It took a little convincing before Lizzie and Parker would leave the cabin.

"But mum's not back--"

"She's not going to come back here, Parker," Harry tried gently. "The...the bad guys won't bring her back here once they know that Thomas let us escape."

"He didn't let us, you poisoned him," Lizzie muttered in a surprisingly adult tone. She was quite fascinated with Thomas' unconscious body and had taken to picking up his arm and dropping it repeatedly. Harry tried to tell himself this was normal for a child her age, but he wasn't too sure.

"Lizzie, leave him alone--"

"Then where will mum go?" Parker demanded and crossed his arms defiantly.

"Eventually she'll find us, wherever we go," Harry lied, and knelt so he could look Parker in his narrowed eyes. "Your mum is really smart, she left us that dried plant so we could knock out Thomas and escape. But, Parker, if we wait too much longer, Thomas will wake up and then we will never get out of here! Think about how upset she would be if that happened. She gave us a way to leave this place, we can't just waste the opportunity!"

It was another lie, Thomas would be out for a long time still. He'd have one hell of a headache when he woke up though, and probably some bruises from where Lizzie had gotten a hold on him. She was now kicking him in the side, and it wasn't for the sake of science but Harry just didn't have it in him to tell her to stop. He was responsible for the death of their mother, even though neither one of them realized it.

Parker bit his lip and looked at the ground and then back up to Harry, he seemed uncertain, but finally said, "Fine."

Harry wasted no time after that, he had to think about what they may need. Thomas didn't have any Floo powder on top of his fireplace, there weren't any magical items anywhere to be seen, besides the wand. He didn't know what they would find once they left here. He had to be prepared, Hermione would have been and he needed to be smart like her now. Grabbing Thomas's messenger bag from where it hung from the wall, Harry dumped out it's contents all over the floor.

Notebooks and quills fell out, an ink bottle cracked as it hit the floor and a thin line of ink started running across the rough stone. Harry went over to the pantry on the other side of the fireplace and threw open the door. It was a sparse supply that met his eyes, the shelves held some apples that looked a bit worse for wear, crackers and biscuits. Harry gritted his teeth and shoved anything that still looked edible in the bag. He didn't know how long it would be before they had real food to eat, he didn't want to regret not picking up anything.

"I filled up this thermos with water," Lizzie said from beside him, proudly holding up the container. It even had a strap attached for easy carrying. Harry raised an eyebrow, finding it odd that Thomas would have a thermos in his possession...but maybe this cabin hadn't always been his.

Intrigued, Harry left the messenger bag on the table and walked over to the doorway he'd always assumed led to Thomas's bedroom.

He looked back at the kids and made sure Thomas was still out cold. He opened the door slowly, it creaked and Harry felt like he was breaking a school rule. The first thing he saw was the giant head of a dead elk hanging over a bed, it's glass eyes looked back at Harry, who winced and looked away.

Definitely not Thomas's cabin, killing animals for sport wasn't against his morals...at all. But Harry didn't see him as the type to let their dead bodies hang over the bed he slept in. Having hungry captives in the next room over was a different story....

His assumptions were proven true when he saw the camping gear piled in the corner of the room.

Harry hated to think what had happened to the poor soul that lived here before.

It was a mere fifteen minutes later that Harry hiked that backpack up onto his shoulders that ached at the weight of it, but he had no idea how long it would take before they found someone they could trust. Had it just been him, he'd have ran out of the cabin as soon as Thomas had hit the floor, but it wasn't just him. Parker and Lizzie had stuffed the biscuits that were on the counter into their pockets and mouths. There were a couple of woolen blankets in the bedroom that Harry had rolled up tight and tied to the backpack, and he'd thrown the food inside while making sure Thomas's wand was still in his pocket.

Just to buy them even more time, he'd let Lizzie tie Thomas's feet and hands tight. His breathing was deep and even, his skin was still warm, and the blood around his nose had started to dry. Harry just wished he could be a fly on the wall when he woke up.

Taking a deep breath, Harry looked around the cabin one last time, the kids were staring at him, they were trying to be brave but he could tell they were nervous. Smiling at them, he opened the door to the cabin and headed out into the world.
..........................................................

Tapping his foot on the floor, Severus closed his eyes tightly. The Dark Lord was furious. Severus could feel it, his arm was aching from where his Dark Mark reflected the fury and burned as if he had held it too close to the fire. It had been burning for the past hour, and even though he hadn't been summoned yet, Severus felt he knew what it was in reference to.

Potter was one of the few beings left alive still that could infuriate the Dark Lord so. Severus just wished he knew if the boy was suffering now for what he'd done. Damn it. He could not just appear without being called, it would be too odd, and he had no 'information' about Dumbledore to feed the Dark Lord. So he had to wait.

His foot continued tapping, it was keeping him from grinding his teeth together. Once that boy was safe behind wards again, he would glue his arse to the floor so that even a Portkey couldn't pull him away without trying to take the whole damn house as well.

Though, Severus admitted to himself grudgingly, Potter truthfully couldn't have done much to stop the Portkey. It was literally inside his leg at the time. Which reminded him that Potter hadn't seemed to have too much trouble standing on it when he'd stood so boldly in front of the Dark Lord. He was either putting on a brave face, or perhaps someone had taken pity on him.

Too bad no one had taken pity on that confused Muggle that had been tricked into aiding Thomas with his plan. Cleaning up the mess with the Muggle police had been a giant headache for the Ministry and the Aurors. The whole Wizarding world had been aware of Potter's disappearance within hours of it happening, almost at the same time Dumbledore became aware. The Ministry didn't stand a chance of covering up the return of the Dark Lord after what had taken place right before summer began, but if the masses discovered that he was bold enough to kidnap the Boy Who Lived...it may work to their favor. That was, if they got Potter rescued before his runaway tongue got him killed.

Which brought to question, just what had went wrong with the supposedly impenetrable blood wards. It was quite worrisome. Dumbledore didn't like to talk about at length, Severus felt that the man knew exactly what was wrong, but didn't wish to tell him, which was extremely aggravating.

From what Severus had seen through the spell of Draco's, Potter's relatives had not shown an excess of love for him. No love was needed to keep the blood wards functional, just acceptance--even grudgingly accepting Potter would be enough to keep them active.

Closing his eyes, Severus recollected the image of Vernon Dursley's hands flying quite close to Potter's down turned face as he screamed at him for receiving a parcel full of perishable food items. He wasn't blind, Potter was not treated as he should be...but it also could have been worse. Perhaps, the Muggle was having a bad day, he hadn't known that the things going on in his own household, such as the cat, were not Potter's doings.

Though he could tell his uncaring replies on the subject had infuriated Draco, Severus still felt it was the best thing he could have done.

To Draco, he served the Dark Lord while teaching at Hogwarts as a guise. It only showed how bothered Draco was by the whole ordeal that he even tried to talk to Severus about it.

Truthfully, Severus was a little bothered as well, but not enough that he would question the Headmaster about the boy's lodgings.

But, where would Potter go if the one place he was supposed to be safe was now out of the equation?

His Dark Mark flared as he was called to his master's side. Severus closed his eyes for one short moment and desperately hoped that upon arrival, he'd not see Potter's dead body hanging from the ceiling.
..........................................................

The tall grass in the valley was surprisingly painful when you brushed you hand against the wrong way. Harry shook his hand out and continued walking as fast as he dared. They had run for a long while, the moon lit their path as Harry was scared of the attention a lumos might bring to them. He only knew they were in the middle of a valley surrounded by forest, and the only living things around were wild animals...and possibly Death Eaters. He wanted to keep both at bay.

Lizzie and Parker were both panting, and a thin line of sweat trailed down Harry's face. Unlike other summers, he'd been locked in his room the majority of the time, he was not fit for running long distances.
He held the children's hands tightly, trying to give them comfort as well as making sure they stayed as close to him as possible. He was their protector now. Glancing behind him, Harry was surprised at how small the cabin already looked, and how dark and foreboding it seemed.

Harry gritted his teeth. He would be better prepared from now on, he swore to himself right then that he would never be so helpless again.

There was no summoning the night bus, Harry had tried it once, his hope diminishing when nothing happened. There was no road here anyway and it had been a foolish hope, but he had to try anyway. He didn't know how to get a message to anyone, Hedwig was far away, and so they ran and hoped to find their own means of salvation.

The sun had to come up soon, the birds were already starting to sing above them as they entered the forest.

Their pace came to a halt when Harry's foot collapsed underneath him and he fell to the forest floor with a gasp. He'd fallen into a partially hidden hole, and his ankle burned with pain as he got up on his knees while apologizing to Parker who he'd dragged down with him.

"Sorry," he muttered and painfully stood up. It took a lot more effort than he expected, every single muscle he had seemed to protest at the way he'd mistreated them lately, and the backpack was heavy. It would have been far too easy to lay back down on the ground.

"Where are we going to go? There's just trees!"

Harry shook his head at Lizzie's question, he didn't know what they were going to do, "We just keep moving, it will be okay."

Now he just had to prove it.

The sky lightened up, but it was overcast with heavy clouds and the birds grew silent as the wind picked up in speed. Harry stopped walking in a small clearing and gingerly took off the backpack, his shoulder hurt something fierce. It was the same shoulder that had hit the ground when the Death Eaters threw him down. It wasn't broken, but he knew without looking that the bruise would be a beauty.

"Let's eat something and just rest a moment," he said and handed Parker the water bottle, "Don't drink too fast, or too much."

It was hard to tell how far they had gone, it had been at least a couple of hours since they fled the cabin. Thomas would be waking up soon, Harry wondered if he would get angry or burst into tears when he saw the predicament he'd landed in. Had he given him a heavier dose of the plant, Thomas probably would not have woken up...but Harry wasn't a killer, not yet, anyway.

They sat on the ground close to each other, and Harry kept his wand in one hand and ate one of the sad apples with the other. Lizzie and Parker were eating very fast, and Harry felt guilty as he watched their hungry faces look around at the tall trees and unfamiliar landscape.

"When we get out of here, I'm going to take a shower while eating a chicken leg," Harry said, Parker and Lizzie though that was incredibly funny and giggled and took the granola bars handed to them.

"I'm going to ask mum to make me a sandwich, and I want Lizzie to take a bath, she smells," Parker said, trying to rile his sister up.

"You smell too!"

"I'm sure we all smell equally as terrible," Harry said with an eye roll and took a timid sniff of his shirt as thunder roared in the distance.

It had at least been a week since he'd showered, the Dursley's had kept him locked in his room for three days before Brent had forced that Portkey on him, and he had to have been with Thomas for three days after that, if not four.

It was the longest amount of time he'd been in the hands of someone who actually wanted him dead. He'd met Voldemort several different forms over the extent of his life in the Wizarding World, and it seemed every time he did, the situations got worse and more likely to end in death.

"Harry?"

Harry blinked at the ground under his shoes and then up at Lizzie, "Yes?"

"Parker's scared of storms."

It was only then that Harry realized how close the storm actually was, the clouds had gathered above their heads and the wind blew his dirty hair across his face. Pulling the backpack onto his shoulders, Harry nodded.

"Guess we'd better find someplace to hide then," he offered and smiled as Parker came over to take his hand, and looked up through the trees with fear. They tried to make it look as it they had never been there, being careful not to leave trash and trying to disguise their footprints by running a branch over the bare dirt.

"The problem with hiding from a thunderstorm in a forest," Harry said to Lizzie and Parker, as they strode along, "Is that...well, there isn't really any place to hide."

"Under a tree!"

"Yeah," Harry said with sarcasm, that neither of them seemed to understand, "Let's find the tallest tree, the one that reaches the lightening and cower under it. Seems like a legitimate plan."

He had to pull Parker back to his side as the boy spotted the tallest tree in sight and headed over to it confidently.

Lightening lit up the sky overhead, and they had just enough time to flinch before the thunder followed.

"Come on, we'll find somewhere safe, we just need to keep moving away from the cabin."

It was a race that they were bound to lose and Harry gritted his teeth as the first raindrops started to fall. For summer, the rain was surprisingly cold and he shivered as one drop rolled down the back of his neck.

"Oh, no," Parker said, his voice trembling and Harry gripped his hand tighter as they quickly made there way between trees and through the foliage.

"Our clothes can dry," Harry said, and Lizzie nodded in agreement. "It will be okay."

Harry had found himself saying that so many times since Elizabeth's death, even though he didn't have any facts to base his hope on, he found that he just had to reassure the children, and in so doing, he reassured himself.

The sky broke above them. It didn't even begin as a sprinkle and lead up to rain, no, the sky just dropped open and within minutes, Harry found himself trying to clear his eyes of rain.

Lizzie had grabbed his other hand and all three of them trudged through the woods sopping wet but determined.

"Uh oh," Lizzie said some time later, and Harry looked up, his stomach falling. They had reached the edge of a incline that rose straight up like the side of a mountain. The steep side continued in either direction, and though they could see the top, there was no way over it. They'd have to walk along the side and hope it would end soon, maybe the bushes that seemed to grow out of the side of the steep incline would provide some protection for them from the harsh rain.

Harry ground his teeth together and hoped he hadn't led the children into a trap, it was as if he could feel the Death Eaters on their heels--Death Eaters that would have been smart enough to cast some sort of water repelling charm, something Harry hadn't even thought of.

"Stupid," Harry said to himself, and Parker looked up at him curiously.

Even though he had a wand, Harry was slightly nervous about using it, what if Thomas had a tracking spell on it? What if the Death Eaters could sense him using magic? It would be terribly sad to spell them all dry, just to look up and see themselves surrounded. They wouldn't be able to escape so easily the second time.

The rain had slowed down to a slight drizzle by the time Harry stopped walking, he was sure it was past lunch time, but the children hadn't complained once. His heart swelled with pride at how brave they'd been in the face of discomfort and fear, even now they ate their granola bars without complaining, and drank the water carefully knowing that they didn't have much left.

Parker's face was twisted in an uncomfortable grimace as Harry tucked their trash into the backpack.

"What's wrong?"

"I..." Parker came closer to Harry and said low so his sister wouldn't hear, "I have to pee!"

Harry blinked, and then tried not to laugh at how serious Parker looked. "Okay...er, just, don't go too far--you don't need me to go with you, right?"

Parker shook his head while quickly walking away from them and through the woods.

Harry had never spent a lot of time with children younger than him, even in school with Dudley he'd been an outcast. The friends he had made were scared off by Dudley's mocking laughter that they would 'spend time with freaky Harry'. Those were not fond memories, but Harry felt quite protective over both Lizzie and Parker. Their minds hadn't been poisoned with prejudice or politics, they didn't have anyone telling them what to believe...and they trusted Harry, it made him all the more determined to lead them back to safety.

"Harry!"

The shout came quite suddenly, and Lizzie was up and looking around in a frightened manner before Harry had even realized that it was Parker screaming for him.

"Harry, hurry!" Parker yelled again. A sort of numbing fear came over Harry as he took off running toward where he thought the young boy might be. Horrible images of Death Eaters dragging Parker's small body deeper into the woods filled his mind, Harry clutched the stolen wand and pushed branches out of his face.

There was Parker, seemingly unharmed and smiling brightly as Harry gasped for air and tried to still the shaking in his hands and legs.

"What--"

"I found a hiding spot!" Parker exclaimed as Lizzie burst out of the woods behind Harry, her face terrified. The excitement dimmed from his face as he took in the expression on Harry's and Lizzie's face, his shoulders fell and he stepped forward.

"What's wrong?"

Harry just shook his head and pulled him closer to enfold him in a tight hug. He was still shaking, and it scared him just how frightened he felt. Was this what it was like to be a parent, fear paralyzing you at the very thought of your child coming to harm? His mother's sacrifice had never seemed so understandable as it was now.

Lizzie sniffled and blindly Harry reached out and pulled her into the hug too.

"What's wrong?" Parker said, his voice muffled from where he spoke against Harry's shirt.

"You scared the..." Harry took a deep breath and straightened up, letting Parker and Lizzie go slowly. "I thought you were hurt--or that someone had you."

"Oh," Parker frowned at him and then stepped closer again and placed his hand in Harry's. "I'm not hurt, Harry...don't worry."

That just about broke any reserve Harry had left, he swallowed painfully at the lump in his throat and squeezed the smaller hand briefly. On his other side, Lizzie was holding the edge of his shirt in her hand, her small face looked so tired that Harry felt his chest ache.

"I know--now, what did you want to show me?"

Parker pulled him to the wall of stone, this portion was covered in a thick covering of green ivy.

"I was coming back and throwing stones at the wall, and one rock didn't bounce back, look!"

Without fear, Parker thrust his hand into the ivy and even though Harry flinched and waited for a cry of pain, his arm passed through with only slight resistance.

"It's a cave!" Lizzie said excitedly and moved forward to investigate.

Harry opened his mouth to warn them about spiders, but they were already tearing apart the ivy and he realized just how large the cave was. He wouldn't even have to bend his head down to get through.

With only the slightest hesitation, Harry stepped forward and cast a quiet, "Lumos!" with the stolen wand. The cave opened up in front of his startled eyes, it was almost perfectly round, as tall as he was (which wasn't very tall, he was probably the shortest boy in his year at Hogwarts). But, still...it didn't look to be a natural cave, it had been formed by some intelligent creature, there were no large rocks in their path, and the tunnel seemed to continue as far back as his eyes could see.

"Wow," Lizzie breathed.

Behind them lightening lit up the sky and barely a moment later thunder followed. Wincing at the thought of walking in the rain again, Harry made a decision.

Not even ten minutes later, he had fetched the backpack that had been abandoned when Parker screamed. As rain started to fall from the sky, Harry carefully tried to fix the blanket of ivy so that no one following them would notice. He admitted to himself that it was probably a helpless endeavor, the kids had torn so many leaves off in their haste that there was no chance of him clearing it all away. He couldn't very well glue the leaves back to the vines.

Biting his lip, and hoping he wasn't making an awful mistake, Harry smiled lightly at Lizzie and Parker, dried their clothes, lifted the lit wand in front of him, and led the way into the tunnel.
..........................................................

Severus never saw this day coming. He had seen a lot while managing his double spy position, he'd been forced into uncomfortable positions, had went through a lot of pain...but he never expected to be doing this.

Smiling. Perhaps a little grimly, but still, he was smiling. His face hurt slightly because he just couldn't seem to wipe the damn grin off his face as he fetched potion's ingredients quickly from his largest supply cupboard.

It wasn't the fact that he was smiling that caused him such surprise, it was the subject that had caused it--Potter.

The boy had someone managed to escape the Dark Lord--again. His luck was just unbelievable. Hours earlier he was writhing in pain, Severus he seen his back arch off the ground at the sheer agony of the curses he suffered--and now, he was gone. He'd not only fled without his absence being noticed for several hours, but he'd taken the two Murdock children with him and left behind a rather bruised and tied up captor and some very telling tea.

Severus had to admit his surprise that the boy had the sense to do it, he could see in an instant what had happened, but where had Potter found the means of drugging the man?

The Dark Lord had been severely displeased, his eyes flashing with anger as he demanded to know if there was any new information from Dumbledore. Informing him that the Headmaster of Hogwarts was frantically searching for the boy didn't appease him, and Severus could tell from the way that he tapped his wand on his leg that he was just waiting for the excuse to harm someone.

For that reason, Severus dismissed himself immediately after he was able, but he had seen the still unconscious form of Thomas lying at the Dark Lord's feet, the ropes Potter had tied him in still present. The man would suffer terribly for what he'd allowed to happen but not for one moment did Severus pity him.

Then, he'd left to tell Dumbledore what had transpired. There was little they could do, Severus couldn't reveal the Dark Lord's location without immediate death, and even if he could, a search party appearing so near him would be far too dangerous a coincidence for the Slytherin spy.

There was a potion that could help, if he could finish it in time.

"I wonder how many of Voldemort's followers will remember the words young Harry spoke not too long ago," Dumbledore had murmured, staring out the window of his office as Severus told him all that happened. "When people speak of me, they only mention how many times I've walked away from you."

Dumbledore smiled at Severus then, his eyes looking more merry than they had in a week.

"We haven't found the boy yet," Severus warned and Dumbledore nodded, but didn't seem too worried.

Severus suddenly didn't feel like smiling anymore. Yes, Potter had escaped, but he was still in danger, and he wasn't the only one. He searched his books for the tracking potion and hoped it would work, he would have to have a personal item of Potter's. The Dark Lord didn't realize how easily he could get a personal item of the boy's, or else he would be the one expecting the potion to be delivered to him. When it was almost time, Dumbledore would get one of the Order members to fetch an item from Potter's house...there were still several hours to go before it was time for that.

As he gathered all that he would need, Severus quickly took stock of the healing potions he had on hand. Potter had looked injured in more ways than one when he'd seen him last, and as Madame Pomfrey was gone, it would fall on Severus to heal him.

Now, he just had to find the damn boy before the Dark Lord did.
..........................................................

Harry was far more nervous inside the close confines of the tunnel than he had been out in the woods. However, the children were a lot more at ease and talked quietly to one another as Harry held his lit wand in one hand and dug out food with the other.

They were young, and didn't realize that the odds weren't in their favor here. Should the Death Eaters find them, there would be nowhere to run but further into the tunnel. Wincing at that idea, Harry softly called the children closer and handed out the rations he thought would suffice.

With his own stomach so tied up in knots, Harry knew he wouldn't be eating. Not long after entering the cave, Harry could hear the sound of rain and was momentarily glad for their shelter. The further they went however the less they could hear, and now it was if he and the two children were the only people left in the earth.

It was not a comforting feeling.

From their spot on the floor of the tunnel, Lizzie and Parker were slowly falling asleep. There was a half eaten apple still in Lizzie's hand, and even though Harry wanted desperately to move on, he forced himself to leave them both alone. They had been through so much...and they didn't even realize how much worse it would get.

Once they were safe, dry, and their scratches had been healed, they would ask about their mother, and Harry would have to be the one to tell them.

As much as he hated it, it was his responsibility to relay what had occurred while they were held captive.

Parker's mouth fell open as he slept, his innocent expression and dirty little face making Harry's heart twist.

They would probably hate him in the end. A child wouldn't be able to see the whole picture, they would just realize that he'd lied, that their mother was never coming back when he'd promised she would. The thought of their eyes looking so betrayed shook Harry and he stood up to walk. Rubbing his gritty eyes with a dirty hand, Harry quietly went to the backpack and extracted the woolen blankets he'd tied there so many hours ago. They were wet and covered in dirt, Harry cleaned them and brushed a small spider off with a frown.

The air was cold and musty inside their tunnel, and Harry knelt to carefully wrap Lizzie and Parker with both the blankets. It wouldn't do for them to get sick now.

Harry let the children sleep for a few hours. Eventually, his legs had grown shaky from his constant pacing. It would not do any good to get himself so worked up, but the walls of the tunnel seemed to be growing smaller the longer he waited here, and the air suddenly reminded him of the cupboard under the stairs.

His throat was parched, there was only a small amount of water left in the thermos. As the adult in the situation, Harry knew he couldn't put his needs first, so he tried to ignore the pain from his dry split lip and the feeling that his tongue was swollen.

"Time to get up."

His soft words and gentle shaking was met with quiet groaning. They squinted at the bright light of the lumos and Harry turned the wand away, he'd let the spell fade while they were sleeping and the darkness that surrounded him in those hours was vast. He'd never been afraid of the dark, but the high possibility of someone seeking them in the darkness had caused goose bumps to rise on his arms.

"I'm sorry, but we need to start moving again."

Parker looked like he wanted to cry. Harry could see how weary he still was and he hugged the boy quickly, trying to still the trembling of his mouth.

"I'm sorry," Harry said again, "as soon as we're safe you can sleep as long as you like, okay?"

"When?" Lizzie groaned, "I want to go home."

It was hard to give them answers when he had none. Harry packed up the blankets as Lizzie and Parker got up and wiped at their faces.

"Can we have some water?"

Harry winced, "Sure...but you two have to split it, okay?"

Knowing that all the water was gone only spurred Harry to move faster. He had no way of knowing just how far they traveled, but there were several steep spot in their journey, and Harry wondered if they would find themselves in a cavern far underneath the earth.

It got colder, when Harry noticed Lizzie and Parker quietly shivering, he scolded himself for not noticing sooner and brought out the blankets once more so they could use them while they walked. Parker's almost dragged on the ground and smiling Harry bent down to fix it. The chill numbed the burning in Harry's shoulders, but seemed to make his other muscles stiffen up and his hands and fingers seemed to have no heat left in him.

Briefly, Harry let negative thoughts invade his mind. He hoped they had not escaped Voldemort against many odds, just to die from dehydration and the cold.

"Harry," Lizzie grabbed his shirt and a cold breeze brushed against Harry skin. "What's that?"

Squinting into the distance, Harry didn't see what the girl was talking about. It was just the same brown walls of the tunnel he'd been staring at for what seemed like an eternity.

"Put your wand down," Lizzie said, tugging at his arm. Frowning, Harry did so...and as his eyes adjusted, he saw exactly what she meant. It was faint, but there was light in the distance.

They treaded carefully forward, unsure if the light was natural or caused by something else. Underneath their feet, the ground had not seemed to rise, which led Harry to believe that maybe they would find themselves stuck in the bottom of a cavern with the light of day far above their heads.

Taking a deep breath, and with his wand raised steadily ahead of him, Harry turned the slight corner to face the unknown.

Without his permission, his hand dropped down, the lumos faded away as it was no longer needed. Parker's small hand fell off Harry's shirt in his awe, and all three of them stared in confusion at what met their eyes.

He had been ready to recoil in fear, but Harry hadn't expected this at all. He stepped forward carefully, his arm out to keep the children away from the edge.

Immediately in front of them was a large opening, along the walls were rows of lowly burning torches and as Harry looked up, he could see stalactites growing from the ceiling far over his head. Below them, little railway tracks were held aloft by supports that descended into the darkness until they couldn't be seen anymore.

"Oh," Harry breathed, his mouth falling open as his eyes took in the familiar railway, the only difference was that there were no vaults in this part.

"We're...this is," Harry couldn't find the words, but fortunately for him, Lizzie had no problem.

"We're in Gringotts!" Her voice echoed in the cavernous space.

There was no proof that her exclamation was wrong, it could not have been a regular mining tunnel. The torches were kept lit by magic alone and the railway tracks twisted and turned ahead in a maddening way, just as Harry remembered from his visits here.

It was the last thing Harry expected. He knew the tunnels under Gringotts went for miles, but the bank was supposed to be impossible to break into...and though it had happened before, Harry still found it incredible that he had accidentally made his way here. Maybe he really was lucky, Harry quirked a smile at that thought.

"I don't like goblins," Parker murmured, drawing as close to Harry as he could. Reaching back, Harry laid a hand on the boy's back. Looking around still in partial disbelief, Harry had to bite his lip. He was beginning to think that the goblins, as nasty as they could be, would likely be the least of their problems.

"This area doesn't even have vaults, what's the likelihood of them sauntering down here," Harry thought out loud.

He remembered from his first visit what Griphook had said, they only checked vaults once every ten years to see if thief's had become prisoners inside. Swallowing against the vile feeling in his throat, Harry closed his eyes.

"If anyone would like to save us now, that would be really helpful!" he called out suddenly and Lizzie and Parker looked at him oddly. "I just thought it was worth a shot," Harry said with a sigh.

"How are we going to get the goblin's attention?" Lizzie asked.

Harry had taken to pacing back and forth along the tunnel again, but a loud 'ding'ing sound caught his attention.

"Parker," Lizzie scolded, "Mum said it's not polite to throw rocks unless you are outside and not aiming at people, or birds, or frogs--"

"There's no one here!"

"You are going to break the railway tracks, and the goblins will be mad!"

Harry watched the tracks thoughtfully, there was a hum in the air from the vibrations of the metal where Parker had hit it. "Actually, I think Parker has the right idea."

They were looking at him oddly again, but Harry just smiled back and drew his wand.

"Let's see if we can't get the goblin's attention."