It was a cool winter night. The sky was clear, allowing the carpet of stars to shine clear and bright in the sky. A young girl of about thirteen was sitting cross legged on her bed, quietly reading by the light of a lamp. At first glance there was nothing about this girl which would make you think that she was unusual in the slightest. You may have thought she was a little bit eccentric. Her room was decorated with various odd things. There was a hammock hanging from the ceiling in one corner, and a bookcase crammed with old dusty books, leather bound and yellowing, filling one wall entirely. A bow and quiver hung on the opposite wall in a specially made bracket and there was a cape hanging from the back of a comfortable looking armchair. Yes, this girl was slightly odd, but nothing completely unusual.

If anyone had taken the care to look any closer at the scene in front of them, they would have noticed the one thing that would have put no doubt in their mind that this girl was a little more than slightly odd. The book, which she was now intently staring at, was, on closer inspection a copy of Druid Mysteries by No 1 best selling author, Stanley Pongkins. You see, there was one thing that was entirely unusual about this girl. She was a witch, and her name was Aidan Peters.

It was almost midnight when Aidan put down Druid Mysterires, picked up her cloak and made her way quietly downstairs to the small kitchen of her house. She tiptoed to a cupboard and silently found a cup which she then filled up with water from the tap. She walked out on to the patio and sat down on the step. Pulling her cloak more closely around her she settled down to gaze west, out over the property her family owned, and slowly became absorbed in her thoughts.

Aidan delighted in the cool breeze as it blew through the branches of the huge gum tree that her dad had built a tree house in when she was small. She used to spend hours up there, playing out various games with her brother. When she was seven they had built a vast and complicated pulley system so they need never leave their little hideaway. That day her mother put their lunch in the bucket and it was heaved skywards to be devoured hungrily. When night had fallen her father brought out their dinner, pillows and blankets, and they spent the night up there, completely immersed in their grand adventure. But it wasn't long before they both started to miss the comfort of their home, and by lunch the next day they were back inside. That night her mum had made them the most delicious hot chocolate Aidan had ever tasted, and they had slept snuggly in their beds.

Suddenly Aidan snapped back to reality. An ominous feeling had settled over her, chilling her already frozen body to the core. Something was wrong, very wrong. She slowly stood and walked a few meters down the path the led from the house. She couldn't see anything, or hear anything. The breeze rustled through the tree again, and the full moon cast odd shadows on the path. She decided that her imagination had gotten the better of her and, shivering slightly, turned to go back inside the house. With a gasp Aidan dropped the glass. Terror froze her to the spot.

The dark mark was floating in the distance.

Aidan suddenly regained the use of her legs. She ran through the house, up the stairs, down the hall.

"Dad!" she screamed, "Dad! We've got to get out of here!"

She finally reached her father's bedroom.

"Aidan! What is it?"

"They're here!"

… … …

The car stopped, and Aidan was jerked out of the memory of the night that she had been reliving over and over in her mind for the last three weeks. In fact that was all she could clearly remember of the last three weeks. She had a foggy, memory of going to see Jacob's parents, the funeral, packing to leave the country. And now she was here. Sitting in a car outside a rather grimy looking pub called the Leaky Cauldron, in the middle London, England. The opposite side of the earth from rural Victoria, Australia. Her older brother by one year, gave her hand a comforting squeeze, before opening the door and climbing out of the car. Aidan followed. The whole family made their way in to the pub.

In the short time it took to make that journey, Aidan made a promise to herself. This was a new beginning, she told herself, it was time to move on. She hid all her feelings of grief and guilt away inside her, took a deep breath, and walked into the pub.

… … …

"So when exactly is this old friend of yours meant to be turning up, Dad?" asked Ron, although no-one could be sure if they were the exact words as his mouth was full of pork at the time.

Ron was sitting at a table in the Leaky Cauldron consuming a delightful meal. Also enjoying the superb dinner were his two best friends, Harry and Hermione, his brothers, Percy, Fred and George, his sister, Ginny and his parents.

"They shouldn't be much longer," Mr Weasley was now answering.

"They wouldn't want to be," George said, shooting Ron an exaggerated look of disgust. "Wait too long and Ron will have eaten the entire meal."

"That is if he doesn't choke first," Fred added in.

"Connor!" Mr Weasley suddenly yelled, startling the entire table. Ginny fell backwards of her seat with a small yelp. Ron swallowed a chunk of crackling and started coughing and spluttering; Fred and George took great delight in thumping him on the back.

"Connor, over here," Mr Weasley now stood up, waving frantically at a middle aged, very friendly looking wizard who had just entered. He was holding a young boy in his arms who looked to be his exact copy except younger, and in miniature. He was a tall man, but not lanky, and crossed the room in a few easy strides, grabbing Mr Weasley in a one armed hug. After a few moments he was released and Mrs Weasley was given the same treatment. Everyone at the table was now giving the new comer politely curious looks.

"Everyone!" cried Mr Weasley excitedly, gaining their attention. "This is my old friend Connor Peters, we went to school together. He and his family have just moved back here from Australia!"

"Hello," said Connor happily gazing around the table.

"Connor," Mr Weasley continued, "This is my family, Molly you already know, and this is Percy, second Head Boy in the family, and the twins, obviously, Fred and George… or George and Fred… oh, who cares, and this is our youngest, Ginny, and finally Ronald -"

"Ron, Dad!" said Ron angrily, "You know I hate Ronald."

"Sorry Ron. And these are Ron's best friends Hermione Granger and Harry Potter." The dark haired girl's eyes flashed towards Harry, shocked. He squirmed under her intense, questioning gaze. Harry was used to being recognized and stared at, and usually he just ignored it, but this time he couldn't seem to look away, the girls eyes had him frozen. Her brother noticed and leaned in whispering something in her ear. The girl just nodded, her eyes never leaving Harry's face.

"Nice to finally meet you all, I've been hearing about you all for years," beamed Connor. "Well I guess it's my go. I'll start with this little brat here," he continued, raising the young boy he had been carrying a little higher so everyone could see. "This is Darby Keiran Brandan Peters -"

"And I'm five years old!" Darby informed everyone proudly.

"- and he's five years old," repeated his father, laughing.

"This is my eldest, Jasper," the dark haired boy stepped forward.

"Hi."

"And this is Aidan,"

Her father gave her a little push forward and she tripped over her own feet clumsily. She was the sort of person people noticed, and the type the Dursley's would have instantly moved away from. Her long hair was slightly curly and had bright red streaks through it. Her fringe fell forward and covered one eye. She was wearing a long black coat that went past her knees, a long skirt that seemed to be made out of neck ties, and she was covered in jewellery. On anyone else it might have been odd choice of clothing for a day of sitting in a car, but she looked completely at home in the ensemble. She smiled at them a little shyly.

"Well make yourselves comfortable," Mrs Weasley cried, ushering the dark haired siblings towards the younger members of the dinner party. Jasper got put between Percy and Ron, and George made room between himself and Ginny for Aidan to sit down.

"So," George started, trying to strike up a conversation. "Aidan, that's an unusual name. Is that it, or is it as long as Darby's is?"

"No there's more," she replied, starting to feel a bit more comfortable and less nervous. "My full name is Aidan Niahm Nadine Peters; Niamh after my mother and Nadine after my grandmother."

"Same with you?" Fred asked Jasper across the table.

"Yep," was the short reply.

"So, are we going to hear it," Fred continued.

"Nope."

"My brother doesn't like his middle names," Aidan whispered loudly to the table. "He thinks they're embarrassing."

"Well they are!" said Jasper defensively. "You wouldn't tell anyone either if you had my middle names."

"What are you talking about, there's nothing wrong with -" her brother glared at her as if daring her to tell them. Aidan gave him a defiant look then continued. "- Jasper Roderick Darragh Peters."

The horrified look on Jasper's face was priceless, giving everyone a good chuckle.

"I can't believe you just did that." mumbled Jasper. Aidan just stuck her tongue out at him and laughed.

… … …

Dinner past in a haze of laughing. Darby was now asleep curled up on Aidan's lap, his head on her shoulder. Jasper had just finished telling everyone what Australia was like and now Aidan had herself, and everyone else, in fits of laughter trying to teach the twins some 'Aussie' slang.

"No!" Aidan cried through her laughter. "No, it's not Gee-day! You sound like a pratt! It's G-day. Like your saying Good, but drop the 'oo'."

"Oh, so it's g-day," George said finally getting the finer points of the Australian accent.

Aidan clapped proudly, "You got it! Your now an honorary Aussie! Now we just have teach you to cook on the barbie and drink beer, and get you a cork hat and stubbies."

"What are stubbies?" Ron asked.

"Imagine the most unflattering shorts that could ever exist," Aidan explained, "then times that by a hundred and you've got stubbies."

"Eewe!" exclaimed Ginny.

"That's about it," agreed Aidan.

"So why exactly did you leave Australia?" asked Ron genuinely interested.

Aidan and Jasper exchanged an odd glance before Jasper replied. "Well both our mum and dad grew-up here, and dad thought it was about time that we saw England for ourselves."

It wasn't very convincing; it was obvious that they were hiding something. But before they got the chance to question the new comers further, Mrs Weasley told them all it was time for bed.

… … …

Aidan made her way back to her room, which was between her brother's and Fred and George's rooms. She wasn't tired but she was happy to see a comfy looking bed sitting on one wall and made her way gratefully towards it, before collapsing heavily, face first into the pillows with a groan. It had been a long trip, and Tahliyah could think of nothing better than just lying down and listening to some music. Music! She'd almost forgotten. She sat up and looked around for her luggage. She finally found it sitting in the corner. All the way in the corner. She didn't want to get up and walk all the way over to the corner, she didn't think her legs would make it.

Could she risk it? Aidan quickly looked out the door to see if anyone was coming. There was no-one there, and she couldn't hear anyone coming. Aidan made her decision. She stretched her arms out in front of her and watched as the smallest suitcase lifted up off the ground and floated quickly towards her. When it was just in front of her she grabbed it in her hands. She quickly opened it and pulled out her CD player. Well it wasn't exactly a CD player, it was a magical device that her father had invented that read muggle CD's. He had invented it for her when she had first taken a liking to muggle music. Jacob had been the one to introduce her to the delights muggle metal. She pulled out her favourite CD, a mix that Jacob had put together for her, put it into the modified CD player and pressed play. Aidan leant back on the pillows and shut her eyes, listening to the heavy, hypnotizing beat of the song.

"What's that?" a curious voice spoke up from the door. Aidan jumped as her eyes flew to the door. A rather tall red haired boy was leaning against the door frame, smiling at her. It was one of the twins, Aidan wasn't sure which one. He must have seen the odd look that Aidan was giving him because he suddenly said, "I'm George."

"Oh, sorry, you two look so similar," Aidan tried to justify her rude staring.

"Oh, that's OK. Used to it by now," George replied in a friendly tone. He then looked back down at the odd contraption that was sitting on the bed in front of Aidan. "What is that?" he asked again.

"Oh this. It's like a magical CD playing dohicky that plays muggle music," explained Aidan enthusiastically. She loved this gadget. "My dad made it."

"Really! That's wicked," George said moving into the room and looking around. "So you're into muggle music."

"Yeah," said Aidan riffling through her CD's trying to find the ones she wanted to listen to. "Mostly European metal. I hate pop; Brittany Spears should be silenced permanently."

"I haven't the foggiest idea what your talking about," George informed her. "How did you get yours hands on so much muggle stuff?"

George noticed a strange look come into Aidan's eyes, like she was trying to focus on something else as she said, "My best friend's a muggle."

Her voice sounded constricted and George wished he hadn't asked.

"George! What are you doing in there!," Mrs Weasley came bustling into the room. "Leave the poor girl alone to sleep!"

"No really, he wasn't being a pain or anything," Aidan tried to reassure Mrs Weasley.

"I'm sure" Mrs Weasley replied disbelievingly. "Now George go to bed."

"I'll see you tomorrow Aidan," George said before leaving the room closely followed by his mother. Aidan fell back onto the pillows of her bed, shut her eyes and just tuned into the music. Before long she fell in to a fitful nights sleep full of Death Eaters, running through thick bush, and flashes of green light.