A/N: This story hasn't been getting as much attention as my other ones, so I decided to give it some love, finally. Hopefully it will be a decent chapter, although my Muse is currently lurking in my Lord of the Rings story.

In response to my reviews:

Ms Amber: No problem. :) I think that all beta's deserve credit for the stories they work so hard to improve. :)

Poisoned Amethyst: Sorry I took so long on the update! As I said, though, I haven't been getting much inspiration for Donna recently.

Sportzdawg: You thought THAT was dramatic? Wait until the next few chapters! ;)

Scarletfireblaze: I'm glad you liked it! I plan on working my very hardest on this story, to make up for what happened in DoFS . . . to those of you that haven't read it, I won't give anything away, but you should read it at some point. I personally prefer that story over my others . . . Yes, the boys ARE pretty nasty. I get so mad when I write about them. This is usually what I work on when I'm in a rotten mood. You've read the Donna chapter in DoFS, right? So you know what they do later? DX

Donna sat in her bed, her leg swathed in bandages, a coloring book in her lap, and a bright purple crayon in her hand. She was concentrating hard as she carefully colored in the picture of the butterfly. There was a knock on the door, and she looked up, the cheerful spark already back in her eyes.

"Come in," Donna called cheerfully. The door opened, and her parents stepped inside.

"May we sit down, Donna?" Her mother closed the door.

"Go ahead!" The two sat down on the end of her bed.

"We have some bad news, I'm afraid," Greg started. Donna looked up at those words.

"We-we contacted Mr. Lincoln, the registrar, and we asked if there was a way that someone could enter Ravenwood as a ten-year-old."

"He said no. There is to be absolutely no exception to the age limit, since magical powers don't generally work as well until you turn 11." Donna's face fell a mile when she heard those fatal words.

"But … did you tell them that I can't stay here?"

"We didn't mention any names, because we think we can get you in anyways."

"The Headmaster is a clever man, but no one there is clever enough to know someone's age with 100% accuracy. There are no tests, and so we believe that you can be snuck in a year early."

"You mean . . . you're going to LIE to the HEADMASTER?" Selina squirmed uncomfortably.

"Well, yes, but it's not going to do any harm. You won't be in actual combat for years, and you're smart enough to pick up on magic quickly, mature powers or no. Thankfully, the new school year starts in a few days, so we have time to make a few preparations before we leave."

"Yay! Mommy, Daddy, thank you so much!" Donna threw back her covers and crawled to the end of her bed, laughing as she pulled each of her parents into a tight hug. Over their daughter's shoulders, Selina and Greg smiled at each other nervously. They weren't entirely sure of their plan, and if it didn't work… the consequences could be horrific, for both themselves and Donna.

-TWO DAYS LATER -

Donna was overjoyed (well, more overjoyed than usual) as she skipped home from pre-magic school. It was her last day there, so she'd had to give out cupcakes to her teachers, say goodbye to all her friends, and tell the whole school that she was moving to Mareybone to stay with an aunt. Her parents had, she explained, wanted her to get a more in depth non-magic education instead of training to be a wizard. Everyone bought the story; no one would even think that she was joining Ravenwood early. She waved goodbye to the birds, the butterflies, and the flowers and trees, waved to the people in their houses who stared at her strangely, waved to the old ladies in their gardens who all waved back. Donna waved to the clouds and the sun and the sky.

"I'll see you soon," she called to them. "I'll come and dance again soon!"

"Who're you talking to, Cuckoo Bird?" She froze. Slowly, she turned. Sure enough, there stood Bryce, Henry, Jake and Trevor. They all had their hands behind their backs.

"Wh-what do you want?" she squeaked, unaccustomed to being hostile, even to the ones who had bullied her so much.

"We've got a little 'going-away present' for you. You know, to make up for what we did yesterday." He held out a small box. Cautiously, Donna opened it, and inside was a small blue butterfly.

"Oh, a butterfly! Thank you!" She smiled widely at Bryce, who smirked back. "I'll let it go, and then it can dance with the others." She reached into the box… pulled out the butterfly… and let it go. It flew into the air, and Donna laughed as she watched it. But then, everything went wrong.

The butterfly swooped down towards Donna, and she watched it, still smiling. Butterflies sometimes did that. Some liked to be closer to the ground.

Next, the butterfly landed on her pant leg, the one that was rolled up, exposing a tall, wrapped white bandage around her leg. Still normal. Some butterflies liked to land on people.

It crawled down her leg until it was sitting in the middle of the bandage. Donna had stopped laughing, and was just smiling, a smile that was slowly fading into a look of confusion. Why would a butterfly crawl right down her leg, and then stop on the bandage?

The butterfly's proboscis extended and touched the bandage. Possibly normal?

Flames spurted from the proboscis. NOT NORMAL! Donna screamed, swatting at the butterfly.

"GETOFFGETOFFGETOFF!" She shrieked in pain as the flames burnt through her bandages, the fire hungrily licking her sore, bright red scar. The boys laughed. And laughed. And laughed. Donna just howled louder, her shrill screams piercing the air like a knife blade.

The pain was blinding. It felt like a dozen sharp combs were being raked across her newly scabbing burn, and like a monster was chewing off her leg from the hip. Was it suddenly nighttime? No, now it was daytime again . . . night . . . day . . . night . . . day . . . as she slipped in and out of consciousness, she saw very blurred images of three people approaching. What were they wearing? One was dressed all in golden red, and a glowing haze surrounded . . . him? Her? The second was clearly a woman, a woman in light blue and white. The third was a man in dark purple and gold.

"Are you here to bring me to the Tritons?" she mumbled, staring at them through half-closed eyelids.

"Shh. No, little one. It's okay. You're not dead. You will live-for now. It is not your time to join us," the woman in blue reassured her, touching her forehead. Her hand was as cold as ice.

"You will die young, yes, but not that young."

"Hush, Tempest. You must not reveal her destiny now. Later. Much later. For now, she is young and scared."

"You will . . ." The voices fizzled out, and the images became blurry.

"Wait! Don't leave!"

"I'm not leaving, baby girl. You're going to be okay." Donna snapped open her eyes. It was no longer blurry. Night and day were no longer switching so quickly. It was quiet, the pain wasn't bad, and the sky was . . . white?

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You're in the Theurgist Department, Donna." She recognized the voice.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, I'm here. So's your dad." The voice sounded tearful, like she was trying not to cry.

"Sleepy," Donna murmured. She heard her mother say something else, but everything faded to oblivion, and sleep claimed her. This time, there were no visions of Tempest, Blaze and Snowstorm, who Donna would not think of for many years.

A/N: Yes, I am so evil as to leave you with a cliff hanger. XD Hey, at least I updated it, finally! :D Updates will be quicker now, hopefully, as long as I don't have too much homework. (midterms. xP)