A/N: I would very much like to thank my wonderful beta Lisa Lee (Lisasnape) for her quick and through editing.
Disclaimer: There are characters in this story that belong to J.K. Rowling, I just changed them a bit to suit my own story and I am not profiting from this.
So without further ado, Taken...


"How many times do we die inside before we really die?" This was the question that ran through my head over and over again as I sat in a dark, cold, and dingy cellar of some sort, listening to the rats running and skidding across the floor.
How long had I been there?
How long would I be there?
Wouldn't anyone come save me?
These questions accompanied the first today because I was ready to give up my hopes of being rescued. I felt as though I had been here for months, years even... yet no one had come for me.
Well, since I have nothing but time here I guess I will tell you a little about myself and how I came to be here...
My name is Raven. I am 17 years old and am a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am about 5'6 in height and average weight; my long blond hair and piercing green eyes had most boys in such a trance they could barely talk to me, so I was usually guy-less. That didn't much matter to me, seeing as I had my 3 best friends always by my side. Lily Evans, the first and "leader" you could call her, was smart, pretty, funny, and had the school's hottest guy after her constantly, with her amazingly fast wit and long red hair that seemed to glow when she got angry at him. Gemini Sarah, was next. She was the shortest of us all at 5'3, but that never stopped her from anything. Almost a month before I was taken, she finally got up the nerve to say something to her long-time crush, Siruis Black. Although she never really asked him out, her territory was pretty much made when she kissed him in front of the whole school. Then came me. When I had first come here, my black hair had been the envy of so many and my blue eyes could melt any cold heart. The summer before my 5th year, on my 15th birthday to be exact, I got my full powers. I could turn into any animal at will and talk to people through their minds. This also came with my hair turning so blond it was almost white and my eyes turned a bright green, only darkening when I was angry. Only my friends had recognized me when I came back to school. The last of our little group was Kerry. She was a kindhearted person that would never dream of letting someone down. She was about 5'5 and had short brown hair and cute brown eyes to match, but the thing that made her stand out the most was the streak of red that ran through her hair. Her father had put it there as a child, charming it there until the day Kerry died, then sent her off to the babysitters and was never seen again. Although the babysitter had taken her and kept her with love and the nuturing of a mother, when she finally learned the truth, Kerry had locked herself away for months in a tower refusing to come out because she felt her whole life had been a lie. There was only one person that could fix it, and that had been her "just friends" friend at the time, Remus Lupin. He had gone to that tower everyday for almost a month before she finally came out and both admitted their love. They had planned on getting married the day after graduation.
I wonder if they still will...
Maybe later, after I rest a bit, I can tell you a bit about my life before I was taken, and how I was taken. But as I said, for now I simply need rest.

















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Ok, even though my fantasitc beta (Lisasnape) was the only one nice enough to leave feedback I now present chapter 2:

My life was fairly basic outside of the problems and drawbacks to my appearance. I had grown up in a place known as Lima, Ohio. When I was 8 years old my mother was killed in a robbery, trying to protect a pregnant woman, so my father decided we would bring her body back to Britain, where she would be buried alongside the rest of her family. We moved here to be close to her.
Then another shock came about 2 and a half years later when I got my Hogwarts letter. At first my father didn't quite understand, but less than 10 minutes later there was a knock at our door which I answered to find a very excited red-headed girl.
"So, it was you then? Oh my, what fantastic news! I thought myself and Sev here where the only ones around that could do magic!" She said this all so fast it took me a moment to decipher what she had said and to notice the small, pale, black-haired boy standing behind her.
"I'm sorry but do I know you? I mean, I have lived here for quite some time and never knew there were any other children around." I replied.
"Right sorry," the girl said back waving her hand slightly, bringing the boy forward. "My name is Lily Evans, and this is my best friend Severus Snape. We live about two blocks away and were playing at the park when I saw your owl fly overhead. We followed it in hopes of finding another witch or wizard."
"Alright," I said slowly before sticking out my hand to shake Lily's then Severus's. "My name is Raven, I moved here a few years ago after my mother died, I just got that letter but I don't quite understand what it means. What exactly is Hogwarts, and where is Diagon Alley? My, this is all so confusing." This made Lily laugh softly.
"Yes I had the same questions, but thankfully for me, and now you, Sev here can explain everything."
So he did. Over the next few hours my father and I sat listening as Severus explained exactly what I was and patiently answered every question we threw at him. Finally, when it got dark, Severus and Lily made to leave but I turned to my father... "Daddy, could Lily stay with me tonight? That is, if she wants." I turned back to her questioningly. She smiled and nodded back.
My father looked thoughtful for a moment before he agreed and grabbed his keys. "Well, if she is, then why don't I give little Sev here a ride back to his house, then take Lily to her house and meet her parents while she collects a few things." With that he walked out the door, mussing Sev's hair as he passed, leaving Severus looking slightly shocked but pleased as well. Lily waited until he followed my father before whispering, "Sev's father isn't really the nicest. I won't say more for fear of angering him but I will say that, attention like that is something he isn't used to. Please don't say anything to him about it; he hates when people look at him with pity." I felt a flicker of pity before I realized that it didn't matter to me what or who his parents were. I liked him regardless, so I nodded and together we walked out the door, and down the driveway where my dad and Sev were chatting away. The sight made me smile, and a thought crossed my mind "Maybe they were exactly what the other needed."
Over the next few years, the friendship between Lily and Sev would dwindle away until it was nothing, but even as Sev shut himself away from the other students and teachers, he became ever closer to my father. They spent much of their free time together and before I knew it, Sev was a part of my family. Many summer and holiday nights found him on our couch, hiding from his father who never seemed to find him at our house. About the time of our 6th year, Sev and I had grown so close we told each other absolutely everything. At school he chose to hide our friendship for fear of my being hurt or tortured for information that he had passed to me. To this day, no one even knows that we know each other. That I'm sure of, because if they did, I would surely be dead.
Now comes the part in my tale that surely isn't for the weak-hearted... My Capture.
***
You see it all started the last day of term, just after I had gotten off the train. I was walking to the place where I would meet my father; then we would drive four blocks away and wait for Sev to come meet us. I had just walked past a post with a brick column that supported the ceiling when I felt a pair of strong hands reach out and grab me from behind. One covered my mouth and the other encircled my waist, pulling me back until I found myself in a small room used to hold lost luggage. I was released and whipped around only to find myself face to face with...


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Well, actually I didn't know who it was. But something about him told me not to be afraid so when he released me slightly I didn't try to run, instead I asked, "Who are you? Why are you here? What do you want with me?"
This series of questions earned me a smile and the boy said, "You really are a curious one aren't you?" I nodded slowly and took a moment to study his apperance incase I needed to repeat it later to the cops or whoever need be.
He was a fairly tall 5'8 and he had the most amazing blonde hair, it almost seemed to glow in the semi-darkness. He had these startling grey eyes the were harder to see because locks of his hair kept falling into his face where he let them stay.Even though he wore the basic robes I could tell he had a nicely toned chest and arms. There was a slight smirk that seemed locked onto his face except it seemed softer then you would expect, sweet maybe. The whole apperance was matched with a steady sense of pride and accomplishment that seemed to roll off of him in waves... This boy, he was... well, hott. To say the least.I knew he had to be about 17 or 18 himself.
When my eyes finally found themselves locked with his he spoke again, "I suppose I should answer your questions, Uncle Sna--- I mean someone, told me you are quite the no-nonsense person."
"Well that person was right. But you sir seem to be stalling so I see no reason to stick around." I turned to leave choosing to ignore the fact that he had almost said something that sounded like "Uncle Snape"
"Wait! I'm not stalling, it's just that this is going to involve a long explanation of sorts, and we are in a Lost-and-Found closet." He said this in a way that reminded me of Sev, his face lookiing almost panicked at the thought of me leaving. I turned back to him and motioned him to follow me back outside. He did. We walked over to where my dad was usually parked only to find him gone. I knew that since I had been late he would have gone to fetch Sev before coming back for me or meeting up with me somewhere. So I turned and began walking the other way figuring I would walk the four blocks and meet the guys there. Once again the boy was following me, which I hadn't really expected figuring he would get bored and leave. When we got the other meet up spot I found that it to had been deserted so I started the long trek home, after about 5 minutes of silence the boy fell in step next to me and said, "I apologize the least I could have done was told you my name. I am Draco, nice to meet you."
I smiled, loving the sound of his name, repeating it to myself and I looked back and said, "My name is Raven, and nice to meet you too Draco." My tounge seemed to tingle saying his name. It was then I relaized that I was looking him in the eyes, they seemed to have less of an effect on him. I was kinda glad so I shrugged it off and smiled again. He smiled back, not a smirk but a full smile and I swear, it was my heart that melted. I hoped he would say something else but after a few minutes we lapsed back into silence. But it wasn't akward or anything, it was a comfortable silence. Like the ones Sev and I shared after he would spill his guts about everything that had happened, I think telling those things made him feel better, I was glad for that. He needed some kind of escape in life.
We were almost half-way home when he finally spoke up, "Excuse me, but where are we going Raven? We have been walking for quite a bit."
I felt a small chill run through my veins when he said my name before mentally smacking myself. "Wake up Raven!!! You don't even know him!!!" I laughed softly before looking at Draco and said, "My house, I can't seem to find my dad so we walk, besides walking is good for you." I quickened my pace forcing him to do the same otherwise he would lose me, before either of us knew it, we were running, running so fast I could barely see the ground beneath me feet. I had always loved running, it made me feel free from the rest of the world, like nothing could touch me. Except something did, something warm. I looked down at my hand to see it being cased in by Draco's vastly larger hand. I looked back up at him questioningly and he said, "There is no way I'm taking the chance of loosing you. So I'll just hold on tight." I smiled and felt my cheeks blush a bit... wait! I don't blush! Woah this was weird. I mean really, I had always been the good girl. Always did my homework, followed rules. Did what I was told, stayed away from strangers and such. But here I was, me, Raven. Holding hands with a boy I had met less than an hour ago and taking him home no less!
But something made me trust him, I wasn't sure. To this day I'm still not entirely sure what it was that made me trust him but I did. So, for once in my life I sat back and went with the flow.
Finally about 10 minutes later, he followed me and we both collapsed, laughing onto my front lawn. We lay there for a few minutes and after he had been quite for a few minutes I turned to look at him. He was close, closer than I had thought. He was studying me, like I had done to him, only it seemed more intense. Like he was looking for something that he knew was there, he just had to look close. Oh boy, was he to. It seemed like he was getting closer... No, he was getting closer. That's when it happened, the moment my life changed into something totally different. He kissed me. This wasn't just a peck either, he kissed me full on the lips, his hand floated down to my waist where he gently pulled me closer. My own hands found their way into his hair, threading themselves through his thick, silky locks. It didn't matter that no one had ever kissed me like this before. It didn't matter that I knew nothing more about Draco then his name. It didn't even matter that I was pretty sure people were watching out their windows. All that mattered to me... and I'm sure him, was how right it felt at that moment. That for once everything seemed peaceful and at ease. Like the last peice of a puzzle, the sound it always seems to make as you click it into place? That was it. When he pulled away I thought maybe something was wrong but instantly relaxed when I looked up to see him smiling back down at me. I looked around to see that there were in fact people watching us, this made me blush and I said "Maybe we should go inside now."
He laughed and stood up pulling me with him, together we walked into the house to find it empty. But a quick search revealed a note from my dad saying he had taken Sev to some fight or something and wouldn't be back until later. I took a deep breath and turned to Draco, "Alright, no more stalling. Start explaining."
He nodded and said "You might want to sit, this is quite the story." I laughed and fell back on the couch, this time I pulled him with me and did something I had never done before. I snuggled up close under his arm and waited for him to begin.

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