Chapter Two

Lori was confused as sin. She left her father's house only to find herself facing the back of some sort of market. She had gone in the market, looking at the carts and shops as she wound her way through the narrow cobble stone ally. Some of the stuff was weird-like lizard eyes and bat wings and toads-and some was just freaky-like people who ate some sort of candy and growing 8 extra limbs, a skunk being transformed into a scarf and people turning into stone.

"This is either some freaky carnival or I've gone insane," she muttered to herself as she made her way through the crowd. She stopped suddenly and cursed to high heaven. She turned away and put a hand over her eyes, she did NOT need to see that. There was a decapitate body on the ground in front of her, bleeding freely.

Suddenly she felt a hand go around her ankle. She was just about to spin around when she heard someone next to her. "Don't move."

The voice muttered something and there was a screeching. Lori was suddenly thrown forward, hitting the ground hard an cutting open her lip. She rolled onto her back and looked at the thing. She almost fainted. The beheaded body was standing in front of a boy her age with bright blonde hair, pale skin, and steel gray eyes. Suddenly she saw some sort of arrow start to come forth from the creature's skin.

"Hey, watch out!" She yelled as she got to her feet and ran towards the boy. She pushed him to the ground as she felt the arrow enter her arm. She gave a cry of pain and rolled off the boy. "Ungh," she moaned as she pushed herself up without thinking.

The world was starting to spin very fast. It was hard to stand, but something inside her kept her standing. "What are you doing?" Someone yelled.

"Get away from that!"

"Move it girl!"

"You're going to get killed!"

Voices were spinning around her. Lori narrowed her eyes to try and make out what was happening. She saw the body, was it coming her way or going away? She couldn't tell. Something inside her pulled at her.

Lori reached over to her arm and took hold of the arrow still protruding from it. She yanked it out and bit down hard on her lip to stop from yelling. It hurt like shit! She took aim with the arrow-at least as well as she could with her world spinning so fast-and let go.

There was a scream, a screech, and the sound of something falling. Or was that people moving? She couldn't tell anymore, it was too hard. "I don't think that was supposed to happen," she muttered as she blacked out.

Draco Malfoy was looking around at the cart full of bats when he heard cursing. It surprised him because it sounded like a girl. He had never heard a girl swear that badly before, so he turned around to investigate. What a shock he got. There was a tall, slender girl with long dark red hair streaked with white, and deep emerald green eyes standing with her back facing a beheaded body. The body was actually a creature called a Mamorth.

Without thinking Draco rushed to the girl's side. "Don't move," he told her quietly, standing next to her, wand out stretched as the Mamorth got to its feet; it already had a hold on her ankle. He muttered a simple fire spell, aiming at the hand of the Mamorth. The thing screamed and the girl was thrown forward. Draco took a few steps back, pointing his wand at the Mamorth as it stood at its full height.

He saw the Mamorth's next attack and was getting ready to deflect it when he heard a yell behind him. "Hey, watch out!" Before he knew what happened, he was knocked to the ground and heard a moan from atop him. He hit the ground and felt another body roll of him. He glanced to his left and saw that it was the girl he had rescued. She had the Mamorth's arrow protruding from her arm.

He opened his mouth to say something, but the girl was on her feet and standing. She stood tall as the Mamorth came rushing towards her. The crowd around them was yelling at her, but Draco knew she couldn't really hear what they were saying, just as she couldn't see. The Mamorth's venom was already seeping into her veins.

Suddenly the girl reached over to her side and yanked out the arrow. Draco winced mentally as he stood. He pointed his wand and was about to say the spell that would take care of the creature when the Mamorth screamed suddenly. It had its own arrow poking out of its chest; apparently the girl had thrown it and had hit it. The Mamorth collapsed on the ground and didn't move again.

"I don't think that was supposed to happen," the girl said before falling to the ground. Draco reached out and caught her, pulling her to him. Her lip was cut open and she was bleeding badly. He picked her up and held her draped across his arms as he ran through the crowd, looking for his mother who he had accompanied on her little outing.

He found her in the crowd with a horrified look on her face. "We need to get her home, fast," Draco told her. She nodded and the both of them ran through the crowd, making their way towards the portkey that they would use to go home. They reached a brick wall and stopped, Draco's mother grabbing an old key from it's place on top of the wall. Draco touched the key with his mother and clutched the girl to him. There was a sharp pulling from above his naval and he knew they were on their way home.

Lori slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a big room with dark green carpet and white walls. The windows were big and the dark green drapes looked expensive on them; the room was furnished with wood furniture that looked really expensive, more then the drapes. She sat up and looked down, only to find she was in a Queen sized bed with silk sheets.

Wearily she rubbed her eyes; her head hurt like crazy. "Gah," she muttered as she pushed herself out of the bed and stretched. She was still wearing her clothes from the day before... That's when it hit her. The body, the boy, her father. She gasped and looked around, this possibly couldn't be her father's house or a hospital, could it?

No, it couldn't. That must mean it was-at that exact moment the door to her right opened and the same pale boy she had seen in the market walked in wearing black robes. "Ah, you're awake. I'm glad to see that," he said.

Lori spun around and took a defensive stance. She eyed the boy for a few seconds, something inside of her was saying that she could trust him. So she carefully came out of her stance and looked at him. "I'm sure you are. Could you please explain to me what I'm doing here in this insane world? I leave from LA to come here to be with my father and-"

"Wait, you mean you don't know?"

The boy's voice was unsure and confused. "Yeah, I don't know. But it depends on what you mean."

"Oh jeez... Well, I have time so I might as well take it."

He went on to explain what she was and what was going on and everything. The whole thing only took close to 2 hours total. At the end Lori just kind of stared at him. "You are...?" She asked.

"Draco Malfoy."

"I'm where?"

"In my family's estate."

"I see... Thanks for the explanation and the save, Draco. You're a real nice guy to do that for me. But you see, I've really gotta go. I have to go find my father and get back there-"

"What's your father's name?"

"I don't really know, I was left at a doorstep in America and didn't know my real parents. I just now met him. I think his name is... Sam Sleft? No... Serevus..."

"Severus Snape?"

"Yes, that's it. You know him?"

Draco laughed softly. "Only, he's my Potions teacher at Hogwarts, my head of house, and a acquaintance of my father's."

"Wow, didn't know that about him. Seems like a jerk though. So can you tell me where to find him?"

Draco looked a little unsure for a few minutes. Lori stood there, looking at him, a kind of light in her eyes... Hell, it was hard. "Well?" She asked.

Draco smiled at her. "I can do better then show you. I can take you there."

Serevus sat in his study, staring at a book. He couldn't read it, even if it was his favorite. He was, strangely enough, worried about Lori. It had been a week since she had come into his house, a week ago she had insulted him an walked out the door. A week ago he had told the Minister of Magic that she would be all right and that she would learn things fast, and a week ago the attack of the Mamorth was reported in the market.

He sighed and closed the book. Damn Lori, she was too much trouble. All this uprising and fighting was becoming an issue, how could he watch over her if he was at work? He shook his head and decided to go up to bed. Lori should come back soon.

Getting the Potion teacher's address from his father wasn't a problem for Draco-although he was facing a serious punishment if his father found out that he had snuck into his office and stolen it. Lucius Malfoy was not a man to be messed with. But Draco didn't really care, Lori had asked him and feeling strange he had agreed. What had happened to him-he never did anything if he didn't think it would benefit him.

Something about Lori seemed to have an affect on him. It was like there was something within him telling him to give her a chance and not to scare her off. He had never felt like that, not even for Pansy Parkison-his fellow Slytherin and ex-girlfriend.

He glanced behind him at Lori. She was leaning close to him on his Nimbus 2001 broomstick, a look of wonder on her face. It was true she didn't know what magic was or how to fly on a broom, but she was enjoying everything he was showing her and teaching her.

"There!" Lori called as she caught sight of her father's house. "There it is!"

Draco circled around the house and made a smooth landing in front of it. Lori jumped off and looked at the house. The drapes were pulled shut and the house seemed to be empty. Lori took a few steps towards it and tried to peer into the window without actually touching the house.

"I don't think he's here..." She said. She frowned and went up to the door. She pulled out a hairpin from her hair and inserted it into the lock. She fiddled with the hairpin for a few seconds before she heard a click. She turned the handle and pushed the door open. She glanced inside the house and saw that it was dark.

I don't like this feeling I'm getting, she thought. She whirled around and ran back towards Draco who was starting to take flight again. "Draco, wait! Wait!" She screamed as she jumped up into the air and took a one-handed grab at his broom. She caught it and hung there for a second before Draco pulled her up. She leaned over his shoulder so she could whisper into his ear. "Can I stay with you for a while?"

Draco nodded and she encircled her arms around him. "Thanks."

When Draco touched down again with Lori, his mother was waiting for him outside. "Draco, there you are! We've been looking everywhere for you!" Narcissa yelled. She was a very pretty lady, tall and slim with the same white-blonde hair as Draco and baby blue eyes.

"Mum, can Lori stay with us? Her family isn't quite... Ready to have her, yet." Draco said as he took his broom and let himself be pulled by his mother. Lori followed behind him.

"Yes, yes. That will be great. But Draco, you really must tell us where you're going before you leave the house. I was worried sick about where you and Lori were. Now come, your father wants to talk to you."

Lucius Malfoy was a big man with blonde hair, steel gray eyes and a hard attitude. You couldn't help but not want to get on Mr. Malfoy's bad side, he was a scary man when he got mad. Inside the estate Mrs. Malfoy pulled Draco into Mr. Malfoy's office and closed the door. Lori stopped and shrugged, deciding to go up to her room and wait.

Once up and safely locked in her room, Lori flopped down onto the bed. Man, this was one weird day. First she thought she was normal, now she was a witch, and now she was supposed to attend some school that taught their students magic. She sighed and ran her hand through her shoulder length dark red hair.

She rolled onto her side and caught sight of her bags. Now how did those get here, she wondered. But a familiar shape caught her eye. Instantly she was on her feet and over by her black guitar case, already opening it and pulling out her neon blue electric guitar. "It's been a long time, friend," she muttered as she put the guitar's strap over her shoulder and gently brushed the strings.

She gave a small smile as she began to play the familiar notes of her favorite song. She opened her mouth and let her voice soar free to the words in her head. "I wanted to be like you,

I wanted,

Everything,

So I tried to be like you,

And I got swept away,

I didn't know now that you were so cold

Now and you needed someone to show you the way

So I took your hand and we figured out

That when the tide came in I'd take you away."

Just then the door opened and Lori whirled around, stopping in mid-strike of the strings. Her father stood in the door way with Draco and Lucius behind him. "Kuso," she muttered under her breath as she quickly hit the chord she wanted and stopped playing. "Yeah?"

"Where have you been?" Serevus growled. Obviously he was angry.

"Being attacked. By things I didn't know existed. Thanks for telling me everything. I sure appreciated it."

"Don't give me lip, Lori. You're coming home now."

That was the last straw. "Home? I'm coming home? With you? The person who left me? The person who let me go out in the world and almost get killed? I'm going home with you? You're acting as if I'm some sort of dog you can adopt and take home without another thought. Well guess what, I'm not going."

"She has asked if she could stay with us, Serevus. Think of it, we're happy to have her stay with us for as long as she wants and it'll give you time to finish your work. I'll even get her registered with Dumbledore and everything." Lucius said swiftly.

Serevus glared at Lori for a few seconds. "I didn't know that you were so cold, now, and you needed someone to show you the way." Lori said softly, stroking the chords to the words. "If you want to,

I can save you,

I can take you away from here,

So lonely inside,

So busy out there,

All you wanted was somebody who cares,

I'm sinking slowly,

So hurry and hold me."

"Fine." Serevus finally said. He turned and left the room, calling over his shoulder. "The rest of your bags will be sent to you."

Lucius followed Serevus, closing the door behind him. That left Draco in Lori's room. "Please tell me so I can finally say where you go when you're gone," Lori whispered as she strummed the last chords to her song.