Chapter one: Invasion
"There is a war raging outside these walls, Draganna."
A woman, short and slender with jet-black hair and dark, rough looking skin stood now in the middle of her living room. She looked down upon her daughter, a young girl of seventeen who could have been her twin, only twenty years younger. She spoke in hushed tones, with a hint of compassion in her voice, but veiled in urgency. "I don't want you to be hurt, darling. They may find us here any day. I want you to go somewhere safe," her mother said, sitting down next to her on the velvety couch.
Draganna stared back at her mother incredulously. Almost laughing she said, "No one can find us here mother, you set up the anti-invasion jinxes yourself."
Her mother gave her a weak, foreboding smile, before a flash of worry sprang across her face.
"Just relax mother," Draganna said, "No one's going back to Azka…. "
CRACK
Draganna was interrupted mid-sentence by seven large wizards apparating directly in front of them. They loomed above them, approaching them forcefully from across the room.
She looked over at her mother who only sat, outraged at the new visitors. Her mother leapt to her feet and unfurled her wand with grand, sweeping elegance. "What a surprise to see the Order of the Phoenix using such dark magic to invade my home," she snarled through clenched teeth.
Without thinking, Draganna shot up from the couch and lunged toward the doorway where, luckily, an invisibility cloak was hanging. Nearly missing a Full Body-Bind curse, her fingers wrapped around the cloak and she yanked it down off of the wall. She ran out into the foyer, struggling with the cloak and being chased by two of the wizards who were throwing curse after curse in her direction, each one only narrowly missing her. When she was finally able to regain her composure, she twirled the invisibility cloak around her body and vanished mid-run. She halted immediately and then tiptoed slowly out of the way. The two wizards ran past her to the stairs she would have been headed towards. She watched them run feverishly up the stairs and then walked carefully back to the living room.
Her mother stood, wand drawn, facing the remaining five wizards. Draganna put a hand over mouth to quiet her panting as she walked across the room to stand next to her mother.
"I won't be going so easily Mr. Potter!" Her mother yelled at the young man standing at the forefront of the group. Her mother's and Potter's eyes had locked in an instant flash of hatred. Draganna then watched her mother's eyes shift to the lanky boy who was standing next to Potter. He had blinding red hair and his wand was shaking slightly in his hand. However, his face was reflecting a forced powerful demeanor. Her mother's lip sneered mischievously as a thought dawned on her.
"Crucio!" Her mother yelled at the top of voice, pointing a steady wand at the lanky redheaded boy.
Instantly the living room was filled with brilliant flashes of red and orange as curses and hexes were sent hurtling at Draganna's mother. Draganna threw herself out of the way onto the nearby couch. Watching in horror, Draganna could only sit in silence. Her mother's body was thrown back on top of the bookshelf that was next to the couch that Draganna was sitting on. She lay in a awkward heap on the floor, her chest only barely rising and falling to indicate her shallow breathing.
The two men who had chased Draganna into the foyer now returned to the living room and skidded to a halt upon the sight of the fallen form in front of the bookshelf.
"She performed the Cruciatus Curse on Ron," a tall, older wizard with the same striking red hair as the younger boy, said breathlessly to the two men. The two nodded curtly in understanding.
After what seemed like hours, her mother's body finally stirred, and she blinked blearily at the men now hovering above her. Her eyes flashed with anger as she made her way to her feet, holding her wand defiantly in front of her. She gave an almost unperceivable sway on her feet that quickly faded into unwavering defiance.
"Bellatrix Lestrange," the tall man spoke, unrolling a long sheet of parchment, "You are hereby arrested by the Ministry of Magic and are to be sent directly to Azkaban for conspiring..."
Bellatrix's eyes flared with anger. "How DARE you!"
The tall man continued as if he had not heard her mother's words, "...for conspiring with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. You are to be apprehended immediately for your hearing and trial."
Her mother stood speechless. A fury washed over her face as she eyed the tall, lanky, redheaded boy once more. "Crucio!" She shouted again at the young red headed boy, who, unfortunately for him, was the closest one to her. Her eyes then flashed momentarily with pleasure at the sight of his writhing body on the living room floor.
This time, however, there was no rain of red sparks flooding the room. A boy emerged from the center of the crowd. He was unnaturally tall for his age. As if his bones had gone through a growth spurt and the rest of his body had simply not caught up yet. As all the wizards around him raised their wands to unleash another torrent of curses, he pushed them back with his free arm. Draganna saw a noticeable fire burning in this boy's eyes. His lips curled angrily over his teeth. He was not shaking, as the tall, redheaded boy had been. He was, on the contrary, surprisingly calm. With a slow raise of his wand, he finally dropped it, pointing it directly at Draganna's mother. She heard his voice boom as if he were speaking from a far away planet. "Avada Kadavra!"
All the wizards surrounding the boy snapped their heads toward him in an instant. With all eyes fixed upon him, the boy only stood there, his eyes, still burning with fury, fixed cold-heartedly upon Bellatrix's life-less form. His wand was still half-raised, as if still in shock at what he had just done. Potter hurried over to him, stowing his wand clumsily in his robes. "It's ok Neville," he said as he tenderly forced Neville's wand out of his hand, "It's over."
The room around her went silent and everything seemed to move in a hazy slow motion. A cold sweat broke out on Draganna's face as she watched the wizards disapparate, taking her mother's dead body with them. 'What just happened?' she silently thought to herself. Her mouth hung open in a shocked disbelief. When that last wizard had gone, she shakily made her way to the couch. She slid off the invisibility cloak that was still covering her and laid it gingerly on the spot where her mother had been sitting only moments before. She laid her head down on the cloak. It felt like a watery-cloth underneath her numbed face. She buried her head deeply in it and let out a heart-breaking sob. She grasped the silky threads in her sweaty hand and pounded her fists lightly into the couch. "That didn't just happen," she unconsciously whispered to herself.
Through broken sobs she tilted her head toward the window next to the fireplace. The sky, only minutes earlier, had been cloudless and clear, but in the distance Draganna could see heavy storm clouds rolling toward her.
There was only one place left for her to go. Her face still stained with tears, she suddenly stood up. Hastily running the back of her robes across her face to dry the tears, she set out. There was only one other person who could be trusted. They could keep her safe. They had to keep her safe.