The blood curdling sound of screams could have been heard from a small out-of-the-way house at the end of a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, if there had been anybody close enough to hear them. Instead the screams went unnoticed except for by the few animals which quickly scurried into hiding at the eerie sound. Inside the front room of the beat-down brown house lay the bodies of a man and woman, blood was sprayed along the walls and hundreds of large and small cuts could be seen spread across their bodies. Another scream came from the backroom followed by dark laughter. A little girl was writhing on the floor next to a great black pot that contained a bubbling substance close to the color of mercury. Two figures in black cloaks stood to the side and watched as the girl cried and screamed hoarsely. One was tall and skinny with a sallow face which often carried the expression of perpetual disappointment. The second was of medium height and had the face of a child, soft and expectant. They watched, and occasionally laughing as the little girls small body contorted, one arm expanding and ripping growing claws and scales, then resetting itself to a normal human hand. Different parts of her anatomy were bulging out this way until a few moment later her body seemed to settle. For a moment the robed men waited until they realized that the changing had at least settled for the moment if not stopped all together. The tall man standing by her laughed one last time before stepping forward with a knife.
"Well, looks like the animagus potion worked, since she isn't dead." He said moving to the girl, who by now had passed out from the pain, raising the knife with a look of vicious glee. "Time to finish what we started."
"Wait," the other spoke up nervously "what if it didn't, you know, work, because it's a muggle, we wouldn't know if it worked right away or if it could work on us." The first snorted, and gestured to the prone figure before gesturing to himself.
"If it hasn't killed such a weak muggle by now it most certainly won't kill us." The other looked at him and nodded his head to the sound of near fanatical tone the first had used. "I'll try some then!" He reached down to grab the ladle when the tall man grabbed his hand, stopping him.
"First, we finish that." He spoke nodding his head towards the young girl who was starting to come around, groggily shaking her head trying to focus her eyes. The other dropped the ladle back into the cauldron and nodded enthusiastically straightening a little.
"I'll do it!" He cried enthusiastically reaching over and taking the knife from the first and moving towards the prone form. He bent down and raised the dagger into the air, starting its deadly plunge. Suddenly the girl's eyes snapped open and she made an inhumanly fast lunge at the other. Her teeth came together in a crushing grip that closed onto the others throat ripping a great chunk out as he reared back in surprise and pain. The girl fell back onto the hardwood floor and was swiftly followed by a spray of blood that soaked into her hair and slowly trickled down to drip into her clothes. She spit and the chunk of neck she had bitten off. It splatted across the floor, rolling to a stop next to the other where he had fallen dead with a look of utter surprise on his face. She dazedly looked up at the tall man who had a look of absolute fury and a slight hint of fear on his face. He slowly reached into the sleeve of his robe and pulled out his wand pointing it at the girl. Her eyes widened, she remembered what happened to her parents because of that little piece of wood.
"Avad..." SLAM! The door burst open revealing a group of men in blue robes that quickly and effectively started looking through the house. Their surprise entrance had choked off the wizards spell with a look of panic he grabbed the cauldron and started towards the back door. Before he could reach the door though, it was thrown open wide and a tall man with black hair and blazing green eyes framed by round glasses stood in his path.
"Potter." The man hissed, dropping the cauldron reaching for his wand. He was to late though, before his hand had even touched it his wand was in Potters hand and he was rendered immobile. "Neidr." The green eyed man spat. He looked up as the group from the front the of the house made its way into the back room by now and had been able to see the last of the fight.
"All clear, Harry." Said a flame headed wizard at the front of the pack, "either the others fled or there were only two of them. Harry walked further into the room looking at the little girl who had frozen in the middle of a puddle of potion spillings. When she saw that he was heading towards her, she started to crawl backwards making small mewling sounds in the back of her throat. Harry, the green-eyed wizard stopped once he saw this. Crouching down he raised his hands, palms outwards, to show that he didn't have anything in them. He slowly crawled to her talking in soothing nonsense trying to calm her down.
"It's alright sweetheart. We're not going to hurt you, we're the good guys." She stared him in the eyes as he said this, something she saw must have reassured her because as he reached her she held her arms out for him to pick her up. He obliged reaching over and lifting her into his arms before standing up. She looked him in the eyes for another second with a look that shouldn't belong on a toddler, before those eyes started to fill with tears and she buried her face into his robes. She didn't loosen her death grip on him even when the other wizards finally cascaded into the room and started collecting evidence. One exclaimed as he turned over the dead wizard and pointed to his throat where it had been turned away. Harry gently petted her hair as she cried.
"Sir, something tore this one's throat out." Harry hummed in reply, the girl had finally quieted down.
"It looks like something small did it, the teeth marks almost look like those of a dragons, but there isn't a dragon small enough to cause something like this." Harry looked down at the young girl in his arms quizzically for a moment before shaking his head as if saying, impossible.
"Bloody hell, I wonder what happened here. What was bubbling in that potion?" The flame haired man spoke, standing in the middle of the room and spinning in a circle and stopped before looking up at Harry.
He chuckled, "You're a natural." Harry blinked in surprise and cocked his head a little in question. The flame haired wizard pointed to the little girl, who by now was asleep with her head on his shoulder.
"Getting more practice in for when you have to put Albus to bed?" Flame-head spoke with a crooked grin. Harry snorted, which caused the little girl to stir before settling down again.
"I think now would be a good time to obliviate her." Harry spoke softly. Flame-head nodded his head and reached for his wand.
"Obliviate." He stated clearly pointing the wands tip at the small child. She stirred again, but quickly settled back into sleep. By now there was only a few Auror's left, the others had left to transport the prisoner away, when suddenly a figure popped into the room, causing the remaining wizards to raise their wands, acurse on the tips of their tungues the man quickly lifted his hand in the universal gesture of peace, before falling heavily to one knee.
"Sir, the prisoner has escaped!" The man said in an out of breath voice.
"What!?" Harry exclaimed, wincing as the girl stirred yet again.
"Ron, take the girl to her room, clean her up a little and put a sleep spell on her, we need to find that Death Eater now!" Ron nodded as he walked over and gently took the girl from Harry's arms.
"Will do boss." He whispered as he walked out of the room. Harry caught one last glimpse of the girl who had survived the attack on her family, he sighed sadly, another orphan because of those bloody death eaters, good luck little one.
That was the first of many life changing events that occurred in the life of Avlon Lacesso.
The second of those changes came around the age of nine, in the unlikely form of a man who would later become her father.
After the police had been called, and she had been processed, she had been put into an orphanage that went by the name of Saint Bernesteins for the Lost. Saint Berny's was famous for being able to give the children in its care good homes, fast. However, for little Avlon things were a little different. After that fateful night she had been stuck in Saint Berney's and hadn't left since. For four years she stayed at Berneys, every parent that came through took one look at her and turned away to find another child. There was a reason for their unease, for she seemed to exude bloodlust in a palpable aura around her that warned others to stay away. It wasn't something she knew how to control or let alone what it was, she only knew that they turned away, every time. After the first month she stopped expecting much from the strangers that came and took the other children away.
Her luck changed though in the form of a grizzled old veteran who had moved to England after the war. He wasn't looking to adopt really, he had just moved down the block from Berney's and was out for his morning jog when a ball flew over the fence of Saint Berney's and smacked him in the arm. For a man approaching the age of 50 he was still able to intimidate others through sheer presence of mind and body. He stood at the height of 6'5" and was built like a bull. Huge muscles encased his arms, arms which were covered in numerous scars. His thighs were comparable to tree trunks, his neck, a foundations of a mountain. To say that most children would be terrified to be near him would be an understatement, however, in the case of the one young girl who had followed the ball out of the yard this was not the case. She calmly walked up to the grizzled old man and reached upwards for the ball. He stared down at her slightly taken aback at how she approached him with absolutely no fear in her eyes. Her eyes. He stood frozen for a second before a shiver ran down his back. Her eyes were brown, but not the soft brown of dirt or chocolate, they were a cold golden brown that screamed predator.
"Here," he said gruffly pushing the ball towards her, "you shouldn't play out in the street, you might get hit by a car." The little girl reached up the rest of the way and grabbed the ball. She took a step back and looked at him again.
"Mister, aren't you afraid?" He blinked in surprise and then chuckled.
"Terrified. What about you?" She cocked her head to the side and seemed to think about it for a second.
"Should I be?" Came the tentative question. He blinked in surprise and then chuckled again making his eyes crinkle in the corners.
"What are your instincts telling you?" He asked instead.
"You can be if you want to, but you won't hurt me." He nodded his head.
"You've got good instincts little lady." She smiled for the first time, beaming up at him. Her smile seemed like a little ray of sunshine that burned away any cloud in its path. He reached down his hand and held it in front of her in a classic sign that he wanted to shake hands.
"Name's Henry." She reached upwards one last time and grasped his hand with surprising strength.
"Mine's Avlon." Just as they finished shaking hands a woman came bustling out of the gate.
"Avlon! What have you been told about leaving! She is such a strong headed child." She hurried over and grabbed Avlon's upper arm.
"My apologies sir, I'm sorry if she bugged you." She spoke with a commanding tone that broke no argument.
"It's alright, no harm done. Henry." He spoke and reached out and shook her hand,
"I was out for my morning jog, I just moved in down the road."
"I see, now if you'll excuse us we have to go and complete some chores." And without further ado she turned, grip held tight on the little girls upper arm. The little girl stumbled a little, still clutching the ball.
"Bye Mister, I'll see you later!" Were the last words that he heard as the gate closed behind her with a resounding clang. He stood still for another moment before continuing on with his jog.
In this way Avlon came to live with Henry Lacesso three months later.
The third major life-shaping event that occurred came on a warm summer day like any other three years later. Avlon and Henry had just finished their morning jog around the park and were coming back to their house when they were met by the unexpected sight of a young man standing on their doorstep. Avlon looked at her father with a silent question, and he shook his head no, he did not know this man. Avlon walked forward and glared at the man who was looking relieved and slightly apprehensive at the sight of them.
"Who are you?" She spoke in a chilling voice. Henry had learned shortly after her arrival at his house that she was very possesive, and it wasn't often she let others play with her toys or eat her food, and above all else, she didn't like strangers.
"Hello, my name is Neville Longbottom. May I come inside?" He asked nervously looking into her eyes and seeing the predator. He swallowed. Hard.
"Come on in." Spoke Henry in his deep bass voice startling the man and making him look at Henry. He realized just how massive Henry was, coupled with the scars had the effect of making him extremely nervous, if he wasn't before. The pair of joggers opened the house and walked in, followed by a trailing Neville. It was a small house that had been owned by a little old lady that had died without anyone noticing and had been slightly consumed by the numerous cats she kept. A neighbor noticed the smell and called the cops after not getting an answer from the old lady. The body was removed, the cats were sent to pound, and the house was put up for sale since the old lady had no relatives. All of her furniture was kept in the house and Henry had decided to keep it the way it was.
They sat in the living room where Neville began speaking, "Well, I guess I should tell you the reason for this visit. I... I guess I'll just be as blunt about it as possible." He turned and looked at Avlon, "Avlon I presume," a nod, "you're a wizard, or in this case a witch." He smiled at them with a happy look in his eyes. Henry raised an eyebrow and looked at the man.
"I believe you have the wrong Avlon. I don't appreciate you calling my daughter a witch." Neville looked at him and smiled.
"That's alright, this is the reaction we usually get from muggle-born wizards,"
"Muggle?"
"What we call the nonmagical."
"Hmm, I don't think I believe you."
"Oh?" The man reached into his sleeve and pulled out a length of wood, pointed it at their fire place and spoke, "incendio" only for it to burst into flames. With no firewood. Or the fact that previously they didn't have a fireplace. Henry stared at the fireplace for a long moment for a second then nodded, rubbing his chin.
"Well, it looks as if you proved us wrong. What were you saying about this school of yours again, Hogfarts wasn't it?" The wizard spluttered.
In this manner the third life-shaping event came to pass and how Avlon found herself standing in the middle of Daigon Alley looking for her school supplies.