A/N: I posted the beginnings of this story over a month ago, but I have since then changed it. This is a completely new prologue. The original has been moved to chapter one, which I have reedited and added a few new scenes. I've decided to post the prologue now, even though I don't have chapter one finished yet. I'll try to get it finished quickly. I can't and won't make promises of a due date.



Prologue:
The Patronus Flame

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* - "Bow to death, Harry... It might even be painless... I would not know... I have never died..."

He was never going to see Ron an Hermione again-

And their faces burst clearly into his mind as he fought for breath-

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

An enormous sliver stag erupted from the tip of Harry's wand; its antlers caught the dementor in the place where the heart should have been; it was thrown backwards, weightless as darkness, and as the stag charged, the dementor swooped away, batlike and defeated.

"THIS WAY!" Harry shouted at the stag. Wheeling around, he sprinted down the alleyway, holding the lit wand aloft. "DUDLEY? DUDLEY!"

He had run barely a dozen steps when he reached them: Dudley was curled on the ground, his arm clamped over his face; a second dementor was crouching low over him, gripping his wrists in its slimy hands, prizing them slowly, almost lovingly apart, lowering its hooded toward Dudley's face as though about to kiss him...

"GET IT!" Harry bellowed, and with a rushing, roaring sound, the silver stag he had conjured came galloping back past him. The dementor's eyeless face was barely an inch from Dudley's when the silver antlers caught it; the thing was thrown up into the air, and like its fellow, it soared away and was absorbed into the darkness. The stag cantered to the end of the alleyway and dissolved into silver mist.

* Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter One - J.K. Rowling

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It was still hungry. It couldn't feed off the human, it was forced to flee. Now that it is far enough away it could hunt again without disturbance.

There were many souls around. Defenseless, full of life and happiness, the air was filled with good. More than enough for it to feed off, yet it wanted more. It wanted to consume. To drain the essence of life. It has been a long time since it was allowed a soul.

* * * *

"DAMMIT!!" she yelled in frustration as she ran down the street. She was following the blackness as it glided over the houses block by block. It was slowing down.

It was about to feed.

Her mission had just fallen apart. She was supposed to meet with him while his guard was distracted. They were hoping he would join. Considering the danger he was in, he could use their help. She and her partner were chosen to make contact with him and give him their offer. They never expected this!! Dementors? In a non-magical neighborhood!

They were going to intervene when they caught sight of them attacking him, but before they could, he had already shouted his spell and a beautiful giant stag burst forth and head-butted the first dementor before charging after the second on his command.

His patronus was magnificent, and he was only 15!! They unfortunately lost their chance when he used magic. Now both the ministry and his guard would be all over him. They would have to wait. In the mean time the two dementors while beaten, were still alive. And now she was chasing one of them that was slowly heading south.

Picking up her pace, she dashed swiftly between two houses. Her steps were light quick and confident, her goal not more than 50 meters away. Running through the backyard, she paused to fire off spell at the blackness. The white fireball illuminated the surrounding area with a brief blast of brilliant white light before disappearing into the night. She missed. Continuing her chase she jumped onto a doghouse and used its height to propel herself over the fence into the back alley. The blackness remain still for a moment before descending over a nearby home.

Once again the stars disappeared and the cold settled over the area. Outside sounds drifted away, leaving a terrifying silence. Steadying her wand she hopped over another wooden fence, and onto the property where the dementor descended.

* * * *

The man and woman cuddled in bed, content in each others arms. It had been a rather hectic day for them, and they were exhausted. The man had spent a good portion of his morning and afternoon arguing with the manager of a drill company that was supplying him with titanium coated drills for use on hard cold steel. He needed them to finish the final part of their newly designed die by tomorrow so they could begin stamping. He was already behind schedule, and this Dursley asshole wasn't making things easy.

His wife was amazingly understanding of his frustrations every time he came home angry. She was always there to calm and soothe him, and he loved her for that. In fact he was sleeping rather peacefully that night thanks to the exhausting yet ever so pleasurable effort of his wife.

Sleeping peacefully in each others embrace they were blissfully unaware of the threat literary looming over them. The darkest of all dark creatures had made its choice.

As if it never existed the warmth of the bedroom suddenly disappeared leaving a cold that penetrated the depths of their dreams twisting them into nightmares. The couple unconsciously huddled closer against each other, drawing their blankets tighter. Their hand and arms began twitching almost imperceptibly as their nightmares fought against the control their minds had over their bodies.

Quickly and swiftly the darkness spread, dimming the streetlights to nothing. A dark blanket settled over the windows bringing with it void of sound and light. Once again the creature descended over them through the door, hallway and ever so quietly into their room. The cold intensified, the comfort of each other no longer providing the feeling of warmth and security. The nightmares reached their peak, the fear they felt only just beginning. Still unconscious their minds finally lost the battle. It could no longer keep their bodies still and silent.

They screamed.

* * * *

"Alohamora"

A sharp, quick click resonated in the darkness, giving the only sign that someone was there. With practiced ease the door swung open silently just large enough for someone to slip in. The young woman who had been chasing the dementor for the last 20 minutes spent no time in entering the house. Not bothering to close it she ran to her left through the living room into the kitchen. In the corner of her eye she caught a small bowl filled with different kinds of chocolate as she ran into the hall. Wand still in hand, and not even stopping she summoned the bowl to her. Flying though the kitchen and into the hall it reached her just as she cleared the first room on the left.

Chocolate in hand she jump from room to room scanning each one with the light from her wand. The bitter cold increased as she made her way to the end, searching for the other intruder. She had made it the second to the last room on the right when she heard the scream.

It was coming from the last room at the very end.

Not wasting a second she took off down the hall at full speed. With her wand in hand she began to raise it to the door, waiting for the right time...

"REDUCTO!!"

Following right behind her spell, she took one more step before throwing her self forward into a dive. The curse hit the door a little above shoulder height. The door burst foward just before she would have hit. Still flying, wand pointed forward she saw for a second the threat.

It was hovering just over the couples head, its hand extended slowly prying apart the screaming couple, the dementor began to pull back its hood preparing to feed. It took no notice to the commotion behind it, which was unfortunate for it as it didn't realize the threat, until it was too late.

The splinters of wood from the door, was slashing into her skin as she flew though where the door once was. She ignored the pain though because in front of her was something more important. Before she hit the ground she shouted one spell. The one she had been waiting to try. The one she was also most afraid wouldn't work.

"INCENDIO PATRONUM!"

I hope it works she thought as she hit the floor with a painful thump.

In that second a brilliant white fireball burst from her wand, temporary bathing the entire room with a painfully hot light. The fireball flew forward and hit the dementor square in the back. White fire quickly spread around the creature slowly, causing it to thrash around in an attempt to put itself out. Arching its back the dementor let out a intense unholy scream that resonated though the entire room as it was slowly consumed. As the last of the creature was covered in flames it paused for a second, the silence barely registering to the woman, before the entire creature exploded. The white shockwave burst outwards though the house and surrounding neighborhood banishing the darkness once again.

Lifting her head from the floor the woman, who had took cover from the blast, glance around the room. The remnants of the door were spread all over the foot of the bed, and to her left a broken lamp which she didn't remember hitting was laying on the floor.

Standing up she made a quick assessment of herself, checking herself making sure nothing was broken, finding nothing wrong, she look to the bed. What she saw made her groan.

Huddling together at the head of the bed the couple were curled up into a fetal position. They were wide awake, and trembling.

"Its ok I'm not going to hurt you." She spoke as quietly and soothingly as she could, and made her way over to them. " Here, I want you to eat some of this chocolate." As she neared them though they once again began screaming. The man shielding his wife screamed a high pitched blood curdling scream that nearly blew out her eardrums.

"It's alright. I'm here to help. I'm NOT GOING TO HURT YOU," she shouted over his voice. Unfortunately it only made it worse as the couple began shifting away from her.

With a sigh of defeat, the woman once again took out her wand, and pointed it at them.

"Imperio"

"Imperio"

Instantly the two stopped screaming and relaxed, as the curse took a hold of their minds.

"Good." The woman said in a more cheerful voice. She moved to them and sat on the bed on their right. Getting comfortable, she sat the bowl of chocolate down next to them, and unwrapped a few pieces. After popping one into her mouth, she held out the other two. "Eat these" she commanded.

Without hesitation the couple grabbed the candy and began to eat them. As their strength grew the woman pulled out two vials of a potion. When the couple were done with the chocolate she ordered them to drink. With that she ordered them to bed. As the potion began to take effect she finally released the curses. Before they could gather their thoughts back together, the effects of the potion reached its peak, and they were out like a light.

Getting off the bed the woman pointed her wand at the pieces of the door and muttered a spell. Instantly the pieces began to weave themselves, and rise back into position. With that finished, she walked down the hall repairing all the doors along the way. Once everything was cleaned up, she set the chocolate bowl back in the kitchen and walked out of the house. With luck the couple would think the entire night was merely a bad dream.

Raising her hand to her ear, she grasped her earring with her finger and thumb, squeezed and spoke.

"Shade to Falcon, I got mine. How'd you do?"

"Falcon here, just finished up the other one. Couldn't stop it from feeding off a non-mag though, I'm gonna have to use memory charms on the relatives and just tell them the guy 's dead... poor bastard. This new spell really works though, blew it straight to hell. Thought I'd never see the day a dementor was killed."

"Yeah it sure does work. Mine was about to feed on a couple while they were sleeping. Poor guys were scared shitless when I blasted my way in and hit it. Had to use Imperious to get them to calm down and take some chocolate, and dreamless sleep potion. Hopefully by morning they'll be ok and just chalk it up to being some kind of dream."

"Alright I gotta fix this place up... did a bit of damage gettin in here. I'll see ya back at the base in while."

"What about the kid?"

"Won't be able to get to him now... probably got half the ministry and order watching him. We're gonna have to wait it out 'till he's alone again."

"Which probably won't be until next summer."

"Yeah probably, but that means he'll have more skills then, which will be easier on us in the long run eh?"

"I really wished we could have gotten to him this year though. Kid has no idea what's going on, he trapped in a non-magical hellhole, and frustrated as hell. He's going to get into trouble, and nobody's going to be there to help."

"We'll just have to stay on the sidelines for now, throw in a gun when we can, and hope he knows how to use it. In the mean time we can help his friend out as much as possible, she'll be there for him."

"Yeah. I'm planning on stopping over at her place and drop off a few books tonight before she heads to the order's hideout. I'll fill her in. See ya later."

"Later."

With a final squeeze of her earring, the connection was cut. The woman known as Shade glance up at the stars briefly before taking out her wand and with a almost imperceptible pop, disappeared.

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A/N: I think this is much better then the last, tell me what you think. I unfortunately don't have a beta reader, so there bound to be a few mistakes around. If anybody catches any or has any suggestions as to improve my writing, write a review, or send me an email . The address is in my profile. Thank you.