Nobody has the perfect life. There are always mistakes to be made, and dangers to avoid, and the occasional disastrous event that will change your whole life. The one that leaves you alone and silent, and opens your eyes to the fact that you had been alone and silent for a long time, but when that silence reached to those around you, it became a reality. The deadly reality, and the deadly silence. My life has been far from perfect. Just one more, sad tale you will hear in your life. One more that over time you will forget. But I won't forget, and I'll live the rest of my life wondering what could have happened if I had died in the fire that killed my family, how much time I would not have wasted away crying, and drinking, and wishing that I could just end it all, and knowing that wouldn't be right. My name is Cassandra Weatherly, and this is my story.

-X-

I sat silently on a small boulder, situated in a shallow, fast moving stream. The stone wall behind me enclosed the man made stream, and kept it from flooding during thunderstorms, but also protected me from the prying eyes of the many people who visited the park through which the stream flowed. The boulder was my spot. It was where I spent the infinite hours of the day that I wasn't at school, or grabbing food, or a change of clothes at my uncle's house.

I had no one anymore. My uncle could hardly qualify, he was as torn up about my parents death as I was. He barely noticed the fact that I didn't sleep at his house anymore. He acknowledged my presence only by leaving thirty dollars on the front table for me every day. I stopped in to take a shower and change clothes every day before school, or occasionally, on those days where I couldn't try to act like I was fine, the days when all I could do was cry, I came to call myself in sick, and sneak a few beers from his stash, before I hid myself away in my spot, and spent the day drinking myself into unconsciousness.

Today was one of those days. A bottle of beer was clutched in my hand while tears ran down my cheeks. My sobs cut through the cool silence of the freezing winter day. In my drunken state, I didn't even notice the dark faceless stranger who appeared from out of nowhere. He took one long look at me and then grabbed me by the arm and then spun on the spot. I tried to scream, but I couldn't. I felt as if I was being squeezed from all angles into a tight rubber tube, and then pulled out again, into a freezing allyway. The man dragged me out of the alleyway, and then pushed me through a doorway, into the dark building that lay beyond.

I didn't even try to orient myself. I just fell onto my butt and stared drunkenly at a patch of the black paper covering the walls of the hallway. The man closed the door and a chandelier burst to life spreading light into the previously jet black corridor. I was grabbed again and pulled roughly up a set of beautiful oak carved stairs, and then shoved onto a bed. The door slammed and I just laid there for a moment, before I felt warm, soft, and much gentler hands turn me over and pull a blanket over my shivering body. I murmured a soft thank you before my mind wrapped itself into the blanket of unconsciousness.

-X-

I hope you like it. I think it's the best story i have ever written so far. The problem is that i can't get the next part right...so i just put this up as a prologue chapter. It's an AU harry potter story that has been sitting on my computer for ages, and i'm trying to remember exactly what my original plot was... I think the first paragraph was just an emotional rambling when i was in a bad mood, and the rest of the chapter i was only half thinking about what i was writing... If it doesn't make sense to you... I don't care.

If you find a bunch of mistakes, and want to throw my Beta in the trash... Sorry to dissapoint you, but I don't have a beta and i'm terrible at checking for mistakes. I let the computer do all my work for me. So if you go crazy when you see too many little grammatical or spelling errors, don't read this story. You might go crazy...That's usually not considered a good thing.

Spell checker in microsoft word is a lifesaver...

anyway... Tell me what you think

Please!!!

...Rubber ducks will dominate the earth!!!

MWAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAAAHAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!