Prologue

A/N: This is my first go at writing H/D slash. I am not afraid of flames, as long as you do know what you are talking about. I have put a warning on the summary- it's R for a reason, you know- and if you are squicky about slash or H/D, just visit your friend the back button. You have been warned.

Aurelia

A book lies open on a desk. Bound in black, the title is printed in curly silver letters. A dragon curls around the words, which read: The Book of Books. The page it has been left at draws him closer, to try and read the words. The pages seem old, very old. The words are clear though, written in red ink- blood red. If it scares him, he does not let on. He knows that it has been left open for a purpose, and he is determined to try and work out why. Light is filtering in through a window in the tower, but it is the only light. It is plenty enough to read by.

He bends closer, and begins to read.

"Once upon a time, there lived a Prince in a castle made of ice and snow. His father was cruel and distant, and his mother lived fearfully in his shadow, afraid to be kind lest her husband see it.

His father beat him- kicking him, hitting him, and emotionally hurting in. But one day, when he was 10, the raping started. First his father tried to pursuade him to do it of his own free will, but eventually gave up and did it without the Prince's consent. The Prince was too frightened to try and stop his father, and too stubborn to get help.

And one day, after the Prince had hit his father after he'd tried to take him again, his father sent him to a boarding school, far away in England.0

Angry and scared, the Prince adopted the attitude of his father, cruel and terrifying. He let no-one know what his feelings were, and let no-one get too close to him.

There was only one person who was not scared of the Ice Prince. And that was a boy named Harry. He was good, brave, kind and loyal- exactly the opposite of the Ice Prince.

This went on, and the boy grew up. But he began to have strange dreams..."

I dream I am in a forest. It is cold and misty, and looks vaguely familiar although I cannot place the memory. I walk for a while, my footsteps echoing in the empty place. It reminds me of a graveyard, dark and silent and sinister.

Suddenly I walk into a clearing, and something catches my eye. Sitting on a tree stump, his back turned to me, is a boy around my age, and my height. He looks, again, familiar, although I still cannot place him. I can only make out some of the features, for I am too far away and it is too misty to see any great details. He has raven black hair and is wearing red robes. I watch him for a few moments, and as though sensing my gaze, turns around. I have just a second's glimpse of bright emerald eyes that I could swim in forever, glowing in green warmth- or is it coldness- before...

I wake up.