Padawan Jan-AQ, eyeinthesky, wolfawaken: thank you for showing your interest, I hope this chapter fuels the fire some more. Oh and thanks Jan-AQ for being my first reviewer. kudos for that and such...

Prongs J Potter: Mary Sues...ah the curse of crapping character developement...no the buffalo squashed that herd instinct out of me. thanks for the review...and the concern.

Vi: I have to say so myself I write pretty good hook chapters...well atleast on this. I was like - YAY! w00t! you reviewed...hahhah I am such a dork coughcoughreviewwhorecoughcough...where is he and who is the woman?...like I would give that away that easily...ply me with chocolate and loverly reviews and I just might...oh no nevermind you technically find out more in this chapter and the next, I'm sure you already started guessing. And the woman who screamed Harry's name, well it could have been a number of people Hermione (most likely), Lily (in his head again), Molly Weasley, McGonagall, even Tonks or Fleur...but most likely...probably Hermione. And for the final, most important question - Who gets Boy Who Lived...well at this point in this process...in this story...well you'll have to wait...won't you...aren't I evil...MOO-HAHAHA evil like the Gateway cow. oh and by the way I am planning a sequel. shorter maybe...but still a sequel...

I'm the Masting of Disaster!

Then who am I?

The Master of Baiting... Rrrrr...

cheers hon, MB


Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I do have take credit for plot and for certain character originale...bladdy...blah blah...haven't we heard all this way too many times...

Light

by

mingingbent

There are two kinds of light—

the glow that illuminates,

and the glare that obscures.

- James Thurber

Chapter Two: Incense and Peppermint

Hear my silent prayer
Heed my quiet call
When the dark and blue surround you
Step into my sigh
Look inside the light
You will know that I have found you

- Dreamcatcher, Secret Garden

The pain was gone.

"Can you sit up?"

The woman's voice soft and full of concern pulled him back to the present. The room swam a blurry haze of kaleidoscope colors all around him. Confusion at first swept through him and he jumped, trying to figure out where he was. It seemed he was in some kind of bed room. The woman had undoubtedly removed his cloak, jumper, shoes and socks and tucked him into bed.

Well, this is just perfect…

The woman sat next to the bed, a muddied, obscure mass of dark colors. As soon as he had tried to raise himself on his own, two firm hands steadied him bringing her slighting into view.

She was a soft feature woman, pale, if her face was anything to go by, with long, wavy obsidian locks that were pulled back from her face in a sloppy bun. Her eyes were dark – he couldn't tell what color they were exactly, but the light glinted off them slightly giving them a shadowy effect. At a glance she was wearing muggle clothes, jeans and a grey shirt.

Oh, gods…

His head along with his vision swam again.

She would probably turn him into the police first thing.

Oh this is just perfect…

She spoke again, as she steadied him against the pillows, "Can I get you anything, something to drink, some food maybe? A make a mean grilled cheese sandwich?"

"No," he managed to croak out, at the mention of food his stomach did somersaults, he didn't think his system would appreciate it.

"Well I'll just bring us some tea then. A cuppa will fix you up right."

The woman padded his arm and disappeared.

Harry closed his eyes, how would he ever get out of this mess.

He drifted off into an uneasy sleep where Deatheaters, dismemberment, and discord danced in his head. The quick flashes of green tinted the visions and when he came to knowing he was not alone, he groaned grabbing his head.

Who let out the rampaging Hippogryff, it's trampling my head!

"Here now, let me see…" the woman sighed and reached out towards him "You can't see a thing can you?"

Harry shook his head widely.

"Well here…" he thought he saw a wand come out of no where.

So maybe she's not muggle after all.

In a flash, he could see. He watched as the woman pocketed her wand. She looked exactly like he remembered from earlier, same black hair and eyes, soft features wearing muggle clothes. His curiosity peaked he looked around the room. It was stylishly furnished with a dresser against the far wall and a mirror on the closet door. A tea set was balanced on the dresser shinning in the now brighter light. Steam lazing spindled and twirled up towards the ceiling. Nothing to out of the ordinary.

Harry whipped his attention back to the woman who sat patiently in a chair next to the bed. Out of the corner of his eye, she saw his robe, jumper, shoes, sock and wand neatly placed on the edge of the bed.

"Who are you?"

The woman smiled friendly enough, "Aimee Carlisle."

"Where am I?" He asked as she got to her feet to retrieve the tea set.

"In my house…" he tried to look annoyed at her playful tone; she continued, "Essex, Connecticut."

In the back of his mind Harry thought she was giving away information too easily, but he wasn't going to press her on that while she was.

She passed over a cup of tea.

"Here you go, fix you right up it will."

Harry took the cup and held in for awhile, stuck between two conflicting inclinations: To drink or not to drink.

The woman who had gone to put the tray back picked up her own cup of tea and turned towards him, a quirk of a smile on her lips.

"I'm not trying to poison you. If I wanted to kill you, I would have had plenty of opportunities earlier. Drink up."

Harry sniffed the tea it actually smelled rather good, and took his first tentative sip.

It was as if sunbursts popped on his tongue. The warm, tart peppermint liquid slid down his throat almost overloading his senses. A tingling sensation flittered through his limbs.

"Mmmm…" He mummered over the rim of the china.

He seemed more awake now, although thoughts of the battle, Deatheaters and The Order far from him. Then the realization struck him she hadn't asked his name or who he was. Who exactly is she?

"Why didn't you ask who I was?"

"You never offered." She held her teacup lightly, long, tapered, pale fingers wrapped around it.

She seemed perfectly calm, as if she had strangers in her house everyday.

"It's Harry Potter..."

She cocked her head in a crisp bow. "The pleasure all mine Mr. Potter, now there is one question I would like to ask: how did you end up in my celler?"

Harry blinked. Oh cellar…that's right…

"I'm not sure…" He dug into his memories searching for his answer "…Miss…I…" the screams, they pressed against the outer recess of his brain, "the watch!"

It came to his memory with a flash of light, Harry mused an invisible light bulb above his head probably went off at that moment.

Aimee Carlisle furrowed her brow in confusion. Watch?

"There was a watch…" Harry continued, "…a portkey - that when I touched it brought me here…to your cellar."

"A watch you say…" She seemed to be thinking deeply.

"Yes."

"What kind of watch?"

"Uh…an old watch…y-you didn't find it?"

Aimee arched a tapered, black eyebrow at that.

"No…" she started slowly, "No I did not."

"Oh."

"Yes Mr. Potter, oh indeed."

Aimee had offered him more tea but he declined, sleep was claiming him again. Slipping off into sleep he distantly wished for Hermione, Professor M. McGonagall, Ron, Remus, Mrs. Weasley really any friendly familiar face, he'd even welcome Mrs. Norris furry figure.