Angel of the Apocalypse
Chapter One: The Beginning of The End
A new school year was about to start in two weeks time for Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley. It was the fifth year at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. It was a very difficult fourth year for Harry because he participated in the Triwizard Tournament and his fellow champion; Lord Voldemort murdered Cedric Diggory.
There was an underlying fear that the Harry felt that was constant. The Dark Lord was rising back in power, and the protection that Harry's mother had given him was now gone. He spent his time thinking about happened to him. Every year, he was forced to have a confrontation with Voldemort. He was glad to go back to school, but he wondered what would happen the next time he met Voldemort. Today, they were all at Diagon Alley to pick up new supplies and books for the school. Mrs. Weasley was with them along with Fred, George, and Ginny.
Harry wasn't the only person who was having trouble with the thought of Voldemort coming back. Ginny Weasley still had nightmares about her encounter with Tom Riddle. She had more fear about him coming back than anyone in her family. Her older brothers made it a point to pay better attention and to watch over her to make sure that she was safe. Fred, George, and Ron felt bad about not paying enough attention to her during her first year.
"Let's see. Everyone needs new books and supplies this year. Let's go to Gringotts first," she said. Hermione had to go and change the Muggle money her parents had given to galleons. Harry had to pick up some money from his vault. He hoped to do it on his own without anyone watching him because he felt guilty about having more money than the Weasleys. They didn't have much money. They were always humble about the situation they were in. Ron was especially sensitive about it.
Ginny was still nursing a crush over Harry. He hardly ever noticed her. Harry thought of her as his younger sister and would probably never feel the same way about her. She had resigned s herself to just admiring him like all the other girls. As soon as they were done at the bank, Mrs. Weasley told them that they could go off. Harry, Hermione, and Ron went off to look around on their own. Fred and George went to go look for any of their friends with a warning from Mrs. Weasley to stay out of Knockturn Alley and to not buy any pranks. Not that they would, they were used to making their own. Ginny usually went along with Mrs. Weasley.
"Please, Mum. Just this once. Can't I just go off on my own?" pleaded Ginny. Mrs. Weasley was overprotective of her daughter.
"I don't know, Ginny," said Mrs. Weasley.
"I'm fourteen, Mum. I can go off on my own. You let them go off," said Ginny. Ginny looked younger than that. She was petite. She was short and skinny. Her fiery red hair was cut short like a pixie. The word used to describe her was "pixie."
"Well, I suppose I should let you go off and met some friends, but try to come back to the Leaky Cauldron earlier than everyone else, alright?" said Mrs. Weasley.
"Yeah, I will," said Ginny as she walked off in a hurry. Friends? What friends? Ginny didn't have much friends. The kids at school didn't make friends with her because of what happened during her first year at Hogwarts. She was labeled as dangerous, so people didn't make friends with her. The kids at Slytherin House sniggered behind her back and said that she was stupid for falling for such an obvious trick. Everyone else thought of her as an attachment to her brothers, while people at the Gryfinndor House teased her about her crush on Harry. The only friend that she really had was Hermione, but she was with Harry and Ron. They were already long gone, so she couldn't join them. She didn't want to. She was already tired of looking stupid in front of Harry.
Ginny strolled along the shops looking wistfully at some of the things she wished that she could afford, but couldn't. Unlike her brothers, she really didn't have any plans after Hogwarts. She lacked ambition.
Little did Ginny know that someone was watching her from the rooftops of Diagon Alley. His rich violet eyes followed her everywhere she went. His rich brown hair whipped slightly in the breeze. There was a little lizard that was black and purple around his shoulders. He wasn't dressed like a Muggle or wizard because he wasn't either. He looked like he was about the same age as the fifth years. No one could see him on the roof because he made himself invisible to the crowd below. He jumped down from the roof when Ginny entered a shop to look at some potion supplies. He walked along the street without running into anyone and waited for someone else to open the door and entered the shop.
Ginny was looking at a wonderful self-stirring cauldron. Hogwarts required the standard pewter cauldron, but it didn't hurt to dream. She was a dreamer after all. She was dreaming about having a wonderful future and Harry Potter. The boy who was watching her continued to do so in the shop. He had to make sure that she wouldn't do anything. He knew that she was unaware of how dangerous she was. He was the only one who could contain her if she went out of control. No wizard stood a chance against her.
Ginny looked at the glassware that the shop sold. She felt a sudden pain in her chest and the room seemed to pulsate. The sound of glass breaking filled the room. All the customers and salespeople were startled. She felt the pain go through her whole body. Her vision was blurring. Someone caught her and steadied her, but she didn't know who was doing it. She looked around and saw no one around her. The salespeople went around looking at what happened.
"I didn't do anything," said Ginny immediately, thinking that they would blame her.
"Of course, you didn't. You didn't have your wand out, dearie," said the kind saleswoman. That was true. Ginny's wand was in her pocket. As far as anyone knew, no one could suspect her of doing anything wrong. She looked around her again. She looked pale. "Are you alright?" asked the saleswoman.
"I just need some air. I think," said Ginny as she quickly walked out of the shop. The boy who was following her was right behind her and followed her out. She was gasping for air outside. She rubbed her hand over her chest where the pain came from. She didn't know what it meant. The boy with the violet eyes watched her with compassion. She has no idea what she means to the world. She has no idea what she really is, he thought to himself. Ginny didn't know why, but she took off running. She had no idea what she was running from.
~*~
Mr. Weasley and Mrs. Weasley went off to Platform 9 ¾ to see the children off to Hogwarts. Ginny's parents held her a little longer than her brothers and sent them off. Ginny didn't go and join either Ron or the twins. She went off to find a compartment by herself. She liked being alone because she was used to it.
There was someone new who boarded the train. Every girl on the train turned their heads to pay attention to this new boy. He had violet eyes and brown hair that framed his face perfectly. His skin was a sleek ivory color. He wasn't that tall, but he was slim and well built. His familiar was a small lizard that looked like a cute, mini dragon with shades of black and purple. He was dressed in a black turtleneck and blue jeans with sneakers. His clothes looked new. He instinctively knew where she was.
He walked up to her compartment. Ginny looked up from her spell book for fourth years. "Is anyone else sitting here?" he asked in a quiet voice. She looked at him and shook her head and promptly returned to her reading. "Hello, my name is Gavin Skyler," he said with a pleasant smile.
She looked up at him again and closed her book. "My name is Ginny Weasley. Are you American?" she asked, noticing the strange, foreign accent on his voice.
"Is that far from here?" he asked.
"Yes, it's across the ocean," she answered, thinking that he was strange.
"Yes, I am from there," he said. He thought that it sounded better if he came from a foreign country.
"All right," she said, not being so sure about his answer.
"I'm a student that transferred from there," he said.
"Oh, you're new. What year are you?" asked Ginny.
"I'm fifteen," he said. "What year does that make me?"
"A fifth year. I'm a fourth year. You're probably going to be in some classes with my brother, Ron," said Ginny.
"I see. I heard that there are four houses in Hogwarts," he said.
"Yes. There's Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. I'm in Gryffindor with my brothers," she informed him.
"I see. I hope to get into that house, then," he said.
Ginny couldn't help herself, but blush at his comment. He was pretty cute. His eyes were unlike any color she had ever seen before. She saw the lizard that he had with him. "Oh, he's cute," she said. The lizard was cute. He had large, dewy eyes. That were also violet like his master's. "What's his name?" she asked. She had never seen anyone with a lizard as his or her familiar before. The familiars that were allowed were cats, owls, and toads according to the list of supplies that came to each student attending Hogwarts. However, Ron did have a rat for the first three years, so she supposed it would be okay for Gavin to have a lizard.
"He doesn't have a name," Gavin replied.
"What? He should have a name. I named my brother's owl, Pigwidgeon," said Ginny.
He thought that she was a sweet girl. How could some so delicate be given such a horrible fate? They continued talking back and forth throughout the trip. Ron, Harry, and Hermione came in after a while with Fred and George. "What's up?" asked Ron.
"This is Gavin Skyler. He transferred here from his school in America," said Ginny. "These are my brothers, Fred, George, and Ron. And this is Harry Potter and Hermione Granger." She looked to see if there was going to be the usual reaction that most people got when they met Harry Potter, but there was none. Gavin had never heard of Harry Potter before and didn't seem to care at all.
"Mind if we join you for a while?" asked Fred, without waiting for an answer, he sat down. He and his brothers had gone into their protective older brother modes.
"What year are you?" asked Harry pleasantly.
"A fifth year," answered Gavin.
"Oh? You're going to be in our classes," said Hermione excitedly. She thought that he was cute. Ron rolled his eyes at her because she was acting the same way she did when she met Lockhart.
"I hope to get into the Gryffindor House. According to Ginny, it's the best," he said. He also had to get in there to protect her. He couldn't afford to be away from her. It was for the good of everyone else.
"The Sorting Hat will decide for you," said Ron.
"The Sorting Hat?" asked Gavin.
"I don't know about that. He seems to be a special case. I don't know if you have to go through the sorting with the first years," said Hermione.
"We'll see," Gavin with a smile. There was no reason to worry. He was going to stay close by Ginny no matter what. It was his duty to do so.
~*~
The Great Hall of Hogwarts was filled with anticipation as the new students came in. Dumbledore had received word about the new about the new student that was coming from another school, but he was a special case because he was a fifth year student. Ginny watched as the first years went through the sorting, but when Gavin showed up she was looking at him closely. He had met with Dumbledore earlier.
"And this year, we have a new student from another school in America, Gavin Skyler. Normally, we'd make all our new students go through the sorting, but since Gavin is not an ordinary new student. Therefore I have decided to give him the choice of which house he would like to join," said Professor Dumbledore. The sound of murmurs could be heard in the hall. The girls from all four house, except Hermione and Ginny, were excited. The girls from Slytherin were smiling like black widows or praying mantises would before devouring their mates. The Hufflepuff girls were excited and were nervously looking at the other girls at the other houses. The Ravenclaws hid their excitement better than the Gryffindor girls. Cho Chang was still mourning the loss of Cedric, but every once in a while she looked at Harry when he wasn't looking.
Gavin scanned the room until he spotted Ginny sitting next to Ron. He nodded and walked over to the Gryffindor table and asked her, "Is anyone seating here?"
"Yes. I mean no. Fine," said Ginny with a stammer. She shifted over closer to her brother who didn't like being crushed.
"You're so friendly, Ginny," said Ron with a smile. Her ears were red at the tips. She looked at him with a glare as Gavin took a seat next to her.
Gavin didn't pay any attention to the surprised voices he heard in the hall from the girls in the other houses and in the Gryffindor. Lavender and Parvati looked at him with curiosity because he had taken an interested in skinny, small Ginny Weasley. She didn't seem to be taking a liking to him either. She was thinking of Harry Potter. Who was probably thinking about Cho Chang. Life sucks, she thought.
Ginny didn't say much else after the meal. Fred and George, who usually would go into teasing, decided to go into overprotective mode. Ron seemed to be taking it more in stride because he was focusing his attentions on Hermione who was paying attention back. "So, where are you from exactly in America?" asked Fred politely.
"Across the large ocean," said Gavin with a shrug because he really didn't know anything about this America.
"I see. That was elaborate," said George. He and Fred looked at each other. They noticed his interest in Ginny and wanted to stop it.
"I'm going. I'm done," announced Ginny. She was annoyed at all three of them. She was annoyed at Fred and George for interviewing Gavin like she wasn't there, and she was annoyed at Gavin because she was starting to believe that he was out to either annoy or stalk her. Without much more word, she stood up and walked out of the Great Hall. Gavin couldn't just let her leave. He had to follow her, but he saw that her twin older brothers were ready to hurt him.
"Well, she's a bit jumpy," said Gavin with a pleasant smile.
"What do you want with our sister?" asked Fred.
"Nothing. She was the first person I talked to. That's all," he assured them.
"I suppose your schedule will be like ours," said Harry. Gavin looked at the parchment that was dropped next to him during the meal by McGonagall. He looked and saw that he had some weird classes that he never heard of before. He showed it to Ron who nodded.
"Why don't we go to the tower?" suggested Hermione as soon as everyone was done eating. They went to the tower together with the first years walking behind the. On the way up the steps, Neville Longbottom stepped on that trick step, but before anything happened, Gavin caught him. "Thanks. I always forget about that step," he said to Gavin.
"No problem," he said. He was trying to hide his anxiousness about not being around Ginny. Ginny was in the common room reading her book, but she quickly looked away from Gavin when he came in. She wasn't feeling shy. She was annoyed at the sight of him, but she wasn't quite sure why. She snorted and walked out of the room. Gavin smirked at himself and found out that his trunk and lizard were waiting for him at the room that was the same as Harry and Ron.
Ginny was suspicious about Gavin why was he watching her like a hawk. She had to get away from him. Hermione found her putting her books into her trunk and taking out her quill and parchment scrolls for the first day of classes.
"That Gavin is something, isn't he?" asked Hermione.
"What do you mean?" asked Ginny.
"He's been watching you all the time. And you don't seem to like him. I was wondering why," said Hermione.
"He's annoying. And you're right, I don't like him," said Ginny with her ears becoming red at the tips.
"Well, he's made you popular all of a sudden because he decided to join Gryffindor because of you," said Hermione with a smile.
"No, he didn't. It's because he met us on the train," said Ginny with a dismissive wave.
"Maybe, he just wants to be your friend, Ginny. You could use more of those," said Hermione. Their friendship was almost a forced one because Hermione would stay in her room during the visits at the Burrow. Ginny shared her room and that's how they became friends. Hermione thought of Ginny as her younger sister. Just like Harry.
"Are you saying I can't make friends on my own? Do I look that desperate for human companionship that people take pity on me?" asked Ginny with her voice getting rather dangerous.
"That's not what I meant. You should just try to make friends, Ginny. I know that you had a bad experience before, but this is a lot different than a boy in a diary," said Hermione gently.
"It always comes down to that, Hermione. Good night," said Ginny as she went to her bed and drew the curtains closed. Hermione sighed and decided to leave her alone. If there was one thing Ginny hated, it was being reminded of her stupidity. Or what she thought was stupidity.
Things in Ginny Weasley's life never really went her way. She didn't have a lot of friends and people thought she was strange even for a witch. Harry Potter was never going to like her and now she had some weird stranger watching. She had no idea that her life was going to take another turn. Another turn to some thing extraordinary.
~*~
Gavin had to wait for Ginny to wake up the next morning and join her for breakfast. Much to the dislike of Ginny and her twin brothers, he was able to do so. Rumors were already abound that the new student who transferred in was involved with Ginny Weasley. The girls weren't too happy. In particular, one Pansy Parkinson. She disliked Ginny because she was a Gryffindor and a Weasley, and now she had more than enough reason to dislike her. It was pretty clear that Gavin chose the Gryffindor House because Ginny was there. All the fourth year Gryffindor girls were impressed with the fact that Ginny managed to capture the interest of a fifth year boy. They all wanted to know how she did it, but she chose to ignore them.
Gavin continued to watch over her like he was supposed to. He could go invisible without a cloak and could apparate around the grounds despite the spells that prevented everyone else from doing so. He could safely watch her without arousing suspicion. Another thing that Gavin, didn't count on was the fact that he had to show up for classes. He was currently in Care for Magical Creatures with the rest of his house and the Slytherin. Hagrid was showing them a new creature that came in. It was a sphinx. The entire class was forced to listen to a riddle and solve it. Gavin didn't have much trouble because he was able to read the sphinx's thoughts.
~*~
"Not like that Mr. Creevey. You will ruin your potion. At least pretend you heard my instructions," said Professor Snape coldly.
Ginny was praying that he wouldn't come to her cauldron anytime soon. She could have sworn that Snape was the most sadistic man alive. He loved to torture Gryffindor students. And he seemed to target her the most in his class. Was it because of her brothers or her house? She wasn't quite sure. She wanted nothing more, but to get out of there.
Suddenly, there was a flash that went through her body and the same pain in her chest returned and the room pulsated again. Everyone started shouting as the glass broke around the room and the flames in the cauldron flamed up catching people by surprise. There was a scream at the other side of the room by someone who was getting burned. Snape quickly turned his attention to that student, even if that student was a Gryffindor. Ginny clutched her skull because the pain was worse there. She could feel her head about to burst at any moment. Her eyes opened for a moment, and no one noticed that they flashed gold.
~*~
Gavin was standing in the back of the class. Hagrid was impressed with him for being able to solve the sphinx's riddle so easily. Harry was the second fast followed by Hermione. Harry had experience because of the Triwizard Tournament. The sphinx brought back memories of that day for him, and his friends were watching him carefully. So, no one paid attention to Gavin. He felt a flash. A surge of power. He turned around to see where it had come from and found that the flash came from the dungeons. He knew Ginny's schedule inside and out. He stepped away from the class and apparate into the class and turned himself invisible.
He quickly followed the sounds of panic and the voice of Professor Snape trying to bring his class back in order. Gavin entered the room through the chaos and found Ginny Weasley trembling with her hand clutched on her head. She looked like she was in horrible pain. Gavin placed his hands on hers and relieved the pain she was in. He was able to contain her powers once again. When he let go of her, she fell off her stool all together and collapsed on the floor of the cold dungeon.
Professor Snape looked at the mess of the dungeon what in Heaven's name could have possible happened? The flames were contained once again, but the class was ruin for the day. "Everyone is dismissed. I'll be announcing that the rest of the classes are cancelled for today," said Snape. The dungeon had to be cleaned up and Snape had to figure out what happened.
Colin Creevey was standing over Ginny shaking her gently. "Professor Snape…I think there's something wrong with her," he said in a small voice. Snape turned his attention to him and walked over. "Take her to the infirmary," he ordered. Gavin watched as Colin used a levitating spell and followed them out of the dungeons.
~*~
Ginny didn't know what happened to her. One moment, she was awake, the next she was in darkness. She regained conscious at the infirmary. Madame Pomfrey couldn't explain it either. Gavin waited outside until the coast was clear and made himself visible. "I'm here to see, Ginny," he said simply.
"She just got here. How did you find out so soon? Who are you?" asked Madame Pomfrey.
"Gavin Skyler. I'm in classes with her brother, Ron. Do you mind if I wait until she wakes up?" asked Gavin.
"I suppose so. I have to get word to her brothers that she in here, but yes, I think it would be best to have someone to wake up to," said Madame Pomfrey as she walked to her office. Gavin walked over to the bed and found that Ginny was already awake. She was looking out the window at the doves that were flying outside. She turned and saw Gavin. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"You passed out. I thought that it would be best to be here," he answered with a shrug.
"That's not what I meant. I mean what are you doing here at this school. Why are you watching me?" demanded Ginny.
"I am here as your guardian and guide," he answered after some silence. Ginny looked at him with wonder because she wasn't expecting that as answer.
"Why?"
"Because you will decide what the future holds for human kind," said Gavin simply.
AN: I took a little bit from Ayashi No Ceres here, but not too much. I mean Ginny's life is far from perfect. Is it normal to have the fate of the world in the hands of a fourteen-year-old girl? I thought it was best to go back to more fantasy like genre because my last story wasn't too much like it. After all this is Harry Potter. I hope to have some art about this story soon, my artist is sort of busy right now. ^_~ rin-chan
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and all his friends. And the original story ideas. Those things below to J.K. Rowling. I do own Gavin Skyler and he's pretty cute, so I'm glad.