(A/N - Hi everyone! Sorry to keep you waiting with "Platform 9 3/4, but I'm currently suffering from chronic Writer's Block, and am therefore unable to continue the story at this time. ^.^; So now I'm posting "Apple Cinnamon and Roses" to hold you over until my writing abilities are restored! -=cough cough=- I wrote this story a while ago, and it was my first attempt at writing Harry Potter fan-fiction. It's more generic than Platform 9 3/4, but I won't go into all that right now. ^^ Enjoy! Oh yeah, Harry and all of his goodness belongs to the wonderful JK Rowling, and certainly not me. Lucky her!)
Chapter 1 - The Rescue
Harry awoke with a start. (A/N - I know this sounds an awful lot like the beginning of the fourth book, but I wrote this before it came out, so it's not my fault!) The boys dormitory of Gryffindor tower swam before his eyes, and slowly focused. He could feel something wrong in the air, and his thin, lightning-shaped scar twanged madly with pain. Harry fumbled with his wand on the bedstand beside him.
"Lumos," he croaked and a bluish light appeared from the tip of his wand. Everything in the dormitory looked normal and everyone was asleep. As Harry sank back into bed, an astonishing and terrible vision appeared before his eyes; the thing that had woken him. There was a shadowy figure, carrying a wand...it was in a house, a Muggle house by the looks of it...the figure was creeping up a staircase...into a girl's room...it raised its wand...
Was it a premonition? Harry didn't need to see any more. He had to help this girl, but how? Judging by the increasing pain on his forehead, the attack was about to be executed by Death Eater, one of Voldemort's followers. (A/N - I just added that in when I found out what one was called in the 4th book ^^) He must stop the assault! Harry opened the window, and the cool late November air hit him as he whispered, "Accio Firebolt". Grabbing his Invisibility Cloak ands throwing it over him, Harry sped off into the night...but to just where, he did not know.
The fast-moving wind whipped his face and already untidy hair. A weird, supernatural force guided him to where he was needed. He faltered a bit as he began to cross an exceptionally large body of water, but decided it was no time to be wishy-washy. Harry was flying very swiftly, faster than he had ever done in any Quidditch match, and was flying for what felt like two hours before he reached his destination. A white house stood at the top of a lane, and Harry flew to the side, looking for the girl's room, searching for any sign... Harry's worst suspicions were confirmed as he flew close to a window on the side of the house : an eerie green light hung from the sky in the image of a skull with a serpent protruding from its mouth -- the Dark Mark.
"Alohomora!" Harry gasped as the window sprung open. If the current situation hadn't been so dire, he would have laughed out loud at the sight that greeted him in the Muggle girl's room. Across the walls, pictures, clippings, and posters were tacked up of...HIM! They weren't very accurate and looked hardly anything like him, but the lightning-shaped scar on the forehead and the background of what looked like a Quidditch pitch showed that this girl, this MUGGLE girl, had posters of Harry Potter on her walls. Could it be some wild mistake? For a split second, looking at the pictures, Harry forgot why he was there. THen he saw movement in the dark hall...it was the assassin, sneaking into the room.
"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled, catching the young man off guard. Harry couldn't see the face hidden under the mask that signified a Death Eater, but recognised the voice that cursed into the darkness. Draco! Draco, of course, couldn't see Harry, but knew a wizard was there because he had attacked. Harry suddenly had an idea.
"Go. Leave the girl! Leave her to me," Harry said, but words didn't reach his mouth, just some cryptic hissing noises issued from his lips. "GO," Harry said, but in English so Draco would know what he said. Parseltongue was useful for something!
"Y-y-yes, master, of course, g-good luck, master, sir," Draco whimpered and with much difficulty, Draco scrambled from the room and out of the house. HA! It worked! Draco had stupidly thought that none other than Lord Voldemort spoke to him. Harry climbed back on his broom, and stole a glance at the girl, and noticed she was awake, eyes wide, hands over her mouth.
"HARRY?? HARRY -- POTTER??" she whispered.
(A/N - Wahahaha! A cliffie! But never fear, the second chapter will be up in no time at all. How did you like it? Please review, because I don't keep posting if nobody reviews! This story is kinda weak, because it's my first one. Please put up with it, it'll get better...I hope.... Oh yeah, this story is gonna be long, and I mean LONG. But I'm trying to make it as interesting as possible, so keep reading! I'm just warning you now. But I hope you won't leave! Until later... ::zooms off on her Firebolt::)