Disclaimer: Shhh…. whatever you do, don't tell Rowling I stole her stuff.

Prologue

Joseph and Carolyn Evans waited nervously, perched on the edge of their couch and staring hard at the fireplace. Mr. Evans glanced down at the crumpled piece of parchment in his hand and read for the hundredth time the carefully scribed message written there:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Evans,

Congratulations on your daughter's acceptance into the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the country. We understand that this letter may come as quite a shock to you, and realize that you will have many questions to be answered before you can comfortably entrust your daughter's well being to our staff. As such, we have included a pre-addressed envelope with this notice. If you will kindly request and time and date for an appointment, (simply attach your reply to the provided owl), we will send a representative to your home to answer any questions you may have. The simplest, quickest method of travel available to us is of course by fire, so please be aware that your fireplace must be ready for use on the date of your requested appointment.

Best wishes,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress

Mr. Evans slowly got up and went to the hearth. He tentatively crouched down and peered up into the darkness of the chimney. Shaking his head, he drummed his fingers on the brick mantel and turned to his wife.

"Carolyn, this is ridiculous. We've discussed this too many times-"

"Joseph dear, we owe it to Lily to wait just a little longer."

"We're just being made fools of! If you think for one second that someone is going to pop out of that fireplace any minute now-"

Just then a whoosh of wind and a puff of soot burst from the hearth at his feet, and Mr. Evans practically scampered backwards, staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the figure now standing where he had been only a moment before. The apparition stood rubbing his head as he muttered to himself about odd fireplaces and ridiculously low mantels, obviously not suited for frequent travel.

Mrs. Evans rose graciously to her feet, managed a shaky smile, and advanced on the man holding out a hesitant hand. Did these people shake hands? All of a sudden the man burst into a fit of violent coughing, and Mrs. Evans stopped short. She looked wildly confused for a moment, and then seemed to come to her senses. Rushing to the kitchen, she produced a glass of water from the tap in no time, and handed it quickly to the strange man in her living room. On her way back from the sink she had noticed two small faces peering over the balcony of the entrance hall, but decidedly ignored them.

The small man at the fireplace downed the water, and finally looked up at the Evans, beaming at them through watering eyes. He was very, very short, but reached up with a firm hand to Mrs. Evans and said,

"Many thanks, Mrs. Evans. My name is Filius Flitwick, and I do apologize for the entrance."

"Carolyn, please," Mrs. Evans replied, shaking Flitwick's hand readily as she gathered her composure about her once again.

"Never mind about the entrance," Mr. Evans assured the man. "I must admit I was a bit skeptical about the travel-by-fire issue, but you seem to have managed it quite well!"

Filius Flitwick gave Mr. Evans a rather funny look, and replied, "Yes, well, I've had quite a bit of practice."

There was a moment of silence, and then Mrs. Evans, remembering the two pairs of listening ears on the stairs, suggested that they move out onto the patio to discuss things.

On the top stair of the Evans household, the youngest Evans daughter waited with baited breath throughout the entire exchange. She nearly cried out in frustration at her mother's suggestion, but was distracted by the loud "Hmph!" behind her, and turned to see her older sister stalk into her room and slam the door behind her. Lily sighed and retreated to her own room, which was noticeably lacking in windows facing the patio. Doomed to be kept from her fate another day longer, Lily decided that the only thing to take her mind off things was to read. Fortunately she had a good book on hand, and so missed Flitwick's retreat through the fireplace, along with the grim conversation held in the firelight of her living room, which lasted long into the night.

A/N: Hello everyone! So, the start of a story. I know it's a little boring, (alright, a LOT boring), but it's only the prologue. I wanted to kind of introduce the Evans' without just saying "this is Mrs. Evans, this is Mr. Evans"...but anyway, hopefully the story will pick up soon. ) As usual, now is my time to beg for reviews...this is my first real ff, except for a really stupid little oneshot piece of fluff, so I have no idea what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. Any criticism would help! Thank you thank you, now go and review!