Just a note, to anyone that may have read this before: chapter one used ot be attached to the prelude, but now it's its own entity.

---

Aurelia: Prelude.

---

Children of the future age
Reading this indignant page
Know that in a former time
Love, sweet love, was thought a crime.

In the age of gold
Free from winter's cold
Youth and maiden bright
To the holy light
Naked in the sunny beams delight.

Once a youthful pair
Filled with softest care
Met in garden bright
Where the holy light
Had just removed the curtains of the night.

Then, in rising day
On the grass they play
Parents were afar
Strangers came not near
And the maiden soon forgot her fear.

Tired with kisses sweet
They agree to meet
When the silent sleep
Waves o'er heaven's deep
And the weary tired wanderers weep.

To her father white
Came the maiden bright
But his loving look
Like the holy book
All her tender limbs with terror shook.

"Ona, pale and weak
To thy father speak
Oh the trembling fear
Oh the dismal care
That shakes the blossoms of my hoary hair!

Little Girl Lost, William Blake

---

Prelude:

In a manor, in a place where no-one went, a young girl sat on a window seat staring out at the rain. The room behind her, the library, was devoid of people; the people at the manor did not generally enter the library, only the girl and her mother did.

Perhaps, one day, this room will be full of children. Running, playing, singing, dancing. Laughing. The girl often thought.

She had not grown up in a place where a child could do those things; she only smiled when she sat alone with her mother. Her father was cruel, yet loving and protective, in itself a contradiction. She did not recall everything about him, yet she knew enough from what her mother had told her and what his people had said. As far as she was concerned, her father had died when she was just a few months old, yet he was not entirely dead. He was lost, he had been tricked and his plan, his spell, backfired. Though, no matter how long he had been gone, she still felt his presence in the manor and that frightened her constantly.

Her father's people that lived at the manor and had previously assisted

their master, now looked after Aurelia, for that was her name, and her mother, Eloisa. They taught Aurelia all they knew, everything dark, for that was what her father was, deep to the core. In a word, evil. Her mother was quite the opposite. She taught her young daughter all that any young girl needed, the ways of both witch and muggle.

Aurelia rarely met other children during her childhood and she was deprived of many childhood indulgences, so she was forced to mature very quickly. She retreated to within the books in the library, using her fluency at Latin to delve in the much more ancient magical books.

Occasionally they went out, yet they would only go the wizard villages, shops, for the men with them felt muggles to be lower then they. Aurelia enjoyed these times, for then she was able to meet children and talk and play. She enjoyed shopping; it was something just her and her mother did even though they were always followed by what Aurelia called 'The Goons'. The rest of the time they were prisoners in their own evil home.

On Aurelia's tenth birthday, just after the birthday cake, Eloisa pulled her aside and began the slow progress of teaching her daughter to apparate and disapparate. It was four months before Aurelia actually worked the magic and at first she apparated three hundred metres west of her target point. This was an amazing accomplishment for one so young. The next time she was only one hundred metres out and then, when she tried again, she was within metres of the target. This satisfied her mother immensely. Her skill would be put to the test exactly one year after she had first begun…

The door to the library opened and Eloisa entered. She walked to her daughter and embraced her.

"Happy birthday, my darling," she whispered. "They are taking us shopping in Diagon Alley so we can get you something special for your eleventh birthday."

"Nothing can be special in this place," Aurelia replied grumpily.

"Today will be different. Now go pack your bag with as many of your clothes and pretty things as you can fit."

"Mum, I could fit an elephant into that bag and still have room to spare."

"Well then put all your things in it then, just be quick about it."

"Can I take some books from the library?"

"As many as you want Aurelia."

Aurelia kissed her mother and dashed off to her large room.

With a wave of her wand all her things were packed as well as every single book from the library.

Not like the Goons will notice, they never go in there anyway. Half of them probably can't read, she thought as she cast her spells.

Aurelia slung her tote bag over her shoulder and ran down the many grand staircases to return to the library. Outside the library door stood a death eater. Aurelia did not see him and she collided into him as she ran to the room. Aurelia did not recognise this man. Since the death eaters at the manor wore no masks she knew them all by sight, so this was a strange occurrence, new men had never been brought in before. He, it seems did not recognise her either.

"Get your filthy little hands off me!" said the tall blond man in a disgusted voice. For a moment Aurelia looked him up and down, he was not wearing the traditional death eater garb, yet he had the smell of death on him; perhaps he did not like wearing the robes without the mask.

"Do you know who you are talking to?" she demanded, keeping herself safe in the shadow of a father she believed would never return; she had done it many times before. To emphasise her question she flicked her wavy dark hair back and stared at him with her cruel grey eyes. She had gotten her hair and eyes from her father, her mother was blond haired, blue eyed.

"Some little brat…" he mumbled, turning away.

"Well, Mister, there is only one little brat in this entire manor! Do you know who that is?" she said, full of innocence. She wanted him to be the one to realise whose daughter she was and feel like the idiot.

She opened the door to the library and was followed in by the death eater. He was irritated by his mistake, yet he also smiled politely at the others in the room, for as well as Eloisa, there was the main death eater of the manor and his right hand man. Aurelia ran instantly to her mother's arms, wanting to feel safe when surrounded by these people.

Looking around at the empty bookshelves Aurelia wondered whether anyone had noticed the missing books.

The unknown man had in fact noticed the lack of books in what he was told was the library, but he did not mention it.

"Lucius, sir." The head death eater of the manor said as he and his underling bowed. "What an honour and a surprise…"

"Oh shut it." The man named Lucius growled. "If anyone finds out I was here…"

"None will sir."

"Good. All I have come to say is that the boy starts school this year and I heard he's being personally escorted by the giant. Today also happens to be the little buggers' birthday."

"He has the same birthday as me!" Aurelia exclaimed. Aurelia had mixed feelings for Harry Potter, he had, after all, killed her father. Whilst she did hate her father, he was still her father. "Why can't I go to Hogwarts?"

"It wouldn't be smart for you to go to a school right under Albus Dumbledore and the ministry's nose." Lucius said.

"Right. Mum, can we go now?" she said, turning to her mother and completely ignoring the others. A rather subtle sign of contempt.

"Of course Auri." Her mother said as she stood up, grabbing her handbag. She and Aurelia had reached the doors before she turned and spoke to the flabbergasted head of the manor. "We will be at Diagon Alley if you really care." She said, leaving the room.

The Death Eaters caught up to them in the lounge, where their floo-networked fireplace was. Lucius was not with them.

"You know you are supposed to wait for us." He said grumpily.

"Who said so?" Aurelia demanded.

"Your father did young lady."

"So? He's dead now, why bother?"

Eloisa grabbed the floo powder and sent her and her daughter to Diagon Alley before the man could react.

---

The Death Eaters were waiting for them when they arrived at Diagon Alley. They had removed their Death Eater robes and were now wearing normal black ones. They waited for Eloisa and Aurelia to move before they spread out and discreetly followed.

Aurelia had a milkshake at a café while her mother went through the list of what they needed to do whilst at Diagon Alley.

"I need to sort a few things out at Gringotts. Why don't you got to Madam Malkins and get one nice set of dress robes for your birthday. Maybe something red, red suits your colouring." Eloisa told Aurelia.

"I'll look like a vampire, but alright." Aurelia agreed.

Madam Malkin was dressed all in mauve this day and she smiled at Aurelia, recognising her from her many other visits.

"Hogwarts dear?" she asked Aurelia.

Aurelia shook her head. "Not today thanks…"

"I could have sworn…" Madam Malkin said softly. "Oh well. What is it today then?"

"Mother wants me to get some nice dress robes. She suggested red, but I think that will make me look vampiric."

"Red would suit you, but perhaps not until you are older. How about a nice blue?"

She ushered Aurelia to the back of the shop where she showed her many different styles of dress robe until Aurelia chose one she liked. She got Aurelia to stand on a footstool then an assistant began fitting the lovely blue dress robes to Aurelia's frame.

The door at the front of the shop opened with a tinkling of bells. Madam Malkin rushed off to attend to her new costumer.

Aurelia heard Madam Malkin ask the customer whether he was attending Hogwarts, yet she heard no reply. Presumedly the boy had nodded, for within moments Madam Malkin came out the back followed by a blond boy with a pale face. He stood on the stool next to Aurelia and Madam Malkin threw a black robe over his head and began to pin it to the right length.

"Hello," Said the boy. "I'm about to start my first year, how about you?"

Aurelia thought a moment, "Next year," she said simply. The boy, who was her age, looked quite familiar, yet she could not pick whom he looked like.

The boy looked at her for a moment and, strangely, she found herself blushing.

"That blue suits you, perhaps when you're older you'll dare to wear red." They were silent for a moment. "Draco Malfoy," he said, holding out his hand for her to shake it.

She took it, "Aurelia d'Lyes," she said using her mothers' name.

"I've heard of the d'Lyes, very old wizard family. Mostly Ravenclaws. Was your father one?"

"Actually, it was my mother that was the Ravenclaw, it's my mothers name; my father died when I very young."

"I'm sorry," Draco said, and he sounded as if he meant it.

"Yes, well, I don't really remember him. He was a Slytherin."

"Done," said the woman that was fitting Aurelia's dress robes. She took them off Aurelia and gave them to Madam Malkin, so Malkin could work the register, whilst she fixed Draco's robes.

"I hope I shall see you at Hogwarts next year," Draco called as Aurelia was leaving.

"I shall look forward to it. Goodbye." She waved as she disappeared into the front of the store.

When she had paid for her dress and was putting her change back into her purse, the door to the shop opened. Madam Malkin rushed to see who it was and Aurelia yet again heard the "Hogwarts dear?" that she very much wanted to say yes to.

As she turned to leave she saw a boy of her own age with messy black hair and broken, badly repaired glasses, which seemed to have many new breaks. She stifled a scream. Standing metres from her was Harry Potter!

Quickly, she went out the door back into the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley. There were the Goons, but where was her mother?

There she was, standing just outside Gringotts, just down the street. Her mother nodded at her and then she cried out, using magic to disguise her voice, "Look, look, it's Gilderoy Lockhart!"

All the women in the street screamed with excitement and all ran about, looking for the famous wizard. Aurelia acted excited and joined the group, walking to the centre of them. She saw her mother do the same.

The Goons tried to follow, but there were too many people. They lost sight of Aurelia and her mother.

In the centre of the group Eloisa grabbed her daughters hand for a moment, and then released it.

"Ready?" she said.

"Yes." Aurelia whispered back.

"Three, two, one…" and they apparated away.

The Death Eaters had lost them.

---

A/N

Please review.