Chapter 1

To whom it may concern...

My name is Ginevra Molly Weasley. I am only eighteen years old, but I am already at the end of my life. It ended months ago, though technically speaking I am still alive. I live in a small apartment in the United States with just a couch, a TV, a bed and barely enough food to eat for one day. There are no pictures on the walls, no homey touches at all. I don't mind. I don't even care anymore.

Why?

It happened a few months ago. How many months now…I can't recall. I should tell you a little more about my life, how my life used to be. The first thing you should know is that I had six brothers: Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George and Ron. Most people who hear this ask me how I could live with six overprotective brothers. I used to say with a smile, "I manage," because no matter how insufferable, overprotective and annoying they could be, I wouldn't give them up for all the galleons in the world. I rarely saw my older brothers Bill and Charlie; they were so much older than I was. Bill worked at Gringotts as a curse-breaker so he was always travelling all over the world and Charlie was in Romania taming dragons. I always looked up to them, and even with the distance between us, I knew they loved me. Percy was annoying most of the time, but he was always there for me if I needed him. Fred and George constantly pulled pranks on me, but no matter how much they teased me, they would never let anyone hurt me. I was closest to Ron, both in age and friendship. Before he went off to Hogwarts, we were inseparable. My other brothers forgot about me occasionally and that hurt me terribly. I remember that when I was upset with them, I'd always think the same thing, "I know that they love me, but Ron would never forget about me." Then Ron left for Hogwarts and I moped around the Burrow while he was gone. Mum noticed my sadness but never said anything. When the school year ended, Ron came home and told us about his first year and the adventures he had had with his friends Hermione Granger and Harry Potter. I was astonished: My brother was friends with the famous Harry Potter! I was certain he'd introduce me to his friends soon because I was going to start Hogwarts the next year and then I could be a part of their group!

Then reality set in. Funny how things don't always work out as you planned.

One morning during the summer holiday before I started Hogwarts, I came downstairs and saw Harry Potter sitting at our breakfast table with Ron, Fred and George. Harry Potter, at our house! When I saw him, I ran back upstairs as fast as I could. I sat on the landing, listening to them talk. I heard Dad come home and Mum telling him that Ron, Fred and George had "borrowed" his car and had gone to pick up Harry in Surrey. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Ron didn't bring me along on his adventure...he forgot about me. He had never done that before and it broke my heart. That was the first time he didn't include me, but it certainly wasn't the last. Once we were both at Hogwarts, he completely ignored me. He acted as though I was his annoying little sister instead of the friend he'd told his dreams and secrets to. I felt lonely because Ron had left me behind. I tried to make friends of my own, but I was a bit shy so it was hard to get to know anyone. One day, I found a diary amongst my schoolbooks and decided to write down how I was feeling. It turned out that it was no ordinary diary. It began to write back, or rather, "Tom" began to write back to me. He was so kind, always listening to my problems, and I began to write to him everyday. I had finally found someone who wanted to be my friend…or so I thought. I never actually saw Tom, we only communicated through the diary. In the end, trusting Tom was one of the biggest mistakes of my life. My dad always said, "Never trust anything if you can't see where it keeps its brain." How right he was. Tom was really an evil dark wizard named Voldemort, one of the most dangerous wizards of the age.

What happened after that, well, it seems that everyone has heard this story. Through the diary, Tom (a.k.a. Voldemort) began to possess me and later kidnapped me. It was an attempt by Voldemort to gain enough strength to return to his body. He had been reduced to living like a ghost after a curse backfired on him, and he was slowly taking my life to regain his. I nearly died, but was saved by Harry in the end; I was always grateful to him for that. Nevertheless, even after that terrifying incident, I never grew any closer to Ron, Harry or Hermione. They didn't want to include me in their group, so I moved on and eventually made friends of my own. Then, during the Triwizard Tournament at the end of my third year at Hogwarts, Voldemort succeeded in returning to his body.

It scared the shit out of me; I can tell you that. After a whole year writing to him through the diary and then being possessed by him, I knew Voldemort better then anyone else...except for maybe Voldemort himself. I began to worry that when he returned his body, the memories from the diary also came back to him. After all, that diary connected us. If you were the most evil wizard in the world, wouldn't it frighten you if there were someone who had seen into your mind, who knew your thoughts and desires? I knew more about him than his faithful Death Eaters would ever know. That question troubled me for some time, but after a while, I put it out of my mind and didn't think much more about it.

"I should have though." That is what I think now. "I should have."

Now that I think back, it has been exactly six weeks since that day. Mum and Dad had invited everyone home for a big family dinner. Ron, who was now an Auror with the Ministry of Magic, and Hermione, who was a Healer at St. Mungo's, were there. They had married right after graduating from Hogwarts and were expecting their first child. Harry, who was also an Auror, turned up. He wasn't dating anyone so he came alone, as did Charlie. Bill came with his wife, Fleur Delacour. Percy, who was working with the Ministry (on what he called top-secret business), came with his wife Penelope and their daughter Meghan. Fred and George, who were still single and running their joke shop, were present. In short, everyone we loved was there; it truly was a "family dinner." Meghan was playing outside, chasing gnomes, while Ron and Hermione bickered as usual. The rest of the family were busy helping Mum with the food preparations, all except for Fred and George, who were huddled in the corner of the room, presumably plotting their next prank. Harry, strangely enough, focused solely on me. He kept asking questions about how I was, if I enjoyed my job at a nursery school in the village nearby. He seemed genuinely interested in me, but I felt no attraction to him. Sure, he was handsome, funny, everything a girl could ever want. He just wasn't my type.

We knew something was wrong when we heard Meghan screaming outside. Percy hurried toward the door, but was thrown backward when somebody blasted the door apart; Penny ran to his side. In marched the Death Eaters, too many to count, every one of them with their wands drawn. They began firing off curses at us. We fought back as best we could; many Death Eaters were killed. However, they outnumbered us and soon we found ourselves bound and gagged.

Lord Voldemort, or Tom as I had known his all those years ago, came into the room. Hell would freeze over before I would call him Voldemort, and I would have cut my throat before I would call him "Lord". He looked around at all of us, apparently pleased by the deadly glares he received from my family. When he spoke, chills went through my body.

"Fancy meeting you all here," he said smoothly, his red eyes drifting over everyone present. His eyes lingered when he met mine; I knew in that moment he remembered everything I had written in the diary.

"This, my friends, will be a historical day," he said. "This is the day that I will wipe the Weasleys and Harry Potter from the face of the earth."

Harry began struggling fervently against his bonds. Voldemort waved his wand and our gags disappeared, we were able to speak again.

"You bastard!" were the first words out of Harry's mouth. "You killed my parents and countless others, and STILL you see the necessity to come after me and the people I care for."

"Poor boy...fame has clearly gone to your head, hasn't it?" Voldemort chuckled. "Not everything is about you." With those words, I knew it was me he had come for. Again, Voldemort fixed his eyes upon me and I heard my family gasp with alarm. One of the Death Eaters came over and roughly pulled me up from the floor. Voldemort swept over, placed his bony fingers around my neck, and lifted me off the ground. My feet no longer touched the floor; I wasn't able to breath.

"It's been such a long time since I've seen you, Ginevra," he sneered. "Such a pity, despite the credulity, I always thought you had the potential to become powerful." He threw me against the wall; I slid down, gasping for air. After a moment, I managed to say something.

"Scared, Tom?"

I was right and he knew it too. I had hit a nerve and he became enraged.

"Crucio!" screamed Voldemort. I writhed in pain, but did not cry out. Though he did not show it, I knew it infuriated him that I didn't scream in pain. Finally, he relented, lifting the curse from me, but instead turned to my family and began torturing them. Even now, I can hear their screams; see the terror in their eyes. He cursed me again, torturing me until I passed out.

When I finally came to, I could not remember where I was. I looked around; I was on an unfamiliar street, but I realized I was in a wizarding village (wizarding villages are easy to spot with the odd houses and garden gnomes). I didn't know how long I had been unconscious, but it was now dark. I began searching for a pub; you could buy newspapers there and I knew the attack on my family would be in the papers. Finally finding a pub, I wrenched the door open and ran inside. I knew that I would find the answer to my question here.

"Was my family alive?"

I snatched a newspaper from the stand and looked at its headline.

HARRY POTTER, THE BOY-WHO-LIVED, BRUTALLY MURDERED ALONG WITH THE WEASLEY FAMILY AND MUGGLEBORN WITCH, HERMIONE GRANGER

I fainted; my last conscious thought was... "My life is over."