Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters or elements of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter. Anything written here is purely for entertainment and will not be making any profit.

Harry's Secret

Summary: Harry Potter has a secret. A mysterious woman has appeared briefly and occasionally throughout his life. He knows she means him no harm, and her short visits create a familiarity, a personal connection between the two of them that Harry soon realises he doesn't wish to share with anyone. He never sees her arrive or leave, but is simply aware of her at certain points in his life. They never speak, simply greet each other with a slight acknowledgement, never interacting, she merely observes for a while. He has no idea who she might be, but finds himself missing her when she later disappears from his life.

Rating: K+

Warnings: None.

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Canon as far as possible.

Any italicised writing is J. K. Rowling's own work, quoted directly from the British editions of the books, not my own.

~ Harry's Secret ~

Chapter 1:

It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. ... Harry had the best morning he' had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunch-time, wouldn't fall back on their favourite hobby of hitting him... After lunch they went to the reptile house.

Trailing behind his relatives, Harry was eager to get into the cool darkness of the house up ahead of him, having always had a mild fascination with snakes and other reptiles.

Peering past Dudley's fat bottom waddling ahead of him, Harry's attention was diverted as he stumbled, having accidentally bumped into someone coming out the reptile house. He looked up to see a woman, seemingly alright, and was ready to apologise just as their eyes met.

Words failed Harry for a split-second as something unspoken passed between himself and this stranger. He caught himself, and was just about to mutter a quick 'sorry' before attempting to catch up with the Dursleys, hoping they hadn't noticed, when Uncle Vernon's bellow echoed back through the doorway,

'BOY!' The formidable walrus-moustache made its way around the corner back to where Harry was, Aunt Petunia trotting up behind,

'Terribly sorry madam, has the boy been bothering you?' Vernon addressed the unknown woman, before turning back to Harry, 'I warned you about what would happen. You apologise to this lady right now...'

But Harry wasn't paying attention. The woman had studied Vernon with an amused expression, before casting a quickly smile in Harry's direction and walked away without saying a word.

'See? Scared her off didn't you. Honestly, upsetting strangers when we're going out of our way for you, on Dudley's birthday nonetheless! Ungrateful's what I call it...' Vernon's ramblings continued on as Harry followed behind, scuffing his feet along the floor, the woman already out of his mind as he looked around the tanks.

Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling an slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a dustbin – but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.