping at every snap of a twig or rustle of branches. Collin's heart was pounding in his mouth by the time the peak of the great rock came into view. He and Dennis stumbled against the stone, now sweeping every shadow for anyone who had escaped capture. This was the meeting place. They had one at every safe house in case this happened. It had happened three times since Christmas. The woods were perfectly silent. There didn't seem to be anyone waiting in the gloom for them. Dennis sank down to the dirt, staring at the empty clearing, and Collin stood over him, listening hard.

A falling stone nearly gave him a heart attack. Collin spun, pulling Dennis behind him reflexively. Justin Finch-Fletchly grinned down at him from the top of the rock. He skidded down the steep side next to them.

"Coote thought you might've gotten yourselves caught this time," he told them as others dropped out of trees on all sides. "I told him you were too good at burrowing."

Collin couldn't stop grinning from relief as Justin flung an arm around him in a rough hug, proving he really had been worried. But his relief congealed into dread as he looked around at the others, searching for missing faces. "Who's –?"

"Now that you're back, no one!' Justin cried gleefully, rousing a couple of birds from their nests in neighboring trees.

"Justin, shsh," Jess Bagley hissed, nudging him. But he was too jubilant to care. "Let's get a fire going and start talking about a plan, yeah?"

The others huddled around the bluebell flames Justin had carried around in a jar all winter. He was the only one of age among them. Most of the of-age Muggle-borns went off on their own because they couldn't use magic around the underaged without bringing the whole ministry down on them, but Justin had stayed with them. Collin leaned against the freezing rock beside his brother.

"Hear that, Dennis? They didn't get anyone this time. Bet it was the explosion. Musta got out of their really quickly after that."

But Dennis didn't say anything, just kept staring at his knees. He hadn't said anything in a long time. His silence burned away the last of Collin's relief at finding everyone else safe. The familiar anger roiled in his stomach once more, leaping into his chest like the flames that kept bringing down their homes. Not at his brother. Never at Dennis. It was the people who had made him like this that Collin wanted to slam to the ground.

He stared at Dennis, small and pale and fourteen out here in the soggy, half-frozen woods, having seen his friends and classmates dragged off in the dead of night. He'd never be the same. And Collin hated it. He hated them. And he wouldn't rest until he'd struck back at them for what they'd done.

A/N: Either I write a ton or hardly anything. This was almost 300 words, then I wanted to add something and now it's 900. Anyway, sorry to fall off the wagon so quickly. Went to see a doctor out of state and the trip was a bit hectic. I've wanted to write this for a long time, but just haven't gotten round to it. Then I read a chapter about Collin in 'Candles' by My Dear Professor McGonagall (you should read it if you haven't :)). Hope you liked it!