PROLOGUE: THE FEAR

Vivian's mother all but flew up the stairs with her, gripping her arms so tightly she thought they might break. It brought tears to the newly minted three-year-old's eyes, but she didn't cry out, not even when she lost her grip on Tevy, her favorite unicorn plushie. The wand to her fairy princess Halloween costume fell next, the long, sparkly pink streamers slipping through her fingers, trailing through the air, and tumbling down the stairs like a pinwheel even as they ascended them.

The next thing she knew, she was being shoved into a closet. The cries of her little brother in his crib were deafening and lent a sense of urgency and chaos to every action. Downstairs, there was an explosion that shook the whole house, then there was the sound of her father's angry voice, and something very heavy crashing into a wall, hard enough to take the whole thing down with it.

"W-w-what was that?" Vivian said, scarcely over a whisper, the tears running down her face. "Is daddy okay?"

"Daddy's just fine, Vivi," said her mother, her words rushed, doing her very best to force a smile through her own tears.

Even in her fear, the woman's smile was still beautiful, the tears making her fair skin glitter in a more natural version of Vivian's fairy princess cosmetics. The pale moonlight shone through the stars on her brother's mobile, casting strange shadows upon them all. But it still managed to glint through the strands of her mother's vivid, blood-red hair, making the color shine. Even in the gloom of the closet, where the light didn't reach, her large emerald eyes appeared to glow with a vibrant brilliance.

"Now," she said, her forced grin almost manic, "do you remember how to play hide-and-go-seek, my love?"

Vivian nodded her head, lank, dark hair falling into her eyes.

Her mother smoothed it back with a trembling hand, but the motion held so much love in it that Vivian felt her fears allay almost at once. Familiar warmth filled her chest as she leaned into her mother's calming touch. But when her mother went to pull away, the fears returned like the cold bite of winter.

"I don't w-want to p-play any games right now..." Vivian confessed, more tears welling in her eyes. "I-I'm afraid, Mummy."

"I know. Mummy's afraid too," she said, grasping the little girl's hands. "But we have to be brave now, for Daddy, and your baby brother, don't we?"

"But I don't know how," said Vivian, her little stuttering voice breaking pitifully in her distress. She stared at her mother's gentle smile in utter confusion. How could she still manage such an easy expression with the telltale sound of something crooked, something wrong, creak, creak, cre-e-eaking up the stairs, echoing down the hall? "I don't know how to be b-brave like you, and Daddy... I'm t-too af-f-fraid."

Her mother's grip on her hands tightened, her smile a persistent ray of sunlight in the dark of the closet. "Everyone is afraid sometimes, Vivi. But that doesn't mean you can't still be brave. Bravery and fear walk hand in hand, after all." Brisk steps down the hall had her mother's head whipping around in alarm, and she rushed to hug her daughter close before whispering, "Stay quiet, stay hidden. Don't make a sound, no matter what you hear. And always remember, what does Mummy tell you every night before bedtime?"

"I l-l-love you t-to...to the moon, and the stars, a-and all the way back...home," Vivian recited, sniffling weakly through her tears.

Her mother beamed at her. "Always remember that."

It was the last thing she saw before the closet door trapped her in the darkness.

It wasn't complete darkness, though. The closet door was slatted, and the moonlight filtered through, cast in rigid lines across Vivian's face. On her knees, careful not to make any sound, just as her mother instructed, she scooted closer to spy out one of the narrow wedges. She couldn't see much from the less than stellar vantage point. A few shadows, her brother's round, starry, cutout rug, various scattered toys, her mother's feet in their ridiculous fluffy slippers — a gag gift from one of her uncles.

Aside from her baby brother's squalling, the quiet was unnerving, and everyone beside the little boy seemed to hold their breath. Then the door slammed open, nearly blowing itself off its hinges. There was a flurry of blinding lights and blasts before a rod went twirling through the air, bouncing wildly off the starry mobile and rolling on the floor...right under the crack of the closet door and into Vivian's shaking knees.

"Mummy's wand..." Her lips mouthed the words in silent awe.

She wasn't allowed to lay a finger on her mother's wand after what happened last time. It was forbidden. But now, as her mother's pleading voice pierced through the closet door "— No, not Harry, please, not Harry! Let it be me instead! —" Vivan's fingers moved to securely grasp the magical baton. Doing so sent a jolt of warmth through her whole body, so similar to her mother's soothing touch, that Vivian never wanted to let go of it. That reassuring warmth coiled in her chest, and the little girl thought, 'This must be what courage feels like.'

There was a high, cold voice, speaking, saying words "— Get out of my way, foolish girl. Step aside, and I will spare your life —" and then there was a flash of vivid green light that almost blinded the little girl through the slats of the closet, making her wince backwards and cover her eyes. Even through her closed lids, the light still pierced through.

Next came an ominous thump, followed by another unnerving silence. Even little Harry's cries had turned into quiet gurgles of unease. Slowly, Vivian leaned forward on her knees once again to try and peek through the door slats. She could see her mother on the floor, facing away from her at an awkward angle — did she fall down? Was she okay? — and standing over her was a dark figure. His robes pooled on the floor around him like living shadows, partially draping over her mother's still — muchtoostill — form as he moved towards Harry's crib.

But as Vivian shifted to try and keep the figure in her limited view, the floorboards beneath her knees let out an incriminating cre-e-eak...

The figure froze.

Vivian held her breath.

Even Harry no longer made a sound.

Then the closet door flew open —

Just a short introduction to my latest Harry Potter fic.

I've already got a few chapters written and waiting for editing, and I'm in the middle of writing an outline, which I hope will do its job this time around, hahah... If you're new here, welcome, and thanks for giving this story a chance. If not, then you probably already know I've never finished any of my stories, and I've decided this is due to a lack of organization and focus! Hopefully attacking this whole story business with a new strategy yields some good results.

I've also never worked with a beta reader before, and I think now might be the time to change that! If you're interested in being a beta reader for this story, please let me know in the reviews, or PM me! It would probably help the next chapter get out a lot sooner :)

Please let me know what you think!

Your feedback means the world to me, and helps improve future chapters!

Thank you,

— TSOHG A MA I