Disclaimer, A/N: This has nothing to do with any of the other fic's I've written (or are in the process of writing.) It was actually a dream I had a few nights ago, and it seems to be repeating as I had it again a few minutes ago (please note: I'm writing this at 4am.) To the snarky bastards masquerading as lawyers and such I say that I don't own Harry Potter, Voldemort, Death Eaters, Draco, or any of the rest. No profit is being made from the publication of this fic. Don't sue me as you will get nothing in return for your efforts but a bunch of court costs. Now, on with the fic! Oh! And the main character is a girl, just in case it isn't immediately clear.

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Apartment 5B

I have got to lay off the tequila. I may love it, but it sure doesn't love me back! I winced as I turned off the alarm clock. It was a quarter to noon on Friday, March 12, 1999. I had to be to work in an hour and a half. I think I'll just call in sick today. I made the mistake of opening my eyes. Or dead. Yes. I'll call in dead today. I grabbed my cell phone off of the nightstand. I scrolled to my boss's number.

"Stephanie Fangman's office, this is Emily. How may I direct your call?" An image of Steph's receptionist sprung to mind and I shuddered. Ever the perfect, perky bitch, aren't you?

"Hey, Em, this is Shay. Could you note me down as absent today?"

"Oh, dear! You're sick? How awful!" I could practically see the bleach-blonde's face screw itself into a contorted expression of concern.

"Yeah. Make sure Steph knows, okay?"

"Sure thing! You get some sleep, dearie." How I hated it when she called me that. Hells, how I hated her.

"Planning on it. See you next week." I mumbled before hanging up. I buried my pounding head back under the covers. My hopes of going back to sleep were dashed when I heard someone loudly barge into my apartment. That would be Harry, I'm sure. No one else has a key. I didn't have long to wonder before I was painfully blinking my eyes as the comforter was yanked back to let in the bright sunlight.

"Isn't it a beautiful day?"

I growled and buried my head under the pillows.

"Shay! Come on! Don't just lie there! You have to be at work," there was a pause, "in exactly forty minutes!"

I mumbled something incomprehensible.

"Shaylindria! Get up!"

At the sound of my full first name, I grabbed my katana from where it hid between my bed and the wall, and sprung out of bed. "What have I told you about using that name?" My voice was low and dangerous.

Harry just smirked. "It got you out of bed, didn't it?"

I huffed and put the sword away. "Why, dear Harry, are you over this godforsaken early?"

"I heard your little… er… party? Last night. And figured you'd need a little help in getting up."

I sat back on the edge of my bed and massaged my temples. "Just because you're my friend and live across the hall from me does not give you the right to monitor my every move. And how would you know I would be alone this morning, hmm? I seem to remember an incident last month that left you blushing for a week. That reminds me, I really do need to call Jake. He left his boxers here. Besides, I already called work and told them I wouldn't be in today."

"All you need is a cuppa." I grimaced as he skipped out to make some coffee. I'll never get used to how they talk here! A 'cuppa?' Fuck-all. I live in an apartment not a flat. And I'll be damned if my wonderful smokes ever become 'fags!' I had been transferred to London from LA the summer before for my job. Eight months and I was still suffering culture-shock. I hastily changed from my nightshirt into a pair of black jeans and a black tank-top. I paused in the bathroom to piss and brush my teeth. I glanced in the mirror and decided that I could tackle my hair later.

I joined Harry in the kitchen and rummaged in a cupboard for my bottle of aspirin. After the third time I pulled out the same bottle of garlic powder, I gave it up as a lost cause and turned to Harry. "Oh, great and wonderful, noble, caring-"

"What do you want, Shay?" Harry was sitting at the table, sipping a cup of coffee. "That many compliments has me nervous."

"You know I would never in a million years ask you to do anything that you were uncomfortable with, but, since you are so much more than a normal person and I can't find the fucking aspirin…"

Harry sighed. "Just this once, Shay." He pulled out his wand from a holder I knew he carried on his back. He mumbled something and my hangover just… disappeared. I broke into a relieved grin as he put the wand away.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." I made the motion of getting down to bow to him.

He blushed. "Shay! Don't do that, it was just a simple charm!"

"I don't care! Too bad you can't bottle that and sell it. You'd make a killing." I quipped before getting myself a cup of coffee.

"And what makes you think I don't?"

I laughed. "You? The guy who gets nervous about using a gift to fix his glasses? Willingly using that same gift to, gasp, make money?"

His smile fell off his face and shattered on the floor. "You know why I don't use it that much."

I sighed. "I know, I know. Big evil baddie after your ass." I pointedly changed the subject. I knew how touchy Harry was about certain areas of his life. "Heard from Ron or Hermione lately?"

The tactic worked and Harry's smile was back in place. "They're coming home next week. For a month, anyway. They're looking forward to meeting you."

"I hope I don't scare them off."

He laughed. "I don't think that's possible. If they could get used to me and Draco, they can get used to anything."

"And how is the albino?"

"He hates it when you call him that."

"And I hate it that he won't call me Shay."

"He's fine. Stuck in Albania for the time being. He's actually working with Ron's older brother, Bill, from what I hear."

"When's he supposed to be back?"

"Sunday. I hope."

"That's good. At least, when he's home, I don't have to worry about being barged in on and woken up in the middle of a particularly bad hangover."

"If you'd lay off the alcohol once in a while, you wouldn't have to worry about hangovers, now would you?"

I sighed and lit a cigarette. "I don't get drunk that often. And don't you dare tell me how these are bad for me. I know all the damn details."

He had the decency to look sheepish. "So, what are we doing today?"

"I was planning on dying in bed, but you - wonderful person you - managed to abort that idea. So… I was thinking about a nice workout to wake up, then lunch down at Sheldon's." Sheldon's was a greasy little diner that served the best damn ham sandwiches I had ever had the pleasure of eating.

Harry blanched at the thought of a workout. "Er…"

"Before you ask, yes. You are required to come with me. I was hoping to get you accustomed to working with a katana before the end of the month. As much as I enjoy sparring with weighted wooden practice weapons, I would prefer the real thing." Kinda like sex… A vibe is good, but it don't hold a candle to the real thing.

I quirked an eyebrow at Harry, he was blushing like he had heard my thought. Or had a similar thought about a certain blonde boy. I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was a quarter to two. "I guess I'd better go change and put in the contacts, shouldn't I?" Harry asked. I nodded as he got up from the table.

I disappeared into my bedroom and changed into a pair of gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt. I stopped in the bathroom to tame my long, curly black hair into a tight braid. I pulled my sneakers on, grabbed my workout duffel, and knocked on Harry's door.

He greeted me, wearing similar clothing. We walked to Chi-Pong's, a training center for martial arts, where I worked on weekends as a trainer. I nodded a greeting to Jaysen, a fellow trainer, and escorted Harry to training room seven.

We started with a simple warm-up of tai-chi, then progressed through forms with a quarterstaff. Once that was finished, we sparred, first unarmed, then with wooden practice blades. Harry was very good, nearing the expertise needed for a black belt, but I was better. Still, it took me nearly an hour to disarm him.

I wiped the sweat out of my eyes with a corner of my shirt before giving up and pulling it off. Harry blushed a little and turned around. I laughed. "Come on, Harry. I'm not naked, you know. I am wearing a sports bra. Besides, it covers more than my bathing suit did, and you didn't blush then." I was referring to the time he and Draco and I had gone to Greece for a week. "At least, not until we hit the nude beaches. I must admit, I rather liked getting a tan without the bikini-lines." I loved making him uncomfortable.

"Shay, if you weren't my friend…"

"You wouldn't be as good at defending yourself as you are now." I said, then attacked without warning. He parried the blow and spun around to land a blow to my back.

"Ow! Damnit! That hurt." I shouted, before rounding on him to return the favor.

"Couldn't have hurt too much!" He shouted before trying again. This time, the blow hit my wrist and I dropped the practice blade. I dropped to the floor and rolled out of the way as he continued attacks. Once I was safely away I pulled in a deep breath and sprang to my feet. I sprinted to the quarterstaffs in the corner and grabbed one. Harry lunged and I blocked the blow.

"Careful of your temper, Harry! Lose your temper, lose your center, lose the battle!" I knew that prodding his control of his temper would just make him mad. He needed it. He thrust blow after blow in my direction, I blocked all of them. I let him back me into a corner and I jumped. I wedged myself into the corner where two of the walls met the ceiling. I knew I could hold myself there for an hour if need be. It took Harry a moment before he realized I wasn't standing in front of him any more. He knew I didn't just disappear, as I was definitely not a witch. I laughed at his confused look. He looked up and his jaw dropped open.

"How'd you get up there?" I was easily seven feet over his head, a full twelve feet from the floor.

I dropped back to the floor, landing lightly on my feet. "Strong legs," was my only reply.

"Wow."

"Come on, cool down. I'll explain the details later." We moved through katana-forms, then another session of tai-chi. By the time we had put away the practice weapons, my stomach was rumbling audibly.

"To Sheldon's?" Harry asked hopefully.

I nodded and put my t-shirt back on. "To Sheldon's."

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Later that night, it was nearing ten-thirty or so, I was getting ready for bed when I heard someone in my living room. I knew it wasn't Harry because I left him snoozing on his sofa not fifteen minutes before. And I had remembered to engage the chain on the inside of my apartment door. As quickly and quietly as I could I grabbed my katana from its hiding place and turned off my bedroom light. I waited a few seconds for my eyes to adjust and grabbed my cell and sent a text to Harry, 911, chain on door, while I stood behind my door, listening to the intruders in the living room.

"Master, you're certain this is the place where his energy was detected?" It was a man's voice, low and silky. It reminded me unerringly of Draco. That has to be his father out there.

"Yes, I am certain. There was an anti-hangover charm performed here earlier today bearing that brat's personal signature." A deep and cold voice rasped.

I had heard enough. I was getting angry. These asses are in my home, talking about Harry like they're above him! No one does that to my friends. I took a deep breath and found my center. I flung open the door and hit the light switch to turn on the living room lights as I did so. There were five people in black cloaks and ugly white masks standing around the room, frozen for a moment as their eyes adjusted to the sudden light.

I growled and charged. My blade bit deep into the tallest of the cloaked figures, who let out a small shriek as it fell to the floor. I whirled as I pulled my katana from the dying sack of shit. A short, fat figure tried to grab me, and I ducked and rolled. I landed behind him and thrust the blade through his back. He tried to say something, but all that came out was a loud gurgle. He, too, slumped to the floor. I tugged on my katana. It wouldn't budge.

"Shit!" I shouted and sprinted across the room. I grabbed a leather pouch that sat on my coffee table and jumped into the air. Flashes of bright green light flickered around me and I used one of the cloaked figures' heads as a springboard to launch myself into the ceiling corner, where, shortly after moving in, I had timed myself to see how long I could hold the position. I smiled in remembrance, that was the day I had met Harry and Draco.

I carefully, but swiftly, reached into the pouch and withdrew some throwing stars. There was a loud pop and suddenly, Harry was standing in the room, almost on top of one of the cloaked figures. I grinned and threw one of the stars. It embedded itself into the figure's forehead (or as close as I could guess, as the guy was wearing a mask.) Harry blinked in astonishment as the man he was nearly standing on dropped to the ground.

"Ignore the girl!" The raspy voice shouted to his one remaining ally. "Get that Potter brat!"

The other voice from earlier shouted one last hex in my direction, but I realized what was coming and dropped to the floor, narrowly missing another of those bright green flashes of light. Note to self: Ask Harry what that damn light is after this is all said and done!

I still had two of the stars in hand, and I flung one at the back of the man who I knew was Draco's father. It bit cleanly into the back of his neck and he dropped like a rock. By this time, Harry had his wand out. "You decided to harass the wrong muggle, Tom."

I couldn't help it. I laughed. "Tom? The big baddie's name is Tom? This is too rich!"

The man in the mask snorted. "I see my name is of much amusement to the muggle-whore. Good to see you enjoying your last moments on earth." He turned to me, wand raised. I threw the last star. It collided with his wand in a flash of bright golden sparks. The star twanged as it lodged in my refrigerator. There goes my security deposit. The man in the mask laughed, "Is that all the muggle-whore can do?" Then he raised what was left of his wand, not noticing that half of it lay on my oriental rug.

Harry cleared his throat. "Tom?"

The man turned slightly to face Harry, "What, you insolent brat?"

"I don't think you're going to be doing any more spell-casting with that wand, as it's plainly not all there."

He looked at the truncated wand he held. "What the…?"

"Say good-bye, Tom."

He looked up at Harry again. I distinctly remember the man saying, "Oh, shit!" before disappearing into a shower of blue sparks as Harry murmured something under his breath.

---

"And that's what happened." I sit my glass of lemonade back on the table and smile at Ron and Hermione. They smile back.

"I would've never guessed a muggle could be so…" Ron trails off.

"Resourceful? Resilient? Brilliant? Beautiful?" I supply. Ron nods, earning a light smack on the arm from his wife. I laugh and change the subject. "It was a beautiful ceremony, wouldn't you say?"

Hermione smiles again, "Yes, it was. I'm glad that Harry can finally relax. He's been watching his back for too long. How long do you think it will take he and Draco to have kids?" She pats her own distended belly.

Something in her voice lets me know that she doesn't mean adoption. I raise an eyebrow. "Men can get pregnant?"

"Of course, Shay. We do deal in magic, you know."

I just chuckle and turn to watch the two men left dancing on the hardwood floor, floating orbs of soft white and blue light hovering above them. "Hmm…" I lean a little closer to inspect the pair. "Sooner than anyone else suspects," I say and turn back to Ron and Hermione.

Ron looks confused, but Hermione grins. "Really? How can you tell?"

I shrug. "It's obvious if you watch how he moves."

Hermione leans in to me and whispers, "Which one?"

I smirk. "The albino."

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Another A/N: It goes without saying that this is independant of both "Longview" and "Sounds of Silence," but it may tie in with SoS in the future, I haven't decided yet. Now, press the review button before I sic Shaylindria on you!