The Story of Ruby Evans - The Beginning (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction) (Rewriting)

Chapter 1 - The Funeral and a new beginning

This is my first attempt at a fanfic so sorry if it's rubbish. Please comment, constructive criticism or nice stuff please :)

This applies to the whole story: I am not J.K. Rowling. I don't own Harry Potter or anything in the Harry Potter books :'( I'm not that awesome or creative. I have copy and pasted bits and pieces from Jo's work but I don't claim to have written them.

Also go Team Starkid!!! If you haven't seen A Very Potter Musical and Sequel, go and watch them on youtube. You will thank me :)

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**3rd person**

It was a cold morning. A little grey house stood in the middle of a street of houses that all looked the same, but this house looked different. No life could be seen in it. The windows were dark, there were no children playing outside and it was silent.

A little girl stood in the living room, gazing up at the framed pictures on the mantelpiece. They each showed a smiling woman with red hair and bright green eyes and a small girl. Through the pictures the small girl grew from a tiny baby with big grey eyes and tufts of dark hair to the age of about seven with shining eyes, a big smile and glossy black curls. Some of them looked completely normal, but others were strange. Some of the photos moved. The woman rocked the baby or played with the little girl. They were magic.

Tears began to roll down the little girls cheeks as she watched. They were of her and her mother, when they were happy. Mrs Seymour, a woman with sleek brown hair and kind blue eyes, came into the room. She walked over to the small girl and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. After the girl calmed down, she stepped back, wiping tears off her face and smoothing the creases from her black dress.

Mrs Seymour checked her watch and then said, "It's time. Are you sure you want to go, Ruby?"

"Yes, I'm sure," said the girl in a determined voice.

Mrs Seymour looked into Ruby's dark eyes and saw a look in them that wasn't the childish innocence of an eight year old, but the sorrow and wisdom of somebody much older. "Alright then," she said, taking her hand. She turned on the spot and both were gone with a small popping noise.

They walked through the gates of a cemetery, holding their coats to them against the bitter wind. They made their way, slowly to where a small group of people were gathered. As they joined the group, a man started talking. "We are here today to celebrate the life of Rowan Fern Evans, a well loved friend and mother." He kept talking but Ruby had stopped listening. She stared at the light coloured coffin at her feet. White lilies, red roses and the odd poppy covered the top of it. Tears began to flow again, hot against her cold cheeks. She stood in the crowd in the cemetery she had visited many times and felt more lost and alone than she ever had before.

After the funeral, she wandered over to a familiar grave. The marble stone read:

James Potter, born 27 March 1960, died 31 October 1981

Lily Potter, born 30 January 1960, died 31 October 1981

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

It was the grave of her mother's cousin and best friend, and her husband. They had been cruelly killed, just like her own mother. She knew they had left a son, who was around the same age as her but had only been a baby when his parents died. Everyone knew him. He was Harry Potter, the boy who lived, after all.

She had only met him once, at a small family reunion that she had gone to with her mother when she was five. He had been there with his aunt, uncle and cousin. He was skinny with messy black hair and green eyes which had been identical to those of both of their mothers. When she had met him, she had just stopped his fat cousin from punching him by giving the boy a sharp slap round the back of the head which made him run away crying. She had played with Harry all afternoon and was sad when it was time to leave. She smiled at the memory and then silently promised herself that she would see her cousin again. He was her only family member, that she knew of, that was anywhere near her age and like her. Ruby Andromeda Evans had a secret, you see. She was a witch, like her mother and father before her.

She quietly lay a snow white lily on the grave and walked back to where Mrs Seymour was waiting. Mrs Seymour was a kind woman who had been sent by the ministry to look after her at the funeral, help her pack her things and take her to her new home.

Later that day, Ruby stood in her bedroom. She looked around at the pale pink walls and white furniture. She walked over to her notice board and took down the collection of drawings from both her and her mother. She carefully folded them and placed them in the top of a cardboard box that contained some books, toys and other bits and pieces. She heard a noise and looked up to see Mrs Seymour leaning against the door frame.

"All done?" asked Mrs Seymour. Ruby nodded. Mrs Seymour pulled a wand from her coat and waved it at the few cardboard boxes and suitcase. They shrunk until Ruby could pick them up and put them in a small bag. She looked around her room, sighed and walked out the door for the last time. Mrs Seymour repeated the spell on some other boxes around the house and Ruby sorted them into two small bags.

As they were leaving, Ruby suddenly remembered something. She ran into the living room and collected the photos from the mantelpiece. Mrs Seymour shrunk them and Ruby put them in a bag too. She whispered "Goodbye house" and took Mrs Seymour’s hand and left Godric's Hollow.

They appeared on a normal looking street, with a row of houses on each side, all with perfect green lawns and neat hedges. It looked like an advert or a movie, so neat and perfect that it looked fake. The woman in the long dark coat and the dark haired girl in the black looked very out of place. They walked down the street and up to the door of number 23. Mrs Seymour rang the doorbell and a tall man with thin reddish-brown hair and a red face answered the door.

"Mr Maurice Evans? I’m Mrs Seymour, Ruby's social worker. I'm here to drop her off and get her settled in. You have no questions about my letter? Good," she said smiling. Mr Evans stepped back to allow them to enter. He took them into the kitchen and introduced them to his wife, Claudia, an ex-model who was a pretty, slim woman with pale blond hair and cold blue eyes and their daughter, Iris, a bony girl around Ruby's age, who was a miniature version of her mother with blonde hair and icy eyes. Ruby stood quietly next to Mrs Seymour and forced a smile as she met her aunt and cousin for the second time in her life. Uncle Maurice was her mother’s half-brother and they hadn't contacted each other in years except for small birthday and Christmas presents, so Ruby had only met this family at the reunion where she met Harry. This part of the Evans family didn't have a drop of magic in them and she could tell by the cold looks they were giving her that they liked it that way.

Aunt Claudia took Ruby and Mrs Seymour upstairs to a small room with white painted walls and a small bed, desk and wardrobe. She left them there to unpack. Ruby took the now tiny suitcase out of one of her little bags and placed it on the floor. Mrs Seymour waved her wand over it and it became normal sized again. Ruby then unpacked one of her bags, which contained some photos, small toys, a sketchbook with pencils and a few books. Mrs Seymour made them normal sized and Ruby arranged the photos on the desk and started to place her belongings around the room while Mrs Seymour filled the wardrobe. Ruby stuck the drawings to the wall by the bed. She then placed her books on the desk and turned to Mrs Seymour.

"You will only be here for a few weeks and then I will come and get you. You know that because of your..." she hesitated and looked uncomfortable for a moment, "condition, you can't stay here all the time. You will spend two weeks a month with your godfather, Remus Lupin and the rest of your time here. You will attend muggle school while you are here and Mr Lupin will help you while you are with him, understand?" Ruby nodded. Mrs Seymour knelt down next to Ruby and looked into those sad dark eyes. "Everything will be fine. I have to go now, see you in a week"

Ruby followed Mrs Seymour downstairs as she said goodbye to the Evans family. She watched sadly as Mrs Seymour walked out the door, leaving her alone with a family who she could tell didn't really want her.

She fetched a piece of paper and a pencil from a box under her bed and went to sit at the kitchen table, next to iris, who was watching a small television. Aunt Claudia was busying herself cooking tea and throwing dirty looks at Ruby whenever she could. This was going to be a long few weeks, Ruby thought to herself.