Chapter 3

The rest of the morning went off without incident, and when the time came to move locations, Harry found himself in a better mood than he had been in in months. Hermione, too, was a tad brighter and Harry even caught her humming absently to herself while packing up the tent. The outlook had suddenly grown much cheerier.

Hermione took them to a snowy hillside littered with evergreen trees. A frozen pond could be found nearby, and the clearing where they set up the tent seemed well hidden and very private. Harry quite enjoyed the sound of the winter birds as they chirped to each other. It put him in an even better mood that was only improved when Hermione offered to cast the Disillusionment charms like her old self. While she worked, he sat just inside the edge of their little protective sphere and watched the birds fly from tree to tree, hopping through the snow every now and then, completely innocent and devoid of any burdens.

"Harry, do you want to go into town?" Hermione called from behind him. He turned to see the tent already set up and Hermione peeking out at him from behind the flap. Her bushy hair had been pulled back into a high ponytail and she was smiling.

"For food," she added hastily. "The cloak is right here."

Harry considered for a moment. "Where are we, Hermione?"

She shrugged. "I came camping here a long time ago with my grandparents. I don't even remember what it's called, but I know there's a little town on the other side of the hill. It probably has a supermarket."

"I'll go," said Harry, immediately standing up and taking the cloak out of Hermione's hand.

"I'm going, too," she said, getting up and looking into his eyes. Harry felt a sudden desire to get closer to her, but dismissed it as his protective instincts, or maybe just the cold.

"No. It's too dangerous. Remember that time with the Dementors? Just let me go. I'll pick up some vegetables and canned fruit, we need better, er, nutrition."

"Oh, please," sighed Hermione. "Nutrition? When have you ever cared about that? I'm going, so you can either come with me or stay behind." Then, with one swift motion, she ripped the cloak out of his hands and stalked to the edge of their bubble.

"But if neither of us stay behind, how will we find this place again?"

"I've taken care of it," said Hermione with a dismissive wave of her hand. "We'll be able to find it, trust me."

"Will anyone else be able to?"

"I doubt it." With that, Hermione stepped across the invisible barrier and threw the cloak over herself, in the process disappearing from Harry's sight.

In a moment of panic, Harry thought she'd Disaparated without him. "Hermione?"

"I'm right here," came her voice from a little ways into the clearing.

"Fine, I'm coming," Harry said grudgingly, and with one fleeting look behind him at the tent, he joined Hermione under the cloak.

It was warm underneath the silvery fabric and Harry could feel Hermione's breath on his cheek. It sent tingles down his spine.

"Ready?"

Harry felt jolted back to reality. "Uh, yeah."

Hermione took his hand, gave it a squeeze that set Harry's insides on fire and then they were being suffocated by the world around them…

"Here we are," whispered Hermione once the world had leveled out and Harry could see straight again. Before them was a quaint village, the epitome of coziness. Harry realized that it reminded him terribly of Hogsmeade and felt the air get knocked out of him as though he had been punched.

"Let's go," said Harry, trying to force air back into his lungs. Moving slowly to prevent the cloak from falling off, they set off down the street. Within minutes, he could smell the rich scent of baking bread, tantalizing his senses and driving all thoughts of Hogsmeade from his mind.

"Can we?" He asked Hermione.

"Sure." She stopped abruptly and Harry almost walked right out from under the cloak. "Here's some muggle money," she said, digging around in her beaded bag and pulling out a handful of coins that Harry recognized from all those Saturdays when Uncle Vernon had handed a large amount over to Dudley for an 'allowance'. What Dudley did that deserved an allowance, Harry never knew. He just assumed that it was the fact that Dudley existed.

They carefully edged their way into the Bakery, and when a large group of bundled-up shoppers blocked the cashier from view, Harry reached out a hand from under the cloak and grabbed two loaves of bread off the shelf.

"Mommy!" a little girl nearby suddenly cried. Tugging on her mother's skirt and pointing in Harry and Hermione's direction, she yelled, "That bread just disappeared! Poof!"

Hermione looked wide-eyed at Harry, who stopped breathing. But to their immense relief, the mother didn't even look. Instead, she continued rummaging around in her purse while saying, "Oh did it? How nice." And that was the end of that. With one more curious look in their direction, the little girl followed her mother into line.

"Quick," Hermione mumbled, almost tripping over her feet as she led Harry towards the exit. On their way out, she tossed a handful of coins behind the cashier, who looked down and shook his head.

"Why do I keep dropping the change?" he said to himself, and with a huge breath of relief, Harry emerged into the frosty air.

"I want to go," Hermione said. Harry looked over at her and saw that she was trembling. His heart ached.

"Yeah, sure."

Hermione nodded shakily, took Harry's hand tightly in her own, and Disaparated.

When they arrived back on the hill, Harry saw a scarf tied around a tree nearby.

"Hermione," he said anxiously, holding the cloak down over them when Hermione tried to yank it off. "That wasn't there when we left."

"Yes it was," she insisted. "I put it there. Watch." She pulled the cloak over her head, leaving it hanging over Harry and approached the scarf. She drew her wand and said something under her breath, touched the scarf and then grinned. Then she took a step to the side and disappeared.

Harry made his way over to the scarf, but before he reached it, a hand came out of nowhere and tugged him roughly so that he had to catch himself before toppling to the forest floor. And there, before him, was the tent.

"I'm just going to take down the scarf," Hermione said, and she reappeared at his side a moment later with it wrapped around her neck.

"Brilliant," Harry said faintly. Their simple journey had been taxing.

"I'm going to make tea," Hermione declared, and she left him alone in the snow.

As Harry laid there on his back and felt the snow melting into his hair, he pictured Hermione inside the tent busying herself with the tea. This image was closely followed by one of Hermione reading 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' in her cot, biting her chapped lip like she usually did. Then he saw himself walking right up to her and –

No, Harry chastised himself. He couldn't go there. If he drove Hermione away, he had no one left. Plus, she was his best friend. He couldn't risk losing her.

But still, he felt a pleasant sensation move through him from head to feet, and that wasn't something he could prevent.

In an effort to distract himself, Harry stood up, stretched, and walked around the perimeter of the tent. Dusk was already approaching; the sky was darkening and the sun was no longer visible over the trees. A chilly wind ate at Harry's skin.

"Harry!" Hermione called. "Tea's ready!"

Harry was about to join Hermione in the tent when he heard a snap followed by ominous crunching noises nearby. He froze. Hermione had come outside to see what was wrong and stopped in the entrance to the tent, her lips pressed together in a tight line.

"Damn, the radio isn't working," said a gruff voice, and to Harry's horror, two men entered the clearing mere inches from where Hermione had cast the Disillusionment charms.

"We're in the middle of nowhere," the other man, tall and thick but with a calming voice, said. "Of course it doesn't work!"

The first man, the one with the beard, pulled out a wand and began to frantically tap the top of a small portable radio. Harry inhaled sharply and glanced back at Hermione. The cup of tea in her hand was shaking, slopping some of the brown liquid over the sides and into the snow.

The second man began to mutter something, and a blue flame appeared, hovering over the ground and casting an agitated light across the snow. The flame was the same portable fire Hermione was so good at conjuring.

"Should we set up camp here, Madyn?" The second asked the bearded.

"Nah, I don't like all this snow. It's too blank," replied Madyn shiftily. "Let's just keep moving, 'aight?" He pulled a jar from the inside of his jacket and used it to scoop up the flame.

The two men began to walk again, but just short of the clearing, the taller man shouted, "Wait! I see footprints!"

Harry heard Hermione gasp. He looked at her, and saw that she had a hand covering her mouth. He wanted to comfort her, but he didn't dare to breathe, let alone move.

"Yeah, so what?" said Madyn irritably.

"Snatchers?" Asked the taller one. "If we get cornered by another gang of them, we're done for."

Madyn sighed audibly. "Well we won't be if we keep moving. Let's just get out of here. We don't want to give them the satisfaction of turning in two unregistered muggle-borns."

"Okay, okay," replied the other, and they were off. Neither Harry nor Hermione made a move until the crunching of the snow beneath the men's feet was far out of ear shot.

"Oh Harry," she whispered, running over to him and throwing her arms around his neck. "For a moment there I thought we'd be caught…"

Harry wrapped his arms around her waist and held her. "I know. But they're gone. And they weren't Death Eaters or snatchers."

Hermione nodded. "I wonder how many of them – I mean, muggle-borns – have run for it."

"The majority, if they're smart," replied Harry, flinching as a picture of Hermione being interrogated in the Ministry for stealing magic filled his mind.

Hermione pulled away and walked back over to the mouth of the tent, leaning over and picking up a discarded teacup as she went. "I suppose we should have some supper," she said.

"Yeah, I suppose so." Harry took one last look around the clearing and followed Hermione into the tent.

A/N: Hope you liked it! And things will be getting more exciting very quickly ;)