I felt worse the next morning.

Even though I attempted my hardest to persuade him, Neville wouldn't give an inch into letting us move. We'd be here for quite a while according to him since my fever was up. I couldn't help it; I was shaking with two blankets on me.

Since I was too ill, Neville had to fly solo when hunting. I knew he hated to do it. I'd be a sitting duck, so to speak, but that was should the enchantments be breached.

Neville was the only one out of the two of us who was actually moving around the tent. The only time I ever got up was to use the bathroom or change. I was for the most part bedridden. I never got up to eat; Neville always gave me food in bed, which I found to be sweet but sometimes unnecessary.

Days passed, and soon it became one week. My condition was a rollercoaster. One day I'd feel slightly better, one day I'd feel really good, but then it'd all crash and burn, and I'd end up back to square one, or worse.

Right now, time felt irrelevant. If I had to guess, we were somewhere in November, perhaps the beginning of the month.

I was curled up in the two thickest blankets possible. I was pretty sure it was morning, because the sun made the tent glow outside. Birds chirped, trying to cheer me up with a song.

Neville lightly snored in his section of the tent. The radio crackled quietly as white noise like always. Sometime soon, when I would be feeling better, I'd turn it up and tune it. We needed some kind of variety before we both died of boredom.

Luckily for Neville and me, the Death Eaters hadn't returned to our area of the Forest of Dean since the sighting about a week ago. We were free of them, but we had no doubt that they would possibly return. The thought of the Death Eaters made me think of the other Aurors out there. They obviously hadn't had any success since there had been two in the Forest of Dean.

And what about Hermione? I tried to think of the nicest conclusion: that the disguised Death Eater left her alone, and that Hermione told Ron about it. I hated to have brought that scare on her.

My thoughts were interrupted by Neville shuffling to his feet. He dragged himself to me. He looked so hunched over I thought he would either stop and fall over, or just fall over while walking. Bags under his eyes were more prominent with each day, but I saw the never-fading determination to do his job in his hazel eyes.

"You could've slept in," I croaked. I shuddered under the blankets once. "You don't need to wake yourself up so early."

"How is it early?" he asked tiredly.

"I saw the sun rise not too long ago."

"Oh. Well, I don't mind."

"I do."

"How're you feeling?" Neville did the normal routine of putting his hand to my forehead, concentrating intently.

"I should be getting better soon." I tried to stay positive between the two of us. "I hate what this is doing to you."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

I slowly propped myself up on my elbows. "Because of me, you're losing sleep. You're overworking yourself. Look at you, Neville! You look like you're about ready to pass out every time I watch you move. The last thing I want is for you to fall ill."

"I won't."

"Keep thinking that."

"Are you hungry?"

"A little bit."

"I might have to go out. If I'm hunting for an entire day's worth, I probably won't be back until dark."

"O-okay. But why not take periodic trips? Why the entire day?" Neville took certain periods of time, like hours, to hunt for us both. This was the first time he said he'd take an entire day.

"You sound worried."

"A little," I confessed.

"Why?"

"You're going to be gone almost the entire day."

"I don't see why you should worry; the enchantments will keep you safe." He gave a tired smile. "If anything happens, send a Patronus."

"Hand me my wand then, will you, please? Oh, and do you mind tuning the radio, too? I want to have something to listen to while you're gone."

My wand sat by the crackling radio. Neville fetched it for me, tuned the radio to the best of his ability, and gave me my wand. I held it at my left side.

"Be careful," I called as Neville left the mouth of the tent, leaving me sick and alone.

With having limited abilities, the day was rather bland. With Neville gone, I was forced to listen to the radio. I wanted it on, but half the time it was just news, something I didn't want to listen to. That turned into white noise which helped me sleep.

Sleep was constantly interrupted by my stomach gurgling angrily at me. I had no choice but to let it complain.

At times when I'd wake, I'd see the sun falling. Night was on its way, and so would Neville. He wouldn't leave me for a whole twenty-four hours. That'd be too risky.

I had taken a brief nap only to be startled awake by the crackling of the radio, the background noise. This time it wasn't all crackling, it had some news.

"There is more work for the Aurors. Just coming in now, another prisoner has escaped Azkaban, a former Death Eater by the name of Brian Stevens. If anyone knows of his current whereabouts, do not approach him. Do not engage. Contact the Aurors immediately. This man is considered highly dangerous."

My blood went cold. My eyelids were now fully open. I felt like I had been struck by electricity. I propped myself up on my elbows, breathing heavily. Calm down, the fever could be making you hallucinate. This may not be real.

I highly doubted a hallucination would be in the form of something as stupid as a radio broadcast.

To think, after all this time, he really was in Azkaban. I had given thought as to what happened to him after the Battle. I had hoped he got what he deserved. It seemed that he had, until now.

I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, and it wasn't from not eating all day.

Oh God, why couldn't he have just died in the battle that night? He probably wants to come after me...

A noise up ahead made me look. Instinctively, I gripped my wand tightly. My brows furrowed. Slowly, I slunk out of bed. I still felt a little sick, but I was well enough to investigate. My wand was out in front, ready to do my bidding. It owed me after it smacked me in the face and gave me a nosebleed.

"Neville?" I called quietly. "Is that you?"

"You were always a catch, but I never thought they'd be after you," the voice purred.

I gasped and retreated a few steps as he came into view. He was just as I remembered him: his dirty blond hair ruffled, bangs just above his smoky grey eyes, tall, lean. He was dressed in all black, showing where his true allegiance lay.

"Brian," I whispered.

"Hello, love." His face twisted up into a creepy smile. "Miss me?"

"Hardly." I was lucky any words could escape at the moment. "Why are you here?"

"You, of course. I've come to bring you home."

"You are not my home. You never were, and they aren't either." I had my wand out, but no spells could be uttered from my lips.

Brian kept moving in...

I screamed the loudest I could, in hopes that maybe somewhere miles away, Neville would hear and come running. Panicking, I retreated only to fall on my butt. I shut my eyes and scooted back until I grabbed my cot.

"What the—? Jenelle?" called a panicked voice. "Jenelle?"

Large clomps entered the tent. I choked my screams off but didn't open my eyes. The footsteps skidded to a halt in front of me; someone's breath was on my face.

"Jenelle," the voice whispered. I slowly opened my eyes only to jump back but relax very little at the sight of Neville. "Jenelle, easy. Easy..."

"Neville, we're not safe," I choked, trembling. "He's here...he knows I'm here. He knows they're hunting for me. He wants to beat them to me. He wants to take me back to him. I don't want to go back to him."

"Whoa, whoa," he said gently. "Slow down. Here." Neville slowly helped me up and guided me to the cot, where it vibrated under me. "Are you cold?" He sat down beside me. "What happened?"

"I heard a n-noise. I thought it was y-you, but I saw that it was...it was...him." I hugged myself.

"Who?"

"I screamed and then you came bursting in—"

"Jenelle, who are you talking about?"

There was no more hiding in my shell about this. "I'm talking about Brian Stevens," I murmured. "They just announced on the radio he escaped from Azkaban."

"Damn," Neville cursed. "Another Death Eater to wrangle up." He sighed irritably and then looked to me. "Wait...do you know him?"

"I think it's time I told you everything."

**For reference, I imagined the song when Brian showed up in the tent. Sometimes it's all about choosing your moments for music.**