Chapter 1: The Arrival

The train shuddered and jolted nervously as it clamored down the track bound for London. Will sat next to a window near the front of the train. He was riding backwards, and with every turn of the track, Will could see the rest of the train cars following doggedly like ducklings in a pond. Initially Will had chosen his seat as an ideal place to watch the other passengers as they drifted in and out. But it was Christmas Day and there were few passengers.

Will watched as the golden sunbeams from another dying day entered filtered carelessly through the windows of the train. The warm light changed the train – the cold steel lining the windows and the hard backed chairs around him seemed less harsh, if not even a little inviting. For the first time in a long time, Will succumbed to the peace of the moment and finally allowed his weary eyes to stop Watching.

The moment was over only too soon.

Will's eyes snapped open when suddenly a familiar rush of cold air filled the compartment. In an instant, his body was pulled tight like a bow string as he scanned the train car with the eyes of an Old One. But as soon as the howling wind appeared, it disappeared as the door connecting to the outside closed with a bang.

"Grandpa! Grandpa! Wow, what a pretty sunset!"

Will blinked. The voice had come from a very young girl who had just entered the train car. Beside her Will could see that her small hands tugged excitedly at the wrist of an older man whose salt and pepper hair spoke volumes about his age. From the long, slender white cane that rested in his wrinkled hands and dark tinted glasses which covered his eyes, Will knew that the man was blind.

"Carmen," the man laughed, "slow down! You make an old man trip over his feet!"

"Yes, Grandpa," Carmen said in a sing-song voice. "Do I get to pick were to sit this time Grandpa?"

The man paused then nodded. Carmen let out a small 'Yay!' and promptly led her grandfather to the seat directly across from where Will was sitting. Immediately, she let go of her grandfather's wrist and plastered her face against the window as if trying to absorb as much of the beautiful dimming sunlight as possible. The old man chuckled then stopped, and turned his head in Will's direction.

Will, who had not made a single noise since their entrance, felt the hairs at the back of his neck rise slightly. He could not see the man's eyes behind the dark glasses, but somehow Will could feel the intense scrutiny under the man's gaze. The sharpness in man's look faded slightly after a moment, and the skin around the man's eyes crinkled as he smiled friendlily.

"I apologize if we startled you earlier. The wind is pretty strong outside the train and I imagine our entrance may have been quite loud."

Suddenly finding his voice, Will shook his head. "No, it's quite alright. The noise wasn't that loud."

The man nodded, saying nothing, and felt his way to the seat next to Carmen. The girl was still watching intently as the sun began to sink over the horizon. The light in the train was growing dimmer by the moment, and Will had to squint to make out the man's hand as he laid his hand gently on the Carmen's soft head of hair.

"Carmen, you shouldn't look into the sun."

"Why not?" she turned and peered at him curiously. Will repressed a laugh at the typical seven year old response.

"Because it's bad for your eyes, dear."

"Oh…okay…" Carmen looked once more at the sunset then tore her eyes reluctantly away from the window. "Grandpa?"

"Yes?"

"I'm hungry."

The man looked uncomfortable for a long moment. Then he said gently, "Once we get to London I'll get you the biggest, most delicious slice of mince meat pie I can find, but until then can you bear the hunger?"

Before she could respond, Will had already found in his bag the small apple he had been saving for later. Gently Will reached over and touched the man's arm. "Here," he said, pushing the red apple into the man's palms, "I'm sorry, I only have one."

The man turned his sightless eyes to Will, and his gaze was filled with a mixture of relief and gratefulness. The older man handed the apple to Carmen and said, "Thank you."

The trio fell into a friendly silence broken by the sounds of Carmen happily munching on the ripe apple. By the time the sun had sunken below the horizon, she was already licking the remaining juice from her small fingers. After she was done, Carmen hastily wiped her sticky hands on her pants, and then let out a tremendous yawn. Her eyes blinked sleepily as she laid her head down in the shelter of her grandfather's right arm.

Suddenly the train was a glow with bright lights. There was a quiet buzz of the electricity as each light blinked into existence. "Thank you again for the apple. It has been some time since Carmen has last eaten. I did not get the chance to buy some food this afternoon." Even though the man could not see Will's questioning glance he continued, "We have been on the road for a long time."

Will chuckled, "I can relate to that."

The man arched an eyebrow, but did not comment. Instead he held out his left hand to Will and said, "I don't think I have introduced myself. My name is Tadhg Hayes. Most people can't wrap their tongues around the vowels so they call me Tad for short."

"Tadhg. Gaelic for 'poet', right?" said Will asked. Without waiting for a response, he reached and shook Tad's hand, "It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is William, but I usually go by Will."

The old man did not notice Will's omission of his last name. "Your accent is British and yet you understand Gaelic. A linguist, then?"

"No," Will said, "I just like to learn about other cultures and languages. It's… a hobby of sorts."

"Interesting…. As a child I used to love staring at the stars. My hobby was to dream of a place or a life far away from my reality," said the old man shifting in his seat, "Speaking of stars, Will, what they look like tonight? I have not seen them in such a long time."

Will looked outside. The moon was new, and the sky was dark in the absence of her silver light. The earth itself was also dark as a thick, formless fog had completely engulfed everything in the landscape. The only thing cutting through the black nothingness was the dim, glow of the small lights above him. A memory of a similar train and a similar passage through the Dark elbowed its way to the front of his mind. Despite himself, Will shivered.

He turned back to the blind man. On the lenses of the man's dark glasses Will saw his own ghostly reflection. "They shine as they always have," Will said, "But tonight, the stars have gone into hiding behind the fog and the clouds."

The old man laughed softly. "Good, good."

This was not the answer Will was not expecting.

"You are wise not to lie to a sightless old man, Will," the blind man smiled and continued by way of explanation, "I may have lost my eyesight, but I am not completely in the dark. My joints ache tonight so there is probably more moisture in the air."

Will grinned, "Do you always test strangers like this, or am I just special?"

"A little of both I guess," the old man chuckled.

"You know, the stars do still shine tonight," Will pointed out, "The difference is that most people can't see them behind every else."

"Ah… the technicality of a lawyer you have. Most people don't see that far. Most mean to twist the truth and cover the rough edges with sugar coated words."

"Sometimes, they're only just trying to help."

"Most of the time, it causes more pain. Cripples are more resilient than what 'normal people' give them credit for."

A comfortable silence fell over the two. After a moment Will spoke up. "Traveling on Christmas evening is an interesting choice for a young girl and her grandfather."

Another long silence told Will he had asked the wrong question. Then before Will could change the subject again, the old man spoke.

"Carmen is dying." The three simple, unapologetic words made the shadows on the Tadhg's face deepen. Will did not miss how much older and wearier he looked. "We have been traveling, showering the cities searching for doctors who can help us with her condition. But no one – not a single one – was willing to help."

"The operation Carmen needs is highly experimental, and so far there have been no successful test trials in Great Britain. Those… those bloody doctors don't want to help because she might die. They don't want to save her because her death might put a permanent stain on their goddamn precious medical practice record." The waves of frustration rolled from the man's voice like an angry ocean crashing against a rocky shore.

"Why not take her to a country where the procedure has been successful?"

"We do not have enough money," the man said with a heavy sigh. The defeat in his voice was heart breaking. "And even if we did Carmen cannot fly on an airplane without complicating her condition."

"Does she know what is happening to her?"

"Tell me, Will. How would you explain death to a child?" The old man let out a harsh laugh. "A joke perhaps? 'Death is like blinking for an exceedingly long time' you could say. 'Death is an eternity of pushing daisies'? Or a serious explanation like 'Death is a journey after life' maybe?"

"What about the truth?"

"The truth? What bloody truth can I tell her?" the old man all but cried. "My girl is dying and I. Can't. Save. Her. I will have to bury another one of my children. No one as old as me should suffer through outliving their children!"

The sorrow and anguish in the old man's eyes was unbearable. A hundred different healing spells – all from the knowledge gifted by the Book of Gramarye – raced through in Will's mind. The words of Power flew to the very tip of his tongue, and Will was tempted, so tempted, to say them. But no matter how he tried, no matter what justification he gave, he could not violate the Rules. He was a Watcher, no more and no less, and his tongue stayed trapped behind his lips.

Except after a moment, Will spoke. "The truth that you should tell her is that you don't know what death is. You should tell her that death is something you have to find out about for yourself."

The old man snorted, "What good is that kind truth?"

Will leaned his elbows on his knees and stared at the blind man intensely, "I don't know, but a man on a train once told me that 'Cripples are more resilient than what 'normal people' give them credit for.' It sounded like good advice at the time."

The old man stared at Will for a moment with his hands clasped tightly together on his lap. "Yeah…" he said distantly, "Yeah."

A loud scratchy voice from the overhead speakers broke the long silence. "Attention passengers. We are coming up to King's Cross Station, please gather your belongings and prepare for arrival."

The darkness on the old man's face eased and he managed a small smile. "Did you hear that, Carmen?" he whispered to the child resting on his arm, "We're here, and I can go buy that nice piece of pie for you now if you're still hungry."

Getting no response, he nudged the girl gently. "Carmen? It's time to wake up, child. We've arrived at London."

But she did not respond. Tadhg began to shake her, slightly at first, then harder and harder as each moment brought a growing urgency – a growing panic. His voice echoed loudly, hollowly in the compartment before it finally cracked and faded with the onslaught of disbelieving tears.

Carmen would never open her eyes again.

oOoOoOoOo

"Kid! Hey kid!"

Will raised his eyes and stared at the cab driver through the rear view mirror of the taxi.

"You know, I could drive all night, but unless you give me a place to drive to, I'll just be going in circles," the cab driver said. "Not that I mind, you'll be paying my bills either way."

"Oh, sorry," Will said. "Could you please take me to Charing Cross Road?"

"It's a long road, kid. Can you be more specific?"

Will shrugged apologetically, "I'm actually not sure of the exact address. I'm looking for a bookstore that is right next to a record store. I'm sorry, I can't be more specific, but do you know where that is?"

"Yeah, I do," the cabbie stared at the rear view mirror, "There's only one place like that on Charing. You sure you want to go there?"

"Yes, please."

"Look, there are stories about strange folk who like to gather over there after dark. They dress in queer looking clothing and they burn enough pipes to cover an entire block in smoke. Places aren't as safe as they used to be, and that definitely is one you want to steer clear from."

"Thanks, but I think I'll be okay. You can just drop me off a on the block nearest the store, if you're not comfortable driving through there."

The cabbie looked as if he wanted to say more, but instead grumbled something about harebrained teenagers and fell silent. Will settled himself deeper into the soft seats of the taxi cab. The cab was too quiet. Unbidden, memories of the night – of the frantic rush from the train station to the hospital and of hearing the doctor pronouncing Carmen dead at 1:27 in the morning – began to filter though Will's head. Then the cab driver spoke again.

"Kid, you look worse for wear," he said looking in the rear mirror, "I'll tell you when we're at your bookstore. You get some sleep. Don't worry I won't drive in circles while you're not watching."

"I'm not sleepy."

"Of course you aren't."

Will was about to give a come back when, suddenly, the Old One in his mind flashed into awareness. "Did you feel that?" he asked quickly without thinking. A warning boomed deep in the recesses of Will's mind as his eyes narrowed and scanned the houses around the car.

"What?"

"Nevermind. I need you to circle back around and go down the block we just passed. Quickly!"

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

The cab driver, confused, signaled immediately at the next light and made a U-turn. "Which block do you want me to turn on?"

"The second one to the left – the one named Privet Drive," Will said, "Where in London are we?"

"Southwest. Little Whinging, Surrey. Kid, what's going on?" the cab driver demanded. Will ignored him.

"Stop here, please!"

"Tell me what's going on!"

"I really need you stop here!"

"Like hell, I'm stopping here. Listen, I don't like trouble, and I am defiantly not going to go out of my way to risk anybody's neck you understand?"

"I don't have time for this!" Will cursed, lifting his right hand and pointing it at the driver.

"Then you'd better – remember to give my regards to your parents when you get home. Tell them I wish them a Happy New Year's Day!"

"I will thank you. You can let me off here – I can walk the rest of the way."

"Oh sure, sure," the cab driver said agreeably as he pulled over to the curb, "You take care now, kid."

"I hope you have a good holiday. Bye!" Before the cab driver could respond, Will had already paid the fare, and exited the taxi with his bag slung haphazardly over his shoulder. He barely noticed the cab as it drove away back to the main road.

Briskly, Will walked up the street lined with the perfectly symmetrical houses that were the hallmark of Privet Drive. In each yard, the perfectly trimmed bushes matched the evenly mowed lawns. Through every window, the same Christmas tree seemed to glitter and shine its light onto the street. Even without the growing warning of the Dark in the back of his mind, Will still would have felt chills down his spine.

Gripping his pack tighter, Will broke out into a fast walk down the road. As the numbers of the houses went up, so did the volume of the echoes of warnings in his mind. Will came to a stop at house number 4.

As he read the address Will snorted and muttered to himself, "Tell me the Dark doesn't have a sense of humor."

"You got a problem with our house?"

Will turned and saw the voice belonged to an obese blond boy with oily matted hair. A slender cigarette, still smoldering red embers at its tip, rested delicately between the chubby fingers of the boy's hands. Despite himself, Will raised an eyebrow and responded.

"In many Asian languages the number 'four' has the same sound as the word 'death'. It's an irony."

"For what?"

"Well for one thing," Will said absently, preoccupied with the house. As he spoke he began to weave a spell in his mind, "Even though you live in a house named death, it is that cigarette and your smoking habit which will ultimately be your murderer."

The boy bristled visibly, "Are you insulting me!"

"Nope, only your stupid choice of habit."

"How dare–"

Will didn't bother taking his eyes off the house when he pointed at the fat boy and froze him in time. The warning of the Dark in his mind pounded painfully at the forefront of his consciousness. Will's brows creased slightly from the throbbing pressure. He was puzzled. From where he stood, there were no visible signs of the Dark – no dark shadow or mist springing from crevices and crannies.

As he probed deeper, Will discovered the reason. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw that the entire of the structure was completely infused with a dense, highly complex web of magic that shivered and shimmered like a living shield. The magic surrounded the house in a sphere of golden light. The sphere was made of thin, wispy strands of energy that drifted lazily around the surface and interior of the shield.

"Is this man-made?" Will asked himself in amazement.

The magic felt like Wild Magic, but the complex weaving suggested a control which was not Wild. It was the first time he had seen something made by a human that was so close to the higher orders. Who ever made the ward was an excellent magic weaver, and by the strength of the magic, the Crafter was still alive and strong. Will scratched his head. He would have to be extremely careful not to alert the owner of the shield.

Will grinned. His face for the first time in a long time looked like the young man he was. This was the kind of challenged he liked.

Taking a deep breath to gather his thoughts, Will whispered the word of Power. Suddenly, his mind was plunged into the complex labyrinth of shield's spells. As his mind flew past the outer wards, Will saw and dodged the golden words which linked the spells together. He laughed in pure elation as his mind's eye zigzagged, spiraled, and zipped through the shield. The deeper he traveled, the denser the magic, but Will never missed a beat and never slowed down.

Finally Will slowed to a stop at the entrance way of the house. The final ward was the hardest one yet. Slowly Will began to chant a counter manipulation spell and the word strings before him began to change.

Suddenly, there was another presence above him. Through an opening in the shield he saw the dark wisps of a black figure cloaked in a tattered black cloth fly past high in the sky. A chill that seemed to cut directly into the bone spread around Will and he shivered uncontrollably.

"What the…?"

The shield, which had been lazy and even playful a moment before, changed with the threat of this new presence. The light golden strands turned bright cerulean, and they immediately began to speed up their pace. The energy spun faster and faster as it slowly began to constrict and shrink into itself like an alarmed pill bug curling into a protective ball.

The temperature dropped even more. A chorus of high pitched screaming cut through the night like a knife as more of the cloaked creatures joined in.

"Crap!" Will said through chattering teeth when he saw that his narrow escape route back out of the shield had collapsed into itself. "This is not good! If my mind gets trapped in here… think, think!"

Will stared at the bright blue energy shield which threatened to crush his mind, and he stared at the Shadows surrounding the outside of the shield. Even if he did make it out of the shield without being mentally damaged, he'd be caught by the Shadows. Will grimaced. There was only one way.

"So much for an incognito operation, eh, Stanton?" Will muttered himself.

Then he pushed himself into the matrix of the blue magic.

The shield shuddered and turned bloody red. The sphere immediately recognized an intruder. Will clenched his teeth in pain as magic began to burn and claw mercilessly into Will's mind. The excruciating pain was so real, and for a few moments, Will forgot how to breathe as the shield's energy tore away at his consciousness. Then Will began to shape his spell in his mind. After what seemed like an eternity, Will managed to get enough air to finish his spell.

"C-capio!" he gasped through clenched teeth.

The result was instantaneous.

The shield shuddered again. Will saw the blood red turn a brilliant white. As the shield grew brighter, it became visible to human eyes, and it began to expand. The pure light pulsated energy that seemed to physically shake all of Privet Drive. Rays of light shot up and the Shadows screamed as the light cut its way through their dark cloaks.

In a matter of moments the unearthly shrieking was gone, and the light winked out of existence.

Will staggered once more in his physical body in front of house number 4. Though physically he was fine, the mental strain of the spell was clear upon his face. He knew he had to leave immediately, but still Will stood still for a few moments struggling to catch his breath.

"Ugh… my head…." Will groaned, squinting against the pounding headache. "I am never ever going to do that again…"

Will looked at the shield. Once again the magic was unthreatened and golden in color. However, Will could still sense the stubborn aura of the Dark. The light blast may have harmed the Shadows, but the throbbing of the Dark was ever present in Will's mind.

"God… all that work for nothing," Will rubbed his eyes tiredly. "You really suck you know that, Dark!"

Then Will remembered the frozen boy next to him. An idea formed in Will's head. There was a loud 'BANG!' just down the road and Will knew that he was no longer alone. Working fast, Will took out a small pair of scissors from his pack and snipped off a lock of the fat boy's blonde hair. Will also took a small white marble out of his pocket and placed it inside the fat boy's pocket.

"I am sorry to involve you in this," Will said, "But I will need your help to finish this. Farewell for now."

Will pointed the spread out fingers of his right hand at the boy, and said two Words.

"- you insult me…"

The unfrozen boy finished his sentence with wide eyes. Will Stanton was gone and in his place, seven fully-cloaked Aurors stood before him with their wands pointed unerringly between the boy's eyes. The fat boy said the first intelligent thing that came to his mind.

"Huh?"

oOoOoOoOo

Author's Note:

Wow, huge thank you to all of you who reviewed! Lembas7 is absolutely right in saying that I am relatively new to fanfiction writing. (I can use all the help I can get!) This is my first chapter story so there are challenges like character development and plot consistency that I have never needed to keep in mind before. Norah-hunt and Sweden's Pride, I will try to make the chapters longer too!

This chapter was a little slow… okay, so it was very slow, but I promise to tie these plot threads together soon after my finals. Please bear with me and please, please, please, please keep reviewing!

Thanks a lot guys!

B.S.