Two weeks had passed and Sophia couldn't say that she had enjoyed it too much. Every few days, they would relocate to another forest that Hermione seemed to think of out of thin air. This way, Snatchers would never somehow stumble upon their barrier and suspect that someone didn't want to be found. The tent was nice enough and provided enough shelter for them to sleep decently. A lot of stealing went on from Muggle shops in order for them to eat every day, but that had become the norm. Sophia once felt bad about it, but she got to a point where her hunger distinguished all other logic. The cold nights were spent around the small fires that Hermione had taught them to conjure inside small jars and had made the chilly times a bit more bearable.

As for the Slytherin locket, the original trio had agreed to take turns in holding it around their necks for safe keeping. Sophia had offered herself as a holder at the start of the rotation despite their objections of her not being involved in their mission. But she had barely lasted a day with it on. The negative energy and evil voices that made their way into her being was too much. She had thrown it down on to the floor after a sinister dark thought she'd rather not think about ever again. That ended her involvement and she was frankly relieved.

With this rotation, it sometimes was hard to monitor. With Sophia being the observer, she could tell when someone had been wearing it for more than their allocated time. They would get agitated and angry. It was like the locket festered into their soul and would start to coat it with dark magic. Even logical Hermione would be seen degrading into an evil state of mind that radiated to hang inside the tent's atmosphere. And it was this poor monitoring of the locket's rotation that caused the ripple in the mission among the usually close trio.

Ron and Sophia were sitting in Ron's room of the tent listening to the radio. Potterwatch had just finished its latest segment and the two were listening to the crackling that followed, taking in the updates on the missing personal and state of the Wizarding world. Fred had continued to refer to Sophia as Comet throughout the broadcasts and had made it customary to say that he hoped she was safe and that he missed her terribly. And every time, Sophia felt herself warm at his speeches and sit with a small smile on her face.

It was because of this lingering feeling that Sophia didn't hear Harry and Hermione speaking in the next room, and only snapped out of her trance when Ron stood up from the bed. She sat up from her laying position and watched as Ron walked through the cloth door with his hand clenched around his Deluminator. Out of pure curiosity, she followed after him after she turned the radio off.

She was greeted by darkness and silence at first, but was soon greeted by the heads of Harry and Hermione swiveling around to her and Ron's direction when the lamps around the room lit up. Ron shut his Delumintor once it had done its purpose of gaining the attention of the room and his arm slung back down by his side as if it wasn't his own.

"Yeah, we're still here," Ron aimed his condescending tone at the two who stared at him oddly. "Forgot about us while you two were doing what huh? Working out how to spend another two weeks doing nothing?"

"We're working as quickly as we can Ron," Hermione intervened but Ron wasn't listening. His eyes were mainly staring at Harry who stood there with a now defensive look.

"Oh yeah, definitely," Ron sarcastically agreed.

"Not getting cold feet are you?" Harry spoke up and walked away from the picnic table to stand in front of Ron. "Did you think we were going to be staying in five-star hotels? A warm bed every night? I thought you knew what you were signing up for."

"I thought so too," Ron nodded. "But I thought you knew what you were doing."

"I know as much as you do! I only know that Dumbledore gave me a job to do!" Harry started yelling and this just made it worst.

"Great job he's given you! Finding things that you don't even know exist!" Ron yelled back. "Have you forgotten about what everyone has sacrificed for you?! I left my family to be raided by Death Eaters for you! We left Hogwarts for you! Sophia-" he suddenly whipped around and pointed a finger at the girl standing quietly behind him. "-was left ruined because of you! Or have you forgotten about all of that?!"

Sophia certainly wasn't expecting to be referred to in this argument and she jumped in her place when Ron's finger settled on her. She looked helplessly to Hermione who was standing there gob-smacked by Ron's reaction and finally stepped forward in between the two boys.

"Take the locket off Ron. You wouldn't be saying these things if you weren't wearing it!" she demanded and reached for the silver chain that could be seen around his neck. Sophia now understood his sudden behaviour but couldn't help think that these were his own thoughts. The only way she could describe his attitude was the Muggle term 'drunk words, sober thoughts'. Ron shooed Hermione off of him and glared viciously back into Harry's.

Hermione went unheard again and was left to stand on Ron's right side, now leaving the boys to have a clearer field for more arguing. Sophia and Hermione didn't know what to do at this point but secretly hope that they'd turn away from each other and let off steam elsewhere.

"You don't know why Sophia and I listen to the radio, do you? You're both too busy with each other to even notice!" Ron switched his gaze to Hermione momentarily but whipped back to Harry before it was able to be thought about. "It's to make sure we don't hear Ginny's name. Or Fred, or George, or Mum-."

"You think I'm not listening too?! You think I don't know how this feels?!" Harry shouted.

"No you don't know how it feels!" Ron was screaming at this point and needed to physically have Hermione's hand on his shoulder to stop his getting any closer to Harry. "Your parents are dead! We've all got someone! You have no family!"

Harry leaped forward and Hermione's weak restraint did nothing for Ron, the boys now wrestling out of pure anger. Sophia pulled out Fred's wand just as Hermione did the same. Hermione stood on Harry's side and Sophia took Ron's, the two flicking their wands and crying 'Protego!'. The boys were pulled back from each other with individual barriers around them, but they were still mentally fighting with their vicious glares and heaving shoulders.

"Go then! Leave the locket and go!" Harry shouted with a gesture of his hands. "Go back to your mum with your Spattergroit and-"

"I will!" Ron grabbed his bag that sat in the corner and ripped the locket off his neck, throwing it to the ground as it was trash. He then grabbed the other bag that was sitting next to his and threw it behind him, Sophia only just catching it and making the barrier around him fade away from her loss of concentration. She didn't know that she was leaving too but barely had any time to question it.

"And you?" Ron turned to Hermione who stood behind Harry. "Are you coming, or are you staying?!"

Hermione looked utterly conflicted. Ron didn't wait for a verbal answer and got what he was looking for, making him turn on his heel and brush past Sophia and out of the cloth doors of the tent. Sophia looked at Harry and Hermione, parting her lips to speak but didn't know what to say. What do you say after that? I'm sorry? None of this was her fault and she didn't really find fault in Harry or Ron either.

Sending them both an apologetic and lost look, she made the difficult decision. She turned around and jogged out into the wilderness, trying to keep up with Ron and his angry march.

"Ron! Where are you going?!" Hermione could be heard calling after him but didn't walk any further than the barrier that surrounded the clearing. "Sophia?!"

Ron refused to look back but Sophia didn't have that same willpower. She looked back over her shoulder and took in Hermione's crest-fallen face. Tears were swimming in the girl's hazel eyes and she felt her heart quiver at the sight. Grabbing the hilt of Fred's wand once more, she muttered a Patronus and the silvery Leopard padded from her towards Hermione. It passed through the barrier and stopped, whispering the words that Sophia had been wanting to shout out.

'I'll keep an eye on him. Stay with Harry. We'll be back'.

The animal faded and Sophia had just been able to grab hold of Ron's jacket sleeve before she felt the familiar sickly feeling of apparation. Hermione was left to crumble behind the barrier while watching the two disappear before her very eyes.

Ron and Sophia appeared with a conjoined 'pop!' and immediately sunk into an alleyway that was nearby. Sophia took the moment to look around her and come to the conclusion that she wasn't familiar with the street that had apparated too. It didn't look like a Muggle street but it didn't have that magical esk that Diagon Alley had either. The shops along the sides of the street were dark yet had their lights on inside, meaning they were open for business. People did seem to be walking down the street and Sophia wasn't sure if they were Wizarding people or not, but she and Ron still hid away during their passing.

The people turned down another street and disappeared from view, allowing Sophia to poke her head out. She looked side to side, seeing a bare street and turned back to motion to Ron. But she turned only to see a bare space and the boy himself walking away further down the alley.

"Ron?" she hurried after his heavy and quick steps. "Where are we? Where are we going?"

Ron didn't answer and kept walking, his attention solely set on the end of the alleyway. Sophia dared to look at Ron's face and saw the heavy bags that sat under his eyes and the tight frown that was on his lips. She bit her tongue at the emotionless aurora that surrounded Ron and she was almost afraid to speak again. He was the one who had taken them to this place yet he hadn't shown any recognition of it other than this determined pursuit.

Sophia didn't like this dark side of Ron. He was always the goofy, clueless Weasley that was his older siblings' punching bag. His expressions always held a comedic tone to them that would make anyone laugh. He was hopefully also going to be her future brother-in-law. But this side of him that had been brought out by that locket was something Sophia was afraid of. She hoped that the side effects would soon fade now that the locket was far away from him.

Ron walked into a small pub and Sophia hopelessly trudged after him, looking anxiously over her shoulders. She was still a wanted person in the Wizarding world and she prayed that Ron was aware that her face was everywhere with a hefty reward for her capture. The pub they walked into had no one inside besides the barmen, who barely looked up from the table he was cleaning with a damp rag. Ron threw what looked like Muggle money down on the counter and the man swept the note and coins into the till without a word. Reaching down out of sight, he placed a rusty key down before turning away without even a glance.

Continuing her halt on questioning, Sophia followed Ron to the side door and up a staircase. They reached a door that displayed the number eighteen that matched the latch that was attached to the key. The room was small with only two single beds on either side of the walls, only separated by a singular nightstand that held a worn out desk lamp on top. Ron settled down on his claimed bed and chucked his backpack down next to the nightstand.

"I don't mean to be a bother-" Sophia spoke up without moving from in front of the door. "-but are we in a Muggle pub?"

"No," Ron said his first words since their arrival.

"Right then...", Sophia nodded. "Answers a lot..."