Disclaimer: All HP characters belong to JK Rowling. The story is mine, but even that isn't very original.

Notes: This prologue contains a detailed rape and murder scene. If that is something you'd rather not read, please feel free to skip to chapter 1. The story is AU after book 5. I hope you like it.

Robert

He stood in the shadows, watching her...hating her. He hated everything about her, from her red hair and freckles to her figure and clothing. She stood on the corner, laughing with someone. Her smile pierced him. Why should she be so happy? It was wrong for her to be so happy. He hated her--he hated all of them. He emerged from the shadows and approached her, masking his contempt as he did so. When he was a few feet away from her, he stopped and stared at the ground, hands in his pockets.

She turned from her friend, and eyed him up and down. "Wot's your pleasure, honey?" she asked, smiling.

"I d-don't know, I've n-n-never d-done this before." He smirked mentally, but was careful not to let it show on his meticulously-schooled face. This was a favorite persona of his; it set them at ease.

She turned back to her friend. "I'll see you later, May, got to get to work."

May smiled and replied, "Me too, luv. Laters." Her friend moved down the block some and took her place on the curb.

She turned back to him; he was still studying the pavement. "S'all right, luv, I won't bite, not 'less you want me to." He carefully counted to three before looking up at her face, a move that was well practiced. He gave a slight smile. "There now, wot's your name?"

"R-Robert, what's y-yours?"

"Wot d'you want it to be, luv?"

"Rachel," he said it fast, too fast. Damn, he had to calm down and lull her back into security. Fortunately, she didn't seem to notice.

"Rachel it is, luv. Do you have a car, or some place we can go?" She caressed his chest suggestively. The bitch had the gall to touch him! She was going to pay.

"I have a car, it's p-parked over th-th-there." He led her to a car (it wasn't his - he wasn't stupid) and they got in and drove through the city. He glanced at her from time to time, as they passed dozens of suitable places to conduct their business. She was starting to get nervous. She was good at hiding it, better than the others had been, but she was nervous; he could smell it. He locked the doors and delighted in her involuntary shutter. "We're almost there," he said, dropping the persona. She noticed. He knew that she noticed the change, but she hid it; she was good.

She shrugged. "S'your money." She turned her head to look out the window. Oh, she was nervous. He pulled the car over into the park, and unlocked the door for her; he could see her weighing her options in her mind. 'Do I run? Where could I go?' Heh... they never ran, and even if they did, he could stop them. But they never ran.

He opened his door and stepped out. She did the same, choosing to put her fears aside and continue as though nothing had changed. Everything was perfect; he even decided to lull her back, to give her one last feeling of ease, of control. "Is this a good p-p-p-place? We could go some p-place else, if you'd r-r-r-rather."

She smiled at him. "No, luv, this is just fine, how would you like me?"

He produced a blanket from the back seat of the car and spread it on the ground. "T-take off your c-clothes," he directed. Over time he'd refined his system to an art form - things were much easier when they undressed themselves. He watched her as she unashamedly stripped before him. As he admired her milky skin and well-formed breasts, he was overcome with desire. He liked this one - but wait he didn't like her, he hated her. The bitch was going to pay for making him want her! Angry with himself over his weakness, he rushed at her, threw her onto the blanket and took her. He gave her a taste of his anger, his hatred. As he thrust into her, he pulled out the knife that he always kept with him and savagely sliced open her throat. Her life force drained from her. She struggled, but it was pointless… the damage was done. Still, he continued to thrust into her as her gasps for air and the gurgling sent him into an erotic frenzy. He watched her blood pool around her, growing ever darker the more it flowed from her wound. A look of pure fear adorned her face as she died. He loved that look. He stared into her vacant eyes as he climaxed; it was the only time he ever made eye contact.

Withdrawing from her, he pulled his wand out of his pocket and got to work. "Scourgify," he muttered, as the blood removed itself from his clothes. He cast several more cleaning charms, removing the rest of the blood from the area. Next, he cast a charm to remove all of his semen from her and rendered her body completely clean. He then took a blade of grass from the ground, transfigured it into a crimson rose and set it next to her. God she was beautiful; they all were after he removed their taint. He posed her provocatively and took several pictures. He was using wizard film; the background would move as a breeze blew through the grass and trees of the surrounding area, but she would not. She would never move again. Good. He tenderly braided her long red hair and cut the ponytail off. After pocketing the braid he went back to work and magically removed all evidence of his fingerprints from the car and from her body. Once he was satisfied that all of his physical evidence had been removed, he blew her a kiss and Apparated to his home.

Thanks to Chained by Epiphany for the chapter title and first sentence, to Kazfeist for the QAD beta, and thanks to you for reading.