Author: TheAbyssLooksBack22

Harry Potter - The Ghost Bird Series AU

Summary: She lived her life in the shadows. She was the wall under the paper. The dust floating in the air. The ever-present background character there for forgotten decoration. There but unseen, unheard. She wasn't going to be a main character. Until that single night. When the sky cried and she felt a brush of warmth for the first time in her life. 9 boys and a wet dog changed it all.

Chapter One: The Heart Goes

Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum. Rabbit's feet thumping against her ribcage. Echoing through her veins and following her blood to her ears. It was an overwhelming sound. Though it wasn't the only one. The Dripdropdrip dripdropdrip dripdropdrip dripdropdrip of rain on the paved driveway followed after her heartbeat like an orchestral symphony. The rustle and ruffle of wind blowing against evergreen leaves. The creak and groan of the deadwood making the houses and the ancient trees surrounding them. She could hear the honking of horns some roads away, the flickers from the lamppost a few dozen feet to her left. The buzzing of the porch light behind her. A screen door slammed against a broken lock on a neighboring house. All of mix and match of normal sounds, on a normal night, on a normal street, outside a normal house. Normal, normal, normal. Always so normal.

But there was nothing that was ever truly normal. It was a faux, an ruse. A play they all acted out, thinking the world would glance over them and forget. It was not normal, it was not real. Every word from her Aunt's mouth was fake. A lie, a fib, a hoax. It was all a fabrication of a madwoman always under the influence of pills and grief. And yet here she stood, Hereswith Potter, terrified of leaving the long drive and the light from the front porch. Fear coursed through her bones, terror made her heart race with a loud and low drum. Thump thump thump. The battering beat of her life loud enough for a second person to hear. She felt like her heart would pound right out from under her breast.

Her backpack felt heavier than it had just minutes before when she was sneaking out the side door. And her blood was scorching with adrenaline. She knew they hadn't heard her. The house was big and she had mapped out the creaks and groans within her first week. She was as silent as a shadow, sneaking from the grayish-white two-story house. But for a moment, she felt as if they could hear her breathing from where they slumbered away in their beds. Perhaps Dalles would wake and find her gone from her bed. She would run to Aunt Petunia, and screech like her mother to Uncle Vernon. And soon she would be pulled back into the prison by her hair. Bruised and bloody, she would stay there until her dying day if they found her.

Sneaking away from the house was a risky thing. Potentially life-threatening really. And the rain was ruining all she had planned for the night. Usually, she loved the rain, the soothing rumbling thunder, and clap of lighting, and the storms of mother nature. The calm steady rhythm of the droplets gave Hereswith relief from the constant silent solitude of her life within their clutches. She loved walking in the fresh puddles barefoot and the wet ground, she loved wiggling her toes in the cool mud and the watery breeze. The smell of drowned pine and wet birch against the grass and ground was something she fell in love with many years ago. She loved the feel of water falling against her skin and making her hair dripping. The cool relief the cold water gave her too hot skin.

But now, as the storm clouds covered the moon, the rain was ruining everything. The chilly August wind ripped at her poncho, and as old and patched as it was, she felt as if it was her skin instead of cloth. But she didn't shiver or shake. She had been conditioned to the cold from a very young age. Perhaps since she was fifteen months old. She felt it sure, the deep chill biting winds of an English late-summer storm weren't to be ignored, but she did not react as a normal person would have.

She thought of the smallest bedroom under the attic, the twin bed with the used green sheets and gray comforter, the old and red carpet, the single desk they bought at a yard sell, the bookshelf filled endlessly with books she had flinched over the years, the old records bought in the second used store, of the radio which was a forth hand-me-down. It would have been warm, soft, and familiar. Of the pastel green walls, and the small window seat. she thought about her Aunt and Uncle, thinking they would wake up and find her gone, or of Dalles finding her gone when the older girl would want breakfast. But she knew those few thoughts were uncalled for. With her Uncle busy with his new job he would be gone before dawn. And with her Aunt's uncaring and ignoring attitude, the women wouldn't notice till well into the afternoon. And Dalles wouldn't care, she would only say something if the older girl had to get away with something, and that was if Dalles noticed her gone.

They had moved into the neighborhood just over three weeks ago. It was fairly new and still developing. It was small, with twenty houses and only room for about three more. There was an empty plot across from her house, the big for sale sign was waterlogged and dripping. And the lamposts hadn't been installed as far down as her house yet. There was an unfinished house just around the corner that Hereswith had explored the day before. She found the back door unlocked and started planning then to leave her own house. If only to prove her Aunt wrong, that no not everyone was kidnapped, killed, or raped when they left the house. And that not everything in the world was not as evil as she claimed they were. Or as they were.

Hereswith wasn't as scared as she thought she would be. It was only down the street. But she was terrified of what would happen if her Guardians found her. Or if she was kidnapped. But she steeled herself then stepped out onto the shadowed street. And right into a huge puddle. She cursed, took a big step onto the dryer part of the street, and shook out her ruined and dripping old tennis shoes stuck together with ducktape. She turned left, took three steps, and suddenly heard running. Loud and deep pounds against the ground to her right. She had only enough time to swerve her head when a big and heavy bulk of something plowed her down like a road roller over trees.

Hereswith felt her foot slip and bend, could feel the sharp roll and pain of a sprain. She fell hard to the ground, her side collided with the gravel and concrete as her elbow and upper arm were scrapped. She saw white and black dots as her head bounced off the road and back up again. Her first thought was Murderer, she tried to scream and yell, to alert anyone of what was happening when her throat froze up and she was as silent as a shadow again. She felt a footstep on her chest, but then felt the fur, and the cold wet nose nuzzling her cheek.

A dog.

The canine sat on her legs and stopped all attempts to get up in their tracks. For a moment she didn't move, she was dizzy and her mind was foggy from the hard hit. Her heartbeat was loud, and the adrenaline was rushing through her blood and her head. She heard another set of feet, this time of two and a human voice. A male human voice. A boy, a man. Her breath was choppy and uneven when he spoke. And she was paralyzed, unable to move or speak. And for a moment, she was back in Surrey, in the cupboard under the stairs, frozen in fear of what the world outside the door could rain on her, terrified of the fists and belts. She was stuck there, helpless, lonely, and loveless. Powerless against the terror, the danger, and the punishments. But for a moment the world was all shadows and evil again.

But she wasn't going to let the words and phantom feeling of Petunia and Vernon break her. She wasn't going to believe that everyone in this godforsaken world was as evil as she said, or as her aunt is.

"Oh, God! Are you ok? I'm sooo sorry, I don't know what came over him. Down, Mercury, get off of her!"

The dog scrambled off, but not before trampling over her breasts when reaching to lick her face again. Hereswith gasped silently and sat up slowly, she couldn't feel the pain now, not with the adrenaline, but she knew her body would ache when it wore off. She used her left hand to push the wet hair from her face and saw a boy, almost man but not quiet, standing tall over her small stature. It was too dark to make out colors or features but she could see the glinting of glasses across his face, much like her own she had hidden away in her bag.

The footsteps stopped beside her, the toes skimming her thigh. Her arm wobbled, threatening to buckle as the rush of lightheadedness. An arm, warm but hard, wrapped around her shoulders, catching her before she could drop again. But she flinched, unnoticeable and small, she learned to suppress it, so her body didn't show, but her mind screamed for the unfamiliar skin to leave hers. It was a warm gesture, nice and harmless. She shivered outwardly, but that could be excused as the freezing rain. Every touch since she could remember brought or dragged her to pain. This was something new and unfamiliar.

"Are you hurt?"

The boy asked softly, she could feel his breath hot on her face, goosebumps spread fast and quick. Hereswith twitched, not a common question for her. Her arm was bleeding, her ankle sure to be swollen soon, and she could feel the blood running to her head. But...

"No."

She could feel the skepticism he had, Hereswith knew she was a good liar, had to be to survive. But this boy seemed to know she wasn't telling the truth. Maybe he simply believed her twinging aches were hurts. She has had much worse. But he couldn't know she was far from normal.

"Are you sure? I heard you fall pretty hard."

She sat up fully, and his arm slipped away. The spot was cold and numb as he drew back. She smiled, disarmingly and relaxing, hoping he would hurry and leave so she could hobble to the house down the street. The ankle would be hard to hide but she would succeed if she wanted to be seeing sunlight or food within the next month.

"Yes, thank you."

Slowly she began to stand, subtly testing her ankle when she did so. Maybe she could pass it off as a trip down the stairs for a few days. Then she noticed how tall the boy was, at least six feet to her 5'4, counting her hair. She couldn't make out his face. The dog raced up again, his face taking the little balance she had, the boy's arms caught her before she could fall again.

"You look hurt, we can go over to my house and check it out."

His voice was sharp like sand and lighting, he sounded like he was used to giving commands. It seemed familiar to him. He was different than anyone she had ever met. She needed to stall him long enough to find a way to get him to leave her.

"What about your dog?"

"He'll follow."

She was startled when he started forward, she stumbled again when he pulled her. He ankle was weak and her tattered shoes weren't helping. He stopped, and Hereswith could feel his hesitation right before she was scooped up and brought up to his chest. She stiffened, and a flinch was so deeply instilled she couldn't force it down like the rest. He faltered for a second and looked down at her again.

"It looks like you can't walk so I was trying to help. I can put you down if you want."

"No, I-I-I - thank you."

He walked on, careful of puddles and the falling rain. The dog(Mercury) followed with her bag hanging from his mouth. Hereswith could hear his heartbeat combining with the pattering of rain. The music was nearly magical. It would have been if the house looming behind them hadn't flickered in her vision. They would find out. Find her, and then she'll disappear forever. Never to see the light of day again. And like a jackhammer, it hit her all at once. The days in the dark, the days with blistering skin and nursed wounds. The broken hope had in her younger years. The cold blue eyes of her Aunt, the large meaty fists of her Uncle, the small cackles from Dalles' mouth. The hate and anger and violence all swirled in her mind. And her resolve hardened. She would prove them wrong. Every last one of them.

A/N: Yes, No, Maybe so? I have more written but I want to get a positive reaction before i post it. Please Review if you want more.

This isn't a Crossover but Harry Potter in the Ghost Bird Series universe. I plan to write more of these two so you don't need to wait for that. It will be a Crossover not and AU. Also as you can see Fem!Harry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yayayayayayyayay! Ok here is everything you need to know.

Sang Sorenson: Hereswith Potter(Fem!Harry): Is of English origin and it is also used largely in the English language.The name means 'strength of the army'.

Marie Sorensen: Dalles Dursley(Fem!Dudley): Means from the dales or the valley meadows. It is a boy or girl's name that is a variant of the Irish, Gaelic, and Scottish name Dallas.

Dakota Lee: Hermes Granger(Male!Hermione): From Greekἕρμα(herma)meaning"cairn, pile of stones, boundary marker". Hermes was a Greek god associated with speed and good luck, who served as a messenger toZeusand the other gods. He was also the patron of travellers, writers, athletes, merchants, thieves and orators. This was also used as a personal name by a 1st-centurysaintand martyr.

Victor Morgan: Draco Malfoy

Silas Korba: Blaise Zabani

Nathan Griffin: Anthony Goldstein

Gabriel Coleman: Alphrad Black

Lucian Taylor: Theodore Nott

North Taylor: Marcus Flint

Sean Green: Reyner Lestrange (Kinda OC, The Lestrange Brother's Father. I gave him the first name)

Mr. Owen Blackbourne: Tom Riddle

Jessica Lee: (OC) Eliana Granger: Means "God has answered my prayers." The name also has ties to the Greek word "helios", meaning "sun"- so it can also be said to mean "daughter of the sun."

Erica Lee: (OC) Alectrona Granger: Thegreek goddess of the sun. might have also been thegoddessof morning or 'waking from slumber'.

Principal Hendricks: Albus Dumbldore

Mr. McCoy: Severus Snape

More to be added...

See ya, readers! Or perhaps, Write ya! Whatever...Bye!!