Chapter One

The Wards

Lightning flashed across the darkening sky, rain falling swiftly to soak the ground below. Cars drove along the black pavement, and pedestrians ran through the rain with a mixture of screams and laughs as they tried not to get soaked by the drops of water.

One lone boy, however, stayed in place. He didn't so much as twitch as a flash of fork lightning lit up the sky, casting shadows across the otherwise dark alleyway he was hidden in; a loud rumble of thunder echoing not long after.

It seemed the sky gods were angry for some obscure reason. A small smile flitted across the boys' lips as he reached into his soaked baggy shirt, and pulled out a circular shape with a reflective surface; a hand mirror. A thin finger ran across the delicate glass, which seemed to reflect a pair of golden eyes glowing in the darkness.

"Soon," a soft whisper seemed to echo through the street which was quickly emptying due to the raging storm. "Soon you shall be free, my love."

Dark emerald green eyes opened wearily. A soft groan echoed through the room and a pale hand reached up to rub the bridge of a small dainty looking nose. Blurred eyes glanced at the bright red numbers of an alarm clock and another groan echoed through the room before the girl lying the middle of a king sized bed lifted a pillow over her face and attempted to smother herself with it.

An amused chuckle that was heard from the door was her only warning before her blankets and pillows were ripped off of her lithe form causing her to whimper and curl into a small ball, trying to savor the warmth that once covered her body. "Come on, sleepy head. I know you don't want too, but the neighbors did ask nicely," a soft voice said from somewhere above her, and the girl opened an eye.

"Nu-uh," she mumbled sleepily and attempted to curl into her bed, clutching the forest green sheets in her hands.

Her foster mother gave a sigh and shook her head lightly. "Serenity, get up. We're going to have dinner over at the Dursley's whether you like it or not," she said, giving Serenity a light swap on the butt with a pillow.

Serenity, ever the coherent one, growled into her mattress and sat up huffily, about to tell her foster mother where to shove it when she was smacked in the head with a pillow causing her to fall backward with a groan. "Wat'sat'for?" she mumbled through her pillow.

Elena Collins sighed and glanced at Serenity, an amused expression upon her face. "If you don't get up now, you'll be cleaning up after the dog for so long..." Elena said in a semi-threatening voice. It was enough to make Serenity shoot up from her bed with a shrieked, "NO!"

Elena winced and silently walked from the room. "You have ten minutes to get ready, I expect you downstairs by then," she said sternly, before she closed the door.

Serenity sighed and clapped her hands. The light in her room flickered on automatically and she got up, wobbling slightly as a flash of dizziness went through her. Blinking a few times against the intruding light, she squinted before wandering over to her closet. She pulled out a simple black tank top and threw it on over her black bra. She searched through her drawers and pulled out a pair of black baggy pants, slipping them on whilst making her way over to the other side of the dresser to grab a pair of socks. In her hurry to get dressed, Serenity's foot got caught on the end of her bed and she managed to fall to the ground with a loud thump. She cursed loudly before forcing herself up off the floor to grab a pair of black socks before slipping them over her feet.

"Serena!" Elena called from downstairs. "You have five minutes so I suggest you hurry up!"

Serenity scowled and didn't bother with a response. She went over to a table that had a mirror attached to it and sat on her black chair to finish getting ready. She grabbed her brush and started to run it through the black locks, wincing as she pulled through the knots. The dark red streaks in her hair stood out quite a bit and she took a moment to admire them before grabbing some cover-up from her dresser. She lightly brushed some of the powder over her face, applied her black eye-liner and red eye shadow before finishing off with some lip-gloss. When she was finished with this she searched through her jewelry box. She pulled out her necklace that had a silver snake emblem hanging from the chain along with her favorite lip ring. She put it through the hole in her lip and closed it, before taking her necklace and hanging it around her neck, allowing it to rest gently on her chest. She looked herself over in the mirror once again, and furrowed her eyebrows a bit. "Aha!" she murmured and grabbed her black wrist band, sliding it on her left wrist to hide the pale lightning bolt scar etched into her skin.

Elena yelled up the stairs once again, and Serenity sighed, getting up and shutting off the lights in her room before rushing down the stairs. Serenity stopped in front of her mother with a scowl. "I still don't understand why I have to go."

The woman sighed and shook her head, not bothering with an answer before slipping on her shoes. She stood quietly by her husband, Damien, waiting for Serenity to get her black boots on that had silver snakes stitched into the sides. "Ready?" Damien asked with an amused look.

Standing back up, Serenity nodded her head and replied, "Yeah, I'm ready."

The walk to the neighbor's house was unsurprisingly short, and Elena gave a soft knock on the immaculate white door. Meanwhile, Serenity looked around the front of number 4 Privet Drive in disgust. It was just too… perfect.

Before she could allow her thoughts to continue, the front door opened to reveal a woman that looked like a horse... Serenity stifled a snort of amusement as Elena nudged her in the side. "Hello Elena, please, please, come right in," she said, her high pitched voice making the younger of the four wince and rub her abused ear.

"Ah, Petunia, it was very nice of you to have us over for dinner," Elena said softly in response as she smiled widely toward the other woman. Serenity couldn't stop the smirk that crossed her lips at the false tone that her foster mother was using.

Petunia Dursley took no notice of this as her smile broadened before she ushered the three into the house. "Of course, it wasn't a problem," she said and walked into the living room, talking in hushed tones to someone. Serenity frowned and titled her head, getting up on the tips of her toes to get a closer look. She mumbled a muffled 'oomph' as Elena clocked her over the head for being so nosy. She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Serena," Elena said softly, using her nickname once again. "I promise you can go back outside in a little while. I know how cranky you get without having a cigarette. But please just wait until we're introduced to the rest of the family and start up a conversation. If you get bored, you can go ahead and do as you wish."

"Can I go back home?" Serenity mumbled, staring up at her foster mother with her infamous puppy dog eyes.

Elena frowned and shook her head. "No, you can go outside for a bit of fresh air afterwards, but you will come right back in here in time for dinner, or else..." She murmured as loud footsteps approached them.

Petunia came with a sweet smile adorning her lips. "Oh, I'm so sorry. How rude of me! Please, come in and have a seat," she said in her simpering tone causing Serenity to make silent gagging sounds while Petunia's back was turned. Serenity bent down and untied her boot's shoelaces before neatly resting them between Elena and Damien's. She then stood back up and glanced around quietly, before following her foster mother into an odd white rom. She sighed and sat in-between her foster mother and father, staring blankly at the ground; her face twisted in boredom. She wondered idly to herself if she'd be able to burn a hole into the carpet, but was knocked from her musings at the sound of Petunia's high-pitched voice.

"Ah, now then, this is my husband, Vernon and this is my little Dudley," she said and smiled brightly at her overgrown son. He looks like a small whale, Serenity thought, blinking at the three people that stood in front of her for a moment. Petunia looked like a horse and her husband and son looked like miniature whales... She grinned suddenly at the thought, but was nudged in the side and only then noticed that everyone was looking at her. She blinked a few times rather stupidly, before noticing that Dudley's hand was raised toward her. Serenity grimaced but took the chubby hand none-the-less in her own smaller one. "I'm Serenity," she murmured and quickly released the 'whale's' hand, unnoticeably rubbing the disgusting feel of grease and sweat off her hand from when she touched the youngest Dursley.

Elena finally spoke up with a smile. "I think I remember seeing another young man, where is he?" she asked, and Serenity looked at the Dursley's curiously as they flinched at the mention of the boy.

"Ahem," Vernon cleared his throat and gave a sickly sweet smile. "I don't think you'll want to meet my nephew... He goes to St. Brutes School for Incurably Criminal Boys, and he's not very ...social able."

Serenity frowned slightly, seeing straight through the lie at the sudden tension in the room but Elena simply smiled and nodded her head. "I would still like to meet him sometime. I'm assuming he's in his bedroom?" she asked in her usual soft, persuading voice before turning to Serenity without giving Petunia time to answer. "Why don't you go up and introduce yourself to him, darling?"

Serenity frowned again, and eyed her foster mother wearily. She was up to something, but she couldn't figure out exactly what she was up too. Sighing, she stood up from the couch, glancing around; looking rather lost for a moment before she looked at the three Dursley's. "Um...where's his bedroom?" she asked with a blank look on her face.

Petunia cleared her throat a bit, and pointed up the stairs just outside of the living room that they were sitting in. "Just up the stairs, and down the hall. It's the last door on your left, you shouldn't miss it," she sounded decidedly uncomfortable. Serenity shrugged her shoulders and made her way out of the living room, toward the stairs where she climbed up them with gentle steps, barely making a sound. She could hear her foster mother spinning tales about how Serenity helped boys like that at her school and she couldn't help but smirk at the thought.

"Yeah right," she mumbled softly, "More like I'm one of them."

Serenity walked down the hall once she reached the top of the staircase and stopped at the last door, to her left. Staring at it for a minute, she grimaced at the number of locks and chairs that covered the door, before she unlocked them all. "Jeez, must be pretty bad if they had to lock him up," she murmured as she finished undoing all of the locks. She could hear a slight rustling inside, so, with a sigh, she knocked politely; which really wasn't like her at all, but she didn't feel like being attacked by some crazed teenager if she entered without permission.

Scowling when the boy didn't answer the door after a few minutes, she turned the doorknob and pushed it open, peering around the black room. She frowned slightly, not daring to step in further before she muttered to herself softly, "I swear Elena if I get hit over the head with something I'm going to kill you."

Slowly, she crept further into the room, and moved her hand to the side, feeling around on the wall for a light switch of some kind. Finding it with her fingers, she made a soft sound of triumph...but the light didn't work. Her eye twitched. "Stupid bloody lights," she grumbled to herself and stepped a bit further into the room, glancing around slowly. "Err...hello?" she called softly into the room, but sighed. "Probably not even in here. Great joy. Now I'm going to have a cigarette and hopefully escape back home," she continued as she turned on her heel to exit the room. A muffled shriek escaped her lips as a hand closed over her lips and the door slammed shut with a soft bang.

She let out a muffled sound of protest and squirmed around within the arms of her captor. Finally, she stopped and calmed herself before slumping down in the person's arms, pretending to be unconscious. A worried voice cut through the air, right beside her ear, from the person holding her. "Don't think I killed her, do you Forge?"

"Couldn't tell you, Gred," the other voice muttered before she felt a light poke on her cheek by something that felt like wood, though it was oddly warm.

Another voice called into the room, this one sounding rather nervous. "Guys, I think she's one of the people my Aunt was talking about earlier. The people that were coming over for dinner tonight...They're our new neighbors...I really, really, hope she's not dead."

Serenity smirked inwardly as she felt the hands that were holding her loosen their grasp upon her slender form. The voice that spoke before, Forge wasn't it, replied with a shrug, "She looks like she's breathing." She felt another prod of the wooden...thing...on her cheek. She almost growled, but forced herself to calm down.

"Well, if she's alive then we have nothing to worry about. She'll wake up sooner or later. Harry, hurry up and get your things together so we can leave this dump of a place. Your Aunt and Uncle are going to come looking for her eventually and they'll find us here too if we don't hurry up," the one called Gred said, and she heard more rustling sounds.

"Yeah...All right," she heard the boy mutter. The hands on her loosened a bit more... Just wait until you're caught off guard. You're going to get the beating of your life;she thought angrily but continued to force the image that she was unconscious.

"Hurry up, Harry. Mom and dad are going to be really mad if we don't hurry up and meet them at home. You know how they are, they'll hex us both," Forge muttered.

Serenity finally allowed a flicker of a smirk to grace her lips. The hands that were holding her had loosened even more, but the boy's hand, Gred's hand, was still covering her mouth. Slowly, she opened her mouth without him noticing and bit down...Hard.

Gred let out a loud yelp and jumped backwards causing Harry and Forge to look over at him curiously. Serenity scowled and kicked Gred in the stomach. "THAT was for scaring the crap out of me when you grabbed me," she growled out and then kicked him again before smiling innocently. "And that was for touching me; Period." She muttered something about people always sneaking up behind her and grabbing her out of nowhere whist allowing her eyes to adjust to the sudden light that was shining in her eyes. She blinked a few times. Her dark emerald green eyes glanced up suddenly and met a pair almost identical to her own. She squeaked in surprise, falling backward, only to land on the not-so-soft ground right on her arse. She heard another dull thump and an 'ouch' showing that the other had fallen as well.

She stared blankly at the boy that was sitting down on the ground across from her. His glasses hung down his nose lopsidedly, showing emerald green eyes much like her own, and his unruly black hair was shown clearly from the light shining down upon them...it looked like hers when she didn't tame it. She frowned and narrowed her eyes slowly, her pupils looking more like slits. "Why do you look like me?" she demanded, pointing an accusing finger toward the boy in front of her who looked vaguely confused.

Fred and George blinked at each other before glancing down at the two on the ground, simultaneously muttering, "They look near identical."

"Thank you for stating the obvious," Serenity said, her sarcasm dripping from each word. "Now, I think I'll be going back downstairs, and out the front door," she continued, muttering something about cigarettes as she got up from the ground.

Harry got up as well, dusting off his overly large clothing. "You're not going to tell my Aunt and Uncle anything...right?" He seemed unsure and weary as he spoke, his gaze flickering worriedly toward the red-headed twins.

Mumbling to herself, Serenity glanced up toward Harry at the sudden question. Humming in a thoughtful manner, she finally shrugged. "What's in it for me?" Serenity allowed a sly smirk to cross her lips before continuing at Harry's confused look. "Why shouldn't I say anything? I mean..." She scanned all three boys and wrinkled her nose. "I doubt you have anything I want. So what is in it for me..?"

Harry frowned and furrowed his eyebrows in though, opening his mouth to speak only to get cut off by the twins.

"We'll let you keep," George started.

"Your memories of this night," Fred continued, both boys fingering their 'wooden sticks', as Serenity thought they were, in a 'threatening' manner.

Slowly, one of Serenity's eyebrows rose up above her hairline, followed swiftly by the other one before she burst into peals of laughter; "Yeah, right! Next you'll tell me that you can pull a rabbit out of a hat!" Serenity calmed down and shook her head. "I mean really...I'm far from being a blond."

Fred and George exchanged confused looks while Harry sighed. "They were kidding," Harry muttered, sending a pointed look toward Serenity as the twins moved to protest, mouthing 'muggle' toward them.

Unfortunately, Serenity read his lips and she frowned in confusion, "Muggle? What in the world is a muggle?"

Before the three boys could make up an excuse or respond to the question, loud pops echoed from the open window. Serenity flinched at the sudden sound while Harry and the twins went to the window and looked outside. Harry still held the slight look of confusion, but Fred and George's faces was a mask of fear.

"Death Eaters," Fred whispered softly to Harry who was beside him and the smaller boy's head shot up to look at Fred.

"But how can they get through the wards? It's not supposed to be..." Harry was cut off from his speech by a loud shriek of 'freaks' from downstairs and he grimaced at the familiar sound of his Aunt. This couldn't be good.

Serenity, meanwhile, was growing irritated. "What the hell are Death Eaters? What is going on?" She finally yelled with a fierce looking glare directed toward the three boys that was demanding answers.

Again, before either of the boys could make up something believable, the bedroom door slammed open before it was shut forcefully again. It was Elena. Serenity frowned at her foster mother and tilted her head to the side. "Elena? What are you doing? What's going on?" Serenity seemed almost desperate now, especially when seeing the look of irritation, fear, confusion and regret mixed upon the woman's face.

Shaking her head slightly, Elena breathed out a light sigh and glanced at Serenity wearily, before merely shaking her head once again. "Look, I don't have time to explain. I promise everything will be explained at a later date," her gaze switched from Serenity to look toward the twins. "Fred and George Weasley, I presume? Good. Both of you need to take Harry and Serenity and get out of here. Apparate if you need too. Just get out; quickly. The wards haven't fallen yet but they're weakening. I'll be along shortly. Take them to your house. Arthur and Molly have already been alerted." All four teenagers stood there with blank looks on their faces whilst staring at the elder woman. 'Elena's' hair turned a bright pink and she glared at them fiercely. "What are you waiting for? GET OUT!"

The twins snapped into action almost immediately. Fred grabbed a hold of Harry and was out of the room with a loud crack as he apparated away while George went to grab Serenity. She, however, was having none of it. "Let go of me!" She snapped, yanking herself forcefully from George's arms before glaring at 'Elena'. "Tell me what is going on; now."

"Serenity, this is no time for your stubborn attitude. Go with George. Everything will be explained to you when you're safe. I promise," 'Elena' said softly, though fiercely, matching her foster daughter's glare.

"NO! Everything will be explained to me no..." Serenity was cut off as a loud crash echoed throughout the small house, and she yelped as the entire place shook from the force.

"Damn it... The wards," 'Elena' whispered softly, and she worsened her glare toward Serenity. "Serenity, get out of here right this minute. No arguments," 'Elena' glanced toward George and nodded toward the younger girl. "Take her with force if you have too. Just get out of this house!" At that, 'Elena' turned around and exited the room, closing and locking it behind her before running down the stairs.

Serenity screamed in frustration, kicking the door which only served to irritate her more as she felt her toe throb with pain, while George sighed and shook his head gently. "I'm sorry about this," George muttered. Strong arms wrapped around Serenity from behind and she kicked and struggled in his grasp screaming "let go!" before the red head apparated away with her.

They were just in time to get away before the house collapsed in on itself, flames engulfing the building as an eerie dark green skull with a snake sliding out of its mouth rose up into the sky.