I don't own anything but the characters I make up myself

Post HPB, some action from DH so be careful for spoilers

Prologue

The rain pounded on the numerous stained glass window panes as a storm thundered outside of the warm castle. Within the walls, the inhabitants looked at each other in silence, looking around the now empty halls and corridors. It seemed strange to them that no students walked through the halls, causing trouble and running to classes, especially now that so much tragedy was at hand and that there was still more in the future. It had only been one day since they had sent the students home on the train, only two since the funeral that had shocked the population. One woman stood, her usually strong figure slight and frail looking in the dim lights and flashing lightning, left the group, walking away, towards a large stone gargoyle.

"Password?" it asked, its mouth frowning, stone tears in its eyes.

"Tragedy," the woman replied. The gargoyle nodded and moved out of the way, allowing the woman through, who patted it as she passed. "I know, I miss him, too."

Without another word she climbed a large staircase and entered an elaborate office. With tears in her eyes, she looked around the room at the portraits on the wall, but none of the inhabitants were paying any attention to her, they were staring at the large frame on the floor at her feet. The velvet background stood blank as she picked it up, as she did so, all the eyes in the portraits stared at her, many with tears in their eyes, some with blank, almost shocked looks on their faces. Never had any of them believed that this portrait would join them so soon.

"Oh, get on with it, Minerva!" one of them shouted in despair at the woman holding the frame. She was joined by a chorus of "Yes, pleases".

Minerva McGonagall turned to face the past Headmasters and Headmistresses of the school and pointed her wand at the frame, muttering under breath. The frame whooshed through the air, and flew to the wall directly behind the desk. Once it had situated itself, the purple background soon became inhabited, and a familiar face soon entered the frame. He looked around once or twice, chuckled to himself.

"Well," he said to no one in particular, "this is definitely a new point of view. I never realized my things were so out of place. I must let the next resident know… Now, now, why is everybody so sorrowful?"

"Albus…" McGonagall whispered, before breaking into tears and sprinting from the office. The portraits took handkerchiefs out of random pockets and watched her leave before turning to their newest addition.

"Goodness," he said, "that was very odd. I mean, I have died, but that is no reason for tears. I quite like this spot, as a matter of fact."

"Oh, Albus, what did you expect?" one witch asked. "You were a pinnacle of hope for the witches and wizards of the world in this dark time. Who knows what they will do without you?"

"My dear, there are many people who are extremely capable of defeating Lord Voldemort without me. Harry Potter for instance…"

"…Is an untrained, underage, egotistic young man," one man said.

"Phineas, do not judge him so soon…" Albus Dumbledore said, before chuckling and wandering out of his portrait, to 'explore the school'.

Meanwhile, Minerva McGonagall and many of the other teachers were sitting in the Great Hall with a few others. They were talking animatedly and pointing to a piece of parchment that seemed to be the cause of the argument. McGonagall was pointing furiously, as two men walked through the doors at the other end of the hall. She glanced up in surprise as she saw them, and quickly rolled up the parchment and tied it shut with a purple ribbon. The others looked at her for a moment, extremely confused, until they turned to face the very serious looking men who approached.

"We are here for the Last Will and Testament of Albus Dumbledore, recently deceased Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Our office was told that it was in the care of Minerva McGonagall. We must also have the items indicated in the will, so as to examine them," the taller of the two stated coldly.

"I do have the will," McGonagall stated with equal chill.

"Then hand it over."

"Very well," McGonagall replied, handing over the parchment, "but there's nothing out of the ordinary there. We have already thoroughly examined each object and found nothing out of place with any of them."

"That is not for you to decide. We shall hand over the items when they have passed our own tests. Good day to you."

The men left as suddenly as they came, and left the group alone once more. McGonagall looked around and was about to speak when she was interrupted by the appearance of a beautiful bird that the group recognized as a phoenix. She opened the letter it carried and read it quickly to herself, before gasping and dropping it to the table. The man closest to her retrieved it and read it to the group.

To the Order of the Phoenix:

I have every confidence that this letter will in no way be intercepted, and thus feel safe writing these thoughts down. You will very soon be joined by another, a girl of 21. Everything she tells you about her family and background is true, but I ask you not to mention what she relays to you to Harry Potter and his friends. It is up to her to reveal herself to them.

My fondest goodbyes to all of you,

Albus Dumbledore

The group looked around in shock as the final words were read, and even more when the doors of the hall opened a second time and a young woman walked through the door. She carried a rucksack and looked as though she has been traveling for days. Her black hair was cut short and held back by a green scarf. Her violet eyes looked at them wearily as they stared back at her; one woman jumped from her seat and walked over to the girl, leading her by the hand to the rest of the group and conjuring a chair from thin air. She sat down, realizing that she was being watched by the strangers around her. She looked gratefully at the plump, red-haired woman who had conjured her seat, then turned to the rest of them.

"Good evening, my name is Autumn Rose, Autumn Rose Riddle," she stated, as they stared at her in surprise.