𝐵𝐿𝐴𝐶𝐾 𝑊𝐼𝐷𝑂𝑊

ONE AND THE SAME

HIKING HER WAY THROUGH THE WOODS, THIS CERTAINLY WASN'T HOW NATASHA EXPECTED HER SUNDAY AFTERNOON TO GO. Of course, she knew it would take a good chunk out of her day, but she thought she'd be back before the sunset. She tugged her jacket around her arms tighter, hoping to warm herself up. With the sun setting, it was also getting cooler.

"Here, watch." Tom waved his wand, a blue ribbon forming with a flick of his wand. "We'll mark the forest with these."

Natasha hummed, flicking her wand as well, producing a red ribbon. "I'll go left, you go right?" She asked, getting a nod in response. Giving him a small smile, Natasha walked away from the man.

Her feet crunched against the forest floor, unable to keep her steps quiet, no matter how hard she tried. She rolled her eyes, pushing herself above a tall log, her shoelace getting caught on a spare branch. "Seriously?" She muttered under her breath, twisting her body around to reach her foot.

She grunted, undoing her ties to release herself from the tree. "Stupid hiking boots..." she hissed, angrily untying her shoe. "Should've gotten the zipper kind instead—!"

She stopped her body as still as a statue. She listened once more, eyes surveying her surroundings. Deeming it okay, Natasha went back to her shoe.

"Stupefy!" She grunted as she was propelled back, the force of the spell yanking her foot from the branch. She braced herself, making sure to roll. Still, even with that, it didn't stop her from spraining her ankle. "Got her, boys!"

Hissing in pain, she pulled herself up from the position she landed in. Her ankle hurt like a bitch! Narrowing her eyes, she took in the group in front of her. A group of five men stepped out from the shadows, forming a circle around her. "Well, looky here... it's the Girl-Who-Lived."

"Yeah," She panted, tilting her head to the side, "And who are you, boys? Forgive me if I don't recognize you — you're all very forgettable."

One of the guys snarled, moving forward with the intent to harm. "Hey," The man standing closest to him said, pulling his arm back, "The Dark Lord said to leave her to him. This is our first mission, we don't want to piss him off."

"But-!"

"-Shut it! Do you wanna join a higher rank or not?!"

As the two men bickered, Natasha surveyed her surroundings. Sure, if her ankle wasn't twisted, she'd be able to outrun the group and dodge their spell's easily. However, with her ankle, and being out in the woods. Natasha knew that plan wouldn't work. The five in front of her were tall, sure, but she could tell they weren't athletic.

Faintly, she wondered if Tom knew this would happen when Dumbledore took the horcrux. It seemed like he had no idea, not having visited the hut in ages. Still, she felt a little pissed off that Tom didn't tell her about this option.