Cover by marina_swampert
Once upon a time in a land not too far away, there was a beautiful kingdom where everyone lived in peace. This empire was large, and was prosperous with people who were happy with their lives; and at the center of this land was a castle where the royal family lived.
The rulers of this fair and happy kingdom were King Arthur and Queen Molly who lived in the palace with their large family. While they had been blessed with many sons, six in fact, they had no daughters. But they wanted one with all their hearts. And, to their greatest joy, the seventh child they had together had turned out to be a girl-the princess that they had longed for.
The day that she was born, the queen held her new daughter close to her heart, sweat covering her brow as her first born son, Bill, looked over the bed to get a better look at her. Smiling he picked up one of his little brothers to show him as well. Prince William-or Bill-was their oldest, but had been closely followed by Prince Charles-or Charlie for short-who were best friends. Then was Prince Percival, who was six years old, and then the twins Prince's Fredrick and George, who were four...
And finally the youngest was Prince Ronald... who was only a year old.
All of them had gathered together with their father to see the newest addition to the family. Bill held little Ron up a little higher so that he could see his little sister and mother better.
"This is your sister, Ginevra," the queen said, stroking the baby's hair, which was as red as the rest of her family, lovingly. "And I want you all to set a good example for her when she gets older, okay?"
"Yes, mother," Bill, Charlie, and Percy all said at once. The twins only grinned at her while Ron sucked on his hand, not having the slightest clue to what was happening.
"Boys, I think your mother and sister need their rest. Okay?" the King asked as he brushed the hair from his wife's fevered brow.
"Yes, Father," the boys said and left, with Bill still carrying Ron.
"How do you feel, dear?" Arthur asked her as he made sure that she was comfortable and the door shut after their sons.
"I feel fine, just tired," she sighed, not taking her eyes off the baby in her arms. "We finally have a girl," she whispered, as if afraid that by saying it to loudly would make it untrue. "A daughter..."
He beamed as he leaned in and kissed her. "Yes, dear. Now we have a complete family. Six wonderful sons... and a beautiful little girl... oh, that reminds me. I think we need to have a ball for her in a few days. We had one for all of the boys. And she will be given her blessing."
That was how it worked. Whenever a child was born, a witch or wizard would arrive and present them with a blessing. A blessing that would impact their lives... they could become talented artists, or perhaps skilled warriors... anything that would shape them into the person they would be. They could be blessed with a long and happy life, or one full of adventure, or even a hard-working one filled with many joys and sorrows...
Each of the princes was given something from a skilled young wizard named Albus Dumbledore. He had given the first born Bill the Blessing of Ability-meaning that he was a master at everything he touched...
As for Charlie, he had been given the Blessing of Strength-he would grow up to be a strong man, unafraid of hard work and danger. Percy was given the Blessing of Knowledge-and had already started reading as soon as he was old enough to pick up a book.
As for the twins, they were given the Blessing of Laughter-meaning that they would grow into the kind of people to bring laughter to everyone they met. And it was true already... you couldn't help but smile whenever they were around.
As for the last prince, he was given a very unusual blessing indeed. Albus had given him Blessing of Determination. Meaning, that he wouldn't give up... no matter how tough that things became... that even should he become lost, he would return to complete whatever he had to do.
Now that the princess had been born, her parents were wondering what kind of blessing she would get.
"I don't see why not," the Queen sighed happily. "But let us wait for a few more days at least. I do wonder what he will be giving our baby this time."
"Absolutely, in two nights time..." he said with a smile as the queen held her daughter close to go to sleep.
It was two days later that the whole kingdom celebrated the birth of the princess that they had been waiting for so long. The entire kingdom rejoiced and had celebrations for three whole days as they did with the princes. On the final day of celebrations, a grand ball was planned and the guest list included the rulers of neighboring kingdoms, magical creatures and of course, the wizards. The party was in full swing, people making new friends, eating good food and cooing over the baby princess as a giant hoard of presents lay behind the crib.
The ballroom looked magnificent with the walls covered in beautiful scarlet and gold tapestries. The long elegant tables were covered in beautiful red silk, trimmed with gold. The china and silverware was gold in color and was set according to each person's hand.
The King and Queen had sat next to each other at the largest table in the center. Next to them were their children in the order of their age, oldest to youngest, with the baby girl in a cradle between her parents.
As the night went on, one of the servants ran into the hall and blew a horn. He bowed politely at the king and queen and walked over the golden cradle where the princess was sleeping.
"I present to you the wizard to grant our princess with her blessing!" A guard's voice rang. Everyone turned to the front door to where a tall man with thick, auburn hair and twinkling blue eyes had appeared. "I present Albus Dumbledore!"
The young man smiled as he walked into the hall to great applause. A girl walked in beside him, and everyone knew that she was one of his closest friends, Minerva, who often accompanied him on his journeys. They both bowed respectfully to the King and Queen before they looked into the cradle to see the sleeping princess.
"First, I must congratulate you both," Dumbledore told them both smiling. "A beautiful little girl she is..."
"Thank you," Arthur smiled back, getting up to shake his hand as his wife did the same to Minerva. "Now, please tell me. What gift will you give our daughter?"
"I have thought long and hard about it," he told him. "Because, as we all know, once a blessing has been given, it will set the course of the child's life."
He looked at the queen and said, "I have thought about something more tradition such as beauty or song... but now that I see her, I don't think that it will do at all. I can tell she will be beautiful when she grows up... and song is so common that I don't want to give that to her either."
"Oh," the queen said surprised, "I see. But please take your time. I agree that it's not a decision to be decided quickly. So why don't you sit down and...?"
But she was never given a chance to finish for at that second, thunder and lightning stopped her from continuing as a terrible gale force wind blew through the hall. Everyone gasped and screamed when a giant black fire appeared and out of it was a man with a snake-like face and horrible red eyes.
It was the wizard Voldemort.
"A party? And I wasn't invited?" he asked quietly as his ugly, red eyes trailed over them all. The guests all drew back at once, terror on their faces as the dark wizard stepped into the center of the hall. Everyone in the hall knew that Voldemort was a wizard who appeared to give, not blessings, but curses to the children he met... curses that always ended in terrible tragedy for them.
"Well, quite a nice crowd, your majesty. Purebloods, half-bloods, Muggle-borns, Muggles and..." his eyes fell onto a few young werewolves, who backed away from him in fright. "How quaint, even half-breeds... I really felt quite distressed of not receiving an invitation."
He glared at Dumbledore, then at the King and Queen, and then finally at the cradle. "How is it that everyone in the kingdom merited an invitation to this glorious celebration, except for me?"
The queen had gathered her courage and said, "W-we had our reasons. P-please leave at once."
"You weren't wanted!" exclaimed Charlie, standing up at once, with much distaste in his voice.
"Not wanted? Oh dear, what an awkward situation," he said silkily as the Queen told her son to shush and sit down. "And here I had hoped it was merely due to some oversight. Well, if that is the case, then I'll not trespass upon your home any longer."
He turned to leave but stopped as he looked back... "But before I go... to show I have no bad feelings, I will also give the child... a gift."
"No!" the Queen gasped, shielding the princess's cradle with her body.
"Now don't worry," he said smiling evilly as he glanced with distaste at Albus, who was now shielding the royal family with his presence as well. "You will still have a chance to give the child her blessing..." he said that one word as if it was something shameful, "But only after I give her mine... and just so you know... my gift will be one that will be given out of the kindness of my heart. However, it is also one that will never be undone."
"Leave!" The King cried at once, not liking where this was going.
But Voldemort merely laughed. "Listen closely, everyone!" he called to the silent crowd as they backed even away, as if thinking that he would curse one of them instead.
"The princess will indeed grow with charm and beauty, beloved by all who know her," he said in almost a chant. "Her hair so red that it will shame a rose's hue... skin soft and fair, and eyes that sparkle in the light. The voice she sings with shall be sweet... and she will also have a strong, fiery spirit... yet there will be a price for all this."
He grinned evilly once again... then taking his wand conquered up a black mist-rolling out towards them. Albus held up a strong magical barrier to protect them as Voldemort cried out so that no one would be able to miss it. "Little princess, I too have a gift for you. I, Lord Voldemort, the dark sorcerer give you a curse. Before the evening of your sixteenth birthday, you will prick your finger on a spinning wheel spindle... and die!" he called. Thunder crashed and people screamed.
"No!" screamed the Queen as she scooped her baby up into her arms. The King stood as well and wrapped his arms around her as the princes all stared in alarm at Voldemort; Ron now crying from all the loud noises and crashes.
"GAURDS! SEIZE HIM!" The King ordered. The guards clustered around Voldemort, but he only laughed manically, before more dark flames appeared... and when it cleared, he had disapparated away from the scene.
The Queen started to cry, burying her face in her husband's shoulder, the newborn between them slowly started to whimper, having woken up from all the noise.
"Wait my Queen," Minerva said coming to her at once, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Not all hope is lost... don't forget," she turned to Albus, "Albus still has a blessing to give her."
They all looked up at him as the King went to Ron and picked the crying child in his arms. He then asked the young wizard, "Then you can undo this curse, Albus?"
The young man gave him a sad look. "I'm afraid not completely, your majesty. I fear that Voldemort's powers are far too great. Milord and milady, I do not have the magic to take away such a dark curse. But maybe I can redo it somehow."
He walked forward to look at the princess as the whole family gathered around. "Little princess Ginerva..." he said softly. "I do not have the power to reverse a sorcerer's curse as evil as this one. Yet I give you this... I have no gift to give, but a blessing instead. And the blessing shall be this... should this terrible prophecy indeed come to pass and you prick your finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel... you will not die. Instead, I give you this ray of hope. Instead of death, it will be a timeless-ageless sleep." His heart feeling heavy as to the fact that he felt he could do no more than that to protect the princess.
"In peaceful, never-ending dreams you shall lie until the day that only a kiss from your one true love will awaken you. Then you shall be free to live and love..."
It was the best that he could do. Later that night, once all the guests had left and the princes were all sent to bed, Albus and Minerva were speaking to the distraught King and Queen in private.
"I am sorry," Albus said once again. "If I could remove this curse I would've... but it was the best that I could do."
"But how will we ever know who our daughter is meant to be with?" the Queen cried as she rocked the softly crying baby to sleep. "You said only a kiss from her true love will break it."
"Yes," he said nodding. "Only true love was powerful enough for me to prevent this curse from killing her."
But the King, still fearful of his daughter's life, decreed that tomorrow morning, all the spinning wheels in the kingdom be destroyed. While hopeful that their daughter wouldn't die... they were determined to prevent the curse set on her by the spiteful wizard and kept everything that had to do with needles away from her. Nobody who knew the princess would be allowed to tell her of the curse that was set upon her because they didn't want her to worry.
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Once Albus and Minerva left, she whispered to him, "You know that this won't stop him... he'll find a way to make sure that this comes to pass."
"Yes," he answered grimly. "I have no doubt that the princess will prick her finger on the spindle as he predicted. But the kingdom will survive. I have sixteen more years to make all the preparations to ensure that."
"I only hope that they will be enough," she sighed. He reached out and clasped a hand on her shoulder.
"I can't believe this," Albus said angrily as he glanced back at the sparkling castle in the distance. "The King and Queen are just heart-broken."
"There must be something more we can do..." Minerva asked him.
"You heard Voldemort, my dear, there is nothing we can do..." he sighed. "The best we could do was to put the princess into an ageless sleep."
"And only a kiss from her true love will break it," Minerva repeated angrily. "But who knows how long that could take! She could sleep for the next... thousand years for all we know!"
"Possibly," he sighed. "But what else could we do?"
"But how is that fair to the princess?" she demanded. "Waking up after who-knows-how-long only to leave her in a world surrounded by people she doesn't know?"
Albus sighed. "Not quite..." he turned to her. "I neglected to tell the King and Queen, but the whole kingdom will sleep as well as the princess. And they will not awaken until she does."
"But that still leaves the matter of the princess's true love," she asked. "How are we supposed to bring them together?"
"I have a plan..." he said to her. "I made a loophole in the spell. The princess will choose her love... only when she gives her heart to that person will one of her brothers awaken and bring him here."
"But which one?" she asked at once. "The oldest one is only ten..."
"I don't know," he answered. "I know it's a long shot... but still..." He shut his eyes. "I want to take this chance, Minerva. I want to see true love win."
"But how will the princess chose her love if she's asleep?" she asked as he walked a few paces faster.
For a moment, he didn't answer as he stared off at the kingdom, making his final preparations. "I'm afraid that is something only the princess can choose through her dreams. Don't worry," he said softly. "For true love conquers all."
A/N: Well? What do you all think so far? If people really do like it, then I'll put up the others. Please tell me your opinions on whether or not I should keep going.