Authors' Note: Thanks for the review, I really appreicate it, and heres chapter two. Tell me if I need to improve on some things or if I confuse you..Thanks a whooole bunch Keri Sue

End of Flashback

Harry pulled his hand from the contact and walked to the other end of the clearing muttering and pacing. Draco sat next to Desdemona, cursing his stupidity and naiveté about his father. He wanted to pull her into his arms and say he was sorry for everything his father did. He wanted to protect the fragile girl next to him with every fiber of his being.

Wait a minute! I want to what? Draco thought to himself. I know absolutely nothing about her, and I want to protect her?

He shifted his lean body so he faced her. She had her knees pulled up to her chest, and her head lying on her knees. Her body was shivering lightly from the cold, and the shock of what happened today. He pulled off his black winter cloak and wrapped it around her. He clasped his dragon clasp so the cloak wouldn't fall off her small body. As her body warmed, she turned her head locking her eyes on his. He pulled out his wand, waiting for her to whimper and cower so he could reassure her that he was just going to clean her off. She just looked at him, brown eyes intent upon his gray ones. He smiled slightly and pointed the wand at the blood in her hair."Evanesco cruor." He whispered.

The blood disappeared, her brown hair unknotted and fell to a little past her shoulders. She smiled her thanks, and went back to staring at his eyes. Harry stayed away from her, pacing away and muttering as if she was a death eater herself, and not the victim of an attack. She looked at him occasionally, and would frown. The sun descended and dusk was upon them. She started humming, a faraway look in her eye. Harry stopped pacing and muttering and walked closer, transfixed by the humming. His green eyes sparkled in the moonlight and he started laughing. Draco looked at him sharply thinking Potty finally lost his marbles.

"Potty, what are you laughing at? Your own ability to piss?" sneered Draco

"No, I'm laughing at the song she's humming." At Draco's confused look Harry laughed even harder. "Its…a-a-m-m-muggle nursery rhythme " he said in-between bouts of laughter.

The humming stopped and she looked at Harry who was still laughing uncontrollably. In the distance a pop could be heard, Draco and Harry tensed and pulled out their wands. Draco moved to stand in front of Desdemona but she moved and pulled out her own wand.

"They never checked to see if I had one, they thought I was a muggle." She whispered.

They stood facing the entrance into the clearing, a man in a hooded cloak came staggering up to the entrance. As he disarmed the wards harry and Draco raised their wands and was about to say a spell. Desdemona shrieked and ran to the stumbling man. As she reached him he collapsed to the ground she tried to hold him up but his weight was too much for her little body. She was hugging and searching the person as if it were her own father. The man lifted his head and stared at the two boys standing back

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, So glad you know how to protect the weak." Snape sneered

Harry and Draco walked over to the ground their professor was sitting on. Desdemona was muttering and hugging him. A grimace formed on Snape's face. He gently pushed her from him and stood up. His obsidian black eyes stared down, taking in her clean hair, and body. He looked over and saw Draco smirking and Harry frowning. He smiled coldly and gestured for Draco to help her up.

"Come, let's go back to Hogwarts. There is a lot to be discussed." He intoned silkily.

Draco put his arm around her waist and she encircled his neck, their bodies touching as much as possible; he apparated to Hogsmeade. When they appeared in an alley he waited a few minutes for her queasiness to disappear then grabbing her gloved hand started walking to Hogwarts.

They walked up the path for a few minutes then the castle came into view. Desdemona stopped and her mouth dropped opened. Hogwarts was simply breathtaking, the lake reflecting the lights of Hogwarts.

She's breathtaking, Draco thought. What? What the hell am I thinking over here?

Desdemona turned towards him her brown eyes twinkling, her lips curved.

She looked down and Draco followed her eyes, seeing their bare hands entwined together. He breathed in sharply and looked up to see her smiling.

"You make me feel safe again." She whispered.

In Snape's private lab…

The three teenagers were situated in different places in the secret laboratory, while Professor Snape was pacing along his fireplace. Harry was leaning against the wall right next to the door just itching to leave. Draco was lying on the bench, looking at the high ceiling. Desdemona was pursuing the hundreds of books on his shelves.

The room was very spacious, with ingredients categorized alphabetically On the furthest wall away from the fire. The mantle above the fireplace held a painting of a beautiful woman. She was sitting in a swing, the sun setting behind her making the sky purple, blue and orange. Her gown floated around her, a pale yellow, as she swung. Her hair whispered in the wind, a vibrant auburn. Her mouth was smiling fondly and her aqua eyes were twinkling with the joy of life. Laughter floated in the air and Desdemona turned around eyes wide and glistening. She looked around for the source of the familiar laughter her heart aching. When her eyes landed on the portrait she breathed in sharply. She rushed over and stared at the young women in the picture.

"Maman? Is that you?" She whispered sorrowfully.

Snape stopped pacing at the painful voice. He strode over to Desdemona not knowing what to tell her.

"This is your mother yes, but this is her before she ever might your father." He informed.

"Why do you have a picture of my mother?" She asked perplexed.

"Because I love him" the portrait said

He gestured for them to have a seat on the bench Draco was lounging on. As she sat down she looked at him, perplexed, willing him to tell her the truth. Tell her that the portrait of her mother was lying. Tell her that her mother had only loved her father. Severus sighed heavily, and paced in front of Desdemona, his obsidian eyes unable to make eye contact.

"Please…just tell me…I deserve to know," She whispered in the tense silence.

"Arianna, your mother, indeed believed she loved me." Harry snorted loudly. Snape turned and shot him a venomous glance. "She thought she loved me, but Desdemona you're mother didn't really know what love was till she met your father. It was a mere infatuation, nothing more. So think nothing of it." He explained.

"But why do you have a picture of her? I mean I understand if she was infatuated but why do you have her picture?" her musical voice asked.

"She commissioned a painter without my knowledge and gave it to me for a present the year before she left for to go study abroad." He sat down across from her looking intently at her. "Now is time for the questions I have."

She nodded resigned and waited for the onslaught of questions. Draco sat up and inched over, his body heat radiating her now chilled skin. Harry slowly moved forward from the door.

"Desdemona do you have any idea why they attacked your house?" he asked slowly.

"No…"she shook her head.

"Think Desdemona. There has to be something. Anything out of the ordinary." He asked

"…It could be me…"she whispered brokenly

"Why?" he asked sharply

"Leave her alone! She's lost her family today, I think she's been through enough" Harry said angrily

"Potter unless spoken to do not speak" Snape replied

"It…could be because I'm an empath." She whispered

Severus stared at her, as if trying to detect if it was a lie. Sadness overwhelmed her and brought tears to her eyes. She reached out and tried to comfort him but he pulled back. He got up swiftly and started pacing before the fire, his steps agitated. A hatred washed through her making her head spin. She looked up to see Harry staring malevolently at Professor Snape, his green eyes deeper than usual. Her shields were down, and she didn't know how to put them back up. Emotions of everyone in the room were overwhelming her. She was being pulled into so many directions, her mind was pounding and she was exhausted emotionally. She stood up and her body swayed, concern and worry rushed in with all the other emotions and a blackness crept over her.

"bring her in here" she heard in the distance Then oblivion set in, blocking everything, just a sense of peace remained.