Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to Mrs. JK Rowling.
It was twenty minutes past midnight. A little girl is tip-toeing down the hallway from her bedroom to the stairs. She looks about seven. Her parents and baby brother are supposed to be sleeping, but the girl can hear her Daddy's voice downstairs. He's yelling something, vile and angry. Her father got like that sometimes; Riley's father would drink and smoke and shoot stuff in his arms that made him either angry or mellow. "Riley, your Papa is sick, that's why he does those things." she heard her aunt often say. But that's alright, Aunt Niki's husband was sick too. Uncle Mark heard and saw things that weren't there.
"You think you can come in here…." Thom growled. Were Daddy and Uncle Mark fighting? No, he and Aunt Niki went home already. Who was it? "No No! Du bist der Teufel! You're the Devil!" he yelled as Riley crept down the stairs to get a better look. She's scared now. Thom is in the kitchen, facing a man who doesn't look like anyone she's ever seen before. He's paler than Auntie Niki, with red eyes. No visible nose. It's the bad man she's heard people at the Ministry talk about. Voldemort. She wants to scream, tell Daddy to get away, run. Run fast. Get Uncle Mark.
"Why us…? Haven't you had enough? You killed the Longbottoms, you killed James and Lily. Rot in Hell, Schwein." Thom spits at him. Daddy has his wand. Voldemort wraps his hand around Thom's throat.
"Must I give a reason….?" He grips tighter.
Go get Momma. I gotta get Momma. Riley wants to move. She can't. She's frozen with fear.
He raises the wand.
Her Daddy is powerless. "Gott helfe mir." He whispers. "God help me."
"Avada Kedavra." Jolts. Jolts of light; an electric shock. More powerful. Fatal. Avada Kedavra, the death spell.
Only now can Riley scream.
"Daddy! DADDY!"
A/N: Short chapter I know! Forgive me, readers! But this was just the prologue! What will become of Riley? What about the other characters? More info to be revealed in the next chapter!