The bulbous moon was high in the sky and broke through the dead winter forest and shone upon a woman. Her curly blonde hair brightly reflected onto her sons round face covered in shaggy chocolate locks. The boy looked young, for his mother was tightly holding onto his hand as they rushed through the forest. The forest was almost silent except for the rustling of dead leaves beneath the mothers bare feet and the sound of their heavy breathing. The mother looked over her shoulder as she heard another pair of footsteps running through the dead leaves that were much heavier and faster then hers.

Stopping, the mother found herself and her son in a small meadow within the dead forest. All of the flowers were dead from the winter frost, giving the clearing a grayish color. The footsteps were fading from her hearing, but then something else appeared. A large wolf launched out from behind the mangled trees. It walked on two legs, and the mother quickly realized what this monster was. A werewolf.

The mother pushed her small son behind her to protect him. The werewolf began to charge, so the mother apparated. Little did she know that her son had let go of her hand to cover his eyes out of fear. The young boy had been abandoned by his mother to face the beast alone.

The werewolf circled his prey, fully aware that this young boy could not fight back. Building up all of his courage the young boy tried to walk backwards. Tripping the werewolf gave him a piercing glare. The werewolf smiled, baring its fangs; it being fully aware that it would have a meal tonight. The little boy stared into the creature's piercing yellow eyes, and fear struck him to the core.

The boy made one last attempt at life as he darted to the left. Although the werewolf was too fast and was in the air with one swift movement, its claws outstretched. The young boy closed his eyes and prepared for a feeling he did not dare imagine. The werewolf's claws ripped through the boys chest, grazing him just before his neck. The blood emitting from his wound soaked through his powder blue shirt all the way to his now blood stained coat.

Unbelievable pain surged through his wound, as if poison were being injected into his skin by thousands of sharp needles. The young boy couldn't watch one more second as he neared the end of his young life. Tears streaming upon his face he closed his eyes and prepared for a pain unlike any other, death. He could hear the unmistakable growling of the ferocious beast and awaited his last attack. Within seconds he could hear the large feet of the werewolf charging. When the footsteps could no longer be heard the boy took in a breath and now the monster was in the air.

A shot cracked in the cool night air, and suddenly the footsteps stopped. The boy opened his eyes to see the beast, hunched over, with scarlet liquid pouring down his shoulder. Smoke rose from the wound, which appeared to be a perfectly round hole. Within moments the beast snapped its head into the direction from which the shot came from.

Standing there was a man with rifle in hand. Smoke was emerging from the tip of the gun and evaporating into the thin air. To the boy, he looked like some sort of superhero, with his unwavering stature and fearless look in his eyes. The beast, holding its grotesque hand to its wound, made a guttural sound, like some kind of evil growl. Its yellow eyes burned with an emotion stronger than anger, and as the beast leaped off of the ground in the direction of the man, its eyes glowed with blood lust. Before the werewolf could even get to the man, another shot rang out, shooting the monster back to where it jumped from. This bullet pierced it right in it's stomach. Fully aware that this wound could kill him, the werewolf sulked away from the two, clutching it's bleeding stomach.

Once the werewolf had lurked off into the mist of the tangled forest, the man with the rifle ran toward the boy who still laid upon the cold damp ground. The man dropped the gun and soon shadowed the boy in what seemed to be a hug. Tears stained the man's face as he picked up the boy and rifle, then made his way through the dead wood. The man emerged from the mass of twisted branches, cradling the wounded boy in his arms. All the boy could feel was this deep, dark pain that seemed to reach his very soul. The pain was so severe that he couldn't even comprehend what was happening. The world around him got darker and darker, and the last thing he remembered was a glimpse of a humble little cottage, something that looked right out of a dark fairytale. Then the world went black, and he was left alone with his torment...

The sun shone brightly upon the small village of Rotherfield. The little town consisted of a few farms, some shops, quite a few homes, and a cottage a little outside of town that was tucked away next to the lush forest surrounding the village. The cottage had white stone walls with pale red bricks for the door frame and window frames. Smoke rose from the red brick chimney. The inviting little home wasn't exactly comforting once you stepped inside despite it's happy outside exterior. Inside was a hectic little family preparing for the end of summer and the beginning of fall.

Inside, clothing of all sorts were strewn across the floor and draped over furniture. Books of all shapes, sizes, and colors were stacked on the table, and sprawled across the floor. One very peculiar brown book had a belt fastened around it. Voices and clattering sounded throughout the house. Then a boy appeared. He looked about seventeen, with mussed dark brown hair and tan skin. He was very tall, and very muscular, but in a lean way. The boy wore a white button-down shirt, with only half of its buttons done up, with a pair of black slacks. He rushed over to the sofa where a grey sweater lay, and wrenched it on, while almost simultaneously finishing the buttons on his shirt. "RUSTY!" he yelled, "Where in the bloody hell did you put my tie?"

"Trenton!" spoke a female voice coming from the other room. "Don't use that language with your brother!" Then a woman appeared. She was relatively petite, with greying blonde hair and fair skin. In her hand she held a gold and red striped tie.

The boy smiled, and replied, "Thanks, mum."

Right after the words came out of the boy's mouth, another, much smaller, boy, came rushing in. He too wore a white button-down underneath a grey sweater with black slacks, but he was also wearing a gold and red striped tie loosely slung around his neck. He had dark hair like his brother, but with piercing turquoise eyes instead of hazel, and his skin was much more fair. "Trent, why do you always blame me for your mistakes?"

"Shut up, Rusty," replied Trenton while shoving books and random clothing articles into a large brown trunk.

"Don't tell me to shut up. Its not nice," mocked Rusty, his voice nearly dripping in sarcasm.

Rusty kneeled beside Trenton, and started to fill an almost identical trunk with almost identical clothing and items. With a brotherly shove, Trenton knocked Rusty with seemingly no effort whatsoever, almost like Trenton had barely touched him, and he fell over. It was apparent that Rusty wasn't the strongest or heaviest boy in the world; he was actually rather small, but what seemed to play the bigger part was the fact that Trenton was quite strong.

One thing led to another, and as brothers do (for some unknown reason other than the probable "manliness" test), they began to play fight. Rusty began with a good start, grabbing Trenton by his bad shoulder to pull him over. Trenton being older, bigger, and much stronger then Rusty lost his hold on his brother and was flipped onto the ground. That was followed with some play hitting from both players. When the hitting started getting violent, as it would, the mother walked back into the room, a stern expression upon her face and her arms crossed. "Boys, may I remind you that you have a train to catch in, oh, about an hour?"

Trenton soon let go of Rusty, who was now almost in a choke hold, and the two looked at each other with playful glares. Once they had pulled themselves together, under the mothers supervision, the two boys finished packing. Things seemed to be running smoothly until they reached their heat-up old station wagon.

"Have everything?" the mothers voice asked as she buckled her seatbelt.

"I'm sure they have everything Liza, no need to worry." these words came out with ease from an older man who seemed to have a fierce look in his eyes. Somehow the fierce eyes gave the mother comfort, comfort that had been shared many years before on a cold dark night.

"Wait!" Rusty shouted from the backseat. "I don't have my lucky key!" He sprang out of the door and ran into the house leaving the door wide open.

"You see Nigel, this is why I have to worry." Liza sighed as she opened the door to the car and made her way to the small cottage.

"I suppose she does need to worry about Rusty..." Nigel said with a small chuckle. Trenton just nodded with a small hint of laughter bubbling up. The two men sat in the car for what seemed like hours as Rusty and his mother were probably tearing apart the small cottage.

Finally the two came walking out, Liza in front walking wit purpose and Rusty jogging to keep up to his mother in heels. "Found it!" Rusty smiled as he buckled himself into his seat once more and prepared for the long journey to Platform 9 ¾. "Could you imagine my quidditch skills without this thing? I'd single-handedly lose the house cup for us!"

Trenton laughed within his head rather then let his brother learn the dirty little secret he and his step mother had played on his half-brother. When Rusty was a measly first year he had no confidence at all. Liza had found a key on the grounds of the small cottage that they resided on. She gave it to Trenton for reasons unknown who decided to lie to Rusty about it, as an attempt to boost his confidence.

"Rusty, this is my good luck key, it's gotten me through a lot." Trenton had once said to an eleven year old Rusty.

"Oh, so you mean like the fact you have no friends?" the juvenile eleven year old asked, with a rather sarcastic tone for a frightened little first year.

"Sure." Trenton replied while gritting his teeth, using every fiber of his body not to hit him. "All I'm trying to say is that if you keep this key with you it might boost your luck a bit."

With that sad young Rusty's eyes lit up like he had just been given all of the money in Gringott's and was told he could buy whatever he pleased from Honeydukes. From then on, the key would be Rusty's prized possession and would be tucked safely away inside his robes. He then praised the key for any kind of luck he received even though he never knew the true origin of the item.

"Glad you have your key Rusty, everyone ready to go now?" their father asked looking at the two teenagers in the back seat.

"Well now they are because I asked if they had everything." Liza shot at Nigel. Deciding to ignore the comment the father drove off their property onto a little cobblestone road.

"Hurry up! You don't want to be late!" Liza shouted at the two boys.

"The only reason we'll be late is because she was smothering us with hugs..." Rusty grumbled. Trenton chuckled as he and his half-brother entered the Hogwarts Express.

It was almost like a rush when the two stepped upon the train. Once someone stepped on the train they could actually see the other students radiate excitement. Rusty let himself get caught up in all the rush of the happy students, while Trenton blatantly ignored it and looked for a nice, empty compartment at the back of the train. He pulled back the sliding wooden door and settled himself into his seat, awaiting the long, boring ride to Hogwarts, where he would begin the end of school. It was a slightly sorrowful experience, for he would be leaving his second home. This would be the last time seeing any of his professors; the last time sleeping in his dorm next to the window in the Gryffindor Boy's Dormitory. But at the same time, it was a nice feeling-not having to hear all of the girls talk about the "handsome-but-scary-boy", not having to walk to classroom from classroom alone...basically being alone all the time, except for Rusty reluctantly talking to him.

After seeing that his brother had retreated back away from the whirl of people, Rusty followed him into the compartment, with his feet dragging in contempt-filled steps. He flopped into one of the empty seats across from Trenton and let out an almost fake-sounding sigh, like he just wanted his brother to look at him. Trenton could practically hear what his brother was thinking, for it wasn't very easy for a thirteen year old kid to conceal their thoughts.

"Why can't you be social, Trenton? It's not hard to make friends." Rusty would constantly whine. Every time, Trenton would reply with a grunt. Deep down, he didn't want to become close to anyone, even if they were only to be mere friends. 'I mean what about me?' he would continue, as if Trenton's separation from people actually affected his social life. Rusty was fully aware of the reason why Trenton didn't associate with people. Rusty just wanted an excuse to complain, as any teenage boy would.

Trenton listened to the old train hiss as it began to move slowly. Closing his eyes, Trenton allowed his mind to get lost in the creaking and screeching of the train engine. Within a few moments the compartment door opened as quietly as it could,obviously Rusty escaping. Once his brother had successfully escaped Trenton found himself being immediately startled by the fact that the train had now come to a halt after it had just picked up quite a bit of speed.

Slowly Trenton's eyes opened to a compartment covered in a veil of utter darkness. Blinking a few times, he tried to adjust his eyes and look around. Nothing. The cabin was empty and it was frighteningly dark. Why had the train stopped moving? Although the answer to this question would have to be answered later for a blinding gold light shot through small window of the compartment door.

The light was oddly familiar, although Trenton had tried to block out the light multiple times before. Was he really seeing this golden light? He had to be for it was taunting with him, the idea of the unknown ate away at his very core. Slowly Trenton stood up in the dimly lit cabin for the golden beam to disappear. This golden light was taunting him and he wouldn't play its childish games. Well that's what he thought until something hit him. What if it has Rusty?

With that in mind Trenton swung the compartment door open faster then humanly possible and jumped into the aisle of the train. At that moment the golden light reappeared brighter then ever. It emerged from a different compartment and Trenton embraced himself for what he knew this would be. It would be living a true nightmare all over once more.

The things golden hair shimmered and swayed with the stillness of the aisle. It gave off a silky texture as the moon shone brightly upon the light golden locks. It was something that Trenton had prepared himself for. He never thought he would face this danger so soon but the time had come. The shining mysterious beast turned around slowly revealing pale skin and an angel like face.

This was not the beast he thought he would one day face. This was something else, this was a fellow Hogwarts student. One that Trenton had only caught a glimpse of before. She was young and definitely not a terrible monster who Trenton needed to destroy. He was going to speak but the girl giggled and skipped into a compartment.

Trenton tried to run after her but it seemed as if his feet were glued to the floor. Had she used some kind of jinx, she couldn't have without her wand. Especially when she was probably only a fourth year. The aisle grew dark without the girls hair, the only light that shone was the slim sliver of the moon. Quickly enough the girl came back but with another person, someone who was quite short with shaggy hair.

The girl looked at him and giggled, she was obviously satisfied with the fact that she had the most prized thing that Trenton had to offer. The one thing that really kept Trenton alive. The one thing that meant anything to him. The small persons face looked up and it was in fact Rusty. Trenton tried to charge but he had been paralyzed.

"Rusty!" he screamed as the blonde like goddess giggled again. "Tell me who you are!" Trenton demanded. Although there was no reply but a giggle. Rusty seemed to be under some kind of spell the goddess was emitting. He was staring at her like she was everything and that nothing else mattered.

Trenton tried to scream once more but his throat had run dry, his voice was gone. He tried to run after Rusty again but nothing happened. Trenton was locked in position. What was going on, whatever happened Trenton could not let this girl take his brother away from him. He would not stand to see this happen.

There was only one thing that made Trenton crawl in his skin, only one thing frightened him more then anything and now it was here. It was right under his nose and he couldn't help it, there was nothing he could do. A low guttural sound emerged from somewhere and Trenton could feel himself losing it. A tear broke the barrier of his eye and began to stain his face as it trickled slowly done his cheek. The end, it was hear and it was here much to soon.

Out of one of the compartments came a struggling creature. It squirmed in what looked like pain on the ground. After the aisle had once again fallen silent the creature on the floor emitted another guttural like groan. Suddenly it stood up and showed the silhouette of its lanky self. It was in fact what Trenton had feared. It didn't quite make sense why he was here but he was and there was nothing Trenton could do. The tears began to escape his eyes even quicker. The creature on the floor made a quick lunge for Rusty and then everything faded to black.

Thanks for reading!
Hope you enjoyed, more to come soon hopefully. :D
&&& remember HUFF HUFF HUFFLEPUFF )
- Peyton &&& Aria :)