Author's note: Most of the characters belong to the legendary JK Rowling, may she live forever.

Matt was still playing on the Genesis when he became aware of footsteps in the hall. Normally, it wouldn't make him pause, but he couldn't recognise the footsteps. He knew his parents' footsteps as well as his sister's, and those didn't belong to them. They were heavier, somehow.

He glanced at the alarm clock and saw it was almost three in the morning. He laid down the controller and turned off the TV and the console. He sat still for a moment, straining his ears, and the footsteps came again – near his parents' bedroom, as far as he could make out. There was the sound of an object crashing to the floor. That decided him.

Grabbing his bat, he opened the door to his sister's room. They rarely used the door that separated their two bedrooms, now that they weren't kids anymore. He made his way to the bed as quietly as he could. She always slept with the curtains open, for some reason, and thanks to the moonlight – the full moon had occurred just a few days ago – he could see as well as if he'd switched the light on.

"Evey," he whispered, "wake up."

She stirred drowsily. "Wuzzgoinon?"

"I think there's someone in the house," he explained in hushed tones.

She was much more awake, all of a sudden. Her eyes flew open, and she sat up in the bed. "Are you sure?" He nodded. "Downstairs?" she asked.

"No, here in the corridor, I think."

"That's weird. What sort of stupid thief would come upstairs and risk getting caught?" She shook her head in puzzlement, then seemed to notice his bat. "What are you doing with that? Matt, it's a person, not a zombie. You're not supposed to bash people's head in, even if they're breaking and entering. With a father who works in law enforcement, you should know that, and also that legitimate defence is not as easy to prove as people think."

Even in the middle of the night, barely awake, she could be annoying. "What do you propose, then? And what if he has a gun, huh?"

"I'm not sure what good the bat will do if he has a gun, silly." She stood up. "I'll get my wand, just in case, but most likely he'll run off when we open the door. They usually do," she said matter-of-factly.

"I thought you weren't supposed to use it when there are… Muggles... around."

"I can use it to defend myself. That's why I said 'just in case'." He rolled his eyes at her but said nothing as she opened the drawer where she kept her wand when she was home.

He saw her frown. "What?"

"It's gone," she murmured.

"Gone? Your wand is gone?" he repeated stupidly. "Holy shit!"

"As you say." She turned around. She had gone very pale. "Matt, we need to get out of here."

"Well, you probably put it somewhere else, that's all. You're not particularly orderly," he pointed out, indicating the clothes scattered around the room.

She shook her head. "No, I always put it there. You don't understand, Matt. There's no time. We're in danger. We need to get out, and fast." She walked toward the window and looked outside. "We'll need to jump, but it's not very high."

"Out the window? Are you crazy?" he asked her incredulously. The fall would certainly not kill them, but they would break some bones for sure.

"Just do what I say!" She was starting to panic, he could tell. Hell, she looked ready to cry. Why was she so scared, all of a sudden? She was the one who'd told him he was being silly!

Before he could try to reason with her, the door that led to the corridor banged open.

The man who stepped in was the biggest he had ever seen. He was at least 6'8'' and built like a WWE fighter. His grey hair matted his face and he was grinning in a disturbing manner. His teeth were stained and looked oddly sharp, as if they'd been filed. He seemed to be covered in mud, but in the moonlight, it was hard to tell… Surely it couldn't be blood? The man had a wand in each hand, and Matt recognised Evey's as one of them.

The man certainly didn't look like a common thief. Matt put himself in front of his sister, who stood frozen near the window, and he raised the bat protectively. "Don't come any closer!" His voice shook a little. "My father is armed, so you'd better get out of here while you can, you creep."

The man let out a barking laugh. "How adorable," he said in a rasping voice. He had a faint accent, possibly German, or Eastern European. "The foolish knight in shining pyjamas steps in to defend the princess." He laughed again. "Lad, your daddy ain't coming to save you, not tonight. Or any other night," he added with a feral grin. He started to walk toward them. "You should have listened to your sister and run while you could. You might even have made it out alive. It's not you I'm after."

"Who the hell are you?" Matt asked. The terror was clear in his voice now, but that was the last thing on his mind. "What do you want?" The man stopped in front of him. His eyes were an odd honey colour and they seemed to reflect the light of the moon that filtered through the window. "Step back! Last warning!" He raised the bat higher and prepared to swing it with all his might.

"What a pity. You would have made a decent cub," the man said cryptically as he picked Matt up and threw him across the room as if he weighed nothing. He heard Evey scream, but then he landed against the wall, head first, and the world faded out of focus.