Chapter 1: A Different Life, And The Vanishing Glass

Author's Note Part 1: Well, here it is. Another fanfiction for my page. Unfortunately, this one will most likely be focused on for a while, before the updates spread out. Why is this you may ask? Well, the answers are simple. For one, I have around 25 other fanfictions that I need to focus on year round, and it's hard getting to them all. Another reason is because this is based around a book series, which makes it harder to write out than a TV series or movie, because I don't have scenes to actually see (and I'm not using the movies because they leave out so much from the books, that it's just annoying). (Although, there are scenes from the movie that I shall use. One of which you'll see in this chapter).

Another thing that you're all going to want to know, is that there shall be a certain pairing in this series of stories. And that pairing is...

*Drumroll*

John x Hermione! Yes people, I shall be one of the few writers out there who write out a Male OC x Hermione fanfiction! I have multiple reasons for this, the main one being that I don't think there are enough! I ended up searching for them, and I think I saw maybe 10. The other reason? Ron isn't exactly nice to her until he realizes that he likes her. And even then he still talks about the "annoying" stuff that she does with no regards to how she feels at times (At least, that's what I remember happening. If you guys know otherwise, make sure to tell me). So, this is what the pairing is going to be John x Hermione. However, I'll probably start a poll for what year you guys want them to get together...

But, either way, I guess I should just hurry up and start this so that you guys can start reading huh? (Note: The chapters will most likely go by chapters in the book. Although there may be a few filler chapters you see in this series of stories since most of the time, the book can jump from a few days, to a couple months). (Also note, that while this chapter and the next will be in "Harry's POV", the rest of them will be in John's).

Almost ten years previous to the present day, Mrs. Dursley had opened her front door of her home to find a one year old Harry Potter asleep in a small bundle of blankets. However, despite this little fact, Pivot Drive had hardly changed the way it was at all. Almost everything was the same. The only noticeable differences being the new pictures that showed the Dursley's son's growth from toddler to ten year old, who this day, was turning 11. However, Harry Potter was indeed there. Asleep at the moment, but with his Aunt outside his door, that wouldn't last long.

"Up! Get up! Now!" Her shrill voice exclaims. Harry was startled awake, the sound of his aunt rapping her knuckles on his door echoing through his "room". "Up!" She screeches once again, before she goes stalking off, and Harry can hear the sound of a frying pan being placed on the stove. Harry rolls onto his back to look blurrily up at the ceiling. Thinking about the dream he'd just had as he reaches for his glasses. The dream had been a good one. There was a flying motorcycle in it, and he felt as if he'd had it before. But what Harry didn't know, was that it wasn't a dream, but a memory of that fateful night almost ten years ago. The night that he received the scar that now adorns his forehead, and his parents died. Then, his aunt appears outside his door again. "Are you up yet?" She demands.

"Nearly." Harry replies, only just refraining from rolling his eyes.

"Well get a move on! I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn! I want everything to be perfect for Duddy's birthday." She tells him. This time, Harry can't hold back the groan that he gives off, only just managing to hold in the snort at his aunt's nicknames for his cousin. " What did you say?!" She snaps through the door at him.

"Nothing, nothing..." Harry replies, getting a huff from the woman as she goes stalking off. Harry lets out a grunt as he pushes himself up from his bed. Of course it was Dudley's birthday. How could he have forgotten? He slowly crawls out of his bed, before looking around for a pair of socks to put on. He eventually finds a pair under his bed. And, after pulling a spider off one, puts them on. Harry was used to spiders. After all, the cupboard under the stairs was full of them... And that's where Harry slept. He reminds himself about this with a slight frown, before a different voice can be heard in his head.

Ugh, Harry, you really need to stop with your self-pitying. It woke me up. Harry smiles at the familiar voice that appears in his head, before responding.

Well John, I'm really very sorry that I woke you up. I beg for your forgiveness and hope you can remain my friend. Harry thinks. He hears a snort from the voice in response.

What are you, an idiot? Of course we're still gonna be friends. After all, we've only got each other. The voice reminds him, half joking, half serious. You see, while it was true that Harry had grown up with the Dursley's, and that he didn't have anyone else at school who would be friends with him, he did have one friend. And that friend happened to be John. The first time Harry had heard his voice, he'd feared that he'd gone mad thanks to what the Dursley's did to him. Then, he'd actually met John one time when he was taking out the trash. They'd gotten into a conversation for a couple minutes, before Harry was forced back into the house by a screaming Uncle Vernon.

The two were both seven at the time, so they both believed that John had Telepathy, and thus, a superpower. After all, if your nine, and you suddenly had that ability, wouldn't you think along the same lines? But, what was important about meeting John, was that Harry had learned that the boy was nine going on seventeen. Why is this you may ask? Well, the answer is simple. John was a street rat that lived around Pivot Drive. Unfortunately, because of this, he had no friends beside Harry, just as Harry had no friends besides John. But, the two had managed to keep their friendship from everyone.

The fact that John was a street rat, and had learned many things from his time as being one, made it so that him and Harry were perfect to be friends. They were able to confine in one another about their daily problems, and would be able to joke about it with no unintended consequences between them. This was because they both lived similar lives, and when they said something that might have been meant a different way if anyone else said it, between them, it was simply a joke. Or a means of trying to play it off so that it wouldn't hurt them as much. But, back to present day.

When Harry finally finished getting dressed, he walked out of his cupboard, and made his way to the kitchen. When he arrived, he wasn't that surprised to find the table was practically covered by the amount of presents that Dudley had received. It looked like he'd received everything he'd asked for and more. Including that racing bike he'd wanted. Though what he wanted it for, neither Harry nor John could tell. After all, Dudley was really quite fat, and didn't exercise at all - unless that exercise involved punching someone. And Dudley's favorite punching bag was, of course, Harry. The fact that his parents didn't do anything to stop him only allowed him to continue. However, he often couldn't catch the raven haired, ten year old. This was because although Harry didn't look it, he was very fast.

Maybe it had something to do with him living in the dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. However, he looked even smaller and skinnier than he already looked because he was forced to wear Dudley's old clothes, and Dudley was about four times bigger than Harry. Then again, John probably would have given anything to have those clothes, since Harry was able to fold them to keep warmer in his cupboard. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He was always wearing round, black glasses because of his poor eyesight, and they were held together by a lot of scotch tape due to the large amount of times that Dudley had hit him in the face. Needless to say, Harry was forced to talk John out of storming straight into the house every time it happened.

Over the years that they'd gotten to know each other, the two had grown a sibling like bond. In fact, the two could almost be seen as twins. The only difference was the fact that while Harry had bright green eyes, John had cobalt. And then there was the fact that John did not have to wear glasses to be able to see. As well as the fact that John had a little muscle mass, since during his time on the streets, he'd learned the ways of free running, and parkour. He thanked every god that he knew for that, because he doubted that he would be able to find a pair of glasses that would work for him out on the streets. Another thing that connected the two, was that neither had their parents anymore. John had known them as a kid, but he didn't know a lot about them since he was forced to live as a street rat since the age of five. Therefore, most of his memories were blurred. However, Harry had apparently been given a scar during the event that took his parent's lives.

That was the only thing that he liked about himself, the scar. This was because it was the only thing that he had that was able to connect to his parents. However, any time that he tried to ask anything else beside the crash, he got the same response from both his aunt, as well as his uncle. "Don't ask questions!" That, of course, was the first rule in the Dursley household. Not that it did any good. If Harry ever wanted to know anything, that wasn't about his past that is, he could always ask John. The boy may not be a genius, but since the library was open to everyone, he could go in there and look up what Harry wanted to know in a book, before replying over their "Mental Link" as John called it.

That morning as he was cooking the bacon, Harry was having a fairly normal conversation with John, just talking about the previous day, as Uncle Vernon walked in the door. "Comb your hair!" he barked at the boy in a way of greeting. Of course, this was normal, since Harry had been to more hair cuts than most boys his age since his hair just continued to grow, and grow all over the place. However, the same couldn't be said for John. Since the boy couldn't go to a stylist, he was forced to either do it himself, or just let it grow. By this point, he'd given up on cutting it on his own except when it got too long, and it had reached his shoulder blades. Speaking of John...

And there he goes again. Hey old man, why don't you comb your own- Oh~~~ wait, you don't have any hair to comb! John remarks, making Harry laugh through their link. Over the years, Harry had learned the ways of sarcasm thanks to the street rat, and was able to use it to defend himself against the words that bullies tried to use against him. He'd also learned how to effectively hide his laughter from anyone he didn't want to see it. By the time that he'd successfully clamed down, he was frying eggs, and Dudley had walked into the room. And now we can add the pig to the room! Well would you look at that! We've got a whole family of animals here! We've got the Walrus, the Chihuahua, and the pig! Jack exclaims, getting another round of laughter from Harry.

Oh come on John... Don't insult the animals. Harry sent back. This time, it was John who was laughing as Harry heard Dudley start to talk to his mom in the background and he placed the food on the table. As he did so, he noticed how Dudley's face fell as he finished counting.

"Thirty-six." He says, looking over at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year." He says. Getting a scoff from John in response.

That kid should be glad he gets any at all... What I wouldn't give for just one present. John says in a small voice, thinking of all his birthdays that had come and gone. Harry agreed full heartedly with John, still feeling a bit guilty that he received some things... Even if it was just socks and a coat hangar. Hey! Stop all this remorse Harry! You and I each have equally bad lives! I mean, that family abuses you for Christ sake! John yells at him. Therefore, you need all the things that you can get. So stop feeling as if you have a better life than me. Yeash, how many times must we have this argument. John mutters. That much was the truth, each time one of them felt they had their life better off than the other, the other would remind them that their lives were equally bad.

As all this was going on, Dudley had been getting red in the face as he talked to his mom, and Harry took that as a sign to eat faster in case of a "Dudley tantrum". Obviously, Aunt Petunia had known that danger was near as well, and tried to rectify the situation. "And we'll buy you another two presents when we go out. Is that alright?" She asked, making Harry discretely roll his eyes when he realized that Dudley was still complaining about the lack of presents.

"Then I'll have thirty... Thirty..." Dudley begins, making John laugh his ass off.

Oh man! I knew the kid was dumb, but I didn't realize he was this dumb! He is a year older than us, right? John asked through their mental link, making Harry stifle his laughter once again. (1)

"Thirty-nine sweetums." Aunt Petunia tells him with her "sweet" voice.

"Oh." Dudley says as he sits down and grabs the nearest present, before he starts to rip the wrapping off of it. "Alright then." He concedes as the present is revealed to be a video camera. As he does this, Uncle Vernon gives off a chuckle before he ruffles Dudley's hair.

"Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy Dudley!" He exclaims, making John laugh once again, joined by Harry through their mental link.

Dear God! John exclaims through laughs. He's encouraging it! That boy is going to grow up to be the kind of man his uncle is! Harry could only laugh in agreement. As Harry finished eating and Dudley unwrapped his gifts, Aunt Petunia went out into the hall to answer a phone call. After a few minutes of watching Dudley open his gifts, with John making comments throughout the event, Aunt Petunia comes back out into the kitchen with an angered and worried look. John immediately stops laughing. Uh-oh. I think I have a feeling that I know what this is about. But it doesn't include me! He exclaims as Harry starts to fear that John had done something to get caught by the Dursley's.

"Bad news Vernon." She said with a scowl. "Ms. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She said, jerking her head in Harry's direction. When she said this, Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, whereas Harry's heart leapt. Both Harry and John knew Ms. Figg, and even though the two should have felt bad about her breaking her leg, Harry was glad that he wouldn't be forced to look at the pictures of all the cat's she'd owned. "Now what?" His aunt continued, looking over at Harry with a glare, as if he'd been the one to plan this. Harry knew that he wouldn't have been able to with all the time he was forced to spend in his cupboard... Instead, he would have gotten John to do it in some way, shape, or form. And John would have been all too glad in order to get his friend out of the house. Though, he would have felt guilty about it as well.

"We phone Marge." Vernon suggested, referring to his sister.

"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy." Petunia told him, getting a scoff from John in response.

Oh please. And you don't? Bunch of hypocrites, the lot of them. He tells Harry with an almost visible scowl as he refered to how the two spoke as if Harry wasn't there, or something unpleasant that they wish they could get rid of.

"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?" Vernon asks.

"On vacation in Majorca." Snapped Aunt Petunia.

"You could just leave me here." Harry says hopefully, getting a scoff from John in response.

No~~~ Harry. Why would they do that? That would be fun. And you know they don't let you have that. John tells his friend sarcastically. But Harry could almost see his friend glaring at his aunt and uncle since that was proven to be true. This was proven true when Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd swallowed a lemon when Harry suggested this.

"And come back to find the house in ruins?" She snarled.

Yes! Do that Harry! Show them that's why you don't mess with Harry Potter and John! His friend exclaims enthusiastically, before he sombers up. Then again, they could throw you out to live on the streets with me if you did that... He trails off, not liking that idea since Harry actually had a roof over his head.

"I suppose we could take him to the zoo..." Aunt Petunia begins, making Harry and John startle in surprise. "And lock him in the car..." She continues, making Harry sag and John growl.

"The car's new. He's not sitting in it alone." Uncle Vernon says, making John's growl get worse.

I swear, one of these days it won't matter what you say Harry. I'm going to barge in there and beat the shit out of them. John says, making Harry sigh as Dudley starts to "cry" in order to get his way. Such is the norm in the Dursley household.

"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your day!" Aunt Petunia exclaims as she wraps her son in a comforting hug. At this, John stops growling, and starts to laugh at the newest nickname that Dudley had been blessed with.

"I... Don't... Want... Him... T-t-to come!" Dudley exclaims through large, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He yells out as he sends a nasty grin over his mother's shoulder at Harry, making John stop laughing and start to growl once again. Then, the doorbell rang.

"Oh, good Lord, there here!" Aunt Petunia exclaims as she runs to the door to let Piers Polkiss into the house. Dudley stops pretending to cry at once when he sees his "friend" who's only his "friend" because they help each other beat up people along with the rest of Dudley's gang. John rolls his eyes at Dudley's actions.

This kid needs a serious talking to. If Piers was actually his friend, then Dudley shouldn't have any problems crying in front of him. After all, a real friend would comfort their friend if they were hurting. Isn't that right, Harry? He asks his friend, getting a nod through the mental link in response.

Half an hour later, Harry was in the back of the Dursley's car, off to the zoo. Harry and John thought that this was great, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside, and threatened him with time spent in the cupboard should anything "funny" happen. John had almost jumped out from behind the house and attacked Vernon for this, and Harry had been forced to talk John out of it before he gave himself away.

As the family and friend drove along the highway, Uncle Vernon started his usual tirade. Usually he would complain about things such as people at work, Harry, taxes, Harry, the bank in general, and Harry. This time, it was about motorcycles. "...Roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums." He comments as one such person goes driving past them on his motorcycle.

"I had a dream about a motorcycle." Harry says as he suddenly remembers the dream from the night before. "It was flying." At this statement, John sighs and Vernon nearly drives into the truck in front of them.

Now you've done it Harry. John says sorrowfully as Vernon turns around to glare at Harry as Dudley and Piers snigger.

"MOTORCYLES DON'T FLY!" He exclaims.

"I know they don't. It was only a dream." Harry tells his uncle. But both him and John know that what's done is done. After all, the Dursley's never liked it if Harry saw something that may lead to "dangerous ideas" in their minds. When they finally arrived at the zoo, the Dursley's bought Piers and Dudley large chocolate ice cream, and ended up buying Harry a cheap Lemon ice pop since the lady selling the food had asked if he wanted anything before they left. Harry made sure to stay well behind Dudley and Piers as they went through the Zoo, in case they got bored and went back to their favorite past time of punching him. But when Dudley told his father that there wasn't enough ice cream on the knickerbocker glory that he was eating, and Harry was allowed to finish it, he should have known that it was all too good to last.

The group finally made it to the reptile house, and Dudley and Piers wanted to see the huge poisonous cobra, and thick, man-crushing pythons. They all stood in front of one particular snake, which appeared to be asleep. Dudley Piers and Harry look at the snake through the glass, while Petunia watches them, and Vernon reads the zoo's pamphlet. Finally, Dudley speaks up. "Make it move." He demands, his father looking up from the pamphlet and leaning over to rap his knuckles on the glass.

"Move!" He exclaims as he tries to make the snake do as he says. Then, he leans back as Dudley leans forwards as Petunia gives a small smile at his actions.

"Move!" He yells louder than his father. At this Harry turns to look at him.

"He's asleep!" He explains before looking at the snake again and shaking his head.

"He's boring." Dudley says, getting a nod from Piers in agreement as they wander off to look at a different exhibit. As they do this, Harry starts to speak to the snake.

"Sorry about him. He doesn't understand what it's like. Lying there, day after day. Watching people press their ugly faces in on you." He tells the snake as the serpent lifts it's head to look at the raven haired teen. Then, it winks. At this, Harry stares at the snake with wide eyes, before he starts to speak again. "Can you, hear me?" He asks, getting a nod in response. "It's just, I've never talked to a snake before. Do you, well, do you talk to people often?" He asks, the snake shaking its head as it hisses its own language.

"You're from Brazil aren't you? Was it nice there?" Do you miss your family? He asks the snake, the response he gets being the snake gesturing to a sign that read "Bred in captivity". He turns back with a knowing look. "I see. That's me as well. I never knew my parents either." Harry tells the snake, only for another voice to enter the conversation.

Yeah, well, you still have someone to talk everyday. John chimes in, Harry realizing this was true. Before anything else can be said however, Pais suddenly speaks up from across the room.

"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIVE WHAT IT'S DOING!" He exclaimed, rushing over to the glass that Harry was standing in front of.

"Out of the way you!" Dudley exclaims, punching Harry in the chest and sending him sprawling before he leans up against the glass with his hands keeping him up. Harry pushes himself up slightly, and glares at Dudley. Then, not a second later, the glass is gone, and Dudley ends up falling into the water in the enclosure. Harry smiles at this as the snake comes slithering out, and John laughs in the background through the mental link. Then, the snake does something that neither boy expected... It spoke.

"Thankssss." It thanks Harry, holding out the "S" as you would expect a snake to do if it could talk.

"Any time." Harry replies, still a bit surprised at the odd turn of events. Not a few seconds later, the snake slithers away, occasionally hissing at anyone that gets in his way. However, the real kicker is when Dudley gets up with a sigh of relief, and attempts to get out of the enclosure. The only problem is that the glass had reappeared. Effectively trapping Dudley inside. He starts to bang on the glass when he realizes what happened, and Petunia immediately starts to worry over her "Dinky Duddydums". Harry allows himself to smile at this, but it immediately disappears when he sees the look on his Uncles face. John also lets out a defeated sigh at it.

Da-das-da, you're dead. He says in a sarcastic tone, referencing a quote that he'd heard when Dudley had left the window open in his room one time. John had found out what movie it was from, was able to watch it on the computers at the library, and it was now one of his favorites. He also figured that this was the best time for it... Because it was effectively true with the glare that Uncle Vernon was sending Harry.

When the group arrived back at the Dursley household, Piers was sent back with his family, telling all about the incident. Whereas Vernon was only able to get out, "Go - Cupboard - Stay - No meals." Before he collapsed into a chair, and Harry hurried off to his cupboard to escape anything else that his uncle had planned. Later that night, Harry was lying in bed, and was only stirred when there was a quiet tapping on the wall next to him. He got up, and moved aside the loose piece of wood, to see the familiar face of John staring back.

"Hey Harry." He greets with a small smile, his voice the same as it was through their mental link.

"Hey John." Harry greets back. A moment later, a piece of bread is pushed through the hole to Harry courtesy of John.

"I heard the punishment, that Vernon gave you." He says, growling out the word "punishment" with a scowl. At Harry's nod, his growl worsens. "What I wouldn't give to be able to sock that man across the face without the possibility of being sent to jail for it..." He mutters, before he takes a calming breath. "Well, I've gotta go. Don't want to stay in place too long and risk your relatives seeing me now do we?" He asks, Harry shaking his head. "I'll make sure to keep in touch." John says, tapping his head as he fits in the wooden board on his side, closely followed by Harry with his own board.

As Harry lies there in bed that night after finishing his piece of bread, he allows himself a small smile. Even though he had thought of some unknown relatives coming to pick him up when he was younger, and proven wrong. And in a way, he was grateful for that. Because otherwise, he never would have met John. And he couldn't imagine his life without his best, and only, friend.

Authors Note Part 2: (1): No offense to anyone who's actually like this, I just wrote this out in terms of Dudley because... Well, it's Dudley.

Soooo, what did you all think? Was it a good start? Does it need to be worked on? I want opinions people! Also, at the time that this is put up, there should be a poll on my Bio that will let you guys decide when John and Hermione get together. Make sure to vote! As for the above, I've already told you that these chapters will be based off the chapters in the books, so this series should be nice and long. Hopefully able to get you guys interested throughout the many adventures that the... You know, that's another thing. I need a name! And by that, I need a name that will take the place of the golden trio, since there will be four people! Review with your suggestions, and I might just choose one, or base a name off one.

Well, I think that's about it for this chapter. Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this, and I hope to see you next time!