Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling is the creator and owner of Harry Potter and majority of the characters in this story. I would like to thank her for creating such an amazing world where writers can let their imagination and creativity run amok. No intention of profit making is intended from the writing or use of her materials.
Prologue
A/N: The prologue takes place immediately after the end of the Half Blood Prince
It was a dark and dreary night... and even though the sky was clear... the stars seemed to have lost their sparkle.
It was to this sight a boy of sixteen going on to seventeen... sat laid back on the topmost branch of a very old tree with a thick trunk which stood in the centre of a huge and beautiful garden.
The boy was staring blankly at the sky... but deep in thought; his eyes looked vacant of any emotion... as if they had lost their life over the years...
He was quite tall... about six and a half feet and had a muscular build... jet black hair... and sharp features... with eyes that even though gave a blank look… were quite attentive... in fact... he could have passed on for any ordinary teenager except for the lifeless stare he was giving which made him look older than his age...
There was a slight breeze blowing across the garden and the gentle swaying of the flowers and grass would have been quite peaceful for any normal person.
The garden itself was so immense in size... that on one side of the valley in which it was situated, there was a large building that was... not quite as big as a castle... but more like a manor; while on the other side, the end of the garden could not be determined as it stretched out into a lengthy darkness...
Quite suddenly... there was a bright flash across the sky... not like lightening... but rather, like the light from a wand performing magic... but bearing a particular shape... like that of a dome. The dome formed by the flash was visible for only a few seconds before it disappeared.
Immediately, the boy in the tree felt a tremor as the tree... which was quite thick and strong... shook for the briefest of seconds causing some dried leaves to fall off.
The boy closed his eyes and waited for something... straining his ears towards the manor... listening intently.
When he heard nothing he uttered a single word under his breath,
"Bloody Hell!"
A minute later, there was a small 'pop' sound at the base of the tree... the boy looked down and saw his house-elf looking up at him with large oval shaped eyes...
Shortly after the elf's arrival... running footsteps were heard coming from the direction of the manor and in a matter of seconds his older sister... in her mid twenties... stood beside the elf, also looking up in his direction with a grim expression.
The boy climbed down and started walking towards them.
As he neared... the elf spoke first with fear and dread in his eyes, "Little Master, the field is lifted… His portrait has appeared too... beside Elder Master's…he just said to tell you... 'do not yet leave'... and went out of the portrait."
The boy without showing surprise or any other emotion replied to each part of the elf's proclamation,
"Yes …
I expected as much…"
and fell silent.
His sister spoke up,
"We can leave now if we want to…"
His sister had always been the hothead... despite her age which should have made her more mature than him... always willing to fight... always ready to jump into action... just like their father. He on the other hand had been the more level headed type like their muggle mother.
Knowing full well he must choose his words and actions very carefully in order to make sure his sister followed his lead, he replied,
"Yeah … but none of the portraits are shouting… which means no good news… and that... that... bloody 'Voldemort' is still alive… which is why His portrait must have said not to leave yet …" he finished in slight anger.
The little elf looked fearful at this announcement.
The boy looked towards the sky again and a couple of tears dropped down his face which he had been trying to stop... the last one falling on the forehead of the frightened elf who had by now come closer and was standing near his legs probably out of worry.
His sister suddenly caught him in a side hug; she too was silently crying which caught him by surprise. She was rarely the type to show any such weakness... but considering the person who had died was very close to the family, he could understood where her emotions were coming from.
The only words she said to explain the sudden hug were, "
He… he was an amazing man..."
A long silence followed this which was broken by the little elf,
"Master… Mistress… are you alright?"
Wiping their teary faces from the sleeves of their clothes... both siblings were dressed in muggle clothes... they looked down at the elf together and the boy replied,
"We have been waiting and dreading this day at the same time Matty... We know our responsibility... but our freedom has come at a huge cost... To this day we never fully understood why he had to do it this way..."
"Sir... you is must remember... he was a great wizard... things he did... it was for the better always..." replied Matty
"I know... but still... he….. he could... have used a Fidelius or something... Why this? Just because he didn't want us to come into the limelight early…? I don't buy that; there must be a greater motive behind his decision... And… I am going to pester the portraits for answers..." he said in a frustrated voice.
Taking a deep breath he ranted on, "He was always cryptic about answering any questions... Just kept on saying we will know when the time comes..."
After a brief silence, the boy turned to his sister as if deciding something and said,
"I know we have been destined with a responsibility... and since we promised grandfather and him... we will carry it out... But first... we must find the reason for our imprisonment… or rather 'safety' as he and grandfather used to call it... More than fifteen years of being locked up for no plausible reason is too much... I need clearer answers..."
His sister gave a crooked smile, nodded her head and replied,
"You took the words right out of my mouth little brother... Come on... let's go pester the portraits... We can also blackmail them that we will leave to go help Harry if they don't give us some straight answers..."
"Yeah… you are right Eileen... Let's go!" replied the boy.
"Wait… Master Irvine… Mistress Eileen…." Matty called to their running backs but both siblings waved their hands and kept heading towards the manor...
Irvine and Eileen entered the Manor through the back door that lead to the garden from which they had come and went straight for the main hall where numerous portraits of their ancestors were hanging. They made a beeline for their grandfather, 'Thomas McKinnon Sr.' and his friend 'Albus Dumbledore's' portraits.
When they got near, they saw that Albus Dumbledore's portrait was empty...
'Must be at Hogwarts' Irvine thought; however, their grandfather was wide awake and rocking in his armchair looking as happy to see them as he always was, smoking his pipe and making weird designs from the smoke.
"Hello kids! Not thinking of escaping again now that the charm has been lifted are you...?" he welcomed them with a small crooked smile just like Eileen had given a moment ago.
A pop announced the arrival of Matty in the area too... Irvine admired and hated the fact that the elf was able to apparate and disapparate willingly inside the manor grounds but he and his sister could not. Abandoning all pretence, both siblings looked at each other first... nodded... and with a meaningful stare decided to use the direct approach,
"Yes, grandfather... we have decided that our extreme training these past fifteen years will be better off for use in helping Harry Potter rather than staying hidden until Voldemort's gone and the other invisible and unknown threat that you keep talking about emerges. Think of how many people we can help if we go… the lives we may save…?" replied Eileen.
Irvine was carefully looking at his grandfather during this proclamation by her sister. He was observing his patriarchal elder's reaction to each word with one eye... while the other was fixed on the still empty portrait of Albus Dumbledore next to him.
When suddenly, his grandfather stood up... Irvine was forced to stare at him with both eyes... 'He rarely did that' was his first thought... his grandfather would never stand up unless he was about to say something very serious which in his case was a rarity... he was always found to be joking and laughing.
With both their attentions now on the portrait, the active portrait's occupant stopped smoking after standing up and started to address them both in a serious tone,
"You know I love you both; I and Albus... when he used to come here frequently... have told you this before on numerous occasions why it would be unwise for you both to show that you are alive... healthy... and to top it off... very well trained... You are one of the magical world's best kept secrets... My son and my muggle daughter-in-law gave their lives to protect you and kept you both from being discovered alive and well... a secret from the entire wizarding world... You have an important responsibility to the magical community... both… on account of your ancestry as well as the sacrifices of your parents…"
Before they could respond another voice was heard.
"Don't sell yourself short Thomas... you also did... well more than I can recount in a day... a lot for them to reach the ages that they have... learn what they know... and do what they are capable of. You children must understand, that while both of you going out now might help reinforce the fighters of the light by tenfold... your untimely deaths may cause an event from which the Light might not ever recover from..."
These words came from their grandfather's neighbour who was back in his portrait... wide awake and smiling at them in his usual annoying way... looking over his half moon spectacles with twinkling blue eyes...
"Professor Dumbledore!" both siblings exclaimed, startled at first.
Almost immediately they started to bombard him with nonstop questions upon gathering their wits,
"What happened…?"
"Who did it…?"
"Was it Voldemort…?"
"Why can't we go out now and help protect everyone…?"
"What's the point of learning so much if we can't do anything except sit and wait…?"
"We are not moving an inch from our places until you make us understand what is the point of staying here; if you don't we will leave!"
Dumbledore smiled even more and held up his hand,
" Please… please… calm down... Promise me that you two will not leave this place until I tell you... for I can no longer keep you here by force... However, in return... I promise that I will answer most of your questions... as much as are necessary to make you understand...
***POV change***
Across the continent, on a small, beautiful, tropical island, a beach house stood alone; enjoying the rays of the fading sunlight. Palm trees stood like sentinels on both sides of the house, swaying in the sea breeze that was flowing across. Huge tropical birds with red plumage were settling down for the day in the surrounding trees.
It was to this scenery, a teenage girl… nearly sixteen years old... with long and silky white blond hair lying open underneath her... laid relaxed on her back with her hands under her head on a blue beach spread. She was lost in thought while watching the sun go down over the horizon...
As soon as the sun went down completely, the girl decided to get up.
Just as she was about to avert her eyes, she saw a dome shaped flash occur across the sky, followed by a tremor in the ground.
Curious... the girl kept staring at the sky hoping it would appear again; although she kept staring thinking it may happen again... It didn't.
When no additional flashes or tremors came a second time, she sidelined it as a trick of her own imagination.
The vanishing of the light in the sky made her suddenly realize it was getting quite late and she needed to get back; usually her mother would be standing on the porch by this time beckoning her in.
Getting up she took out her wand, waved it at the beach spread… which folded itself neatly... tucked it underneath her arm, tied her hair up and started to walk back to the house.
When she entered, the only thing that met her was pin drop silence.
Thinking that as very odd, she went to the kitchen where her mother usually was found cleaning if not cooking… Or sitting in the living room drinking a cup of tea at if not busy in the kitchen at this time.
When she could not hear the soft singing that usually accompanied her mother's work routine anywhere in the near vicinity, she called out to her...
"Mum!?"
Still there was no response and only silence answered her.
Panicking and remembering the flash... the tremor... she took out her wand and ran upstairs to check her mother's bedroom.
When she arrived, she found the door slightly ajar; she strained her ear to listen from the small space and heard sniffing sounds coming from inside… her mother was crying quietly.
The girl started to panic because her mother was a strong woman and rarely cried... in fact... as far as she could remember she had only seen her mother cry once before... last year... when... when 'father died'...
Alarmed... she opened the door immediately and ran in to hug her, having rarely seen her mother in this kind of state before.
After a brief moment, she worriedly in a soft voice, "Mum...!? What's going on...? Is everything ok...?"
Her mother looked up at her, surprised, as if realizing just then that she was there and hugging her in comfort. Taking a deep breath she replied with a break in her voice, "Albus… is dead..."
At first the girl did not budge or blink... too shocked at what her mother had just said... her head was spinning...
'No...!
How can that be...?
How...?
Wh… What happened...?
Was it Voldemort..?
He was the strongest wizard alive...
It's impossible...!II'
She was brought out of her thoughts by her mother's voice,
"Anna!"
She jumped and looked back at her with tears in her eyes...
"Yes…?"
"Go check your card that he gave you... See if he is there... if not... call me when he appears...
please..."
Nodding, Anna went out of her mother's room… silently crying and whispering under her breath,
"No...! No...! No...!".
***POV change***
As soon as her daughter went out... the woman who was not as old as her worried features showed... shut the door behind her, cast a silencing charm and stood against the closed door.
Immediately she started crying freely as if she had been keeping that emotion on hold and couldn't hold it in anymore... the dam broke... and she kept crying and slid along the door as if feeling helpless...
She was known for being strong... for being brave... she rarely cried... but Voldemort had changed everything... he killed her best friend and her husband and most likely now her Great Uncle...
At that moment she was not Rosalyn... niece of the greatest wizard that had lived for more than a century... but a broken woman who had lost everything she had in the blink of an eye... Any other woman might have died but she kept herself going on... only for the sake of her daughter... and a promise to her murdered best friend...
Now... only minutes ago she had seen the flash across the sky... felt the tremor in the ground... and... and she knew... she had lost her greatest protector; the only family… other than her daughter… now alive was her own grandfather... but he... poor fellow... did not yet know she was alive or that he had a beautiful great granddaughter... his memories were locked away for the time being...
All Rosalyn could do now was protect her daughter and keep her promise to her late best friend.
Gathering up her courage she got up and went to wash her face; standing over the basin she threw some water... looked up at herself in the mirror and asked herself,
"Was it worth it Rose...? I sacrificed my love and my family for the sake of my child's future... Were these past fifteen years worth it...?"
With a determined expression she said to herself, "Yes! Yes, they were!".
She wiped her face with a towel, went out to her room and made a beeline for Anna's room across from hers. As she neared her door, she raised her hand to knock but stopped suddenly upon hearing conversing voices.
She could clearly identify both... one was Anna's... she was crying but still able to talk… and the other voice belonged to 'Albus Dumbledore'...
She knocked and opened the door. Anna was sitting on her bed, crying and talking to a chocolate frog card.
Rosalyn sat down beside her daughter and felt fresh tears brimming in her eyes as she saw his smiling blue eyed twinkling face look at her and say,
"Hello my dear!"
*** Chapter End ***