Title: Paradox Pending
Author: Crying Willow
Genre: Drama/Action/Adventure
Rating: PG-13
Summary: AU. The summer after book 5, things begin to happen. The Dursley's home is no longer safe, and Dumbledore seeks a new place for Harry. However, Harry has gone missing. Those who everyone thinks are dead ... are actually alive.
Disclaimer: I do not own, so do not sue. The characters and places that you recognize belong to J.K. Rowling.
Chapter One: Things Begin
A sharp persistent knocking echoed through is cluttered office. "Hello? Albus?" an urgent voice called through the door.
"Come in, Minerva." Said Albus Dumbledore, looking up from his work and carefully placing his quill on its stand, banishing the ink spots from his wrinkled papery hands with a flick of the wand.
The door swung open and Professor McGonagall entered briskly. A thin, sallow man came in behind her and shut the door firmly.
"The wards on Potters house have vanished," said McGonagall without preamble. "Mundungus Fletcher sent an owl in this morning, and I left immediately to confirm it. They're gone, Albus. No sign or trace of them left. It's as if that house was never warded."
The headmaster's face was very still as he rose from his chair in slow motion. He stood there, staring over McGonagall's shoulder at something only he could see, and then said in a low voice "I want Harry removed from Privet Drive at once. Bring him here."
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It was morning, and the sun was just slanting through the windows on the north side of the house. Lily was crouched in the dust motes of the attic, sifting through boxes of old belongings. Wiping her the sweat off her forehead with the back of a sleeve, she set aside a cardboard box of old school photos and reached for a small wooden chest. She grimaced as it scraped across the floor, dragging it towards her. The lid was tied down with twine, and she had to struggle to get the knots undone.
Sliding the top off, she cast the twine aside. The box was filled with wood shavings, and a yellowed piece of parchment rested on top of them. She picked it up shaking the wood shavings away, and unfolded it. It read:
To Lily and James Potter,
For good luck.
Albus Dumbledore
Lily smiled sadly, closed the box, and moved on, never suspecting that later on that day when James went looking for his old quiddich supplies, he would trip on the box from Albus. Never suspecting that out of curiosity he would look inside. And never knowing that life as she knew it was about to be turned upside down.