AN: Before I get into the story, I thought I'd clarify a few things. I'm planning on writing a full seven years, and I might update anywhere from once every two weeks to thrice in one week, but you can probably trust that it won't be any less frequent than that. For the most part, pairings are already decided. If you have a question about what's going to happen in the story and you really want to know, I have no problem with telling you ahead of time, but please don't give anyone else spoilers. Every chapter has a theme song and is named after a lyric from that theme song. If you think you know a song that would better suit the chapter, I would appreciate you reviewing with the song and with or without your recommendation for a lyric to use. If listening to the song isn't too inconvenient, I would listen to it either while reading, or if you can't do that, then listen to it before reading. I think it improves the experience. The story's overall theme song is Glow in the Dark by Skylar Grey (that's where the title came from).

As far as reviews are concerned, I'm actually not going to push you to review. Feel free, but don't feel pressured to. I would recommend you review if a) you want to help improve the story, b) you want to know something about the story, or c) you have a request (ex. You want to see a chapter from a certain POV, or you want to see what would happen if _). I do have a policy where if you review my story, I return the favor. I'm not expecting to get a lot of reviews, so that should be easy enough, but if I do end up getting a lot of reviews I can't absolutely guarantee that I'll be able to review back, though I'll certainly try my best.

One last thing; I try my best to adhere to all canon information, but if it conflicts with my storyline, there are some things I might not follow. For instance, if two people got together but were never mentioned in-story as a couple and I don't agree with the pairing, I'll put them with different people or no one at all. If so-and-so's mother is never mentioned in the series and I name so-and-so's mother whatsername, and the name whatsername has some sort of importance in the story, and then JKR mentions that so-and-so's mother was actually named whatserface, I'm still keeping the name whatsername. The only things I make absolutely certain that I keep the same are things mentioned within the Harry Potter series.

I do not own Harry Potter, Glow in the Dark by Skylar Grey, or Skyfall by Adele. No real locations were referenced in this story. Now, on with the first chapter! Sorry, this one's pretty short. The others are much longer. This one is actually more of a prologue than a first chapter; it's not about the main characters at all, it's just background information that will come in handy later and a hint as to some twists coming up. You can expect all of my first chapters to be one or both of those things.

Chapter 1: Your Hand in My Hand

Date: Thursday, 15 July, 19?

Theme Song: Skyfall by Adele

"Master Silas, Mistress Lavinia, there is no letters being delivered from Salem Wizards' Institute today," Layla the house-elf announced timidly.

Silas scowled darkly as Lavinia frowned in distress. "What shall we do, darling?" Lavinia asked worriedly. "Will we hide the boy? It simply wouldn't do for us to have produced a – a – a Squib, after all."

"Of course not, you foolish woman," Silas snapped. "As far as the rest of the world shall ever know, our son is as magical as any other. No, the problem is not whether or not to hide him, the problem is how to do so."

"Just keep him in the cellar," Lavinia suggested. "Guests do not go to the cellar, especially not in Pureblood society. It would be such a horrendous breach of privacy."

Silas sighed, massaging his temples. "Lavinia, this is not so simple. We cannot risk our standing based on our assumption that all guests will have good manners. No, we must rid ourselves of this embarrassment living in our home."

Lavinia hesitated. "What… What do you mean, rid ourselves of it? I mean, I suppose I could drop him off at some Muggle orphanage and wipe his memories, nobody would be any the wiser. First we should fake his death, so that no one will ask questions."

"But what if one of our acquaintances happened upon him?" Silas pointed out.

"Really, darling, what are the odds of a member of Pureblood society visiting a Muggle orphanage and recognizing our son there?" Lavinia laughed.

"Lavinia, we must leave nothing up to chance!" Silas insisted, his voice rising in his agitation. He left his seat and began pacing. "No, we must make it impossible for anyone to ever see that boy again. We must actually kill him."

Lavinia stared at her husband, wide-eyed. "But – But darling, surely that's a tad extreme –"

Silas stopped in his tracks and faced her. "Are you questioning me?"

Lavinia quavered under his fierce glare. "I… No, no, of course not."

Silas continued his pacing, satisfied with her response. "We must be very careful about this, Lavinia. It must look like an accident."

"Of course," Lavinia agreed sadly, still reluctant to go along with the plans he was making. "Couldn't have anyone thinking we'd killed our own son."

"Exactly, because if they did, they would all wonder why we'd killed him, and what we had to hide, and the answer would be only too obvious." Silas nodded solemnly. "Now, how could we go about making a homicide look like an accident…?"

"We could simply fake his suicide," Lavinia suggested.

"Don't be stupid, Lavinia, why would any boy living such an easy life kill themselves?" Silas retorted.

"Master Silas, can – can Layla be recommending something?" Layla offered hopefully. She had no personal vendetta against the child, but he would be dying anyway, and she might as well get some brownie points out of it.

Silas waved his hand. "Oh, why not. It can't hurt. Let's hear what you have to say."

"You see, Master Silas, Layla is knowing of a poison that is not having a cure…."

Two and a half weeks later, eleven-year-old Quentin was excitedly reading through all the books his parents had gotten him to prepare for Salem. "I still can't believe I'm actually a wizard," he stated for the hundredth time that day alone, beaming up at his mother.

She smiled, although she seemed sad for some reason. "I know, dear. I know." She ruffled his hair affectionately. "Isn't it wonderful?"

"I wish you were coming to the Salem Witches' Institute with me," his friend Silvana Brinson declared. "I mean, Clodia and Krizia will be coming too, but they're so mean to everyone. It would be much better hanging out with you all the time."

"Don't say that about Clodia and Krizia," her mother Donnica scolded. "They are not mean, they are simply proper Pureblood ladies. Honestly, child, I wish you could be more like them sometimes."

"Yeah, yeah." Silvana rolled her eyes, very familiar with the direction the conversation was headed. "Come on, Quentin, let's play Exploding Snap!"

Lavinia watched the two for a long while as they played their game. Then she took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and said, "Oh, Quentin, I think there's something wrong with your pet snake."

"What?" Quentin leapt from his seat, the book falling from his lap with a thud. "There's something wrong with Minga? Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He raced out of the room and up the staircase towards his bedroom.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Silas was discussing something with Silvana's father, Alta. "Silvana had a most unpleasant experience in Appell Apparel yesterday afternoon," he announced. "There was this Mudblood girl in the store with her – once she realized how well-educated Silvana was in the customs of the Wizarding World, she began pestering her non-stop."

"Poor dear," Silas commented sympathetically. "Brushing elbows with something so filthy – thank goodness nothing like that has ever happened to Quentin."

"And then, if you'll believe it," Alta continued, "that same Mudblood practically stalked Silvana throughout Lowing Lane, followed her into every shop and continued asking questions."

"Why, the nerve of her!" Silas exclaimed. "Did you happen to get the mutt's name? Quentin ought to be warned that such a menace is at his school."

"I do believe I heard her introduce herself as Virginia Norwood," Alta mused.

"Well, it's a big school, so keeping away from – "

"Father!" Quentin stumbled into the kitchen, Lavinia following behind him. "Minga, she – she bit me!"

Alarmed, Silas rushed forward, kneeling down and holding his son up. "What? Why?" he demanded.

"I don't know, but – I – I can't see very well, and I have this headache – " Quentin broke off, clutching his forehead with a moan.

Alta leapt to his feet and dashed towards the Floo. "I'll call General Womlers immediately," he shouted behind him.

Silvana was trembling behind Quentin and Lavinia. "Mother, will he be okay?" she whimpered.

"Oh, sweetie," Donnica whispered as she held her daughter closer. "I don't – I'm sorry, sweetie, but I just don't know…."

"Alta, stop," Silas called hoarsely as Quentin collapsed in his arms. "It's… Alta, he's g-gone."

Alta froze, horrified, and walked back to the kitchen as Silvana dissolved into wails of agony. "Gone? You mean…"

"He's dead," Silas confirmed in a hollow voice.

Shaking, Lavinia gathered her son in her arms. "I want to bury him," she whispered. "Now."

"What do you mean, now?" Silas frowned, confused.

"I want to bury my son," Lavinia growled. "And I want to bury him now. Leave me." She stormed out of the kitchen. They all exchanged glances, but none could find it in themselves to object.

Quickly, Lavinia rushed outside with her son and cast a Notice-Me-Not charm on the area. She whipped a vial out of her robes and poured the contents down Quentin's throat without hesitation. Seconds later, he came to. "Mom? Mom, what happened?"

"Your father tried to kill you," she stated urgently.

"What?" He leapt to his feet. "Kill me? Why?"

"You're not a wizard, Quentin, you're a Squib. The letters from Salem were fake. Your father cast the Imperius curse on someone to make them order Basilisk venom. Then he put it on Minga's teeth and cast a timed spell that would irritate her to the point of biting you. I had to send you upstairs, because if I didn't he would kill me and then just kill you anyway, and then I wouldn't be here to save you."

"But how did you save me?" Quentin asked. "Basilisk venom is fatal, and has no cure."

"My ancestors developed their own cure for it," Lavinia explained. "Here, the recipe – I intended to pass it on to you on your seventeenth birthday, as is tradition, but that cannot happen now." She handed over the recipe.

"But what is to happen now, Mom?" Quentin accepted the recipe with wide, worried eyes. "What's going to happen to me if I'm supposed to be dead? What's going to happen to you now that you've saved me?"

"As far as anyone knows, I took you out here to bury you. I will be fine. You – " Lavinia hesitated, frowning at him, then pressed onwards. "I am going to Apparate you to a Muggle orphanage and leave you there." She kneeled down and hugged her miserable son. "I am so, so sorry, Quentin, but there's nothing else that can be done."

"I understand, Mom," Quentin muttered sadly.

Teary-eyed, Lavinia rose and clutched her son's arm. "Remember, Quentin, no one can ever know who you really are," she warned. "You need a new name – and actually – " Waving her wand, Lavinia transformed Quentin's dark brown hair into something lighter, then transfigured his robes into Muggle clothing. After a bit of consideration, she darkened his skin tone a tad and turned his brown eyes into a shade resembling her favorite gemstone, a smoky quartz. "There," she whispered hoarsely, her eyes beginning to burn. "So you'll remember me when you see your reflection. Now, dear, I am going to Stupefy you and leave you in an alley. When you wake up, you must pretend you remember nothing – nothing, okay?"

"Okay," Quentin agreed softly.

"Good." Her eyes beginning to burn, Lavinia held on tightly to Quentin's arm and Apparated them to the alley next to the local orphanage in Verityview, New Jersey. "Stupefy," she said, pointing her wand at him. He fell backwards. Tears sliding down her cheeks, Lavinia fell to her knees beside him and pressed one last kiss on his forehead. Then she Apparated home.

"Lavinia!" Silas snarled as his wife popped into existence beside him, in the yard where she was supposed to be burying their dead, worthless offspring. "Where were you just now? Where is Quentin?"

She looked him in the eye and spat defiantly, "Somewhere you will never find him."

"You fool! He's dying anyway!" Silas felt relieved that the Brinson family had already left. "You just gave your life to save someone who can't be saved!"

"So you think." She had the nerve to smirk at him. He hoped it was worth the consequences. She would die with that insufferable smirk on her face.

"You worthless little…." Silas growled, whipping out his wand. Then he pointed it at her and snarled, "Avada Kedavra!"

The world would surely mourn for the death of Lavinia Pinnix, who committed suicide after the death of her son, Quentin Pinnix, the last heir to his mother's line.

So, what did you think of the first chapter? Hope you liked it. If anything was unclear or not canonically correct or something like that, just let me know and I'll fix it as soon as I can. See you soon!