A/N: Alright, here's chapter 2, I hope you guy like it. Again, any suggestions, critism, etc. are welcome. Just as a reminder, this takes place after Chapter 21 of Marriage, Babies and Hatred. That's the point of divergence. Katie has not married Draco in this one. Just thought I'd make that clear just in case people just confused. Also, thanks for the reviews, they were greatly appreciated.

Dislcaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Katie was running. She was running harder and faster than she ever had in her life. She was running for her life, holding her skirts up as high as she could, dodging trees and jumping over roots in this dark, dark forest. All she knew was she had to get away. She couldn't let him catch her. She could hear the click-click-click of her pursuer's feet, and she knew he was gaining on her. She knew she couldn't escape; her lungs were burning from running so long and so fast, but still she kept running. Her foot caught a tree root sticking up from the ground, unseen in the dark, sending her crashing to the ground.

"Now, now darling, this is what happens when you run from me. You've gone and gotten yourself hurt," an all too familiar drawling voice stated. Looking up in horror, Katie saw him, the thing she'd been running from. From the waist up it was Draco Malfoy, wearing a tuxedo, but it had the body of a spider. "Now you look like a complete mess. What will people think when they see you looking like this at your wedding?" the thing continued, smiling maliciously down at her.

"I'M NOT MARRYING YOU!" Katie screamed, throwing a rock at the spider-Malfoy, who calmly dodged it, still smiling. Katie was on her feet again, slowly backing away slowly as he slowly walked towards her. The dress she was wearing, her wedding dress, was now torn, covered and dirt and blood.

"You don't have much choice in the matter, pet. The Ministry already said you were mine. Now just stop fighting and come along like a good Malfoy wife should." The thing was still grinning at her. Turning to run to run away from it again, Katie found herself facing a giant spider web. Looking all around her in panic, all she could see was massive spider webs, strung between the trees. Crawling all over these webs were more spider-people like Malfoy, dressed like they were there for a wedding. Her wedding she realized in horror. "You see pet, there's no place for you to run. No place for you to hide. You're mine now. You're mine, and you will be for the rest of your life." She felt arms grab her around the waist, and she was picked up off the ground. Struggling with all her might, Katie tried to break free, but to no avail. Malfoy was lowering his mouth to hers, his lips pursed to kiss her. Something inside her told her that if he managed to kiss her, all her hopes and dreams were lost forever. She let out a scream of pure terror as his lips nearly touched hers.

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Katie Bell let out a scream, trying to sit up suddenly and falling off the sofa. She lay there on the ground, breathing heavily, telling herself to calm down, that it was only a dream. The only problem was part of it was true. She was going to have to marry Malfoy, and there was nothing she could do about it. Just that thought made her want to cry.

"Is everything alright Katie?" A concerned voice said as someone knelt down beside her. Katie looked to see the face of Arthur Smith, obviously worried about her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," She said, lifting herself off the ground and sitting down on the sofa again, Arthur gently holding her arm and helping her up. Not that she needed it, but it was a sweet gesture. Katie was slightly confused though. What was he doing in her flat? And why had she been sleeping on the sofa? Looking around the room, she quickly realized that they were in his flat, not hers. Okay, she thought, so what am I doing in his flat?

As Katie sat on the sofa, trying to remember the events of last night, Arthur picked up the blanket that had been covering her and started folding it. Katie remembered that she had had dinner with Draco and Narcissa Malfoy, and then they, mostly Narcissa really, had talked about wedding plans. It had been horrible, and unfortunately, that seemed to be what she would be faced with every day in the future. She remembered that Draco had said something about tea with his Mother sometime today, but he hadn't told her a time or anything like that. That was just one more thing on her never-ending list to dread about being a Malfoy.

"You came over last night, at about nine," Arthur stated helpfully, laying the folded blanket across the back of the couch and sitting down. "You seemed quite upset and, well, long story short you fell to sleep, and I figured it'd be best if I just let you sleep."

"Oh, yeah… I remember now," Katie said dumbly. She started to blush, remembering what had happened last night, both of them sitting on this sofa, her sobbing into his shoulder and him trying to comfort her. She knew it had been a bad idea to come over. It had been a really stupid thing for her to do. She scooted over to the opposite side of the sofa, as far away from Arthur as she could get without falling off. "I'm sorry about that. It was dumb of me to bother you like that."

"Nonsense. You know I'll always be here for you," Arthur said, smiling warmly. Katie couldn't help but blush more. She really needed to get out of here, away from Arthur. Being around him was only making things worse. It wasn't that she didn't like Arthur, it was just the opposite. The problem was she really, really liked Arthur. She liked to be around him. He was nice, and considerate, and sincere, always there if she needed him, but not pushy or overbearing. It was like he was everything Malfoy wasn't. She had sometimes wondered, even fantasized she admitted to herself, about marrying him. That's why it was so bad for her to be here, for her to have come. It was just making everything worse.

"I've got to go." Katie said abruptly, standing up. "Draco said I was supposed have tea with his mother and…"

"Who said what?" Arthur asked sharply.

"I said that Draco Malfoy told me that I'm supposed to have tea with his mother today." Katie replied sharply. She wasn't certain what she was madder about, the fact that Arthur had asked or the fact that she was using tea with Narcissa as an excuse to leave.

"And why and on earth would you want to have tea with them?"

"Well, you know, seeing as he is my fiancé and his mother will soon be my mother-in-law, I figure it might be a good idea if I got to know them before I got married."

"So what, you're just going to go along with the law then!"

"Well it's not like I have much of a choice in the matter!" Katie responded angrily, her voice rising. The stupid boy was just making things worse. She should just leave, just get out of his stupid flat, but she could feel her blood starting to boil. She wanted to fight with someone, wanted someone she could take her anger out on.

"What do you mean you don't have a choice?! You always have a choice! Are you saying you're just going to go along with whatever the Ministry tells you to do?!" Arthur's voice was getting louder too.

"Well it's not like all of us can run home America to escape all our troubles!" Katie knew she had gone too far with this last statement. She could see the hurt and anger on Arthur's face. She immediately wished she could take the words back, to run over and hug him, and tell him she was sorry. It would be better this way though. While sharp breaks hurt, they were always the best in the long run. After what she had said, she wouldn't blame him if he didn't want to see her again. While it hurt now, in the long run this would all be for the best. As she reached for the doorknob to leave, she heard Arthur start to speak.

"In case you hadn't noticed, Miss Bell, I'm still here." He was obviously very angry. She could tell by the tone in his voice. It was low, almost a growl. It hurt to hear him call her Miss Bell, especially the bitterness that been there when he had said it. Katie felt tears starting to form in her eyes. "Yeah, I could have just stayed in America, but I came back. And do you want to know why? Because there are some things that are worth fighting for, no matter how hard it is to fight for them. This law that Shacklebolt's passed is tyrannical. It's downright evil. I couldn't in good conscience abandon my friends, all those who I went to school with, all the people I came to know and love be trampled underfoot by some idiotic law. None of you seem to be willing to fight, and maybe I'm just wasting my time, but there are some things that you just don't give up on, that you don't stop fighting for." Katie could hear the anger in his voice slowly drain away while he talked. She knew she should leave now, but she couldn't bring herself to open the door. "You're one of those things Katie." He said softly, "You're why I've stayed."

With that Katie broke. Silent tears started streaming down her face. "I'm sorry, Arthur, I-I'm sorry." With that she opened the door and ran out of the apartment. She could hear Arthur screaming her name as she ran.

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"Katie! Katie, wait!" Arthur yelled as Katie ran from his apartment. He'd really screwed up big time. He and Katie had had arguments before, but nothing like this. This had been the worst of them all, worse than all of their other fights combined. They had both said very hurtful things, and now it might all be over. Without thinking, Arthur ran after her, not even bothering to close the door.

He could hear footsteps running down the stairs, and he instinctively ran after her, taking the stairs two or three at a time, still yelling her name. He lived on the sixth floor of this building, and on every landing he could see people sticking their heads out of their doors to see what all the commotion was about, but Arthur didn't notice them at all, all he could think about was Katie. Reaching the bottom floor, Arthur burst out the front door. It was pouring outside; rain was coming down by the bucketful. Looking up and down the street, Arthur saw a figure dart around the corner to his right. Hoping it was Katie and calling out her name again, Arthur took off after the figure.

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Katie didn't know how long she had been running. It felt like it had been for ages, her lungs burned because of it, and she had been sobbing the whole time. She kept trying to tell herself this was for the best, but she just couldn't believe that any longer. She felt like someone had ripped her heart to shreds. She could occasionally hear someone shout her name from somewhere behind her and she knew it was Arthur. She wanted to run to him, to throw herself in to his arms and tell him how sorry she was, but she knew she should not, could not do that. Every time she heard him call her name she ran even harder, and started to sob harder to. As she went to run around another corner, she wasn't sure where she was at now, she was completely lost, her foot caught something unseen in the dark of this thunderstorm. Katie fell painfully to the sidewalk. She couldn't run anymore. She was too tired. She just lay there on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. She knew she had to be an absolute mess, her best set of dress robes torn and ruined, and herself with cut scrapes and bruise all over her face and arms.

She could hear someone running up from behind her, their footsteps splashing noisily as they approached. Soon she felt herself being picked up by wet, cold, and yet strangely comforting arms. Looking up into their face, Katie saw Arthur looking down at her with concern. "I'm sorry," He murmured softly as he picked her up. "I'm sorry for what I said. I'm sorry I wasn't here for you. I'm sorry that I hurt you."

"Same here," Katie said between sobs, "Please, please forgive me Arthur. I'm so sorry."

Leaning down, Arthur kissed her gently on the lips. "What's there for me to forgive beautiful." Katie wanted to laugh, to sing, to dance, all at once. Instead she snuggled her body closer to the man she loved as he carried away from there, out of the rain, to someplace that was safe. Katie Bell couldn't have been happier, because in the arms of this man, all her fears and disappeared.