Marooned - Fred Weasley

Chapter 72: Venom

They spent the next few days switching camp sites, they were getting used to the idea. Only the fact they were moving around so much wasn't exactly helping anyone, the bags under their eyes were saying a lot, the pale color of their faces as well. They tried their best to ration the food and water right, since they kept moving, Selena couldn't plant any more seeds because they needed at least two days of constant care to grow.

They were walking through a vast field of tall green grass. They needed to move around to avoid getting others hurt if the Death Eaters came asking and resume the search for Horcruxes.

"Here is the list of missing witches and wizards, hopefully the list is short today," Sarah heard on the radio. Ron was still listening to it relentlessly, and by now no one said anything anymore. George and Selena were walking behind Sarah and Fred, jokingly counting down their top ten places they'd rather be right now instead of this field with the sun beating down on them, going as far as saying the Hogwarts Dungeons, the dirty hamper of a Troll and the Forbidden Forest.

_

It took them three days to reach a little town, but it had been deserted, there were burnt trailers everywhere, empty swings where children used to play, abandoned homes where dinners were served. Sarah stepped on something that squeaked, when she looked down she saw it was a children's toy, a little doll she guess belonged to a little girl. She picked it up and looked at it, it was covered in dirt, one of its button eyes was loose, almost falling out. The fabric used to be soft, now it was rugged.

"I used to have a doll like this one," she snivelled, biting back her tears, "The dress was green, not pink, though." They'd all turned to her and looked at it, probably wondering what happened to the little girl who was missing that doll. Sarah opened up her bag and put it inside, she couldn't leave it there.

After another couple days, they set up camp again next to a vast lake, mostly surrounded by rocks. They intended to stay there for a few days, rest and pick up again. Selena had gathered some earth into a bag and planted other potato seeds, so they could at least have proper nutrition while they moved around England.

"Jason and Alison Denbright, Bella, Jake, Charlie and Madge Farley, Joe Laurie."

Astronomy had come in handy to find their position on the map, and along with the announcer's voice accompanying their paces, they moved again, trying to not revisit the same places and not stay too long in the same place.

"Eleanor Sarah Gibbs, Harry and Bronwyn Trigg, Rob and Ellie Dowson, Georgia Clarke-Day."

The air was getting colder even in daylight, the sky looked grim and gray, likely bringing on bad weather and storms, they couldn't keep on switching so often, Sarah informed Harry and he'd agreed to set up camp for good in the next forest they found.

"Joshua Flexson, George Coutas, Gabriella and Emily Mater, Jacob and Mimi Erland, Edward Zeal, William and Brian Gallagher."

Sarah let the pile of books drop, getting everyone to turn to her. Selena and Hermione were boiling the potatoes and cooking at a small fire the chestnuts Fred and George picked up earlier in the evening.

"That's- That's Alex's Dad-Edward Zeal. I thought they'd left the country. Oh, Merlin-" she put a hand over her mouth and stared at the radio as if doing that will change anything. Fred slowly walked up to her and picked up the books from the ground, set them on the table and took her in his arms, stroked her hair reassuringly.

"Dinner's ready," said Selena, getting everyone to gather around the table while she set the pot with the chestnuts and boiled potatoes. "We still don't have salt, I'm sorry."