Disclaimer: Harry Potter, Hogwarts, and all associated names, places, and events existing in the Harry Potter book series are owned by J. K. Rowling and affiliates.

AUTHOR'S NOTE (And possibly the only Author's Note): The following piece of fanfiction you see below is being written for the Harry Potter Not-Sue Challenge (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to link to it, but you can find it on Livejournal), and yes, I do understand the apparent sue-ish qualities inherent in it. The point of the challenge is to "write with a handicap," i.e., "Can you produce a good story using an original character with the following sue-bits?" I won't lie, it's been a lot of fun, and I do hope that it's good.

I'm sorry for any delays and general lateness, but I am juggling grad school, an editing job, a meager social life, and a few hobbies besides Harry Potter fanfiction. The story is set in the Epilogue era, and I have tried to research and do my homework - when JKR says something, I will attempt to include it (Although there are a few details currently present which, if she were to contradict, I couldn't exactly change. I guess I'm not any more perfect than the rest of you).

I've also tried to mirror much of the structure and "feel" of the books themselves. To what degree I succeeded or failed remains to be seen, but it's still a lot of fun working and practicing on this. I hope you can get a kick out of it, too! Amusingly, this has made it hard to categorize the story - what genre are the books really in, after all? The character listing is not a pairing, it's simply a way to state that A: this is set in Epilogue-land, where everything is happy and the streets are made of chocolate blah, blah, blah, and B: the main character is an OC. That last bit is part of the challenge rules, of course. I promise that Harry himself will eventually make an appearance, but it might take a while, depending on plot.

Thanks, and enjoy (And review, please, of course)!

Prologue: The Empty House

The small German house sat alone in a small German town. As the sun steadily set, bathing the town in orange, lights began to flicker in different windows. The streets emptied, and in time the house at the end of the row was surrounded by silence. In the fading light, a man approached, stepping up to the door. He was tall, his light hair beginning to turn ashy with gray. He took his hand and knocked three times against the door. Some time passed without an answer, and the man knocked again, more loudly this time. He grunted in minor annoyance, lowering his hand to his side. The sound of two others apparating cracked behind him, and he waited for them to approach before acknowledging them.

"Richard, she hasn't answered yet?" came a high-pitched, gravelly voice belonging to an older man.

"No, and I am beginning to doubt that she will." Richard turned his attention to the others. "A strange development." He reached behind himself, knocking a third time. The sounds echoed through the air,but were met with silence.

"Possibly," the third, youngest man shook his head. "It could be that she has left the house on an errand of some sort."

Richard shook his head. "Leo, a woman who has recently given birth does not 'leave the house.' She is still recovering from the massive shock and strain of shoving a human being out of her body. Shall we give her a few more minutes to compose herself? A precious couple of seconds to overcome the strain?"

"She had the child several days ago, but even a witch like her should still feel it." the old man nodded, his hands disappearing into the sleeves of his robe. "My wife could attest to that. When she had Ada she could've sworn she was going to die."

"And that was in England, in Mungo's." The first man turned back, toward the door again. "For Violet, I fear this was more of a private affair."

"Far more private," The older one nodded. "But not to us, not now. The fact is, she still has not answered, and thus," He took two steps forward producing a small, thin wand. The man tapped it once against the doorknob, casting an unlocking charm. The door, however, refused to open.

"Always intelligent enough to block the door; I appreciate that," Richard said, a mild gleam in his eye. "Allow me, Graham." He stepped past Graham Jones and drew his own wand, lightly pointing it over the door itself. A small, dark trickle flowed like mist from his wand, forming into a lizardlike shape. The shadowy creature moved, clambering down the door and slipping underneath it into the house itself. After a few seconds, the latch unlocked with a click, and Richard opened the door. The three wizards strode inside.

The house was empty, bare even of furniture. Leo quickly outpaced the others, moving further into the sitting room.

"She's gone – The dust hasn't even settled in here," he said, looking around the empty building. "It seems she got over her shock and strain very quickly, didn't she?"

"Or she had assistance." Graham said, now joining Leo. Richard remained where he stood, on the threshold. "This makes very little sense. Nothing – Nothing at all. No sign of baby or mother or anybody else. She had help – there's no way around it, she had to have help."

"But why?" Leo asked, raking a hand through his light-blonde hair. "Why would she do this, and who could she find to help her?"

Ignoring them both, Richard moved in, striding with a direct, purposeful gait into the hall past both of his companions. Nails driven into the wall were all that remained of paintings or photographs. Unlike the front door, the bedroom was not locked, and Richard entered.

"To be repaid," he said to himself, taking a single step inside. Even the bed was gone. "To be repaid like this. Like this!" His tone rose, and he swept his hand over the room. He turned now, quickly enough that his coat fluttered around him. "So she ran from me – after what I have given her, have done for her, Violet ran like a miserable, filthy, pathetic, wormtailed rat!" He moved to the door, pausing to look inside the empty bedroom again. "ungrateful, unappreciative, self-centered and foolish."

There was a small chittering sound by his feet, and Richard looked down. The shadowy creature was there, looking up at him. Its luminous blue eyes flickered curiously, and it seemed to be awaiting instruction. He regarded it for a brief moment, his hand stroking his beard.

"I want you to find them," he instructed the shadow. "Woman and child, find them both. If it takes you fifty years, find them. If you have to scour the entire world, find them. I will not be left like this, standing in the dirt like a fool. I refuse to acknowledge this insult."

The creature seemed to nod, and then was gone, dashing into a dark corner of the room. The blue pinpoints of light peered out from the shadows for another moment before blinking and disappearing. It had left to do its work. Richard's expression became less enraged, although no less determined. Drawing his coat around his shoulders, he thought to himself about the situation. Violet was intelligent – enough to escape from under his nose in spite of her condition. She was likely to have used enough forethought to ward herself against traditional detection. The locked door was evidence enough of this. It may take more than a single shadowy scout to find her. Not that it mattered, as no challenge was truly undefeatable. At the worst, he thought, this would simply take a little time, and then things would return to the way they should be. Richard Theos rejoined the others, still sullen at the insult, but now more positive. This was a minor setback, and in the long run would not truly get in the way.

It was seventeen years before his search bore any fruit.