Chapter I
A handsome young man, of no more than 17 summers, with an unruly mop of raven hair and a pair of burning green eyes; eerily reminiscent of the curse that robbed him of both his parents, sat, curled in a defensive ball at the foot of his bed.
Clasped in his torn and bloody hands were the remnants of an antique mirror, now more frame than glass, which the despairing teen stared at blankly with dead eyes as a stream of silent tears cascaded down his face.
'I couldn't save either of them.'
A vague sense of time passing registered in the boy's mind as minutes turned to hours. How long it had been the boy wasn't sure when he was finally snapped out of his reverie by a shrill hoot and the tapping of an Owl's beak on the small window that ordained his cramped room.
The boy delicately put down the ruined mirror as he shakily stood up, and with some degree of effort forced his heavily protesting muscles to move for the first time in hours.
With a stubbornness that was more befitting a sentient being than an inanimate object the window futilely resisted the boy's attempts to open it. The window finally open, the snowy-white Owl gave an indignant hoot as she spread her wings and sailed gracefully through the air towards an obviously well used perch at the end of the boy's bed.
Reaching out the boy untied a parcel from the avion's leg, and flipped it over to reveal an official looking letter with his name neatly printed on it.
-Harry James Potter-
Tearing the letter open, two items were revealed, one a shimmering gold card, and the other a piece of lined parchment folded neatly in half.
'Definitely not Ron's work,' the teen quirked a small smile, looking odd in contrast to his tear stained face.
Written in long curvaceous type on the front of the gold card were the words
"You are formally invited to the wedding of Fleur Delacour and Billius Weasley."
Flipping the card open, something fell to the floor and bounced off the loose floorboard Harry kept his school supplies under, to skitter under his bed.
Groaning, Harry down on all fours extended his arm under his bed not quite able to reach the small token that he had so clumsily lost.
Finally, with one last – slightly more aggravated – thrust of his arm, Harry's fingers came into contact with the contents of the glossy card. Pulling it out, it was revealed to be a diamond shaped card (highly reminiscent of a Chocolate Frog's accompanying Famous Witches and Wizards Card) which had a small moving photo inlayed into it of Bill, and the soon to be Fleur Weasley arms around each other's shoulders grinning away merrily at him.
The scars that adorned Bill's face were still quite prominent, and Harry couldn't help but feel an irrational pang of guilt as he traced the lines with his thumb, and worked his other hand along the thin lightening bolt scar that so distinctly decorated his own forehead.
Carefully placing the card and its contents aside, Harry reached for the second part of his mail, absent mindedly flopping the sheet of parchment open, Ginny's script was instantly recognized by Harry, and he could almost hear her voice as he read.
Hey there Harry,
Mum's saddled me with delivery duty, so I suppose you're lucky you get to have me explain how these cards work! That little card with the portraits of Bill and Phlegm is actually a Portkey, and will activate itself – on your touch – at 11:52am on the 11th of August (a day before the Wedding,) taking you to the Burrow.
So you'd better not have lost it!
Harry could just imagine Ginny's face inches below his, but somehow managing an intimidating glare all the same. A blush rose to his cheeks unbidden at the thought of how close he had actually come to losing the magically charmed piece of card.
Hang in there Harry, it's only a few more days.
On the next line, an 'I' stood clearly even above a scribble of ink. She had clearly thought better of using the word, and then again about not using it so many times that both the 'I' and the scribble were heavily indented. This did not go unnoticed by the young hero.
We think about you all the time, and can't wait to see you.
Love, Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys.
Harry leaned back against the frame of his bed contemplatively, all thoughts of his earlier grievings gone as he let his mind wonder to and focus on the vibrant red haired girl of his dreams.
"Boy! Get down here now, one of your freaky friends is here!" the shrill shriek of Petunia Dursley shattered his for once peaceful thoughts.
A puzzled look crossed Harry's face as he wondered who on Earth could have come to visit him.
"Coming!" his voice rang out in reply.
There we go, a Prologue and a first chapter… I'm on a roll! Here's hoping I can follow it up with another chapter…
If anyone would like to beta, and or co-write with me on this, I'd be interested to hear from you.
My MSN address is auzerekose2002(at)msn(dot)com
R+R! .