Cruel

The owl had arrived only two hours after the men had left, with only a couple of words scribbled quickly across the old-looking parchment:

Daniel Helling.
On the run.
McQuillen Forest.
Fast.

Amelia scowled at the lack of information, but wasted no time in packing herself some new clothes in the sock that she had all of her camping gear in. She had cast a extension charm on it so that she could fit all of her stuff in it, and she could hide it incredibly well; who would think to look in a worn-down sock that she kept in her pocket?

Spinky quickly fixed her some food and bid her goodbye, as Amelia quickly slammed her front door behind her. The morning dew was still in the air as Amelia started walking down the street, not feeling like going into the forest just yet.

The morning was very busy, with people bumping into each other in their hurry to get to their monotone jobs. Shaking her head wearily, the young woman continued to walk the streets until it began to softly rain, annoying her to no end. Mumbling curses at the sky, Amelia started wondering what she should do.

She knew she had to be getting along and start doing some snatching, but all she wanted to do was sit down and drink some coffee. Sighing and muttering a quick ‘bloody hell’, Amelia ducked into an alley and with a quick pop she was gone, leaving only a bewildered five-year old muggle boy behind.

Amelia steadied herself at once as her feet made contact with the uneven ground, crushing the already damp leaves and snapping a twig. The young woman looked up at the sky, gaining a few droplets of water on her face; thankfully, the trees spared her the rest. After she had pulled her long black hair up in a loose bun and wiped the water off of her face, she started trekking in the forest. Sadly, she had never been in the McQuillen Forest so she didn’t know exactly where she was going, although she had a general aspect of it.

She wasn’t really that nervous about finding Daniel Helling; she knew she could in a matter of days. Even if he was ‘fast’, he was no match for her. The only thing she was worried about at that moment was Scabior’s gang. Amelia had heard much about them, almost just as much as she had heard about herself. In the Ministry, which of the two parties caught the most outlaws (and whatever they could find on their personal lives), was a subject of gossip. Thankfully, there wasn't much to know about Amelia's life, so she could stay in peace. She knew that Scabior, though, was well known as being a lady's man, although she had no idea how he managed that.

It was already past midday until Amelia found a starting track. There were the remains of a fire that seemed quickly put out not too long ago, and smudged footprints on the ground that gave Daniel Helling away. From the looks of this forest, no one in their right mind would hide in it; it was too dark and eerie. She knew that Scabior's gang wouldn't have been so careless, so it had to have been this Daniel.

Amelia couldn't help but grin at her discovery even though it was getting late, she was tired, and it had started to rain a lot harder. She knew she wasn't going to make great progress that night, so she decided to get settled. The young woman unpacked her tent and quickly put it up; she had practises it so many times before that she could’ve put it up with a blindfold.

Just as she was about to put protective charms around her camp site, warding off animals and unwanted visitors, she heard a sudden heavy snap and spun around, pulling out her wand in the process. It took her about two seconds to recognize Greyback, his wand pointed at her also. Amelia cringed at him, having always hated the damn werewolf. But before she had the time to say anything, two other men came to her left and right. Just as she turned around again, she was met with the familiar, scruffy-looking face of Scabior.

The latter had a grin set on his face as he advanced towards Amelia, the sound of his boots crushing the ground clearly heard as all five of them stood in silence. The female Snatcher knew that she was trapped; as good of a witch as she was, she was no match for four wizards surrounding her.

“Well, well, what are you doin’ in here, beautiful? Shouldn’t be out at night like this, ain’t good for a pretty little girl like you.” Amelia couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at Scabior’s words.

“Oh, I think I’ll be perfectly fine, but thanks for the concern.” Sarcasm was clearly dripping from her words as she tapped her index on her wand, a sign of the nervousness that she wasn’t ready to show just yet.

“Don’t be gettin’ smart with me. Greyback here can just as well shred you to pieces,” Amelia looked over to the subject, identifying a hungry look in his eyes. She shuddered a bit before turning her attention to Scabior once more. “Now, tell me your name and maybe we’ll let you go.” After Scabior said that last sentence, Amelia couldn’t help but laugh loudly. The gang of Snatchers around her questioningly, not sure why this woman was laughing for no apparent reason.

“You really don’t know who I am, do you? Well, please try to use the bit of intelligence you have and figure out who I am. Because honestly, I have better things to do.”

With that said, Amelia put her hand on her hip, her wand still in her right hand with a look of pure amusement on her face. The men surrounding her looked at each other once more in confusion, all except Scabior; he left his eyes on the fierce looking woman. It took him a moment of inspecting her, ignoring her dark eyes on him, to finally figure out who this woman was. But when he did, he felt his breath hitch in his throat. This couldn’t be her, could it? The one that he had heard so much about? He had never thought that she would be so damn hot...and so damn sarcastic.

“You’re Amelia Mercer?” Scabior asked, making Amelia grin as she could feel the men looking at each other with shock.

“The one and only. Although, I will admit, I’m quite disappointed. I thought you would’ve done some quick research about your opponent. Now, if you gentlemen will kindly go the hell away, I could get some rest. I’m not quite fun to be around when I don’t.”

Scabior was clearly shocked and rattled at Amelia’s fast responses and lack of fear, but he made a remarkable comeback as he smirked down at her due to the fact that he was about a head taller than her.

“Well, love, I’m actually in quite the hurry to get out of this damned forest already. Too damp for me, and I’m sure you feel the same way. So to make things go faster, how about we work together to catch this Daniel Helling? Split half and half, won’t matter anyways; I’m sure you make enough money as it is.”

Amelia bit her lip, a sign of deep thought; she did hate this forest, and was eager to get back home. But she didn’t quite trust Scabior’s gang, for clear reasons, and was very apathetical about having to be around them.

“Look, we won’t hurt you, okay? I swear that I won’t let anyone lay a hand on you, as long as you do the same for us.” Scabior took his hand out, and after a moment, Amelia shook it.

Scabior then ordered the two un-named men to pack Amelia’s tent while Scabior and Greyback seemed to be having a heated discussion a few feet away. Amelia looked at the two men, feeling bad for them and a bit awkward.

“So, do you two have names?” She asked, maybe a bit too harshly as both of them looked up quickly. Amelia offered them a small smile, letting know that she wasn’t mad or anything, and their faces turned peaceful once more.

“My name’s Arthur.” The one on the right, with the fair hair, said.

“And I’m Oliver.” The one with the darker hair said softly, while finishing packing the tent.

“Nice to meet you both. I’m Amelia.” The young woman took the folded tent and put it in her sock that she had pulled out, watching the eyes of the two men grow in astonishment. “Neat trick, eh?" But before they had the chance to reply, the snapping voice of Greyback cut through the air.

“You lot ready yet? Haven’t got all night.” Amelia tried her best to hide the deep scowl that decorated her face, but wasn’t quite successful as Scabior chocked a laugh. The three other men looked at him questioningly, but didn’t speak.

It didn’t take the gang long to get to the Snatcher’s camp, which Amelia was glad of; she honestly couldn’t feel her feet anymore. It was just a small, simple tent that they had, although she knew that it was a magical tent and was probably very big inside. After asking what kind of spells they had around the place, she cast a few others and then began setting up her tent again. There was no way she was sleeping in the same tent as they were.

Amelia didn’t even take the time to say something close to a goodnight to the others. As soon as she hit the old pillow that she carried, she was brought into a deep slumber.

Little did she know that Scabior was at the entrance of her tent, looking thoughtfully at her sleeping form through the thin fabric of the tent.