A/N: Well, it's been a while. I decided that I really like this fic though, so I'm going on with it. I hope this chapter sparks some more interest! It's fun to write, hope it's fun to read. Pyscho8, as my sole reviewer, this one's for you.

Disclaimer: To avoid contamination, never touch dropper tip of bottle to any surface. Keep container tightly closed when not in use.

Reviewer (s):

Pyscho8- thanks for the comment! If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't even bother adding to this. I'm really glad that you can identify with Serena (minus the witch part). I hope you like her as the story continues.

Chapter 2

"What Do You See?"

The next few minutes were lost to confusion in a tremendous brawl; John Roberts began pulling at Serena's hand in a very elementary sort of way while crying, "My wand! Give it! Give it!"

Seeing that Roberts' flashback to his primary years would not prevail, Hyde whipped a darker colored wand from his pocket but, in the process, elbowed Remus in the face and sent him sprawling backwards onto the floor.

Only when Serena saw the horrible glare on Hyde's face and his upraised wooden wand did she open the fist that Roberts' wand had been tightly clutched in. However, it did not fall from her hand. Instead, it stuck to her palm like glue. Roberts persisted to grab the thin cylinder and pull with all his might, but it would not budge. He gave on final tug, to no avail one might add, and lost his balance.

Roberts fell into Hyde, who fell on top of Tom, who fell to the floor. In the end, Serena realized that she was the sole person left in an upright position. Then, and only then, did the wand drop from Serena's palm and clatter to the floor.

After a moment prolonged by a stunned silence (save for the wand, rolling slowly in a half circle at Serena's feet), Roberts scrambled up. "Give – me – back – my – WAND!" he snarled.

Very cautiously, Serena bent to pick it up. Then Roberts seemed to remember what had happened last time Serena touched his wand. "NO! Wait!" Roberts called, diving onto the counter in an attempt to catch her arm. Serena immediately jumped away. Most unfortunate for Mr. Roberts, whose feet tumbled haphazardly over his head as he flipped over the counter.

The Ministry men were in an outrage, Tom sat dazed in the corner and Remus Lupin slammed a few coins on the counter. "Keep the change," he called to Tom, grabbing Serena's arm and making for the back door and into a dark alley. Serena nearly fell over a metal trashcan, but she steadied herself as Remus pulled out one of the wand things and tapped a brick on the wall. She gasped as the solid wall of bricks opened into an archway. Remus ushered Serena through. "Sorry to just yank you away like that," he said after the wall had closed up. "Those ministry men looked like they wanted to turn you into a toad and – Hey, you did magic! D'you know that?"

Serena raised her eyebrows. "Piping mad, you are."

Remus merely smiled. "A very likely possibility. But how do you explain that wand sticking to your hand, then?" She couldn't, and Remus grabbed her by the arm again before Serena could even contemplate and answer. He halfway dragged her to a dark building on the side of the rode. "Alohamora," he muttered, and the door jumped open as if alive.

Serena closed it behind them, not bothering to even ask at this point. Remus ran straight toward a fireplace at the back of the dark room. With a few waves of his wand thing, a raging fire filled the hearth. Now, a door springing open was one thing, but commanding a fire to light? "How- how did you -"

"Never mind that." Remus urged Serena to the fireplace. He reached into a vase atop the mantle and pulled out a fistful of powder, being careful not to let any slip through his fingers. He glanced nervously over his shoulder and threw the powder in the fire.

For a moment, Serena thought she was hallucinating. She thought she'd sent the very tips of the flame turn emerald. Then the whole fire began burning an eerie green.

"Step in now and say 'The Shrieking Shack- loud and clear," said Remus.

"What!"

"I promise, it isn't hot at all, see?" Remus thrust his arm into the flames. "Kind of tickles, actually. Just – please – trust me."

Serena sighed. He had saved her from those men back at the Leaky Cauldron….. and at this point, what did she have to lose? "Fine. This is insane," she muttered, bowing her head to step into the green fire.

Remus smiled soothingly, "Speak very clearly."

Goose bumps spread up Serena's arms as the tickling sensation began. The flames licked all the way up to her neck, momentarily paralyzing her mouth. "The Shrieking Shack," she yelled, thinking how much she wanted to shriek, herself. All at once, Remus became a whirl of colors as Serena spun faster and faster. Suddenly there was a rush of wind and Serena had the feeling that she'd just blasted off the ground and was now soaring or spinning (she couldn't be sure which) through a brilliant, multicolored sky. Well, it would have been brilliant if Serena weren't feeling so increasingly nauseous.

Right when Serena felt she was going to lose her dinner, the spinning colors stopped and she fell out of the fireplace onto her face. At first, it seemed to Serena that she had fallen out of the same fireplace and back into the dark room from before. But as her eyes began to adjust to the pitch-blackness, she realized the impossibility of that.

Serena had landed in some kind of bedroom of a musty house. On the wall directly in front of her, Serena could make out a large wardrobe. And directly to her right was a king-sized four-post bed with a shredded mattress on it. Serena pulled herself up on her knees.

There was a thud from the fireplace. "Remus?" she whispered.

"Yeah, I'm here. Can't see a bloody thing, though." The floorboards creaked ominously under Remus' weight as he walked out of the fireplace.

"Ouch!" Remus tripped over Serena's kneeled form and landed on top of her in a heap. "Sorry, here. Lumos." An orb of light formed around the end of Remus' wand and he pulled Serena to her feet. "Come on." His arm found its way to Serena's elbow and they were off yet again; through two other rooms anddown a flight of stairs that seemed to lead to some kind of basement.

As Serena stepped onto the floor, she realized she was not in a basement but a long, underground passageway. She craned her neck to find the end of the tunnel, but it was impossible to see by the dim light of Remus' wand.

After nearly fifteen minutes of walking through darkness, the shape of a stairway came into view. Serena sighed in relief. She was beginning to feel very trapped down here.

"Ok…" Remus murmured "Let me go first and then I'll, er, I'll tell you when it's safe."

Safe? He tucked his wand away and dashed u the stairs two at a time before Serena had a chance to question him.

"Now," Remus called after a minute or two. "Be quite quick about it, though." Serena obligingly jogged up the short flight of stairs.

She pulled herself up through a hole in a tree trunk and into the snowy night air. "Get a fair distance away," said Remus from behind Serena.

She whirled around to find him kneeling at the tree's bas, resting his hand firmly on a knot. "Should I even ask why?" said Serena.

Pleasantly surprised, Remus considered it with a half smile. "No, probably not."

Serena ventured about 30 feet away before she turned to watch her escort. Very slowly, he lifted his hand from the knot. Then, it was as if someone had pressed fast forward. Remus began sprinting at top speed. The tree above him gave a shudder and began shaking snow from its limbs. For a brief moment, it was completely still again. Then its branches began swinging much more violently….. at Remus. He dodged most of the tree limbs expertly until one caught him in the back of the leg and knocked him face first into the snow.

Serena screamed and ran to lift the poor man out of the snow, but the tree was quicker. It took a golf-style swing at Remus and sent his body flying through the air. He landed with a groan, just inches from Serena's feet. "Are you okay? Oh no- can you move? Should I get help? I'll go find help."

"No," Remus finally said, "don't, I'm fine. That tree's gotten the best of me on more than one occasion." He scrambled to his feet and looked over Serena's shoulder. "What do you see?" he asked, pointing atop the hill at Hogwarts.

It looked immaculate at night. Lights twinkled in only a few of the windows at this hour, making the castle all the more mysterious and wonderful. But if Serena was not a witch, she wouldn't see the wonders of Hogwarts. This was the ultimate test. If Serena was a muggle, she would see and abandoned, boarded up old shack of a house that was in great disrepair.

Serena turned her head and shifted her gazeto the topof thehill. From her reaction, Remus knew exactly what she saw. And it certainly wasn't a shack. She gasped and almost fell over backwards when Remus caught her. "We've been doing a little too much of the falling this evening." He paused when she didn't respond. "You see it, don't you?" Remus laughed at the entranced nod Serena gave him.

She was at a complete loss for words, an oddity to her, and had nearly forgotten to breathe.

"Let's go then."

"Go? Wait- Go where?" The thought of leaving this castle after so much traveling was enough to put words back on Serena's tongue.

Remus smiled calmly. "To find Dumbledore."

A/N: hope you enjoyed! I'd really appreciate any feedback you might have, negative and positive. Even though I've grown a grand number of months older and wiser since I last updated, my sad life still is dependant upon reviews. For all you know, it could be the only spcial contact I've had in days... months... YEARS! but, of course, that's not really the case. It could be, though.