Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; JK Rowling does. But I do own any characters I made and the story plot.

The Devil's Knight

Prologue: The Things that Go Bump in the Night

It was so soft at first that Lily did not even take notice of it; the soft scraping that was moving from the window slowly over to the bed. The bed shifted softly as more weight was added to the bed by her feet. Lily tensed up, waiting for the ineludible. It happened so quickly that Lily actually lost her breath for a second.

"Sirius, you bring that blanket back right now mister," Lily growled as she sat up. She looked over at the intruder. The black lab was on the floor once more; the corner of her quilt was still clutched between his teeth. The young pup bounced happily now that Lily was looking at him. Dropping the quilt, he jumped on to the window seat. Sirius began to bark at the window.

"Shh, Sirius, you're going to wake up the entire house."

Lily crawled out of her bed and walked over to the window. Looking outside, she noted that a soft rain had begun to fall, making the quite woods that hid the house seem more serious and brooding than usual. Lily reached out and scratched the young pup behind his ears; she marveled at how the black lab was almost fully grown after a year. Sirius paid no attention to Lily's attempts to sooth him as he began to paw at the window as he barked at the phantom he saw.

"Sirius, there is no one there—" The young pup jumped off the window seat and nudged his nose in to the crack between the door and the seal, opening the door enough to allow him to sneak through.

Lily groaned as she grabbed her sweater from the end of her bed and slipped on her shoes. Grabbing her wand from her night stand, she through her door open the rest of the way and chased down the stairs, heading for the back door off the kitchen. Silently cursing her younger self who had begged her father to put in a small door for Sirius, she ran out the door.

"Sirius, where are you boy?" The trees stared back in silence as the rain began to fall harder. Lily pulled up her hood as she swished her wand. "Lumos."

The light from her wand did very little to help with her visibility. She could only see the few feet in front of her as she looked around the backyard. Leaving the groomed yard, Lily began making her way through the evergreens that enclosed her family's house. She grew impatient as the minutes passed with no sign of the young pup.

"Sirius, I have a nice, juicy bone—"

A black figure ran on the other side of the evergreen to Lily's right.

"There you are, you naughty little thing," Lily chuckled as she ran to the side towards the moving figure. "Here boy, come here boy. Where are you boy?" Lily sang as she turned around a tree. "There you ar—"

The figure that Lily had been chasing stood up to full height. The figure was too tall to be Sirius. The figure was a man. Panic gripped at her throat as she tried to take in a breath. Lily knew that her stomach had dropped before the figure had turned around. Her eyes trailed up from his feet to see that he wore only black robes. But there was one thing that stood out of his appearance, he had a silver mask.

Lily felt herself freeze; she couldn't move no matter how much her mind screamed at her to run. She watched in horror as the man turned towards her; he too, stared back at Lily. His unblinking eyes didn't leave her own. His stoic, silver eyes gaped back at her as if he himself was startled.

"Are you ready to go—"

A second man walked in to the clearing that Lily shared with the one who continued to watch her. Lily glanced back and forth between the two men; she felt her heart begin to beat with such a ferocious patter that she couldn't think. The second one took another step towards Lily as if he was trying to settle himself.

Lily didn't even notice that she was running until her lungs burned with lack of oxygen; the only sound she could hear over the rain was the slosh of her feet pounding against the ground and through puddles. The pine needles on the evergreens scraped against her check as ran past them. She could make out the roof of the house; she pushed herself harder, she could feel her legs begin to burn with exhaustion. As soon as she saw the second story windows, she began to scream.

"Dad! Dad! Help! Dad!"

Her screams grew ragged by the end due to her lack of breath while running. She knew that her father wouldn't be able to hear her over the rain from her parents' bedroom; despair gripped her already iritic heart. Just a few more trees and then she would be there. She would be safe.

"Lily?"

She almost stumbled out of shock. As she cleared the last few trees, she saw a small light. The kitchen light had been turned on, and there standing in the door was something that calmed her fears. He ran the last few feet towards her as she smashed in to him wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. She had always felt cared for in her father's arms. She didn't care that they were getting rained on, or that his sweater offered none of its usual warmth. She felt safe. And tonight was no different. She felt herself break down as she finally let her mind catch up to what had just happen.

"Lily, what is it, what's wrong?" Harry asked his daughter, trying to sooth her.

"Dad, there were two of them." Lily sobbed.

"Two what?"

"Death Eaters."

Merry Christmas! Thank you to those who have been so loyal to this story and stuck with me. I have the next three chapters written and know where I am taking this story. I have rewritten much of the story to produce a more believable and engaging plotline. Thank you for your support, and for joining me on a new adventure.