The first night being away from home was tense. I didn't sleep very well. I couldn't adjust to being in a strangers' place even though nobody occupied it before Neville and I got here.
Since I had a brief thing of insomnia, I decided to rummage through the wardrobe in the bedroom I took up. Unfortunately, there were no clothes that would fit my fashion sense. I blew out an irritated breath. Wonderful. This requires shopping, where I have no money. I'm not about to use magic to bewitch Muggles and steal things. I'm not at that low point in my life.
A little annoyed, I shuffled out of the bedroom, using the shower. The hot water briefly relaxed me. I dressed and wrapped my hair in a towel as I sauntered into the kitchen.
"Find anything good?"
"Ow!" I howled, as I pulled my head up and hit the fridge. "Damn it, Neville, you have to stop sneaking up on me!" I rubbed the top of my head. "I'll get a knot there because of you now."
"I don't do it on purpose," he sassed me.
"You slept well, I'm assuming?"
"You didn't, I'm assuming."
I rubbed my eyes. "I tried, I just couldn't." I pushed things aside. "I wonder how recent this place was vacated. There're things in here that haven't expired yet. You didn't run out for things, did you?"
"Neither of us have left this place since we got here, Jenelle." He pursed his lips.
I blinked hugely when Neville pulled out his wand and began to investigate the house. I shut the refrigerator door, finding a thing of bananas in a basket on the counter. I peeled one and nibbled at it. I miss the Hogwarts feasts. They always guaranteed a full belly.
He must think someone's inside this place. But they can't be, unless there's a secret passage we haven't discovered. The piece of banana I swallowed almost didn't go down all the way at the thought. We haven't even been in hiding for twenty-four hours! Unless this is someone's place and they had to leave. It would explain the food that was still good.
"No one's here," Neville reported once he made a full sweep of the place. "Maybe we lucked out."
"Pretty good luck for fugitives."
"We're not technically fugitives, Jenelle."
"To the Death Eaters we are, not to Wizarding law. A fugitive is a fugitive." I shrugged. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to be cooped up here for the rest of my fugitive life. I know it's risky, but if we play it right, we can be Muggles."
"You sure that's a smart idea?"
"We can't be confined to here, Neville. Supplies do run out or expire eventually."
He looked a little reluctant. "If you're sure."
"We'll alter our appearance a bit, nothing drastic." I smiled a bit. "Unless you're too scared."
"Don't treat it like it's a joke, Jenelle. You're being hunted by Death Eaters, ex-followers of Voldemort."
"I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who doesn't fear his name."
"Why fear a name when it doesn't hold leverage?"
"Fair point. So, about those disguises..."
Neville sighed, a sign of triumph for me. "We'll go out only when necessary."
* * *
Our stay in the abandoned place was pretty quiet. That was, until Neville decided to bring up the "smart" idea of going out of the protective enchantments we'd set up.
"I need to report back to the office," he insisted. "Any information about your incident could help us stop whatever this is."
I pursed my lips. "I don't like this."
"Well, I'm sorry that you don't. But weren't you the one encouraging me to leave and help out other Aurors?"
"I can't be allowed to change my mind?"
"I've left you alone before."
"Yes, but that was when I still had a home to live in. This place, even with enchantments, is practically foreign to me. It doesn't exactly scream 'safe."
"I can't bring you with me. You wouldn't be authorized to sit in on the reports."
"I'd be safe there, though. No Death Eaters would be stupid enough to try and infiltrate to nab me. I'm just one person."
"A person of interest to them. Don't underestimate them. That's what often gets people into trouble." Neville pursed his lips. "You sound as though you doubt the enchantments."
"I don't," I protested. "It's just...the last few times I've been alone, I've winded up in some sort of trouble—and not by choice. Sorry if that's spooked me to wanting a buddy with me wherever I go now."
"If it eases you, I'll try not to be long."
"No, you won't try. You won't be long."
"Fine, I won't be long," Neville agreed. "Think you can be alone for a little bit?"
I looked around the place. "As long as I'm in here, I'm good."
"Good." Neville exited, leaving me all by my lonesome.
I decided to put on the telly to make myself feel somewhat at home. I missed my family and wondered about them. I should have asked Neville to send someone to see if they're all right.
A commercial played on the telly, advertising for some cheap product that made me scoff and roll my eyes. My hand went to the sofa cushion, as if to stroke Nala's soft fur. But I remembered that I wasn't in my house. I was in someone else's. Or a place that used to belong to someone, rather.
After some mindless advertising and crap shows, I went to the kitchen to find myself something to eat. I frowned at the lack of options. I should have told Neville to go food shopping, as well. I wasn't trying to make Neville seem like an errand boy, but since I was supposed to stay here...
I placed my wand on the counter, rummaging through the fridge. The hairs on my arms started to rise in warning.
As I lunged and spun around, my wand was aimed at a stranger. A pale, frail-looking man with platinum blond hair and lifeless eyes. I almost believed I was in the presence of the undead.
"Who're you?" he demanded in a raspy growl. "How'd you find this place?"
I tilted my head, keeping my wand arm stiff and straight. "I can ask you the same question."
"You're trespassing."
"Show me the paperwork for the house and then I might believe you."
The snarl on the man's face grew deeper into his skin. "Don't make me hurt you."
"Who're you?" I noticed a peculiar symbol peeking out from one of his shirt sleeves. I recognized the skull. He's a Death Eater.
A string of curses rang through my skull. How'd they find me so fast? Were they watching the house and waiting for Neville to render me vulnerable? My mind went to another troubling possibility: they had captured him, and I was the last one to be taken.
Even when under protective enchantments, I still found a way to land myself into hot water.
"I'll give you one chance to get out." The man's voice indicated I barely had that.
"Not likely. We claimed this place since yesterday."
"Yeah, well, I claimed this place before you trespassed."
"Oh, really?"
"How else do you think the food got here? It didn't magically grow in the kitchen."
"Who are you?" I demanded.
"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."
He doesn't know my name. But it could've easily been a ploy.
"Looks like you're alone," he taunted me. "Where's this other person you spoke of?"
"He ran out," I said coldly.
"And left you on your own? What a rotten git." He dared to take a step closer. As he did, a vague familiarity crept into my brain. I had to sort through all the painful memories of the Battle, but I briefly remembered encountering his face. Or at least, catching a glimpse of it in the madness.
I was in a standoff with Draco Malfoy, famed Death Eater son in a family who served the Dark Lord.
Well, now I'm definitely in trouble. "Shouldn't you be snuggled up in your cozy manor, Malfoy?" I taunted.
His grey eyes gave a flicker of emotion. "Have we met?"
"Before now, no. I know of you, you probably don't know me." The grip on my wand tightened. "I'm a survivor of the Battle of Hogwarts." My scowl deepened. He wasn't a survivor, he and his family were cowards. They had left after Harry Potter had surprised us all by being alive when posing as a corpse.
"That means nothing to me."
I snorted. "Of course it wouldn't. You didn't endure the things many of us did."
"You don't get to assume what I have and haven't been through."
"I don't get it. Rich boy like you crouching in an average building like this. Why?"
"That's none of your business. I won't ask you again. Leave."
Is he not on their side? I didn't want to buy into this façade. If this was a plot to kidnap me, it seemed cleverer than the one attempted at the Three Broomsticks.
I wasn't about to stick around and find out. Sorry, Neville, if you come back to a mess. I threw a non-verbal spell at Malfoy, who deflected it with a non-verbal spell of his own. Spellfire erupted in the kitchen, knocking things over and making holes in nearby walls.
"Expilliarmus!" Malfoy shouted. "Stupefy!"
Both spells hit in succession. First came my wand shooting from my hand. The next spell bolt hit me square in the chest, sending me into the refrigerator with a harsh crash.
I crumpled to the floor, at mercy of Draco Malfoy.
**So, as you can tell, this little detour in Jenelle's journey is brand new.
Fun fact for those who may/may not know: Draco was actually in the original sequel, Through Thick and Thin. But due to combining everything into this book, the sequel no longer exists.
To be quite honest, it wasn't any of my best writing. I was just starting out when I wrote Jen's first and second book. I'd like to think I've evolved a lot since then.**