A/N: The final installment of Bad Thoughts, and the first installment of Away From Me. I want to thank all of my faithful readers and reviewers, including the new one(s) to come. I know most of you have already read this, but it is just a reminder of where we left off last time. Well, here it goes!!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Nothing at all.

Prologue: Seconds Till Midnight

Scarlet Thorton stared down at the black liquid in her cup. The muggle café annoyed her, with its peppy music and lovey dovey atmosphere, but the coffee helped a bit. She inhaled the aroma, her green eyes closing. They were the only things unchanged about her physical appearance. Her hair was now a violent shade of red and cropped into a halo of spikes around her face, half of which was distorted in swirling scars. In its entirety, her Master turned her skin dark, giving it a more Spanish tinge. The last six months of recovery were a bit faded. His face, Voldemort's face, was the only one she was allowed to see. The voice change was her own doing; it was now deeper, more velvety, with an Italian accent. Her Master gave her the name, one of his random muggle victim's names from decades ago. She owed everything to him, including her previous life as Izabela Monzenquo.

She sighed and stared at the retro clock on the wall. It was seconds till midnight, yet all around her muggles worked on muggle contraptions as she sipped her scorching drink. Life went on by itself around her. This place had been her recent salvation. No one here cared about her scars, and that was a relief. She felt the last of the drink slide out of the cup, and she placed it on its porcelain saucer, listening to the clink it made. She dropped a few crumpled bills next to it and slid on her thick leather coat, stepping into the rush of London's streets.

As Scarlet turned left into an abandoned alley, she saw the swish of a cloak in the wind out of the corner of her eye. As quickly as she saw it and turned, it was gone. She furrowed her eyebrows, but continued down the alley to her small apartment. Her hand, in her pocket, gripped the handle of her wand tightly. The rubber of her shoes thumped hollowly on the concrete steps leading to her front door. As she turned the key in the lock, she heard the sound of footprints behind her. She spun around and pulled out her wand.

"Who's there?" she said, her voice hitting the air sharply. After a few moments of tense silence, she saw the hovering head of a young man. His face was instantly familiar, although it seemed to have aged greatly in the six months they had been apart. Her eyes widened as she recognized him. Below his blue eyes were dark circles, and his face itself was paler, more sunken in. His almost-white hair was ruffled, messy. Draco Malfoy stared into the face of his target with confidence as he slid off the rest of his newly acquired invisibility cloak, his long fingers shaking in the cold.

"So you are a witch," he said, his voice hoarse. "An…an interesting observation." Scarlet remained frozen to the top step, her wand aimed deadly for his forehead. Although he didn't realize it yet, the two forbidden lovers were reunited. She coughed as if the air had been knocked out of her and fell to her knees, then onto her back, the black of faintness covering her.

A/N: Don't worry reading citizens! She's not dead, she just fainted…if you didn't get that part. So, now it's sequel time! Remember, enjoy and review,

Ceog4ever1