Dream Girl

TWENTY EIGHT - SOMETHING BURNT

"How did they find us?" Alora asked quietly, putting up the ten while Theo was casting their usual protective charms around them.

"I don't know but we have to be more careful," Theo mumbled absently, focusing on the spell casting.

They apparated several times to several different places in the last hour, paranoid that they could still be tracked. But nobody showed up.

"I am going inside. I think I splinched my leg during our apparition spree."She noticed the sting in her thigh sometime between the third and fourth change of their location and now when the initial adrenaline started to fade away she realized it actually hurt a lot and she might be even bleeding. Theo just nodded, continuing waving his wand in precise movements.

There was in fact a nasty gash in the back of her thigh which was bleeding heavily. Luckily they still had a big stack of potions Blaise gifted them. She quickly grabbed a small dropper bottle with Essence of Dittany and Blood-Replenishing Potion and disappeared in her tiny bedroom. When she finished treating her injury Theo was done with the protection spells, preparing some tea in the kitchen part of the tent.

"One of the Dark Wizards was my father."

"Do you think he is still looking for you?" Alora took the mug Theo offered her and gave him a small smile of gratitude.

"I don't think he was necessarily looking for me, I think they are just constantly looking for Potter, people from resistance or refugees in general."

"Are you okay?" Alora measured her friend with a worried glance.

"Yeah," Theo nodded. "Of course. It just surprised me. I really didn't expect to see him today, or ever honestly. How is your leg?"

"Almost as good as new. Thanks to Blaise."

"Our hero Zabini, he saved the day once again," Theo chuckled. "Go rest, I will prepare something for lunch."

"How could I say no to a nap and food from you. Thank you, Teddy Bear."

The next day was dragging even slower than any other. After yesterday's encounter with Theo's father they were afraid to leave their little bubble of safety and that meant there were even less things to do to kill time. Alora decided to bake her mother's signature lemon crinkle cookies and Theo was definitely not protesting. He loved them after all. The cookies reminded him of the happy times they spent in Alora's home during summer.

Few hours later, the tent was filled with the delicious sweet smell of lemon and sugar. Theo was happily munching on one whilst listening to some unknown song playing on the radio and bobbing his leg into the rhythm. Alora was humming quietly, cleaning the dishes, waiting for the last badge of cookies to finish baking.

"You should slow down, you will be sick," Alora giggled as she saw Theo grabbing another cookie.

"Yes, mommy."

"Ew, don't call me that," Alora laughed, throwing an oven mitt at him.

"Maybe you should pay more attention to the tray in the oven instead of counting how many cookies I had. I think you burned them. That's a shame, less for me to eat."

Alora let out a panicked squeal, running towards the oven. Theo was right, there was a faint smell of burn in the air but when she opened the oven all the cookies were still pale yellow colour, not even close to being done.

"It's not the cookies."

"What?" Theo looked at her, surprised.

"They aren't even done. It's not the cookies." Alora quickly looked around the tent but all the candles were blown out since it was still pretty early in the afternoon. "It has to go somewhere from the outside."

Both of their smiles disappeared rather quickly as they both ran outside. There was already visible smoke around them, making their eyes tear up instantly as they exit the tent. Alora gasped in shock when she turned around and saw an enormous wall of fire quickly spreading towards them.

"What the-, how did that happen?" Theo shouted.

"We have to pack up quickly."

"No, Al, there is no time for that. We have to run." Theo grabbed her hand, already started pulling her away from the fire. "The protective barrier is a few hundred feet wide, we have to leave it before we can apparate."

Alora was slower than Theo, her leg was still quite sore from yesterday's injury. The air around them started to warm up as the fire was creeping closer and closer to them and it was more and more difficult to breathe. There were small particles of ash in the air, irritating their lungs, making every inhale painful. Alora quickly pulled her sweatshirt over her mouth and nose as a poor attempt of protection.

When she turned around she noticed that the fire was slowly circling them, forcing them to change direction. There was now only one way out and she had this strong feeling that there was nothing good waiting for them at the end.

"I think it's a trap," she shrieked in between a few nasty coughs.

"It definitely is, prepare to apparate as soon as you feel the barrier fall. Just a few more steps."

"Alright," Alora nodded, strengthening her hold on Theo's arm.

Only a few seconds later she felt the gently tingling sensation of their protective shield but before she could picture some other place in her head to apparate them to she felt something hit her right in the chest. Her legs became jelly-like and she felt hard on the ground, pulling Theo down with her.

"Ah, here you are. Expelliarmus."

They both looked up in panic, watching their wands fly away from them. There were several dark wizards heading towards their direction, leaving them no more space to run. They were trapped since neither one of them was able to apparate without a wand.

"I have to admit, your protective charms are really admirable. It's a pity they are only working against magic. We have to burn a really big chunk of land to expel you out of your hiding hole."

"How-," Alora tried to speak but was interrupted with a nasty coughing fit. Her lungs were hurting so badly since she breathed in so much smoke and ash and her eyes were watering. Theo next to her let out a choking sound and she quickly looked at him, suddenly worried sick about him. His lungs still weren't completely healed after that nasty infection. Alora grabbed his hand again, trying to calm him down with soft strokes over his knuckles with her thumb. It helped a little. His breathing calmed down a bit but he was still struggling to take a deep breath.

"You see, Miss Burns, blood is a powerful thing. A single droplet can do so many things. Like creating simple and effective tracking spells," one of the wizards explained, crouching in front of her, pressing a tip of his wand under her chin.

Alora knew her injury yesterday was bad but she didn't realize how much she must have bled. She thought that her jeans soaked everything in but she was evidently mistaken.

"Don't touch her!" Theo gritted angrily, trying to get up.

"Is this how you talk to your own father now? What a disappointment you are. At least your taste in women isn't that bad. It's a shame she is only a half-blood. But maybe we can overlook that if she is really the witch we are looking for. Striker, take him into the manor, I will take care of this beauty."

"Don't touch her! Don't you dare," Theo shouted again, but he was quickly silenced with a strong punch into the jaw and his mouth immediately filled up with blood.

"Stop it! Don't hurt him, please," Alora shrieked, trying to whisked herself out of the other wizard's grasp.

"Touching, really. But there is no time for that. Let's go."

Alora was writhing and kicking but it was to no use. All she could do was watch Theo disappear in the air and hope they end up in the same destination. The tears in her eyes were no longer only because of the smoke and ash but more because of the pure despair and fear. They were screwed.