Chapter 1: (1644 words)

It was after school on Harry's first day at primary school, and he was shivering in his worn out little trainers that the Dursleys had lent to him, not wanting to spend well-earned money on a freak. It was his fifth birthday last July, and now, in September, he was hiding behind a tree so that he could hide from Dudley's vicious gang.

The primary school was by the forest behind the park near the Dursleys' house – he would never call that place a home, not with the bruises and marks from lashings decorating his back like a human Christmas tree. The day had just ended, and he was walking back to the Dursleys as slowly as possible to have at least some time to himself. His breaths were shaky at best, and he tried to stand on his feet without losing balance, he was shivering so much.

And then, his 'mask' appeared on his face.

That was what he called it when he buries his emotions deep inside of him, so that he wears an emotionless face – it always freaks out Dudley and his gang. Still, he was a freak so perhaps that was why…

Not hearing anything nearby, Harry left the sanctuary the large oak tree provided and ran as fast as he could to the Dursleys' house, actually quite quickly from experience with running away from Dudley for as long as he could remember.

Suddenly, he was shoved to the floor, and he heard something snap in his chest. "Look, Dudley! We caught the freak!" one of Dudley's gang members grinned maliciously.

"Good!" Dudley smirked at his little malnourished cousin. The freak had his freaky face on again, but he wasn't afraid… not that much. And anyway, he'll ignore, cause he's brave and smart and strong, just like his mum and dad tell him whenever they can. And if they take that much time out of their day to tell him that, it must mean that it's true, right?

Just as Dudley was about to punch him right in the chest, Harry heard a shout from behind him. He felt like he was about to pass out, but somehow, he was holding on to his consciousness. He felt rather than heard a boy of his age stand behind him. The boy called out, "Hey! Leave him alone!"

Some of Dudley's gang members snorted, and Dudley smirked, "What're you going to do about it?"

The boy shook with fury and, in the course of a moment or two, Dudley and his gang were running away in fear of a flash of fire in the centre of their group which inexplicably appeared, and disappeared soon after. Harry grinned, happy to see his cousin run away with such fright. His grin soon faulted as he realised what had happened, but it soon came back stronger than ever: this person was a freak just like him!

The boy walked from behind him to standing in front of Harry, and he reached out a hand, which Harry hesitatingly took. It was painful getting up with a broken rib, but he felt his freakishness in his blood and it was like it was fixing the bone for him, because he wished for it that much. Would this freakishness do other things? Things other than just fixing broken bones? Choosing to ignore his sudden revelation, Harry took a look at his saviour. He had brown wavy hair, which ended at the lower part of his neck. His eyes were a dark blue, and his skin tone was pale. He was taller than Harry, but then again, everyone's taller than the little ebony-haired boy. Harry's mystery saviour gave Harry a small smile and held out his hand, "Connor."

"Oh, uh," Harry stuttered, "I-I'm sorry, but, uh, I don- I don't actually kn-know my, uh, my name." He wished he could say something better than just informing this boy that he didn't even know his own name, and with a stupid stutter!

The boy looked concerned for a second, before hiding it behind a mask of anger, though Harry still saw it. "Well, ask your family."

Harry narrowed his eyes, "They're not my family. We might be related by blood, but I… uh, I don't r-really like them m-much." His stuttering came back near the end, after realising how he was in public, although no one was around. He knew better than most that secrets are meant to be kept hidden, and he just blurted out his opinion towards his 'family' to this boy. A stranger! Although, he at least had the heart to help him. "But, I'll ask, ask th-them anyway." He gave Connor a tentative smile, and the brunet smiled back happily, though a glint of fury stayed in his deep blue eyes.

"Well, I know how you feel, my family's not exactly the best," Connor winced and rubbed his arm, "they're not supportive of my… well, whatever that was," Connor's eyes suddenly widened, and he raised his arms in a gesture of 'surrender', "Y-you're okay with all of that, right? I don't even know what it is, I just know that I can do it."

Harry grinned at Connor, who seemed shocked that the little shy boy would display such a strong emotion, "I can do it, it too!"

Connor stood still, eyes widening, "Really?" Harry nodded, now embarrassed, but Connor merely grinned and held his hand. "Show me where you live to get your stuff, and we can go and run away to an orphanage or something like that."

"R-really? Wh-why would, uh, would you w-want to, to go a-and run away with, uh, with, with me?" Harry stuttered, a deep and embarrassed blush covering his skinny face, and Connor grinned once more.

"Because, little Agni, you and I are exactly the same: a horrid family, and superpowers that everyone else hates," Connor grinned at him, and Harry smiled sheepishly back, though he raised a curious eyebrow at the nickname.

"A-Agni?"

"It's the Hindu God of Fire," Connor shrugged and smirked, "Most see it as feminine name in the Western part of the world, but I think it's the perfect name for you." Harry blushed deeply, but thanked the smirking brunet for the name, and Harry showed Connor his house.

"We'll h-have to sneak in," Harry told him, "Dudley g-got, uh, got here bef-before me, m-meaning that, that th-they'll hit me for, for being late."

Connor slowly placed his hand on Harry's shoulder, ignoring the little flinch that the ebony-haired boy gave to the touch, "That's fine, we're masters of stealth, we can do this!"

Harry narrowed his eyes at the taller brunet, realising something, "You're v-very literate for, for a five-year old."

Connor grinned and quickly smirked, "As are you."

Rolling his eyes, Harry pointed to a prim and proper little house, before walking around the side of the building and into a little shed.

Connor raised an eyebrow, and Harry explained, "I-I don't, don't h-have anything worth t-taking from here, um, except for two, uh, two l-little rings from m-my… my mother. She's d-dead. My, uh, my dad too. I live with my u-uncle and, and a-aunt." He whispered the last parts, and Connor rubbed Harry's back soothingly… is this what it felt like to… to have a friend? If it is, then he could definitely get used to it!

The two boys, working together, pulled out a ladder and aligned it so that the top reached the attic window, as Harry explained that his aunt hid everything from his mother in a little box in the attic so that Harry couldn't reach it. Harry and Connor climbed up the ladder and silently landed on the attic floor. Harry pointed to a little red and black box and Connor nodded.

Harry whispered, almost impossible to be heard, "Th-this is it." Connor smiled softly and opened it for Harry, as the ebony-haired boy's hands were shaking too badly. The box opened to reveal two rings which almost seemed to be made of fire, and a little slip of paper. Connor grinned and took both of the rings, and he handed one to Harry, while the little ebony-haired boy took the sheet of paper.

"Here," Connor whispered. He then pointed to the one in his hand, "Can I keep this one?"

Harry nodded and the two boys placed it on their ring fingers on their left hands, too young and abused to know that such a place was where wedding rings were placed. A soft fiery glow emitted from the two boys. It surrounded them both and almost seemed to… to connect them, and they grinned at each other in awe. Silently, they snuck out of the attic before placing the ladder back in the shed.

"What was in the letter?" Connor curiously asked, and Harry shuffled from foot to foot.

"Well, uh, it- it's from my mother. She call- called me Harry, and s-said that, that she was called Lily Potter, and that my, uh, my dad was called J-James Potter," Harry stuttered, as he leaned on the wall, overwhelmed with the information that he actually had a name. "I-it just said th-that the, uh, the rings are m-mine."

Connor smiled, concerned for the little boy despite the fact that they had met about ten minutes ago. He ignored Harry's little flinch as he patted his shoulder in congratulations, "Well, Harry Potter, want to run away with me?"

Harry rolled his eyes and nodded, "B-but only if, if y-you're okay with i-it!"

It was about five in the afternoon by now, and Harry took Connor's hand as the two boys raced to the nearest bus stop, where the two friends boarded a bus to London. There, they found a little orphanage that went by the name of Wool's Orphanage, and they knocked on the door.

A/N: So, this is a short first chapter, but oh well.

It's a very obscure reference but I gave Connor that name because for some reason or another he reminds me of the Connor from DEH (Dear Evan Hanson), my newest musical obsession. I change musicals every few weeks. Before DEH, it was Matilda, and before that, it was Prince of Egypt, even though it wasn't a Broadway Musical. And honestly, I ship Connor and Evan so much, it's probably unhealthy. If you're as much into musicals as I am and you've never heard it, please do! It's brilliant!

Anyways, I don't know the pairing yet for this story. When I had the vision for this, I was going to pair Connor with Harry (Harry stutters and stumbles over his words like Evan does, I did that on purpose! ;D) but if any of you don't want Harry to end up with an OC, than please review and tell me who you want Harry to end up with, though Connor will still be Harry's first, best, and closest friend throughout this story.

Also, I don't know if any of you remember but Wool's Orphanage was the orphanage that Tom Riddle/Voldemort went to. I felt like that would get Dumbledore to worry like an idiot. He is going to be manipulative, though he believes that what he is doing is for the best, even if it really isn't.

I don't know if I'll make Voldemort the 'good' guy, or if it's just Harry, Connor, and their true friends against both sides of the war. I don't know which one to choose, I feel like the first choice would work better for this story, but I've done that for a lot of my other stories, and don't want to be repetitive, so please tell me what you think via reviews. Thanks! :)

Sorry that the author's note thingy is so long, I just had a lot to say.

Oh, and enjoy!