Hey! This is my first ever Harry Potter fanfic, so I hope you like it! I would love constructive criticism and any form of review! Thanks!

(This is set in the spring before Harry goes to Hogwarts)

The sounds of delighted shrieks and happy shouts filled the air of the playground. The children of Whinging Primary School were currently on their recess break. This was the highlight of the school day for most of the students. It was the time when they could forget their school worries, and just be themselves with their friends. Every child had a bright smile plastered on their face during this coveted break.

Well, almost every child.

In the corner of the playground, on the farthest swing set, sat a scrawny young boy with unruly black hair. He wore a pair of battered, taped glasses on his nose, and his clothes looked many sizes too big. His vivid emerald green eyes were downcast, looking dejectedly at the tops of his scuffed trainers. He had an aura of sadness about him that all of the other children lacked.

"Oi! Potter!"

His eyes darted up, and when he saw the source of the words, his face visibly blanched. His small hands, which were currently curled around the swing chains, tensed as if he was expecting an attack. From the other direction came a group of boys, the leader of them being a rather large blond boy with an unpleasant sneer on his beefy face.

"What are you doing over here, Harry? Does ickle Potter have no one to play with? Where are all his fwiends?" the boy spat out. Harry's mouth turned down into a frown as his face contorted into a scowl.

"Shut up, Dudley."

Dudley and his cronies laughed unpleasantly as they saw Harry's temper rising. "Oh, yeah, that's right! Potter doesn't HAVE any friends!" Dudley chuckled evilly. "Who would want to be friends with a specky, scrawny git like Potter?"

Something in Harry snapped. He stood up abruptly, his green eyes narrowing dangerously. "Better to be a scrawny git that a fat pig like you, Dudley."

Dudley's piggish eyes widened as he realized Harry's implications. "Why, you little-!"

He lunged towards Harry, but Harry was too quick for him. He dodged Dudley's fist, and started running as fast as he could in the opposite direction. Dudley and his group began chasing him, but they were beginning to fall behind. Harry turned behind one of the school's brick walls, and crouched behind a trash can while he caught his breath.

Thank goodness, thought Harry. Whenever Dudley caught up to him, the consequences were usually painful. Harry winced as he remember all the times Dudley had broken his glasses by punching him on the nose. To Dudley, it was fun to cause Harry bodily pain. He called it "Harry-Hunting".

"Aha!"

Harry whipped his head around, and to his dismay saw Dudley towering over him. The huge youth wore a twisted grin on his face as he stared down at Harry's crouched form. "You thought you could get away from us, didn't you?" Dudley smiled again as he raised his fist. Harry braced himself for the hurt that was sure to come.

Dudley's brought his fist down squarely on Harry's right eye, breaking his glasses lens. "OW!" shouted Harry as pain shot through his eyes. Dudley brought down his fist three more times, giving Harry a bloody nose to go along with his blooming black eye. Harry couldn't stop himself from crying out in pain. Over and over Dudley punched him, while a small crowd gathered around to watch the one-sided fight.

Just then, the bell signalling recess was over rang. The crowd scattered as they began to make their ways to their various classrooms. Dudley stood up and turned around to walk away, but not before giving Harry a rather cheeky smirk. Harry slowly sat himself up by his elbows, wincing as his bruised, battered body was forced to move. He lifted his hand up to staunch the steady flow of blood streaming from his nose, but soon his hand was covered in sticky red liquid.

"Git." Harry muttered mutinously. He sat there for a few more minutes assessing his injuries, not caring that class probably had already started. All he could think about was how much he hated Dudley, and all the terrible things he wished would happen to him-

BAM! Just then, one of the trash can lids rocketed into the air, crashing to the cement with a clatter. Harry stared at it for a few moments, bemused as to the cause of the strange incident.

"Harry?"a soft voice said.

Harry looked up to see a small girl with wispy blonde hair staring down at him, her clear blue eyes flooded with concern. He recognized her as Emma Pillingsworth, a very shy girl from his year in school. She currently was biting her lower lip nervously, while kicking the pavement a bit with her trainers. 'What are you doing out here, Emma?" Harry inquired. "You should be in class."

Emma blushed a bit while saying, "Well, I-er, wanted to see if you were okay...Dudley did hit you rather hard."

Harry was surprised by her words. Why would a pretty girl such as her care about nerdy Harry Potter's well-being? Most people were too concerned as to what Dudley's group would do to them to be nice to Harry. "Umm..yeah, I suppose I'm alright. I'm pretty used to Dudley by now." Harry mumbled, finding his own cheeks growing hot for some reason. Emma reached out a hand to help Harry up, and he took it. They began walking side-by0side to their classroom, occasionally giving each other quick glances out of the corners of their eyes. After a few moments of silence, Harry blurted out, "Thanks for helping me."

Emma gave him a hard look. "You're welcome. I think it's dreadful how those boys treat you. They're nothing but immature babies who pick on others to make themselves feel more superior. And I think you're awfully brave the way you stick up to them and take their crap..." she said, trailing off after the last bit and blushing furiously.

This was the most Harry had ever heard her say before. She usually kept to herself during class, only speaking when spoken too. It rather touched Harry that she thought him to be brave, and he began to feel the oddest sensation in his stomach. Almost as if thousands of butterflies were flying around inside. He gave her a small smile, and she smiled back in return.

"I really like you, Harry. I just want you to know that." she said as they approached the classroom door. Harry's eyes widened as he realized her implications. She fancied him! A girl actually fancied him! He was taken aback by this realization, and he found himself saying, "I really like you too, Emma."

Emma smiled as she turned to open the classroom door. Harry smiled as well.

Thanks for reading! Review, please! :)