.:: Born of Fire ::.

The weather was unnaturally cold.

The skies were perpetually overcast.

The war had begun.

Not with screaming and blasts of magic. Not with a formal declaration. Not with a single movement by the Dark Lord. Yet, the war had begun.

There were disappearances. Mysterious deaths. Threatening messages. The Dark Mark. Fear. With each person lost, another light went out, causing the shadow that had covered the world to expand.

The Wizarding community was in shambles. Running. Ready to surrender without ever fighting back.

Everyone was terrified.

There were beacons of hope however. Slim rays of light offered by those who had prepared. Those who had never been foolish enough to truly believe that Voldemort was gone. Stability offered to those who knew where to look.

These were the people the Dark Lord feared.

There are two sides to every war. And though there are factions within them, and branches throughout, you can divide everyone into two selected groups. Both believe that they are right. Both believe that their actions are just, have reason, or - failing that - that their reasons are enough for their purposes. Lives will be lost, blood spilled, swords and wands drawn, new weapons revealed, all in the name of their beliefs, so vastly different from one another to create this strife.

The Dark Lord has risen again. Like a black phoenix resurrecting from a pool of blood, and those who supported him flocked to his side, willing puppets to his whims.

The Boy Who Lived was almost a man, and the light he cast could part the darkness like the brilliance of the sun. Those who saw this flocked instead to him, and supported his efforts as though it was their last chance.

It was.

But the two sides of the war are not comprised of light against dark, good against evil. Because those terms are meaningless, pointless definitions based on only one perspective. Evil is only Evil in the eyes of Good. And the eyes of the Good are defined by themselves. There is no good or evil within this war. There can be none. Each has made their own choice, and each will follow through.

There is only those who will fight.

And those who will not.

Those who will cheat.

And those who will lie.

And perhaps, if pressed, those who are most audaciously unaware ...