A/N: I uploaded this on another site, and then I had to majorly rewrite it. I'm uploading it here and would appreciate feedback before I upload it back up on the other site. I am known as Starkidgleek on that site, by the way. Please, give me some feedback so I know if I did good on the rewrites! Thanks!

I ran. Ran as hard as I could, for it was the only thing I had left. My will to stay alive was the only thing keeping my feet moving in this cold, dark place. It was too dark to see more than five feet in front of my own nose, but I kept going, fear coursing through my body. I almost ran into something, but I stopped and turned just in time. I kept going, listening to the heavy footfalls and the swishing of a cloak from behind me, gaining on me, but I didn't dare look back. All of a sudden my head hit a hard stone wall. Dizzy from the impact I dropped to the wet stone floor. The footsteps stopped, and I looked up at the dark figure looming above me, listening to it laugh at my foolishness. I braced myself for the pain to come as it lifted me off the ground and cradled me in its arms lazily. I was too weak to resist and began to sink into empty blackness, my captor's laughter still ringing in my ears.

**************************some nine months earlier****************************

I looked over my trunk, admiring the superb packing job I done (if I do say so myself), when I heard a knock on my door. Knowing who the only person ever to knock on my door, even when it was open was, I called "What is it Mum?" without even looking over my shoulder. I heard her enter, and continued checking my school list to make sure I had everything. A moment or two passed without her saying anything, so I turned and looked over at my mother, who was still standing in the door frame with a sad look on her face. I sighed. The same thing happened every year, but I couldn't help getting a little teary each time either. I went over to my mother and embraced her in a huge hug, and we just stood there for a minute.

"I'm going to miss you Kate" she said, hugging bit a bit tighter.

"I know, but I'll be back before you know it," I told her.

"Just don't go getting into trouble. Now that Voldemort is back we need to be extra careful, plus you need to watch yourself at school with all of those Death Eater kids running around. Who knows what their capable of."

My family was one of the only families left that didn't fear the name Voldemort. My mother was a part of the Order of the Phoenix, so we knew the risks of going out in public, and supporting Harry, and such.

We pulled apart. "You stay safe too," I said. "I'm going to be worried about you all year."

My mother had a strange look in her eyes, like she wanted to tell me something important, but couldn't. I was about to ask what was wrong, but my genius brother Ryan decided to go running by, shouting that he didn't have enough cologne to attract the ladies all year long. I groaned, and looked at my mother. She gave me a look that said 'later,' and left to take care of the idiot.

Being a twin did have its ups and downs, but the biggest downer was that Ryan just had to be a boy, not a girl. He was the biggest idiot to ever walk the earth, despite his good grades in school. I flopped down on my quilted bed and shut my eyes, sinking into the soft, worn-out mattress. I began to daydream about Hogwarts. I couldn't wait to get back to transfiguration, and spending time with Luna and the thestrals. I spent most of my time with Luna, although I did have my fair share of gossiping with Lavender and Parvarti. Our main topic was usually boys, and the Yule Ball last year had really fueled the fire on that subject.

Lavender had this obsession with Ron, but she never acted upon it. She chickened out and went with Seamus to the ball, and we have been taunting her sense then. Parvarti got to go with Harry, whom according to Lavender, I seemed to take a liking to. I denied it fully, and went with some Durmstrang boy to the ball, but I did have an interest in Harry, with his green eyes that sparkled when he was happy, and the way I could tell he was stressed when he ran his fingers through his hair. I hung out with Hermione all night because we were friends and our dates were friends, but I kept away from Harry all night to avoid any embarrassment. Yes we are friends, but I'm not very good at expressing my feelings and would have made a fool of myself. I now regret my decision, because it ruined my friendship with Harry. We used to be great friends, just talking about the world and what was going on out there, but now we were distant, and an awkward feeling always seemed to surround us whenever we were in the same room.

Unfortunately, I had gotten the attention of another boy. Draco Malfoy. It hasn't been very cheerful with him though. I don't know why he fancied me, him being a Slytherin and me a Gryffindor, but all he has pretty much done is harass me since third year. I'm afraid he'll take it too far one day, and I have been hanging around my brother ever since he attacked me after I refused to go to the Yule Ball with him. He had pulled me out of the crowd of people walking to their next class and pushed me against the wall and pretty much told me I was going with him. I told had refused about five times before, but this time he began to use spells and hexes on me that I had never even had heard of. No one noticed because his Slytherin gang was circled around us, laughing at how stupid I looked with red blotches all over my body. The spells may have seemed innocent on the outside, but I was in a great deal of pain, which only got worse with each jinx. Somehow, my brother knew that I was in trouble, and came to the rescue before I was seriously injured. From that day he kept me close by his side, and Malfoy hadn't come near me.

I rolled over, lost in my thoughts when all of a sudden I heard a loud bang from downstairs. I grabbed my wand off the nightstand by my bed and rushed to the stairway, Ryan right behind me. Halfway down my mother came into view, and we stopped dead in our tracks. She put a finger to her lips and crept over to the window. She pushed the heavy blue curtain over the slightest bit to peak outside. Her face whitened, and she turned to us and whispered, "Hide." Another bang sounded from just outside the door.

We flew down the stairs and ran behind the couch, having the perfect view of the door, but being perfectly hidden at the same time. Just as we crouched down the door exploded, and my mother was blasted back. Three men in black entered the threshold, and I had to hold back a scream when I recognized Lucius Malfoy, the man who murdered my father. Anger boiled in the pit of my stomach, and my brother put a hand on my shoulder, our weird twin connection making him feel my pain.

"Well, well. Look who we have here," Lucius practically hissed. "Amelia Jones, how nice it is to see you." He spoke with the air of bumping into an old friend at a party, which made me want to strangle him. He strode over to my mother, who was still on the floor, and grabbed her by her long red hair, a trait that I had inherited. "I'll make this simple," he said, and pulled her head back. "Where is the girl?"

"Gone, already on her way to Hogwarts, but you'll never find her," my mother said, and spit in his face. He threw her aside and sneered. He wiped his face with the back of his sleeve, and I could see the blood on my mother's face, trickling onto the floor.

"Fine," he snapped, "if that's how you want to play, then so be it." He pointed his wand at my mother's heart and I feared the worst, but he just stunned her, and then tied her up. He levitated her out the door, and turned to his goons. "Search the house, she could have been lying." And with a swish of his cloak, he and my mother were gone.

Before the other two Death Eaters could even react, I shakily jumped out from our hiding spot surprising them, and body-binded the taller of the two. Ryan confidently paralyzed the other and I sunk to the floor, holding my head. Ryan took his time repairing the door while I just sat there, staring at the blood stained floor where my mother had been only a few moments ago. I let out a sob; my chest felt like it was ready to explode. Ryan stood over the first of the two men, scowling, almost growling at him. Tears began to flow from my eyes as I slowly rocked back and forth with my knees pulled as tight as they could be to my chest. I just kept repeating over and over in my head, "She's not dead, she's not dead," in order to keep from completely cracking, and freaking out on the men dressed in black lying in front of me. I stared into the cold eyes of the second man, daring him to move as I stood up and wiped the tears from my face. Ryan turned back to face me, slowly tearing his eyes from the first man.

"What are we going to do now?" Ryan whispered.

"We should probably, um, well, get our trunks," I said slowly, my voice shaking, "and then we could floo to the Lovegood's house? Mum was always friendly with them-" my throat tightened, cutting off my voice. I couldn't even mention her without tearing up.

"That sounds good. Meet you here in five?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"Sure."

Five minutes later I was heading downstairs with my trunk and owl, Athena. Ryan was already waiting for me, with his empty cage, and trunk. He seemed more composed now, but his face was a blank slate and I couldn't tell how he felt.

"Let Athena out before we go; I know she doesn't like floo travel," he said.

"Okay," I replied, heading over to the back window. I opened her cage and told her, "We are going to the Lovegoods, so you can go hunting, but be back by morning so we can get to Hogwarts." She nibbled my finger, her way of saying that she understood and took off. I smiled sadly, and looked at the house, wondering if I would ever see it again. I turned back to Ryan and nodded. He grabbed some floo powder and handed it to me. I walked to the fireplace and threw down the powder. "The Lovegoods!" I yelled, walking into the green flames. I spun for about a minute, and then landed hard on a carpeted floor, rolling out of the way of my trunk and owl cage. Two seconds later, Ryan tumbled out of the fireplace and we looked around into the kitchen at the stunned faces of Luna, and Xenophilius Lovegood.

"Um, hello," I said awkwardly. Luna ran over to me as I stood up and brushed the newly acquired soot off my clothing. She tackled me with a huge hug, and I returned it, letting out all of the sadness and pain from the past hour in that one embrace. Luna always managed to make me feel better, even if she had no idea what I would be going though at the moment. I could hear Ryan talking to Xenophilius softly in the kitchen, but none of that really mattered to me at that moment. All I cared about was the friend I had forgotten about just because she was in another house, and how she had always been there for me, especially now. Luna was my best friend, even if it had taken me until now to realize it. Hopefully nothing would happen this year to cause us to separate again, because I didn't know what I would do without her.

I sat on a cot in Luna's bedroom later that night, stroking Athena's head. The Lovegoods had accepted us into their house like family. Luna's father had sent word to the newly reestablished Order about my mother, and what Lucius had asked her. He also wrote to them about our use of the two spells to attack the Death Eaters. I didn't think Dumbledore would be able to talk to the Minister about that from what I had heard lately, but maybe an Auror could. Either way, we wouldn't have to go to a trial like I had heard about Harry having to go to.

Xenophilius had offered to accompany us to Kings Cross station the next morning. I began to dress for bed and a thought crossed my mind. Why wasn't I really worried right now? Why was I so calm? I answered myself; I was in Gryffindor, so I was brave and level-minded. I would come up with a plan, and save my mother. "Yeah right," I told myself, "the Order will see to that. You're only fifteen with the experiences of a fourth year."

I was still arguing with myself inside my head as I turned and smiled at Luna in the bed next to mine. My thoughts disappeared when I finally drifted off to sleep.

A/N: Just a reminder, please leave a review, even if it is only a few words! All feedback is much appreciated! Thanks!