A Confusing Place

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A twig snapped as she continued through the dark forest. A young girl of only 16 ran for her life. She kept looking behind him, getting more and more terrified. She'd been running for hours and, yet, she wasn't tired. The girl saw a clearing up ahead and sighed in relief. But the relief was drowned out by the barking of the hellhounds. There was light and she finally broke through the tree, falling to the ground as she tripped over some twigs. The hellhounds stopped at the entrance because of some kind of barrier in front of them. They growled at her , not happy that their prey got away.

She sighed as she felt her muscles relax. The hellhounds walked away, still growling. She looked over at the sun that was breaking over the darkness. Than, she heard footsteps behind her. She tensed and turned around slowly. A man in a long robe, with very long silver hair, and half-moon spectacles stood there. She'd never seen someone so calm and serene before. She stood slowly, staring at the man. He had yet to move and simply stared at her. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity before he spoke,

"Are you all right, my dear?" She couldn't believe how he seemed so relaxed. Than she shouted,

"No, I'm not all right! I was just running for my life! I can't seem to stop shaking, and I'm starving. So no, I'm not O.K!" The man's blue eyes seemed to twinkle when she finished her rant.

"Come along then, Miss. We have plenty of food here at Hogwarts." He turned and walked toward a huge castle she failed to notice before. She quickly ran after him, knowing it would've been a stupid mistake not to follow. The castle was beautiful and breathtaking. They walked through the two huge double doors and walked down a hallway. Footsteps sounded and she tensed up again. A woman in her nightdress appeared, out of breath.

"Albus, I saw you outside my window. Why are you out this late at- oh." She took notice of her and saw how tense she was. "Where did she come from, Albus?" The old woman asked. Albus looked right at her, the twinkle in his eyes.

"Hush now, Minerva. Right now, this young girl needs some food and some dry clothes. And I think a nice hot bath with help her relax a bit. Come, child." Albus motioned for her follow and left the old woman in the hallway. Even the inside of the castle was beautiful. But the weird thing was that the paintings snored and moved while they slept. Albus led her to a kitchen where small creatures worked on the meals for how many people were there. They bowed to him, like he was some kind of king or lord or whatever.

"Dear friends, you don't have to bow to me. I am your friend. My young friend has come a long way and I would like a plate filled and find some dry clothes for her as well." The creatures instantly began to scurry and get what was needed. Than, he turned toward her.

"I never did introduce myself, did I? My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore. And you are, my dead?" He said in his oh-so polite voice.

"Shel, my name is Shel Mills. What is this place?" Shel asked, sitting on a nearby stool. She had never seen such a place before and that was saying something since she deals with the supernatural almost everyday. The professor seemed to understand and simply smiled.

"This is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You are safe here, my dear." He said.

'Witchcraft and Wizardry? Wait, magic? Shouldn't I be, like, trying to get out of here right now?' Shel knew that magic was nothing to fool around with, especially with witches. So why wasn't she freaking out as well. Albus seemed to understand and the twinkle seemed to intensify.

"You have nothing to fear my dear. You are safe here at Hogwarts, as well as under my magic. You will not be harmed so long as you are under my care." Those words seemed to pierce her heart and didn't know what to say. No one had ever, ever cared for her or even said things like that to her. It warmed her, even though it came from a complete stranger. It was more care than she ever received in her life.

"Thanks, professor." She said in a really low whisper she barely heard it herself. Dumbledore smiled, the twinkle in his eyes brighter than before. A house elf came over and handed her some clothes and left. Another brought over a plate full of food. It had everything she could possibly imagine. Dumbledore left to let her eat and relax to get something from his office. While he was gone, Shel looked around the kitchen in wonder. It was like a kitchen from the middle ages that the cooks would use to feed their masters and mistresses. Dumbledore came back and when he saw that she was gone, he motioned for her follow him to the bathroom to let her bathe. Shel saw how big the bath was and her eyes bugged out. It was huge! It was big enough to probably fit 20-30 people at the most.

10 minutes later...
Shel came out of the bathroom, clean and relaxed. Dumbledore was waiting near the kitchen, a bag beside him. It was her bag from her latest hotel.

"How did you know where my stuff was?" She asked, probably knowing the answer to that already.

"Ah, a wizard knows everything if he or she tries enough. Come with me, Ms. Mills. I have a place for you to stay until we can figure out your situation. A place called 12 Grimmauld Place. The Order of the Phoenix will help make your stay more comfortable. Now, hold onto to my arm. I will apparate us there. Us wizards way of traveling these days."

Shel was hesitate at first, but grabbed his arm tightly and at once it felt as thought her insides were coming out of her. A second later, they stood in a dark street in what she recognized as London. Albus tapped his foot and the buildings began to move, though the occupants didn't seem to notice. A moment later, a building stood there and Shel knew that this was 12 Grimmauld Place. Albus motioned for her to follow and follow she did. She went in first and Albus closed the door behind him. The hallway was dark and hard to see until her pupils adjusted to the dark. There was a light at the end and voices came from it, as did the smell of food. even though she had just eaten, she felt that she hadn;t eaten in a week. Albus walked around her and toward the door, telling her to wait there for a moment. He spoke with someone, who had red hair and looked in her direction. Than he smiled and nodded. Albus turned to her, smile on his face and motioned for her to come. Shel walked toward him, all sense of danger seeming to disappear as she neared the room.

Inside the room, 10 people were seated around a very large table. Eight of them had red hair, two had black hair, and the one with the crazy eye had white hair. And they all seemed to enjoy to stare at their new arrival. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and suddenly got really nervous.

Than, the man Albus had spoken to spoke up. "Hello there. My name is Arthur Weasley. This is my wfie, Molly and our children Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny. This young man is Harry Potter and the other four are Hermione Granger, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Mad-eye Moody. And you are, my dear?" He said in almost one breath that had Shel gaping at him before snapping out of her stupor. She held out her hand, remembering her manners.

"My name is Shel Mills. Nice to meet you all." Everyone seemed to take a liking to her, even though they'd all just met. Hermione and Ginny took immediate interest in her and began asking questions: where she was from. Her family. Questions that she thought were way too personal. They backed off after seeing her uncomfortable face. Molly showed her the the last room that was left and left to let her feel at home. The room was big and had a nice sized bed. Whatever these people were, she was actually beginning to trust them. She set her bag on the floor next to the bed and sat down. The room really was nice, compared to all the crap hole motels she stayed at. It was definitely much cleaner. Shel kicked off her shoes and fell into a dreamless sleep, one that she hasn't had in awhile...
TBC.....
Well, shel's really making an effort to get more comfortable. next chapter will be everyone's opinion of her. R&R!!! :) --{--