I think I should've posted this yesterday. Been busy—sorry about that. I've got to thank the precious few who took their time to review. Thank you! Even to you, Jamie (Annika), who has always been so demanding. You've always offered your opinions of my stories and, for that, I am grateful! For that, a lot more, and because I awfully miss you (admit it! You miss me too:P), my friend, I decided to update. Of course, all of those who also took the time to read this story pushed me to continue so this is for everyone!

To SaphirePhoenix, you held true to your word! My first reviewer! Thank you so much! Oh, I can't say what happens next. That'll be spoiling ;)

To Gothic Fairy Tale, hehe...you'll find out soon enough if you keep on reading and encouraging me :p Thanks for the review!

To KharmaoftheRainbow, I hope I worked out the sentences even just a bit better in this one. Ooh...role-playing! Your invitation is very tempting. I'll see if I can join when I get free time. Thank you so much!

What should you expect in this chapter? Oh…here, I introduce one of my favorite characters! They might play a big role, they may not. But I'm not to tell you that now 'cause that'll be spoiling and I hate doing that :P

Disclaimer: Must we go through this every time? (lawyers advance) Okay, okay! Chill! I was going to say that all elements and characters of Harry Potter belong to J. K. Rowling and not to me. Annoying gits…(mumbles)

Legends:

"Talking"

'Thinking'
"A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices."
-William James (1842-1910)
Defying Prejudices: Submerged
By Milky Etoile
Chapter Two: When You Get in Someone's Way

"Bloody. Hell."

Those were the two words that a dark-haired girl muttered after realizing, for the fourth time, that she had passed that very same sports store she had about more than ten minutes ago.

"Somebody up there must really hate me..."

She stopped in her tracks and leaned on the wall beside the sports store's display window. She rubbed her temples, in vain, trying to push away the dull headache that had been throbbing in her head for the past few minutes.

"This is hopeless, really." She groaned as she slid down the wall tiredly. She took off her round-rimmed glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't even know where the hell I am! Those bloody gits probably planned to do this years ago..."

She had been pondering for a reason why her so-called relatives had abandoned her in the middle of such an unfamiliar part of the city. She knew they hated her guts more than anything—that much was already clear to her the moment she had been able to think for herself. It wasn't so hard to realize when your own uncle shouts at you for no particular reason, your aunt orders you around like a slave, and your own cousin makes you his personal punching bag.

She sighed for the umpteenth time. All right, maybe they didn't even need a reason. They would've found a way to get rid of her sooner or later anyway with the way they always tried to make her life even more miserable than it already was.

But she had a bit of hope that they had enough care for her, even if they always looked at her murderously. Surely they might've had a small place in their hearts where they held every memory of her dearly?

The young girl hit her own head on the wall. How could she have ever thought of something so far-fetched?

She let out a snort. 'The only place in their hearts they hold me in is the place where they put the memories of my torment for them to rejoice in.'

She shouldn't really hope. Hope is such a feeble thing—there was absolutely no way they'd actually come back for her any time. Nope, not at all.

'But then, now what?'

She wondered idly what she could possibly do. For the past two hours, she had been in denial, trying to convince herself that she probably just got lost when she went off to purchase the food her aunt asked her to. After all, the Dursleys couldn't have possibly just left their precious niece in an unfamiliar environment. No, their nosy neighbors would think that they were such a horrible family then and the residents of Number Four Privet Drive didn't like their good reputation stained. They valued their pretty much mundane lives after all.

Of course, the more rational part of her mind reasoned that they could easily make up a story about their good-for-nothing niece's adoption to another family or—dare she even think?— her death. That thought didn't comfort her in the least.

Well, no one would be comforted if that meant that they have admitted to being abandoned just like some poor puppy that had done nothing but bother its now-previous owner. In fact, that was very much like what she felt now—a lost puppy.

'What could a little eleven-year-old girl do in this situation?' She rubbed her temples furiously, still willing the headache to go away. 'Normally, kids would cry when they notice they're lost.'

She couldn't suppress another snort. 'Since when was I "normal"?' She can almost hear the echoes of her uncle's booming voice, her aunt's disgusted hiss, and her cousin's goading tone…

"Freak!"

She shook her head fervently. She shouldn't be thinking of such things. Was she not supposed to be rejoicing, now that she's been free of those…relatives?

'I can't…' She buried her face into her hands. 'Even if they didn't like me, they still took care of me…they gave me shelter and that should be enough for me to be grateful to them, right?'

Yes, she should be grateful. And maybe—maybe she should at least try to go back to them—to thank them? Even as they had hurt her in so many ways? It was in their right, wasn't it? And if they suddenly decided to be rid of her…

'I—I'll respect their wishes.' After all, she was just a burden to them. She was a useless girl who was just left on their doorstep—and they took her in, even when they didn't want to. And they'll finally be happy, now that she was gone. They deserve all the happiness for being so kind, didn't they?

She felt herself torn between conflicting emotions. She was happy and relieved, but at the same time, she was angry and lonely.

'I shouldn't—I shouldn't think about it.' She stubbornly pushed down her sentiments. And, with renewed determination, she stood up. She would find a way to live through the ordeal no matter what.

"You can do this, Harriette!" she chided to cheer herself up. She almost believed she could do anything now and nothing could stand in her way...

...that was, until she bumped into a dark-clad figure when she turned.

"Bloody hell!"

Maybe when she's gotten over her situation, she could try to watch her language…

Severus Snape was not a person to be crossed.

Of course, everyone knew that little fact. Nobody dared to get in his way, especially with the sneer and/or scowl that was ever-present in his features. And his great ability to be able to insult a person in almost every sentence he uttered supported the aforementioned claim.

Students cower at the mere sight of him, even greater when they were not part of his favored House. His fellow teachers knew to keep their distance from him, especially when he seemed on the edge—though none could truly tell when he was; it always seemed that he was. And even the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore...

...okay, so maybe the old coot could tease the Potions Master without getting so much as a little scratch. But that didn't really count since the said old man was the only person that the darkest wizard in the century feared—so it is no surprise that he only laughs at the sharp glares that his younger colleague sends him...

Well, the fact remains that he is a man to be feared. He can probably make a first year student faint by just snapping a single insult—oh, right. He had done that before and it became one of the many reasons that nobody ever got in his way.

And, thus, he was infuriated when some filthy little muggle child decided to think that there was no one in front of her (he had assumed it was a girl due to the long hair) when she rammed right into him. And she decided to do it when he had just been seething at the off-handed comments the Headmaster had shot at him. It wasn't like he could stand up to the old geezer anyway.

'He'll have his day,' he tried to comfort himself with that. His train of thoughts was brought to a halt though when a high-pitched voice exclaimed a single obscenity.

"Bloody hell!"

Snape's lips pursed together as he proceeded to glower at the dark-haired girl that was now sitting on the sidewalk. The dim-witted muggle then reached for something that flashed in the sunlight—it was a pair of round glasses on her lap. The girl rubbed her eyes before putting them on. She blinked as she looked up at the dark-clad man with emerald green eyes. Snape tried not to look surprised at the uncanny resemblance of those orbs to those of one of his long-gone few true friends. Instead, he sneered at the girl.

"It would do you some good to keep your eyes open when you walk," he said in his usual silky tone. This made the girl blink again before she stood up and bowed her head.

"I'm sorry, sir," she muttered loud enough for him to hear. She either didn't comprehend his insult or she just ignored it. Maybe she lost some brain cells when she hit her little head against him?

"I didn't mean to—I was thinking so I didn't watch where I was going." She looked up at the man again. "I'm horribly sorry, sir." Snape only snorted at her pathetic excuse.

"Just do not repeat this again," he scolded in a tone he reserved for his incompetent students. "I will not be as forgiving if you get in my way next time." With that, the potions teacher walked past the girl, though without the billowing of his usual cloak—he was forced to abandon it because Dumbledore had told him it was better he did if he was going to Apparate outside The Leaky Cauldron. He shouldn't have believed the old man, really.

"Sheesh, I already apologized and he's still grumpy..." a small voice muttered behind him. "Bloody adults..." At that, Snape turned around, glaring dangerously at the polite girl.

"Did you say something, miss?" he hissed in a low voice when he stood again in front of the girl. His mood was never good from the start and the stupid muggle was infuriating him further.

She seemed to have been surprised for a moment before her expression turned to a flushed one.

"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't say a single word!" she let out, trying not to lounge at the annoying man. It didn't help that she was already frustrated enough. Her hands were already itching to wring around his neck. Harriette controlled herself by settling on running her right hand through her black hair—which was currently unusually kept. She missed the sudden surprised look on the man's face when she looked away.

Snape almost gaped when he saw a lightning-shaped scar on the young girl's forehead. He knew of only one person who had that same mark...

...but there was simply no way the girl could be the one who saved the whole wizarding world, was there? He took that time to survey the girl's features more properly.

Her hair was straight and black, though some strands were not properly in place. Her emerald green eyes were flashing with annoyance and her expression was tight as she crossed her arms and tried to ignore him. That reminded him of someone even more...

"Harry Potter?!" he exclaimed uncertainly. His eyes were narrowed as he watched the girl blink and look back at him with her eyebrows furrowed.

"How do you know my name?" Harriette, who fancied using 'Harrie' as her nickname, asked him suspiciously. Who knew if the guy was actually a stalker? After all, the man's dark-colored clothing and movements made him look like someone who was used to sneaking around...

"Are you some sort of stalker?" she couldn't help herself from blurting out. She backed away a bit, unsure how to deal with the man. Maybe he was sent to look for her? A small flicker of hope lit in her chest. They cared!

Snape, however, was bewildered. It was Potter. The same name—Harry-bloody-Potter. The same bloody scar. The offspring of his arch-nemesis, James Potter, and soon-to-be (he expected) the bane of his existence.But that wasn't what was irking him.

It was the fact that it was a girl that was in front of him that put him on the edge Did Lily have another child that nobody knew of—that actually was the one the Dark Lord attempted to kill?

"Did Uncle Vernon send you?" she asked without waiting for his answer. Snape didn't miss the hopeful glint in her eyes. He vaguely recalled Dumbledore telling him that the name of the Boy-Who-Lived's guardian was named Vernon Dursley. He failed to mention that Potter had any siblings though. It must've been pure coincidence, right?

...but what of the scar? And the name? Was it possible to have the very same name along with that very same mark?

He pushed away his thoughts as he grabbed the girl's wrist suddenly. She was startled by the sudden action, not knowing how to act.

"No, Potter. I was not sent by that muggle. But you—" his abnormally large nose seemed to have been magnified in Harrie's vision, "—will be coming with me," he finished in a curt tone. And before she could even open her mouth to protest, he Disapparated with her along to Hogsmeade.

To be continued...
Bah…I don't know how that turned out. It might have been lame, it might've been decent, but only you guys can tell! Can anyone dare, please, to review and tell me what you think? This came so spontaneously to me that I wasn't sure at first what to expect. I've read and revised this about a dozen times already but I'm still not sure if that was enough. Review, please?

Take care then!

Milky signing out!

This chapter was revised on June 3, 2007, edited and posted on June 5, 2007.