Ryn: So this is my first fanfiction. I spend most of my time thinking up these very random stories, so here is one.

Aemi: Yeah, there good too, but she never wants to post them. She thinks they'll be bad. -mutters-

Ryn: But they ARE!

Aemi: Liar xD. See guys? No confidence at all. But I'm telling you, she must get pretty bored because these stories are really good. I only wish I had idea's like these... -wistful-

Ryn: Oh shut up...

Aemi: So, with no further ado, I present to you the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Long Kept Secret.

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Prologue

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Through his whole life, her beauty always compelled him. Through all of his years at Hogwarts he always seemed to be in a trance where everything revolved around her. He doubted that she noticed his existence. If she ever did, it was because of all the other people who couldn't refuse to pick on the quiet one who tried to mind his own business. She was always there, in potions class sitting right behind him, at the Slytherin table a few seats down, and in the common room laughing and joking with all his friends. Every once in a while she would give a friendly greeting or pass a quick smile. His heart would always flutter for those brief seconds. Yet, he never spoke to her. Not once.

After he got out of school, he thought that maybe he would work with his father at the potions store that his dad owned in Knockturn Alley. For the first year out of school, he worked, bottling murkroot by the pound, repairing shattered cauldrons, and making potions ordered from some of the darkest wizards in Britain. Everyday his best friend came into the store and asked him why he was spending his life being a slave to his father instead of helping the most powerful dark wizard of all time. Before he had not cared for the power or pride of being a dark lord's follower, but over time he saw that there was no point in living in the upstairs apartment above the smoky shop. He saw no reason to stay the quiet one anymore, for he felt the need for power. In no time at all he packed up his bags and left his family to live in the village where some of the darkest wizards of the area lived and was soon accepted as a follower of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Then, on one magical day, a few weeks into becoming a slave to the Dark Lord, he saw her again. She was just as beautiful and elegant as ever.

A fellow death eater was throwing a grand party in celebration of the Dark Lord and his power and control over the magic world. He was standing there at the bottom of a of the massive stairwell that over looked the whole entranceway. There he saw her, once again. Her silky smooth hair flowed behind her and her enchanting smile was lighting up the whole room. Everything seemed to stop for a minute as everyone looked at her. She peered across the room as if she was looking for someone. After a long search she seemed to have found him. She quickly strode down the steps to her destination. She walked right past him and he wanted to reach out and grab for her but she didn't even notice that he was there right in front of him. He turned his back from her, trying to ease the pain that he felt.

"Is that you?" said a gentle voice from behind him. It was the sound of her voice. He quickly turned around holding his breath. There she was looking into his eyes.

"I haven't seen you for so long!" she continued. "Its always nice to see someone from school."

He quickly nodded in agreement then realized how stupid that must have looked. She laughed, "I hope to see you again soon!" And she quickly walked away again.

He didn't know it but that was the start of his whole life; His life that mattered to him at least. After that night, he saw her almost everyday. They had nice short chats about anything and everything. The way you would talk to a best friend or someone you've known forever. As they saw each other more and more, a strong bond grew between them. Suddenly his smile and his humor became more than just friendly characteristics of a person. They became a desperate longing just like the longing he had felt for her all these years. They had fallen in love.

But she had a secret. Someone else had fallen for her too. But it wasn't just anyone. The dark lord wanted her just as much as her lover did. When he found out about their secret love for each other, he was furious. He wanted revenge. The Dark Lord rounded up all of his followers that he could manage and sent them after the young man who was determined to stay with his love forever.

The friend of the potion maker couldn't let even the most powerful wizard of all time kill the best friend he ever had. Right before the time set for the attack, he ran ahead and warned the lovers of the danger that was about to come their way. The couple took this very seriously and decided to pack up the most valuable items to them and ran far away to a distant land where they were sure no one was to find them.

The land was beautiful, like an area you could only find in your dreams. They built a small house in a clearing, placed in the center of a wooded area. The only contact between the lovers and the outer world was by owl. The only person they could trust was the friend who warned them and sent them to safety. There they rested peacefully together knowing that all they needed was each other.

A couple of years later, the most unimaginable thing happened. One day an owl arrived bringing great and extraordinary news that the Dark Lord had mysteriously vanished! He was planning an attack on a couple and their son. It seems that the couple in the family was part of a secret organization to bring down the all dark wizards. Instead of sending one of his servants to kill the family, he decided to do it himself. He successfully killed the father and the mother. Then, he went after the son. The son, only about one year old, had managed to escape unharmed and untouched, except for a strange scar on his forehead resembling the shape of a lightning bolt. It seems that the boy had somehow mysteriously made the Dark Lord disappear. He was the Boy Who Lived.

On that same night, many miles away in the safe sanctuary, the lovers were awaiting the arrival of a baby. At the same time that the Dark Lord disappeared, the young woman died of birth complications. In the last few moments that she was alive, she gave one last push to save her new child. The father held the new baby girl with little wisps of black hair and a round face tenderly, as he brought her over to her mother. The mother was able to give a weak smile and say,

"Look at you, Isabel, my new baby girl!" Then she peacefully closed her eyes and never awoke again.

For the next few years, the father loved and cared for his daughter for she was the best thing that ever happened to him. Ever since the moment she was born, the father always seemed to see something special about his daughter. As he watched her grow, he realized that she was exactly like her mother. She had her smile and her sparkling eyes that always made him feel special his whole life. He would watch her run through that tall grasses right outside the house in the warm sunshine and wade through the shallow waters of the nearby pond. Whenever he got the chance, he would lift her above his head and spin her around while listening to her joyous giggles. Every night, he would hold her in his arms until she fell asleep and he would just watch her as she slowly breathed.

Even though he wished they could stay there for the rest of their lives, he knew they would have to go back. He knew his little girl would grow up and want to leave someday and he wouldn't be able to stop her. He always wanted to stay with her so he decided to just move back to his hometown. It was, of course, much safer since that one powerful boy had made the Dark Lord go away.

So he moved her back, to a small house in London. When he couldn't keep up with the rent for the house he realized that he needed a job. He searched all over Diagon Alley for anyone who needed help with work, but everyone seemed to know about him being a dark wizard and the past and they denied him the job every time. After a month of searching he finally went to the last person he could think of, Albus Dumbledore.

The old wizard graciously agreed to let the poor man have a job at his old school that he used to attend. His daughter could even come live with him. But before Dumbledore would agree to let him stay he had to have his new teacher promise that he would never become a dark wizard again.

When the father and his daughter arrived at Hogwarts they were given a small apartment in one of the high towers. The teachers all adored Isabel. When the father was busy with his students they other teachers graciously took care of Isabel. Most of the time, the young girl sat in the back of a classroom, listening intentively and even trying to try the spell herself. To the teachers' amazement she even succeeded. Other times she was helping Hagrid, the school's groundkeeper, water the plants, or she sometimes help Filch, the caretaker, guard the hallways and often chase Ms. Norris while Filch quietly laughed while following her. On all the other days she spent time with Dumbledore. He even had a playful side while chased her around his office and entertained her with his special magic tricks.

The teachers noticed something very unique about Isabel. She had a gift that hardly anyone had. She had the power to cast spells without wands and without talking. This was a gift that was only found in very powerful witches and wizards around the globe. Albums Dumbledore himself couldn't even possess such a power. After time the puzzled father learned that he had gotten this power from her mother, who could do the exact same thing but didn't let anyone know.

When Isabel was about six years old, something strange seemed to be lurking around the castle. Something seemed suddenly dark. There had been strange rumors at Hogsmeade that the Dark Lord would soon return to have revenge on anyone who betrayed him. This made the father very worried. He was scared for his daughter and what would happen to her if Voldemort had ever gotten a hold of her. So he decided to do the only thing he could for her. He decided to send her away to live with someone else that he could trust. There was only one person that he could depend on.

The old friend that had warned the lovers of the Dark Lord attack, now happily had a wife and a son a year older than Isabel. When Isabel's father took her to the family, they accepted to take good care of her.

Before the father left he gave one last hug and kiss to his daughter and told her that he loved her with all of his heart and someday soon he would come back for her. "Izzy," he said to her while looking deeply into her eyes, "Promise me you will take care of yourself if something is ever to happen to your new family. If anything does happen, just know that I will be there, watching over you no matter where you are or what happens. I love you Izzy." With that he gave her one last look with his tear filled eyes, kissed her on the forehead, turned, and walked away. When he was at the edge of the yard he gave her one last look and started walking again. Isabel stood there and watched her father walk away. That was the last time she ever saw him.

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Ryn: Told you it was bad.

Aemi: See, it was so good wasn't it?

Ryn: ... She never shuts up.

Aemi: Oh be quiet. Lets let THEM decide shall we? -points to readers- Oh, and guys, this is Ryn's first fic and she's all worried that people won't like it, so could you please review? Its not that much trouble, and trust me she'd be a lot happier posting (and more confident dangit! if she thought people liked it.

Ryn: Don't tell them that!

Aemi: Oh please. Well, anyways...

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-Ryn