::Chapter One::
Night had fallen on the ramshackle house in the English countryside. The dark clouds that had been threatening rain all day finally began to pour their contents over the town of Ottery St. Catchpole. The rain made ponds and rivers of the roads and meadows and the children stopped their chatting on the porch to seek comfort by the fire. Wrapped in blankets, surrounded by friends and family, an attack was the last thing on their minds.
"So, Fred. George. How is your shop doing?" asked a boy with black hair as he sipped from his mug of hot chocolate.
"Brilliant!" said one of the red haired twins that sat on the couch across from him.
"We expect to be opening a shop in Hogsmeade sometime soon," said the other twin. The twin's mother, who was refilling mugs of hot chocolate, looked at them with a mixture of pride and disappointment. If she could have had her way, they'd be putting their talents to much more important things than creating magic tricks for young troublemakers, but at the same time she was proud that they had found success in what they had put their minds to.
"How about you, Mr. Weasley? Any more exploding toilets?" the boy asked the twin's father.
"Not lately, Harry, but there's always some hooligan trying to get a laugh out of muggle baiting," said Mr. Weasley as he accepted more hot chocolate from his wife. Once everyone had a mug of steaming hot chocolate they sat by the fire, the only sound being the occasional gust of wind, the gentle crackling of the fire, and the sip of warm liquid.
"Have you all packed your things? We leave for our vacation tomorrow morning," Mrs. Weasley said. By vacation she meant Head Quarters. They had spent the first week of the children's summer holiday at the Burrow, but now that Harry had joined them they were to go to the Black House as soon as possible.
"Um..." was the general consensus.
"Well then, you lot better finish your hot chocolate and go pack!" Mrs. Weasley ordered. "You too, Ginny dear."
"I've already finished, Mum," Ginny responded as she watched her siblings retreat up the stairs to finish their packing.
"Why don't you tidy the room a bit? I'd hate to return to a filthy house," Mrs. Weasley requested as she too went up the stairs to join her husband and finish her packing.
What followed happened without warning. The heavy rain turned into a fierce thunderstorm, and the dilapidated old house, held up with magic, began to tremble violently.
"HARRY!!! COME ON!!!" Ron yelled to his friend as he ran down the stairs, windows shattering as they passed. But their progress was halted suddenly when the stairs in front of them fell away.
"Ron!!!" called Hermione, who was coming up behind them, holding her flat-faced cat in her arms.
"Jump the gap!" George yelled to the sixth years.
"Come on Hermione!" Ron called, after he cleared the gap in the stairs. Harry jumped across as well. "Come on!!!" Hermione first tossed her cat across to Harry which, despite the frantic scratching, he caught. "Jump Hermione!" The girl jumped the fallen stairs, barely making it and losing her balance toward the hole she had just crossed. Ron grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him. The force made her fall atop him, knocking both to the ground.
"Come on guys!" Fred shouted, helping them up as the roof began to cave in. The trio and the twins continued to run down the narrow staircase, dodging falling debris as they did. They had reached the second floor just as the roof gave way, burying them alive in the house that had always been a place of safety.
His entire body was throbbing when Fred came to. His eyes still closed, he wondered what had happened that would make him feel so bad. He had slept well last night. In fact, he didn't remember his bed ever being as soft as it did then. Perhaps Mum finally broke down and bought new mattresses, he thought. What time is it, I wonder. Fred tried to open his eyes, but they were suddenly very heavy. He tried to lift his hand in order to rub his eyes, but that too seemed to weigh one hundred times its normal weight. Then he suddenly became aware of a soothing touch about his face. A delicate caress was brushing his red locks out of his eyes and tracing his features with their finger. The touch started at the center of his forehead, running between his leaden eyes, down his nose, and pausing momentarily on his lips, only to continue down his chin. Perhaps it was the mysterious touch or perhaps the coolness of their hands, but Fred suddenly had a chill that ran up his spine. The touch immediately stopped, frightened by the action. But once they thought that he was asleep once again, the caress began again. Fred then became aware of a voice. A mere whisper of a song that Fred could not understand, due either to his current condition or it being a different language, he didn't know.
"Losta-le si... Sedh-si... Lothron bellas na-ah le... Cuio mae... na-nesta... Allen innas echuia-ned i aur..." sang the voice. Determinedly albeit slowly, Fred opened his eyes. Before him was a beautiful woman. Her long, sandy blonde curls framed her soft face. Her brilliant green eyes concentrated on her fingers, which were caressing Fred's forehead and she seemed to radiate as she watched over her charge.
"Are you an angel?" Fred asked, his head still spinning from whatever ailment he was suffering. The girl jumped, withdrawing her hand quickly. She straightened quickly, looking down at Fred expressionlessly. "Am I dead?" Fred asked, a slight flicker of fear in his eyes. Her face softened.
"No," said the angelic girl. "You are in St. Mungo's." Fred tried to sit up to look around, but the girl forced him lightly back into a horizontal position.
"What happened?" Fred asked. "Why am I here?"
"Do you not remember?" she asked, mixing a potion.
"No," Fred said, pulling himself into a sitting position, which made his vision go black for a moment and all the blood rush from his head. He looked around. He was indeed not in his own room. He looked to his left and saw his twin lying in the bed beside him. "Is George alright?" Fred demanded.
"Yes, yes... George is fine. He's sleeping peacefully now."
"How long have we been here?"
"Nearly two weeks," replied the girl. "Here, drink this. It will get rid of your headache." Fred took the solution and gulped it down, despite its horrid taste.
"What's your name?" Fred asked, finally getting a clearer image of the girl. She seemed familiar to him, but he could not put his finger on it. She looked at him, studying him for a moment.
"Gabriela," she said shortly.
"Gabriela..." Fred repeated, trying to figure out where he'd seen her before. Gabriela. That shy little Gryffindor in my year. "Gabriela! Of course! You used to help Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing!"
"Yes. She helped me get a job here," Gabriela said, smiling for a moment, but it quickly faded.
"What's the matter?" Fred asked.
"I'm afraid I have some bad news..." Gabriela said solemnly. "It's regarding the accident that hospitalized you and several other members of your family." Fred sat up a bit more. Gabriela stopped, wondering how she could phrase her next announcement so that it would have minimum negative impact.
"Well..." Fred inquired.
"Well, Firstly your house was destroyed in the accident."
"Who else was injured?"
"Your mother is in one of the wards just down the hall. She's had a few tricky bones broken, but she's mending nicely. Harry, Hermione and your father got by with only a few scratches, and George got knocked about the head, like you."
"What about Ron and Ginny?" Fred demanded.
"Well, Ron's under constant surveillance. The shock of the whole thing put him into a magicoma. He's expected to come to in a week or so. He's in good care."
"And Ginny..." The fake smile that had been plastered on the healer's face died quickly. She looked down at her feet as she responded.
"She's... she's gone missing."
"Missing?! What do you mean missing?!" Fred yelled. Gabriela looked at Fred. Her eyes were tearing up.
"They never found her body. They don't believe her dead," she added, seeing Fred's horrified expression, "but she may have been kidnaped during the attack." Fred looked away in terror. "They have Aurors on the case. They've taken most of the people that were working on the Sirius Black case to look for her." Fred just stared at the foot of the bed, unbelieving.
"I'm very sorry, Fred..." Gabriela said, laying one of her hands on his. "Lie down. You'll feel better." He obliged and she stroked his face softly, while she sang her elvish lullaby. His eyelids became heavy and he was again drawn into unconsciousness.
"Losta-le si... Sedh-si... Lothron bellas na-ah le... Cuio mae... na-nesta... Allen innas echuia-ned i aur..."
(A/N: The Elvish lullaby that I wrote is written in Sindarin. It's actually from the Lord of the Rings, but I love the language so much that I just had to include it. It means: "Sleep thee now... be still now... May strength be with thee... live well... be healed... For thou will awake in the morning...")