Disclaimer: See Prologue!

Chapter 2

"So tell me about this bar." Crystal's mother said conversationally. Crystal bit back a groan.

"It's just a bar, Mum..."

"You didn't take Cody, did you?"

"What do you think I am, stupid!" Crystal sputtered. "Of course I didn't take Cody! He stayed with a friend of mine!"

"You'll have to get a live-in nurse, you know, Hermione." Anne Rogers-Granger said.

"Don't call me that. I've been thinking about the nurse, thing. Mum...you've said for a long time that you wouldn't mind moving down here so that you were closer to us..." Crystal said, slowly.

"Hermione is your given name. I called you that for seventeen years, I'm not going to stop now." Anne said. "I'd love to, but you know I lack the funds...I barely save up for my twice a year visits with my retirement money..."

"I haven't used that name in over three years, mother." Crystal said, her teeth clinched. "I could get you the funds, easy...in a short ammount of time."

"You'll always be Hermione to me." Anne said, and she sounded equally frustrated. "You wouldn't sell yourself on the street, would you?"

"You're going to have to stop calling me Hermione if you move here. It's just Crystal now!" Crys snapped. "And no, Mother, I would NOT sell myself on the street."

Cody ran up. "Mommy, I gots to go potty!" Crystal took his tiny hand in her own and led him into the bathroom, standing to one side as he sat on the toilet going potty.

"Fine, fine! I'll call you Crystal." Anne relented, as her daughter had known she would. "How would you get the money, then?"

"There's a singing contest tomorrow night." Crystal said, hoisting Cody up to wash his hands. "I'd already planned on entering and the prize is enough to more than pay for your trip out here. You could find a day job to pay me back if you really insisted on it." She added before her mom could say a word. "But the bar should pay pretty well..." She glanced at the clock. "Oh Bugger! Mom, I have to go. I'm meeting someone at noon and it's eleven thirty now."

"Not a guy, I hope..." Anne said, slowly.

"Take Cody with me to meet a guy? Most guys don't even glance at me twice. Don't worry, Mum, I'm not in a hurry to date. Besides..." I miss Severus.

"Besides what?"

"Nothing...listen, I'll call you tomorrow before the contest, okay?"

"Okay. I love you, Her...Crystal."

"I love you too, Mum." Crystal hung up and grabbed the diaper bag that she'd packed while talking as well as the stroller. "Come on, Cody...let's go meet the nice lady."

"Otay." Cody hurried ahead of her to the door. When she'd locked up, they walked down to the elevator and got in. "I push!" Cody said, firmly. Crystal looked in helpless amusement as her neighbor, a tall black man named Andrew, lifted her toddler son up so that he could push the correct button.

"What do you say, Cody?" She asked.

"Tank you!" Cody said, beaming at Andrew.

"How are you doing, Crys?" Andrew asked, smiling.

"I'm doing okay, Drew, thanks. Mum's moving out here to help me with Cody while I'm working..." Crystal said, beginning to unfold the stroller. She strapped Cody in and hung the diaper bag around one of the bars.

"Great! Your mother's a lovely woman!" Andrew smiled and it made Crystal laugh. "Well, I'll see you later, Crys."

"Bye Drew. Oh, can you watch Cody for a while tomorrow night? You can conk out on the couch if you want...or you can keep him over at your place."

"Sure thing, Crys." Drew said, leaning down. "We'll have great fun, won't we Little Man?"

"Yeah!" Cody crowed. Crystal laughed.

"I'll pay you, as usual." She said.

"And I'll decline for one of your wonderful meals instead, as usual." The neighbors shared a laugh as they parted ways on the street in front of their apartment complex. Crystal headed to the store, finding it with little difficulty, and she wheeled Cody inside to see Amy standing there waiting.

"You're the fashion coordinator?" Crys arched an eyebrow.

"I'm addicted to shopping." Amy said as if that explained everything. She began picking outfits at random from the racks. "Oh, hello..." She said, suddenly, leaning down and peering into the stroller. "Who's this?"

"I'm Tody."

"Cody, huh? Handsome name." Amy smiled. "How old are you?"

"Tis many..." He held up five fingers and Crystal quickly reached down and helped him correct it.

"Three? That's a manly age." Amy said, solemnly, making the baby giggle. She straightened and looked at Crystal. "Where's his father?"

"He...never knew about Cody." Crystal said, softly. "He didn't want children. I did. It was a nice dream but it wouldn't have worked. When I wound up pregnant, I got scared. He would have just thought that I wanted to tie him to me through Cody and I couldn't let him give up his dreams for me...so I left." It wasn't the whole truth, but close enough.

"Ah." Amy nodded before picking a few more outfits out and handing them to Crystal. "Well...you can model them for the Little Guy and me." Crystal laughed and headed into the dressing room.

The next night, Crystal walked into the contest in a pair of skin-tight blue jeans and a dark blue jean vest held in the front by three shiny black buttons near the bottom...so it was decent, though it showed a fair ammount of cleavage. The jeans flared out very slightly at the bottom and she was wearing a pair of black leather-looking boots with four inch heels. She ignored the whistles around her as she walked up to a hostess.

"Name?"

"Crystal Rogers." She said. Her hair was up in a loose bun, held with a black clip, and her makeup was artfully, tastefully, done.

"You look like something straight out of a magazine!" Andrew had said when he'd come over to watch Cody.

"Ah...here you are, Miss Rogers. You'll be on in about ten minutes. Bathroom's that way if you want to throw up." The hostess motioned.

"Thanks." Crystal said, wryly, walking off to get a clip-on mic.

All too soon, they called her name. She stepped up onto the stage and stood there. When the lights came up, she had one of the complimentary electric guitars on, double-checking the tuning.

"This is something I wrote about four years ago..." She said calmly into the mic, her eyes glittering in the light. "I'm a bit rusty...so bear with me." She winked. Men cheered.

She began to play...and a young man in the crowd looked up sharply.

"Don't tell me what to think

Cause I don't care, this time

Don't tell me what you believe

Cause you won't be there

To catch me when I fall

But you'll need me when I'm not here at all

Miss me when I'm gone again, yeah

He felt a chill run through him. Only one person had ever had the skill and the knowledge of this song to be able to sing it...and if this stranger had written it...

"I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again, yeah
I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again, ooh.

Don't tell me how life is
Cause I don't really wanna know
Don't tell me how this game ends
Cause we'll just see how it goes
Catch me when I fall
Or you'll need me when I'm not here at all
Miss me when I'm gone again, yeah

I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again, yeah
I'm going down in flames
I'm falling into this again, yeah

Now, all the way down here I'm falling all the way
All the way down here I'm falling down again
I'm falling down
I'm falling down
I'm falling down"

Crystal hit the last chord and froze and the crowd went wild. She smirked and set the guitar back on its stand, walking off of the stage. She watched the rest of the performers and frowned to hear that one Drake Falmoy had dropped out. Wrinkling her nose at the surname, she almost didn't hear her name being called for the first prize, and she grinned and hurried up onto the stage to accept her check. She was on her way out when a hand caught her arm and wheeled her around.

"Who are you?" She stared into the dangerous gray eyes of Draco Malfoy and her worst fears were realized. It took her several moments to remember that her hair was as platinum as his was and that she no longer looked like herself.

"My name is Crystal Rogers." She said, as calmly as she could manage.

"How did you get ahold of that song!" He snarled.

"I wrote it, okay?" She yanked free. "Look, sir, don't make me call the bouncer." She emphasized the sir angrily.

Draco glared at her for a moment more before relaxing, putting his face in his hands. "Look, I'm sorry...it's just, I lost a friend about Three and a half years ago. She was my best friend...I could tell her anything. I blew it. I've never regretted anything half as much."

"I'm sorry. Look...I have a baby at home waiting for me...so..." Crystal said, slowly.

"Wait...can I see you again?" He pleaded. "You remind me so much of her...where do you work?"

Crystal sighed. "I'm a Coyote."

"What the hell is that?" He looked puzzled.

"If you can figure that out, you deserve to have found me." She said, walking off. He stood and watched her go.