When I awoke, I saw sunlight streaming through the blinds, and the blanket tangled between my legs. Where am I? I wondered sleepily.

"'Morning, princess." I looked over, to see Ky behind the counter, holding up a Daily Prophet, and sipping a mug of coffee. The events of the night before came crashing down onto me. Why do I manage to always look like a fool in front of him? I made a respectable attempt to get to my feet.

"I didn't know V- I mean, the Dark Lord, let his apprentices sleep in," I said somewhat teasingly. "Isn't there a list of muggle-borns to torture at 5:30?"

He regarded me seriously as he took a sip, without saying a word.

"Wait, that's actually true?" My eyes widened. "I thought I was kidding!"

"There isn't," he admitted with a smile.

"What?" I cried. "You totally had me thinking that there actually was a schedule!"

He laughed. "I occasionally enjoy messing with you, Princess."

"More like all the time," I said, rolling my eyes.

"What can I say? It's part of my charm," he joked.

I looked out the window, and the impact of what I'd done had hit me. "Crap, I have to go."

"Just wait a second, please," he protested, and he rummaged around in his pockets, and pulled out a key. "Gemini." A copy came in. "Take one. Use this flat, please. You shouldn't have to go through sleeping in that cupboard again."

I hesitated before taking one. "Thanks again, Ky," I said, finally letting some of my pride go. Most of it was dead, anyway, after that night.

"No problem. Good luck with your lovely relatives," he said, and I saw a bit of nastiness slip through his pleasant demeanor at the word 'relatives'. I Apparated onto Privet Drive at a much quieter noise, and kept the key in my fist.

I knocked on the door, and Uncle Vernon answered it angrily. "You, girl! Ran away from your new home using you-know-what!"

"Magic?" I asked.

He hissed angrily like a cat. "Don't speak of it, you little freak." He dragged me inside and threw me against the wall.

"You're so ungrateful," Uncle Vernon growled, as he pinned me to the wall. "Your parents told me all about you and your wickedness." I yanked out of his grip.

"Call me wicked again, and we're going to have problems," I snarled.

"Mouthy little girl. Back to the cupboard with you, then," he said, with an evil smile. I backed away slowly, emerald eyes wide.

"Please, don't. I'm scared of tight spaces, that's why I ran," I confessed, already panicking at the mere idea. "Please!"

"Suck it up, you sissy!" Uncle Vernon threw me into the room, and locked the door behind me. I sat in the darkness, clenching my fists so tightly that the key had cut my hand.

You're no coward, I reminded myself. You fought for so many mortals in the Battle of London Bridge, and you trained with Voldemort. You've endured the Triwizard Tournament. You fended off Death Eaters by yourself.

Who am I kidding? I started pounding on the door, until Mum let me out. I'd hidden the key in my trunk, and she saw me tumble out.

"Good morning, Alice," she said pleasantly. I blinked at her.

"Mum, please don't let me sleep there again. I'll sleep on the couch, just please, please don't let them make me go in there again," I pleaded. Mum looked at a furious Aunt Petunia.

"If your aunt and uncle say you have to stay in there, you need to," Mum said cautiously, and she leaned in. "We need to stay here to stay safe. Please, Alice."

I looked at her with tears of anger and fear. "You side with them? Mum, I'm terrified of small spaces. Remember, five months locked up in the same room? Please, I'm begging."

"Just do it," Mum ordered with a sigh.

"I hate you," I snarled, and Aunt Petunia shoved me back into the cupboard, and locked the door again.

"You really deserve it now, you little brat!" Aunt Petunia shouted. "No meals for you, and we're not letting you out tomorrow, either!"

I fell onto the bed. I then opened my trunk to see my clothes and saw the key. "Use this flat. Please." I was really starting to consider using it for daytime purposes. Y'know, for survival and such. But I wanted to see if maybe, just maybe Dad would stick up for me.

What am I saying? I'm screwed.

Or I guess the best thing to say was that I was so scared, I couldn't think, couldn't even begin to rationalize with myself. I'd changed my clothes and attacked my hair with a brush in attempt to try and distract myself from the slowly closing in space. It set every nerve on fire, made every hair stand on end.

"Stop whining, girl!" Uncle Vernon finally barked. That was part of the problem- I hadn't realized that I was doing it. "I told you, stop screaming! I'm coming in there to teach you a lesson."

The rattle of latch reminded me of my key, and I grabbed it as he entered, and shut my trunk again, and slipped out under Vernon, to see four angry adults staring me down. I shadow-traveled to right beside the door.

"Girl, don't you dare," Uncle Vernon barked.

I was shaking. "Stay back," I ordered, trying to not let as much of my fear show.

"Alice, don't you dare!" Mum ordered.

I closed my eyes and Apparated. To my surprise, I realized that I had Apparated. right outside the door of Ky's flat, inside the building. I feel safe here, I realized. I wasn't past the irony. A Death Eater's house feels so much more safe to me than that of my muggle aunt and uncle's.

I didn't entirely want to intrude, partially out of respect and partially out of pride. But it wasn't like I knew any other safe place. It wasn't entirely safe for me to be walking the public, muggle side of London, since Death Eaters were likely to be anywhere, since the ministry was now overrun.

So I let myself in. All I did was pretty much lay on the couch and stare at the ceiling, reliving it all again, the past few years in my mind.

"Alice!" I suddenly remembered where I was when Ky was standing in the doorway, looking shocked. I got to my feet, and remembered why I was there.

"Sorry," I said quickly.

"No, it's fine," he said quickly as he shut the door behind him. "I just wasn't expecting you. What happened?"

"They tried to shut me in the cupboard again," I said in a low voice.

"They what?" He cried. "Didn't you try to reason with them?"

"Yeah, well they hate little magical freaks, apparently, and guess what? My lovely parents are taking their side," I shot back.

"What?" He sighed and facepalmed. "Please tell me, how have your parents not been taken away via social services?"

I shrugged. "They're the Good Potters- they can do no wrong," I answered bitterly.

"Come on," he said, and he outstretched his hand.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I folded my arms over my chest.

"We're going to have a little talk with your relatives," he said, and there was fire in those dark eyes.

"My parents don't know that you're a spy- they still think that you're a traitor," I protested.

"Time to let them in on little secrets, then," he said with a hint of a snarl.

I eyed him and smirked at the thought of revenge. "You're right." I took his hand and we Disapparated.

We appeared in a clump of bushes approved for Apparation. We then walked straight to 4 Privet Drive, and he knocked on the door.

Dudley answered it, and took one look at me, and called, "Father! She came home!" There were footsteps, and Uncle Vernon came to the door.

"Ah, thank-you for finding the little brat," he said with an evil smile.

"I didn't find her, she came running to me," Ky said slowly.

"Well, I'm sorry that she interrupted your day," Uncle Vernon said, and he grabbed my arm. "Get inside, girl!" He then threw me against the wall again.

"Don't you dare touch her." Ky drew his wand.

Uncle Vernon had a mixture of fear and anger on his face. "Petunia! Get your sister, it's one of her folk!"

Mum and Dad came rushing by, and they took in a breath when they saw Ky.

"Traitor," Dad snarled, drawing his wand.

"I found your daughter locked up in a cupboard last night, James, and she was shaking with fear. How could you?" Ky growled.

"How could you?" Mum shouted, stepping forwards. "You betrayed our cause, and now you're probably going to kill us for your master!"

"He's not a traitor," I said, finding my voice suddenly.

"He spilled secrets to the other side, and he was part of the team that killed Mad-Eye," Mum spat.

"On my orders," I said, and everyone froze and looked at me. I straightened. "That's right, my orders, because we need a spy. I needed one, so I had him spill some acceptable secrets that we could recover from, and someone who could spill a few for the Death Eaters."

"You little-" Mum pointed her wand at me, figuring out which spell she wanted to use.

"Really? We want to talk about what we've done?" I demanded. "Let's talk about how you support your sister in making me stay in a cupboard when small spaces terrify me!"

"Why are you so upset about that one thing?" Mum asked.

"One, it's the most scared I've been of anything! And you know I don't scare easy! Two, you've never sided with me on anything! And I thought maybe, just maybe, there was hope for our familial ties!" I shouted. "You've never been there for me! So maybe it's time I said goodbye!"

"Where would you be going?" Aunt Petunia asked, her voice hinting at how ridiculous she thought me.

"With me," Ky interrupted. I flashed a grateful look at him, and he gave me a curt nod. I opened the cupboard door, and dragged out my trunk.

"See you never," I said bitterly.

"Alice," Mum protested, a bit late to the party.

"Don't spill the news about our little spy," I said. "And let them think that I'm still here. But I can't take it anymore. I won't take it. You're lucky that I'm not doing something worse to you." I glanced over at Ky. "Or letting him do something. But I do care, way more than I should, about you."

I picked up my trunk and took Ky's hand, and we'd Disapparated into the flat again.

"Thanks," I said quietly.

"Any time, Princess," he replied. "I'm just sorry that your blood relations are like that."

"I wasn't even supposed to be there. I was supposed to be with my Auntie Tonks and Uncle Remus," I said bitterly.

"I remember seeing them on the day of the third task," he acknowledged, sitting beside me on the couch. "Are they blood relations?"

I shook my head. "No, but they're the parents I never had. Uncle Remus was one of my dad's best mates in school, so he was around a lot. He often only hung around for my sake, he said often enough. Dad didn't like my godfather much, so he never visited, and therefore Uncle Remus was the only adult to ever acknowledge me during my childhood."

"Wow," he said. "I couldn't imagine my mum treating me the way yours treats you."

I nodded. "You're lucky, to have a mother that cares about you as much as she does."

"Well, at least you're out now," he said quietly.

"Yeah," I replied. My stomach then made a growling sound. Good going there, Ali. Couldn't keep yourself from doing something embarrassing for more than five minutes, could you?

"I guess we should probably make something," he said.

I nodded, trying to control the temperature of my face, and got to my feet. "Let's do this."

He laughed. "Come on, Princess. No need to look like you're going into battle."

"You haven't seen me cook, then," I said teasingly, as we walked into the kitchen.


It was late at night when I first heard the moaning. Then the cries. Words of regret, of sorrow, of guilt. I knew who was saying it. I only hesitated for a moment, but I knew that the best way to get out of a nightmare was for someone to wake you up from it.

I opened the door slowly, and I saw Ky shaking in his sleep, murmuring things like, "no, stop," and "I'm sorry."

"Ky, Ky," I hissed, and I should his shoulder. His eyes snapped open, and he was gasping for breath. He looked up at me.

"What are you- never mind, sorry if I woke you up," he said, his face turning a little red.

"It's alright," I said gently. "I just wanted to make sure that you're okay." We hesitated, so I turned and started to head out the doorway.

"Princess?" His voice was so full of longing and vulnerability, I had no choice but to turn around. Those eyes were pleading with me, and I knew what he was about to request.

"Can you stay with me?" He asked. I let myself smile, a smile that had been hiding under the surface the entire time.

"Of course," I said, and I curled up next to him as he pulled the blanket over the two of us. I brushed a stray curl from his face, and he smiled at me. I smiled back as we settled into sleep, in each other's arms at long last.

AN: There was only sleeping. Clarifying for all the dirty minds out there.