Sophia Holmes and the Search for Horcruxes (Harry Potter Fanfic) *Completed*

Chapter Eleven

We keep moving through the country and days pass. This is ineffective: we need to find somewhere to camp for long enough to come up with a plan. By continuing to walk, we are exhausting ourselves unnecessarily.

I am managing to get bits of reading in the evenings. I've read all of the books on Horcruxes so now I'm reading around the topic, trying to see if I can link anything back to them in order to find their weakness.

A couple weeks later, we reach an abandoned caravan park lined with the charred husks of several static caravans, smoke still swirling up from them. The ground itself is scorched in places, as if the entire grounds was engulfed in flames. The pattern isn't consistent with a gas leak, so it's clearly not of Muggle cause.

Harry stops outside tiny playground, a blackened swing swaying back and forth in the breeze. He bends down and picks up a small, shiny toy unlike any of the toys I've seen in the Muggle world. This must have been a wizard encampment.

Ron reaches the same conclusion. "Wizards were here."

"I don’t like this place," Hermione whispers, and we turn to look at her. She looks over her shoulder and trembles. "I want to go."

We scavage the area for anything they may have left behind, but most of it is ruined by the fire so we move on, heading towards a forest ahead.

By the time we reach it, we are tired from hunger. Looking around, we are starting to look like the Snatchers - unkempt and wild.

I catch something move out the corner of my eye.

"How do we feel about rabbit?" I ask, watching as the animal hops across to the brush and probes inside. Their eyes follow mine and they grin, energised by the hunt for food.

Ron raises his wand but before he can fire, Harry has struck a patch of ground just behind the rabbit's rump. The rabbit bolts and we give chase, my gun in my hand ready to fire. If Harry hadn't have fired, one of my bullets could have been in that rabbit's skull already.

We chase after it, the rabbit zig-zagging between the trees, eluding each blast they send. The boys and Hermione follow it ungracefully, tripping through the forest as they try to catch up. Though this is not my natural hunting ground, I have had plenty experience of cross-country racing to keep me ahead.

A shot fires past me, barely missing me but missing the rabbit entirely. They begin laughing, their aim becoming more erratic. I've got a measure of the rabbit's maneuvers now. I decide to end this before one of them hits me and stop, aiming and firing in quick succession. As the rabbit darts to the right, my bullet meets it and the shot goes through its head. Smiling, I step forward to collect my reward.

I carry it back by its ears and examine it. Its pelt should help keep us warm as winter approaches.

I duck back as a tree limb explodes in front, right over Harry's head. He dodges it as he falls, looking back to see where it came from. Ron grins and they playfully fire exchange a few blasts, purposely missing. Then, one narrowly misses Harry and, his eyes flaring instinctively, he wheels around and shoots toward Ron. As it barely misses him, they both come to their senses and stop, staring at one another, chests heaving, their breath drifting in plumes and their smiles gone. Ron rubs his injured arm - now almost healed - and turns away.

"You done?" I ask pointedly. Ron looks back and their smiles return as I lift the rabbit up.

"Nice one Sophie!" Ron grins, running forward and examining the carcass.

"I reckon there's more of them here," I say, looking around. "What do you say we camp here for a day or two?"

Harry nods and as we start to assemble the tent, I feel the mood lift around us. I wonder how long it'll last.