Harry trudged along the pavement toward school, Dudley and his friends throwing rocks at him from behind. It was the first day of the new school year, and Harry was as miserable as ever. Another year of being taunted by his cousin's gang while getting through his lessons. Excellent.
There was also the fact that Harry had no friends of his own. Nobody talked to him because they were all afraid of Dudley. They kept their distance, some of them giving him sympathetic looks, others glaring at him as if everything wrong with the world were his fault.
That is, until the arrival of Hermione Granger.
"Hello," her bright voice said. Harry didn't turn round, thinking that this girl wasn't talking to him, as no-one else did. "Um, hello?"
At that point, Harry looked around to see a bushy haired girl with large front teeth giving him a queer look. He said, "Were you talking to me?"
"Yes, I was," the girl replied. "My name is Hermione. And you are?"
Harry was still in shock that someone was acknowledging his existence but managed to say, "Er, I'm Harry. Harry Potter."
"Pleasure to meet you, Harry," Hermione said. "Could you possibly help me find this classroom?" She gestured to her schedule. Harry looked down to see that she was in his class. Harry was ecstatic. He had finally found a friend.
•••
The rest of the year was the best of Harry's life. Hermione was the only person who talked to him, but that wasn't even the best part. Hermione absolutely despised Dudley. And Dudley was afraid of her! Hermione had officially put an end to Dudley's regular bullying, and Harry felt happiness for the first time ever. They walked to school together, as Hermione lived only a little way down the street from Harry, and he often went to Hermione's house after school. Less time with Dudley, and more with someone who actually talked to him. Harry couldn't have been more content.
One day during the following summer, however, Harry was at Hermione's house when a curiously dressed man carrying a letter knocked on the front door that the two had left open. His bright purple blazer clashed terribly with his checkered green button-up shirt and orange polka-dot tie. His black top hat had a purple ribbon round the middle of it. His severely creased, red velvet slacks were short enough that his mismatched socks were visible. To complete the picture, his brown leather shoes had silver buckles with sparkles on them. The strangest thing was, he seemed to find nothing wrong as he knocked boldly on the front door.
Hermione cautiously went to the door and looked out the peephole. "Um, mum? I think you should come here for a minute."
•••
"What do you mean a witch?" Mrs Granger stared at the queerly-dressed man with a look of disgust. Being a Christian woman, witchcraft did not sound like a good thing at all.
"Oh, not to worry, not to worry," the man assured her, reading her expression. "We aren't those awful people in your Muggle stories. No, we aren't even close. I assure you, we are perfectly civilised people, just like you in fact."
Mr and Mrs Granger didn't look convinced. They looked quite confused, really. Harry, thoroughly confounded himself, was bursting with questions, as well as anxiety. If Hermione went away to this Hogwarts place, he'd be left alone again with Dudley waiting eagerly to return to their normal routine. Deciding to keep these secret fears to himself, Harry asked the seemingly most important question. "Er, sir? What's a Muggle?"
"Oh, yes, do forgive me! I am new at this job, you see, and it's quite a hard thing to explain. A Muggle is a non-magical person. Miss Hermione here is what we call a Muggleborn, a witch or wizard who has Muggle parents."
Harry nodded in understanding. Lost in thought, he missed the odd look that the man was giving him. He wouldn't have noticed had Hermione not elbowed him rather painfully in the ribs. Harry looked up to see the man giving him a look of wonderment. "You're Harry Potter."
Hermione and Harry shared similar looks, while Hermione's parents looked rather uncomfortable. "Er, yes. How did you know?"
"Your scar. It's real."
"Yes. What about it?"
"You got it the night You-Know-Who killed your parents. You survived and got away with only that scar. You're the most famous wizard alive today, with maybe the exception of Dumbledore, the headmaster at Hogwarts."
Harry was in shock. Him, the one everybody avoided, the one Dudley picked on, famous? Not bloody likely. "You must be mistaking me for somebody else. I'm not a wizard, and I'm certainly not famous."
Hermione interjected. "Harry, do you see what this means? If you're a wizard too, we'll be going to Hogwarts together!" With a pointed look, she added, "Away from Dudley."
Harry broke into a grin and said to the wizard, "So, when do I get my letter?"
Author's Note: So, this is my first FF. Sorry if it's not too great, but let me know what you think of it so far. I'm going to leave it at this, but thank you all for reading! Please review if you've got the time!