A/N: BIG special thanks to Eclipse Sundown for the awesome story cover! You're amazing!

Also, you guys get this chapter not because I got a review (Grr... ;), but because I'm so damned happy to be headin' out to the woods for a week! Wishin' ya'll a great summer!

Chapter Five

Dear Allen,

We arrived in Korea safely a couple hours ago. The flight was truly borin'! I must'a slept most of the way…but can ya honestly blame me? So did Dad, even though he insists he wasn't snorin', but you and I both know better, eh?

The house is nice; it's sorta small, but that's to be expected, ain't it? My parents did tell me it would be, that houses were much different then there in the U.S. I like the area, though. It's a bit more busy than I would'a thought, but then again we're livin' in a city, and I'm used to suburbs or the country. It has a good feel to it, and there's lots of things to see, so I should be busy for a while.

We've got a nice neighbor…he could be a thousand years old! He's sorta old-fashioned, too, but like I said; he's a sweet old man. I think I'm gonna like it here…at least for awhile.

So…do tell! How ya likin' my birth-state? Ain't it great? If ya'll ain't careful you'll be soundin' like me real quick!

Keep me updated, boy, and try not and replace me too quick, 'cause that ain't fair to me considerin' I haven't met anyone my age yet.

Missin' ya'll already. Can't wait to hear back from ya.

Love,

Ev

I hit the send button, the tears still runnin' down my face. As soon as the crazy old man had closed the door shut, I couldn't take it anymore and broke down. Everythin' left in my life that actually mattered to me was dead and gone, and I'd never get another chance with them. There was nothin' I could do to ever get them back. I was alone in this world.

Then I remembered Allen. At least I still had him…but what good was it when I couldn't even tell him any bit of the truth? He was supposed to be my friend, and, even though I'd never really had a friend before, I thought you were supposed to be completely open with 'em, weren't you?

So not only had I lost everythin' that I ever loved and have to lie to my only and best friend, I was in a complete…asylum, to say the least.

The man thought magic was real, for god's sake! He thought there were spells an' wards an' all that shit! Good lord, couldn't the freak give me a break? I lost my freakin' parents, for Pete's sake! Couldn't the freakin' world cut me some god-damn slack? Time heals wounds, they say, but it probably ain't ever gonna come close to fixin' mine.

But then…there really wasn't any logical explanation as to what and how everythin' happened in the past day. And I wasn't a skeptic; you had to prove to me somethin' didn't exist before I would believe it didn't. I always wanted to find out magic was real, ever since I was a little girl. Just not…this way.

I slammed my head down on the desk, hatin' how everythin' was so luxurious, how I was gonna be taken care of by total strangers who would probably kill me with that…magic.

Outta nowhere there was a loud ringin' sound; a bell. I glanced up towards the door, then out the window as…normal kids started to file out onto the courtyard. It was strange; the kids all looked like normal people from a range of what looked like eleven-year-olds and seventeen-year-old. All genders and races were there…it was just like a normal human school…except for the fact that they were all wearin' these strange long black coat-like things. All of them had on ties, but it varied from four different colors.

They were all happy, too. And for that, I hated them. I hated them so much because their lives were perfect. They had everythin' they needed, everythin' they could possibly want. I wanted to yell and scream and show them just how easily it could all be taken away from them. But I couldn't. I couldn't without endangerin' my life. But really…did it matter all that much to me anymore?

Then I saw her, Bellatrix. The old man hadn't been kiddin' when he said she and others like her went to this school. She was in a group of five other kids who looked just as cruel and evil. And they were all pickin' on some helpless boy who must've only just turned eleven. Just as easily as I'd come to hate all those people, it flew right out the window when I saw the little boy's face.

Anger swelled up inside me, and I blew my top. I wasn't going to stand around and watch her ruin somebody else's life.

I went to the door, threw it open, and…jumped back. There, right in front of me, was the strangest creature I'd ever seen. It was short, and green, and had huge golf-ball sized eyes, long, brittle fingers, and bat-like ears that stuck up at an angle. It had on rags that were almost fallin' off its frail little body.

"Misses must not leave room," he (for I'm sure it was a male's voice. Rather squeaky, but male nonetheless) said, holdin' up a hand to stop me.

"No you don't understand…sir," I said, hesitating at what to call him. "Some kids getting' picked on by this evil bitch and I want to go rip her throat out."

"Misses must not. Misses must stay safe," the thing insisted.

Anger swelled up inside me. "Well I'm goin' whether you like it or not! So do some magic or whatever and make me look different! That'll keep me safe, right?"

When he didn't answer, I walked past him, but stopped at the sound of his voice. "Misses! Wait!" I stopped and turned around. "Wattie will make Misses look different for ten minute…but Misses must follow three conditions."

I guessed the thing's name was Wattie, but I didn't have time for this. "Sure, Wattie, what are they?"

"Misses must not do anything stupid or dangerous. Misses must do what she needs to do, then return to room without talking to anyone. Misses must also allow Wattie to come to protect her if things go bad."

"Yeah, sure. C'mon Wattie before that little boy gets hurt."

Wattie nodded, then snapped his fingers. I didn't bother to check and see what I looked like at the moment, but as I ran down the halls, I did notice I was dressed like all the other kids out there, and I had on a red and gold tie.

I flew out the doors and looked 'round, squitin' at the bright sunlight that hit my eyes. Bellatrix and her followers had herded the little guy toward the trees of a huge dark forest, and they were closin' in.

I sprinted across the yard, and when I was within a few feet of them, I yelled, "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" I dimly noticed that my accent had changed too, into a British one. Man, that thing that was following me was good.

Bellatrix turned 'round, rollin' her eyes. "What?" she snapped, lookin' me over. "Oh. A new Gryffindor. How wonderful. Malfoy, Crabbe, take care of her." She turned back to the boy, who was lookin' at me with pleadin' eyes. My temper went berserk.

I tapped her on the shoulder, and when she huffed and turned 'round again, startin' to snarl somethin', I punched her in the face. She flew back into one of her friends, takin' 'em both to the ground. She was holdin' her nose, and the others looked at me surprised.

I ignored them and offered a hand to the boy, who took it grateful. "You better get outta here, kid. You don't know what these bastards could do." He nodded, murmured thanks, and ran off.

Meanwhile, Bellatrix had gotten to her feet, still holdin' her nose that was gushin' blood, glarin' at me with hatred. "I don't know who you think you are," she hissed, "but you're going to pay for this."

"Hmm, that sounds like an empty threat. Why don't you bring it on, then, if you're so confident?"

She growled and pulled out her wand, lowerin' it so it was even with me. A sense of déjà-vu passed over me, but I smirked. She opened her mouth to say somethin', then—

"Expelliarmus!"

Her wand flew out of her hand back into the trees, and her glare went to someone behind me. "Stay out of this, cousin," she spat.

I turned 'round to look at who she was talkin' 'bout, and saw four boys standin' there, all who had their wands out. One was small and pudgy, and he had a rat-like appearance that creeped me out. One was extremely tall and pale, with two vertical scars that ran parallel down his face. He had bright blue eyes and sandy brown hair. Another was average height, lean, and had untidy black hair that stuck up at odd angles and wore round black glasses that covered his hazel eyes. The last one was tall and muscular, and he was tan and had curly black hair and intense, stormy grey eyes. He, along with the tall guy and the one with glasses, were really good lookin', but they all wore disgusted looks of hatred on their faces, and the other boy looked kind of nervous but defiant nonetheless.

Wattie tugged on my long black garment (which I was beginin' to think was a robe or somethin' similar) and said, "Misses must leave now."

Bellatrix laughed. "Ooo…what do we have here? A girl who doesn't know her place with a house-elf babysitter. How…cute." Her group laughed. I turned 'round and was 'bout to say somethin' when the one with the untidy hair said,

"Look, we know you're jealous that you can't be special enough to have someone willingly follow you around everywhere, but mockery won't get you there."

"Shut it, Potter!" she snapped, turnin' her blazin' eyes on him.

Wattie's tuggin' became more insistent. "Misses must leave before Misses gets in trouble."

"Yeah, alright, I'm coming," I huffed.

"You haven't won!" Bellatrix called. "You're time's coming soon, Gryffindor!"

Without lookin' back, I held up my middle finger in her direction and kept on walkin'.

I looked down at Wattie. "What's a Gryffindor?"

"A house, Misses."

"Ah…" I tried to think that over. "Yup. That makes…no sense whatsoever."

"Misses will understand when she reads."

"Thanks. But can you stop calling me 'Misses'? I have a name, and if we're going to be seeing a lot of each other, I'd rather hear you say my name."

"What is your name?" I heard a voice ask behind me. I jumped and turned 'round, comin' face to face with the curly-haired guy.

Immediately I became shy when I noticed that he and his friends were here. I had the worst time ever talkin' to people that I didn't know…

"I…umm…"

"Misses must not say," Wattie said, grabbin' my robe and tuggin' me away from them 'til they were out of sight. Seconds later I was back in my prison cell, lookin' at Wattie.

"How did we get here so fast?" I asked, astounded.

"Magic," Wattie said simply.

"Right," I muttered. "Anyways, Wattie, my name is Evelyn. So no more of that 'Misses' stuff, okay?"

"Okay. Wattie understands."

"Now can you change me back? I want to at least be me if nothing else. Besides...I'm missing my southern drawl."

A/N: Did I ever mention that I loved house-elves? Haha they're funny to write! :)

Well…all that's left for you guys to do is review! Let me know how this story is going. If you have any ideas you'd think would be good in here or whatnot, let me know. Seriously; I'm REALLY talkative, so don't be shy, guys! And trust me; I LOVE feedback! So PLEASE, if you read, you review, okay? That's only fair to me, isn't it? Thanks!

Nike