Copyright 2002 by Grey Pilgrim (dreamwriter41@yahoo.com)
Disclaimer: All characters and names in this fanfiction belong to J.K. Rowling. Unless they're invented by me, duh.
Chapter One
Harry Potter stumbled out of the Dursley's house, holding his bleeding wound and stopped almost immediately. There was a wall of grey mist around the house; he couldn't get away. He couldn't get out and no one could get in. He was utterly alone.
Realizing this, Harry turned to await his fate. He could barely hold himself upright due to the loss of blood. Every part of him was aching from the Cruciatus Curse and Voldemort was on his way outside. He was going to die.
"Now, Harry, I told you you couldn't get away." a cold voice hissed to his left. Harry quickly spun around. "This time you won't escape me. Crucio!"
Harry fell to the floor, still grasping the wound where the knife with Nagini's poisonous venom had stabbed him. The pain was overhelming, as if twenty knives had stabbed him at once. But he didn't scream. He refused to give Voldemort the pleasure of seeing him screaming on the ground in front of him. He wouldn't beg him to stop. Just when it became nearly too much to bear, the pain stopped. Gasping for air, Harry shakily stood up again.
"You will not live to see tomorrow. I will kill you. There's no mother here to die for you, no way to get away ..." the cruel voice was now coming nearer.
Forgetting his fear, Harry glared defiantly up into the snake-like red eyes of the murderer of his parents. "You'll never win, Voldemort. You might kill me, but you won't win. There will be others who will stand up to you." The fierceness in his voice surprised even himself.
A high laughter rang through the air. "Ah, now. Even if I won't win, which I assure you I will, I'd still have had the pleasure of killing the Boy Who Lived."
Fear creased through Harry, but he firmly held his gaze. He would die, those merciless cold eyes were telling him so, but he'd die bravely, standing upright, not cowering on the floor like the Dursleys had.
"You will die now, Potter. Avada Kedavra!"
The last thing Harry saw was a blinding green light and the sound of the deadly curse rushing towards him at an unbelievable speed, before drowning in darkness.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Molly, dear, I have to talk to you." said a pale-looking Arthur Weasley.
Startled, Mrs Weasley got up and follow her husband out of the kitchen, closed the door and looked at Arthur questioningly.
"What is it?"
Arthur Weasley sighed. "There was another Death Eater attack." Mrs Weasley paled visibly. "At Harry's."
The effect came immediately. "No ..." Arthur's wife whispered.
Mr Weasley nodded gravely. "Yes. You-Know-Who personally was there. The Death Eaters had put up a strong magical shield. By the time we had overcome that obstacle it was already too late. We only found the slaughtered bodies of Harry's relatives and a lot of blood. Harry's blood. Harry's body wasn't found, but the amount of blood he lost ... and there was a high concentration of snake venom in it ... the Boy Who Lived is dead." There were silent tears now falling down his cheeks.
Mrs Weasley, too, was crying. "Arthur, ... he was so young, he didn't deserve ... why?"
Mr Weasley shook his head and hugged his wife, tears streaming down both of their faces. "I don't know, Molly. I just don't know."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ron looked up at the tear-stained faces of his parents as they came through the door. Alarmed, he looked at Hermione, who was staying over the summer holidays, and stood up.
"Mum? Dad?" Ron asked tentatively.
Mr Weasley just shook his head sadly. "Ron, Hermione, there was another attack this evening."
The two friends froze. "Who?" Hermione asked, dreading the answer.
"Harry. He - he didn't survive."
This small word had a great effect. Ron fell back and gripped the sides of his chair numbly while tears slowly ran down his face and Hermione collapsed to the floor, crying openly.
This couldn't be happening. They were talking about the Boy Who Lived, the one who always survived his encounters with the Dark Lord, who always landed on his feet. The Boy Who Lived just couldn't die.
After some time, Ron croaked out a question. "How?"
Mrs Weasley hung her head and Mr Weasley answered. "All we found were his relatives's corpses and his blood. Blood with a high concentration of snake venom in it."
Ron looked away to hide his tears. Tears streaming down her face, Hermione cast a sorrowful look at Ron and then turned her head to the floor again. "No ... it can't be true ... he's not dead ... dear god, no ..." she whispered almost pleadingly.
Mrs Weasley went over to her son and his best friend. Kneeling down beside Hermione and the chair Ron was sitting in, she pulled both of them into a fierce hug.
"I'm sorry ..." she whispered.
"No!" Ron cried, startling everyone, "He's not dead. You haven't found his body, he might still be alive. Why do you give him up?"
"Ron dear, -" Ron's mother began. But her husband put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head sadly, knowing his youngest son wanted to be alone now.
Slowly, Mrs Weasley stood up and went out of the kitchen with her husband, letting the two friends grieve alone.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Well. That was the first chapter, what do you think? I'm taking bets, who thinks Harry's dead? Who doesn't? Anyhow, please review!
Grey Pilgrim :-)