Author's note: I don't know where the idea for this story came from...it just did and I just *had* to write it - even though I'm already writing another story. I'm not the kind to work on two stories at once; I like to finish one before I go to the next, but for some reason, I *had* to write this and publish it. This was written right now, I just finished this chapter, I hope you like it!

Prologue – Fight or Flight

Harry stared in horror as he watched his godfather fall through the Veil. He watched for a while, knowing that Sirius' head would show up, grinning like the maniac he was. He watched and watched – then he screamed.

*~*~*~*~*

Harry looked on numbly as Fudge and Dumbledore talked. Fudge kept turning back to Harry, apologizing profusely for not believing him and Dumbledore when they announced that Voldemort was back. He ignored everyone's worried looks and did not meet the gaze of Dumbledore. He was crushed; destroyed beyond repair, and he prayed that what ever Power was out there would spare him the torture of living and take him away.

*~*~*~*~*

"Harry dear, you will be coming to the Burrow, won't you?" Molly Weasley asked at King's Crossing.

Harry gave her a smile that didn't reach his eyes, and he replied, "Of course, Mrs. Weasley. It will be a pleasure to see you during the summer."

The Weasley matriarch smiled sadly before pulling him into another hug. "It'll be alright, Harry," she whispered. "Everything will great, you'll see."

Harry nodded curtly, turning around and walking away as fast as he could before she could see the unshed tears in his eyes. He had made a decision, and he knew it was a selfish one, but he couldn't live anymore. As soon as he turned sixteen, he would take his own life and join his parents. It was fight or flight and he wanted to fly.

*~*~*~*~*

In another realm, a childless mother watched her son decide to take his own life from the pool of Sight. Behind her, her husband and his best friend gripped her shoulders, squeezing them in reassurance.

Lily Potter's tears fell from her face into the water, and they watched as the peaceful pool rippled, disturbing the image of her fifteen year old son.

"We have to save him," James said.

Lily nodded, too overcome with emotion to speak. We will save you, Harry, she promised to her son. We won't let you down.

*~*~*~*~*

As soon as Harry entered the Dursleys' house, Vernon showed him his placed by backhanding him into the wall.

Harry winced from the pain, but apart from that, did not show he felt it. Vernon towered over him and sneered, "That's to show you your place here. Since your freak of a godfather is gone, we're going to make sure that you know where you belong."

Harry merely nodded and tried to get away from his large "uncle". Vernon though, wasn't through with him.

He grabbed Harry's arm tightly and pulled him back. "I have a welcome back gift for you," he said menacingly, then punched him in the stomach.

He doubled over, and he was pretty sure there was a broken rib or two. Vernon then proceeded to pummel him to the ground, kicking and yelling obscenities at him. Harry took them all in quietly, hoping not for the first time that this would be the one where his heart stopped beating. Soon he felt oblivion calling out to him, but before he could loose consciousness, Vernon stopped and hauled him up.

"Get your trunk upstairs and stay there till we call for you!" he yelled into his face.

"Yes Uncle Vernon," Harry coughed out, spilling blood on the floor and on his Uncle's shirt. He looked on in horror as Vernon's face turned from red to purple and he reached for his belt.

Aw, shit, Harry thought just before the whips started.

"You freak!" Vernon hissed. "How dare you contaminate me with your freakish blood?"

This time, oblivion took Harry before Vernon could stop. And he hoped he never woke up.

*~*~*~*~*

Lily knelt at Merlin's feet, sobbing uncontrollably. James and Sirius stood behind her, as always, wearing hard expressions on their faces.

"Please save him!" Lily said, blubbering loudly. "He's my baby, my only son, he doesn't deserve this! Assign someone to him; get someone to protect him from all those horrors! Please Merlin, don't let us be rejoined yet! Not yet."

"Lily, you don't understand," the leader of all dead wizards and witches said uncomfortably. He was used to requests like this, but had not been expecting one from the Chosen One's family.

"I understand alright!" Lily snapped, wiping her tears away angrily. "Now that you're dead and happy and leading us, you don't care what happens to all the others! I bet you want all of them dead so you can rule all of us, isn't it?"

"No, of course not!" Merlin hadn't been expecting accusations either. "All guardians have a few wards, and adding one to any of them would collapse their time balance. They won't be able to see to all of them."

"That's a lie and you know it!" James came to his wife's family. "The Pentas are around and they have absolutely no wards!"

Merlin flinched, but he had been expecting this. "James, Lily, please," he pleaded. "Don't make this hard. You know the Pentas only take special cases. They've been around for all eternity, and how many cases have they taken? Mine, Circe's, King Alexander, Queen Cleopatra, and a few others. You know they only take cases if they know this person is going to known even when they're dead."

"Actually," a voice called out from the shadows, "We'll take this one. Rie is bent on making us taking it even though we feel no pull to this child."

A figure stepped out from the shadows, her hair and arms on fire. Lily gasped and threw herself at the figure.

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" she said, fresh tears bursting out of her. "Thank you so much!"

A chuckle from behind the fire-being caused Lily to move away from her. The fire-being looked uncomfortable, and seemed glad for the distraction.

"These are my sisters," the being said, gestured at the shadows. "Elpheaba -" a figure that looked like she was made out of glass walked out, chuckling quietly. As she stepped into the light, Lily noticed that she wasn't actually made of glass, but of water.

"- Shelly -" the wind around them billowed for a moment, and then a blonde, normal looking female appeared by the water-being. Lily and the men jumped in surprise, but Merlin seemed to have not been surprised by the sudden appearance at all.

"- Michaela -" a vine crawled towards them, looking very much like a snake. James and Sirius shuddered, but Lily looked on, enthralled. The vine stopped and rose up, forming a tall female figure, which smiled and waved cheerily at them.

"- and the one you can call our leader, Ruia." The three friends looked into the shadows eagerly, wanting to have a glimpse at the most powerful of the guardian angels. To say they were surprised when a panther slinked out languidly and lay at the feet of the females was understatement.

"That's the great Ruia Penta?" Sirius said. Merlin and the other four gasped, and the cat narrowed her eyes before rising up and walking up to him.

Ever heard of the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover"? Sirius winced as he heard a very angry, but very sexy voice in his head. He nodded, too surprised to do anything. Good. Don't judge me by my cover.

With that the panther walked away and joined her sisters. The normal looking one spoke up in a cheery voice, "Rie doesn't like to show her human form. It's very Veela-like."

Lily nodded, suddenly remembering when she'd read about guardians having many different forms. "So you're really going to take my boy as your ward?" she said, going straight to business.

This time, the water-being spoke in a gurgling voice, "Yes. Ruia is very smitten with him for some reason and she won't allow us to let events run as they should. She's convinced he's going to be more powerful than any of our other wards."

"And for a good reason too," the plant-like female said, her voice dreamy and outer-worldly. "From what I've Seen, if we save him from leaving Earth, he'll end up with powers unimaginable. I think that's why Rie is so determined to make him our ward."

"Great!" James said enthusiastically. "When can you get going?"

*~*~*~*~*

Harry lowered his battered form into his cot, trying his best not to open any wounds. No such luck. The long gashes on his back opened, and blood spurted out onto his already soiled bedspread.

He sighed. His birthday was still two weeks away, and for some reason, he didn't want to die earlier. But Vernon was giving him a hard time, now beating him for the slightest of reasons and adding more unnecessary chores to Harry's already tiring jobs. Petunia didn't seem to like the way her husband was treating her nephew, but she didn't come to his defence. Dudley tried immensely to stay out of both males' ways: Harry because he didn't know how to deal with an abused child his age, his father because whenever Harry wasn't around to me maltreated, Dudley was the one who took the beatings.

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts when his light went off suddenly. Swiftly, he grabbed his wand, even though it hurt to move his left arm. Hissing in pain, he used his right hand to grab and control his left limb.

"Who's there?" he rasped. The fact that he hadn't been giving any water for a week was starting to show. He got out of the bed as quickly as he could without hurting himself more, and held his left arm out awkwardly.

"Show yourself!" he ordered, not feeling the confidence used in his voice.

Suddenly, a floorboard behind him creaked. He spun around and found himself facing a pair of golden eyes. With a yell, he moved back and shot a stunner at the intruder. The person calmly to a step forward and grabbed his wand arm, and Harry – too surprised to move – slipped into oblivion, but not before he heard, "Oh good god...what have they done to you?"

*~*~*~*~*

Review? Please?

PS: It might be a while before I update this one; I'm working on another story.