Over All Disclaimer: I DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT own the characters or story of Harry Potter. The characters I make up are my own.

Chapter One: Best Friends-First Years at Hogwarts

'Tap' 'Tap' Tap'. It was in the dead of night when Harry heard the tapping sound from inside the Dursley residence. The dark haired boy sat up in his poor excuse of room underneath the staircase. 'Tap' Tap' Tap'. 'What is that?' Harry thought. He put his glasses over his emerald eyes and opened the door leading from his "room" to the entrance hallway of the house.

There were no lights on and Harry could hear Vernon snoring on the second floor. Quietly, Harry walked toward the living room window where the tapping was getting louder. He saw the faint outline of a person through the curtains.

'Who could that be at this time of night?' Harry thought. He opened the cream colored curtains, the only things in the house that weren't tacky, to identify the mystery person. As Harry peered outside into the dark and quiet neighborhood, he saw . . . nothing. 'Whoever was outside is gone now' thought the ten year old boy.

He started to make his way back from the window when he heard a thump and a creak from upstairs. Harry's eyes widened in fear at the thought of Uncle Vernon waking up and seeing him out of his "room" so as quickly and soundlessly as he could, Harry ran back under the staircase, shut the door, covered himself with the well worn cloth he used as a blanket and faced the wall.

'THUMP' 'THUMP' 'THUMP' the footsteps of the heavyset male were loud as he came down the staircase. Harry shut his eyes from the debris that fell on him as well as out of fear. The light was turned on in the hallway by an annoyed Vernon.

"Blast, I forgot to lock the door of that abomination" he said. Vernon peered into the window of Harry's abode. He smiled cruelly and said with a chuckle, "Not like he would run away in the middle of the night. He would have nowhere to go and no one would take him in."

With that said, Vernon made sure to lock Harry's door, turned off the hallway light and made his way back upstairs.

Harry sat up when he knew that his uncle was upstairs and out of earshot. He took off his glasses and wiped the tears that gathered in his eyes. He lied down on his side and faced the tiny window.

'Someday I will leave this dreadful place, somehow' the dark haired boy thought to himself as he drifted off into a dreamless sleep. Outside the house, the figure in which Harry saw returned. "I will help you," it whispered as it disappeared into the midnight wind.

MORNING

'BANG' 'BANG' 'BANG' was the noise Harry woke up to. He jolted up and hit his head on the bottom of the stairs in the process. "Get up you lazy git!" Vernon yelled.

"Get up and make breakfast already so we can go!" he said as he proceeded to tear open the door, pull Harry from the collar his too big flannel shirt and threw him against the wall. "We give you food, a roof over your head and the clothes on your back yet you feel the need to laze about all day!" Vernon exclaimed.

"Now get a move on, Dudley is getting hungry," he said as Harry ran to the kitchen to make breakfast. As Harry walks in, he sees his aunt Petunia fawning over his overweight cousin. Not wanting to be thrown into a wall and get yelled at again, Harry proceeded to the stove and started to make the Dursley's their breakfast.

*******30 minutes later********

"My Dudles is such a young gentleman. He has such wonderful etiquette. Don't you agree Vernon?" the giraffe woman asked the no neck man.

"Of course my dear, Dudley is our son so of course he is the best," Vernon said. While they spoke Harry was washing the dishes and rolling his eyes at the praise his cousin was getting. 'What etiquette? If stuffing your face with all the food you can reach and then wiping you mouth on the tablecloth is good etiquette then I want nothing to do with it' Harry thought as he scrubbed away the remains of the food.

"Let's go get you into your nice clothes so that you will be the envy of all the kids at the zoo Dudley," said Petunia while leading Dudley upstairs to his room.

"I will be getting ready as well my dear," said Vernon to his wife, "I expect those dishes to be done by the time we return from upstairs or there will be hell to pay you ungrateful child," he warned Harry with a glare. As Vernon went upstairs, Harry continued to wash the dishes. 'Tap' 'Tap' 'Tap'. 'There's that noise again,' Harry thought.

He peered out of the window above the sink. Standing there, directly across the street, was a girl that seemed to be about his age. She had midnight black hair that went to her shoulders. She seemed to be a bit shorter than he was and was wearing a pitch black cloak that covered what she was wearing underneath. Harry tried to see the color of her eyes but before he could a truck passed blocking her from view. When the truck passed, the girl was nowhere in sight. 'Who was she?' Harry thought to himself.

"YOU BETTER BE DONE WITH THOSE DISHES BOY!" uncle Vernon yelled from the top of the stairs. Harry rinsed off the last dish and hurried to the front door. Vernon came down in a pair of black slacks, black dress shoes, a blue polo shirt, and a silver watch on his wrist. Harry opened the door for his uncle.

Dudley and aunt Petunia were next to come down. Dudley was wearing khaki Bermuda shorts, black socks and sneakers, and a red and white polo shirt with a white shirt underneath. "You look as handsome as your father Dudles," aunt Petunia gushed. She was wearing a tacky floral print sundress with way too many colors, red 1 inch heels and a pearl earring and necklace set. Harry only had the too big red flannel shirt with a black T-shirt underneath, old worn jeans, sneakers with holes in them and his glasses.

As Dudley passed Harry, he hit him in the shoulder and said, "Watch it freak." Harry didn't bother to respond for he didn't want another scolding for trying to harm their "poor Dudles." He closed then locked the door and gave the keys to Vernon. During the entire trip to the zoo, Harry kept thinking about that strange girl. 'Who was she? Was she the same person I saw last night? What does she want?' All of these questions were running through our young hero's head.

*******5 hours later******

"AND YOU WILL STAY IN THERE UNTIL YOU LEARN NOT TO LIE!" yelled a red faced Vernon as he shoved Harry into his corner under the stairs. Harry was sporting a rather big shiner, a bloody lip and other cuts and bruises throughout his body. 'How did that snake get free and why could I talk to and understand it?' Harry thought.

It was 4:00 in the afternoon when they had all returned. The Dursleys didn't let him out of his "room" for the rest of the day not even for dinner. Later that night Harry was awoken by the same noise he heard the night before. 'Tap' 'Tap' 'Tap' Harry wondered if it was that girl again.

He tried to open the door then remembered that dear old uncle Vernon locked it up tight so that he couldn't "attack his innocent son again." Harry was just about to give up when he hears the door being unlocked. It opened slowly without anyone touching it. 'What on earth?' Harry was both curious and scared of what had moved the door. As quietly as a mouse, Harry made his way out of his "room" and into the living room. He froze at what he saw.

The girl he saw from the night before and early this morning was standing in the middle of the ugly patterned rug in the Dursley living room. She was wearing the same cloak as before but he could see that she was sporting black jeans, a dark blue turtleneck sweater and dark blue flats. Harry was right in his assumption of her looking about his age and being a couple inches shorter than he was. When he looked into her eyes, he realized that they were a stormy gray or silver.

They spent a time staring at each other before Harry broke the silence. "Who are you and why are you here?" Harry questioned. The girl did not answer but instead took a few steps toward Harry. He flinched back when she put her hand near his face. The girl's eyes saddened at his reaction.

Seeing this Harry decided to stand still as she cautiously put a hand against his cheek. Her skin was like ivory that shone in the moonlight. Her hand was warm against Harry's cheek. She put her hand over Harry's bruised eye and muttered the words Healmaris Vastern. A soft green light was emitted from her palm.

Harry gasped at the feeling of warmth that flowed through him. After a moment, the girl took her hand away and smiled softly. Harry used his hand to probe his bruised eye wondering what she had done. He gasped softly when he felt no pain as he brushed the previously injured skin. Harry did an internal check of himself and realized that he felt no pain from any of the other bruises and cuts his uncle Vernon had given him. He stared at the girl in amazement.

"How did you do that?" he asked in a whisper seeing as the Dursleys were still asleep. The girl smiled and said softly, "Magic." Harry was confused by her answer but let it go. "My name is Harry Potter but you can just call me Harry," he said while stretching out his hand in a friendly hand shake.

"I am Isabella Alaverti," she responded as she grasped his hand. When their hands touched, they both felt a spark. They took back their hands immediately and stared at each other with wide eyes.

The sun started to rise as they stood there. Isabella looked quickly out the window and then back at Harry, "I have to go now Harry," she said. "Wait!" he said in an urgent whisper, "Will I ever see you again?" Isabella looked into his emerald eyes and said with a sincere smile, "Yes, you will see me again for a true friend never leaves for good."

Right before his eyes Isabella disappeared in a blur of gray and midnight black. Harry returned to his corner under the stairs. He faintly heard the lock on his door lock itself. Harry smiled knowing it was Isabella making sure that he was safe from Uncle Vernon's wrath. As he lay down with his eyes closed, Harry thought of his new mysterious friend who could do magic.