Somewhere I Belong

You make me feel so emotional
I can't let go I'm so emotional
I'm sinking deep into an ocean full of you
I'm so emotional

You take me high and low, you know
I'm never sure which way you're gonna go
You're such a mystery to me
- "So Emotional" by Christina Aguilera

Alex wasn't quite sure what happened after that. She only remembered hearing herself scream at the sight of Draco crumpling to the floor in pain. Lucius watched, a despicable smile on his face. He saw that in torturing his own son, he was torturing Alex, and he, in some sick, twisted way, enjoyed it. Alex couldn't stand it anymore. She tore past Lucius and down the dark hallway. She found the front door, but it was locked. She didn't have her wand, so she slammed her fist through the glass door, sending the jagged shards scattering to the floor. She had sliced her hand badly, but continued to run. She stopped when she came to a gate. It was padlocked, and chained closed. Alex tried to catch her breath, while searching for something to break the lock. Her adrenaline coursed through her, and her heart thumped uncontrollably in her chest, but she continued her search. After a few minutes, and her search unsuccessful, she attempted to climb the fence. She climbed part of the way, and jumped the remainder of the way down, hitting the ground hard. She continued to run, her heart beating even harder, and her cut hand searing.

********

"Get back here!" Lucius screamed, as Alex bolted past him. "Finite Incantatem," he shouted, ending Draco's torture. Peter came running in, having heard Lucius.

"What is it?" he asked looking around and noting Draco was on the floor.

"She escaped. She hexed Draco and ran away. I knew that little Mudblood was going to be trouble," Lucius said, putting his wand back into his robes. Peter knew there was no way Alex hexed Draco, and got away with Lucius having his wand in hand, but he just nodded. They took off in the direction Alex had. They arrived outside just in time to see her disappearing into the woods surrounding the Manor. Lucius went back into the room where he'd left Draco. He was still lying on the floor.

"Get up! You let her get away!" Lucius shouted, grabbing Draco by the back of his robes and pulling him unsteadily to his feet. "You're going after her and bringing her back, since this is your fault," Lucius continued, shoving Draco towards the door harshly and finishing, "Don't come back without her, but if you don't come back, I will personally come looking for you!" Draco could tell by his father's face that it wouldn't be pleasant if he had to go looking for them.

********

Alex thrashed through the dense woods. She didn't stop until she only heard the crickets, and the sound of her heartbeat echoing off the tall trees. It was already getting dark so she knew that, even if she'd wanted to go back there, she wouldn't be able to find her way. She finally caught her breath and sat down on the damp ground. The many trees provided a hiding place for a few hours. When the sun came up, she would be easily seen. She thought it to be very curious that nobody was looking for her yet, but she disregarded it. She pulled her knees to her chest, and rested her chin on them. She knew she was in for one of the longest nights of her life.

********

Draco stumbled around in the quickly descending dark.

"Lumos," he said quietly. He looked between the rows of trees. He kept thinking her saw her every time he heard a noise, or looked behind a tree. He dismissed it, but couldn't tell if it was his eyes playing tricks on him, or his heart. He stopped when he reached a stream running through some large rocks. He was lost. Having inhabited the manor his whole life, he'd never even tried to go into the woods surrounding it. He regretted now, having never learned his way around. He looked around him, listening, hoping to hear something that would lead him to Alex. He sighed when he didn't. He'd heard his father say Alex had hexed him and run away, but he couldn't believe it. He couldn't remember who had, mainly because everything happened so fast, but he refused to believe Alex had. He stared at the darkening sky and just hoped, with everything in him, that no matter where she was, that she was safe.

Draco woke when he felt the sun warming his face. He'd slept on the hard ground all night, so his body was a bit sore. He got to his feet, a bit shakily, and looked around him. It was much easier to attempt to find his way around in the daylight. The events of the previous night still fresh in his mind, he picked a direction and set off, hoping he wouldn't get even more astray.

*********

Alex had long since been awake, and had been searching for, above all things, a decent enough hiding place. She didn't want to go back to wherever she'd been, and she didn't want to run into Lucius, or any of them for that matter.

Another whole day went by of just clumsy, misdirected walking. Alex thought she would just have to go back. It was her only chance of survival at that point. Draco on the other hand, knew he couldn't go back unless he found Alex. He also wouldn't have went back anyway because, even if she did hate him, he still cared. The weather, that night, was not in their favor. The rain poured down on Draco, as he struggled to find a shelter. He spotted the opening of a small cave, and hurried to it. It wasn't very big, but it was enough to get him out of the rain. Alex wiped her sopping hair out of her eyes as she walked. As she did so, she saw a small tunnel-like opening. She went toward it, seeing it more clearly. It appeared to be a small cave. She entered, feeling immensely better, now that she wasn't still being rained on. She couldn't see as she made her way in deeper. It was much larger inside than it had seemed on the outside. She held her hands out in front of her so she didn't hit a wall or something. She continued, quietly and slowly until her hand came in contact with something warm and moving.

********

Hermione walked on the cool, stone floor from the bathroom to her dorm. She wore her pajamas, and had been brushing her teeth. She got to her dorm and got into bed. She went over the course of her day in her head. Something she usually did to help her sleep. She woke, went to breakfast, went to class, had a Transfiguration test, went to lunch, argued with Ron, helped Hagrid with the new creature in Care of Magical Creatures, had double Potions with the Slytherins, argued with Ron again, then went to dinner, and finally bed. She started to close her eyes slowly, till she opened them again, quickly. Something wasn't right in her day. She went over the events again. It wasn't like her normal days were.

Something was missing. Her hair usually never cooperated, her and Ron usually argued more than twice and there was just much more drama in her normal life. She could very well say that had been her best day all year. She had studied for her test, tolerated Ron's moods and survived Potions with that damned Draco Malfoy. She stopped again. That was it. It was Malfoy. A day in her life never went by without him calling her Mudblood, or making her life more miserable than necessary. She was puzzled because she didn't remember seeing him snickering in Potions that day when Neville had yet another unfortunate accident and Harry was screamed at for absolutely no reason whatsoever. In fact, the last time she remembered seeing him was when she was in the library. Her thoughts immediately drifted to that day she had seen him kissing that strange girl Alex. Hermione didn't remember seeing Alex in Transfiguration that day either. A weird feeling crept up inside her as she tried to close her eyes. Something just wasn't right.