It has come to out attention that we might have to rewrite again, because of our QOTD reverences. We need to change all the names. The story plot will not change. Thank you for you understanding. ENJOY :) this will happen SOON!

Disclaimer: we do not own any of the JK characters

~Just wanted to say THANK YOU to our awesome beta, ersatz erasion~

Starting Over

Chapter 1: The New Beginning

It was one of the hottest days that the occupants of Privet Drive had ever witnessed. Most could be found in the comfort of their homes, shielded from the rays of the sun, all except one person, Harry Potter. His Aunt Petunia had insisted that she needed eggs immediately for her new recipe, and that she could not leave herself, so with a push out the door, Harry was on his way to the local grocery store.

As he walked down the street, Harry noticed that families were emerging from the indoors to enjoy the slightly cooler air. Upon reaching the store, Harry bought a carton of eggs with the money his aunt given him. After a, "Have a nice evening," from the clerk, Harry was on his way back down Privet Drive. The sun had set, and a beautiful, reddish-pink strip of light could be seen on the horizon. Harry watched as a light breeze stirred up and rustled the leaves on the ground at his feet.

While walking back to Number Four, Harry again couldn't help but feel his mind drifting toward thoughts of the end of last term. It felt like it was just yesterday that it all had happened, and it felt like he wouldn't ever be happy again. Every night, his dreams were haunted by a flash of green, and those dead eyes of Cedric's seemed to forever stare back at him. Harry just didn't know what to think anymore, but he knew that life would only get harder for him with Voldemort back, and that wasn't a comforting thought.

Consumed in his thoughts, Harry didn't notice that someone was lurking in the shadows near Privet Drive. Seeing their target, they came closer and closer to Harry, stealthily and quickly.

Harry had just passed the playground when he got a sudden feeling that he was being followed. He looked around, but he couldn't see anyone in sight, so he shrugged it off, whispering to himself that he was just being paranoid. As he reached the tunnel that would take him straight to Privet Drive, Harry felt it again. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down, he continued on.

All of a sudden, Harry was grabbed by something. Startled, he dropped the carton of eggs, making them splatter everywhere. He tried to free himself, but the hold that was containing him was like steel. Within a few seconds of his struggling, the figure lowered its head to his neck. Even in his panic, the idea came to Harry's mind that he was being attacked by a vampire.

He fought the best he could, but his efforts were futile. He felt the vampire sink its fangs into his neck, and his life seemed to be slowly draining away as the vampire drank his blood greedily. When he eventually collapsed, Harry felt the vampire hold up his weight, and he slipped into unconsciousness and knew no more.

Once the vampire had had her fill, she removed herself from the boy. After coming back to her senses, she looked down upon the deathly pale boy on the ground. She immediately could tell that she had taken too much blood from the boy, and he would surely die because of her mistake. Her mind not really thinking, she took out her dagger and cut her wrist, then kneeled over the boy. She opened his mouth and let the blood drip freely into it. She knew that she was turning him, but his death would haunt her if she took the other course and let him die.

As the blood made contact with the boy, his instincts kicked in, and he greedily drank all he could. The vampire watched as her newly-turned charge changed into his new form. Then, before the boy could wake up, she gently waved her hand over his eyes, making him fall into a deep, peaceful sleep. She grabbed Harry's lifeless body and fled. The splattered eggs were left forgotten.

The vampire fled the area quickly, running at an incredible speed, and went to an un-occupied house in a run-down section of London. She set Harry's body down on an old, dilapidated couch, then got up and started securing the room with some powerful sensors. She waved her hands over the door, creating a blue glow over its perimeter. It vanished. After admiring her work, the vampire looked over at her newly-turned charge and observed that he was a boy around fifteen and looked quite skinny for his age. She said softly, "Well, good luck. I'm gonna go to sleep…Good night my little vampire."

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It was dark. But for some reason, it was very welcoming. He felt so tired, and strangely full of life.

He searched his memory, trying to figure out what had just happened and where he was. Then he remembered, and it was like a bludger smacking him upside the head. A vampire had bitten him... Ow man I feel like I've been attacked by a bludger …wait... where am I?, Harry thought.

A wave of fear washed over him as he realized his dilemma. He was no longer in the dark tunnel that would lead him to Privet Drive. Instead, he was laying on a beaten-up, dark red couch that was anything but comfy. He opened his eyes, and he was shocked at what he saw. The room he was in was completely black, probably due to the fact it was late at night or in the early morning hours. But what was so strange for Harry was the fact that he could make out the objects around him, even though it was pitch black.

Without thinking, Harry reached over the side of the couch for his glasses. Once he put them on, he realized that for some strange reason, everything was blurry. How did my glasses get so dirty?

He took off his glasses, cleaned them, and stuck them on again. What? ... Why is it still blurry? Harry was starting to get confused as he took his glasses off once again.

What? Harry couldn't believe what was happening. He kept putting his glasses on and off, noticing that without them he could see perfectly. Strange. Harry got up off the couch and looked around.

He was in a room with one window, which was boarded up, and he had been laying on an uneven couch in the corner. In front of him was an old desk cluttered with books and old-looking papers. Looking down at the dust-ridden floor, Harry noticed that there were papers and rubbish of sorts scattered all over.

Looking over to the other side of the room, Harry saw that he wasn't alone. There, on a four-poster bed, lay a girl. She had long, silky black hair that fell down to her mid-back. Her face was stuffed into a white pillow, and she was sleeping soundly.

Harry's mind went into overdrive. What had happened to him? What should he do? Not wanting to wake her, Harry looked for an escape. He saw the boarded-up window, but he didn't see an escape there. Scanning the room again, Harry spotted a dilapidated door that was hanging against its frame with only one hinge. Seeing his escape, he darted for the open door, but before he could leave the room, an unknown force strongly pushed him back into the room, successfully knocking him onto the floor and flinging dust around him.

Groaning, Harry got back to his feet, but he noticed that he wasn't the only one awake. Standing right behind him was the girl. She smiled at him and said, "I see that you're up…how are you feeling?"

Harry turned around to see a girl with breathtaking baby blue eyes that were staring right at him. She was checking out his new appearance.

Too shocked for words, Harry just stared at the girl with an opened mouth. He felt he should be freaking out at this very moment, but another instinct seemed to take over. It calmed him completely.

Harry continued to watch the girl. He could feel every step the girl took, although her feet didn't make a sound as she walked across the dusty floor, leaving her footprints behind her.

Still in a daze, Harry watched as the girl went back to the bed and sat down, crossing her legs. They both looked at each other for a moment, just studying their different appearances. Harry saw that the girl looked to be about his age and was a bit short, probably down to his nose. She was wearing light blue jeans and a matching hooded jacket. But what had shocked Harry the most, thinking she was the vampire, was the fact that the girl had tanned skin, and when she smiled at him, he saw she had no fangs, unlike him. She looked normal.

"Hello," greeted the girl in an American accent. "You probably are wondering what happened," she stated with a friendly smile.

"Yes," Harry carefully answered. As soon as he spoke, he felt his sharpened carnivores in his mouth brush against his tongue.

"I attacked you in a dark tunnel earlier in the evening, around dusk," she began to explain, "You were all alone, you see…I have been a naughty girl and wasn't taking good care of myself…I lost control and, well, I think you can fill in the rest."

Harry remembered being grabbed and feeling helpless in the darkness of the tunnel.

The girl continued, looking more embarrassed than ever. "I am afraid that...well, you see, I had no control, and I was extremely hungry and weak. I just couldn't stop. Once I got control over myself, I realized it was too late for you. I freaked, okay…I didn't want to have your death haunt me, so I did the only thing that seemed logical. So, giving you some of my blood…I turned you. I'm so sorry, but there is no going back."

Harry's eyes shined an emerald color as they widened. "I'm a vampire..." Taking a shaky breath, he continued, "but what are you? You don't look like a vampire."

"And what do vampires look like..." The girl continued. "I want to apologize again...I have screwed up your life terribly...I'm so sorry…"

Deep in thought, Harry sat back down on the old couch. As he sat down, everything that had happened that night finally started to sink in. He could feel his pulse increasing rapidly as he sat there, quietly panicking. Okay, she's a vampire…wait how? She never answered me. Oh, Merlin! I'm a vampire. NO! WHY? No, this can't be happening, please, this is a dream…how can I go back now? How will my friend react? Will they accept me? He was shaking his head in his hands in denial.

"My name is Marissa Ventus," the girl said, interrupting his panicked thoughts. "Take a deep breath. Please calm down...I am going to help you, and I will do everything I can to make up for what I have done." She spoke calmly to Harry as she made her way over to the couch and sat down right beside him.

Feeling her sit beside him, Harry looked up at her.

Happy that she had finally gotten eye contact she continued. "You're most likely thinking that this is the end of the world, to say…but I can give you some good news, perhaps cheer you up a bit."

Seeing that she wasn't going to get a response, she went on. "I know that you're a wizard. The wand kinda gives it away."

Snapped out of his thoughts, Harry quickly looked for his wand. He pulled it out of his pocket, looked at it, then looked back at Marissa.

"What does it matter if I'm a wizard or not? What matters right now is that you destroyed everything that I had in my life that was good," Harry interrupted.

"Well, if you stop interrupting me, I will explain things more clearly for you." Marissa smirked.

"All right, continue, like I care anymore," Harry snapped back.

"Wait…er...why don't you look like me…er...you're a vampire right?" he questioned.

"Well, just listen to me. I was just getting there," Marissa countered.

"Okay, continue. You have my full attention," Harry grumbled.

"Thank you," Marissa said with a satisfied smile. "Oh, before I begin, how about you give me your name."

"It's Harry, Harry Potter. Now continue," Harry quickly answered, a little surprised that she didn't know that already, with his famous scar and all.

"It's nice to meet you." Marissa beamed, grabbing his hand and shaking it.

After Harry withdrew his hand and gave her an annoyed look, Marissa continued. "It's okay, Harry. Everything is going to be all right," Marissa tried to comfort.

"All right? Alright!? Nothing is bloody all right. How am I supposed to live like this?" Harry cut in. "And wait, how come you're not answering me? Why don't you look like a vampire? You're a vampire, right?"

Marissa smiled at Harry's realization. "Yes, I'm a vampire. I think we got that straight. Harry, there are some important things we need to discuss. You're a wizard, just like me, right?"

Looking confused at her question, he answered, "Yes, but what does that have to do with being a vampire?"

"Because, silly, before I was bitten, I was a witch like you. We are what they call Moonlight vampires. Moonlights are wizards turned into vampires with enhanced powers," Marissa explained.

"Moonlight vampires? I've never heard of them. Are they different from other vampires?" Harry asked, feeling a little more comfortable now.

Marissa smiled at Harry's mental dilemma. "Yes, we are very different. It's like we take on the image of mortals, but we only need blood to survive. I'm not surprised that you haven't heard of moonlights before. We are very secretive and blend with mortals quite easily."

"Wait, how do you hide your appearance, then?" Harry interrupted.

"Let me first explain some important facts about us. We need blood to survive. Blood gives us energy and life. It's very important. We can move super fast, have inhuman strength, a pretty good vertical leap, and we blend into shadows well. The difference between moonlights and other vampires is that we can walk out in the sun and not burn to ashes. All the sun does is shows who we really are. So in order for us to go out in the sun we will need to hide our appearances. This can be done by your own willpower. Just will yourself to hide your true traits."

Harry tried just that and started to feel the changes.

"Now, wooden stakes and holy water can kill vampires, but not moonlights. Nothing can penetrate our skin. The only thing that can kill us is another immortal. They would have to cut up the body in many pieces then burn it."

Harry cringed at the thought of that.

"Yes, I know that does seem uncomfortable. But anyways, you will find that your wizarding magic is stronger and easier to control. Try levitating that pillow."

Harry looked confused but proceeded to point his wand at the pillow, until Marissa grabbed his wand out from under his nose. "How can I do magic without my wand? Do you mean wandless magic?"

"Yes, silly, wandless magic. Now, try," Marissa confirmed.

Harry concentrated on the pillow, willing it to go up. All of a sudden, the pillow did just that. Losing his concentration, Harry stated, "I did wandless magic. Wait, what about the Ministry? Will they find out?"

"No, I don't think your Ministry will find out, since our magic has no sensors. Your wand also cannot be detected, so you're free to do whatever you like, wandlessly or with a wand."

Harry was flabbergasted. It frightened him that his original horror about being a vampire was slowly draining away, and that a new jubilation was replacing it.

"Oh, hey, we need go before it's too late!" Marissa exclaimed, standing up.

Standing up as well, Harry asked, "Go where, too late for what?"

Marissa just smiled, and once she reached the door, she said, "To hunt, of course." With that, she left a dazzled Harry to follow in her wake.

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They reached downtown London as just a little light was forming over the horizon. From their view off a random rooftop, they could see that a few early risers were already scurrying off to their destinations.

"Harry, now watch and learn. Don't move, all right? You'll scare the mortals if you do," added Marissa.

"Wait…er...I don't think I can do this. I…won't kill to live," Harry stammered.

With a comforting smile, Marissa answered him. "Oh, no worries, Harry. We don't kill for our blood. Just look at yourself. Like I explained earlier, I accidentally took too much blood from you, almost killing you, but I saved you in a way, I guess."

"Saved me? I would rather bloody die then live like this," Harry seethed.

With a small chuckle, Marissa said, "Oh, calm down, Harry."

She gave him a friendly pat on the back.

Swatting her hand away, Harry said, "I'm calm. I'm just rightly pissed at the same time."

"You'll get over it soon…hmm, at least I hope you will. Anyways, before you interrupted me, I was saying that we have complete control over our actions when it comes to drinking blood from a muggle only. Therefore, we know when to stop drinking their blood. Word of advice just stay away from wizard's blood, it's intoxicating and you have to have a pretty strong willpower just to stop."

She looked at Harry. "Okay, you understand?"

"I guess I do. Please continue," Harry answered after calming down a bit.

"Good! Now watch and observe." Marissa moved toward some lights, and like a bolt of lightning, she was gone.

How can I watch if I can't see? thought Harry.

Then Harry looked around to where he'd last seen her, and he finally spotted her across the street.

How did she get there?

Marissa was next to an alley and was just hanging around in the shadows. There was a man, a quite large man, and Marissa licked her lips. Harry blinked, and when he opened his eyes, Marissa had the man in her arms, and she was drinking his blood.

"Man, I missed it," said Harry out loud.

He blinked again, and she disappeared once more.

"How does she do that?" Harry was about to look around the corner, but he jumped when he felt someone put a finger on his back. "Wow, how do you move that fast?"

"Simple. I just kind of…umm...move," answered Marissa with a contented smile.

"Alrighty, Harry, it's your turn," said the smiling Marissa. "Go over to the alley across the book store. It looks nice there."

"So you want me to move just like you and drink just like you did?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, Harry what's wrong? Didn't you see me?" laughed Marissa.

"I um…no, I blinked." Harry laughed a bit in his embarrassment.

"I'm not helping you. Go and find blood. I will wait here, and oh, Harry, remember what I said earlier." Marissa smiled at him.

"How will I know how much is too much?" Harry asked, confused.

"You'll know, silly. Just go," said Marissa.

"Fine. I'll be back soon," said Harry.

"Better be," laughed Marissa.

It felt as if time had stopped as he moved to the alley across from the book store. Thinking of nothing, it just came easily, and he was really getting thirsty now. He saw that a nice, mid-aged woman was walking down the alley, and she stopped to tie her shoe.

Oh, he gets an easy one, thought Marissa.

Harry quickly creeped up to her, snatched her, bit her, drank, and left. Not a sound was made.

"Wow, that was an interesting feeling. I feel my energy increasing," Harry announced.

Noticing that more people had popped up around them, Marissa said, "Well, Harry, we should head back now and remember, we can't be seen," Marissa reminded.

With that said, Marissa grabbed Harry by the wrist, and they fled off.

Once the two vampires had gotten back to their hideout, they started talking again.

"Why can't we be seen?" Harry asked.

Sighing, Marissa put up sensors around the house with a wave of her hand, securing their safety. Ignoring Harry's question, she continued on in the house.

Walking through the hallway, Harry finally noticed the condition of the house. The white paint on the walls had started to peel, and the carpet had stains that to Harry looked like dried blood. He followed Marissa past a very filthy kitchen that had graffiti all over the walls and into looked to have once been a living room. The walls had the same wear to them, but with more graffiti, and the grayish carpet was another story. If Harry wasn't mistaken, he would have thought a mass tornado had gone through this room. There were papers scattered everywhere. The furniture, or what was left of it, looked to be in bad shape as well. A couple of chairs were overturned, and the couch had springs sticking out of it.

Curious as to where Marissa was going, Harry followed her through the door on the left, the one that hung on only one of its hinges. They walked into the bedroom where Harry had first woken up. Now more awake, Harry noticed that this room was in better condition then the rest of the house, probably due to the fact that Marissa was fixing it up with magic.

Moving from his rooted spot, Harry noted Marissa. She was sitting on the edge of the four-poster bed, deep in thought. Harry came over and sat next to her. Looking her in the eyes, he asked, "Are you all right?"

Marissa smiled and fell back on the bed so that she was lying down. She motioned for Harry to do the same thing, and once they both were lying down side-by-side and staring at the ceiling, Marissa started to talk.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just thinking, that's all."

"Okay…hey, Marissa, what were you like before you were turned?" Harry asked, still staring at the ceiling.

Giving an audible sigh, Marissa answered, "My past…I would rather forget. It's too painful otherwise."

Harry thought for a moment before continuing. "If I tell you about my past, will you tell me about yours? I mean, sometimes it's better to tell someone instead of trying to forget it. At least, that's what my friend Hermione says."

Marissa gave Harry a weak smile that told him to continue.

"Er...where to begin? It seems you don't know about me, which is very strange to begin with."

Marissa sarcastically snorted, "Full of yourself now."

Harry nudged her side and laughed. "Do you want me to continue?"

Marissa nudged back. "Yes, your lordship."

Harry smiled and continued. "I'm quite famous, you know. I'm called the Boy-Who-Lived in the wizarding world."

"Really…Boy-Who-Lived, you choose to volunteer this information?" Marissa snorted again.

"I had no choice in the matter, anyways. Do you want me to continue, or do you just enjoy teasing me?" Harry replied.

"But, really, that's about the lamest nickname I've ever heard, but do please explain on," chirped Marissa.

Harry gave her a look, but went on. "Well, you see, when I was fifteen months old, my parents, Lily and James Potter, were murdered by Voldemort."

"Murdered…Harry, I'm so sorry," inhaled Marissa.

As if no one had interrupted, Harry continued. "A very powerful, dark wizard, who then turned his wand on me, saying the killing curse."

"No way! You could have died, and then you would never have met me, and that would've been catastrophic," Marissa added.

Harry continued. "The strangest thing is that I survived because my mother sacrificed herself for me to live. The killing curse rebounded off me and went straight back into the caster, wiping Voldemort of his body. People thought he had died that night, and I became famous. Every witch and wizard would celebrate my name. I was then sent to live with the Dursleys. Petunia Dursley is my mum's sister."

"Wow, and I thought I had it bad," Marissa sighed.

"You don't know the half of it," said Harry. "Let me tell you about the Dursleys. They hate magic and anything to do with it. So, from the very start, they hated me, and they loved to express it in every waking moment I spent with them. I pretty much hated my life until my eleventh birthday. Then I received my Hogwarts letter and learned of a whole new world."

Harry went on to explain his years at Hogwarts, and he talked about what he had gone through while Marissa listened in silence, except for the occasional OH MY, soaking it all in.

"And my last year, he came back…Voldemort came back," Harry ended.

Breaking the silence, Marissa said, "Dude, you've had a hard life." She gave him a comforting pat on the arm, then turned over and looked him right in the eyes. "Well, my past isn't as dark as that." She laughed, trying to ease the tension.

"I came from a big family, you can say. Well, I'm Latino. I have seven brothers and sisters in all. I was the oldest in the bunch."

"Wow, and I thought Ron had a big family," Harry commented.

With a raised eyebrow, Marissa asked, "Who's Ron?"

"Ron's another good friend of mine," explained Harry.

"I see…now, anyways, my family and I lived in a run-down part of San Diego, California, close to the border of Mexico. I was distant from the rest of my family, perhaps because I was the oldest. I got involved in the wrong crowd, you could say. I partied all the time, missed school a lot, didn't do my school work, and so on."

"What about your parents? Did they not care?" Harry asked, shocked.

With a sad smile, Marissa continued. "I'm just getting there…my parents, if you can call them that, didn't care much about me. Yes, they gave me a roof over my head and food to eat, but they never had time just for me. My dad was a drunk, and he was constantly in and out of jail."

"What did he do? I mean, your dad," Harry asked with curiosity.

Marissa gave an annoyed hmph, but continued. "Oh, it's not important. Now, stop interrupting."

Patting her on the shoulder, Harry apologized. "I'm sorry. Please continue."

Rolling her eyes, Marissa did. "Now, my mom lived with my grandmother and us. She would work two or three jobs, so I never saw her much, and when I did, she would always snap at me for doing something wrong. Though, most of the time, I was innocent."

"Damn, that is harsh. I'm so sorry," Harry butted in.

"If you want to know, I was closer to my grandma. She was a witch like me, and she taught me my magic. It was my responsibility to take care of my brothers and sisters if my grandma was not available." Marissa paused then and took a breath before going on.

"Then, one night, my life changed. I was thirteen years old. You see, I met this guy. We had been going out for quite a long time, about a year. His name was Nate, and he was a Moonlight. Of course, I didn't know that fact, so one night, he took advantage of me and turned me. He was the one who taught me the ways of moonlights, everything I have taught you. A week later, disaster hit. Apparently, Nate didn't have a good background, and he told me that the ancient ones, the oldest, well-respected vampires, were after his blood. He never told me what he'd done, but was killed the night after. Scared out of my wits, I ran for it. When I came home, though, I found that my house was torched, and everyone in it was dead. It was the ancient ones' doing, I just know it. Like you, I was sent to live with my step-aunt, who was the only one willing to take me in. Her name is Minerva McGonagall."

Harry gasped.

"I'm actually on my way to her place, but I got lost and ran into you," Marissa concluded.

"Wait, you know Professor McGonagall?" Harry interrupted.

Shaking her head, Marissa continued "No, not really. We've met a couple of times before. She's my mom's step-sister, and she lives here in England, so distance has separated us."

"Small world. Are you going to Hogwarts, then?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, just for this year, I think, or until I have a place to stay, that is. I got her owl. She said for me to join her at Hogwarts, and that she would sort everything out when I got there," Marissa explained.

With a smile, Harry said, "Good. At least I won't be alone in this secret."

Smiling as well, Marissa added, "Yeah, you won't."

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AN:this is the new rewrite of starting over. Hope you liked it!! We would love to hear what you love, hate or any comments that you like about this chapter. This is an ongoing project along with school and work. SOO bare with us updates may be slow. We will not abandon this!! Thanks :)