Chapter 2

Alana was trying not to freak out. It wasn't working very well. She took a few calming breaths. She could deal with this, it was no big deal. Maybe this is what the ribbon does, temporary hair changer. It could actually turn out to be very useful, once she manages to get it off that is.

"Come on!" She said making a face when the knot the vendor had made failed to come undone. She stuck a finger under the side of the ribbon and tried to tug it off, it didn't budge. She turned her back towards Hermione and indicated her to do it instead. Hermione tried a few times then she took out her wand. When the first spell washed over her, Alana shivered and turned around quickly.

"We shouldn't do this here." At Hermione's raised eyebrows she explained, "Too much attention, I absolutely do not want this to reach The Creevey."

Hermione winced in sympathy but put her wand back into its holster anyways. They both knew how excessive the reporters of The Creevey tended to be. Once they knew she was back, she wouldn't get a moment of peace. They made the paparazzi look like angels in comparison.

"Okay, we'll deal with this back home." She grabbed Alana's hand and tugged her with her. She cut through the crowd like a knife through butter and before she knew it, Alana and Hermione were hopping back into the car.

Hermione turned the ignition and hearing the roar of the car starting up, Alana leaned back. She opened her mouth a few to time tell her exactly what had happened but it took quite some time before she could bring herself to tell her of the short encounter, mostly because she was dreading Hermione's reaction to her letting someone, a stranger, tie something in her hair.

Hermione didn't disappoint, her hands tightened over the steering wheel in a grip that looked painful, " So you mean to tell me," she began in a carefully controlled voice." that you let a stranger come that close to you, a stranger that knew who you were and you let him tie your hair in a ribbon."

Alana nodded tentatively.

"What were you thinking, Alana? Wait, You weren't thinking, were you? He could have seriously hurt you or maybe steal your hair for a potion, hair can be used in so many harmful potions. He could have cursed you, he may have for all we know. Honestly!"

Alana curled back into herself the more Hermione tore into her actions, she knew it had been a careless move. But she'd known it then too so she couldn't feign innocence, she was well aware of how dangerous it was. While this may be true, in that particular moment it had all seemed to be a second thought.

Despite knowing the danger, she had convinced herself to let him close. She had provided excuses for herself to do what she wanted. But what was more dangerous was the fact that even now, there was a part of her that didn't regret it that much, a little bit yes but not that much.

"I dunno what to tell you, Mione."

Hermione huffed, "How about 'I know what I did was irresponsible and I'll try to be more careful next time' ?"

"'I know what I did was irresponsible and I'll try to be more careful next time." Alana parroted, smiling when a small chuckle escaped Hermione.

"You're such a drama queen."

"Look whos talking Miss ' Expulsion is worse than death'" She threw back.

Hermione took a sharp turn, grinning when Alana's side hit the door and she glared at her.

"Would you let that go already, it was - years ago."

Alana hmm-d unconvincingly. Hermione pushed back a few strands that were obscuring her view, " I tried cutting into the ribbon but it didn't work. If I recall correctly, you had a book on disenchanting in your room." She waited for Alana to confirm before continuing, " We'll try that next."

"If that doesn't work? I do not want golden hair, I feel too much like a better female version of Lockhart."

Hermione laughed making Alana laugh as well, the tension in the air disappeared as they two friends did what they have always done, they stopped judging each other and tried to solve the problem together. Alana wiped a small tear from the corner of her eyes from laughing too much and started fiddling with the ribbon again.

Hermione parked in front of their building, " We'll just cut your hair then, it just the bottom that's golden. It kind of a pretty ombre if you ask me. The golden isn't Lockhart-golden its more of a Gryffindor-golden"

Alana took off her seatbelt, remembering to glare at Hermione before getting out of the car. "Well, I don't care if it is a pretty aubergine-"

"Ombre" Hermione corrected.

"-I want my hair back."

They didn't manage to change her hair back to normal. They tried everything they could think of, potions and spells. They even went all out and cut off the bottom six inches of her hair which were golden but it was of no use, the color just traveled up and turned the bottom inches of her new length into an enchanting golden color.

So she was stuck with the golden hair.

If it were any other way Alana may not have minded much the dark red to golden transition looked very pretty and brought out her eyes. But what she hated was that it wasn't her choice to color her hair. It was done to her. And she loathed that. It took her such a long time to grow comfortable in her skin, to get out of the cycle of short choppy hair that her Aunt had made her accustomed to.

It took so many years for her to take control of what she wanted to do with her body, with her hair that having the control taken out of her hands, even for a moment, made her furious.

Alana heaved a sigh and turned another page of the large book in her hand. The words passed in front of her eyes in a blurry rush. She was almost about to declare the book a lost cause but a paragraph, in particular, managed to capture her attention and held it.

The age-old tradition of playing with colored ribbons and tying them in knots is rooted in folk magic. Ribbons are a basic ingredient of most spells and are one of the simplest though primitive way to weave magic. The Knot focuses the intent of the caster and serves as the container of the spell while the color of the ribbon represents the intent of the caster.

The meaning of the colors changes with the spell cast but the basic meaning remains the same. The meaning of different colors is provided on page 78. The strengthening if the spell requires-

Alana urgently turned the pages until she reached the said page, her eyes swept over the color index.

Silver-purity, healing, innocence.

Scarlet-energy, passion, love.

Gold- mental reinforcement, communication, mercury magic.

"Hermione." She called out, "You need to see this." She handed the book over when Hermione came over from where she was writing their findings in a notebook. Hermione plopped down next to her on the couch and started reading.

Alana's shoulders lost some of their stress, Mental reinforcement didn't sound that bad.

"Well isn't that convenient. So its a boost of some sort."Hermione mumbled to herself.

Alana played with a worn thread on her shirt," Yeah, it seems like it."

"I tell you what," Hermione closed the book and turned towards her, "I'll cross reference the book with some other books in the library at Hogwarts and if what it says is true then we should leave the ribbon alone and let it run its time."

"Let it run its time?"

"Didn't you read the whole thing?'' Alana shook her head, Hermione explained a bit more "The book says that the ribbon will come off on its own when the spell is done. It won't come off until then."

"Oh," Alana tugged at a strand of her hair, "what about this?"

"It doesn't say anything about that but maybe one of the other books does, I'll look into it."

Alana leaned over and pulled Hermione into a hug, squishing the book between them. " I love love love you Hermione bear."

Hermione pulled away with a laugh," Yeah I know." She checked the time with her wand, "We should sleep, it's late." She stood up and stretched her arms.

Alana yawned at the exact moment and rubbed her eye with a hand, "I hafta visit Molly first thing in the morning." She stood up as well, her hand traveled down to her neck rubbing the spot where her necklace usually rested.

"Oh dear, what did you do?" Hermione winced.

Alana hit Hermione playfully, "Just because she called me for breakfast doesn't mean I'm in trouble."

Hermione just held the book to her chest and stared at Alana.

Alana thought over Molly's letter for a while then groaned, " Its an intervention, isn't it? She's gonna grill me about not going over often"

An affirmative hum from Hermione confirmed what she was dreading and worse was that Hermione was clearly on Molly's side.

"Well, You did decline the invitation to the family dinner plus you didn't agree to the welcome party we wanted to throw you. You can't blame her for wanting to discuss this. Its been seven years since you've been to a Weasley's gathering, they've missed you, Al." She stopped then said under her breath, "I've missed you."

Alana felt the guilt rising up her throat, she gulped. "I've missed all of you too, Hermione. You know that."

Hermione gave a soft sad smile, "Yeah, I know." and with that, she walked away.

Alana stood in the living room for a while before sighing and deciding to retire to her room as well. She dimmed the lights in the room and climbed up the stairs to go to her own room.

Darkness greeted her when she opened the room, she stumbled around a bit in the dark until she found the light switch and turned on the nightlight. The bed looked very inviting despite the mess but Alana, after debating over the pros and cons, decided not to go to bed in her leather jacket and boots with sunscreen all over her face.

With a tired glance at the mess she'd made, she took out her wand. It was at this moment that she thanked whatever entity was out there that she'd learned cleaning spells while taking care of Teddy. She bit her lip and kept working until all the things were back at their proper place, that is all except the books that were enchanted against spells and she had to pick them up and put them back into the small shelves she'd installed with Hermione last week.

After that, she popped into the shower and put on her night clothes which consisted of an oversized dark blue T-shirt with the word 'Lightning' printed over the chest and black pajama bottoms. The shirt was well worn and the word faded but Alana loved it anyways. It was a gift from George,'Lightning' apparently was a nod to how they referred to her on Potterwatch.

Alana slipped into her bed with a small sigh of satisfaction, the covers were cold but they'd warm over time. She liked her new room. While it didn't feel like hers yet, it was starting to get there and she liked that. She liked the feeling of belonging somewhere again.

Pushing away that thought she turned on her side again, she touched her neck again and had to stop a small whimper from escaping her lips. The locket had been her constant companion for over a decade, about 12 years to be exact and its absence rattled her.

It wasn't just that she'd had it for so long, Sirius gave it to her. His very last gift left for her, safe in his drawer with a letter that told her how much he loved her and how he probably got himself killed (he was stupid like that) if she found the letter instead of him giving the necklace to her so she shouldn't blame herself. He knew her too well, knew that she would blame herself. But, even when he was gone he was still there for her, his letter gave her the last push she needed to fight, to live.

And she did, she fought and the locket was there with her. Reminding her that she was loved at her darkest times. She never, never took it off because Sirius told her not to. He didn't say why in the letter. All he said was that it was a tradition for Potter women to wear the locket. 'To protect you' he wrote and of course, any kind of protection was welcomed by her with open arms.

Alana closed her eyes blinking away the slight moisture in them, she knew she was being unrealistic but she felt...naked without the locket. Like there had been a thin veil protecting her and now it was gone. It was all in her mind of course but like Dumbledore once said, it didn't make it any less real.

Swirling patterns of stars and colors that one sees when eyes are closed overtook her senses for a while. There was silence and cold, the sheets weren't warming up. Her bed felt like stone under her, hard and unforgiving. Alana shifted a little with a grimace and tried to pull the covers closer to her.

Her hand grabbed nothing.

Green eyes snapped open. She closed them immediately afterward as the bright light blinded her, her wand slipped into her hand with an instinctive flick of her wrist.

She put a hand on the floor she was laying on and pushed herself up. Wand in her hand, spell on her lips, she stood in battle stance taking in the unusual place she found herself in. Her sense alert, she waited. She waited for the whoosh of robes, the thumping of boots and the lights of spells to overtake her.

Nothing happened.

And that, that worried her. Over dramatic death eater wannabes, she could take, it was the silent attackers, the ones that knew manipulation, planning and mind games that were dangerous. She jumped behind a (beautiful) white car, at least it provided some sort of a barrier.

She thought of trying to apparate but gave up that thought at once. Getting brutally splinched and almost dying while going through a modified anti apparating ward was an experience she didn't want to repeat. Plus, she was curious about what was going on.

Curiosity is what got her into many of her messes and she knew it was gonna get her into another again but she couldn't help it. She was stressed and angry but she still had her wand, stupid of them really, so she could probably take whatever they were going to throw at her.

She looked through one of the windows of the car with something akin to awe, it was like something out of a sci-fi movie. Like the ones, she played in the background to pass time while staying at a hotel or another. The walls were lined with some sort of robots, each one slightly different but supporting a blinding red and gold combination.

There was a small clutter of something dropping in a distance, she tensed. A male voice, a very familiar male voice, reached her. It was the vendor's voice. Unwillingly, some of the tension slid off her shoulders. She berated herself a little then calculated the risk coming out of her hiding place.

A figure came down the stairs. Alana couldn't see him clearly through the tinted windows of the car, plus he was looking down at the small phone in his hand.

"Dum E, You replace my coffee with motor oil one more time and it's off to a tech museum with you buddy."

There was a chain of beeping and sound of rolling wheels.

Alana ducked behind to car again, she breathed deeply. It was foolish and dangerous. She shouldn't go there and find a way to get out of the laboratory before someone decides to cut her open and experiment on her. But when since when does she do what she should.

She took a deep breath again and stood up. She walked around from the back of the car and stood in front of it. The man's back was facing her, he was standing in front of some floating projections that made her do a double take. His fingers were running over the screens with a practiced ease. She waited for him to notice her.

A second passed, then two. She cleared her throat. No reaction. Alana frowned, "Hello." She tried again. The man kept ignoring her. She clenched her teeth and took a deep breath, "I am talking to you Mister whoever you are. You have any idea what I'm doing here?"

It couldn't be the vendor, he wouldn't ignore her like this. Would he? Anger filled her when he continued to pretend she wasn't there.

"I gotta complete this baby before the expo. Let's turn this party up, Jarv."

Alana flinched when the music started blaring from the walls. That was it! She strode up to the man and slipped into the place between him and the screens.

She opened her mouth to shout at him, his hand moved towards her. She quickly stepped to the side but not soon enough, his hand almost touched her shoulder...and passed through it.

Alana touched her shoulder with a gasp, that felt cold. She looked at the man again, he was looking at a blueprint of some sort. It looked like one of the robots standing against the wall.

Oh, that made more sense. He wasn't ignoring her, he just couldn't see her. She tried to touch the screens in front of him and her hand didn't touch them either. So, this was a vision of some sort. That comforted Alana a little bit though she hadn't had a vision since she was 18 years old and that vision was about Voldemort, not some handsome scientist working in a lab.

Well, she definitely preferred this over the other visions. After all, it wasn't a difficult task to see a man work. And oh how he worked, his whole body thrummed with an energy. Alana tried to sit on a couch in the corner and had to laugh at the hilarity of her situation when she passed through it.

"So that's how its gonna be huh?", She shook her head and walked to the stairs instead, she sat on the stairs leaning against the wall.

"You know," she began, "I was about to shout at you but I guess I'll let it go this time, not your fault that I'm the Peeves to your Hogwarts right now." She chuckled a bit at her own analogy, the man bobbed his head to the music. She grinned when he started doing some sort of ridiculous dance.

"Sir, the fabrication for the hand repulsors for Mark V is completed."

Alana's eyes widened as she looked around. The voice, it came from the walls. Her snapped towards the man as hummed back and gave a series of commands that she couldn't follow. There was some sort of spirit or program in the walls that was following the orders of the man, creepy.

Just like she was being by watching an unknown man without his knowledge. She stood up from the stairs and walked towards the door the man had come through, she tried to pull it open but it was locked.

"Alohomora." The door didn't budge, Alana took a deep breath. There must be some way out. Something touched her arm, light blinded her vision. Alana resisted the urge to put her hand over her eyes and pointed her wand towards whoever had touched her.

"Hey, Hey. You're fine, Al. You're safe." The blurry figure in front of her face said, if it weren't for the familiar bushy hair she would have cast a chain of curses already. Alana sat up with a start, she was in her bed again. And Hermione was sitting next to her, her hand on Alana's arm.

"I wasn't here, I was there now I'm here again."

Hermione rose an eyebrow, "Okay." She drawled then got up. She probably thought Alana was rambling in a sleepy haze, "I'm going out and you have to meet Molly in an hour." Alana grabbed her hand before she could walk away.

"What?", Hermione asked, turning to face her.

Alana opened her mouth to speak, " I had a vision, of a man."

A teasing look appeared on Hermione's face, " Oh my my, was he handsome?"

Alana's face flamed, "Very." She couldn't lie, he was very handsome. His energetic aura made him look even more attractive, but that is not what she wanted to talk about. She needed the second opinion on whether it was a vision or some sort of weird fantasy her mind came up with.

Hermione grinned," Then you'll have to tell me all about it tonight, I have to go now."

Alana nodded, "Buh Bye" and Hermione went out of the room followed by a sound of the fireplace being used. Alana leaned back into the bed pulling the sheets over her. She needed to get up, she should get up.

Alana laughed a bit on her train of thoughts and decided to do what she should this time. She climbed out of her bed and went to the bathroom, then she remembered where she had to go today.

Time to face the music.

Thank you so much for the lovely response to this story guys! I loved every one of your reviews, I wasn't planning to update this week but seeing the reviews I couldn't help myself. Let me know what you think of the chapter in the reviews. Until next time.

-Marey