Author's Note: Hi fellow fanfiction addicts! Welcome to my new story!

Here are my goals:

1. At least 1000 words per chapter

2. Updating at least once per week (unless I really can't. In that case, I WILL make it up, and I WILL tell you about it beforehand. )

3. Making all characters not OOC with the exception of Harry (because instead of being alone, he has Carina! He won't be too OOC)

Please do not flame my story. I understand if you're giving me constructive criticism, but please give me something to work with instead of just saying 'wow that story stinks'.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Chapter 1: The Story of My Life

The cupboard under the stairs was a dingy little place. Carina Black, though scrawny and short for her age, was still cramped in there. The lock rattled, and not a moment later, a boy came in. The only thing she could see about him was his luminous green eyes. Harry Potter.

"I'm back!" he said cheerily.

Carina looked at the toast, hunger obvious in her eyes. She grabbed the bread and tore it into halves. She raised it up to Harry, and said, "Cheers."

Harry rolled his eyes as Carina scootched over to make room for him. A couple of years ago, they had devised a plan to make the place that was already very small for one person, fit for two. She clunked her bread with his when he raised it as if they were actually toasting with a wine flute. They had seen the Dursley family do that. Though they lived with them, though Aunt Petunia and Dudley were Harry's aunt and cousin by blood, Carina's only family was Harry even though they weren't even blood related, and she had enough confidence in Harry to think that he thought the same way.

"Dudley talked about going to the zoo tomorrow. What havoc do you want to wreak at Mrs. Figg's house?" Harry said with a wry grin on his face.

Carina was silent, though she had an almost identical grin. She had always wanted to go to a zoo, and yet they never were allowed. She remembered when she was five years old, asking if they could go to the zoo with them. Uncle Vernon had spit on her whilst saying no in the cruelest way possible, and then slapping her cheek.

A spider started to crawl up her leg, and with a tiny gasp, she flung it off. Harry's eyes turned to her again, now wide with shock and anticipation. They both silently waited for a few seconds, trying to see if there were any sounds on top of the stair, but everything was silent, and so they breathed again.

"Stop doing that!" Harry said, swatting her. She giggled, though it was short lasting.

She didn't know when, whether it was a couple minutes later, or a few hours later, she had dozed off, and evidently, Harry had too. They woke up to Aunt Petunia's cat-like screech. Funny how she was like an animal in every way. Her voice is like a cat, her face is like a horse, and her neck is like a giraffe.

"Up! Get up now! Bake something for Duddy's birthday, and if it has even one burn on it you had better believe…"

Carina got up. She had a constant dream about a man who could turn into a dog. He looked so familiar… she knew she had seen that face before, but she wasn't sure if it was in another dream or a memory. Surely if it was a memory, he would've come to get her by now. She looked at Harry in the eye, and they did a little, complicated move with their hand, their secret handshake to tell each other 'good luck with your day'. It usually never worked, but it signifies that no matter what they would be there for each other. They then both got up, a perfectly synchronized move after years of practice. She reached for the opening, and he jumped out, so Carina could move out too.

As they walked to the kitchen, Carina brushed her hair before putting it into a ponytail, though she knew she didn't need to. It was somehow like magic, she could go through one night of sleep, she could muss up her hair however she wanted to, it would still go back to her curls. Harry had dubbed them 'gorgeous curls fit for a queen'.

When they got to the kitchen, the first thing they saw was a face that was about to get scrunched up. Dudley was about to fake cry. Carina braced her ears, but fake ear-splitting wail never came. Instead, there was Aunt Petunia's soothing voice, and Dudley stumbling on the most basic arithmetic.

Though the rest of the family didn't notice them quietly creeping in, Uncle Vernon did. He glared at them with beady little eyes.

"You're late," he said simply.

That was enough to gather the attention of the rest of the family. Aunt Petunia sneered at them, but fortunately, didn't notice more than that. The phone had started to ring, and she rushed out of the room for the latest gossip.

Out of nowhere, Carina was roughly grabbed in the arm.

"Cook!" Uncle Vernon said, spitting all over her.

She complied. In a couple minutes, a toasty, delicious English breakfast was already done. Uncle Vernon glared at her one last time before sending the food outside. His face immediately changed into one of happiness and pride as he saw Dudley eating all the food as if he himself had made it and Dudley was complimenting him by eating in a manner not dissimilar to a pig. She was about to snort in disgust when she thought better of it. She was in enough trouble as is.

The phone then started to ring and Aunt Petunia rushed out of the room. A couple minutes later, after most of Dudley's presents had been crudely unwrapped and most of them discarded to the side, Aunt Petunia returned back into the room with a face so somber you could swear she was about to say a relative had died.

"Mrs. Figgs has broken her leg. She cannot take the two… freaks with her today," she said staggering over the word freak.

Carina couldn't help but think 'Better a freak than a moron'. She noticed Harry's eyes across the room where he was picking up the wrapping paper. His eyes were simultaneously asking her a question and staring at her in disbelief. Carina jogged her memory to try and see if there was anything worth noting about in the last five minutes.

Her mind then froze as realization burst through: Mrs. Figgs couldn't take them in. She was very excited at the prospect of having to go another year before seeing those cats.

"Can your friend Yvonne or perhaps Marge take them in?"

She promptly deflated. In her mind, she was echoing the thought 'so close yet so far'. It would've been a great chance to show Uncle Vernon up.

"Yvonne's in Majorca and Marge hates those vile creatures."

This time, it was her who stared at Harry first, and him who had turned around. His eyebrows were raised, in their tiny little secret code. She gave him the code for I-Have-No-Idea. They turned back to their work.

Then, the doorbell rang. Dudley rushed to the door, whilst Aunt Petunia fussed over him. Piers Polkiss and his mother were standing in front of the door. She smirked. She had always loved it when Piers came over if only to see his face.

The first and only time he had come over, Piers and Dudley were simultaneously playing 'Human Punching Bag', and 'Misplaced Gentlemen' as she had dubbed them. Aunt Petunia had taken them to a movie. The few things she and Harry had gathered after the movie was that it was it had some gentlemen in it, and the phrase 'never hit a woman'. So they were running after Harry. Out of worry, concern, and sheer desperation, she had hoped with all of her heart that Piers and Dudley would turn into their spirit animals.

Though there was no change in appearance for Piers, after that incident, she would always feel as if Piers was an ant. Dudley had gotten a cockroach antenna, though unlike Piers, he did not radiate a cockroach aura. Instead, he had a strange appetite for hair and nails. Like a cockroach. Carina and Harry had laughed. Laughing was rare, and so she was sure that they both treasured that moment in their mind.

She had gotten punishment for that: She was to go outside and clean the Dursley garden's weeds. Uncle Vernon had put poison ivy leaves everywhere, and in the end, almost her entire body was swollen. She also didn't have water for the rest of the day or food for the rest of the week. Harry had to sneak all of the food because she was unable to. The Dursleys and Piers had also learned their lessons. From then on, no friend was to visit them in the house. She didn't mind though, not one bit.

As of right now, only one thought flitted inside her head.

Today is going to be fun!