All rights belong to J.K Rowling. I do not own any characters.

/Author Note/

Beta is CuppaTea90 please give her credit as she had been awesome to work with. I also want to note the following to the readers. Tom Marvolo Riddle aka Lord Voldemort, died at the age of 16 when he tried his hand at making a Horcrux. There were no wars, Harry's parents are still alive. Bellatrix and all dark wizards are in Azkaban for crimes against the Wizarding community and the use of dark magic. Please note this also brings up the fact the Longbottoms are also alive too. Bellatrix didn't get to them as she and the following dark wizards: Rabastan, Rodolphus, and Bartemius Crouch Jr were in Azkaban at the time.

-/-

Prologue

The rain was coming down pretty hard, it didn't seem like it was going to let up. Lyra's feet hurt and she had no idea how far she'd walked. She ran to a bus shelter up ahead to shelter from the rain, she sat there trying to stop shivering. She opened her rucksack to look for a blanket, but everything she touched was wet. Tears ran from her eyes as her mother's voice rang in her ears, "You are worthless little scum, not even worthy to be around this family. You are nothing you don't even deserve to sit, stand and be around your father, brother and I. You are nothing! You should be a house elf the way you are sniffling, just like Dobby". Lyra tucked her hands underneath her armpits as she felt herself shiver harder.

"Hey sweetie, hey. It's okay, where are your parents?" A rough voice asked her softly. Lyra looked up to a strange woman stood scratching at her arms. Lyra tried to scoot away from the strange woman but she just knelt down in front of her.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. Look, why don't you come with me, we'll get you out of those wet clothes and into some warm, dry ones. I make a mean hot chocolate; would you like that?" She said as she held her palm out to Lyra. A few minutes passed as Lyra thought about taking her hand, she wanted to be warm and this woman may take her further away from her mother and keep her safe. Even though she was a stranger, Lyra couldn't help but feel this lady would help her.

Finally, Lyra grasped the bizarre's lady hand. "You can call me Mia, okay. May I ask your name?"

"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." Lyra retorted back. A laugh rang out in the air.

"Your parents would be proud for not talking to me. Hey, don't cry. Dry those crocodile tears now, I think with your tears and this rain the park might form a lake, don't you think?" A small giggle came out of Lyra's mouth as she wiped her tears away.

"I'm going to take my jacket off ok? I'm going to have you put it on you to keep you dry until we get to my place. I'm going to carry you, but first, let's put your rucksack back on. Okay." Mia unzipped her jacket and helped Lyra into it. When they were ready, Mia made sure Lyra was covered as best as possible in her jacket.

They stepped out of the shelter and Lyra held on tight as she jostled to and fro in Mia's arms. When they arrived safely at a rundown apartment complex, Mia placed Lyra on the ground. "Okay, sweetie. I'm going to need you to be quiet for a bit okay." As she planted a finger on her lips with a nod from Lyra, she led Lyra quietly inside.

Lyra felt the walls shake and heard a man and a woman groaning and moaning as she passed the door. She looked up at Mia and tightened the jacket around her arms, she felt a bit safer being near Mia. She heard loud noises behind another door they passed, where she heard a woman crying and a man shouting, followed by a glass shattering. Lyra's ears perked up as she remembered her parents fighting and she tried to turn away, Mia stopped her, "Hey, it's okay. We are almost there sweetie, a few more doors okay. Then we can get you in something dry and some hot chocolate." Mia told Lyra as she held her hand.

Lyra watched Mia as she patted herself down, then with a flick of her fingers she turned to her. "One second, I just need to get my keys" Mia said softly as she leaned down to Lyra opening a zipper on the front of the jacket. Mia pulled out something shiny that had lots of weird shapes that made a noise as Mia moved them towards the door, putting one of them in a hole. Back home you just used the handle to open the door.

Entering into the flat, Mia lay Lyra on the tattered sofa and went to change her own wet clothes. When she returns, Lyra was fast asleep. Mia watched the little girl snore softly on the couch, for some odd reason, and she really didn't know why, she wanted to help the little girl.

Sometime later, she went to the kitchen to find something to feed the girl, finding barely had anything except for milk, cereal, and chocolate in the cabinets. She decided to go make the hot chocolate she promised at the bus stop, knowing the loud voices had made the girl scared.

When Mia heard a shuffling noise come from the front room, she leaned against the wall and she watched the little girl stretch up and rub her eyes. She waited for the girl to recognize her surroundings and when their eyes connected, she walked forwards with the hot chocolate and placed it on the side table.

"Hi, hot chocolate nice and warm."

The little girl stared at Mia she blinked for a couple minutes until, speaking so softly that it took a second to hear the girl, "Miss Mia, is there a toilet somewhere I need the bathroom?"

Smiling kindly Mia held out her hand, "of course, sweetheart. Follow me." She led the little girl to the room and she turned around to go back to the front room.

As soon as she had finished, Lyra rushed back to the living room as she wanted to drink the hot chocolate on the table. She noticed Miss Mia was sitting on the couch drinking from a cup and so she did the same, picking up her cup, she blew softly like she was taught by her father. Taking a dainty sip, she felt the warmth wash throughout from head to toe and smiled. Laughing softly Miss Mia inquired "Yummy then?"

Not wanting to be impolite she nodded her head, "Thank you Miss Mia" replied. "Sweetie, may I ask why you were out at the park all alone? Were you lost? Have you run away from home?" Mia asked with concern in her eyes.

While Lyra didn't say much to Mia about her predicament, sitting quietly with her eyes on the floor, Mia already had an idea on what happened. "I think you ran away from home sweetie. From the looks of it, you ran away from someone at home. Am I right? Your cheek is now a little swollen and you're very small to be out on your own. But I want you to know it takes huge courage to fight back in knowledge. To do that you read, absorb all you can so when you're ready to fight back you can spit out what you learn."

oOoOoOo

A couple of hours later, Mia and Lyra stood in front of the police station. It was raining softly and neither wanted to let go of the other's hand. Mia turned to face Lyra and knelt down to eye level. "Sweetie, I want you to go in there tell them your name okay. They are going to help you." She took off a necklace that had a pendant with an engagement ring beside it. "I want you to keep this okay. This will protect you from any harm. I'm going to have you keep my jacket to keep you warm and safe."

"Will we see each other again, Miss Mia?" Lyra asked, Mia hung her head, she bit her lip and shook her head. "No. I don't think we will. But if we do you, don't contact me. Okay? You may not believe this, you are a very bright and don't ever let anyone, I mean anyone say you're not." Mia grasped Lyra's hands firmly looking into her eyes, "Okay? I know you rarely spoke at my place, but I figure that someone is abusing you. This is why I am giving you my necklace, to keep you safe. I'm not a perfect person, I lost my children years ago. It was my fault, what happened to my family and now I'm paying the price. But I hope that by helping you, I can make things better for somebody. Now go on, sweetheart, they will help you." Mia placed a kiss on Lyra's cheek, and hugged her tightly before nudging her gently towards the door.

Lyra turned around one last time, and Miss Mia waved. She walked through the doors and up to a woman in a cap sat at the desk. With a final glance at the doors she stopped for a moment to tuck Miss Mia's necklace under her shirt, "I'll find you Miss Mia to thank you for helping me" she whispered.

-/-

Miss Mia watched her go inside as she rubbed and scratched at her arms. She felt an ached inside her chest as she knew deep down inside she did a good thing. A quick pivot and she headed back to her apartment where a bag of crack waiting for her to be smoked. The young girl had stirred something inside of her. Mia knew she was heading down terrible road, but maybe with this little assistance from the girl, she could get help and her change her ways.

-/-

Two weeks later...

Mia sat on her bed as her hands were shaking her breathing were labored. She knew she needed her next fix soon, her eyes were already getting antsy. Her friend Tanya had told her to find her at the pub down the street for another hit, but it came with a price. She looked up at a photograph of a man and a few people around them. Tears fell from her face as she knew her life, the way it is now was her fault, she only had herself to blame.