Disclaimer: Everything Harry Potter related belongs to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: I know its been forever since I've written a HP Fanfic but I have a bunch of free time this summer so I started this story. If you like it comment and I'll write some more. Either way I'll probably be updating it ever couple of days so stay tuned. Hope you like it :)

Chapter One:

Like It Or Not

To say that Harry Potter was not a happy camper would probably be putting it mildly. No an explosion waiting to happen was probably more accurate. From under his black hooded sweatshirt he glared daggers at the two Aurors who were currently guarding the entrance to his compartment and sighed. It had only been three days since he had been caught and in that time he had tried to escape forty-five times. Once he'd gotten all the way down the hall before the bigger Auror had caught him. Well, he smirked; at least he wasn't making the Auror's jobs easy for them Sirius would be proud. But at the though of his godfather his smirk faded away and went back to glaring at the Aurors. It was because of them that Sirius and Remus were locked away in Askaban right now and he was on his way to Hogwarts. It was so unfair in so many ways that Harry's seventeen-year-old brain had problems believing it. That a government that was supposedly fair had just sent two innocent men to such an inhumane place- well there had to be a mistake. He'd grown up hearing stories of England and the great wizards that inhabited it from Sirius and Remus and either something had gone terribly wrong in the sixteen years they had been gone or he needed to reevaluate how much trust he put in authorities.

There was noise outside his compartment door and Harry turned to see a bunch of teenagers staring at him. Obviously well he had been lost in thought the students had begun to board the Hogwarts Express.

"Is it really him?" A tall red haired wizard asked the second Auror trying to get a look at Harry.

"Ron don't stare," a bushy haired witch, reprimanded the boy as she grabbed his hand and pulled him away from Harry's compartment. As they made their way down the corridor he could her scolding Ron on why it was rude to stare at people.

Harry suppressed a chuckle and went back to staring out the window. The train had started by now, scenes of the English countryside flew past his window and suddenly Harry felt very homesick.

"Mr. Potter," Shaklobult said, sticking his head inside the compartment. "Me and Dullish are going to go sit with the conductor so you can have a chance to interact with the other students. And before you go thinking this is your chance to slip away I will warn you that the last student to try to jump off this train ended up regretting it." And with that two Aurors were gone.

Harry sighed again; as much as he disliked the two Aurors they had at least kept the other students away. He was in no mood to make new friends right now, in fact the time difference and the excitement of the last few days was finally catching up to him, resting his head against the window pane Harry feel into a light slumber.

He was five years old and standing outside a brick apartment building in downtown Detroit. His small hands held a teddy bear backpack; he smiled at Moony who was trying to take as many pictures as he could before the school bus arrived.

Padfoot seemingly not able to contain himself anymore cut in front of the camera to give Harry just one more hug.

"I'm so proud of you little man," Padfoot whispered in his ear. "Now remember what we talked about? What's your name again?"

"Harry Marauder," Harry giggled.

"Yes you are, but I still want you to behavior yourself," Moony said putting down the camera and coming over to ruffle Harry's already very untidy jet black hair.

A school bus bearing the words "Merlin Elementary School" pulled up in front of the apartment and a beaming old lady in a purple hat came out to greet them.

"Oh I always love the first day of school," she beamed at them taking Harry's hand, "now don't you two worry we'll have him right back here at 12 o'clock with a little big more knowledge stuck in his noggin."

"What's a noggin?" Harry asked no one in particular.

"Oh dear me he has the cutes British accent," the bus drive exclaimed leading Harry towards the bus then explained, "a noggin means a brain. Now we have two more kindergarteners on this bus so I'm going to take you to sit with them."

Harry turned to look back over his shoulder before boarding the bus at his two godfathers. Suddenly they were gone and in their place were the two Aurors looking back at him, grim smiles on their faces and Harry felt very much alone.

He woke with a start, suddenly confused as to where he was. A girl with bright red hairs and a bemused expression on his face was looking down at him.

"I'm really sorry to wake you," the girl said, smiling, "I meant to just sit her quietly, you see everywhere else is full, but your such a light sleeper I'm afraid I woke you."

"No problem," Harry muttered, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Oh are you American?" she asked curiously and it was only then that Harry realized she didn't know who he was.

"Kinda," Harry sighed, "I was raised there. "

"Oh that's so exciting," the girl exclaimed, "I always wanted to go to another country. Anywhere except here actually."

"Really? Don't you like it here?" Now Harry was intrigued by this red haired girl who much be so out-of-the-loop she hadn't heard any of the rumors Harry knew had carried to the rest of the train by now about who he was.

"Well its not that I don't like it," the girl said carefully, "Hogwarts is great. Its just I wish I could have a fresh start somewhere where no one knew me."

"Oh," Harry said because even though he wanted to question the girl further he got the feeling that like him, this girl like that he didn't' know who she was. "Well maybe you can tell me about Hogwarts anyway, like who the good teachers are?"

The girl smiled brightly at him and began prattling off about different teachers and subjects. She seemed to really like Transfiguration and hate potions, mainly because the teacher didn't like Gryffindor.

"Oh I forgot," the girl said, "you don't know about the houses do you?"

Harry could have told her that he knew all about them and that if he wasn't in Gryffindor his godfather would probably break out of Askaban and demand the hat re-sort him, but he liked listening to this girl explain things to him so he let her explain all about the four houses.

"What house are you in?" Harry asked her, breaking their unspoken rule not to talk about themselves for the first time.

"Gryffindor," she said flatly, "all my family have been going back as far as anyone can remember."

"Wow," Harry said, "that must suck."

The girl looked at him and then laughed.

"What?" Harry asked.

"No one has ever summed it up so perfectly before," the girl laughed. She was about to say something else when a voice boomed through the train telling them they would be at Hogwarts in fifteen minutes.

"Well I'd better go so you can change," the girl said almost sadly.

Harry smiled at her, before chuckling darkly as he said, "oh I have not intention of changing into a uniform."

"What do you mean?"

"Well let's just say I'm not going to Hogwarts of my own free will and I intend to remind that old bat of it every chance I get."

The girl looked at Harry again before chuckling, "you know I think I'm really going to like you" she looked at him surprised realizing that she had never gotten his name.

"Harry," Harry told her extending a hand, "Harry Potter."

To her credit the girl only look mildly shocked before taking his hand and saying, "I'm Ginny Weasley."

The train lurched to a stop and the two Aurors appeared again to escort Harry up to the castle. For some reason they looked darkly at Ginny before grabbing Harry's arm and pulling him through the jostling crowd of students and out onto the dark platform.

"You'll go with Hagrid and the other first years," the taller Auror told him pushing him towards a giant of a man who was calling for the first years. "And we'll be watching just to make sure you make it to the castle."

"You act like you don't trust me," Harry smirked.

"We don't," the tall Auror told him flatly.

Harry didn't bother replying but made his way over to the Hagrid who was now leading the first years along a narrow path. Even Harry couldn't help the amazed expression on his face when Hogwarts castle came into view. Looking up at the school where his parents had gone to school, where Sirius and Remus had meet, he couldn't help but remember a conversation he had overheard his godparents having six years ago.

"Its time to send him to Hogwarts," Sirius whispered. Harry who was supposed to be sound asleep in the next room paused on his way to the bathroom and like any good Marauder started ease dropping.

"You know I want him to go as much as you do," Remus was saying, "but it's just not safe. Dumbledore is still headmaster and you know he will just use Harry in one of his schemes."

"You-know-who is dead Moody-" Sirius started before Remus interrupted him.

"We don't know that. But more importantly Dumbledore doesn't believe that. You know he will try to train Harry to fight Him and do I have to remind you how well Dumbledore's plans turned out last time. No Dumbledore is done playing destiny with the Potter family. Harry will have just as great an education going to a wizarding public school."

"I know, it's just hard to think he'll never get the chance to go to Hogwarts."

"I know Padfoot, I know," Remus whispered sadly.

He was jerked out of his thoughts but Hagrid's thick voice calling "Three te' a boat."

Harry slipped into one of the boats. Seemingly there was an excess of boats, or the first years were just too afraid to ride with Harry, because no one joined him. Harry was okay with that; he didn't need any snot-noised eleven year olds asking him questions. It was bad enough he had already made a friend in Ginny. He was not here to enjoy himself or to learn anything; even if this was the place his godfathers had wanted him to go. What was important was that Sirius and Remus were in Askaban and this was imprisonment and he was going to get out of here just as soon as he could figure out how. With that thought in mind he allowed himself to glare up at Hogwarts, the school his parents and godfathers had gone to.

The boats docked in a little cave under the school and Hagrid led them up slippery steps to a big wooden door. He knocked three times before a witch who had to be Professor McGonagall opened it. Sirius had once described her as someone who needed to pull the stick out of her- before Remus had quickly interrupted him. She led the first years and Harry into a grand entrance hall and proceeded to lecture them on how important their house would be during their time here. Harry yawned and decided not to listen. A few minutes later she was gone and he was left alone with a bunch of shivering first years.

Harry decided this would be a great time to start his delinquent activism and pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it.

"Mr. Potter what do you think you're doing?" Professor McGonagall asked him sharply. He looked up trying to act surprised and taking a long pull on the cigarette said. "Smoke Mrs. McGonagall."

"Its Professor McGonagall," she exclaimed, "and smoking is not permitted inside the building and where is your uniform?"

"I lost it," Harry said innocently, taking a last pull on the cigarette before dropping it to the floor and stomping on it.

"Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall warned, "you are seriously in danger of breaking a record for the shortest amount of time a new student has spend in this castle before receiving a detention."

"You British people are way too uptight," Harry told her, "can't a person make a few mistakes before being threatened with detention around here?"

Professor McGonagall glared at him before deciding it was pointless to reply and instead led the new students into the great hall. Harry pulled his hood up over his head; hiding his face from the hundreds of students who were trying to stare at him and made his was to the front of the hall.

He stood at the very end of the row of first years, next to what he figured was the Slytherin table. Not wanting to look like he cared what was going on, he plopped down on the very edge of the table and pulled from a torn paperback from the back pocket of his jeans. He knew that the whole of Hogwarts was staring at him open mouthed, so much so in fact that the Slytherins near him hadn't bothered to kick him off their table.

The hat had finished singing, not that anyone had really been listening to it, and Professor McGonagall started calling names. After about twenty minutes she got to "Potter, Harry."

Harry sat very still, pretending he didn't hear her. After a few minutes she repeated his name, louder this time. He still didn't react.

"Mr. Potter" she said very sternly, "if you do not get up here now you will have a week's worth of detention."

At this Harry looked up as if he had really not heard her and said, "sorry Mrs. McGonagall I was at a good part. So what? I just put the hat on?"

"Professor McGonagall," she said her lips very thin.

"Yes you already told me your name out in the hall," Harry told her innocently.

"That's five points from whatever house you're sorted into and detention Mr. Potter, now put on the hat."

"Christ someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Harry muttered, just loud enough for her and the people seated closest to the hat to hear, before quickly putting on the hat.

Hmmm the hat said and Harry would have jumped if he hadn't already known this was going to happen. Well you are difficult. Very brave and loyal, Gryffindor would suit you well. Now that is interesting.

What's interesting? Harry asked annoyed.

Something you will find out about yourself along your journey but for now I think I will put you in GRYFFINDOR.

So what do you think? Let me know by reviewing!