A warm breeze ruffled Gabriel's hair as he lounged in a chair on his front porch in the soft light of a warm summer evening. Crickets chirped in the bushes and a dog could be heard barking distantly. The days for the past week had been unusually warm, even for summer and the peeling painted deck still maintained the days heat. Warmth seeped Into Gabriel's bare feet. From his house on the hill cars could be seen moving distantly on the highway far below like shiny metal beetles. His mother leaned out an upstairs window and called to him
"Gabriel! Your friend Sarah is walking up the path."
"Thank you Mum!" yelled back Gabriel while snatching up his t-shirt from where he had discarded it an hour earlier He shrugged it on and vaulted over the porch railing. He started to jog down the worn dirt path. Halfway down he could see Sarah's brown hair through the trees at the bottom of the hill, raising a hand in greeting he ran to meet her.
"Hey!" he called
She looked up, surprise briefly registering on her face before she rolled her eyes and grinned.
"How is it no matter how many times I come here you always know I'm coming and come to meet me?"
"I'm just lucky I guess?" He grinned (In reality having wizard parents with Sneakoscopes monitoring the property was an effective way to pick up just about anything).
She playfully punched him on the arm and then she squealed as he grabbed her and threw her upon his back and piggy backed her up to the house.
He dropped her in a laughing heap by the door and brushed dirt off his blue jeans. His mother leaned out the window and waved
"Why hello there Sarah! Pleasant evening isn't it?"
"Yes it certainly is!"
"Anything we can help you with?"
"Just came to see Gabriel ma'am"
"Good! Carry on!" she called down cheerfully
Sarah tilted her head and leaned against the door from where she sat on the ground near the door as his mother withdrew her head from the window.
"You look nice today Gabe."
"What? Oh thanks, you too." He replied somewhat distractedly.
"Schools just around the corner you know. Excited for our final year?"
"Oh god I don't even want to think about it yet, its still three weeks away yeah?
"Well, yeah but I heard classes are going to be practically university level this year its probably a good idea to get prepared now isn't it?"
Gabriel started to laugh and then grimaced. If only his problems were as trivial as hard classes and what to wear for prom next year. The dark wizard Voldemort had returned to power, by now everyone knew it, he had a feeling nothing was going to be so simple. Though his parents had decided to home school his magical education as apposed to sending him off to Hogwarts, he was still relatively up to date on the current events in the magical world. His parents managed to somehow obtain copies of both the Quibbler and the Daily Prophet from time to time. He'd even managed to locate and read his mothers stash of Witch Weekly magazines under her bed. The world was changing and he could feel it.
"Did you hear about all those deaths in the paper?" Sarah's voice cut through his thoughts, unknowingly hitting on his line of thinking.
"Yeah, scary business that, I was just thinking about that actually."
"Mum thinks there's a psycho about, even though they say there's no marks on the bodies and it looks like they died of natural causes. (It was surprising how right her mum was considering the killing curse left no marks on the victim save perhaps the look of terror in the victims eyes)
"Yeah its too many deaths to just be natural, you probably shouldn't walk around alone without me from now on, just to be on the safe side."
"Well isn't that gentlemanly of you." She smiled.
"Gabriel, can you run down to the store for some milk, and while your there get yourselves some ice-cream?" called his father. Gabriel knew that meant an owl would be arriving shortly with a letter and it was best not to let Sarah muggle that she was, see that.
"C'mon Sarah let's go."
"Alright."
He helped her up from where she had been sitting and they vaulted the porch banister and started jogging down the path. Gabriel still barefoot, Sarah in a pair of red flats. They began to pick up speed and soon they where racing down the steep path, laughing and with their hair flying behind them. Trees then surrounded them when they reached the forest at the bottom of the hill and the race became an obstacle course as roots and logs and rocks appeared to trip the unwary or reckless. So many times had this race been run that not a foot was out of place nor an ankle caught on a root. The forest echoed with their whoops and cries. At the end of the forest and across a small stream they came to a wide grassy field and across that lay the town. They slowed, out of breath and collapsed into a laughing heap in the tall grass of the field.
Sarah started to giggle.
"What?" said Gabriel, a smile on his face.
"I beat you this time!"
"It had to happen once, it wont again" he grinned
"Perhaps" she said coyly
After a moment of silently catching their breath and listening to the frogs and crickets in the grass, Sarah spoke again.
"Guess we should get moving again, huh Gabe?"
He nodded and stood, extending a hand to help her up. He brushed his shaggy blond hair out of his eyes and picked grass of his t-shirt that had an obscure muggle band on it.
"Blah, its still too bloody hot out and it must be close to nine by now."
"Welcome to summer Gabe! Or have you not noticed?" she drawled sarcastically.
He pulled her to her feet and faked a scowl before they wandered through the field and emerged at the outskirts of town. A bell chimed as Sarah and Gabriel entered the store. The sound of an air conditioner going full blast at the back of the store mingled with the buzz of the refrigerators that lined one wall. A few rows of stands lined with colourful snacks occupied the bulk of the store. The doddering old man who ran the store was seated behind the counter with a fan and a small television set.
"Hi " said Sarah, waving to the old shopkeeper.
"Hello Sarah, Hello Gabe" said the old man, flashing his gummy smile.
Gabriel bristled; he hated it when anyone but Sarah called him Gabe. Sarah noticed him stiffen and patted his shoulder.
"Come on Gabriel. Putting extra emphasis on his name so would get the idea. Lets get the stuff we need."
He shrugged and walked over to the fridge and pulled out a jug of milk that hadn't expired yet and drifted over to Sarah who was in the middle of browsing the frozen treats section.
"What are you thinking of getting?"
"I'm not sure yet" she replied, one hand hovering over an ice-cream sandwich, the other over a mint ice-cream bar.
"Oh just get both it's only a few more pounds."
"No! A I don't want to get fat and B I'm saving my money for a new dress!"
"You're not going to get fat you're too skinny."
"Well I won't always be!"
"Just watch, you will."
"Oh shut up." She said, grabbing the mint ice-cream bar.
After paying who had eyed them suspiciously the entire time after noticing Gabriel stiffen, they sat outside at a bench across the street and began eating the ice-cream they had bought.
" seems even more paranoid then usual huh?"
"He's probably like your mum, thinks a crazy psycho's around."
"Mhmm" she nodded and took another bite of her ice-cream.
"Well guess we should head back before this milk turns bad."
"Sure just let me finish this." She took the last two bites of her ice-cream, licked her fingers and grinned at him.
They got up and chucked the litter in the nearby bin.
The trek back up to his house took considerably longer then the way down he had to drop Sarah off at her house on the way there. She hugged him.
"I'll see you on the weekend, ok Gabe? We should see if we can finally finish that puzzle we started at the beginning of the summer."
"Sounds good, see you later." He hugged her back, smiled and turned towards his house.
He walked through the forest with a grin on his face, swinging the milk jug as he went. By the time he reached the hill it was already dark. A bright moon had risen and illuminated the path he walked. He felt remarkably at peace with the world and with himself. He walked up the porches front steps and opened the screen door and walked into the house. All the lights were off, the only light provided by a guttering candle on the kitchen table. It didn't sound like anyone was home, and beginning to feel slightly afraid he padded into the kitchen.
"Hello?" he called out nervously.
The only warning he got was the feeling of a hand gripping his shoulder before he was spun around, slammed into a wall and had an illuminated wand shoved under his chin. He looked into the startled and teary-eyed face of his father.
"Dad! Its me!" yelled Gabriel.
His father drew back
"Sorry son, I didn't know that when I jumped you. We thought it might be death eaters."
"What, has the story in the papers got you all jumpy?"
"No…well..,its best if you let your mother explain, and get your wand!" with that he went to the door and looked outside, wand at the ready.
With a heavy feeling in his heart Gabriel walked to the kitchen drawer and found his wand at the back. He drew it out and held it in his hand. Rowan, 12 and a half inches, slightly springy. He walked into the den and found his mother sitting on the sofa with tears in her eyes and her wand in her hand.
"Mum, what's going on?" he asked, at once insatiably curious and terrified.
"Gabriel, there's something here you should read, it came with that owl that arrived earlier." She pushed a letter toward him that had been resting on the counter top. Gabriel picked it up with trembling fingers and began to read.
By Order of Headmaster Snape and the Ministry of Magic. All magically gifted youths between the ages of Eleven to Eighteen shall henceforth be required to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at the start of the new term. A list of required school supplies has been included with this letter. You must arrive via Hogwarts express and be sorted into a house. Failure to do so will result…in penalty.
Regards
Headmaster Severus Snape
Gabriel dropped the letter and looked into his mother eyes, his blue grey, hers red and puffy. She spoke first.
"All these years we've kept you near and safe for fear of death eaters and the rise of He Who Must Not Be …all for naught, you must go.
"Maybe if I leave now I can avoid going?"
"you cant, they're monitoring every house they sent a letter to. All we can hope for is that we trained you well enough. Your going to be entering a world you aren't used to, a world you only half know. You will have to hide your muggle sympathies and most importantly you can't have any contact with muggles until you leave!
"Even Sarah?"
"Especially Sarah! , Dear, you'll do this if you want to keep her safe.
"But I said I would see her this weekend."
"Listen to me you foolish boy!, If you see Sarah she will die. These people are pure blood supremacist, haters of muggles and all they represent."
"I…Alright."
"Your being so brave my beautiful boy, make friends, I don't know what it will be like, It may be horrible but no matter what you must remain strong."
"I will."
"Now…there is a lot we must prepare for…"
