Harry woke suddenly, in the middle of a forest at night. He stared up at the stars through the branches and couldn't bring himself to get up. He was so sick of this.

"The world is not going to disappear just because you wish it to," a voice like a soft exhalation came from the darkness.

Harry closed his eyes. Not even a minute to himself now.

"This one is not that bad," the voice said softly. Harry turned his head away. "I promise you, this will be different."

"Every world is different," Harry muttered sullenly. "That doesn't make it better."

The voice didn't respond, and Harry slowly drifted off. His last thought was that it would be great if he could just sleep forever.

The next time Harry woke, there was someone else in the forest with him. Poking him with a stick.

"I think he's dead." That was definitely a kid's voice.

"Stop it!" Another kid, and some rustling and a thump. Possibly several kids, wandering the woods without adult supervision and bothering him.

"C'mon, let's just go!" Yep, there was a third whiny kid voice.

"He can't be dead though, or he wouldn't still be here!"

Harry almost snorted. Can't be dead indeed. Then the stick was jabbed sharply in his ear.

"Ow! What the hell is your problem?" Harry sat up with a shout, rubbing his ear tenderly.

The rotten hooligans all screamed and ran off. Harry glared after them. He hoped they tripped.

The forest in daylight was much nicer looking than he'd thought. Almost like a storybook, all cute trees and bushes with patches of grass and wildflowers. Beams of golden light fell through the trees all around, one of them even right onto him. He supposed that must have been what drew the kids to him in the first place.

"Will you look around now?"

Harry almost groaned. Of course that hadn't gone away. It never did anymore.

"You could follow the children," the voice whispered from a patch of shadows in the trees. "They should be heading for a village."

"I really don't care," Harry said tiredly, "and I'm not going anywhere those brats are."

"Then what will you do?" If Harry could believe his formless stalker had anything resembling emotions, he'd say the voice sounded concerned. But it couldn't.

"Does it matter?" Harry asked flatly.

The voice was silent. Harry knew it just wanted to keep him from sleeping again and wasn't sure what response would do that. Honestly, Harry didn't think there was anything it could say that would make sleep the less appealing option.

"This world is different," the voice finally said, almost sullen with the knowledge it would not be heeded.

"You said that already, and I don't care anyway." Harry got up with a long stretch. Normally, he didn't care where he slept, but it was hard enough to stay asleep with his stalker harassing him. Knowing there was a village nearby with obnoxious kids ready to poke him awake was just asking for insomnia.

"It is more true than you know," the voice insisted as Harry walked away in the opposite direction the kids had gone.

"Still not caring."

The voice quieted while Harry hiked through the forest. It would be back, probably as soon as he found a good cave or something, but the silence would be appreciated until then. Luckily or not, it turned out the forest was very large, and it was hours before Harry encountered anything more than flora.

Harry could feel the voice waiting somewhere behind him. There was no way he was going to give it the pleasure of actually calling on it for anything, but… He had to admit he was at a bit of a loss. There were things in the forest, that he'd never seen before and had no idea what to do with. They didn't seem to be dangerous, in fact Harry had found the strange creatures to be rather shy, but he could feel death rolling off them like heat from a bonfire.

The first one Harry happened upon was shaped a little like a crocodile, if crocodiles had eight legs, and wore an enormous bone-like mask with hundreds of gleaming teeth. He'd startled it when he wandered into a small clearing with a pond, and ended up quite startled himself when the large beast had squealed like falling glass and all but fell over itself as it ran into the trees. He'd felt maybe a little bad about that. But then it came back.

Harry tried not to let it bother him as he scooped a drink from the pond and took a break. It wasn't really doing anything, just hiding behind a tree and watching him. Harry figured it was probably waiting for him to leave. Being crocodile shaped, the beast probably wanted to stay near water. Unfortunately, when Harry left, making sure to give the thing a wide berth, it turned and followed him.

Then he ran into another one that looked a little bit like a monkey with crab pincers. Then a very round tiger with an anteater's face. Then a spider-like bird with tiny wings. Then a centipede with arms. Every last one had a bone mask and, once Harry really looked at them, a hole somewhere in the middle of its body.

By evening, Harry found himself with a macabre zoo trailing after him between the trees. They all ran if he got too close, but for some reason none of them completely left. It was weird and a little creepy, and he could feel the weight of endless patience coming from his original stalker. It knew what these things were and why they were following him.

But Harry gritted his teeth and trudged on with his strange company. He was never going to give it the pleasure. Absolutely never!

"Why must you be so obstinate?"

Harry felt a migraine throb to life behind his eyes.

"You would have a much easier time if you simply asked for help. That is all I am here for."

He was ignoring it, he was not going to acknowledge it at all.

"I only wish to help you."

At that, Harry went stiff with fury and almost turned to snarl at nothing. Help him, his ass! But he forced himself to hold still, and after a few beats of silence, from the voice and the things behind him, Harry continued on. The voice wisely kept quiet.

That night, Harry kept walking, and his stalkers were all smart enough to leave him be.