Red

Chapter One: A New Face

Harry bowed his weary head to the rain saturated window, but the uncomfortable judder as the train chugged along forced him to lift it again. He sighed and lay back into the comfort of the cushioned seat...but Harry could feel comfort no more. In fact, he firmly believed that he would never feel comfort, or happiness for that matter, again. He had lost so much in his short life. He never really knew his parents, but the significance of losing them and the nagging thought that everything would have been so different had they survived lay heavy in his heart every day. The short time he had with his only remaining family, his godfather Sirius, meant at least he had some memory of someone who would always protect him, someone who offered him the promise of a real home and stability, but once again death cruelly snatched away another piece of Harry's potential happiness. The pain of losing Dumbledore was still fresh; it stabbed him in the heart. He felt as though it was bleeding dry, and was still being moved to tears constantly throughout each agonising day. His final protector was gone. Then there was Ginny. He felt for no one what he felt for Ginny, not even Cho. It was only when he and Ginny were brought together that Harry knew what love truly was, which is why he had to leave her behind. No, he mustn't think of Ginny. He mustn't fall into those depths again. He must be strong now. He looked over at Ron and Hermione, who were sleeping on the opposite seat to Harry in the compartment. Hermione's head had slowly lulled onto Ron's shoulder, her soft chestnut curls acting as an appropriate pillow. Ron, judging by his pained expression, was having some sort of a nightmare, though unusually for him he was not sleep-talking. The left hand corner of Harry's mouth upturned slightly, in perhaps the biggest smile he was able to muster since the day of Dumbledore's death. It had been a month now. He had to find Voldemort and end it once and for all. They had no idea where to start, or even which country. For some reason, Harry's instincts were pointing him to Ireland. He had no idea why, the only affiliation he ever had with Ireland was Seamus Finnegan, or supporting them in the Quidditch World Cup. But Harry had decided to trust his instincts now. They were all he really had to go on, although admittedly it had been difficult to think since his scar was constantly burning white hot on his head. He could not even touch it to soothe it anymore.

Thus, they were on their way to Ireland. They had decided against visiting the bigger cities like Dublin, which would be crowded. They couldn't risk being spotted in a crowd. So they had decided to stay in the countryside, booking a small cottage at the edge of an expansive forest. From there they could travel around, following Harry's instincts to wherever they would take them. Harry felt very dark and hopeless, full of doubt that they would succeed, but if they didn't try, who would?

Suddenly, the train gave an almighty jolt, knocking Harry out of his train of thought. It stopped for a moment but then continued on again, not before knocking someone over outside their compartment though…

"Argh! Damn! Stupid flaming train!" cried a very female (and very Irish) voice. Her shadow appeared outside their frosted glass window as she picked herself up off the ground. Harry got up and slid the door open.

"Are you alright?" The girl turned around to face him, a well-meaning smile on her face.

"Grand!" she said, "just always been a bit clumsy on it! I'm Rose by the way, Rose Chance… yourself?" She took Harry's hand and shook it vigorously. Harry had to admit he was quite taken by her. She wasn't amazingly pretty or anything, but she had long red waves and deep blue eyes, rather a sweet, childish face and a friendly charm that Harry would have just put down to being a stereotypical Irish woman! He somehow just felt an instant connection.

"Er…hi! I'm Harry Potter!"

End of Chapter One