It was an unusually clear day in the middle of July. The past week had plagued England with torrential downpours, a minor earthquake, and multiple tornadoes in the countryside. Yet for some reason today, there was not a cloud in the sky. A cool breeze swept through the busy streets and over the rolling hills. Flowers seemed to be doing their best to be the brightest and most beautiful they had ever been. A small squirrel jumped from tree to tree, entertaining the children in the park adjacent to his office. It was the perfect summer day. Absolutely perfect.

Summer used to be his favorite time of the year. Days like this reminded him of that. It was when his daughter would come home from school, his young son would beg him every day to take him to the park, and they would be a true family. Picnics and barbeques and camping trips were always happening. He and his wife would take their two children to the muggle museums and when they got a little bit older, they would go see a show or musical occasionally. But every year, without a doubt, he would take his entire family to the Quidditch World Cup. They loved that so much. He moved away from the window and looked down at the pictures on his desk. His chest clenched painfully. Those days were long gone, Jay White thought as he picked up the picture of his daughter Annabelle.

It had been over a year since his daughter's and grandson's passing a day didn't go by when the pain felt like it was about to crush him. She was his little girl, his angel. Born more stubborn and outspoken than her mother, she had the strength of a lion and determination that could move mountains. Her ability to love was something of legends, the fierceness she protected 'her own' was something he would have liked to think she inherited from him. Yet he hadn't been able to protect her; he had failed.

No father should ever have to bury a child, this he felt so strongly that it nearly broke him. The day of Annabelle's funeral was the worst of his entire life. The only thing that kept him going was his son, Benjamin.

Ben was the one person that kept him going after losing his daughter. In many ways, Ben was exactly like him and not just in appearances. Sure they shared the same red hair but Benjamin was truly his son in all aspects. His unwavering loyalty to his friends (well, unwavering when he isn't grieving the loss of his only sibling, Jay amended in his mind), his determination to see the good in people, his bravery, and determination to fight the evil of the world reminded Jay of when he was younger.

He looked at the picture of Ben on his desk. It was a recent one, taken only about three weeks ago at the very beginning of summer. His arms were wrapped around Ursula Black while they smiled at the camera, waving while her brothers stood in the background making faces. Ben had been horrified when he visited his father to see that very picture sitting on his desk for everyone to see. Personally, Jay loved the picture because remembering the dark place Ben was in after Annabelle's passing, and knowing that those three teens along with the other three gave him his son back.

Looking at the girl in the frame, he had to admit that he never expected that. He was surprised when his son wrote home his first month at Hogwarts and said that be befriended not just one but two Blacks. But his son, full of surprises, stunned him again when he found out that he was dating Ursula. Now, with Ursula and Sirius being away from their mother and father for the first time this summer, he had seen a great deal of both of them, along with their other friend Remus. Occasionally, he would walk out of his office and past the library to see Ursula and Ben curled up on a sofa, both engrossed in their own choice of literature. He would sometimes stop and watch them for a moment.

Ursula would be leaning against Ben, her back pressed against his shoulder. Her legs were curled up underneath her and her head rested against Ben. Ben's left arm would encompass her shoulders, holding her to his side. Sometimes his head would be gently resting against Ursula's, other times not. Maybe one of them would shift but they never spoke a word; simply being in each other's presence was enough. They simply seemed at peace when together. While they were both so very young, Jay couldn't help but imagine one day being able to legitimately call Ursula his daughter. And sometimes, when his thoughts got away from him, he would imagine a few red or black haired children running around, calling him grandpa…

There was a knock at the door, breaking Jay out of his musings. The door opened to reveal Millicent Bagnold, the Head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Jay sighed wearily, "Please tell me you have good news."

She shook her head sadly, her prematurely aged face despondent as it had been since the war started claiming more and more victims. "I'm sorry Jay but you might want to be sitting down for this."

Ice cold fear rushed through his veins. He grasped the edge of his desk so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "Is it my family?"

"Jay…"

"Is my wife and son alive!" He barked, his patience thin. Gone was the level headed minister for magic. Instead, there stood a man terrified of losing all he had left.

"Benjamin and Cecilia are fine. It's actually Cecilia's brother...we responded to the call and—" Her voice cut off as she tried to keep her composure, "and Auror Edgar Moody, his wife Alora and children Hannah, Paul and Victoria were found dead. The Dark Mark was above the house so we know there was Death Eater involvement."

Jay sighed and collapsed into his chair. He thought of his brother-in-law, Edgar. They had started out as recruits together and at first were partners. Edgar was actually the one who set up his best friend and sister. He was the one who gave away Cecilia at their wedding a year after meeting. Jay served as best man at Edgar and Alora's wedding a few years after that. Their families were close; he loved Alora like a sister. He thought of his nieces and nephews, all of them under the age of ten. Ben and Annie used to love to babysit them when they were younger.

"Did they suffer?" he asked softly, praying that they didn't.

The hesitation from Millicent was enough of an answer. Jay groaned and in a rare fit of anger, shoved a pile of books off his desk, "Damnit!" First his daughter, now his extended family? Would anyone be left standing at the end of this?

"Would you like me to make the notification or would you like to?" Millicent asked softly. Boss or not, Jay was her friend and to see him grieve…it tore her apart. He had already been through so much, losing his daughter; he didn't deserve this at all.

"I will inform my wife and we'll think of a way to tell Benjamin. Is there anything else?" He asked wearily.

Millicent simply handed him a stack of papers about an inch thick, "These are the accident and death reports from the last week."

He silently accepted them, placing them on his desk without another glance. He looked up at Millicent, one of his closest friends, and asked tiredly, "Do you think this will ever come to an end?"

"This isn't like you Jay, doubting yourself. What is this about?" She asked as she sat down in the chair across from him.

"I make it a point to read every single death report that comes across my desk. All the names are seared into my mind. Every single night I wake up from nightmares filled with their faces. The media asks me when I think this will end and I can't answer them. As an Auror I thought that I was used to death but this…Mil, I've read over a hundred death reports this week and it isn't even Friday! The muggle minister has been in contact with me but there is little we can do."

"This will end," Millicent swore. "There are sacrafices we shouldn't have to make but in the end, we will be victorious. We will end You-Know-Who."

"Voldemort," Jay corrected. "Do not add any credence to his regime. I know that we shall end him. But at what price? The lives of young are being extinguished every single day." He picked up the first file on the pile she had given him. He opened it and tapped the paper as it proved his point. "For example, twenty years of age, married right out of graduating two years ago, has a young son who will now never know his father."

Millicent nodded as she recognized the description of the victim. "He died saving three muggle children who got caught in a Death Eater attack." She remembered responding to the call vividly because the Auror that went with her was Frank Longbottom. When Frank recognized his friend, his whimper of grief tore at her heart. He feel to the ground next to his friend and slowly reached out and closed their dead, staring eyes. It was something she only would have wished upon You-kn- Lord Voldmort himself.

"So is this the price? Who's next? Longbottom? Fenwick? Maybe it'll be Ursula or Sirius? It's not like they care about age. It could be any of my son's friends and I already have to live with the fact that, in the back of his mind, there is a small part of him that blames me for Annie's death. I can't bear any more pain from him. Is that what is required to end this war; the blood of the young? How many lives will satisfy Death?"

Millicent shook her head, "This'll be over before your son and his friends get involved."

He gave her a grim look, "We said that six years ago, Millicent. What has changed?"

Defeated, she simply shrugged her shoulder, "I don't know. I'm losing Auror's left and right. Moody's still in Mungo's from the attack a week ago. We can't keep this up forever."

"I know." He said shuffling his papers. He ran his hand through his hair, noticing that there was a great deal more grey than the last time he looked. When had that happened? "But we must carry on. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go give my weekly report to the media and try to give them something to hope for."

As he walked past her, she placed a comforting hand on his arm, "You're doing the best you can in the situation you're in."

He sighed despondently, "Maybe that's not good enough."

With that, a quick shake of the head, he squared his shoulders and faced the crowd gathered outside his door, every bit the Minister of Magic they so desperately wanted and needed at a time like this. In the back of his mind, he wondered how long he would be able to keep up the façade because he knew; it was crumbling just like the world around him. He was used to having all the answers, being able to fix everything. But this…he wondered how long he could keep this up.

Yup, I'm back! This chapter is a little shorter than I would have liked but I kind of took inspiration from the sixth book and started it out from the view of the Minister of Magic, who in this story, conveniently is Ben's father. I hope that each chapter will be at least 5,000 words but for a prologue, I figured this will just be the shortest. I also just wanted to get something out there because I know a lot of people have patiently waited for the new book to start. I promise that this will definitely pick up in the future.

And since this is a new story, I would just quickly like to say that I am not J.K. Rowling and I do not have any rights to Harry Potter. I am simply doing this for my own fun.