Well this is the beginning. This is a quick little starter to get the ball rolling and to introduce a few characters. All characters and events belong to J.K Rowling, I do not own anything. Story not based on the stories told within the books of Harry Potter but will be entwined and used. Thank you and enjoy. Please review :) M x

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And to think, these great halls that I once used to feel at home in when I was just a first year here at Hogwarts haven't changed a bit. The place no longer feels so big and scary to me anymore. But I've never been more scared in my life. Even with my best friend's hand in mine, I've never felt more alone in my whole life.

"We're in this together, Lana," Mason tried to encourage me. I tried to smile but even that failed. A hand crept up and rested on my shoulder and I looked to recognise the well manicured hand.

"All of us," my other best friend Evelyn agreed, her fiery red hair glowing in anticipation. I looked around me to see my closest friends nod or smile back at me. All of us were survivors from the ruins that we once considered our school. Bostrum Academy for the Magically Gifted was a place of refuge for trouble makers or those who were in need for protection. I was sent there after my Legal Guardian assumed I could learn better there, rather than in the few hours he'd have every week to spare for me.

He knew I was special. I was one of the few witches and wizards that could use magic without a wand and we were being hunted down by those who wished the world to be rid of non-magic folk. The dark lord fancied those who were not bound to their wands, such as me. Such as my mother and father, who he had murdered by one of his death eaters, Bellatrix Lestrange, after they and my oldest sister Alisha-May suffered hours under the Cruciatus Curse and refused to join his cause.

My Legal Guardian was once good friends with my mother and father, and they chose to put me under his safety as his skills as a wizard are not close to limited. He could train me, protect me and keep me from being drawn to the darker side of the two that were endlessly at war with each other.

I wasn't the only child of the Avery family left; my older brother, and our other older sister had been missing for a long time now, since our parents were killed. My brother, Elliot, was only a year older than I was. He was beautiful with his dark black hair and although he was a powerful young wizard, like all of our family were, he needed a wand for his magic. Yet our older sister did not; she was the same as me. Lately I had no idea where she was and how powerful she'd grown but Elise had always been captivated by the idea of power. She visited me once, years back for as little as 3 minutes and all I remember is her fiery red hair and her piercing green eyes as she tortured me, making me scream out in agony as she tried out the latest curses she'd discovered. I suspected she would have gone as far as killing me, if it weren't for my guardian arriving in the nick of time; whether she was a death eater or not, she had betrayed our family. I hadn't seen Elise since that night and I hadn't seen Elliot since we were both taken away by our guardian from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry before our first year had ended.

Now I had no choice in returning at the start of their seventh year. Bostrum Academy had been under attack by the Dark Lord's followers in an attempt to gain me by his side. The school was destroyed along with many of the teachers and students there. Although we were a small school and few attended there, I could not listen to my friends, the very same that escaped the attack with me and fled to my guardian's home, the same friends standing with me now at Hogwarts, who tried to convince me that the lives that were taken that day were not my fault.

If I had given in, they'd still be alive today. But I would not do that to my parents and Alisha-May. Otherwise their deaths would mean nothing.

Mason with his brown and blonde streaked hair pulled me in to his side for a hug. Fortunately every one of the witches and wizards stood behind me knew the importance of my protection. If I was to join the Dark Lord, so many would die by my hand and the war would be even closer to being lost. Not that this was the only reason; they had grown to be my family and I needed them like I needed oxygen.

Evelyn and Mason were my best friends and they were probably the only two people, apart from my Legal Guardian and Professor Dumbledore himself, which I fully trusted. Thandie was another good friend of mine but because her parents also have her home schooled for part of the week, we hardly saw each other as much as I saw my other friends, yet I considered her my sister in some ways, more so than Elise had ever been to me. Her electric blue hair, dark eyeliner and nose pierce warned off most people, so her only friends were me, Evelyn, Mason and Fin.

Fin Tucker was a sweet blonde short haired boy that was the most intelligent person I know. His family were fairly rich and his sister Orla was clever yet quiet too – with her blonde dreadlocks she appeared the complete opposite. She and her brother did not get along and Orla certainly wasn't overly keen on me. She was nice enough when she needed to be but was too scared of what I was capable of to want to get close to me. This was the similar excuse I presumed the other two, Beth and Dom, had. These two had been dating since I'd first attended Bostrum Academy and were particularly quiet, keeping to their selves. Dom's head was permanently shaved it seemed and the only time we'd ever acknowledge each other was with a smile or a nod. He was fairly muscular and was well capable of protecting his girlfriend. Beth was a tiny little thing who was just as silent with short blonde hair and an innocent looking face, which quickly looked worried whenever tension aroused. Orla, Beth and Dom never stayed too close to the rest of us and never really said a word to anyone out of their small group, but seeing as their school was destroyed because of me, I considered their safety my responsibility.

The great wooden doors slowly started to open, serving us entry to Hogwart's great hall, where all the students in their Houses would stare and sneer about the new students. I squeezed Mason's hand even tighter. Evelyn moved a couple of steps to flank my left side, giving me a quick wink to help me try and steady my nerves. This was my old home, I thought. I let go of Mason's hand as we made our way towards the ever so slowly opening doors, I don't need to be afraid now.

With Orla, Beth, Dom, Fin and Thandie standing in a line of two and three behind us, we started into the grand hall as I heard Evelyn utter the words next to me, "Let's do this bitch," making my pale lips pull upwards, offering a hint of what could be a smile.

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What do we think so far? Please feel free to drop me a comment or any help you think i might need, or in fact ideas. Thank you, will update soon if goes well. M x