Author's note: As the description might already give away, this is going to be a tragic story. I am not going to give away too much.
I hope you enjoy this first chapter; following chapters will probably longer. I will try to publish every week.
Any feedback is welcome; write me as much reviews / PM you like.
JTW
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter books or anything that is affiliated with the HP world.
Dark Tears
Chapter 1: The Watch
An unusually dressed group of people was standing on a small flat hill; the view would've been astonishing, if it wasn't for the somber weather. The gray clouds were as Scottish as the highlands themselves and the ground was struggling to properly process all the rain. The green grass was in stark contrast with the dark gray clouds and the mud puddles, which were starting to form around the group of people. Any passing hiker would wander why such an unordinary group of people would meet up in such an uncommon place, but nobody else dared to go outdoors. Even the farmer in the lower valley didn't consider for a moment to leave his warm ranch to scout the surrounding, no one gave the group any thought whatsoever.
Among them was a boy, dressed as odd as the rest, who looked up to the sky. Although it had been raining for quite some time, he was not soaking wet at all. Even the soft breeze, which was very chilly for the day in September, seemed to have no effect on him at all. He hoped to see some sun today; he figured it'd make him feel less awful. His mind was pulled back to the group when someone started talking.
'I don't understand why we can't go by train,' the red-headed girl next to him said. The boy's eyes widened abruptly, the green eyes stood out of his light skin and black hair, but matched his scarf perfectly.
'You do know why, sweetie,' said the hooded man in front her with a kind but serious voice.
The girl was not happy with the answer and was about to respond, but decided, after seeing her father's face, she could better keep her mouth shut. A long silence followed and the atmosphere changed for the worse.
'They're late,' the hooded man eventually said, holding a pocket watch in his left hand. He had been checking it impatiently since they arrived at the spot. Various arrows were spinning at different speeds; some were even spinning in the counter-clockwise direction.
'What is the use of the watch?' the boy asked curiously, but his father did not answer, he was following the arrows carefully.
'Your father knows what he is doing Albus, just wait patiently, it will be clear to you soon,' the last member of the group responded. She was the only one who did not wear a pitch black cloak, but she was holding cage containing an owl in that particular hue. Her voice was normally warm and friendly, but today her voice skipped a bit. Albus knew she was nervous as well.
His father didn't seem to notice it at all; he was still focused on the watch. Albus had only seen it once before, years ago. He came across it during a little game of hide-and-seek with his older brother. He couldn't have been much older than 9, he imagined recalling that day. He hid inside the cupboard under the stairs, knowing his brother would never find him he started to look around the small room. The space had always been prohibited for the kids and was therefore locked most of the time. His curiosity had brought him in a lot of trouble many times already and he knew he shouldn't be touching anything, but he did it anyway. On a little shelve a beautifully designed timepiece was collecting dust, the inscriptions made even less sense than the numerous hands which appeared to be turning randomly. Moments later he was caught by his father, he remembered doing all the chores for a week. James had found this extremely funny, as to be expected.
A shiver ran down Albus' spine, he didn't want to think about his brother. Luckily for him, he did not have to anymore. A familiar voice made him forget his state of mind.
'Al!' another red-headed girl shouted while trying to hug him from behind, almost knocking him to the ground. For a short moment, Albus felt a little bit of joy, it faded as quickly as it had appeared.
'I wasn't sure you would still turn up' his father said and Albus noticed Rose's parents had also just joined them.
'Like I could keep her indoors, she would literally drive me crazy. She has Hermoine's temper, you know' Rose's father joked while winking to Albus.
'Yeah, yeah, still the joker Ron, can we go now please,' Hermoine replied annoyed, 'we lost enough time already.'
'What a beautiful view,' Rose mentioned while looking down to the valley. The rain reduced to drizzle and small rays of sunlight had found their way through the gray clouds. Albus knew he was wrong, seeing the sun made him actually feel worse.
Almost doubled, the group started drawing attention, a small goat walked up to the weird looking people. It seemed to have decided that the pitch-black coats might be better tasting than ordinary grass, because it started shewing on the one the little girl was wearing.
Ron burst into laughter, in contrary to Lily herself who cried for help while see tried to pull back here precious cloth.
'Let me handle this,' an unknown voice said from behind. The suited man took a curved wand from his pocket and moments later the goat disappeared into thin air.
'It'll be fine,' he responded to Lily's surprised face, comforting it slightly, 'I only moved it. – Stupid animals – '
'Well, I have to port 20 others today,' he continued, 'you ready to go back?'
The man smiled to the three children, Albus didn't know if he had ever seen smile that was faker. The ministry official did not hide the fact that he hated the new rules very well.
After he realized nobody was going to reply he opened his suitcase, it contained a muggle newspaper. The civil servant threw it on the ground. The front page headlined "France Joins The Battle Against Magical Terrorists" showing a photo of angry people holding signs like "Magic is fantasy" and "God hates witches".
'Al, it's not for reading, take position,' his father said and he moved his attention away from the paper and followed his father's instructions. He was moments away from Hogwarts, he was happy about it; or at least pleased he could start a normal life again.
The last thing Albus remembered was being pulled away from the ground. He was holding the newspaper with both hands, just like everybody else.
He couldn't keep his eyes open; right before the landing he had the feeling something was wrong. He felt the sun on his face and it was much warmer than a split second earlier. The moment he hit the ground he was already unconscious.
