Chapter 1- An American in London and The Long Summer
"Wow," said Ember Wilson as she scanned the streets of wizarding London on the day before term started at her new school. Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it was called. But when you looked at her, you didn't see a witch or even just a normal person. You saw a weary listless body that looked like no more than a shell. You could tell that once she had been a perfectly happy, gorgeous girl, yet sorrow and depression had caused her face and body to appear aged well beyond her 16 years. I cannot believe that I'm really here, she thought, Why did Eve have to bring me here... to London? Of all the places she could have brought me she had to bring me here. Turning to her older sister, Eve, she said as she stared at the Hogwart's kids passing her on the street, "Eve, why did you have to bring me here now? Can't you see that I don' t fit in this crowd of happy- go-lucky kids?" Sighing, Eve looked at Ember and replied, "I know, I just thought that maybe if you got to meet someone before you left... Maybe then you wouldn't feel so alone." "This place is so different from home. I doubt I'll ever not feel alone here," said Ember in a small voice. At this, Eve pulled her younger sister toward her for a hug right in the middle of Diagon Alley. Leaning down to Ember's ear, Eve whispered, "This depression won't last forever, Em. Like all things, with time it'll pass." Pulling apart from her, Ember said, "It may pass but its passing won't bring him back."
Walking down the street, Ember appeared to be deep in thought. And she was. Thoughts of all sorts ran rampant through her mind. It was all Ember could do to keep from screaming. As long as she didn't concentrate on specific thoughts she could think straight. But the minute she tried to grasp anything more complex than a general idea, it slipped beyond her grasp. If only he hadn't died, if only Headmistress Lena was less uptight, if only mom was here, thought Ember listlessly. And with that thought running through her head, she crumpled into a heap on the dirty street.A little while later, the first snippet of a thought ran through Ember's tired head. Where am I? she thought for a split second before falling helplessly back to sleep. Later in the evening, when the last ray of summer had fallen from the sky, she sat up with a jolt. However, sitting up made her head hurt too much so she instantly had to lay back down. Her slight movement was enough to jar Eve from her position in a chair by the window. "What happened to you?" said Eve, "How could you just fall like that? And in that dirty street too..." Seeing that she was in for a very long lecture, Ember took the opportunity to observe her surroundings for the first time.She was in a long room with the only natural light coming in from the window Eve had been sitting by. But, giant bubbles filled with candles floated along the ceiling. Ember also noted that she was in a bed that looked very much like a hospital bed and that she was wearing a gown very much like a hospital gown. There was a young woman in a green robe tending to the person next to her and another green robed woman tending a person on the opposite side of the room. Not completely aware that she was interrupting Eve's tirade, Ember asked, "Where am I?" "What?" said Eve leaning over. Tiredly, Ember repeated her question."Oh, you're at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. On the second floor, to be quite exact," said Eve. "Well, what happened to me?" inquired Ember. Sitting down on the side of the bed, Eve announced, "It seems that you have an allergy to the dust that was flying about on the street. The Healers believe that the dust contained some essence of murtlap and you're allergic to murtlap essence. So that, plus your disorder, plus your body's obvious exhaustion from your depression, was what made you collapse." "Oh," replied Ember. "Oh is right, missy," said Eve, "I had no idea your disorder was back. Why didn't you tell me?" "It's been back all summer and you were so busy, what with mom and dad and everything, that I didn't think I needed to bother you. So now that I'm awake can we leave?" asked Ember. "Yeah, I think so," said Eve. "All right, you know what I want to do?" voiced Ember, "I want to go to that tavern we saw earlier in Diagon Alley." "OK," said Eve. And with that, she helped Ember up out of bed and the two sisters left the hospital.
(A/N- I'm sorry for switching points of view so abruptly but I couldn't figure out another way to change the focus of the story in the middle of the chapter. If anyone has any ideas about this please incorporate them in a review because I would be glad to hear them.)
A month earlier, a young boy, Ember's age, woke up with a jolt. He was sweating profusely and looked extremely confused. It was just a nightmare. You have to stop dreaming of Sirius like this, he commanded himself. Just as he started to get depressed over the thought of his godfather, an owl rapped on the window. Slowly pushing himself off the bed, he walked over to the window. He let the owl in, took the letter from it and gave it some coins that to a normal person would look extremely queer. But Harry Potter, as the boy was called, was nowhere close to being a normal person. For just by looking at him, people could tell he was not normal. He had remarkably vibrant green eyes and a head of jet-black hair that just would not lay flat on his head no matter what he did to it. But the most startling feature on his face was a scar right in the middle of his forehead that was in the shape of a lightning bolt. The scar was just the beginning of what made Harry Potter different. He also happened to be a wizard and that scar was given to him by the most evil wizard in modern wizard history.
This wizard was so terrifying that most normal wizards, if you can call wizards normal because by Muggle standards they aren't, are afraid to even say his name for fear that the floor will open up and swallow them, or lightning will hit them, or worst of all, maybe he will appear. And if he appeared at your house, as all wizards know full well, there was no doubt that someone would die that night. Not of natural causes either.Harry quietly started to read the letters that the owl had brought. The first was from his school, Hogwart's; it had his list of schoolbooks in it as well as his O.W.L. test results. Quickly glancing over the paper, he saw that he had indeed passed all of his tests. The sheet showed him this:OWL Test Results For Potter, Harry J.
Defense Against The Dark Arts- Outstanding
Charms- Exceeds Expectations
Potions- Outstanding
Transfiguration- Exceeds Expectations
Care of Magical Creatures- Exceeds Expectations
Herbology- Exceeds Expectations
Divination- Poor
Astronomy- Poor
Wow, thought Harry, I passed all the classes I needed. And I got an "outstanding" in Potions. Blimey, Ron'll flip when he hears that. Placing his OWL letter aside, Harry turned to his other two letters. He knew without a doubt that they were from Ron and Hermione. And he was right.The first of the two was from Hermione. It read:
Dear Harry,
How are you? I know you're probably taking Sirius's death very seriously. But, Harry, it wasn't your fault. If it was anyone's it was Bellatrix's. Well, I'm at the Burrow with Ron for the time being but in a week we leave for headquarters. I think Dumbledore might allow you to come too. I passed all of my OWLs and got "Outstanding"s in all but Astronomy. In that I got an Exceeds Expectations. How did you do? Well, write back and I look forward to seeing you.
Love,
Hermione
Hey Harry!
How are you doing? Mum and Dumbledore say you probably get to come to headquarters with us in a week. Hermione's here and she's still bubbling with curiosity over what I got on my OWLs because I refuse to show her. In case she reads this, I'll just say that I passed all of them except Astronomy and Divination. Well, see you in a week!
Ron
Sighing, Harry put the letters under the loose floorboard near his bed. As much as he knew Ron and Hermione were just trying to be supportive and as happy as he was that he managed to do well in Potions, he just didn't care anymore. They were all together at the Burrow without him, AGAIN. They could tell him all they wanted that Sirius's death wasn't his fault and that Sirius died the way he wanted to die, but still Harry felt a nagging feeling in the back of his brain that was constantly saying, It's all your fault, you know. Everyone you love ends up dead because of you. Your parents, Cedric, Sirius. And the rest are all going to die too because you aren't strong enough to defeat Voldemort. And it's all your fault. Pulling back the sheets, Harry tried to ignore the little voice. But the more he ignored it, the stronger it felt. Eventually, he lay down, closed his eyes, and just let the feelings of extreme sadness and depression wash over him like a tidal wave.
A month later, Harry was amazed at how much things on the outside had changed and yet how all the things inside him remained the same. Harry had been picked up the following week by Professor Lupin and Tonks and had been taken back to Grimmauld Place. He had been happily greeted by Ron and Hermione and the rest of the Weasleys, excepting Percy of course who was still acting like a self-righteous pompous git. However much Harry had tried to act happy like nothing was bothering him, he wasn't as happy to be back here as the others. (AN-Hmm... I wonder why?)
But on that late-August morning, Harry decided that nothing was going to ruin his day because he and Ron and Hermione and Ginny were going to Diagon Alley. Mrs. Weasly and Tonks went with them. After getting their supplies, they all went back to the Leaky Cauldron for dinner. Harry sat at a table with Ron and Hermione. Just as their food arrived, Harry noticed a girl walk in. She looked hauntingly familiar and yet he knew he had never met her before. He leaned in to Ron and Hermione and said, "Hey guys. Do you notice anything strange about that girl over there?" Hermione answered saying, "Other than the fact that she looks like she just got out of the hospital, no, not really. Why?" "Oh no reason," lied Harry. But then Mrs. Weasly told him that it was time to go. I guess I'll have to think about what was so mysterious about her tomorrow, he thought as he dutifully followed Mrs. Weasley.
