The Other Tale

Underneath the forest's shield, the protection of the looming trees covered a small, two-storied house that looked as if it had been sitting there for not some time. The house was a dark shade of earth-toned brown, with wide, beautifully shown square windows. There was a field around that house, the House of the Potters, that was covered in perfect green, with little violet flowers that sprung up everywhere. Every little flower felt as if it were velvet, and the violets never wilted as long as Lilly Potter was there, and the grass never extended another inch off of the ground unless James Potter did not attend it for some time (which his wife would scold him about).

And then there was the backward, full of gorgeous roses, all kinds of assortments of flowers, a small pond with coy that shone every time the light hit their white, black, or golden scales. This area was for their son, Harry Potter, to take care of, as a daily activity, along with his many other things to attend to; The hippogriff that lay outside, in the forest, so it may not disturb his father when he was working, a large Mandrake patch that lay right outside the flower portion of his garden, and several other creatures he adored to be around.

Now no normal boy would be so into these creatures. In fact, he was just a normal boy, with a long, thin body, his hair gently touching, a little, to his shoulders, as it was always in a mess, whatever he did to it. His clothing were always perfect and clean, unless he decided to step outside and work, which for that he worked with some of his mother's father's old Muggle clothing. (And for you who know not what a Muggle is, they are non-magical human beings. Wizards and Witches wear different clothing than Muggles do, usually they look a tad different than most.)

Harry was just getting ready to go into the higher-class of magical field, going into Hogwarts was a big thing. Every witch and wizard goes to some kind of secondary school after their first, which is usually taught with a small group, almost sort of like a 'Middle School', for Muggles. However, in the first-class portion of their training, they do not study as horrible of things as the second-classes do. So graduating and having this summer to decide what he wanted to do, Harry was on cloud 9, usually dazing and wondering if he will meet new friends, since he gets to board outside of home this time.

The idea was strange to Harry, until he gets used to it, but in your first-class stage, you stay at home. Portion number two for your training you get to go off into the school your parents choose, but live there with the other students. Harry had an uneasy feeling about leaving his parents out there in a forest, alone. But his father, James, always told him they would be fine, as long as they kept to themselves. The fifteen year old had nothing more to do but worry, sometimes. Of course, nothing in the Daily Prophet said anything about any kind of killings, as usual, since the land they lived in was always so peaceful. But it always made Harry wonder...

At one time or another, Harry had to go into town and get provisions for his family, since they live quite away from the town. James, always suggesting to use magic, asked as per usual, "Harry, son, you know you can just... maybe Apparate?" Lilly would always be right beside him when she heard that word, and smacked him upside the head with a spoon or any object nearby, saying, "Darling, you know he can't do yet until he learns that in his second calling." Harry would just grin, then take off, happy his parents were always there when he needed it... especially his mother, who seemed to disapprove of what his father calls 'advice' towards Harry.

That one day, something in Harry's gut told him to not go to town and get what he needed for that week, but he went anyway, without scoff to his parents. They knew he was a worry wart, anyway, but Harry never admitted it.

"I wonder..." Harry turned, looking back with his clear green eyes to the house, where his parents stood outside to watch him until he disappeared into the forest, "if they'll be alright..." The raven haired boy just smiled and waved to them, heading off deeper into the forest, until he couldn't see his parents anymore.

---

A blonde, tall boy under a black cape stood at the edge of the forest, watching as the perfect clouds that surrounded this area of the city shift along-side the clear blue sky. For a small moment, he felt pity. A great pity that warmed up inside of him, but the coldness in his heart soon froze over the warmth of the pity, and he shook it off with a wave of his hand, which went under his cloak again. A small mark on the left side of his forearm showed a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth, and it lightly glowed green. He muttered, his blonde hair falling into his face, "And let it begin."

---

Nearly half-way there, Harry stood in the middle of the forest, a cold wind rushing through the trees, making a howling sound that made him shiver. He glanced up quickly, not seeing anything, but staring up into the sky cautiously, "Hello?" He shouted, the winds picking up, and the sky above him getting darker by the moment. Soon, the clear blue sky was a mucky grey that showed dark, black clouds hovering above his head. His beautiful green eyes showed pain, a pain that struck deep within him. Harry didn't know what was going on, but he had a terrible feeling about it.

Harry shifted his head, hearing something to the right of him. Slowly he walked towards a black figure, and hid behind a tree as the blonde turned to stare at the face of the tree. Harry, lightly shivering again, pleaded the other boy did not see him. The black robes that covered the lingering boy made his stomach turn with that feeling again that nearly made him want to throw up. /Please, please don't let him see me... God, please.../

He kept silent, not hearing anything after a while, and stepped out, looking around. His breath was coming up in the air, blowing out white puffs every time he breathed, his vocal cords shaking. Harry, without another breath, backed up into something. Swiftly, he turned, looking up at the figure which loomed above him. His eyes glazed over with fear, blinking a few times at the cloaked person who seemed to have all eyes for him.

"Who are you?" The cloaked figure asked him after a moments silence, and Harry felt somewhat better hearing a voice than no voice at all. He choked again on his words, and breathed out, "Har-Harry P-Potter, sir..." Better to be polite than risk it, his mother always told him. The dark figure stepped closer, which made Harry jump back in surprise, but the looming shadow didn't seem to reach out for him, but instead, pulled back the hood that covered his face.

Just then, grey-blue eyes met the teary-eyed green ones, and Harry caught his breath for a split second. The eyes he had before him made him gasp, they looked as cold as he felt. But the face... seemed to have a worried expression on it, and his blonde hair that fell into a small pony-tail curved under his neck, barely touching his covered collar-bone.

One blonde eyebrow tilted to the side, and a small smile appeared over his seemingly dead lips, "Its nice to meet you, Harry Potter." And with one movement, the blonde bowed, then after a moment, stood back up, "I am Draco Malfoy, the heir to the Malfoy Manor." Harry stood there and looked up at him, confused. Draco went on, "You do not know of the Malfoy Manor? Surly you have heard about us one time or another, Harry?" When he spoke Harry's first name, it made him turn pink. He was used to people calling him 'Potter' at school, and his family always called him by his first name. Being called by your first name was... unusual in the part of the country he lived in. Even the shop keepers just called him 'Potter Jr.'...

Draco stared at Harry while he didn't speak, but smiled, "I suppose we might not be known to many out here. That's alright, you don't need to worry yourself over us." The taller boy shifted towards an opening in the forest, which showed the littlest of dark, gloomy light. It seemed to capture all of the other boy's attention, and he followed. "So, Harry, do you live out here?" The cool voice asked, shifting his eyes back on the raven haired boy. Harry's cheeks went red again, "Yes, right outside this forest." He didn't know why he was telling a complete stranger all of this, but somehow he felt comfortable with him, despite his appearance.

"I see." The other answered, still smiling gently, "Would you show me to your home?" Green eyes fell to the floor, looking uneasy yet again ,"I was just heading out into town to buy... things." He replied rather slowly, the edgy voice shaking slightly, "I must be going..." The black boots that held into the blonde boy's feet and ankles moved forwards, making a stick crack loudly, "May I come with you?" Harry whirled around at the sound, his heart jumping, "I..."

Then with a large crashing sound, Harry swung his attention towards his house, eyes confused slightly. Draco cooly said, "Are you sure? Maybe you should turn your attention else where if I were you." Raven hair swung into Harry's face as he turned to stare at Draco with large eyes, "What do you mean?"

A silent moment suddenly came between them, and everywhere around the forest. It seemed as if time stopped, and they were the only two there as Harry could see. He didn't hear anything, nothing, not even a bird chirping loudly from afar. All was quiet... and without any warning, the time seemed to speed up, and an explosion was heard towards the direction of Harry's house, and his already wide eyes filled with uncertain tears, his face turning pale. Crows inside the dark trees sprung from the branches, making a shrieking sound that would usually be painful to people's ears, but Harry heard nothing than the ringing in his ears of the explosion. He started to run, even if it was a good long way back to his house.

He didn't notice Draco was not behind him. He didn't notice how fast he was running, or the tree's branches that hit the sides of his body and sliced into his fine skin. All attention was turned to his house. His family. His memories.

Harry came into a clearing, and a bright light that didn't come from the sky poured forth, causing Harry to nearly topple back. But an object behind him pressed him forward, although Harry didn't notice it at all as he tried to fight against the bright light that shone into his wide eyes. With two hands he shielded himself, only until the light died down, and he stared into the darkness that was his home.

Gasping, Harry put his hands to his mouth, tears welding in his eyes. The once beautiful home was now destroyed, a huge crater to replace his memories was there. The velvet flowers that were once never wilted were now burnt to a crisp. The grass that was always green had died, covered in soot and dust, the edges all brown. His garden, his pond, and his Mandrake... all gone. There were few coy laying on the wet, soggy land, and they flopped for what seemed like a second, then slowly suffocated.

The raven haired, short, lanky boy stood there, shaking in fear, anger, and pain. His knees nearly gave out, but a gloved hand with the finger's opened wrapped around his neck, holding him close. A dark cape swung over Harry's shaking body, which brought him warmth in a cold setting. The blonde hair of Draco Malfoy settled on top of Harry's pitch black hair, "It had to be done, Harry... there was no stopping it," a hand came up to hold Harry's forearm underneath the cloak in comfort, "It has been done..."

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Author's Notes:

Well then! That is the end of chapter one... I hope it's not too short. x.X; I tried to make it as long as I could without putting too much information in there. sighs :] But chapter one IS finished, so... does a victory dance Whee! Now all I have to do is try to come up with chapter one's of a few other certain tales I wanted to begin. ; COUGH Damn ideas... :

So anyway, feedback would be appreciated. X'D I had a request to put this up on DeviantArt, so, here it is... I don't know when chapter two will a merge... maybe sometime at the end of this month.

coughJune20thismybirthdaycoughcough .;; So I might not be able to do something for a while. I don't know... I should stop the notes right here. There isn't much to say.

Oh! Anything else can be IMed to my AOL instant messanger, Dorkalong, or e-mailed to me at thatkendogirlhotmail.com o: Thanks! Flames and such are welcome, I like to hear what people have to say. :]