Sighing, a dusty-haired young man slouched away from the milky ball he had been staring into. His ordinarily calm brown eyes were troubled.

No matter how long he stared into the future, he seemed to be blocked by the image of a girl. No, she was definitely a woman. She had bushy brown hair, with strands of bronze the glinted in the sunlight. She looked like the personification of a warm, sunny day.

This woman wore a Hogwarts' uniform, but not in any fashion he had seen. Apollo could tell she had a hearty laugh, a rare thing in his time because all of the girls were focused on being model wives. She was tan, another unusual factor. Finally, Apollo saw her face. It was a breathtaking grin. She had warm facial features that could thaw the coldest soul. This woman had brown eyes that pierced Apollo with their intelligence. These eyes were not just brown. They were molten with their warmth. They swirled like chocolate with flecks of gold near the center. The sight made Apollo's breath hitch.

Apollo mourned his failed attempted to stare into the ball once again. Like every other time, he only saw this woman's face. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. His attempts to figure out this enigma puzzled everyone. This was difficult to do in a family of seers.

Apollo walked to get outside, away from his seemingly suffocating bedroom. He noticed with distaste that he had spent another day of wasted efforts trying to see anything else. The rest of his family was asleep. As seers themselves, they recognized the futility of trying to stop or interrupt someone who was attempting to divine the unknown.

Out in the open area behind his home, Apollo fancied this the only place he could find peace, well this and the library. Apollo was dressed in his lounging clothes, just some slacks and shirt that didn't need to be pressed. Lazily, he walked in the backyard of his modest home, kicking up dirt.

His family was quite wealthy, but with a large, diverse family of, shall we say, talents, it is best for everyone to be relatively close. Scarcely a major event in the Muggle or Wizarding Worlds had some member of his family not foretold. It was for that reason they choose to live in relative abandon. It was far too tempting for people in power to take advantage of his family's talents.

This day started off like any other for Apollo. He made his rounds greeting all of members of his family, extended and all. Each greeting usually returned by a prophecy of some sort, be it a command to not wear the color purple or an order to go change his socks. The exceptions were his younger cousins. They didn't have powers yet so their greetings were returned with unbridled enthusiasm to play a game. Most of the time, Apollo managed to navigate himself out of this duty.

Apollo was usually silent at meals. The adults would often talk to each other about what they had prophesized that day. Often, they were nothing major, the adoption of some animal or the score of a children's Quidditch game. When a major prophecy came about, they packaged it up and left it anonymously in front of the Ministry. The next day, at the same time, the Ministry would leave payment.

Apollo liked the simplicity of his life. He had very little stress and the comfortable bustle of his family shadowed his quiet nature. This would all be changing in precisely a month. He would be returning to Hogwarts for his seventh year. In two weeks, he would Floo to Diagon Alley and pick up all of his supplies for the school year.

To this day, Apollo was still surprised his parents allowed him to attend school. Many of his cousins would be homeschooled, as their parents were. Very few members of his family received a formal education because it had simply never been a priority. This does not mean that his family is dull. Everyone was actually quite witty and intelligent; it was just hard to tell from all of the lines of prophecy that spewed from his family's mouth.

Currently, Apollo was occupied with thoughts of his beloved school as he wandered. He loved his family dearly, but there was something wonderful about being able to talk to a peer and not worry if they are speaking in riddles. He was sorted into Hufflepuff. Despite their reputation, Apollo enjoyed his classmates. He had never met a more caring and compassionate group of people. Plus, it was great to get away from the general craziness that accompanied Ravenclaw study sessions, Griffindor pranks, or Slytherin whatever-it-is-they-do meetings.

Apollo was brought out of his musings by a bright light. Apollo thought he was imagining things. Roughly, he shook his head, but the light was still there, beckoning to him. Hesitantly, Apollo walked forward into the light.

Apollo sneezed from being in the focus of the bright white light.

"God bless you," a low baritone voice rumbled. "Or rather Bran bless you."

Apollo stared at a man who towered over him. He was at least six and a half feet tall, draped in black robes, emphasizing his height. Despite his imposing figure, this man had a smile on his face. He had unkempt dark hair and stubble on his face. His emerald green eyes glowed just a little bit too much o be natural.

"Excuse me, where are my manners." The strange man waved his hand and two chairs appeared. Apollo carefully sunk into his chair.

Ignoring Apollo's weariness, the man continued in a jovial tone, "Hello there Apollo. Oh, don't be surprised I know your name. You are a very special boy, born into a family of seers in fact."

"How do you know about me?" Apollo was still relatively unknown outside his family. He never had any important prophecies.

"Oh please boy. I know everything about you. Just who do you think gave your family its little gifts?" Continuing despite Apollo's dumbstruck face, "Any who, I need you to do something for me."

Apollo blinked, clearly processing all of this information. "Um, how could I help you sir?" Apollo asked, as politely as his mother raised him.

"Well, I can't say much right now, you know the future and all, but you, my boy, are going to be very important later," Bran replied.

"Yes, sir, forgive me, but I do not understand what you want from me."

"I want you to live your life. Meet a girl, go on a date, or skip your classes. I don't really care. Your family has helped me in the past, so I thought I could return the favor in a small way. Remember that girl?"

"Yes sir."

"Stay away from her."

"Sir?"

"You heard me. There will be a time for you to help her. That time is not now. Just be patient and go on with your life."

Puzzled, Apollo asked, "Sir, if I won't become important until later, then why did you visit me?"

Bran got up and smiled down at Apollo, "Isn't it obvious? So you have something wonderful to tell your family at breakfast." Bran reached out to touch Apollo on the arm but then considered something.

"Wait, I supposed you need something ominous to say. Hmm… Oh start with this: This is the story of Hermione Granger and this is how it ends, at least for the present. I like that. Very regal sounding. Oh, I almost forgot, you need a prophecy, right? How about a little something like this:

The god of justice will foretell sorrow,

The knight of the lion will revive the lady.

The emperor of snakes will court the princess of war

And he will revive the world.

But no one can foretell the lady's actions."

"Yes, sir. I will remember it," Apollo said uncertainly. His instincts told him to trust this man, but his common sense told him otherwise.

Bran checked an invisible watch on his wrist. "Oh, would you look at the time! I simply must be going. Alright, so remember what I said and you'll wake up in your bed tomorrow morning, okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, Bran said "Lovely." He touched Apollo on the arm and Apollo's world went dark.