Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Harry glanced up and noticed Hermione pacing around their camp, looking nervous, as usual.

"I think I've set up all of the protective spells and charms that I can think of...we should be alright..." she said for the third or fourth time that night.

"Oh, come on!" said Ron, who was on the other side of the clearing, "None of those bloody Death Eaters have found us yet, have they?"

"No, I guess not..." she replied, "But one can never be too careful, Ron."

"Yeah, guess so," he grumbled back, stifling a yawn.

It was nearly midnight, and they rarely got much sleep any more.

Harry briefly wondered what it would be like if they were ever captured by the Death Eaters...would they be tortured? Or would they just be brought straight to Voldemort? He supposed that it was entirely possible for them to be taken off guard and be captured, but he was also confident that Hermione's precautions would keep them safe, at least for now.

As he thought, Harry found that he was beginning to doze off. "Hermione, take first watch?" he asked. "I'm beat."

"Sure thing, Harry." she replied.

She stationed herself in front of their tent, her eyes wandering warily about the woods.

Harry's eyes began to close, and just as he was about to fall asleep, he heard a muffled scream, saw a bright flash escape from Hermione's wand, and felt a sharp pain along his arm. But then—there was only darkness.

Harry felt oddly fuzzy—like he was full after drinking a dozen sweet butterbeers. He could also hear a buzzing noise in his ear, and he was wondering why nobody had bothered to shut it off. It was quite annoying, and all he wanted to do was go back to sleep.

"Harry! Harry! Snap out of it, Harry!" the noise said. "Harry! Are you alright?"

He finally opened his eyes to see a very frightened Hermione looking over him.

"Harry! You're okay!" she whispered.

"What…what happened?" he asked.

"Shh…"she said. "Shh…that was way too close…"

"What was too close? What happened, Hermione?" his head was starting to clear, and he had the feeling that something had gone wrong. He looked around, and discovered that they weren't in their camp any longer.

"A couple of Death Eaters nearly got us," she explained. "Instead of using magic, they used some sort of dart, so our magical protection didn't seem to work." She held out her hand, showing three small green darts, each with very sharp ends. "They sent three, one for each of us. I bet they were filled with some sort of knock-out potion. They hit on the arm, and Ron's too, but mine just grazed my leg. I'm tired, but I didn't pass out like you two did, and I'm mostly fine.

Harry looked over and finally noticed Ron, who was still passed out and lying sprawled out on the forest floor, snoring.

"I was only just able to produce a shield charm to protect us when they came looking," she continued, "and we didn't get very far…and they're still here, even now, so we need to stay quiet!"

"The Death Eaters are still here?" he asked, frightened.

He looked around. Not thirty feet away, there were two men, obviously Death Eaters, sitting around a small campfire, with a dingy little tent stuck up to the side.

"We need to be quiet, "Hermione said again. "I've cast the Muffliato spell, but I don't think it's as strong as it should be. They can't see us, I'm certain, but they may still be able to hear us."

Harry studied the Death Eaters, trying to determine the intelligence of the two. They were both greasy haired men, and both exceeding ugly. In other words, just average Death Eaters.

The greasier of the two Death Eaters looked up, and Harry and Hermione froze.

"Hear that?" he asked his companion.

"Hunh?" snorted the other. He was obviously the stupider of the two, Harry silently concluded.

"Nothin…" the first man replied. "Imagine…that rotten Potter and his rotten friends could've been right over there! I could've sworn that we'd hit somethin'…"

Harry fidgeted uncomfortably, and a branch snapped loudly under his sore arm.

The first Death Eater looked up again, and this time right into the three's hiding spot. He squinted his beady eyes. Then, after what seemed like hours to Harry, he finally looked away.

"Did ya see somethin'?" asked the second man. He pulled out a bottle from his pack, which was probably filled with whiskey.

"Thought I heard something…but guess not. Well, there's monsters and who knows what in these woods too these days, not just rotten kids."

He grabbed the second man's bottle out of his hands, and chugged it down.

"Could've been anythin'…anythin' at all..."