Harper Potter stood proudly but as still as stone underneath the black umbrella clasped in her hand tightly, knuckles growing white from the pressure, fat raindrops cascading around her, obscuring her view of the three oak caskets being lowered into three freshly dug graves. The smell of wet mud filling Harpers nostrils and adhering there, making her think she would never fully be able to shake the smell off. The three tombstones, polished and shining in dark granite proclaimed to the world the names of the recently deceased in chiselled golden script. Petunia Dursley. Vernon Dursley. Dudley Dursley.

They had died by how they had lived, fussing over their precious son. Only this time, Dudley had kicked off in the back of their car over some mundane new thing he wanted that he had heard about from the cars radio, causing Vernon and Petunia to take their eyes of the road ahead to promise the red faced boy whatever he wanted. Subsequently, none of them had seen the eighteen wheeler truck veer for them head first. For once, Harper was happy they had locked her into her cupboard rather then taking her with them like they so often did. For once, her treatment at the Dursley's hands had come out in her favour rather then hurt limbs, blistering insults being thrown her way or cramped spaces.

The week that followed their death had been a tumultuous one. Dumbledore was scrabbling like a duck on ice for a place and a family Harper could be adopted into. The Wizengamot however wanted to follow every procedure necessary, going through every offer with a fine tooth comb. Harper didn't mind, the last time she had been handed over like a broken toy to people, she had ended up with the Dursley's, and Harper knew how that had ended up as all too well. She would rather avoid a replay of those events if possible.

The Weasley's, the Lovegood's and the Longbottom's were Dumbledore's top choices, but for some reason, one that was surely going over the top of Harper's head, the Wizengamot had refused all three without so much of a glance at the case they had brought to the court. At fifteen, Harper was still under-age, in both the wizarding and muggle world. It wasn't a case of should Harper Potter be adopted, but one of who she should be adopted by. And by the looks of it, the Wizengamot did not trust Dumbledore's choice of candidates.

With the believed threat of Voldemort looming over her head, Harper could understand Dumbledore's frantic efforts in the beginning. Of course he wanted to keep her close, for her safety. Well... That was what she had originally believed. Right before she got called in by the lawyer who had been appointed by the Wizengamot to oversee her adoption. Mr. Lionfort had done some digging, and in doing said digging, had uncovered her treatment at the Dursley's hands, the unlawful way Dumbledore had dumped her on their doorstep without so much of a background check on them, a check up on her welfare in the following years, and something that Dumbledore had buried to keep hidden. From Harper and the Wizengamot.

It didn't really matter at the end of it. For here she was, meant to be saying her last goodbyes to a family she couldn't call family. Soon, she would head back to the Dursley's house to meet the people that were adopting her. Strangers, complete faceless people that she would live with from now on. Would they be like the Dursley's? Was another cupboard in her future? Harper didn't think she could go through all that again, not after surviving the Dursley's. It was a blow to her pride as it was, having and the Wizengamot know of her situation with the Dursley's. If it were to happen all over again, if it really was a cycle she couldn't get out from, then surely the fault didn't lay with the people that took her in, surely it fell onto her shoulders? Was she really that much of a freak, of an burden that she just couldn't be loved?

No, she didn't believe so. Dumbledore, that old manipulative bastard was the one who left her with the Dursley's, knowing full well on how they would treat her. He counted on it. A weak, abused and lonesome child was easier to use as a puppet than one that came from a loving family. She also had to keep her hope going. If Harper didn't, then what was she left with? A life of abuse and confusion. It had to be better than the Dursley's. It just had to be, for her sanity.

Family. She was going to see her family. The last ties she had to her mother and father. It was an odd concept to accept after so long of believing she was truly on her own in this life. She had lived her whole life believing she only had the Dursley's. Then Sirius came along, and like always, her hope had been snatched out from under her grasping fingers when she was told he had to stay on the run, that she couldn't stay with him. She thought she would be forever stuck with the people that had treated her as nothing better than a rabid dog. A servant at best when they needed or wanted something. That was all she was ever going to be, that was who she was. And after so long of living that life, she had come to believe that too. That was her life, her path, and that was all she was ever going to be.

As bad as it sounded, as much as she hated herself for it, standing in front of the Dursley's coffins, watching them to be lowered to their resting place, Harper couldn't help but feel thankful that they had did one thing for her. Die. Now she was free, free from them, free from Dumbledore, free from who-ever else wanted to pull her strings. They had left the bared door to her cage open, and as much as she wanted to run out of it and into the light, she was half frightened of what she would find on the other side. Was it going to be worse than what she had already lived through... What was that saying? Was she jumping from the frying pan into the fire?

Of course she wasn't quiet out of the woods yet. She was still irrevocably under the looming shadow that Voldemort had cast over her. But then again, that too was all hear say. Little crumbs Dumbledore had fed to her. If Voldemort was really alive and breathing, why hadn't he made his move yet? Why was the ministry not enacting full out war against Voldemort's agenda? After that meeting with her lawyer, Harper couldn't help but question everything she had been told, especially by the old headmaster. How much more had he hidden from her? How much different would her life be if he hadn't have interfered and threw her to the gaping jaws of the Dursley's?

Even if Voldemort was still out there, lurking, waiting for his chance to strike like the viper he was, it still didn't change the sudden freedom Harper felt. She would no longer have to go back to the Dursley's every summer and winter. She would no longer go hungry for days, she wouldn't have to stand on a knifes edge waiting for one little thing to set her uncle off into a frenzy of rage, often leading to one of his meaty fists heading her way. No more cramped cupboards, no more bruises or broken bones, no more.

Standing underneath that umbrella, dressed all in black baggy and tatty clothing, the only kind she owned that was passed down from Dudley, Harper Potter was scared. Petrified and confused of where she was heading. With the Dursley's she knew how to act, how to survive. Keep her head down, do what they said when they said it and never answer back. What if she messed this up? She didn't know the new rules the people adopting her lived by. What if she slipped once, and even if they didn't beat her or lock her up like the Dursley's did, that they realized she was not worth the effort and sent her back like you would with a faulty toaster?

The only reason the Dursley's didn't throw her to the curb was because of the imagined threat they believed her 'kind' would be to them. These people who were adopting her didn't know about her kind, they weren't allowed to know. They were simply told she was gifted and went to a special school in Scotland every summer. She would be back to being alone if they sent her back. Harper Potter didn't want to be alone. She never wanted to be alone again.

Harper was putting her foot down. If this couple, if the last dregs of her family turned out to be a lot more like Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon then she expected, then she would run. She wouldn't... Couldn't put up with that situation, that treatment again. The Dursley's had taken her self confidence, her childhood, her mothers and fathers memories from her, but she sure as hell wouldn't let her sanity go. Because of them, the Dursley's, she couldn't stand being touched, couldn't stomach it, she jumped when people moved to fast and she was never any good at expressing herself. What else could these new people take away from her? First sign of trouble, she would run. She couldn't afford to do anything but that. Damn the wizarding or muggle law.

A thin and bony hand landed on her shoulder, bringing her away from the sight of the funeral and making her grimace at the contact. None too subtly, she shook the limb and frustration off and glanced up, Harper took in McGonagall's warm face that held a grim set to her thin lips. Dumbledore had wanted to take guardianship of Harper as soon as he heard the news of the Dursley's untimely death, but the Wizengamot would hear nothing of it. Instead McGonagall had been given temporary guardianship of her, and in full honesty, Harper couldn't be more thankful that the strict, silent but comforting woman was by her side at this time. Maybe Harper could borrow some of her silent strength when she would have to head back to the Dursley's and face the people who were taking her in.

Right now she felt weak, like an exposed nerve. She was alone, yet not alone. Free, yet still caged. Left was right and down was up. Everything she ever knew about her family was a mirage. In the light of this funeral, she was in a new world she didn't know she belonged in. She didn't know what she should do, what she should say. What could she say? In the next week, things would either be better then they ever were, or she would be back in the same cycle she had been in her entire life.

"It's time Miss's Potter. You're aunt is waiting for you and I'm sure you're anxious to meet her too."

An aunt. Another member of her family that she never knew existed till a week ago. Her mother had another sister. An adopted one, but still another sister, one that grew up with Lily Evans and Petunia Dursley. Someone who could tell her about her mother, who knew stories from another life. Someone who, by all accounts from Mr. Lionfort and the documents that had been dug up in his heavy investigation, an Aunt who had been fighting for Harper's custody since she was orphaned fourteen years ago. An aunt who, by the people who had met her and talked to her, cared deeply for a niece she had not seen in over fourteen years. An aunt who Dumbledore had did everything in his power to keep away from her, to wipe off all records linked to Harper. Harper Potter had family left, and now... Now she was finally going to meet them.

NEXT CHAPTER: The mystery aunt's point of view as she waits for Harper to arrive at the Dursley's house, and some startling and disheartening discoveries about Harper's home life...

A.N: Yes, this leaves a lot of questions but hey, it is the first chapter/prologue, if I gave you all the answers in one go, what would be the point of writing any more? Plus, I'm a bit of a troll, leaving things up in the air is one of my favourite things to do/ Don't worry too much, the Aunts name will be given out next chapter, and I'm nearly a hundred percent sure some of you will guess who it is. Every time I think I'm being smart, It's proved otherwise. XD

This chapter is short, especially compared to my other stories which average around 5k per chapter, but I'm taking this one easy, just letting it come to me rather then plan every last thing out and I'm sure given time, the chapter length will shoot up, it always does.

This is set just before Harry's fourth year, where he's fifteen. So the whole triwizard tournament hasn't happened yet, and so Voldemort's full return hasn't either.

So, this is going to be Wesley/Fem!Harry. I'm doing a whole bunch of Marvel T.V crossovers with Fem!Harry. I already have a Kilgrave/Fem!Harry one out (If you already read that, don't worry, the next chapter will be out soon) and the next two to come out will be a Matt/Fem!Harry and Frank Castle/Fem!Harry. At the moment, I'm not too sure exactly when they will be out, but it will be soon.

Well, I think that's about it really. I hope you enjoyed this tidbit, and will also like the following things to come.

And PLEASE, if you have the spare time, drop a review! They lighten up my day and get my fingers typing faster. They also stop me from worrying that I'm not writing complete shite! Until next time, stay classy! -AlwaysEatTheRude21