𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 | l. lovegood

xxxviii

𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘 sleeping after getting splinched. When she woke up, she was laying on a bed inside of a tent. Her arm was in a makeshift sling made out of some cloth. The Golden Trio was speaking at the table about the Horcruxes, and Luna was braiding flowers into her blonde hair.

"It scares me a bit," Hermione was saying. "Thinking it's a piece of Vo—"

"No, don't say it!" Dorothea sat up quickly, feeling faint as she did. The others turned to her. Luna got up and went to get her a glass of water. "His name is Taboo. That's how they found us at that cafe. It's how they're tracking people down...Tracking the Order down."

"What makes you think they're tracking the Order down?" Hermione asked as Luna sat down next to Dorothea, handing her the glass of water.

She took it, told her thank you, and took a few sips before continuing, "They know most of them are in hiding somewhere. They're not afraid of saying his name, so he had to turn it into a Taboo so that he can send his Death Eaters after them. To kill them."

"How do you know that?" Ron asked.

Dorothea hesitated. She'd learned that at the meeting she went to during the summer. She'd overheard Voldemort telling Bellatrix when everyone was leaving the manor.

"I heard someone at the Ministry talking about it earlier," she lied. She took another drink of water. No one else asked her any more questions. Hermione made dinner, and Dorothea went back to sleep after eating, Luna humming to her softly as she stroked her hair.

»--✩--«

The following morning was spent trying to destroy the Horcrux. The three older teens tried different spells to blow it up, burn it, etc, but none of them were working. Dorothea had tried to see if her telekinesis powers would be strong enough to destroy it, but just like with the enchanted gate at Hogwarts last year, she had no luck.

With that plan failed, they went back into the tent for lunch. Ron had told Dorothea about a pirate radio program called Potterwatch that was giving updates on disappearances, deaths, and everything else related to the war. It was run by those who've rebelled against the Dark Lord and fully supported Harry.

Dorothea learned from listening to Potterwatch that her father was on the run with Dean Thomas and a couple goblins. She thought about her mother and sister at home, worried sick because they had no idea where either of them were, terrified that something bad was going to happen to them.

Dorothea spent the afternoon in the woods with Luna, foraging for edible plants and berries while the boys hunted for any game. Both girls wanted to refrain from eating any meat if possible. Ever since Porcus became part of the family, Dorothea couldn't bear the thought of ever eating anything that came from a pig or any other animal ever again.

That night, Dorothea was sitting outside with Hermione, who was keeping watch for any Snatchers or Death Eaters. Although they had protective enchantments set up to keep them safe, it never hurt to take extra precautions.

She had her headphones on as she wrote in her journal, writing about everything that had happened so far. Since she couldn't write to her mother, father, or sister, she wrote each of them letters in her journal. She even wrote one for Draco and her Aunt Narcissa.

"Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they're here to stay. Oh, I believe in yesterday."

Dorothea looked up when she noticed Hermione move out of the corner of her eye. She stood up and followed her, placing one side of her headphones behind her ear. "Mione, where are you going?"

"I thought I heard something," Hermione replied. "I'm just going to investigate. Best to stay quiet, Doro."

Dorothea nodded. They walked a little ways away from the tent. The rustling of leaves made them freeze. A trio of Snatchers had walked into the clearing, one of them was carrying a dead body.

Dorothea's heart nearly stopped when she saw who it was.

"Dad!" she cried, rushing forward.

Hermione quickly grabbed her and pulled her back, covering her mouth with her hand. Her heart broke for the girl when she felt the tears that were falling down her cheeks. Being careful of her sling, she put an arm around her, her eyes fixated on the three Snatchers, who had stopped at the sound of a muffled cry.

"What's that?" one of them asked. He crossed over to where Hermione and Dorothea were standing, his brows furrowed. The smaller girl was trembling, terrified that somehow he could see them even with Hermione's enchantments. "What was that scream?"

He stared for a moment. Dorothea's sobs were muffled by the hand that Hermione still had over her mouth, but she was trying to calm down so that they wouldn't realize there were people there.

The Snatcher carrying her father dropped his body, catching the other man's attention.

"What are you doing?" He frowned.

"It's heavy."

"Oh, sorry. Do you want me to carry it?" he asked sarcastically as he walked over to him.

"Yeah, thank you."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. Pick it up."

Hermione took a shaky breath as the Snatchers walked away. She removed the hand that was covering Dorothea's mouth, and the girl fell to her knees on the ground, her head hung as tears fell down her face. "Oh, Thea..." Hermione knelt down beside her and wrapped her into a hug, comfortingly rubbing her back.

"Snatchers," Harry, who had come to check on them, said as he approached. "Good to know your enchantments work...What's happened to Thea?"

"They killed her dad," she told him in a whisper. "They heard her scream. The enchantments work, but they're not completely effective." She carefully helped Dorothea up from the ground, keeping an arm around her as they walked back to the tent.

"We need to move our camp," Harry declared. "If the Snatchers could hear her, then they'll probably come back to investigate. We can't take any chances."

"I've told you. Thea isn't strong enough to Apparate with her arm still healing."

"Well, then...we'll go on foot."

"She just lost her father! Do you honestly think she'd be up for that journey? Don't you remember what happened last time?"

Dorothea pulled her headphones back over her ears completely. She ran inside and collapsed onto her bed, burying her face in her pillow as grief overtook her.

When would it end? How much more of her family would die before this war was finally over? As far as she knew, they all could be dead already.