This is rated R for swearing, violence and dark themes.

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing in this story (except my own character, although I don't technically own own her); all this jazz is property of the almighty J.K. Rowling and W.B. and whatnot. Cheerio, mate.

Prologue: Childhood

"I don't want you here anymore."

William Braithwaite turned his back and leisurely walked over to the large, velvet-curtained window, his white hands clasped tightly behind his back, and looked out over the manicured gardens below. He was a tall man, slender, his white-pale face taking on an almost sickly look in the plain daylight, which looked as though it hadn't seen the sun in many years, and one might have expected vampire fangs to sprout from his gums when he smiled. If he smiled, that is. He paused with his eyes narrowed, as though contemplating something, or thinking of what to say next, or perhaps even rehearsing in his mind a speech he had previously devised; then turned slowly around once more. His thick, short brown hair was flecked with gray, his icy blue eyes hard.

"But alas...you already knew that, didn't you? You have known it as long as I have thought it, no words expressed...but you knew."

His voice was low and mocking, his eyes bright. He stared hard, his chiseled features set tight as though carved in stone.

Sitting in a black leather chair before him, looking as stony as a gargoyle sprouting from the high reaches of a cathedral was his ten-year-old daughter. She made no move to argue or to criticize, no emotion in her face betrayed any thoughts she might have been thinking; there was no twitch of a muscle, no blinking of an eye, no movement of a limb. At the moment she was unnaturally still with her hands folded in her lap, her vividly bright and unnerving blue eyes downcast and staring at the Italian rug that cascaded over the hardwood floor, transferring the dull wood into an intricate ordeal of colours and shapes.

Her father had come a little closer. His dislike for her was soaking up every inch of the room. It was everywhere, almost like a physical feeling, inhabiting the mahogany desk, the leather chairs, the Greek lamps and the paintings from Vienna, the imported marble Japanese mantel that framed the great fireplace, the walls of polished wood. It pulsated like a heartbeat, it vibrated like a deafening noise, it washed over her like waves.

The man chuckled dryly and tilted his head to one side, studying her closely. "You won't even look at me, then? My own daughter?"

"I have no reason to," the girl replied stiffly, staring determinedly at the rug.

"Ah, but surely you knew this was coming?"

The child all but sighed in blatant irritation, closing her eyes a moment before confessing patiently. "Yes...I knew this would happen. I saw it in you during mother's funeral."

Her father nodded, impressed despite his coldness. "Your...gift...allows you to see much, Autumn."

Autumn looked up at him now, shocking him with how much she looked like his deceased wife. Her long, straight dark chestnut brown hair hung loosely over her small shoulders and cascaded down her back just as Lucy's had, the small bangs to either side of her face fell exactly the same way, her complexion was the same peaches and cream colour. Even the small, rosy lips formed an identical shape. But her eyes...they were his, William's eyes. Eyes framed by dark lashes and so vividly blue you might have been standing on a cliff overlooking a vast deep, tropical sapphire ocean. They were currently devoid, however, of any sunlight sparkling off of warm Caribbean waters. They were cold, angry, bright and filled with hatred, and her brow furrowed with the emotion and her small teeth were grinding together behind closed lips. William was amused.

"It is not a gift," Autumn hissed. "It is a curse! If I could rid myself of it I would. I see far more than I am supposed to see...want to see...I hear more than I want to hear! I hate it!"

Her father nodded. "You speak as if you are older," he mused. "It is truly a shame that I have no use for you, daughter. You are as much of a mistake as your darling mother was."

"You filthy Muggle," the dark-haired girl growled. "You didn't understand mother. You made no effort. You never loved her - "

"True," William replied, striding over to sit in a leather armchair near the fire, grinning wickedly again. "Very true. But alas, you know why you are in my office. I am sure that your...curse now, is it...saw to that?"

Autumn's young face remained neutral. She hated her father, this pig who perched so richly in his expensive furniture, the man who had destroyed his own family. Her family. Her life.

"You are merely a waste of my time, my energy, my money and space," he drawled, ice eyes glittering. "And I cannot tolerate that part of you in which your mother bestowed in my house. It is freakish. Unnatural."

Two sets of eyes glared into the other as a furious silence invaded the beautifully furnished room. Autumn's walls were crumbling around her and she once more gritted her teeth in pure hatred of the man sitting before her. She trembled in rage at his audacity...how he dared...

She plucked at a piece of thread escaping from her black skirt and closed her eyes, feeling the weight of her father's gaze on her, and she almost shuddered.

"I am sending you away," he said finally, after a long and strained pause in which there was no sound save for the crackling of the flames. "To London to stay with your Aunt Kath. You will be educated there and brought up as you are here, but like myself don't expect to see much of my sister. She also does not take kindly to...people like you."

Autumn bit her tongue but remained silent.

"So it would be best to stay out of her way," her father continued, his eyes boring holes into the tiny thing sitting in the middle of his office. "And I expect you to behave yourself. If I so much as receive one complaint, you shall be sent elsewhere, and I highly doubt whether you will like it."

"And what are you going to do?" Autumn asked, smiling sweetly, her eyes filled with accusation. William looked surprised and settled back into the leather like one who is relaxing and has not a care in the world and gazed at his daughter with a mingled look of amusement and loathing.

"That is none of your concern," he snapped. "I am personally going to make it very difficult for you to find me ever again - "

"And you think that's going to make me sad?" Autumn snapped. "You running away from me?"

"You can think of it what you like," William answered, placing his index finger lightly against his bottom lip, his elbow propped on the armrest. "But I look at it as...finding for myself a new life, devoid of troubles and rubbish such as yourself."

Autumn shook. Her face flushed with fury and she closed her eyes a moment in complete concentration, remaining so still one might have thought her to be a statue. Her breathing soon became as deep as one who is sleeping soundly, and her fists unclenched in relaxation...

Autumn opened her eyes slowly, meeting her father's questioning gaze. "You're moving away," she stated quietly. "You have plans overseas with your company...you are going to New York City in America."

William leapt up from his chair suddenly and slapped his daughter smartly across the face. Autumn gasped and clapped a hand to her stinging red cheek, her eyes filling with livid tears. She smiled hatefully up at the man towering above her, however, her expression triumphant. "You aren't safe from me yet, father. Not where I can see you. Not where you are near me."

"What did I say about doing that!" William bawled angrily. "How dare you!"

Autumn stood up shakily and her smile vanished. "You will not succeed," she whispered. "I hope, when you find yourself stranded and empty-handed with no one, you will remember today."

"I have had enough," her father said sharply. "Cecelia is up in your room packing your things now. You will be on the nine a.m. train tomorrow morning, and when you are, consider yourself an orphan. Now get the bloody hell out of here."

Autumn turned and walked silently from the study.

---x---x---x---

A/N: I'll try to update on this one regularly. Review and let me know what you think...this is my first time with my own character. Thanks for reading, more chapters coming!