A/N: Hey guys! The lovely writer Ash-Caro-Lynn agreed to beta my story and so I wrote this! It is going to be a multi chapter story and this is really just a starter chapter; giving a bit of background info. Please review. If you do, then you get to have a candy of your choice, just tell me what in the review box.

31 October 1981

Albus Dumbledore walked down Privet Drive, looking rather out of place in his navy robes. It was the middle of the night, and he was on a mission. To leave the recently orphaned Boy-Who-Lived with his aunt and uncle. The elderly wizard sighed.

It had been he who pointed Lily, the boy's mother, in the right direction, and it had been he who encouraged her to fight for the greater good. However, Harry, the baby in his arms, took all the credit for surviving. Perhaps if the child grew up abused and weak, he, the true leader of the light, could earn some fame.

"Now, what's the address?" Albus asked himself. It was common belief that the old man was going crazy, and his talking to himself only confirmed their suspicions. "Ah yes, number five!"

He walked across the neatly mowed garden and onto the doorstep, producing a note from a pocket hidden in his clothes. Written on it was a message for the boy's aunt and uncle. Albus knew that the Dursleys would take no notice of it, but it was an aid to his cause - he could at least claim that he had tried his best. A smile crept onto his face, as he gazed at the tiny bundle laid on the doorstep, the child swaddled in the blanket.

Did he think that he was doing the wrong thing? Of course not. After all, it was for the greater good.

"Goodbye, Harry Potter," he whispered before spinning on his heel and disappearing.

In that moment, he had no clue what was going to happen; then again, did anybody?

29 March 1987

"Harry, time for school!" shouted Emma. The boy groaned, rolling over so that he was facing the wall. She grinned to herself, before running across the room and pulling off his racing car duvet.

This was the typical way of waking Harry up in the Granger household. Hermione appeared at the door frame, holding a pink toothbrush in her mouth. She rolled her eyes at their mother's antics before returned to the mirror in the bathroom, picking out her 'imperfections.' Harry thought - and their parents agreed - that Hermione was flawless.

After about five minutes, Harry finally rolled out of bed, stretched and headed to the shower. He carefully picked which shower gel he would use, before finally deciding on the 'Minty Fresh' scent. His dentist parents were definitely rubbing off on him.

Eventually finishing up with his shower and getting into his school uniform, he left his room and descended the stairs for breakfast.

"You know, nobody would guess that you two are just seven and eight," Dan remarked, affectionately ruffling his son's hair as he strode past.

"Yes, you really are very mature for your age. Must be all the books," Emma agreed with a laugh, looking up from her paperwork. "Alright, you two are going to need to walk to school by yourselves again today. I have a lot of work to be getting on with and it's only down Wisteria Walk. You'll be fine if you stick together, just stay away from Petunia's son." Her normally calm features formed a scowl as she thought of the boy. "He's… a thick boy, if I ever saw one." She said this last sentence with a tone of disgust, and the rest of her family felt the same way.

Dudley Dursley was fat, ugly and spoilt. His doting parents were not only very rich, but also very powerful. His father, Vernon, ran a firm called Grunnings, and had been elected as mayor of Little Whinging three times in the past six years.

Vernon's wife, Petunia, was head of both the croquet and golf clubs, to the dismay of Harry and Hermione's parents. Emma's favorite hobby was croquet and Dan was completely obsessed with golf, but as their awful next door neighbour was in charge of both clubs, the two refused to attend. Dudley had inherited his large figure, piggy eyes and snobby attitude from his father, but his mousy brown hair was his mother's 'gift.'

"We'll be fine mum, don't worry," assured Hermione with a smile, but Harry wondered how she could act so calm after what Dudley had done to her. He grimaced as the memory came to him.

When the two had been walking to school with their mum, Hermione had rushed ahead, wanting to meet their friend Susan before school officially started, while Harry had stayed back. Dudley had been waiting for an opportunity to get revenge for her performing better than him in school, and it had been a perfect moment for him. As she had rushed by him, he had stuck his foot out, tripped her, catching her just before she hit her face on the pavement and broke her nose. He had demanded that she give him her lunch money as payment for saving her life, and she had tried to refuse, but he had gotten his face right up in hers and made her cry.

At that point, Harry had charged around the corner and slapped Dudley's cheek. Usually, when Harry slapped somebody, it would sting for only a few seconds, and then just fade away. However, this was not the case for Dudley. Apparently, the anger behind the slap made it so powerful that angry red spots were left on the rotund boy's face. The boy collapsed on the ground, letting a very frightened Hermione go. Although it had happened when they were five, Harry could still remember it more than two years later. Even now, just thinking about it made his hands clench into fists. Hermione glanced at her brother, giving him a reassuring smile as she correctly guessed at what was bothering him.

"Let's go!" Harry exclaimed, rushing towards the door. "Bye mum, bye dad!" he called back over his shoulder. Hermione kissed each of her parents on the cheek before following Harry outside.

After a short walk, they arrived at their school and ran across the playground to their two best friends, Susan Bones and Neville Longbottom. The 'awesome foursome,' as their teacher Miss Pearcore affectionately referred to them, were among the smartest students in their grade. Susan and Hermione were excelled in almost every subject, although Susan's specialty was geography. As her aunt worked in the government and she loved to travel, Susan often found herself heading off to exotic countries such as Luxembourg and Australia.

Neville was quite shy, but came out of his shell when it came to maths. Nobody could beat him and he aced almost every test.

The quartet headed through the classroom door and chatted for a bit before making their way over to the other students. Although the four were the best of friends, they weren't afraid to mingle and many of the other students were also friends with them. Many of the younger students also loved the four, one such example being Harriet Applewhite, who looked up to Hermione and practically worshipped the older girl, who played along as the small blonde girl was too cute for her to ignore.

"Class! Settle down, please!" Miss Pearcore's voice was heard by everybody in the classroom and everyone quickly moved to their seats. She waited until the chatter died down before taking the register.

"Emily?" she called

"Yes, miss."

"Adam?"

"Present."

"Susan?"

"Yes, Miss Pearcore."

"Isla?"

"Here."

"Dudley?"

She was answered by silence.

"It appears that Mr Dursley is late yet again," she mumbled to herself, sighing as she marked him absent.

"Maybe Petunia fed him so much that he couldn't walk," mumbled Harry to Hermione. "She keeps on forgetting that there's lunchtime for him to fill up on calories."

His sister hid her laughter behind her hand, but stopped abruptly as the door shut loudly, turning to Dudley, whose piggish little eyes immediately found the two.

"What are you giggling about, Potter, Granger? Something funny?" If Dudley's voice was supposed to sound friendly, he was doing an awfully bad job at it, he was practically snarling.

"Yes, actually, Dursley. Your face," Harry replied with smirk. Hermione felt like smacking her forehead in frustration at the bickering boys, who it was impossible to stop from arguing. Impossible, except for the fact that when her and her brother were about three years old, they had discovered that they shared a mental connection that allowed them to communicate without words.

Harry! Stop, don't stoop to his level, he's not worth it. Just remember that we're leaving at the weekend. London probably won't have any Dursleys, she reminded him mentally, hoping he would listen.

What? Dad never told me about that! Harry thought in disbelief, and Hermione smiled in satisfaction, having distracted him from getting angry at Dursley - although she probably shouldn't have revealed the fact that they would be moving away from their friends.

"Harry." Miss Pearcore's calling his name on the register shocked him out of his thoughts, so he quickly answered her and allowed her to finish.

"Now, let us get on with things. I am sorry to inform you that Miss Granger and Mr Potter will be leaving our school tomorrow. They will be moving to London, and hope you will join me in wishing them good luck." The two noticed Susan and Neville tearing up, clearly having been kept in the dark about this similarly to Harry.

"However, as our two students will be sorely missed and we wish to give them a fond farewell, our day will be going a little bit… differently, with fun activities rather than our usual schoolwork."

"Woohoo!" shouted all of the class, and listened eagerly as she assigned the day's activities.

"Awesome Foursome, a word, if you will?" asked Miss Pearcore after dismissing them, and the quartet share a look as they followed her out into the corridor.

She turned to face the four, and Harry noticed for the first time that her eyes seemed to be glassy, as if she had tears in them. "You have no idea how sorry I am to see you go," she began.

"Oh Miss Pearcore, I didn't have any idea! I'll miss you so much!" Harry hugged his teacher before reaching out and pulling Susan and Neville into the hug. They in turn brought Hermione in, and the five shared an embrace before Miss Pearcore broke off from the group, a single tear slipping down her cheek.

"Neville, Susan," she said, gesturing for them to gather around her. The teacher whispered something to them, and the three parted, wearing sad smiles that never left their faces.

Finally, at the end of the day, the class - minus Harry and Hermione - lined up in three rows. Suddenly, Isla stepped out and started singing.

"So now it's time to say goodbye, to our friends moving on…"

Neville and Susan joined in for the next line.

"And after many years of being here, we'll be sad when they're gone…"

The next part was sung by all of the girls… and Neville.

"This is our leavers song, we're proud of what you've done,

So many happy times we've had, so many songs we've sung."

For the last part of the song, the whole class lended their voices (except Dudley, who was just lip syncing).

"This is our leavers song, we're proud of what you've done,

Go from here with confidence,

For all the things...

For all the things...

For all the things to come!"

Hermione burst into tears as the song finally ended and the final bell rung, its chimes joining the echoes of their classmates.

Harry and Hermione shared a look, knowing that that day was their last day with their best friends, and that tomorrow they'd be moving on from that part of their lives.

Their lives would change, for good.

A/N: My lovely beta decided that she would not only help with the story, but the author's notes too. Thanks Ash-Caro-Lynn. This chapter was a pleasant start to what I hope will evolve into a great story. Dudley as a character is fleshed out as a tyrant and a bully, while Neville and Susan are introduced, who attend a Muggle school despite being magical, which promises for an overall different introduction to Hogwarts with Harry already knowing three of his fellow firsties. Please review, I have already started writing the next chapter! Thanks for reading!