A/N: Hey, everyone. I got three really nice reviews that were both encouraging and constructive. Thanks to the three people who reviewed… that was actually civil. To the fourth person that reviewed that had something smart to say (there's one in every crowd, isn't there) I'm not going to let your closed minded comments discourage me. When I replied to your review, I think I said everything I had to say to you, if you even read it, so I'll leave it at that. Thanks to the ones who really read it and gave great encouraging and constructive reviews. Without further ado, here's chapter two. I hope it's to your liking. It won't be great, but I had to have something to continue this story.

CHAPTER TWO

THE BEGINNING OF A LONG JOURNEY

The plain ride to Michigan was spent in silence. Neither of them said a word. Tally asked him if he was comfortable a couple of times, but other than that nothing much was said.

The car ride, though, was completely different. Draco seemed to be full of questions about Tally's history. "Why California? Of all the places in the U.S., why did your mum want to live in California?" asked Draco.

"Um… I don't know. I guess because it's sunny."

"I see. Where is your mum?"

"She's still in Cali. Living in an apartment in Beverly Hills, believe it or not. I couldn't take Beverly Hills. Too many beautiful people."

"So, she's alright?"

Tally smiled, "I haven't got any sob stories to tell you, Draco. We've had a pretty good normal life… until you showed up."

"Sorry."

"Don't be," Tally sighed, "I'm okay with it."

Then he asked the question he'd been itching to ask her since they first met, "How did your mum get mixed up with the Dark Lord?"

She gave him a thoughtful look. He was almost sorry he'd asked her. It was so personal. Would she be mad? Would she yell? "She told me he manipulated her."

He was surprised at the way she took it. It was like she had been asked a normal every day question. "It was nineteen years ago. My mom herself was only nineteen at the time. I guess you could say she was naïve," told Tally.

"So… how did they meet? She did tell you, didn't she?"

"Of course. I've known since I was old enough to know. I was in my teens when I got the whole story. It's a long story. Are you sure you wanna sit through it?"

"What else are we going to do?" he asked.

"Alright. Here goes. I'm going to shorten the best I can without confusing you. My mom was your normal good witch who had a one night stand with a very evil man. I guess the ministry had been on his ass for a good while, when he found my mom's house. She said it had been raining. She told me he'd looked beautiful standing there, wet. Like he'd come out of a novel. Of course her parents hadn't been home. They were apart of the party that had been searching for him and his followers.

'She said that she didn't see anything evil about him in that moment. She said that in that moment, all she wanted to do was help this beautiful man, who seemed to be lost in the rain. She told me they had talked the whole night. It was like she had known him for forever. One thing led to another. My mom said the next thing she knew, she had slept with him. She said it wasn't at all what she expected."

Draco gave a sly grin, "Oh yeah? What did she expect?"

Tally looked serious, "She said that she didn't expect it to be so emotionless. When she woke the next morning, she felt relieved. She said that it was like… the man who came in her house from the cold rain for a warm fire and the man she slept with were two different people. She said that he knew what he was doing and that… he knew how to get what he wanted. He manipulated her.

'It was three months, of course, after that, when she found out she was pregnant with me. That's when she left the country for two reasons. For fear of her parents being ashamed and… fear of your Dark Lord getting a hold of me. He didn't know I existed. Now… what I want to know is… how did he find out about me?"

"You can find out about anyone these days. If he put the right person through his hell or… if he had the right spy… he could've found out about you through anyone. His people are everywhere, just waiting to give him useful information." Draco explained, with a hint of annoyance.

"I see," she sighed, "It's going to be getting dark, soon. I don't like driving in the dark. We'll stop in Adrian. There are a couple of good little hotels there. Nothing fancy, but they're clean."

"You've been here before?"

"On vacation, when my mom wanted to get away from the sun," Tally smiled, "For some reason, she isn't that fond of New York. Maybe it's too close, you know?"

"Yeah. I know."

"So… I know he threatened you. What I don't know exactly is why. It's your turn to tell a long story."

"Where do I begin? My parents have been Death Eaters since before I was born. My mother was more behind the scenes and my father was more hands on. Two years ago, my father failed him. He failed to get a prophecy that could possibly help him kill Harry Potter."

"Yeah, the kid who lived when he tried to kill him… I guess he's not a kid anymore. He's your age. I've heard about him. He's in all of the wizarding news papers."

"Yes. Well, this prophecy was very important. My father failed to lead an ambush on the ministry to get that prophecy. He was put in Azkaban. For my father's failure, the Dark Lord chose me to kill Dumbledore, no doubt hoping that I would die trying. I didn't accomplish it. My heart wasn't in it. I couldn't do it. Severus Snape was the one who killed Dumbledore. Then he took me back to him.

'When he found that I didn't do it, he decided to send me on errands. Dangerous ones, hoping that somehow, I would die. Somehow, though, I've always come out of it alive.

'I've never killed anyone, but I've sat and watched while people have been murdered right in front of me. Important, powerful people. I've helped steal, spill innocent blood, and…"

"I think I've got it. You don't have to tell me any more. Anytime you want to talk about something, though… just know you can."

He gave her a grateful look. She hadn't done the one thing he feared she'd do… judge him, "Thanks, Tally."

"Don't mention it. Hey, do you like Burger King?"

"What's a Burger King?"

"It's a fast food joint. Hamburgers, fries, coke… no? Well, I'm stopping. I'm starved. There's one in Adrian. Well get some food, stop for the night, and then in the morning, we'll try to drive until we get to Maine."

"Maine!"

"Yeah. You can sleep if you want, but I want to keep going. That's why were stopping tonight. So we can get plenty of sleep."

He gave her a curious look, and then smiled slyly, "You won't make it to Maine."

"How do you know?" she asked, defensively.

"I know it. You won't make it to Maine."

"I bet I do."

"I bet you don't."

"You're on."

"What does the winner get?"

She smiled, "Well see."

He smiled, glad that he was with her. She was the first thing close to a friend he'd had in a long time.