Chapter I: Frank Brice

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

As happened all too often Frank Brice woke up with a grunt of pain. He had taken shrapnel in the thigh from a German artillery shell on the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940 giving him a permanent limp and causing him occasional pain that seemed all the more frequent as the years went by. He pushed himself out of bed and limped to the kitchen, hoping that some aspirin and a hit water bottle will let him get some sleep. As he entered the kitchen he looked towards the one of the few things he had left from his time as a sergeant in the British army, a Webley Mk. IV revolver with 12 rounds inside a locked display case.

He walked over towards the sink and filled a pot with water to heat up for his bottle. He looked out the window and saw the lights on in riddle manor. He muttered a low curse, kids had been sneaking in and vandalizing the house ever since he had been declared innocent of the murders of the Riddle Family. He shook his head in disgust, why would he want to do such a thing, they had taken him in and given him a job when he was just a wounded old soldier, they even named him in the will, allowing him the keep his small cottage along with a small stipend for him to live on. He still kept the grounds looking perfect, he felt that he owed it to them. He looked closer and saw that the light was flickering and swore again louder this time, the kids must have started a fire.

He didn't have a phone in his small cottage so he couldn't call the fire brigade. Instead he grabbed the small fire extinguisher from under the sink and made his way out of the kitchen, as and after thought he unlocked the case holding his Webley and loaded it, thinking that a few shots into the dirt would scare them off.

He made his way to the house as quickly as his leg would take him, and as he got close the clouds broke revealing the moon which showed that smoke was coming out of one of the chimneys and that the fire was in one of the fireplaces. For the first time tonight frank cracked a smile and even chuckled. Local teens had been using the place for mid-night rendezvous for many years. Frank let out another chuckle and decided to go and surprise the kids and scare them off. Reaching the front porch frank put down the fire extinguisher and walked in, unsurprised to find that the old locks had been picked.

Be began to make his way up the stairs and instead of hearing the sounds of passion from love struck teens he heard several people talking. He couldn't make out the words as his hearing was another casualty of world war two so he snuck closer. As he got closer he began to make out a few words, when he heard a high pitched voice say, "I will kill that potter boy" frank froze and thought to himself 'these people are plotting a murder.' He drew his Webley from the waistband of his pants and decided to get closer, he didn't have enough evidence to go to the police.

As frank approached the door he felt something move passed his feet, and suppressed a shout as a large snake slithered passed and into the room. He then heard some hissing from the room and a voice said, "Nagini has told me that the old muggle caretaker is listening at the door, Wormtail welcome him in." the sinister way the last four words were spoken had frank raising the Webley and pulling back the hammer as the door slammed open, he heard a voice shout something a bright green light went over his shoulder. Frank reacted with the training he received over half a century before and fired two shots into the man in the door.

Frank entered the room and saw another man younger then the first with black hair point something at him frank responded by firing another round, this one right into the man's forehead. He heard sensed movement behind him and saw that huge snake getting ready to strike him so he fired off a quick shot hitting the snake and severing its long spine. After killing the snake frank heard a scream of rage and turned towards the sound and saw something that would stay with him for the rest of his life. In the chair say what looked to be a deformed baby. Its skin was pail and shiny and it didn't have nose or ears, but the most disturbing feature was the glowing red eyes that gave off and aura of purist evil. Without thinking frank unloaded the last two bullets into the creature causing it the collapse dead into the seat. As frank took a deep breath and began to possess what had just happened a black cloud rose into the air and with a screaming noise went through the wall and out of the house.

Frank shook his head and with a sigh, began to drag the bodies out of the house towards the garden where he planned on burying them. He knew that no one would believe the truth, and felt that by killing those two men and that thing, he had saved a boy's life, and silently hoped that the potter boy would be alright.