Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to Warner Bros, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Heyday/1498 films, JK Rowling and Raincoat books. I don't lay any claim to it. The characters Simeon Slovensky, Mirabella Ribisi, Seth Johansson, and any family members or friends attached to these characters are the property of Narya (Rachel). The characters Abigail Ridges, Herbert Wilde, Nisha Wilde, any other extra minor and supporting characters, and the storyline belong to me, Jennie Chang. Please do not use any of these characters or storyline unless we are both consulted and give permission first. This disclaimer will be updated as needed.
Dedication: To Rachel for the use of her original characters born from her creative head and for everything else she's done for the benefit of the story.
Prologue
The old-fashion alarm clock on the desk of Room 205 ticked away, the hands slowly making their way second by second to show two in the morning. Cool summer night air flowed openly through the window, barely known to the dragon keeper as he lay awake in his bed. With only the light of the moon and stars spilling into the room providing luminance and his hands cradling his head on the pillow, he stared straight up at the wooden boards above him, lost in thoughts as poles of the bunk bed created shadows along the floor.
Frequent bouts of insomnia had plagued Charlie Weasley for the better part of a year, and he'd become eerily comfortable with little sleep. With his head swamped in events happening nearly a whole continent away, in his motherland of the United Kingdom, his restlessness was understandable. It had been a long and treacherous year for the country, and many people weren't even aware of all that had been happening in the shadows.
For the dragon keeper who did know he could not escape endless thoughts, events replaying inside his head constantly.
An entire year had past since Charlie had laid his brown eyes on the owl bearing a letter sent by his brother, Bill. It had detailed the horrific news that had occurred at the final task of the Triwizard Tournament: the darkest wizard of the century, resurrected to a body and returning to do what he had sought to complete before he'd fallen, purge the race of impure wizards and rule the magical world. His return to life marked a return of war against him.
"The Ministry isn't cooperating," Bill's most serious and commanding voice rang inside his head as the memory of the letter flooded in. "They refuse to believe it's happening, so Dumbledore has recalled the Order of the Phoenix."
Though Bill hadn't detailed the specifics, Charlie already knew what the Order was and what it stood for. Without the Ministry, the Order was the only thing standing in the way of You-Know-Who, and from that there wasn't further doubt on what he had to do. In a mere two and a half words, he summed up his position: I'm in.
After that first letter from Bill, correspondence had become few and far between. Repetitively it was stated that little could be said for fear of interception along the route, leaving Charlie in the dark on matters of the home front. By editions of The Daily Prophet that found their way to the dragon reserve, Charlie couldn't blame the Order for being careful, as frustrating as it was to know so little. There was only one official task for him as stated in a message from his mother: make as many friends as possible and be sure to share with them.
Simeon, Abby, and Bella needed no convincing, as Charlie expected, but the rest of the reserve was a different story. The Dark Lord was legendary in the magical realm, but as they had learned the name was becoming urban legend. Very few could remember the reign of evil over the United Kingdom so long ago, many being young and far from the danger in their own countries. Of the few who believed it possible, the lack of Ministry support and the absence of dangerous events swayed them into neutrality, choosing to do nothing without some kind of confirmation, which the Dark Lord was not giving up easily.
"You can't blame them for their doubts," Simeon's words entered the stream of consciousness, his words being recalled from after an attempt to sway their co-workers with an article from The Quibbler. "For so long, the very thought of You-Know-Who coming back has been considered rubbish. No one believed it could ever happen. Ve've been brainvashed to believe our Ministries. The fiction has clouded the fact."
The words of his close friend had never been truer, from one side of Europe to the other. Even back in England, his own brother denied the possibility of the rise of the Dark Lord, fighting with their dad and moving out promptly. It was hard to blame anyone for his or her doubt, but it didn't eliminate the frustration it brought on in Charlie.
"Don't dwell on these things or you'll drive yourself mad," Abby's soothing sea-like voice came into his head, so clear he nearly expected her to be sitting next to his bottom bunk with her reassuring hand in his. "Things will all work out as they are meant to be, we just have to trust it will be."
It had become harder to take comfort in his girlfriend's words over the long and worrisome months. His father had spent time in hospital for reasons unknown, Azkaban had experienced a massive breakout of old You-Know-Who followers, Dumbledore had gone missing after an attempted arrest by the Ministry, and with the vagueness of the letters he was receiving, Charlie didn't know what else was possibly going on without his knowledge. His only comfort was in the fact that You-Know-Who had not yet acted in a large way, keeping his own resurrection quiet and not massively attacking defenceless innocent Muggles.
Turning over in bed Charlie lay flat on his stomach, trying desperately to get more comfortable and gain much needed sleep though he knew his attempt was a weak one. Sinking his chin into his clasped hands, he met with the few pictures he'd pasted to his headboard, hoping the happy memories they had captured would lull him into better thoughts than that of his constant worries. It was a short-lived hope as a fluttering noise whizzed into the window.
As quick as a whip, Charlie grabbed his wand from beneath his pillow, holding it at the level of his eye as he rolled out of bed and snapped onto his feet. Scanning the darkened room for any mark of an intruder, his heart beat faster than it ever had before as his wand flared with light.
"Who's there?" he asked in the gruffest voice he could muster. "Show yourself."
The flutter returned, a small blur flying upwards before Charlie's eyes, dropping a thick yellow envelope to the floor. Darting his eyes upward, the tiny blur gave a cheerful hoot as it flew about the ceiling before resting atop the wardrobe.
"What news, Pig?" Charlie breathed a sigh of relief at seeing his brother Ron's minute owl as he bent over and picked up the parchment off the floor.
Flipping the manual light switch near his desk, Charlie took his seat there, tearing the flap of the letter open while the miniature owl glided to his side atop the surface of the table. There were many pages of parchment enclosed, a lengthy letter and what seemed like dozens of clippings from The Daily Prophet and other newspapers, which was out of the ordinary. Without further waiting, he began to read.
He'd barely finished the first sentence before he tossed the letter from Bill aside and went straight into the article headlines. Reading every headline, his eyes only got wider, growing to the size of a house elf as he flipped through them.
Scrambling to his feet, Charlie didn't even bother to put on shoes as he ran out of his room. Nearly hitting the opposing wall, he raced down the hallway, jumping down many steps at a time before he reached the front door of his dormitory. He thrust it open without a thought, running onto the dewy moonlit grass barefoot with the articles grasped tightly in one fist.
Past the dormitories he went, turning around the corner of his own down a long dirt path leading to a cottage, tucked away from the normal sleeping quarters for the workers. The lights were out, showing that the inhabitants were fast asleep, but it didn't matter in Charlie's mind. He went straight to the door, banging on it with both fists for what seemed like a whole minute until the lights flickered on and the sound of shuffling slippers neared the entrance to the home.
The door opened slowly on creaky hinges, revealing a tired old man in a worn navy bathrobe. With a hand scratching at his stubbly white beard, he finished up a yawn before speaking to his employee.
"Charlie, what's wrong?" he muttered, opening his blue eyes as wide as he could in the presence of company as the meek woman behind him tied the fastening on her own lilac robe.
Holding the fistful of parchment out to his boss, he let the older man take them from him and glance over the headlines with his tiny spectacles. He watched as the man's blue eyes enlarged, and a second later his wife's as well while she read over his shoulder. The woman gasped, covering her gaping mouth as she looked up to Charlie.
"I have the confirmation, Herb," Charlie stated plainly. "He's made it known that he has indeed returned."
A/N: Hi! Welcome back to anyone who was reading during Dragon Tears, and just plain welcome to anyone who may be reading this for the first time.
So, I've been writing this story for quite some time now, and it has gone on and off hiatus for a long time. Basically the plot has changed a lot, there are things I want to go back and change, but this prologue is likely to stay the same. Currently, I'm about eight chapters in. I thought I'd better get some feedback on this story. Yes, I'm going to write it, but I'm slow with it due to work and school and general life committments. It's the sequel to Dragon Tears, and the second part of the trilogy that I have planned out following Charlie Weasley and his friends in Romania during the war.
This story takes place over the tail end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and all of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
I don't think that you would have needed to read Dragon Tears to understand this story, but you may want to read this in sequence and develop the characters in your own mind. I can't stop you from reading this before...so...yeah. A note on the formatting of that one, I need to redo some of it because of the whole elimination of the dash as a separator. If there's confusion over where parts end and begin, my bio has a link to Phoenix Prophecy where I've posted that story wholly and it is formatted correctly.
But yeah, if you want more visual images of the characters, all characters had actors or some person that their physical appearances were based on. Charlie Weasley comes from canon and Paul Hamm, Simeon was based on Edward Furlong, Abby came from Amanda Bynes and Bella's appearance came from Emmy Rossum.
Other than that, enjoy! Reviews are always appreciated and responded to.