AN: I hope this story will be to your liking. It is like nothing I have ever written before. It will be a tragic story, and just maybe there might be a happy ending. The couple is Draco/Serena, and there is a considerable age difference between the two. The story takes place years after the war with Voldemort, but there is no sailor scouts, the characters may appear, they may not. This story is rated for its vivid content that will appear in later chapters, and I warn you ahead of time. There is Language, Violence, Character OOC. Very little humor.

Also, the chapter titles corrispond with lyrics in a song by Avril Lavigne, called Broken Inside. When I heard this song, it reminded me of this story, and so I inserted the lyrics into it.

Well enjoy, I very much love this story, and I hope you will too.

LP out.

Chapter one:
The Feelings She Hides

Standing in her kitchen window, Serena Blake stared at her neighbor's house. Living in constant darkness had trained her eyes to focus and sharpen their sight. Nursing a glass of wine, she'd snuck from her mother's fridge, she brought the glass to her lips and took a healthy sip.

Setting the glass aside, she leaned against the counter, her face drawing closer to the window too see even better. The slab of raw meat slipped from her hands and clattered against the sink. Wincing, she turned around to listen. Not a sound escaped the dark house. Serena waited another heartbeat, expecting the inevitable.

But it didn't come.

The ruckus she had created hadn't woken the household, much to her relief. Turning back to the window, Serena picked the meat up again, pressing it gently to her swollen eye and sighed. It felt so good against the ache.

A sound caught her attention then. It was distant, not from inside the house, but outside. Alert and just a bit wary, Serena peered out the window, her eyes searching the darkness.

The neighbor's screen door swung open, allowing a slender man to exit through the front door. He stepped out onto the porch and walked towards the chair set on the side of the deck closest to her house. He sat down, his body easing back into the wooden seat, as if the chair had been made of cushions.

It was her next-door neighbor. He was new in town she assumed, since that house had been empty for the past two years. But just this last month, she'd noticed activity inside. Usually cast into the darkness, with the blinds kept shut and the doors locked, the house had appeared deserted. Until around this time of night, though.

About this time, Serena found the courage to leave her room and come down to the kitchen. Where she would pour herself a glass of wine, from her mother's hidden stash.

Serena took another sip of the wine, as she studied her neighbor in the darkness. It wasn't a night to sit out on your porch and relax. The moon was hidden and the street lamp that usually lit up their road was out. Outside, the air felt empty and alone. It was an inky black, with not a shred of light, but Serena felt that the man was comfortable on this sort of night.

Like maybe he could relate to it.

Serena pulled away from the kitchen window. She finished the last of her wine with one long swallow. She barely turned on the tap, too afraid to make too much noise and cleaned out her glass. Taking the towel nearby, she dried it and set it back in the cupboard.

Serena then replaced the meat, setting it back exactly where she had gotten it from the freezer, before she went back to her favored window. It stood in the front of the house, so that she was able to see the front yard and her neighbor's house. But most of all, it was the one window, where she could watch the sun set beyond the cliff that over looked the ocean just on the other side of the road.

Turning her attention back to her neighbor, she found him still sitting in the same chair; looking out towards the cliff, with what could have been a sad expression on his face. She wasn't sure, but she was curious and because of that, she stayed to watch instead of heading back to bed.

A moment passed by with her watching him and he barely moved from his spot the whole time. That is, until something swooped down from the right. His arm lifted and a snowy white owl, perched itself their.

How strange, she thought, wondering when owls had become so trusting to humans. But the owl nuzzled his cheek as if to say hello. Serena watched entranced, as he cared for the bird, feeding it something from his pocket and sending it on its way.

The owl let out a cry and swooped past her window. If she hadn't known better, she would have sworn that the owl had known she was there. Pulling away from the window, Serena turned away. She moved quietly through the house, careful to avoid the creaks of the old floorboards.

Entering her room, she eased the door shut and laid down on her bed. Locked away in the back of the house, Serena sighed. She pulled the blankets up to her chest and closed her eyes.

Sleep, she told herself. Go to sleep.

And she did.

----

The next day, Serena woke to the sound of fighting. With a groan, she rolled over onto her back. She bit her lip to keep from making a sound, as her back screamed with pain.

Sitting up in bed, she gritted her teeth in irritation as a lone tear streaked its way down her cheek. Brushing it away harshly, she got to her feet. It was a little after nine, so she had just enough time to get dressed before she had to leave.

Finding the outfit she had set aside yesterday, she slipped out of her pajamas. Clean underwear and bra came on first. Next were her jeans and a sweatshirt. She didn't dare try to wear the shirt she had planned to wear beneath it. She barely had the energy to work with what she had already done.

Last but not least, she pulled her sneakers onto her bare feet and slipped her bag gently over her shoulders.

Finally ready to open her door, she stepped out into the hallway. "You've been drinking my wine again!" she heard her mother shriek, before she heard something crash.

Serena hesitated, questioning her choices and the decision she had come up with last night. She had learned to never stand up for her mother against one of her latest live-in boyfriends. It only got herself into trouble by both sides of the fight.

But she knew of Jonathan's anger and she wondered if leaving her mother behind would be smart. Stopping at the entry of the kitchen, she peered inside.

Her mother stood at the sink, the exact spot Serena had been just hours ago. She held the bottle of wine in one hand, while the other pointed at Jonathan accusingly.

Jonathan stood near the fridge, broken glass surrounding his feet. He was red in the face, his anger swelling within him like a beast. "Get out," her mother screamed, her finger moving to point at the front door.

Ilene was a small woman, but she wasn't weak. Even when she had too much to drink, she knew how to handle herself against a man. But sometimes, she did get in over her head, like that time with Charlie three years ago. That had been a mess.

Serena turned her eyes away from her mother to see Jonathan's reaction. He was fuming now, veins protruding from his neck, as he kept himself from acting on his rage.

"Fine," he growled. He then turned and left through the front door. Serena's mother sagged back against the counter, her mouth twisting into a snarl. "Where do you think you're going," she asked through narrowed eyes.

Obviously, her mother had already begun to drink. "The store, we're running low on some things," she answered quickly. Her mother was waving the bottle threateningly around in the air.

"Whatever," her mother sighed. She then moved to the cupboard to pour herself another glass. Usually her mother drank wine in the evening, but it seemed having the bottle right there was much easier, than hunting for the rest of her stash. "Don't be too long."

Serena nodded and quickly followed after Jonathan. The man had already gotten into his car, a yellow Volvo and was backing out of the driveway. He purposefully ran into their garbage can, sending all of the contents out into the street and in their neighbor's yard.

Serena sighed from the doorway of her front door. Closing her eyes, she let out the breath of air she hadn't realized she had been holding. Opening them again, she willed herself to be strong and stepped out into the fresh cold air.

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Please tell me wat you think of this story so far, I hope to update next week, maybe on my 21st birthday :D yay me :D ttyl guys, enjoy the glorious days ahead of you.

LP