ꜱᴇʀᴘᴇɴᴛɪɴᴇ ꜱᴇʀɪᴇꜱ | ᴛᴏᴍɪᴏɴᴇ

Whispers from the Past, ch. 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Later that day, Harmony couldn't contain herself a minute longer and told Snape how hungry she was. It was near dinner time and he agreed they both could use something to eat. Harmony had been in too much of a hurry to put any food in her sack before leaving Shell cottage, and their run into trouble at Spinner's End left them no chance to pack essentials. Snape sent her to look for a road and find a traveler who may be interested in trading. Before leaving, Harmony cast a glimmer spell on her face giving herself the appearance of a middle-aged woman with fiery red hair and green eyes. With Snape's money purse in hand, she set off on her own between the trees.

The glimmer spell would only work for half an hour or less, so Harmony walked at a quick pace, hoping to come across someone soon. Having traveled these woods before, she found one of the main roads quickly. It wasn't long before she spotted someone ahead of her going in the opposite direction away from town. As they approached each other, Harmony noticed it was a trader with a heavy sack piled high on his back. He was a young man who looked to be about in his twenties with a round face and bright eyes. He waved to her cheerfully as she drew closer and she smiled back.

"Evening, miss," he said. "Interested in a trade?"

"Yes, actually, I am," Harmony said, making her voice deeper to match her new womanly appearance. "Do you have any food?"

"Yes, ma'am, I do."

"What do you have?"

"Er," his face scrunched up, but he broke out into a dazzling smile, "I forgot, just a moment." He dropped his large pack to the ground and untied it to rummage through. "I'm a bit new to the trading business." He unpacked a couple parcels. "The trader, Zeth, is the regular for this road, but he's off leave. Rumor is he's working with the Ministry. Good for him, I say. That certainly has better pay than this."

Harmony's ears perked up. "Excuse me, did you say Zeth?"

"That's the man," he looked up at her from his sack. "Why? You know him?" When she nodded he went on, "Well, I'm not surprised. Zeth was always one for the ladies." He smiled up at her, "Especially the pretty ones."

She returned a smile, but her thoughts were on the man, Zeth. So he wasn't a Death Eater, he wasn't a Ministry official. He was just some small-town trader.

The trader handed her a couple parcels of dried meat and cheese. "Have you heard anything about him lately?" he asked, "His friends in town are all interested."

"Last I heard he was on the hunt for Harmony Hangleton," Harmony said, suppressing the coldness from her voice. "I believe he intends to turn her in to the Ministry for the reward money."

The trader laughed. "Ah, that persistent little bugger. He always thought he was meant for something bigger. Well, I wouldn't be surprised if his persistence did pay off and he caught that woman."

"Don't count on it," Harmony said through gritted teeth, slapping a galleon in his open palm. She turned away from the trader and strode away. Her mind was on why a small town trader would suddenly leave their regular life behind to do something so large a task as hunting down the world's most wanted criminal. He undoubtedly wanted the reward money, but what made him so different from all the others that wanted to catch her?

Harmony looked ahead, down the road. In her mind, she thought about where it led to. If she kept walking she would eventually meet a fork in the road, one of which would eventually lead to Shell cottage. The trader had said Zeth was the regular trader for this road. Harmony's mind suddenly connected the dots and she understood. Zeth had to have been around Shell cottage the day she ran away from Voldemort. He must've seen her and realized his chance to hunt her down. That was what gave him the advantage over all the others; he knew where she was. And now he had the Ministry on his side to help him bring her down.