Title: TheBeginning

Rating/Warning: PG/torture

Author's Notes: I posted this as a one shot quite a while ago, but I've decided to try and pick it up as its own story.

Prologue:

Kerri wet her lips and tried to ignore the breath on the back of her neck. But it was very hard, considering it was heavy and moist and hot. Finally, she settled her trembling hand and tightened her grip on her wand. It was really illegal for her to have a wand at six, but her father had placed wards around their estate so that if anyone came within a ten mile radius they either 'remembered' an appointment if they were pureblood or died if they weren't.

"Are you scared?" a voice breathed in her ear and she repressed a shudder. She had let her thoughts wander and that was dangerous. She inhaled deeply one last time and sent a quick last look at her older brother, who was eleven and was starting his first year at Hogwarts soon. He stood rigid and his face carefully concealing any emotions, but she knew he feared for her. That she wasn't strong enough to do this.

"Avada Kedavra," she finally whispered, but just a shock of green light came from her wand, only enough to knock down the Muggle a few feet away from her.

"Don't pity him. Be merciless; torture him," the breath hissed and she closed her eyes. When she opened them the Muggle was standing again, head bent, breathing ragged in fear. He looked so defeated, her heart wrenched and she thought she would be sick as she screamed, "Crucio." The spell hit him and he fell to the ground, twisting and occasionally moaning. But she said the curse again, to increase the power, and he finally screamed, bucking in an attempt to escape the pain.

She stopped the spell but quickly cast a binding charm on him and he fell back into the wall with a thud. Had her father not been watching, she would have flinched, but instead walked over to the man and spoke, her voice the perfect sense of malice. "This is why Muggles do not deserve to breathe the same air as we Wizards. You have no proper way of defending yourselves; no special purpose. Everything you've invented in the last decade we had the knowledge of hundreds of years ago." He shuddered and raised his head, eyes filled with pain and a burning hatred.

"If we have no way of defending ourselves, why do you attack us?" he spat, a river of blood coming when he opened his mouth. She narrowed her eyes.

"You dare speak to me that way?" she snarled and pressed her wand into his temple. "Pour couperie." A gash appeared where her wand tip was and blood gushed forward, some flecking onto her arm, and the tip of her wand accidentally sinking into the wound. He cried out in pain and fell to his knees. She tried to withdraw her wand but only succeeded in pushing it deeper in and finally he slumped, pulling his own head from the tip, dead. She had hit some part of his head that connected with his brain and killed him…she didn't know much about it but she had heard about such things happening.

Kerri cast a quick cleaning charm and soon all traces of blood on herself and clothing were gone. But the man's final cry of agony was imbedded deep in her mind, and she did not even sigh in relief when her father cast a quick, approving smirk at her and strode out of the room. It was only then she allowed tears to sting her eyes and she stared down at the body in immense guilt and horror. Her brother came over, his posture now relaxed but his eyes pained. He knew the feelings she was going through; he had experienced the same thing at age eight. She had to perform early because girls were supposedly weaker. He curled an arm around her shoulders and she dropped her head onto his shoulder. She knew it was weird, the fact that she and her brother were so close and that killing hurt them, considering who there father was. They had two older brothers who had gone through the same thing they had and seemed to enjoy it. Of course, being raised under a blood lusting father did not leave room for compassion. But Kerri remembered the fear her father had instilled within her at a young age, and she never wanted to be like him, to make someone angry. She didn't know the story of her brother, as they never talked. They were just there for each other as silent support.

After all, any words spoken except in the bedrooms were monitored and it would be dangerous to say anything their father could hear. It was tough, but at least they lived in wealth, and they weren't on the receiving ends of their wands. Yet, Kerri would have traded places instantly. She would have rather been a poor, doomed Muggle than the daughter of Tom Riddle.

Kerri felt unshed tears cling to her eyes but she hurriedly blinked them back, pressing her face closer to the window in an attempt to hide her grief. Her reflection, which looked strange due to the glamour charms, stared back at her morbidly. She did not want her father to see her, for she would be punished, and she did not want to worry Charles. He would just feel guilty and it would ruin his feast and his year. It would be bad enough he wouldn't be able to fully experience Hogwarts as others did as their father had secured him his own, private quarters and insured that he would be landed in Slytherin by the charming of hat by a loyal spy.

She felt the faintest touch of fingers on the back of her hand and she turned her head barely an inch, as much as she could allow herself, to meet Charles's eyes. His eyes were sympathetic, and she knew he understood everything, but would not allow it to ruin his year. The car came to a stop and their father, disguised with the strongest glamour charms, quickly slid out, nearly shaking with disgust at having to ride in a Muggle car. Kerri smiled faintly at her brother before sliding out of the car and nodding regally at the chauffer, her face once again a mask of supreme haughtiness.

Someone bumped her from the back and she whirled around, her hand automatically darting toward her pocket, but she stopped herself before she actually withdrew her wand. A short-set boy, shoulders rather broad, hair appallingly untidy black, and his eyes mercury beneath his glasses, stared at her, head tilted back slightly to look up at her face. He looked oddly familiar, but she could not place him, until a man came hurrying forward. He had the same hair, only flashing emerald eyes, with his trademark lightening bolt scar visible through his jagged bangs.

Harry Potter smiled down at his son kindly and Kerri's heart clenched. She had never received that looked from anyone and it took great control to hide her pain. "I'm sorry for running into you," he mumbled, head down.

"I apologize too," Potter said, though he had done nothing, and extended his hand towards her as if she were an adult. This great amount of respect, combined after raw love for his son, sent tears sparking once again in her eyes as she grasped his hand. "Are you starting Hogwarts?" he asked, as if interested.

"No," she said softly, "my brother is though. I will be in a few years; I'm only six." Potter beamed at her and rested a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"So is Daniel; I guess you two will be starting at the same year," he said brightly and Kerri nodded, speechless. He was so kind and warm…how could her father want to kill him?

"Harry you–" a male voice sounded above the din of the crowd, but froze when he saw the girl before them. "Why are you talking to Harry?" he demanded, glaring down at her. Her eyes widened as she recognized Draco Malfoy, her godfather, and the tears began pushing at her eyes anymore. Yet again, she was being judged for her family. Quickly, she cleared her face and set her spine.

"I'll talk to anyone I want," she said coldly, staring up at him and knowing how ridiculous she must sound, a child talking back to someone more than three times her age.

"I don't care how old you are; if you mess with Harry I'll kill you," he whispered. She felt as if ice had formed in her insides and finally, despite her best efforts and her earlier cool demeanour, the tears spilled over.

"That's your problem," she finally whispered. "You don't care." A hand tightened on her shoulder and she froze, her tears literally stopping where they were on her cheeks, and wild thoughts pranced in her head. 'Merlin, no.'

"Your brother is about to leave for a year; don't you wish to say goodbye?" he asked, voice ice. She suppressed a shiver, knowing she would be gravely punished later, and nodded tightly, ignoring the searing pain that shot through her shoulder as he gave her a small sample of what was to come with his wandless magic.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Draco asked, concerned, as Potter was now bent over, clutching his forehead and gasping. Daniel was staring at Potter with an expression of terror.

"Voldemort," he gasped and Draco straightened, staring at her father and she trembled, knowing she was getting it now. He was going to have to do some little wandwork, make a big scene and cause a huge problem with the Ministry because of the Muggle witnesses, and then Disapparate both her and him all the way to their manor. He was going to murder her; she knew that with cold certainty.

"Ah, I see you have not forgotten," he spat as Kerri's shuddered. "Be still, girl," he snapped and she flinched but nodded, her eyes trained on Charles' retreating back. He would never return; she would never see him again. Then she remembered she was six, and children her age were normally prone to screaming fits. If she stared screaming he would have the 'perfect' excuse to drag her home. Maybe she would die, but no one would suspect a thing, except Draco would know…

Without another thought she opened her mouth and wailed, ignoring how ridiculous and childish she felt. Everyone in the station stared at her as she continued to scream and eventually threw in a few words, such as no and go away and I don't want to. She could feel how pleased her father was and he took her hands in his and began to pull her off.

"So sorry, got to go take care of my daughter, it was lovely seeing you again," her father called over his shoulder and she pretended to make it seem like he was dragging her to the car and they slid inside.

"I was going to allow you to slowly bleed you to death," he said calmly as he took his seat, "but thanks to that plan, as simple as it was, I will just torture you for an hour or so." Kerri nodded and set her jaw; she had known this from the beginning and part of her hated that she would not be fully punished for the lives she had taken.