disclaimer: i dont own harry potter. if i did, you would be reading the story in book format.

Chapter 2

Harry came back form unconsciousness in his room, half on the bed, half off. His head was pounding and his arm felt fractured. He felt the dried blood on his face and had a feeling it looked worse the it ever had before.

He slowly sat up with some difficulty and looked out his window. The sun was rising, telling him he'd been unconscious all night. He didn't feel like actually standing, or doing anything else so he let his head fall back onto his pillow.

He was brought back out of a light sleep by yells coming from Uncle Vernon downstairs. Curious, Harry listened.

"You have no right walking in here demanding to see the boy. You can just turn you magical little self around and go back to where you came from," Uncle Vernon roared.

"A fat muggle like you has no authority over me. Now, tell me where Harry is," a female voice said calmly, but loudly.

"Nev- Ok! don't point that thing at me. He's up in his room, go find it."

Harry didn't hear a thank you, but he heard someone ascending the stairs and wondered if the witch that entered was someone he'd seen before but had never actually met. He heard the soft mutter of 'Alohomora' and the locks on the door click. He turned his head as the door handle turned and the door open.

In the doorway stood a young girl about his age standing upright and proud. She had shoulder length black hair, dark eyes and wore black jeans with a white t-shirt that had a sword with a snake wound around it. Harry was a bit startled by her dark look, but her soft smile calmed him somewhat.

The girl walked in and Harry saw that she was carrying a silver bag. She sat down on the side of the bed and looked over his wounds. He felt extremely embarrassed at the fact that she was seeing him like this, someone he didn't even know, and wished she would leave.

The girl, seemingly finished with her analysis, lifted her bag and set it on the bed to start rummaging through it. She pulled out a smaller, black bag and set the larger bag back down on the floor.

"Who are you?" Harry managed to ask.

The girl looked at him and her smile widened, "My name is Sephira. I wont tell you my last name yet because of the feelings it would be sure to arise but when you are ready I will tell you. You have one more week to live here and though that week I will also be here to make sure you don't get hurt anymore. It seems you uncle uses you as a punching bag."

"You could say that again," Harry said as Sephira opened the small black bag and pulled out two vials and a small round container.

"One of these potions will heal you broken arm, the other will dull the pain you are no doubly feeling and this container is filled with a salve that I will need to rub on your bruises. Now I know this seem awkward, since I'm a girl and you a guy, but you can hardly apply the salve by yourself so I will have no objections from you," she said sternly.

Harry nodded his head slightly as Sephira opened one of the vials and helped him gulp it down. She did the same with the second potion and explained what she was going to do with the salve.

"I know for a fact that you have bruises all along you body so I will need you to remove your shirt. When you are well enough, you can do the rest of your body, as that would be too awkward if I did the rest."

Harry smiled and with some aid, sat up and removed his shirt. He was beginning to really like Sephira and was hoping to get to know her better over the week.

"Tell me about yourself," he asked while she started applying the a salve.

Sephira sighed and Harry wondered if her life had been hard like his. "I'm sixteen like you, and I was raised in America. There, the legal age is sixteen which is why I'm allowed to use magic out of school.

"I was born here in England but when I was a few years old, my father sent my mother and I to America to live, where I rarely saw him. He came whenever he could, which was usually during the holidays and only stayed for a day or so. Six years ago he stopped coming."

Sephira fell silent and Harry felt sorry for her. He knew what it was like to lose a loved one, but to actually have that loved one stop coming by to see you must have been really hard. He thought back on his own life and compared his to hers. While he didn't have his parents, she had, but her father left. His godfather, the closest person to him had died and his aunt and uncle didn't care at all for him. They both had shitty lives, just in different ways.

"When I was eleven I received my letter of acceptance to Salem Academy and that year my mom too a full time job at the ministry. She'd only been working part time so she could spend some time with me, but since I would be going to school, she found she didn't need the free time," Sephira continued. "Life at school was far from easy. Every one who went to Salem already seemed to know each other had, had their friends so it was really hard for me to make any. The few friends that I did make were a few years older then me, but I didn't really care. They all graduated this year so I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the next two, although I think my mom's transferring me to Hogwarts."

Harry snorted and Sephira looked at him thoughtfully, finished applying the salve to his back, and she moved to sit in front of him. She created a bowl and filled it with warm water. Taking a cloth from her bag, she dipped it in the water, then began whipping the dried blood off his face. Harry tried to protest, but she reminded him of what she'd said earlier and he shut up.

"Your mom might not be making the best choice in transferring you to Hogwarts due to the many times Voldemort has either attacked it or tried to. And plus, our potions teacher is a cold-hearted bastard who hates me only because my father and his friends played cruel jokes on him," Harry said bitterly.

Sephira nodded and started rubbing salve on his chest, "yes, I know. I had the unfortunate privilege of meeting him before I came here because I had to get some potions from him. He doesn't seem that nice of a man."

They fell silent as Sephira finished applying the salve and told him to rest some more, "you're in no condition to do anything today," she said, and Harry had no choice but to obey and fall asleep.

The next few days went by smoothly for Harry. Since his Aunt Marge was staying for the week, Sephira had no choice but to sleep in his room, so she transfigured a chair into a mattress for herself to sleep on the floor.

None of the Dursleys said anything unkind to Harry at anytime, fearing what Sephira would do to them, but Aunt Marge had no problems with making rude comments about Harry or his parents. She also mentioned many times the problem with letting Sephira stay at all, let alone in Harry's room.

"I tell you Vernon, something's going to happen. You see it all the time with stray bitches." Sephira looked at Aunt Marge, wondering how she could be compared to a stray dog. "They stay at a place for a while, if there's a male around that is, have their fun, but don't leave. I tell you, a bitch can be extremely annoying when they're in heat. Usually they get pregnant and you're forced to take care of the pups!"

"Better that The Girl stays in His room then in Dudley's room," Uncle Vernon retorted.

Aunt Marge agreed to that. She caught Sephira listening to their conversation and glared nastily, "Go to the same school as the boy?"

Sephira knew that she thought Harry went to St. Brutus's, but she was going to pretend that Marge was talking about Hogwarts, "Will be. You should stop by one Saturday for the house sports game. Then I'll be able to see you piss your pants from shock and fright!"

Harry snorted and he and Sephira had left right away. Aunt Marge was still angry at Sephira words.

Harry found himself growing closer to Sephira and although she had a dark look, on the inside, she was extremely bright and fun.

At night they would walk around, talking about different things like school, subjects and anything else that interested them. The one thing Harry didn't talk about was Sirius Black, and Sephira accepted that.

Two days before Harry was to leave Privet Drive, and be gone for the rest of the year, started out normally enough. He woke at 6:00 to a rising sun and quietly did some homework while Sephira remained sleeping.

Around 7:30 Sephira woke up mumbling under breath and she quickly scanned some of the homework he'd done. They descended the stairs together, the house abnormally silent.

Harry entered the kitchen and found it empty. On the table Aunt Petunia had left a not and he read it out loud, "The four of us have gone an early morning trip before we have to take Aunt Marge home later today. Don't break anything!"

"Not like she'd know if we broke anything," Sephira mumbled and began rummaging around looking for things to cook with.

Harry shook his head in amusement. Sephira had been helping him cook whenever he'd been asked and she still seemed unable to find anything. Smiling he stopped her and gathered everything himself. He allowed her to help him cook, as she insisted and they made themselves bacon and eggs with some toast.

When Harry and Sephira finished eating, they went back up to his room where she tutored him in potions, her best subject. With Sephira's help, Harry was able to understand potion terms and understand what the potion properties of each of the potions they would be studying in their N.E.W.T. class. He was actually beginning to like the subject.

They day passes by with no sight from the Dursleys or any other person. Harry didn't really care that they were away, the less he saw of them they better he felt, but Sephira seemed a bit put off. She thought that they would surely call or something! When asked about why she was worrying she answered, "You had no knowledge of this before hand?" Harry nodded. "I find it odd that they just up and left without telling you sometime before."

"They never tell me anything," Harry had said off handedly. Sephira just shook her head in displeasure and continued tutoring him.

At about 7:00pm the Dursley's still hadn't returned that was when Harry started to get a little worried. "Think something happened to them?" he asked Sephira.

"I'm not sure," she answered thoughtfully. "Do you have a map of this town and surrounding area?"

Harry nodded and grabbed one out of the chest in the hallway. He watched curiously as she opened it and took out her wand. "I'm going to preform a wide range seek spell that will indicate on the map where they are if the map covers that area."

Harry nodded a little confused as Sephira muttered the incantation. A tiny red dot appeared on the map moving towards Little Winning, away from London. Harry was relived, but didn't say it. Sephira nodded satisfied and put the map away.

"What are we going to do about supper?" she asked suddenly.

Harry's stomach growled an answer and they burst out laughing. "We could order something, but I have no money," he suggested.

"No problem. I've got a lot of muggle money," Sephira said shrugging. "Would you like to order a pizza? I haven't had one of those in years."

Harry heartily agreed and over the phone, ordered a large pizza with the deluxe toppings and, at Sephira's insisting, garlic strips on the side. Twenty minutes later a young man a few years older then them delivered their pizza and Sephira payed him, giving him a tip.

Half way through supper the Dursley's arrived home and when Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen he blew up at Harry.

"Ordering pizza for supper are we? Where did you get the money? If I find you stole it form us there will be hell to pay, even if you have this thing," he pointed at Sephira, "guarding your sorry ass!"

"It was my money Dursley," Sephira said coldly pulling out her wallet and showing him the wad of cash she had. "And I do have a name and would greatly appreciate it if you use it. I assume you've had supper, and if you haven't, you're not invited to join."

"Don't tell us what we can and can't do in my house girl. This is my house, giving me the authority over every one under it," Vernon's face was beginning to turn purple.

Sephira stood up, enraged, "You have no authority over me! I may be a guest, but I do not take orders from the like's of you!"

"I don't care if you're a witch or not, the rules I lay- Argggg!" Uncle Vernon was unable to finish his sentence because an explosion rocked the house and Harry was knocked from his chair.

He pushed himself up and scrambled to the hallway as another explosion occurred.

"What the hell is going on!" Uncle Vernon roared as he went to gather and protect his family.

Harry didn't answer, he was too bent on getting to his room to retrieve his wand. He passed by Dudley and Aunt Petunia huddled in the middle of the hallway, looking around wildly. He absent mindedly told them to get out of the hall as he climbed the stairs.

Another explosion hit the house and he nearly fell backwards down the stairs. Underneath, the ground started to quiver and shake. Harry felt a weird sensation crawl through him, as though the magic around him was weakening under the pressure upon it. He pushed that feeling aside as he stumbled up the last few steps and into his room.

In her cage, Hedwig was hooting and screeching madly as the cage itself was being forcefully shaken off the desk it was on. Harry went to her and shakily freed her.

A fourth and extremely powerful explosion ripped through the house knocking Harry to the floor as well as other things. Hedwig managed to get out of her cage just before it fell on his head, causing Harry to groan. The ground was shaking so badly he was unable to stand, so he crawled to the bedside table and grabbed his wand of the top.

From downstairs she heard Aunt Petunia scream and a loud crash. The familiar pop of apparation sounded several times and all those who'd apparated let out yells of surprise.

Harry crawled out of his room, into the hallway just in time to see the stairs shift and crumble from the irregular movement of the ground. He heard some wizards curse profoundly and someone called his name.

"Up here!" he yelled over the noise of the creaking and crumbling house. He crawled to the edge of where the stairs use to be and looked down at the group of Order members struggling to stand, or stay standing. He saw Remus, seemingly unaffected by the quake, knees bent, smirking at his companions.

Remus looked up at him and called, "you shouldn't be up there Harry."

"Better then being down there and getting crushed by falling house," he yelled back in a smart-ass tone.

Remus shook his head and was about to answer when a scream from the kitchen, by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, caused him to turn his head. Over the screams Harry heard Sephira yell, "Portus Majorus!"

Under him, Harry felt the wood sag from his weight and he desperately tried to crawl back but before he could, the wood gave way and he was falling. "Levoisa!" someone yelled and he stopped falling right before he hit he ground. He was levitated to Remus's side as Sephira entered the hallway and another explosion rocked the house.

The feeling of wakening magic came back to Harry and this time he could not push it away. He felt the magic of the house become a thin, stretched out line and then snap, and disappear, as the final explosion came. Harry sickly realized that the explosions were meant to destroy the wards.

When the wards fell, the quake stopped and everyone was able to stand. They didn't, however, have time to ask how everyone was doing because the front door flew open and Death Eaters started filling in.


A/N: please, please review. aside from the stats, i dont know whether or not you ready the story...and reviews tell me if you like the story! i'm desperate for reviews!