"Portentosus degenero!" A man yelled pointing a wand at an unarmed wizard. It was a dark night; a cold night that would inspire a person to walk quickly so as to get out of it sooner. Unfortunately for the unarmed wizard, and fortunately for the unnamed attacker, everyone had done just that. It was a quiet stretch of street on which the poor man was attacked. He lay on the ground staring up at the sky blankly not feeling anything until he felt the spell take hold of his mind. Then he stood up calmly dusted himself off and sent an evil grin in the direction of the attacker. The attacker grinned back then apparated away, pleased that his mission had gone of so well.

The man picked up his dropped parcel and walked on his way until he reached a small house at the end of the road. He dusted off his robes and upon passing his personal inspection, walked up to the front door and let himself in. He hung his hat on a peg, dropped his parcel off on the mail table and then walked into the kitchen where he found his wife and daughter.

"Oh, there you are, Ian" the woman said in a lilting accent while kissing his cheek. "We're nearly finished with supper." She looked at her husband's face and for a moment felt a chill run down her spine. Something was off with him. "Ianna, help your father set the table." The young girl looked up from her notebook, shook the brown hair from her eyes and stood up.

"C'mon then, Pa. We wouldn't want to keep Ma waiting." Ianna laughed as she picked up a stack of dishes. Though they were wizards, such everyday tasks as setting the table were done by hand. Ian looked at her and a haunting look past over his features before it was replaced again. He picked up the silverware and followed the girl. The night passed without event.

The next day, the woman, Margaret, she was called, cleaned house and fixed breakfast while she waited for her husband and daughter to wake up. As it was a Saturday, it would probably be a while. She hummed a little and tried to remember what had thrown her off last night. She was an intuitive person and knew herself well enough to trust her instincts. Now, if she could only figure out what they'd been trying to tell her. Her thoughts trailed off as her daughter wandered into the kitchen rubbing at her eyes.

"Good morning, Ianna. Breakfast is already on the table. Help yourself," she said as she continued rearranging the flowers. Ianna nodded while yawning and trudged into the kitchen.

Ianna grabbed a muffin and went back upstairs to change. She set her muffin down, quickly changed then grabbed the muffin and a book for a day of reading on the roof. She was walking down the hallway when her dad appeared out of a doorway.

"Good morning, Pa." She said happily.

"Don't good morning me." He growled and grabbed her hair. She shrieked in surprise and dropped her book and muffin. He drug her into the room and threw her against the wall. He was muttering. "You thought…wouldn't find out….news for you." Ianna cowered on the floor wondering what was wrong with her father. Then suddenly she was jerked to her feet. His hands closed around her neck and banged her head into the wall. There was an evil look in his eyes and a grin on his face. The man before her was no longer her father, but some evil demon that had taken his place. As stars started to dance in front of her eyes, she barely noticed the door swing open. Her mother stood in the doorway and used her wand to fling Ian aside. She grabbed Ianna and they apparated away.

"Come on child. We've no time ta be wastin'." She said as they landed in a random field. "I didna have time to grab all your things. I was verra lucky indeed to get this." She handed her a suitcase. "I'm sending ya to me friend Arthur Weasley. His family will take you in until I figure out exactly what's wrong with your father. Give him this note and this money bag. I love you." She then handed her a port key and she wondered briefly how her mom could have prearranged transport before the world was yanked from beneath her feet.

Ianna was deposited outside a slightly run-down house. Upon seeing no other buildings in sight, she walked up to the door and knocked. A lady with bright red hair came to the door. She curiously examined Ianna and then gasped when she saw her neck.

"I'm to give these to a Mr. Arthur Weasley and ask if I can stay awhile." Ianna said handing her the note and money bag. She was quickly ushered into a room and made to sit on a couch while the woman ran off, presumably to look for Mr. Weasley. Ianna didn't care because as soon as she sat down, she passed out. What a day.

A/N: originally, this was going to be a fluffy Ron/OC fic. Then plot reared its head (as it so often doesn't) and suddenly my characters were screaming it had to be Percy. And so I started yet another fic. Good lord, do I have commitment issues? Actual Percy scenes coming next chapter. I'm off.

Another A/N: According to the following definitions, the spell, Portentosus degenero, means (or at least it does to me, the poor child that slept through her one year of Latin) to become in a bad way unnatural. If it doesn't, then Latin isn't very cool anyways, is it? J/K

Degenero -are intransitive. [to become unlike one's kind , to fall off, go bad, degenerate]; transit. [to cause to degenerate, or disgrace by degeneracy].

portentosus -a -um [extraordinary , monstrous, unnatural].

Def. thanks to: http://www.nd.edu/~archives/latgramm.htm