Chapter fifteen; The dark road to Hell

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Sleeping in a tent hadn't been as bad as Olivia had pinned out to be. She had her own bed, as did Harry, Ron and Hermione and she had her own space. Once again Olivia had been shocked by the boundaries and limits that magic pushed. She thought packing a tent in a small clutch bag was absurd. She thought it to be even worse the four of them cramming into it when she saw its size.

It was the last time she would ever underestimate magic. She could hardly believe her eyes when she saw just how big inside the tent was. It reminded her of the tent they had stopped in four years ago at the Quidditch World Cup. She remembered her first reaction when she had saw just how small that was. She never believed for a second that eight people would be able to fit inside, but they did and comfortably at that.

The tent that Hermione had brought was just like that, only on a smaller scale as it fitted four less people. It was ideal, really. And once again Olivia thanked Hermione's brilliance to plan ahead.

Olivia was yet to get a full nights sleep though. It wasn't like they had been there long, this was the third morning they were waking up to and already Ron was much better. He was up and on his feet, although his arm was still in a sling and he couldn't use his wand yet either. Besides that though, he was alive and that was the most important thing.

The sun was bright that morning although it was guarded by the thick trees and their ever growing leaves. The birds, as ever, chirped away casually. They didn't stop chirping actually, Olivia had found that one out the hard way. The four of them had moved out of the tent with the intention of attempting to destroy the Horcrux. Olivia stood the the left of Harry, dressed in blue jeans and a red baggy, three-quarter sleeved shirt. Her black waves were tied up loosely on top of her head to sit there for the day.

Opposite them, on a large tree trunk Olivia had slipped off the previous day, sat the real Horcrux. None of them had any sort of idea how to destroy the Horcrux, but they had to try and they had to start somewhere. And so they did. Harry, Hermione and Olivia stood with their wands drawn ready to destroy the third of seven pieces to Voldemort's soul.

Salazar Slytherin's locket held a part of his soul and they needed to destroy it. It was the only way for them to succeed.

"You first." Hermione said to Harry, looking to him as he raised his wand.

The locket made weird noises that almost sounded like metal crunching, "Incendio." Harry fired. The locket fell from the trunk and onto the ground, leaving smoke where it had sat. Simultaneously they walked forwards to the place where it had fell to see it still sat there crunching away.

Hermione furrowed her brows and fired, "Incendio."

It set on fire this time, although it died away quickly. It appeared to Olivia that the locket wouldn't be easy to destroy, nothing happened when it was set on fire.

"Expulso!" Harry cast and it bounced away again. They followed it as he continued to fire, "Diffindo, Reducto!"

Hermione, Ron and Olivia stopped at the peak of a hill as Harry followed the Horcrux down, blasting it non-verbally until it set alight again. Olivia chewed her lip when nothing seemed to be happening and so lifted her own wand to try herself, "Confringo!" It set on fire, bouncing and she tired again, "Bombarda Maxima!" She cast again, the ground shaking when she fired. In the wake of her last spell the surrounding area of the Horcrux burst away. Tiny pieces of mud, dirt and leaves flew up into the air and scattered around them.

When the Horcrux only moved further away from them but remained intact Olivia released a loud groan and dropped her head back.

"Bombarda? Really Liv?" Ron asked.

She looked back up to Ron defensively, "I'm just trying, alright? It's best to eliminate the spells that don't work first."

"Honestly you two bicker like brother and sister." Hermione commented, looking back to them both.

In front of them Harry bent over and picked the Horcrux up in his hands as it started to ring again. He put it over his neck, wearing it like Umbridge had done and tucked it underneath his flannel shirt to conceal it.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked uncertainty.

"We have to keep it safe until we can find out how to destroy it."

"Seems strange mate," Ron butted in instantly, "Dumbledore sends you off to destroy all these Horcruxes but doesn't tell you how to destroy them. Doesn't that bother you?"

A thick silence spread between them and Olivia shoved her hands deep into her pockets. She kicked the earth underneath her feet around and angled her body to face Ron, "It's just another one of his impossible tasks that he thinks we can do." She murmured for only Ron to hear, "Like I've been telling you, he thinks too highly of us, of him."

She turned back around to watch Harry as he looked to them open mouthed, as if he had something to say but closed it as he turned around and stormed away from them.

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Olivia's sensitive ears could pick up on almost anything that night. Half of her concentration was focused on ignoring the constant high-pitched scream the Horcrux offered while the other went into reading. She had climbed up into a tree next to the tent for some peace and time to herself while she read. Since last reading it in Grimmuald she had only progressed by one page, reading each one carefully and at least three times.

She was reading the current page for the second time, trying to grasp what it was her eyes were filtering over. She had never read or heard this before, nor did she know it had happened.

'Olivianna was so overcome with anger and despair that her mind innocently swayed in the wrong direction. The grief of having the man she loved murdered in front of her very eyes had changed her for the worst. Stood in front of him, Oykron Morte — the very cause of this war, her body convulsed violently. She wasn't in mind frame to think positively, clearly, and so dipped crucially into the wrong side of Magic.

'She drew of the Dark Arts, the very magic that Oykron was handling to fulfil his dreams of taking over the Wizarding World. The more she dipped the more her judgement clouded, the more she explored the darkest parts of her mind and the darkest parts of her abilities. The sky that had been once the purest of blues was now swilling with dirty grey and black as it reflected her change in per—'

Olivia looked up when she heard the unfamiliar sound of a man speaking nearby. In the dark it was almost impossible to see but when she leaned forwards in the tree she saw Hermione stood as still as a statue while a man, visibly older and scruffy looking, stood almost chest to chest with her. They stood on the edge of her and Hermione's protective enchantments.

Looking closer Olivia noticed two other men, both carrying bodies in their arms. They dressed the same and looked the same as the one stood in front of Hermione. He leaned forwards fractionally before turning around and talking to one of his accomplices where Harry then approached Hermione as they left.

"Snatchers." She muttered to herself, shaking her head and closing the book in her lap. She slid to the edge of the branch and jumped off, walking down to the three as they journeyed back up.

"I told you," she heard Hermione say, "Ron isn't strong enough to apparate."

"Well then, we'll go on foot." Harry said as they approached Olivia.

"We should probably leave in the morning." She told them both monotonous, "I did say it wouldn't be long until we had a near miss."

Harry clenched his jaw but nodded nonetheless, "Next time Hermione, don't wear your perfume."

"Yeah." Olivia scoffed, "We'll just take the natural scent nature has to offer, did I mention it occasionally smells of shite?" She asked of Harry as they walked up to the tent. Harry looked to her and shook his head. Olivia shrugged her shoulders, "I want a word with you."

"Me?" Harry asked stunned.

"Why is that hard to grasp?" She asked confused, "it's not like this is out of the blue Harry."

Harry pushed himself to nod his head and Hermione cleared her throat, "I'll uh, I'll give you two some space."

"Thanks." Olivia replied, crossing her arms over her chest while keeping her eyes on Harry. He shrank under her scrutinising stare and struggled to meet her eyes, "I saw you earlier," She started by saying, "against the tent where you let him in."

Harry sighed, "I didn't—"

"It doesn't matter." Olivia interrupted hotly, "You need to learn how to control it Harry. You've had the lessons." She snapped, "You know what the majority of my energy is going into?"

Harry shook his head, "No." He swallowed.

"Making sure things like that don't happen, because I know if I slip up and he works his way into my mind that we're done for." She took a step towards him, "I'm here, struggling to obtain my own mind to protect you while you don't really give one. It's unfair Harry and it's rotten of you to go on like that. You have to realise that this isn't just about you anymore."

"I didn't ask for them—"

"—no, maybe not but they'd willingly lay their lives down to help you and to protect you Harry." She interrupted again, "Ron's already done so and because of it he got splinched. And here you are carrying on like he is an inconvenience to you because he can't apparate. Stop being a wanker Harry because we're all in the same position as you, this isn't just about you anymore. We've all left people we care about behind and we're all risking our lives. And newsflash, it's not just for you. It's for the ones we care about. So don't think, don't go on like we're doing this for you because we're not. We're risking our own lives for this so be more appreciative that Hermione's doing everything she can to help Ron."

Once she was finished she turned away from Harry and walked back up to the tent with her book tucked under her arm.

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'And now for the names of missing witches and wizards' The telecom voice belonging to the radio filled their ears as they walked through an empty field, 'these are confirmed, thankfully the list is short today. Jason and Allison—'

In front of her Harry and Hermione walked closely by each other's side. Ron walked alone behind them and Olivia trailed in the back with her wand out, casting spells to amuse herself while they walked through a field. She was working non-verbally although constantly reciting the incantation of 'Diffindo' while creating a swift slicing motion with her wand. Around her the grass disbursed into the air before scattering to the ground.

From all the way in front of her Harry turned around with a bottle of water in his hand, "Could you knock it off?"

Olivia's face deepened into a scowl and she flicked her wand again, the grass inches to Harry's side breaking apart all over his person.

Since she had spoke to him the previous night they hadn't shared a word, instead a thick tension was brewing between them. Olivia was seeing Harry in a different light, he was being incredibly selfish and she was almost positive Ron was seeing it also.

The said boy turned to face her. He looked unhealthy, his already pale skin resembled that of a ghost and he had black circles under his eyes. It was Ron's turn to wear the Horcrux that day and Olivia noticed immediately how he looked in Harry and Hermione's direction when they walked so closely together.

Jealous.

Ron rose his eyebrows in a quick motion before sending her a faint smile. They were both sharing the frustration they were feeling and it consumed them both horridly. Olivia didn't want to feel resentment towards Harry but admittedly he was driving her up the wall and she couldn't abide it. His mannerisms were plucking away at her nerves, the way he was acting was pissing her off, the fact that he didn't seem to care about Ron's condition infuriated her endlessly.

Harry Potter was treading dangerously on thin ice when it came to the likes of Olivia's patience. She knew how disappointed her father would be if he were watching her. She knew that her mother would be scolding her and telling her to consider other people's feelings and she knew that Remus would be trying to play the peacekeeper between the teenagers.

It didn't change anything about the way she was feeling. And the worst part about it was that she was terrifying herself in the process.

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