A/N: First fanfic. It's really long. Seriously. I have a thing for long fanfics. This is the Prologue and it'll be extremely hard to understand right now, but later on it'll play a big role. Read it now or not, it doesn't quite matter.

I'm a DRAMIONE fan, by the way, so this fanfic WILL be Dramione, but don't expect it to be immediately. The events tend to go kind of slow, be ready for that.

This happens after DH, but instead of Voldemort telling Harry to meet him in the Forbidden Forest, he simply calls his Death Eaters back and everything after that never happens. Also, the following characters are NOT dead in the beginning of this fic : Severus Snape, Fred Weasley, Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody, Voldemort, Albus Dumbledore, Nagini and Hedwig.

Other than that, read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling, the song "Le Jour Après la Fin du Monde" is by Corneille, all I own is the (ADDED) plot.

[EDIT]: Changed my French a bit. I just realized a little error. Not that it would change much in English, but in French...big difference.

Le Jour Après la Fin du Monde

...***...

Prologue

"Où seras-tu le jour après la fin du monde?

Le jour après la fin du monde,

La fin du monde comme on nous l'a appris,

Hè,

M'aimeras-tu le jour après la fin du monde?

Le jour après la fin du monde, L

e matin d'une toute nouvelle vie,

Hè.

M'aimeras tu?"

-Le Jour Après La Fin Du Monde, Corneille

"M'aimeras tuuuuu?..." he sang, tapping the melody on his desk. He stared out the window, eyes flashing to the streets...cars honking...people talking...his office door opening.

Office door opening? He turned his head ever so slightly toward the door. His music continued to play, switching to Des pères, des hommes et des frères. He could very easily turn the stereo off without moving a finger in its direction, but seeing the face of someone who would freak out if he did so, well...he decided to leave it on.

"Monsieur Desbranches?" spoke his assistant. An older man, probably in his sixty's and still working. He was a little scrawny, compared to the younger, twenty-year-old man sitting in his study. The older thought he was working for a writer, currently on writer's block (even though there was no such thing). He was correct, in a sense, but he wasn't completely knowledgeable with what he did. There were still things he definitely wouldn't understand, and if he knew, well...everyone would know.

He seemed quite happy. Cheerful. A little...too cheerful. Dreamy even.

"Oui...?" asked Desbranches, slowly, looking and sounding both concerned and confused, but if someone were paying very close attention, they'd note that he was neither of these things. He picked up his pen and started twirling it in his fingers. He did this a lot, especially when things were on his mind. Troublesome things. He told this to a close relative of his, and they had a silent agreement to perhaps make a secret, silent language, this movement being one of them. It could mean something along the lines of "Trouble", "You're scaring me" and "I know what you're thinking of doing. It's not a good idea."

He hasn't seen that relative in two years. Two. Long. Years.

"Il y a quelqu'un ici qui veut vous parler," spoke Agnès. Desbranches continued his pen twirling.

"Err...d'accord, laissez-lui," replied Desbranches. Agnès opened the door completely and there stood a hooded figure, the cloak over his face in such a way that you couldn't see his face through the shadow. Desbranches smirked.

"C'est qui, ça?"

"Il m'a dit qu'il s'appelle, Simon Leroy." Desbranches stopped his pen twirling, smirk still on his lips. He knew this person.

"Bien. Laissez-nous, Agnès. J'ai besoin de lui parler...seul," he spoke the last two words sternly, making sure Agnès heard them.

It seemed he did, as he bowed and left the room. Leroy continued to stand. Desbranches motioned for the seat in front of his desk. As Leroy sat down, Desbranches put his pen down.

"J'ai pensé que tu es mort, Desbranches. Qu'est-ce que c'est passé?" Leroy spoke nonchalantly. There was something odd about his accent.

"Come now, Leroy. Put the hood down. I don't appreciate you using the Imperius Curse on my co-workers." Leroy slowly put his hood down to reveal his face. Desbranches narrowed his eyes.

"Why are you here?"

"I see you have changed your name again."

"I see you have resorted to changing yours as well."

"I learned from the best."

"You never answered my question."

"You never answered mine."

Desbranches looked at him pointedly. Then he smirked. "Martin. Martin Desbranches. I see you have chosen the name 'Simon Leroy.' Couldn't hold off your arrogant self while choosing it, could you? 'Leroy'? 'Le Roi'? The King?"

"Of course not." His face turned grave. "I didn't change that in the war."

Desbranches straightened. "Answer my question. Why are you here?"

"You will answer mine first. What happened to you? After that...incident, I – everyone – thought you were dead."

Desbranches stared at him for a minute. It was like a silent staring contest, neither one feeling the need to let their guard down, eyelids droop, or the other will pounce, ready to destroy whatever pieces of themselves either one had left. They didn't show it, but they were broken men. Shattered during a war, one that was still going on in their world.

Leroy spoke again. "I thought you were fearless. I guess everything I knew about you was wrong."

"I did die," Desbranches growled quietly. A little too quickly too, he noted, internally cursing himself. It definitely sounded much better in his head. Say something else... "That alter-ego of mine died. I simply resurrected." Good. Fine. Neutralize the situation. You got yourself into that, Desbranches, all you were able to do was a quick save.

"Very funny. That's not possible."

"Of course it is. I told you. I wrote it down."

"Sure you did. Either that..." Leroy paused, debating how to speak his answer. "Or you faked your death. That's possible, isn't it, Desbranches?"

Desbranches narrowed his eyes. "If that's why you came, you can jump out my window. Be my guest." He gestured with his hands, as if presenting a very interesting project he'd been working on, toward his one and only window. The younger man waved it off, annoyed.

"I didn't come to fake my death."

"Then why did you?" Desbranches smirked, leaning toward Leroy. He knew he had him. Leroy, he knew, was quick, witty and clever, especially when it came to verbal sparring (years and years of practice on his part) but he learned much of this from Desbranches himself.

This wasn't the best either of them had done, but Leroy was backed into a corner at this point...that is, unless he said he didn't want to answer, then Desbranches would—

Focus, Desbranches. Focus...

Leroy's gaze didn't falter, but Desbranches knew he didn't know how to answer. The only way to come out was to be blunt, and that was exactly how it came out. "I need your help."

Desbranches gasped with mock surprise. "The Simon Leroy is asking for help? And I thought you were a king."

"I don't ask for help on a daily basis, Desbranches, you know that." Leroy took a deep breath. "My family. I need them to be safe. And then there's...I need you to...teach me a few things. A few of your tricks, the ones you used in the war. The ones that...made you fearless in the war. The ones that made you brave."

Desbranches tapped his fingers on the table. It was a lot to take in. "Thing is," he began again, after a few seconds, "that's quite a lot to be asking for. Your family's safety – that's no problem." He paused. "But you wanted something else too, didn't you?"

Leroy didn't say anything for a while. Desbranches was patient. He knew he'd tell him. And he did.

"Yes."

A/N: Translations right here:

["Will you love me...?"]

["Mr. Desbranches?" (of the branches)

"Yes, Agnès?"

"There is someone here who wishes to speak with you."

"Err...okay, let him in."]

["Who's that?"

"He told me his name is 'Simon Leroy'." (the king)

"Fine. Leave us, Agnès, I need to speak to him...alone."]

["I thought you were dead, Desbranches. What happened?"]

The 1st Chapter is called "Astronaut" (by Simple Plan) music quote is :

"Cause tonight I'm feeling like an astronaut,

Sending SOS from this tiny box,

And I,

Lost all signal when I lifted up,

Now I'm stuck out here and the world forgot..."