Chapter One

In Godric's Hallow, all was quiet. It was fall, and the Potter's house was dark. Suddenly, a loud SMACK was heard.

"Listen to me!" yelled James Potter, glaring at the crying Lily Potter on the floor. "We have to join forces with Riddle! If we don't, he will kill me and you! Is that what you want?"

Lily looked up, tears still running down her face. Then she slowly looked back down again, unwilling to look at the monster of a man that happened to be her husband.

"LOOK AT ME!" James screamed, and hit her again.

~A few minutes earlier, on the other side of the Hallow~

Bathilda Bagshot shuffled over to a fork in the road, and started a pit in the dirt. She was about to publish a new book, and her friend had said to bury a box with her picture, some dirt that she gave Bathilda, and a black cat. Bathilda was a bit worried that this was black magic, but her friend had assured her that it wasn't. And so, here she was.

Bathilda continued scraping at the gravel road until it was deep enough to place the box in. Doing so, she buried it and stood up. There, a man stood.

"Hello, love," said the man. He was stocky and short, with black hair and green eyes. "What can I do for you this fine evening?"

"I-I am publishing a b-book, and my friend said to bury a box here," she stammered. The man smiled and took a step closer.

"Well, I believe I can help you with that. See, I'm a crossroads demon. The name's Crowley," he said, holding out his hand. Bathilda shook it timidly.

"Now, here's how it works. I will make sure that your book does well, but I'll be back in, say…" he checked a non-existent watch. "Ten years."

"Oh, yes please," Bathilda breathed out, and turned to go.

"Woah, woah, woah. Come back here," Crowley said. When she was standing in front of him, he said, "I'll be needing a kiss, to seal the deal."

Bathilda was dumbfounded for a moment then nodded and came closer.

~Later that night, when the deal was done~

Crowley stood, looking up at a dark house, fuming. He had heard a man beating his wife. Crowley may have been a demon, but he hated men who beat their women. Making a decision, he walked up to the door and in the house.

A few minutes later, he walked out holding Lily bridal style. When they were walking down the stairs to the porch, she stirred. He said, "Sssshh, love. You don't want to wake up right now," and maybe it was his demon powers working, or maybe it was the tender voice that Lily had been craving for so long, but she went right back to sleep.

Crowley smiled, and walked on. Calling a few demons, he said with steel in his voice, "Grab that bastard and take him to where things get done.

The demons nodded, and Crowley left, with Lily Potter none the wiser.

~In an old warehouse, unknown location~

Crowley walked in with two demons behind him. They were carrying James Potter, and he was already messed up pretty face was puffed up, his lip was bleeding, and his arm was bent at an odd angle. Still, he fought the demons holding him, albeit weakly.

"Put him here," Crowley told the demons, patting an old table.

When James was strapped down, Crowley stepped a bit closer and punched him in the stomach. Grunting, James choked out, "Are you with Riddle? I'll help you, I know lots of attack spells-" and he was cut off by another punch to the gut.

"Why don't you shut up, you blithering bastard," growled Crowley. "I'm not with Riddle, whoever the hell that is. I'm here because I don't tolerate men who beat their wives."

James's eyes darkened in anger. "What's it to you? It wasn't affecting you in any way, and she should've showed me the proper respect-" This time he was cut off from a knife to his throat. He swallowed nervously, his adams apple pricking the blade.

"It affects me because I'm an upstanding citizen, and all that nonsense," Crowley purred, and reached down to the table with quite a few shining metal instruments the the other demons had brought in. "Now, how's about we have some fun, eh?"

James looks down at the knife, summons his courage, and bares his throat. "Do your worst."

"Gladly."

~James's screams echo through the warehouse. Meanwhile, Lily is waking up in Crowley's manor~

Lily woke up in a bed. Her head and stomach hurt, from James. She heard scuffling from what she assumed was outside a door, and shut her eyes tight. The bed was unusually comfortable, and she didn't want James to find out she was awake.

She heard something clattering beside her bed, and though she was curious as to what it was, she kept her eyes closed. She then heard footsteps to the door, and heard a latch clicking into place.

Wait, latch? Her and James's bedroom didn't have a latch.

She sat up and looked around. This definitely wasn't their house. There were drapes across the windows, and she was in a huge four-poster bed. Other than an old dresser at the foot of the bed and a nightstand beside the bed, the room was empty. Still, it was… homey, in a way. James had refused her design ideas, and insisted on leaving their house the way it was.

On the nightstand there was an old silver platter filled with food. Lily liked to cook, but she really wasn't that good. This food looked amazing, with golden brown toast and perfect eggs, with a pitcher of OJ and a glass. She dug in.

Halfway through her meal, the door opened. Immediately, her hand went to her pocket, and she found her wand was missing. She felt a shiver of apprehension go down her spine, and she looked at the door to see who was going to come through…

Or rather what. In walked a house elf, bringing in a few dresses. The elf had walked in backwards, and therefore had not seen that Lily was awake. Lily was getting increasingly confused. Where was she?

The elf turned around, saw Lily, squeaked and dropped it's dresses. Lily leaped up instinctively to help, and started gathering up the dresses.

"Hello!" she said. "What is your name?"

"My name is Alfie, Miss," he replied. "Master Crowley said I was to take care of yous. Alfie has been trying, Miss, but he burned the eggs a bit. Alfie is sorry, Miss, and he will make you more if you want him to."

Lily raised her eyebrows and looked at the eggs. To her they looked perfect, but maybe Alfie saw something she didn't. She turned back to the elf, who was now folding the dresses. "No, it's fine, Alfie. The eggs were delicious."

"Thank you, Miss, now if you want to you can wear these dresses. Master Crowley said he would be back at nine o'clock, and it is eight thirty, Miss."

"Oh, yes, Alfie, thank you. Now, tell me about this Crowley. And where am I?"

Alfie set down the dresses in a drawer of the dresser and sighed. "Alfie is sorry, Miss, but Master Crowley forbade Alfie to tell yous anything about him. But Alfie may tell yous where Miss is, and yous is in Mississippi. Even Alfie does not know where in Mississippi, though, so Alfie is sorry, Miss."

"Oh, no, Alfie. It's alright. Thank you," Lily said, smiling. Alfie looked pleased and left. When the door closed, however, Lily let the smile drop. America? She had never been to America. She looked around the room, and found that the door was latched and the window was rusted shut. Sighing, she sat on the bed and thought about her predicament. She did not know what Crowley wanted with her, and she did not know where James was. Although the fact that he had forbade his house elf to say anything about him was definitely a bad sign.

Well, she thought. Might as well please Crowley, especially since he's the only one who knows what's going on. She got up to put on one of the dresses. Maybe he will tell me where James is. Though if he does know where, I hope it's a while until he can see me. I don't want him to find me anytime soon.

~Thirty minutes later, in Crowley's manor~

Crowley came in the front door with a sigh. James hadn't lasted long, so Crowley hadn't been able to use all the instruments on the table before James passed out. You never know, he thought happily. Maybe he'll survive a bit longer.

This brought a smile to his face, and that smile only got bigger as he remembered he had a guest. Lily Potter.

Alfie appeared with a sharp CRACK in front of him, and took his coat and bag. "Good morning, Master Crowley. Your guest is upstairs in the bedroom, like you wanted."

Crowley kept walking. "Thank you, Alfie. Put those on my bed, please."

"Of course, Master." CRACK.

Walking up the stairs, Crowley got increasingly nervous. What if she didn't like him? Or asked questions he couldn't answer, like where her abusive husband was? He supposed he could answer that one and see how she took it, then put her out with family friends, or something of that sort.

He came to the guest room, took a deep breath, and walked in.

Lily jumped up, having gotten dressed and waited on the bed, getting increasingly bored. Crowley put his hands up like he was being arrested, and said, "Woah, hold on, love. I'm here to help, surprisingly."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?" said Lily.

Crowley almost laughed at her choice of words, but held himself back. She was like a cornered dog at the moment, and so he would treat her like one. Stay calm, and no sudden movements. "I'm sure you have lots of questions, so ask away. I'll answer them if I can."

Lily lowered herself onto the bed slowly, still taking in the man in front of her. He wasn't bad looking, she noticed. But that was beside the point. "Where am I? Where's my wand? What do you want? Are you sided with You-Know-Who? And where is James?"

Crowley considered for a moment. "I believe I can answer all of those questions except for one. You are in my house, in Mississippi. I took your wand so you wouldn't blast your way out or hurt Alfie. I just wanted to help you whenI heard James hurting you. I actually don't Know-Who, and…" Crowley looked away. "James is dead."

Lily's knees gave out, and she fell onto the bed. "He's dead?"

"Yes."

Lily thought about her answers to the rest of the questions. She felt no grief for James, really, but she was in shock from finally being free. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Not longer than you usually would sleep, just 8 hours or so."

Lily looked at him sharply. "I'm in America! How did you get me into this country so quickly?"

Crowley smiled. "Lily, dear, I'm a demon. I can shadow travel."

"A demon?"

"Yes. Not all demons can shadow travel, you know, only the ones, er, higher up," he replied.

Lily digested this little tidbit of information. "Can I have my wand back? Or am I a prisoner?"

"No! No, no, no," Crowley said hastily. "I just wanted to help. You can leave at anytime. I just wanted to explain where you were so you wouldn't blow me up.

"Alfie!" Crowley shouted suddenly, making Lily jump. The elf appeared with a crack, and Crowley said, "Alfie, please bring Miss Lily's wand to us."

"Yes, Master Crowley," the elf replied obediently, and Disapparated again, reappearing a few moments later with her wand.

Crowley took it, and when the elf had left, he looked at her warily. "You aren't going to blast me with this, right?"

Lily considered. "It's not likely."

Crowley sighed, and handed it to her. "I suppose it's the best I'm going to get."

Lily took her wand and examined it, looking for anything out of the ordinary. She turned to look at Crowley thoughtfully. "Thank you, Crowley."

Crowley waved it off. "Ah, it was nothing," he said happily. "If you want to, you can leave through the front door. If not, lunch is whatever Alfie decides to try."

Crowley stood up and left. Lily looked after the short man with affection. He may have been a demon, but she had no intention of leaving. She was going to take care of this man, whatever it took.

Hey guys, so... I don't know what kind of reception this story will get, but I'm just hoping for some feedback. Review, and give me ideas for this story!

~Gridline