AN: Hello! changdi here. I'll let you get to the chapter before I swamp you with review requests and the like. Happy reading!

Disclaimer: Our dear JKR is rich and famous. I am neither. Anything remotely recognizable in this chapter and story belongs to her. I'm just a poor student with a frolicsome imagination.

Blinding Sight

Prologue

As the sun set on the 2nd of May, 1998, a few scattered rays seeped through the boarded-up windows of the Shrieking Shack. The meager shafts of light illuminated the corpse of one Severus Snape, a gaping hole in his neck, the body still lying in a drying pool of his blood.

Nearly all was still.

Harry Potter emerged from the tunnel that led from the Hogwarts grounds. As he knelt by his deceased professor's side, preparing to take the body back up to the castle, Harry could have sworn he heard a voice whisper, "Be well, Master of Death."

When he turned around, there was no one there.

Chapter One: Orphaned

Summer 1981

Amelia woke suddenly as the first layer of her intruder charms went off, alerting her that a wizard was within a city block of her house. A quick glance at the clock at the wall showed that it was two o'clock in the morning. Grabbing her wand off the nightstand as well as the backup hidden underneath her mattress, she quickly pulled on a dressing gown and proceeded downstairs, arming the wards to full defensive mode as she went. When she reached the ground floor, the second intruder charm, which surrounded her property, went off as well. Amelia peered through a window, which she especially had installed with a muggle one-way mirror, to see the impressive figure of Albus Dumbledore standing on her doorstep.

The house itself was a rather ordinary-looking townhouse in Westminster, near Downing Street. Amelia had moved in five years earlier, ostensibly to be closer to the Ministry where she served as a deputy to the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Bartemius Crouch. But, the move was also a strategic decision encouraged by two of Amelia's siblings, since the Order of the Phoenix needed a safe house in Westminster that they could potentially use as a base for operations in case a defense of the Muggle government became necessary. As she lived deep in the heart of Muggle London, Amelia, with the help of her sister Dorcas, who was a warder for Gringotts, cast a subtle web of protective enchantments over the entire neighborhood as well as around the perimeter of her own property, hence the multiple layers of intruder charms.

Amelia waited tensely as her doorknocker asked of the man who appeared to be Dumbledore the color of the dancing teddy bear's underwear. The question referenced an amusing incident in Amelia's childhood where, in a fit of accidental magic, she turned a bear that was about to attack her younger brother Edgar into a life-sized teddy bear, clothes and all. It was less certainly a less than flattering security question, but certainly no unwanted visitors were going to expect that question, much less answer it correctly. Maybe-Dumbledore seemed rather amused, but correctly responded that the bear didn't have any undergarments.

Letting out an explosive breath that she hadn't realized she was holding, Amelia finally disarmed the wards and opened the door, letting the Hogwarts headmaster into her house.

"Professor Dumbledore," Amelia greeted him tiredly, though her blood still pumped madly through her chest due to the potential attack. "What brings you at this hour?"

"My dear Amelia," Dumbledore returned gravely. "I'm sorry that we meet under unpleasant circumstances."

Amelia froze. She knew that Dumbledore would come with such news someday, but she had vainly hoped it would never happen. Her family was large, and every one of them was a target in this war.

"Who?" Amelia asked, her heart in her throat.

Dumbledore opened his mouth to reply, but then closed it again, as if reconsidering what he was going to tell her.

"Well?" Amelia Bones demanded sharply, losing her patience in her panic. "Are you going to tell me what happened? Or when it happened? What do you already know? Are you here to notify me as a family member or in my official capacity as an agent of the DMLE?"

"Amelia, my dear, as a Ministry employee you must surely realize that Order business is best left—"

"We are talking about my brother and sister or the entire family, Albus Dumbledore, so to hell with the Ministry!" she exploded. "I might not be a full-fledged member of the Order but you offered me the position, and I've been monitoring the Ministry and identifying spies for you for years!"

"Amelia, my dear, let's not be unreasonable here—"

"—And, need I mention the occasion two months ago where I had to cover your arses after that botched intervention in Swansea?" Amelia snarled over Dumbledore's objections. Amelia Bones had served a brief stint in the Auror Office, before she was transferred to an administrative position and began her meteoric rise through the ranks of the DMLE. It may have been many years since she was in the field, but she still knew how to lead an interrogation, and she certainly wasn't afraid of Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore sighed at the persistence of the formidable woman in front of him. "I received a distress signal from your sister two hours ago, and traced it to your parents' house. There was an attack. The place has been razed to the ground, but we've managed to recover a number of bodies of various ages. We cannot confirm to whom they all belong until the Ministry comes, but I have personally checked both Dorcas and Edgar's houses and they are empty and undisturbed."

Amelia looked stricken, fully slipping out of Auror-mode. "Mum and Dad said that they wanted to see their grandchildren, and Dorcas and Edgar wanted to upgrade the wards on their house because the death threats have been increasing in number. They said they were going to stay for the weekend." She suddenly stilled, "All he children – what of them?"

Dumbledore looked fifty years greyer as he replied, "We found four bodies belonging to children. I believe all of them were Edgar's."

"But Ros—" Amelia started, thinking of Dorcas's infant daughter. The poor girl was already born without a father, after Dorcas's husband died in a magical accident at work.

"I have reason to believe that Rosamunde was not at your parents' house tonight. Emmeline Vance told me that she would be unavailable for patrol duty this weekend because she would be babysitting.

"This must not leave the room, but Ms. Vance has demonstrated some limited foresight – and her Sight is real – such that she can feel when Death comes. It is a peculiar gift, and one that has cropped up more than once in the extended Meadowes family. She cannot tell how the death will come, nor can she prevent it, but she possibly was able to convince Dorcas to leave your niece in her care for the weekend. I have sent a message to verify this, but in either case she might not reply until morning."

Amelia sighed in relief. "So, where do we go from here? If the DMLE hasn't sent anyone in yet, I'll make sure that someone is dispatched. What about Ros? You know I'd be happy to have her, but I'm a target, too. Where would she be safest?"

Dumbledore pursed his lips. "This is where it gets complicated. Technically, you are the closest living relative, since Ros' father and his parents are all deceased, and Dorcas and Ira never named godparents for her, so legally you do get custody of Ros. However, like you said, you are very much a target, more so than some Order members are. For the time being, I think it would be best to leave her with Ms. Vance."

"How is Emmeline less of a target? She's a well-known Order member and an Unspeakable. The Death Eaters have to be after her, too."

"True as that may be, Emmeline has babysat for little Ros since she was born, and Emmeline is also family on Ira's side. She also is less prominent in our society, which will help keep Ros' existence a secret, since as far as I know Lord Voldemort does not know the Meadoweses had a child. Furthermore, Ms. Vance is the only reliable person with the – ah, expertise, shall we say, to see to Ros' difficulties growing up."

"What expertise does she need? And who else could conceivably provide it?"

"The Lovegoods could, perhaps. I know of a few other families that might do the trick, but none of them are remotely well-protected enough."

"Xenophilius Lovegood is a mad crackpot, and they say his wife is a little unhinged as well. I'm sure they'd be loving surrogate parents, but – just, no!"

Dumbledore sighed. "How well did you know Ira and his family? Or how much time have you spent with your niece, for that matter?"

Amelia gulped guiltily. "Ira was always very secretive; I had dinner with him and Dorcas a few times but I never really got to know him. But Ros, oh… there was never time, it wasn't safe…"

Dumbledore smiled sadly. "The Meadowes family has always had a reputation for being odd and secretive. Please don't blame yourself – I don't know everything, and I doubt if even Dorcas got to learn everything from Ira in the short time they had together. Just know this – Ros is not a normal witch."

"What do you mean, not a normal witch? She surely isn't a squib; I've seen her show accidental magic with my own eyes."

"Dorcas and Emmeline did their best to hide this from everyone, but Ros was born blind. The healers couldn't fix it. I checked all the books on magical healing that Hogwarts has, and I've tried everything. It's been a year and a half, and her eyes are still clouded over. Dorcas resorted to casting a glamour over Ros' eyes, so they don't look clouded over. Ros is most definitely blind, and there are no records of a single witch or wizard being born without eyesight.

"Yet, she can still see, after a fashion. I don't understand how it works; the healers are perplexed, too. Ros is physically blind, and she certainly had a harder time than most infants do learning to walk, but she still can perceive objects in her surroundings and identify them. I cannot be sure, but I think this has some connection to whatever secrets the Meadowes family has long kept. As such, I think Emmeline Vance may be the best equipped to deal with this. She has ties to the family, and as an Unspeakable she can find information and access resources to help Ros that you and I can't."

Amelia nodded doubtfully. "It may be as you say; leaving Ros with Emmeline for the time being is probably for the best. I'll handle the paperwork myself to get it squared away quietly and have custody be transferred to Emmeline. Is that all?"

"Until you get the DMLE on site, then yes. I assume you will want some time for yourself now? I can see myself out. Good night, Amelia."

Amelia mumbled a farewell. When the door closed behind Dumbledore, she slumped over in her armchair and began to cry.

AN: Well, thank you for reading! Now, as this is my first fanfic, I really need (and want) reviews. If someone is willing to beta for me, please PM me. It would be highly appreciated.

From here, we go into Ros' first year, which corresponds to the year before Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone. Not to worry; this isn't another one of those stories where the Golden Trio gets another member. Ros' tale largely runs parallel to Harry's story, but they don't directly interact and Ros and Harry never truly meet.

Also, does anyone want a frame story (the repairs of Hogwarts, etc.) to be part of this story? It is my intention to finish this off with a memorial service after the Battle of Hogwarts. However, I am still undecided about precisely what is going on in the present day (well, May 1998), such as cleanup and planning the memorial, whether or not I should add it to Ros's story.

If this story works out the way I want it to, this will turn into one rather long, grueling fanfic, so I hope you stick with me through the end.

Now, enough of my rambling. Please leave lots of love and constructive criticism in the magical review box down below!

Until next time,

changdi

P.S. Just to clarify in case I didn't convey it clearly, Dorcas Meadowes is the sister of Amelia and Edgar Bones. There are a total of four Bones siblings, the last one being Susan Bones' father, whom you all will meet later in this story. Emmeline is Dorcas' best friend and cousin by marriage.