Chapter 1

I sat on a stool polishing the bench and looked around to see the usual dreary mood of the customers in my uncle's shop. Any other eleven year old girl would hate to be living here, but this was my paradise. "Ariana," I turned to see Uncle Abeforth at the tap, "Take these." He said, handing me two big jugs of fire-whiskey. I took them with care as not to tip them and walked over to the table I knew they belonged to. As I put the second jug down a hooded man grabbed my arm. I kept my calm and shifted my weight so nobody in the room could see this exchange "How many?" he asked. He was referring to Aurors. Ever since Voldemort had come into power, the Hog's Head, my uncle's shop had been absolutely crawling with them. "I know for certain there's one," I said, "But there's a new face here. One is sitting at the bench by the tap – the third seat to the left and the new face is at the table on your far right." He let go of my hand and produced a galleon and handed it to me. With lightning speed I took it and pocketed it before moving on. The customer's at the Hog's Head were generous with their tips, but I kept all of this from Uncle Abe. He didn't like me talking to the customers. I sat on my stool and began wiping an old photo that was on the bench, it was a picture of a girl – the original Ariana. The sister my Uncle had lost. "Go to bed Ariana," Uncle Abe commanded watching me stare at the picture. I jumped off the stool and dusted myself off "Okay," I said and lifted myself up onto my tip toes and kissed him on the cheek "Good night," I said.

"Good night," he answered I went into the back and opened a door that led to the cramped house that Uncle Abe also owned. More photos of the original Ariana haunted me – telling me that though I had adopted her name, my uncle would never love me as much as he did her. I climbed a pile of stairs before getting into the closet of a room I owned and changed into an old white dressing gown and crawled into bed. Uncle Abe had gone quiet ever since I had received my letter to Hogwarts. I could tell he didn't want me to go – his brother was the headmaster there and he loathed his brother, but at the same time the reminder of what happened to Ariana haunted him and he knew he had to let me go or else my powers would explode out of me. I turned in my bed and closed my eyes, if he thought I'd abandon him for his brother he needn't worry. I loved him as much as a father. I relaxed and let sleep take me.

"Adeline!" I turned to see my little sister with her bright eyes waving at me, "You have to help me or else Marcel will beat me again!" I turned to see my little brother looking at the game of chess with an already triumphant grin on his face. I picked her up and sat on her stool and placed her on my lap and looked at the game of chess "That's not fair Lucy!" Marcel cried, "Of course she'll win." I had a knack for chess and I moved Lucy's queen a few paces and smiled, I already knew what I had to do to win. Marcel sensing I had already won still moved his pieces fruitlessly to waste time and his expression had turned dismal. "Mistress' and Master, your parents wish to see you," I turned to see Fetch, one of our house elves pointing at where to go with a slight bow. "Check mate," I called. Marcel growled and got up. Lucy climbed off my lap and raced over to Fetch and clasped onto his hand and he led her away. Lucy loved animals and though I wouldn't exactly have called the house elves animals, she doted over them. I got up and dusted myself off. Today was my father's birthday and the entire family had decided to come and celebrate. My grandparents – explorers in establishing an Australian magic school had come, my other grandparents who had retired in the countryside of Virginia in America had and my Uncles and Aunts who were scattered all around the globe had also come to celebrate my father's 45th birthday. I looked in the mirror and saw the pretty dress my mother had gotten for me. I had a plain, tanned face and plain eyes with a slightly crooked nose but my usually thick, bushy hair had been sleeked into a bun for today and I allowed myself to look at it in delight. If I were ever to look even close to pretty, today would be the day. I walked into the ballroom to see tables set up everywhere. "Adel!" I turned to see my pretty older sister Hazel call me. I smiled and saw she wanted me to clasp a bracelet onto her arm. I did it without a word and she hugged me "You look beautiful today!" she cried and I smiled – though kind she was awfully vain. I could see my two oldest twin brothers in smart tuxedo's talking amongst themselves. I had a lot of siblings, but that meant our large house was always filled with warmth and love. My beautiful mother descended down the stairs and my father waited at the bottom and took her hand in his. All my siblings had gotten some genetics from my mother which made them pretty, but I pretty much sucked up all my dad's genes. Though very kind and thoughtful, he was a plain looking man. Claps came from the large family and my father bowed "Thank you all for coming to my birthday bash. I look at all of you and am honestly filled with joy at seeing what a close and wonderful family I have. The only way I can even think of repaying all of you for all the happiness you've given me is to fill you up with food and wine – so enjoy!" he cried and the crowd laughed and cheered. They settled to eat and I made my way to my parents, but was picked up midway "My what a pretty little girl," I turned to see Aunt May before getting wrapped in one of her bone crushing hugs "How have you been dear?" she asked.

"Great, is Callum here?" I asked. He was my cousin and one of the only people who could come even close to beating me in chess. She laughed "He's right over there you cute little thing," she said and pointed me to her son. She kissed me on the cheek "You'd better come and see me by the end of this party or you'll break my heart," she said letting me down "I will," I promised before racing off to my dad. I threw my arms around him and he pulled me onto my lap "Adel? I didn't even recognise you," he said. I grinned broadly

"Now I can look a little bit like mother," I said cheerfully. My mother tinkled out a laugh and kissed me on the cheek "You look just like your father," she said, "I love the way you look."
"Of course you would," I said, "I mean you married him." My father and along with any relative who was within listening range burst into laughter. "To think I would be insulted by my own daughter on my birthday!" my father called and began tickling me. I burst into hysterics and tried to get his hands away from me. He stopped and cuddled me "Happy birthday dad," I said, "I hope you like my present." He smiled
"You and your siblings were the greatest gift I could ever ask for," he said. I smiled warmly before my mother took me and Lucy sat on his lap next. "You got your father's personality too you know," my mother said, rocking me on her lap, "You're a very sweet, kind and intelligent girl," she said, "Don't ever change."
"I won't," I promised and basked in my mother's attention.

I sat next to my father during the banquet and listened to him talk to his brothers and sisters. "I heard you're having trouble with aurors and the ministry," Aunt Jane said, worried.
"It's nothing," my father said waving it off, "They've been edgy about the main pure blood families since they've begun supporting you-know-who."

"I heard from Valery that Janus got attacked by an auror," Aunt Jane said, "You should be careful."

"Mm, I've heard of corrupt aurors," my father said, "I haven't let the children out much during the holidays. Maybe I'm being a little over protective." If he hadn't been letting us out I wouldn't know, this house was a haven to me. I loved being here with my family. "Maybe you should increase security. I mean the house is quiet open," Aunt Jane said. My father muttered a maybe.

"Why are they after you though?" Uncle Hobart asked.

"I gave charity to a few of the homeless shelters in London. Apparently some of them were housing Death Eaters and I've been accused of funding you-know-who's rise," my father said in a tone that made it sound like it was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard.

"It seems like England is gearing to war," my mother said worried, "It's all covert at the moment but both sides seem to be ready to attack at a moment's notice."
"Don't worry dear, we'll be safe," my father assured her. She seemed to relax a bit. My father saw me listening and his face went from worried to cheerful "Do you like the chicken?" he asked. I nodded eagerly and he laughed "Your mother made it," he said, "I dare say you may be the only who likes it." My mother shoved him playfully and he laughed.

Dinner was about to end and Callum had found his way to me. "Okay, I read a book about chess and it's taught me a few killer moves," he said. I grinned, chess wasn't about learning new moves, it was about reading the situation and using tactics to destroying your opponent so I wasn't worried. The talk had died down as the house elves worked to open up a space to begin dancing. My father got up and the crowd hushed "I hope you've all enjoyed the meal and I believe it is now time to dance. May I request to take the first dance with my beautiful wife?" he asked. He offered his hand to my mother and she smiled and took it, looking at him lovingly. Suddenly the house shook and everyone stopped moving. One of the house elves rushed in "Aurors sir!" he cried, "They're attacking the house." Chaos ensued as my usually calm and cheerful family began running frightened around the house "Everyone calm down!" my father called and they did as they were told "We have nothing to hide. I'm sure they'll just come and we can explain everything," he said. People looked edgy but they remained calm. My father turned to my mother "Take the children and get them out of here," he said quietly. My mother got up, looking more frightened then I had ever seen her as the house shook again. Suddenly, the window broke and aurors flew in, throwing hex after hex at my family. My family scattered and my father tried to ask for calm from the aurors and put his hands up in surrender. The head auror, a skinny man with beady eyes looked at him and a flash of green light erupted out of his wand and hit my father square in the chest. He fell back and I didn't see him stand ever again. My mother shrieked in fear and a female auror let another flash of light out at her and my mother's screams echoed as she fell back onto the floor. I sat there, looking at them in fear, my parents were dead. I quietly ignored the screams of my other relatives as the aurors rounded them up and shot at them and got over to my father and began shaking him, waiting for him to wake up, but he wouldn't. "Adeline," I turned to see Callum looking at me frightened, "We have to go." I knew we did so I let him grab my hand and drag me from my parent's corpses. I looked at their faces one last time before turning and running with Callum.

He'd found Lucy and Marcel hiding in a closet with the house elves defending them. "Mistress over here," Fetch cried and opened up the kitchen shoot which led to the bins outside. Lucy hesitated but I could hear footsteps in the hall and I took her and threw her down the shoot and Marcel followed. Both Callum and I jumped down in time and fell onto the soft bin bags before jumping down. It was night outside and the stars were out. We could see in the field outside our home aurors were flying over the wild wheat field growing and my family trying to fight back. I saw my twin brothers trying to duel four fully trained aurors and I could see them losing. "NO!" I shrieked and rushed over to them. I hadn't been thinking – what could I have done? I was only half way when one of my brother's died and in no time at all my other brother was shot down too. I heard a shriek behind me and I turned to see one of the aurors had grabbed Lucy, but she was surrounded by the four house elves that ran our household. I rushed back and tried to pull Lucy away as the house elves began to die and Lucy shrieked, trying to wake them up, but two other aurors came and one pulled me by the hair onto the ground and shoved my face into the dirt. "Take the children and round them up in the field," one of the men said. They dragged us over and we kicked and screamed but we could do nothing. I saw my dead relatives all around me. Aunt May was face down in the dirt and I could see she would not wake up again. "No!" I turned to see my sister throw a hex at my capture and I was released from his grip. I red hex flew at my sister and suddenly, she began to bleed litres of blood out. She fell to the floor, her face going white. I shrieked and raced up to her "No, please, stay alive!" I cried looking at my sister. She smiled weakly at me and handed me something. I looked down to see her bracelet in my hand. I looked back up to see her eyes had dimmed and she was dead. I was dragged by the hair back to Lucy, Marcel and Callum. The cries and flashes of light were beginning to die down. Someone trudged into the clearing and I saw the Head Auror smirking at us "Only survivors?" he asked.

"Yes sir," one of the other aurors said.

"Tell the minister that we were attacked," he said. Lucy waled beside me, but I was too shaken to say anything. The remaining aurors all came out in front of us and I counted thirty two. Thirty two fully grown aurors against my unarmed family. They say emotions can sometimes heighten your senses and it's true because I remember every detail on their faces. I would never forget those thirty two faces. "Somebody shut her up," the head auror said pointing to Lucy. One of the bulky men came up and was about to boot Lucy in the head but I threw myself at her and covered her up. A shield of sorts erupted out of me and covered her and the boot instead of hitting her, hit me and I fell to the floor and I blackened out.

I woke up and found myself back in my cramped room above the Hog's Head. That same dream haunted me all the time. I knew what happened next. I woke up to find Callum, Lucy and Marcel dead around me. They had probably assumed I was dead too, but they had made me suffer a much worse fate. I was the last survivor of my family, killed by corrupt aurors. I could do nothing but go back to my house and see if anyone had survived. Once there I saw robbers raiding my house. News of the massacre had spread and they wanted my family's possessions. When they saw me they chained me up and took me along with the possessions they had stolen. They were to sell me as a slave or a prostitute though I was only eight. They had stopped off at the Hog's Head for a drink and that was where I had met Uncle Abe. I knew my fate and had begged him to take me in. At first he was reluctant, but when he asked my name I had given him the false name of Ariana. I knew if I used my name the aurors would be back and they would kill me as well. It had been pure luck that had made it that his dead sister shared my name and due to that I was sold to Uncle Abe in return for the drinks the robbers had drunk. That had been three years ago. I had lived in the Hog's Head and helped Uncle Abe with the tavern for that time. Though we had a constant flow of usual customers, there was never really much money left to spend on things apart from essentials, so what I had found was that I could run 'errands' for these customers and they were more than happy to pay me quite generously. These errands usually included delivering packages and sometimes tailing people or gathering information and I found I was quite good at it too. Even after my family's massacre I would not call myself a Death Eater – no, I was not on anyone's side but my own. If a Death Eater was willing to pay me for my services then I would take it just as gladly as I would if an auror asked for my services. I knew it was dangerous working for both sides but since my parents had died I was simply waiting till my life also ended. If I were to die tomorrow at least it would put me out of my misery.

I got dressed and walked down to the tavern where my Uncle was already serving a few customers. For the customers of the Hog's Head even the morning was the right time to have a drink. I spotted a heavily hooded man and went up to him "Morning Uncle," I said smiling at him. I'd met him two years ago, he didn't say anything to anyone and nobody had ever seen his face. People were afraid of him and as a nine year old I had thought he was lonely because nobody wanted to play with him so I had befriended him. Nobody knew his name so I called him Uncle. At first he hadn't replied to my childish conversations but I had once gotten attacked by a dog outside the tavern and when I had come in, he'd healed me. Since then, I had grown close to him, but he was unreliable. He could sometimes be gone for months and you would think he was dead and he would just pop up out of nowhere again. This time he'd been gone for a few weeks. "You've grown," he murmured in his dark voice. I smiled

"My aims gotten pretty good too," I said as I began cooking some eggs for breakfast. It had been him who had introduced me to the idea of being an 'errand' girl to some of the customers at the tavern. It had also been him who had taught me how to fight the muggle way – so that even without a wand I would never, ever be as helpless as I had been the night my family had been murdered. He was also the only one that knew the complete extent of my identity. Though I had told Uncle Abe most of it, he still didn't know my real name. "Good," he said, sounding amused. He had stopped teaching me a couple of months ago saying the rest I would have to learn in real situations. The eggs fried and I served it up for Uncle Abe, Uncle and me. He handed me a galleon, but I pushed it back. I didn't except money from the little family I had. "I heard you'll be shopping for school supplies, you may need it," he said.
"I have enough," I said.

"Is it that you have enough or you don't want to be dependent on anyone?" he asked. He knew me too well. Ever since the accident I realised I was on my own and I could only rely on myself. Being dependant on people was dangerous. Even with Uncle Abe, I would move out as soon as I turned seventeen. "Both," I answered. He poured not only that galleon but a pile of more on to the table. I knew better than to ask him where he got it from. He never spoke about his personal life. "Use it for me," he said, "I want my niece to look nice for her first day of school," he said.

"Even if I took it," I said, ignoring the pile as I saw a few of the other hungry customer's eying the money with greed, "I would save it up for another time," I said.

"I have plenty more of that," Uncle said, "Use it for today." I sighed and looked at the customers who were standing on their seats and took it before a bar fight ensued. "Will you come with me?" I asked, "To buy my wand?"

"I have business," he said, as usual, "And you've left it awfully last minute."
"Well it's not like I'll be taking the train to Hogwarts – I mean it's right behind us and I could always come back for more supplies," I said. The school year would start off in tomorrow. He pulled out a completely covered hand from his cloak and produced a cage with a bird like thing which had four pawed limbs coming out of it "I heard you can take a pet," he said.

"A rat, a toad or an owl, not a runt griffon," I said taking the cage none the less. How had he found a griffon? No less how had he acquired a baby griffon. Female griffons were known to get incredibly aggressive when they had cubs. You could tell if a griffon was a runt by its proportions. This one was far more eagle than it was lion and it was much smaller. "Abandoned," he said, answering my silent question, "It's body couldn't take its mother's milk. It's too much bird, not enough lion." I lifted up on my stool and kissed his fully covered cheek

"I love it," I said looking at the runt, "But it'll grow." He put his hand into the cage and showed the collar that was bound onto its neck. It was red with a charm inscribed on it stopping the griffon from growing any more than the size it was now. "Poor thing," I muttered, only hunters tended to put those types of collars onto their beasts, but I would not be pulling it off. A fully grown griffon frightened me more than the sympathy I felt for the beast saddened me. "Enjoy Hogwarts and make some friends. I always think you act much older than your age," he said.

"Friends are dangerous," I said, "I could accidentally tell them who I really am and they might put me in Azkaban for that." He remained silent for a moment and I could tell he too though it would be better if I didn't make friends, "I'm going to Hogwarts to make a living for myself and to learn to defend myself, nothing more. Hopefully by the time I'm out I can maybe join you in whatever it is you do," I said. I could see him exhale which showed he was laughing

"Do you want to be with me that much?" he asked.
"You're the only family I have who likes me," I said.

"Abeforth does," he said.
"No, I'm a replacement for his sister," I said, looking upset, "That's why he takes care of me."
"Does it matter that you're a replacement? He still takes care of you," he said. I sighed

"Yeah, I guess it doesn't," I said, slowly.

"You should get going," he said, "The shops have opened."
"Will you be back before I go to school?" I asked, hopefully.

"No," he admitted.

"I wish I knew where you lived, then I could write to you," I said. His wand came out and he cast a spell on my griffon "There, it'll be able to track me now," he said. I frowned

"That's dangerous," I said.

"Nobody really knows I exist, but you," he said, "Why would anyone want to track nothing?" I nodded "I'll write to you then, as often as I can," I said.

"Learn as much as you can Ariana. If you want to join me, you must be incredibly intelligent," he said. I nodded "I'll try," I said and bid him goodbye before putting the new griffon in my room and leaving to go shopping.

What had actually put me off from shopping for school supplies had not been laziness, but fear. I was frightened of picking up a wand. Ever since I had seen what they could do that night with my family, I was always afraid one day it would turn on me and finish the job the aurors had begun. Ollivander's in Diagon Ally was the best wand maker in the world – but it also had the highest prices so instead I was at the wand maker in Hogsmeade. "Miss Ariana," I looked up to see Gilbert smiling at me. He didn't drink at the Hog's Head but most of Hogsmeade knew of me anyways – some even asked errands of me like Gilberts. "Looking for a wand?" he asked. I nodded and he smiled "I was afraid you'd go off to Ollivander's for one," he said as he turned and looked around for a wand. He came back with a few boxes and the sight of them made me pale. He laughed "Frightened?" he asked. I nodded slowly "There's nothing to be afraid of. A wand is simply a doorway for the magic within you to flow through and into the world," he said. So it hadn't been the wand that had killed my family but the ones holding it. He handed me a wand and I took it slowly and flicked it. A porcelain cat fell off his table and landed on the floor. "How about this one," he said and handed me another wand. This went on for hours, literally as I practically tried everything in the shop till a smooth and sleek looking one fitted perfectly in my hand. I tried it out and everything I had broken in his office fixed itself back up. He smiled, his face red from the amount of things I'd broken. "That's odd. I always thought that wand would be a rather weak one," he said.

"Did you make it?" I asked.

"No, there are a few craftsmen who go around the world making wands. I purchased it off one of them to see how good their craft is. I didn't think it was any good," he admitted.

"I'll take it," I said, feeling the helplessness I had felt for the past three year's wain even more.

The rest of the shopping was easy and when I was done I put all of it in a trunk I had and went down to help my Uncle Abe. "Heard you're going to Hogwarts," Fin, one of the regulars said drunkenly. He was a werewolf, but a friendly one at that. "What house do you want to be in?" he asked.

"Don't care," I admitted as I cleaned the spilt ale off his table. He took out from his pocket a pretty quill "Here, for school," he said. He wasn't the only one to give me gifts. During the first year I had been adopted, I had been desperate for people to like me. I was so lonely ever since my family died and though I was frightened of people, not having them around made me feel empty. What had resulted was that most of the customers at the Hog's Head liked me quite a bit and even Uncle Abe had to admit I was quite safe in his tavern where these people would be more than happy to duel aurors to keep me safe. By the time I was done I actually wished I had left my shopping for the next day because they had all bought me a lot of my school supplies.

I sat in bed that night and went through my belongings. My books were second hand as was my robes, but the lady at the shop had been kind and hand altered quite nice robes – you could barely tell they weren't new. I now had enough quills, ink and parchment to supply me for a life time, but the customers had been generous and a lot of my quills were quite pretty. One of the richer customers – a smuggler who usually used me as an errands girl had actually bought me quidditch gear. I looked at the gloves and goggles and I wondered if I'd actually use them seeing as I didn't have a broom. I wasn't worried about school; in fact it was the same way you felt as going to jail for seven years of your life. It was just something you had to live through until it was over and you could use this time idly or you could use it to your advantage and I was definitely going to use it to my advantage. With that thought, I crawled into bed and slept in my bed for the last time in months.