Agh, sorry for not updating...I thought summer meant more free time, but apparently not? I don't own.

WildLilys-thanks :)

Dracoisbae-It's not Rowena Ravenclaw, even though it would be pretty cool if it was...

Christineoftheopera-Wow, sharp eye. Thanks for noticing!

.ravenclaw-awesome username, and thanks, that's really sweet :)

Chapter Two- A Small Trip

Someone knocked on the door.

"I-come in!" I called, stuffing my clothes under the blankets.

The door opened, and I started slightly. Mr. Mason raised his eyebrows. "Looks like someone's doing a little reorganizing with their...closet?"

I smiled. "Yeah, have you seen my closet lately? It's a mess. Did you need something?"

Mr. Mason adjusted his new, crisp suit. "No, though I thought I'd inform you that I'm taking Margaret out for dinner again. We barely got a reservation, and so we'll be home late. There's leftovers in the fridge, and we'll bring something home for you if you're still up-which, I expect, you will not be." His eyes grew stern for a while, and he closed the door.

For two days, I'd thought about what had happened at the Dursleys. It wouldn't leave my mind. There was finally a reason for all the strange stuff that had happened to me, and I still had too many questions. Harry Potter had all of the answers, and the ones he didn't, well, he could take me right to someone who did.

Springing to my feet, I leapt to the window, and waited until the car pulled out, driving away. Quickly, I pulled out my bag from under my bed and finished packing. The necklace had given me when I was four hung on my neck. She'd told me it was from my mother, and that there had been a note scrawled on the back of a Dunkin' Donuts receipt. It had read Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus. I had never understood it, but I kept the necklace on my neck and the words etched in my mind.

I pulled out the note I'd written for the Masons, and placed it on my pillow, folded and propped up.

Dear Mrs. and Mr. Mason,

You have been extremely kind in your hospitality towards me, but this is something I need to do. Please don't be worried; I love you both very much, and it isn't anything the two of you could have done. All you need to know is that I'm going somewhere where I can find out more about my real family. Not that you aren't considered real family to me. Please trust me, and I'll see you soon, I hope.

With much love,

Rowan.

O-O

"Stop right here, please." I said quietly. Gregory pressed down on the brake, and the car smoothly pulled to a stop.

"Miss?" Gregory turned to me on the driver's seat. "Are you sure your parents won't be worried?"

"My parents are waiting right around the corner; that's where I live. I just need to make a stop at the deli. Thanks." I gave him the money and climbed out of the taxi, the wind ruffling my hair.

I walked for five blocks, until finally, squished between two equally identical houses, was 4 Privet Drive. I bounced on my sneakers, and hoisted my brown backpack on my shoulders, pulling out the piece of rope I'd placed in my bag, nicked from the garage. Looping it around the fence, I searched for people, and when I saw none, I climbed over the fence.

My hands ached, and I finally pulled myself over. I let my sneakers land on the dirt-covered ground with a loud thump, and looked up, untangling the rope. It was 10:43, and I hoped Harry'd still be awake. Counting the windows, I found Harry's.

Why was it barred?

I swallowed, thinking of the angry, demonic glint in 's eyes as he'd looked at Harry. Finding my voice, I hissed, "Harry!"

"Harry!" I cupped my palms to my mouth. "Harry!"

Harry's face appeared at the window, behind the bars. He peered down, where I was calling, and let out a loud gasp, slapping a hand over his mouth.

"Rowan?" Harry craned his neck."What are you doing here?"

"Let me in," I called up, quietly.

"Why?"

"I told you I'd come back, didn't I? Now let me in, Harry." I demanded impatiently.

There was quiet rustling. "I can't."

"Harry Potter, let me in."

"No, really." Harry pleaded. "I got a letter from the Ministry of Magic-it's like the magical government. They said if I did any magic, Hogwarts would expel me, and so the Dursleys locked me in here. I can't get out."

I couldn't speak. I couldn't believe it-I'd lived my life moping about how terrible my life was, how I couldn't find my parents, and here was Harry, who'd been worked like a slave from the moment he could walk, starved, and locked away. I was furious. At myself, at the Dursleys, at that stupid barred window-

Pop!

There was a yelp up in the window, and I lunged to my right as the bars broke and fell to the dirt next to me.

Silence. Pure silence, as Harry went over to the window and stuck his hand out, where the bars used to be.

Harry found his voice. "That wasn't my accidental magic," he said slowly.

"No," I croaked. "It was mine."

Accidental magic. It felt so good to have a reason, a reason that was even expected to happen to people like me. For years, things had happened to me, and I hadn't understood why, and now I suddenly did.

"Surprised?" Harry asked quietly, his head leaning out of the window now.

"Yeah," I agreed. "It hasn't hit me yet."

"Throw your rope up," Harry suggested, arching a finger at the rope I'd been holding.

It took a couple of tries, considering I'd never tried lassoing before, but Harry reached over and scooped at the air as I threw it, catching it at last.

He took hold of one end, I took hold of the other, and with him pulling and me climbing, I managed to climb up.

Pulling myself through the window, I fell to the floor, gasping for breath. Harry stumbled back, clutching the rope in his hand and breathing heavily. I sneezed at the dust on the floor, and picked myself up wearily.

"Sorry," I murmured, as footsteps once again echoed outside Harry's locked door. Harry motioned me under the bed frantically as he shoved the piece of rope into the closet hastily. I had a feeling I'd be getting used to diving into small spaces in the near future. Sliding under Harry's bed, i peered under the bed's crack as the footsteps stopped.

The cat flap on Harry's door opened. "What in the devil is going on in here, boy?" The voice was a sleepy growl, which somehow made it seem scarier.

I could feel Harry panicking. His feet shifted back and forth, but I couldn't see his face. "I-I fell off the bed. Sorry, Uncle Vernon. Could I please go to the restroom? I promise I'll come right back."

There was a pause, and a grunt. There was the sound of locks clicking open, and the door opened. "Always asking for things, greedy wench. Well, what are you waiting for? Go! And right back in here after; I'm not staying awake for you, selfish freak…"

There were loud footsteps once more, that faded away, and I finally dared to breathe.

"You can come out now," Harry said quietly, and I slid out, relieved. He jumped right to the point, the dark circles under his eyes showing from the moonlight. "You can't stay; they'll find you."

I took a deep breath. "Harry, I-I need you to take me to Hogwarts."

"What?" Harry sat down, hard, on the bed. "Rowan-"
"Please, Harry." I kept my voice soft, in case the Vernon bloke came thundering back in his hippo feet. "I need to know why I wasn't accepted."

"The Dursleys want me expelled, remember? They plan to lock me in here until I magic myself out and get expelled, or just have me not go. I'm sorry, Rowan, I really am. I'll let you out." Harry got to his feet, apologetic and miserable.

I'll be honest; I really did almost leave. I thought about it-Harry wouldn't be able to get help, and I'd be here stuck with him until he was expelled. There was no reason for me to stay. But...then again, there was.

I'd bet my life that Harry hadn't had an easy childhood. Here, he had nobody in his favor. He'd never get a say; when he magicked himself out of the room, the Dursleys would lie and bluster their way through, saying how he'd been foolish and uncaring about magical rules.

"Harry…" I paused, following Harry to his doorway. "Earlier yesterday...there was this...this Ministry? Will they let you explain if you ever have to do magic? If I stayed, I'd be a witness."

Harry froze at the doorway, and turned around. There was that look of it won't work in his eyes, but I could tell the wheels were turning in his mind. He hesitated.

He thought he was being pitied, I realized.

"I need to get to Hogwarts, Harry." I reminded him, quietly. "You're the only one I can find who is actually able to get there. But...are you willing to?"

Harry's face was as easy to read as a book. I could almost very literally hear the click in his brain.

"We'll need to be quiet," Harry murmured, the unsaid agreement unneeded. "Follow me, and watch for the third step on the stairs; it creaks."

"Do I take off my shoes?" I asked, suddenly aware of the leather boots clinging to my feet, the soles dirty from the grass and the dirt I'd gotten as a result of jumping the fence. Harry, who had already begun to walk down the hall nimbly, put a finger to his lips and nodded once.

I slipped off my boots and kicked them under the bed, thanking myself for wearing socks. The floor was freezing under the thin layer of socks, and I scrambled after Harry into the hallway, where the carpeted floor was waiting invitingly.

We reached the stairs and I skipped the third step, as he said, following him to the uncarpeted floor downstairs.

I scanned the room, confused for a second when I couldn't find him. I found him crouched at the cupboard under the stairs, quietly swearing under his breath.

"My stuff's all in there," he explained, motioning at the locked cupboard. "Including my Invisibility Cloak, which you need if you're going to stay."

It took a while for me to get my jaw working again. "You...you have a what?!"

"A-a invisibility cloak?" Harry repeated.

I swallowed. "Right. Okay. That's normal. Okay. So, uhm," I cleared my throat, awed. "How are we going to get it?"

"I haven't exactly figured that out yet," Harry confessed in a soft voice. He used the tip of his finger to nudge the crack under the cupboard door. There was a small fabric piece there. "That's my Invisibility Cloak there; but I don't see how we're going to get it out."

"Maybe if we-"I stopped talking and crouched down lower, trying to pinch the fabric and pull it out.

Harry stood. "I'm going to go try and get something to get the cloak out. Be careful, and hide if you need to."

I kept as quiet as I could until I saw his shape come back towards me as a faint shadowy Harry in the moonlight. He was holding a fork uncertainly in his hand.

Kneeling, Harry jabbed the fork down onto the fabric and began to tug gently. I watched, unconsciously holding my breath until the fabric pulled out from underneath.

O-O

The space underneath the bed was now my living quarters. I wedged underneath it, the Invisibility Cloak acting as my blanket, and tried to get some sleep. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to forget the day's events.

I'd like to say it was working and I was falling asleep, but it was not. And I had a sneaking suspicion that Harry's heavy breathing was fake.

"Harry."

"Mm?"

"You sound like a pig with a congested nose. There is nobody you're fooling."

"Oh." He rolled over. "I can't sleep."

"Obviously."

"We don't have much to do tomorrow anyway. We just stay in here, locked up and wait for our next meal."

"So it's like jail." I raised my eyebrows. "Well, on the bright side, I get to interrogate you about the Magical World That Has Excluded Me For Twelve Years."

"Wizarding World," Harry corrected amusedly.

There was a rustle. I pulled down the blanket and stared up at the bottom of the bed. Sliding one hand out, I poked the bed. "When's your birthday?"

Silence. Then, "July 31st."

Wait a second.

"Wait, wait, wait. Isn't it August 2nd today?"

"Ye-e-es." Harry seemed a little guarded suddenly. "I'm tired. Good night."

I didn't say anything. The Dursleys hadn't celebrated his birthday. They'd gone as far as to make the freak stay in his room and be quiet. Though I'd never been considered their child, the Masons had taken me in. Our maid, Miss Hayley, would take the day off and Mrs. Mason would whip up a cake for me at the least.

The silence stretched out for a long time, and I could tell Harry wasn't asleep.

"Good night, Harry."

There was a longer pause of silence, and as I turned over to sleep, there was a soft murmur.

"Good night, Rowan."

O-O

As soon as I fell asleep, the adrenaline from yesterday drained out of me. My limbs threatened to never move again.

There was a loud crack, and I stiffened under the cloak, my body curled up, a position I tended to end up in when I slept.

Harry, however, had a different reaction. I heard him spring up in bed, and leap over to the loud crack. Giving in to tired curiosity, I rolled over and slipped out from under the bed.

"Breakfast," Harry announced wearily, and I grinned, hungry, until I saw what he meant by "breakfast.

It was a cold, small can of soup, with soggy vegetables. I stared at it, unable to comprehend that this was Harry's meal.

"Here," Harry handed me the can. "Drink the soup; I'll need to give the vegetables to Hedwig."

I took the can, sloshing the contents in the can gently. "Who's Hedwig?"

Harry frowned. "Didn't you hear her earlier?"

I frowned. "Who?" Harry chuckled. I raised my eyebrows. "What?"

Harry crossed the room and went over to a cloth covering a bulky looking contraption. He tugged the cloth off, and I was staring straight at an owl.

It was a beautiful, snowy white owl with big blinking eyes that captured mine and regarded me inquisitively. I was almost intimidated.

"Hedwig eats...soggy vegetables?" I asked weakly, watching Harry reach through the cage bars and stroke the white feathery bird.

"It's all we have until the Dursleys decide to give us gourmet food and mice for Hedwig," Harry said darkly, glancing at me. He took a deep breath and drew himself up to look at me, a forced smile playing across his lips. "It's fine. We'll get out of here."

I gave him the can. "Here. Drink it."

"Rowan," he protested.

"Do the Dursleys let you out to use the bathroom?" I ignored him. "And do you still have that rope?"

Uncomfortably, Harry swallowed the soup in one gulp. He nodded. "Yes and yes...why?"

"Okay," I turned, pulling the Invisibility Cloak out from under the bed. "You're going to sneak me outside the window and I'll get food, but we need money."

"Well," Harry said slowly, thinking hard. "I might know where you can get some…"

O-O

"Hurry up, Harry," Petunia opened the door and glared at Harry. I slipped out the door as soon as she opened it, hidden under the Invisibility Cloak. I could hear Harry purposefully walking slowly.

I clutched the cloak's fabric close nervously, swinging around the corner to Dudley's bedroom. The room was empty. I hurried inside, and with an invisible hand, opened the second drawer, which was stuffed with money. I took as much as Harry instructed, and ran back to Harry's room. This felt like stealing. But...stealing for good, right?

"Hurry up!" Petunia's shrill voice shrieked, impatient at last, and Harry reluctantly slipped back into the room, watching with dread as the door slammed shut. He swore violently.

I pulled off the cloak. "I made it," I assured him, breathless. Harry let out a breath of relief, and nodded.

I tied the rope around my waist, and wrapped the cloak around myself. "Bakery's about thirty blocks away, right?"

"Yeah. Careful of the alleyway; it's a shortcut but it's dark and looks dangerous."

"Got it." I let Harry take hold of the other end of the rope, and he lowered me down from the window.

As soon as my feet touched the ground, i gave the rope two tugs and untied it from my waist as Harry pulled it up.

"I'll be back," I called up. "I promise." Harry peeked his head out and nodded.

"I know."

O-O

Twenty-two blocks. That's how long I'd been walking. On the way, I'd stopped to rest at a nearby store, buying a drink. It wasn't helping that my legs were tired. I could feel the cloak bulging from my back pocket, and I was tempted to pull it out and walk back to Harry.

Why did the bakery have to be so far away? The bakery across the street had been tempting, but Harry had warned me that the neighbors would talk if an unfamiliar person strode in, so we needed to go far away.

I glanced at the alleyway ahead. If I took that, I'd save myself a few blocks. Besides, what was the harm, anyway?

It was definitely damp. And dark. I sneezed, the sound echoing and bouncing against the walls.

The alleyway did not lead me directly to the next sidewalk. There was a sudden curve, and then suddenly I wasn't quite sure where I was. I stopped, confused.

"Lost, girly?" A hand clamped down on my wrist.

The gravelly voice caught me by surprise, and I jumped. What the hell?

It was a man, and when he smiled at me I felt like I was looking at a big, gray dog. His yellowing nails dug into my wrist, and his teeth glinted the same color.

"I-I'm good." I tore my wrist away, but he clamped down on it, grinning. That should have been a red flag right there, but adrenaline was rushing through me again, and I wasn't thinking straight.

"It's alright, girly," He pulled me closer, breath smelling like rotten fish. "Are you lost?"

I tugged on my wrist. "Uhm-if you could just-show me where the exit is?"

He bared his teeth. "Of course." He spun on his heel, hand still gripping my wrist, and I felt my insides flip out.

The world was blurry. It was like watching a movie from the perspective of someone who'd been drugged or knocked out. Quickly, I felt as if I was being stretched, stretched, and-I was back on the ground.

I swayed, dizzy. Blinking, I looked around. Oh my god.

Where am I?