A/N: *drum roll* okay okay. Now I know a few people have been waiting for this, so I thought I'd put at least the first half of the prologue up to sate your hunger (*queer face*...*shrugs*). Now, this is very different than the orginal, but I guess that's because I'm older than I was when I started "Changing A Future She Wasn't Meant to Be In" and I have a different mind set. It will probably be strange and there were will prabably be a wait during chapters as I still don't have a computer and I'm currently at TAFE doing my year 11 and 12, so I apologize now for delays that may occur. This will be rated "T" for now... it might change *shrugs* who knows, 'cuz I sure don't....
Okay, now that that's out of the way, here it is, the revised and rewritten, first part of CAFSWMTBI... well that was long.... I think I'm gunna call it Changing a Future (CAF) from now on =D...
Book One: Remuda
Prologue
London, England- 2019
A girl, no more that twelve, wandered through the rubble that once was one of the streets of London. There was dirt and ash smudged across the skin that was left bare and her hair was a mass of tangles. She had scratches across her arms and face and tears in the old clothes she wore, but they went ignored as she small girl suddenly came across a broken bar stool seat.
The girl picked it up slowly with her brow furrowed. She was sure her mother had said there had been no bars on this street. It was why she was allowed to explore alone, as the old bars tended to have freaks and sociopaths hanging around.
It was as the girl moved further amongst the rubble that she found oddities. The first item she found that confused her was what looked like an old newspaper that had been torn and burnt and was yellowed with age. The thing that made it strange was the fact the picture under the half shown headline of "What is the Dol-" moved.
The girl blinked and shook her head, folding the newspaper up and slipping it into on of her remaining pockets before moving on, picking her way carefully through the rubble.
After her finding the old newspaper, she found several nicks and knacks as well as books that were too burnt and yellowed with age for her too read all that well, that seemed to set off her 'strange-o-metre' by a long mile.
She was about to leave when her shoulder brushed against the only wall still intact. She gasped as a shock of electricity went through her being and the brick wall shuddered almost unseeingly before it started to disappear brick by brick.
The young girl stared wide-eyed for a moment before she back-pedalled away from the wall, shock and fear running through her mind as the wall disappeared completely and left behind a view of what the girl could only guess used to be a bright street. All that was left was lonely, empty buildings that were only echoes of what they had been and broken items strewn through the street; amongst which roamed strange and normal looking animals that looked to have seen better days.
She hesitated briefly, knowing there was a good chance there would be something or someone lurking, but her curiosity pulled her towards and through the 'doorway,' onto the deserted street.
The girl wandered past each shop, taking in the strange shop names and strange items that still sat it their windows. It wasn't until the girl reached a bookstore, that she stopped to enter, manoeuvring around several strange looking cats. Upon entering the shop, the girl could see shelf upon shelf of books. It was three times the amount of books she had ever seen at any one time.
As she moved through the shop, her fingers brushed along the dusty spines, shocks of electricity running through her as she did so. The more she moved amongst this strange place, the safer she felt. She'd never felt this safe before.
She sighed, knowing that she had to leave else her mother would worry. She took one last glace at the shop and turned to leave, but stopped when she felt a pulse of something run through, causing her to gasp and spin back around to see one of the books glowing slightly. If it hadn't of glowed as it did, she would never had seen it as it was hiding in the far back of the shop.
With cautionary steps, she moved towards the glowing book, bending down to pick it up when she reached it. Looking so intently at the cover, she never noticed how everything around her seemed to brighten up and she didn't notice how everything seemed to still, if only briefly.
The cover of the book was hard and a dark red colour that hauntingly reminded her of blood. With soft, shaking fingers, she traced the engraved title even as she murmured the words out loud.
"Remuda..."
31st October 1991
Not everything in this world is as it appears to be.
You can look around you and see a bright young boy who never frowns and never cries, but what you won't see is the dark circles under his eyes and the bruises on his arms. Everyone wears a mask. Not every one is noticeable.
I was sixteen when I realised that. I had to watch my best friend's heart break when he realised that the closest thing he had to a father wasn't coming back. I had to watch as he realised that, at the end of the day, he, himself, may not be there beside me, breathing. I hated it.
I was eighteen when I watched both of my best friends, my brothers, die in front of me. I was eighteen when I first killed a man with no other feelings but hatred. I was twenty one when I truly became a mother figure to two children. I was twenty two when I fell into the arms of the two men who I swore to protect and they, me. They were all I had left, apart from 'my' children. I was twenty five when one of those men left to try and find food and shelter and never returned. I was twenty seven when 'my' little girl fell ill and died, as there was no one around to heal her. I was twenty nine when 'my' son and I were kidnapped and tortured for nine months. On my thirtieth birthday I was saved by the lastman I ever trusted. On that day I had to watch as 'my' last child died. On that day, I had to watch the closest thing I had ever come to a lover being stabbed in the back. On that day, everything changed…
But, I guess I'm getting ahead of myself. My name is Hermione Potter Black. I am twenty one years old and pregnant with my first child. Yes, I know it is confusing, but bear with me, you'll soon understand.
If you are reading this, it means that the spells I placed over this book worked and I managed to sneak it into a shop or library where one would find it. If you are reading this, you are in trouble in some way. You may be eighty years old and dying from poison. You may be fourteen on the run from the law. Hell, you may even be in a different world, a parallel world, for all I know. The spell wasn't specific.
But one thing is for sure, you are surrounded by trouble and you are not meant to be there. That is the clause I created for this book. If this book is never read, I will be eternally happy, for that means that there is no one out there that has to go through, what I myself went through.
My story starts in 1974, before 'The Dark Lord' truly began to rise and before our world turned dark, even if only for a small time before light was regained. But we all know that there is no light without the dark and it was inevitable that one day it would prevail…
Potter Manor- September 19th, 1974
Childish laughter filled the open field as the two small children ran without care or worry through the muddied grounds. Mud splattered the bottoms of their clothing and their backs from where they knocked each other to the ground.
"You can't catch me, Jamie!" the small blue eyed girl shouted, giggling.
"Yes I can, Mia, 'cause I'm fas'er then you!" the hazel eyed boy, Jamie, shouted back with an impish grin.
"Nah-uh"
"Yuh-huh"
"Nuh- ahhh!" Mia squealed as she was suddenly tackled to the muddy ground, causing both children to be splattered with mud.
James looked down at his twin sister and started laughing at the mulish pout on her face. He stood and pulled her up, brushing her black curls from her face so that he could look her in the eye.
"How 'bout we play hide'n'seek and I'll be in?" he asked with a smile.
Mia's face brightened as she nodded excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"You gots ta count to twenty five before you look kay?" she said, running off before he even agreed.
James laughed and started counting, covering his eyes as he did so.
He'd made it to nineteen before he heard his sister's terrified scream. He spun around, almost slipping in the mud as he did so, trying to find her. He spotted her at the forests edge as she ran through the trees, trying to get away from whatever was chasing her.
"Mia! Hermione!" James screamed as he started to run towards her.
A large burly man came crashing through the trees after Hermione, startling her enough to trip and fall to the ground with a scream.
"Jamie!"
James desperately tried to reach his sister, but before he could even come close, the large man was point his wand towards him and a red light shot towards him. As everything went back he heard his little sister scream for him again and then there was nothing.
Godric's Hollow, December 25th, 1989
Emerald green eyes watched as her husband laughed uproariously with his best friend's, a smile of content and amusement sitting lightly on her face. She cleared her throat lightly, but enough to get the group's attention.
"Yes, my Lily-flower?" James asked with a charming grin.
Lily shook her head with a small laugh before she said to him, "I have one last present for you, husband."
James sat up straighter in his chair with a child-like grin on his face, "Oh yeah? What is it?"
Lily grinned, her eyes lighting up as she took in her husband's friend's snickering at him. She pulled a small box out of her pocket, sitting it on the table in front of her before enlarging it to its proper size and passing in to her husband of seven months.
James gave her a curious look before he opened the box the find several small t-shirts inside. Confused, he pulled one out of the box and read the bright read writing on the shirt. His eyes widened before he looked up at his red headed wife, who had tears in her eyes, a smile on her face and a hand on her stomach.
A slow grin crawled over his face before pushed the box to the side and ran over to his wife, picking her up and spinning her around as she laughed. They didn't notice when the box was knocked off the table, nor did they care.
The small white t-shirt continued to lie on the ground as the five 'adults' celebrated; the bright red letters glaring up at the roof-
"I'm only daddy's angel sometimes. I'm mummy's angel all the time."
The Three Broomsticks, Early 1990
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord shall mark him as his equal, but he will have the power the Dark Lord knows not… And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"
Saint Mungos, July 31st
Loud wails filled the room after a moment of silence and collective sigh of relief sounded through the room as the midwife bustled over to the table with the tiny bundle in her arms. After cleaning the small being, she wrapped it securely in blankets and walking over to awaiting parents with a smile in her face.
"Congratulations, it's a boy."
Emerald and Hazel eyes locked as the mother cradled the boy, her baby boy, to her chest and clear, unconditional love was shown in both pairs.
Hogwarts, Autumn 2003
A horribly familiar wave of cold swept over and through the emerald eyed boy and before he truly thought of what t was he was doing, his eyed strayed from the flying ball of gold and looked below him.
At least a hundred Dementors, their hidden faces looking up at him, were standing below. It was as though freezing water was rising inside his chest, cutting at his insides. And then he heard it again… someone was screaming, screaming inside his head… a woman…
"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"
"Stand aside, you silly girl… stand aside, now…"
"Not Harry, please not, take me, kill me instead-"
As the numbing cold overwhelmed the boy completely, a scream and spine chilling laughter echoed through his mind and then there was nothing…
A Forest, March 2008
The sound of empty static filled the open air and three pairs of eyes stared at the radio that the sound came from. The sounds of daytime animals were beginning to taper as twilight began to turn into real night. Something was wrong. They could feel it. They hated this feeling of unknowing. The two young men bracketed their third part, a young woman who had become their sister. She held their hands in a white knuckled grip, but neither complained, both wishing they could do the same, but they settled for fisting their free hands in their robes.
A gust of wind blew through their encampment, tossing their hair around, the young woman's more that the others. So concentrated on fighting the gust, they almost missed it. The static stopped and the sound of laboured breathing took over. They froze; waiting, hoping nothing was wrong.
But their hope was misplaced.
"If anyone is still listening... I wish you all well and I hope that you will make it out of this unscathed... well as unscathed as any during a war could be... Harry, Ron, 'Mione... if you're listening, do not blame yourselves, 'specially you Harry... anyways..." the announcer coughed harshly for a moment before continuing. "Today, at exactly quarter past three on the grounds of Hogwarts... You-Know-Who... V-Voldemort... executed nigh on eighty people from the ages of e-eleven to seventy-three... they were muggleborns, halfblood and purebloods against the Dark... Most... most noticeable among those were... were Minerva McGonagall, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, G-Ginevra Weasley and many others... upon hearing of the executions, many resistance members tried to save them... me and my brothers among them... Bill and Charlie escaped, along with myself... but... but I'm not going to last long..."
The was a moment of silence in which they heard soft sobs, which were echoed by their own, and the sound of his breathing.
"I have one last thing to say... before I join my twin and everyone else... Harry, you're like a seventh brother to me and I'm sorry that I won't be here to see the outcome... fight that bastard with everything you have... if you don't win, it won't be your fault... the fault will lay at the feet of those who pushed the burden onto a fifteen month old child... If you die, take as many as you can with you and we'll meet you on the other side... Ron, tell mum I'm sorry and that I love her and that dad said to tell her that... that he tried... 'Mione... you're like a sister to me... and... I get the feeling you might be the last one standing when all is said and done... if so... if so... I'm sorry... go to the place me and George showed you that first summer you came round as a joke... you know the words... you know the place... it will give you the truth that can't be told here and now... be brave, as I know you are, and let no one push you down... to everyone else, love with everything you have, because you might not be here tomorrow to do so... this is Fred Weasley... pissing off old Voldieshorts for the last time... goodnight and goodbye..."
The sound of static returned and the trio huddled closer together and let their hearts bleed in time as they mourned for those they had lost and those that they would, and they knew that the war was coming to an end, only it wouldn't be a happy ending, either way.
The Shell Cottage, April 14th 2008
A full-throated wail split through the morose and anticipatory air. Several around the room sighed their relief and joined others in relaxing further into their seats.
A cleared throat had them looking up to see Remus Lupin standing in the doorway, cradling a blue bundle, pride evident in his golden eyes, alongside the constant fear and pain that everyone felt.
"It's a boy," he said with a grin that lit up his features. "Theodore Remus Lupin"
The group of friends/family clapped and verbalised their congratulations for the lycan. Many, mainly the women, begged to hold the small boy, but Remus merely shook his head calmly and looked to the corner where the "Golden Trio" sat, clearly happy for their friends, but it was clear that the cloud of war would not leave them be, even for a moment.
The lycan strode calmly and carefully through the small crowd to where they sat and smiled at them.
"Harry, Hermione?" he said, to make sure they were paying attention. "Dora and I have discussed this well, and we were both wondering if you would be Teddy's godparents?"
The pair stared in surprise while Ron just smiled and shook his head. Hermione was the first to snap out of it and Remus watched happily as the cloud disappeared and bright grin, the first in months, crossed her face.
"We'd be delighted!" she said, clearly speaking as well for her still dumbfounded friend, who nodded absently while keeping his gaze firmly on his godson. She looked at Remus questioningly, a glint of pleading in her eyes and he handed the child over silently into her welcoming arms.
"Ohh..." the young woman murmured, moving the blanket aside gently to stare down into the bright multicoloured eyes of the child. She sat down with a gentle thump back in her seat, causing Harry to shake out of his stupor and look over his friend's shoulder. "He's gorgeous..."
"Yes... Yes he is..." Harry murmured. "This is what we fight for... a new world for the next generation..."
No one said anything against his statement.
To be continued....
A/N: *bounces* so what do you think? Press the pretty blue button below and let me know (oh, I'm a poet and I didn't know it XD)
--- Elli3