Hi everyone and welcome to my first Harry Potter fic! This is gonna be a real challenge for me as I'm trying out all the different genres here - action/adventure, angst, romance, mystery, etc. There's also gonna be a lot of OCs so I'll have to be careful none of them turn into Mary Sues. Constructive critisism is welcome throughout the whole story, but please be nice! So here we go, the first chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry POtter in any way, but I do own this story and any new characters appearing in it.

Prologue - Out of the Mist

It was a beautiful summer morning - at least it would have been save for the swirling blue mist that blocked out the sun's light and warmth, made any nearby object about five times harder to see and gave the air an all round feel of glominess.

Said mist, while by no means welcome in this particularly small English village, was no longer thought of as a a strange occurance. Indeen, its continued presence for the past year and a bit had made it seem almost normal. Almost.

Were anyone to walk past this particular place at that moment, they would most likely have been undeniably creeped out to witness the figure walking slowly out of the thick fog. Their feelings would have been understandable, for the figure was rather forbidding-looking. Although obviously quite young, she had an air of wildness about her and maybe even, some might go as far as to say, feralness.

Her general shape was thin, almost scrawny, and rather undeveloped for one clearly in the stages of mid-adolescence. Her thick mane of hair was medium brown in colour and what little of it that could be seen under her hooded grey jacket was unkempt and scruffy.

The girl walked on with both her hands thrust deep into the pockets of her faded blue jeans, silently adding to the solemn atmosphere in the air...

"Hey, wait up, Mel!"

The girl shut her eyes as though praying for patience, but otherwise gave no impression that she heard the voice. Nor did she break her stride as another girl, shorter in stature and obviously younger, came abreast of her, panting slightly.

"You could have waited."

The feral looking girl, Mel, gritted her teeth before finally speaking. "Gabrielle, you're really cute and all, but that does not mean that I appreciate you tagging along non-stop behind me!"

The newcomer pouted. Quite in contrast to Mel, whose very prescence seemed to speak of gloom and foreboding, Gabrielle rather reminded someone of a ray of bright sunshine in the never-ending mist. She had a lot of long, silvery blond hair and very pale skin. She was wearing a pair of periwinkle blue robes that accented her eyes and she seemed to be glowing like a beacon of youthful innocence. All in all, it was clear that Mel found her very annoying, but she didn't seem to pick up on it.

"But you said that you liked me! I thought that you liked my company!"

"I said that you are less annoying than the rest of your cursed family, an decision that I am seriously re-evaluating!"

Gabrielle, not seeming to care immensly that Mel had just insulted her family, just kept skipping alongside her companion. "Well, I felt like a walk anyway," she said airily.

Mel didn't bother to keep the growl out of her next statement. "You do realise that I could stop you walking forever, don't you?" she threatened.

Gabrielle was unpertubed. "Only at the full moon, though."

"Wanna bet?" Mel stopped walking and put an arm up in front of Gabrielle's face threateningly. She tensed it slightly and a pair of very thick, very sharp claws shot out of her fingers in place of the rather long and dirty nails that had previously occupied it.

If she had been expecting a look of fear to cross the younger girl's face, she was to be sorely dissapointed. Instead, Gabrielle grabbed Mel's hand and pulled it down to her eye level, examining it with facination.

"Wow! I didn't know werewolves could change in the daytime! And it's not even the full moon tonight," she exclaimed to a very disgruntled Mel.

"Shut up!" Mel growled, yanking her hand back and cradling it as though the girl's soft touch had burned it. "There might be muggles around!"

"What, here?" Gabrielle scoffed. "As if any sensible muggle would come within ten leagues of this place. And you didn't answer my question. How can you just suddenly sprout claws right in the middle of the day, when it's not even full moon?"

"None of your business," she replied loftily. "Now I would really appreciate it if you got out of my face and let me take this Goddamned walk in peace."

Gabrielle seemed to consider this option for a moment, then shook her head decisively. "Nah, I'm having fun. Hey, did you know that goblins have more magic than centaurs, and the reason they're so grumpy is because everyone thinks that centaurs have more power than -"

"Shhh!" Mel held out her arm abruptly across the younger girl, stopping her immediately.

Gabrielle looked up at her questioningly. "What is it?"

"I heard something. Shut up." Mel went quiet, listening to the silence that hung in the mist. Nothing moved. Gabrielle waited for a few moments before letting out a huge breath of air she had been holding. Then she looked back at Mel. "I don't hear anything."

Mel did not answer immediately. She stayed on full alert for a moment longer then said, "Well we'd better head back anyway. Come on, let's..."

She was cut off abruptly as a loud scream sounded nearby. Both girls looked at each other for a moment before sprinting off into the mist towards the sound, which sounded disturbingly nearby.

"Gabrielle, go back to the house."

"I'm not going anywhere, someone sounds hurt!"

"I swear, if you don't turn around and start running as fast as you can back to the house right now, I'll..."

"Help!"

The two girls stopped so suddenly they almost tripped over each other. The voice had sounded so close, it was as if someone had yelled it in their ears. They revolved around slowly on the spot, peering at the little area that could be seen through the mist and listening with straind ears for the frantic voice to return.

"Hello?" Gabrielle called hopefully. Silence almost as thick as the surrounding fog returned to greet them. "Helooo? Anyone out there? Hey, Mel, look at this!"

Mel turned her head sharply down to where Gabrielle was bending down to pick up something off the ground.

"Gabrielle don't touch-" she called just as the younger girl's fingers enclosed around the thing.

Immediately, a rush of colour and sound exploded around them, shattering the silence with such force that both of them jumped up in shock. Pictures floated before their eyes like a thousand video clips playing one after the other. They changed so quickly that it was hard to define what each one depicted. However, after a while they started to slow down slightly and Mel could see clearly what most of them showed.

She saw an elderly couple clutching each other in fear as fire swirled around them menacingly, a young child crying as a man beat a woman again and again, a teenage girl a little older than Mel lying on a bed with black mascara tears streaming down her face, two men standing back to back holding wands as a circle of dark hooded figures closed in around them, a group of children huddled together in a dark space as the unmistakable sound of a hurricane raged outside, a young girl no older than Gabrielle crouched against a wall screamed as a woman crumpled to death before her eyes then watched in horror as the black robed man moved on to her, wand held out in front, a teenage boy with white blond hair like Gabrielle's, though much dirtier and covered in unmistakable blood, lying on the floor and crying...

Then, as suddenly as it had come, it was over. Mel just stood there breathing hard for a few moments before looking over at Gabrielle. The little part-veela was paper white and looking ahead into the mist with haunted eyes.

"Gabrielle!" the young werewolf called sharply. Gabrielle glanced at her quickly, as though startled.

"What was that?" she asked with a trembling voice.

"I don't know." Mel replied quietly.

"It was so horrible. All those people..." She broke off with a sob and looked at Mel again. "Do you have any idea what it was?"

"Do you?"

She shook her head. "I - I don't know. I just dropped the stone and it all went away." she said and looked down near her feet before scooting fearfully over to Mel, her eyes still on the ground. Mel followed her gaze.

Lying on the ground was a small stone. Entranced, she walked over and crouched down to look at it properly.

It wasn't much bigger than a robbin's egg and fairly smooth looking, with a silver colour that still shone despite the dim light. Apon closer inspection, she could see that it was actually glowing, not reflecting the light but, it seemed, absorbing it. In fact, it looked rather like it was pulsating, the way it kept glowing brighter, then fading again, glowing, then fading, glowing, then fading, glowing, then fading, glowing...

Mel shook her head impatiently and, ignoring Gabrielle's small squeak of fear behind her, picked it up warily, ready to drop it at any moment.

Nothing happened. She passed the stone back and forth between her hands, rather enjoying the comforting warmth emnating from it.

What was she saying? Comforting warmth! Gee, she must be going soft in her old age of fourteen years. Giving a sigh, Mel took a hankerchief out of her pocket and wrapped it around the strange silver stone before pocketing it and standing up.

"Come on, Gabrielle," she said as she turned around to walk over to the young girl, who was still standing at a fearful distance with her hands clutching her elbows tightly. After a moment's hesitation and against all her better judgement, Mel grasped one of Gabrielle's hands and began to steer her back the way they had come. As they left, Gabrielle looked back over her shoulder at the place they had just left, but it was already fading into the mist.

I normally wouldn't beg for reviews but being the first chapter and everything, I need your opinion. Next chapter is gonna be a lot longer, so keep a look out!