Chapter One
After having been dropped off on the doorstep of the Dursleys, Harry's life had not been exactly pleasant. He was treated like a slave, as well as a stranger that had intruded on their perfectly ordinary lives, as if he had wanted to be.
Harry was occasionally brutally beaten by his obese uncle and cousin, his aunt petunia had stated that she didn't want to touch the freak if she didn't have to so she didn't participate. Harry hated living with them and prayed everyday for a relative or even a complete stranger to come take him away from this life, but sadly no one had ever come.
But one day, the help Harry had prayed for came in the form of a girl his age, named Avery America Johanson. She had long silky brown hair, bright sky blue eyes, and bright smile that drew Harry in the very first time he saw, which was when he was six and Avery had moved into the house across the street.
The Dursleys, being the normal family that they were, had invited the Johansons over for dinner the second night after they had moved in. Thinking it polite, Manny and Matthew Johanson had accepted the offer and bought their little girl over to meet Dudley and Harry.
Petunia was an ok cook but the Roberts were polite about it and after dinner Petunia tried noticeably hard to get any kind of dirt she could on their family but apparently Mrs. Johanson was an expert on that kind of thing and avoided every inquiry.
As that was happening, Avery, Harry, and Dudley had been sent into the living room to play but the whole time Dudley had been tried to turn Avery against Harry just like with the kids at school.
"You don't want to be friends with a freak like him Avery; he'll just spread his freakiness to you too." Dudley had said with a sneer in Harry's direction. Harry had been silent, knowing that if he spoke against Dudley he'd only get a beating from his uncle later.
Avery had watched this and had been indignant on Harry's behalf.
"Harry is not a freak! He's obviously a nice boy and I would love to be his friend, you're just a big fat bully, Dudley!" Avery had said angrily, her pretty little face had turned red with anger. Harry was astonished that someone had actually stood up to Dudley for him and had promised to protect little Avery if he had to.
"Just shut up, you're just a stupid little crybaby girl anyway!" Dudley had replied angrily, he stomped toward Avery and pushed her over.
"Dudley, leave her alone, she didn't do anything to you!" Harry had yelled angrily, Dudley was over three times his size but he had promised himself to protect Avery and that's what he was going to do.
"Oh yeah, and what are you going to do, freak?" Dudley had taunted, Harry glanced down at Avery who was silently drying on the floor while glaring daggers at Dudley. Harry was suddenly filled with anger at the sight of Avery's tears and spontaneously tackled Dudley.
Dudley's fat stomach had taken most of the blow but he had been caught by surprise and they both went down. Dudley was used to fighting smaller kids and immediately gained the upper hand though Harry did put up quite a good fight against a much larger opponent.
Avery had watched this in admiration for Harry, taking on his bully of a cousin for her. She had felt an instant kinship with him and that fat bully was not going to mess with her or her new friend.
"Leave Harry alone you fat bully!" And with that, Avery had jumped on Dudley's back before he could punch Harry.
Upon hearing the commotion going on in the living room, all four parents had rushed into the room to see the fight going on. Vernon and Matthew had pulled their kids apart leaving Harry on the floor. Manny had helped Harry up and tried to straighten his obvious hand-me down clothes, which gave her a suspicious feeling seeing as the other boy and the parents were dressed in tacky and expensive clothing.
Petunia and Vernon had apologized profusely but ushered the Johansons from the house to deal with their nephew. That night, Harry had been severely beaten and hadn't been seen outside the house for weeks until his bruises and cuts had healed.
When he was finally allowed out again, he had walked to the nearby park and sat alone on the bench because Dudley had already turned all of the other kids in the neighborhood against him. He saw the Johansons on the other side of the park and caught Avery's eye, she gave him a bright smile and dragged her parents over to him.
"Hey Harry!" Avery had greeted him brightly, and despite his somber mood he couldn't help but give Avery a bright smile in return.
"Hello Harry, how are you dear?" Mrs. Johanson had asked. Harry looked up at her in surprise because no one had ever cared to ask about him before. Mr. Johanson had caught his expression and filed it away for later.
"I'm fine ma'am, thanks for asking." Harry had replied politely, earning a smile from the older Johansons.
"Can I go play on the swings with Harry, mommy?" Avery asked, staring up at her mum with innocent blue eyes.
"You have to ask Harry, dear." Mrs. Johanson responded.
"You wanna play with me Harry? Please?" Avery pleaded, Harry smiled and let Avery grab his hand and pull him over to the swings while Mr. and Mrs. Johanson watched on with smiles.
Harry and Avery had played together for hours until it was time for them to go home, the three Johansons had insisted on walking Harry home since he lived right across the street. On the way, Mr. Johanson spoke to Harry.
"Harry, Avery told us the truth about what happened a few weeks ago when we came over for dinner." Matthew began, Harry looked nervous for a minute.
"I wanted to thank you for sticking up for Avery, she doesn't make friends easy and she could use a good friend like you. Can you promise me you'll look after Avery when school starts?" Matthew asked Harry nodded quickly and said a verbal promise as well to show how seriously he took his promises; Matthew had just chuckled and ruffles Harry's already messy black hair.
Things continued similarly after school started, Avery didn't make any other friends because she hung out with Harry so they became extremely close. They shared all their secrets but Harry had made Avery promise not to tell anyone about how the Dursleys treated him, she wasn't happy about it but she promised.
It also came up that weird and unexplainable things had happened around the both of them; but while Avery's parents thought she had an amazing and wonderful talent, the Dursleys thought Harry was a freak.
Avery had vehemently and repeatedly set Harry straight about some things, like the fact that he was not a freak, he didn't deserve to be hurt, and she gave him confidence and a will to defend and stand up for himself.
One day, after Avery had been living across the street from Harry for two years and they were both eight, Avery had run to the park in tears where Harry had been waiting for her.
When Harry had asked her what was wrong, she had replied that her parents told her they were moving far away and they wouldn't be able to hang out anymore. Both children had been heartbroken but eventually they had decided to spend their last week together doing as many fun things together as they could.
On the day that Avery and her parents were moving away, Harry and Avery had sat on top of the monkey-bars and watched the sunset over the trees that surrounded the park. They both had mock-gagged as they saw two teenagers sitting on a bench holding hands and snogging each other's brains out.
"I sure hope I won't be like that when we get older, Harry." Avery had commented after a short silence.
"If you can find a boyfriend, you mean?" Harry had responded, he yelped when Avery swatted him on the shoulder, momentarily making him loose his balance. He regained it and glared at her indignantly; after both of them had calmed down they started to talk again.
"I don't want to find some random boy and snog him, I want a good boyfriend who'd like me for me and protect me, like you do." Avery said, Harry thought about his life when he got older and said, "I'd like a girlfriend who would understand me and my odd ways, someone who would know when to play around and be serious and keep me from going insane, like you do."
Avery's eyes lit up and she turned to face Harry excitedly, Harry just looked at her warily, whenever Avery had that look in her eye, she wanted to do something potentially scary.
"Ooh Harry, I have an idea! Instead of dating some yucky old person that we'd hardly know, how about we just date and marry each other when we get older. We already know everything about each other, we understand each other, and we're best friends so why not?" Avery babbled on excitedly.
The more Harry thought about it, the better the idea seemed to him and after a moment he was just as excited as Avery was.
"I'm leaving today so we need to make a promise, not just a promise but a pinky swear." Suddenly they were both solemn, a pinky swear was something that was sacred amongst children, it was a promise that could never be broken, no matter what.
Harry nodded and held out his right Pinky, Avery grabbed his right pinky with her left and they closed their eyes and bent their heads.
"I solemnly pinky swear to date and marry Harry James Potter when we are old enough. I promise to find him wherever he may be in the world to do this. I promise to remain his bestest friend until the end of time no matter what." Avery swore seriously.
"And I solemnly pinky swear to date and marry Avery America Johanson when we are old enough. I promise to find her wherever she will be in the world to do this. I promise to protect her from all harm from any person or thing out there and I swear to remain her very bestest friend until the end of time." Harry said, they stared into each other eyes and in unison said, "This we swear."
Unknown to them, they had just made a modified wizard's oath; since it was modified it wasn't as strong. In the future, the pinky swear wouldn't make them date or get married unless they wanted to but it would show them both the benefits and downsides if they wanted to. That was to make the decision easier on them both.
That night Harry had sadly said goodbye to his one and only friend and her parents, who had come to be something like a real family to him. Harry and Avery had waved to each other until their car had disappeared around the corner.
Harry had waited until he got back into his cupboard but when he closed the door he began to silently cry. He felt a deep sadness, like a whole had been left inside of him but then he remembered their pinky swear and smiled through his tears, he had a feeling that they would meet again someday.
Sorry the chapter is so short but the next one will definitely be longer. For once, I know exactly where this story is going and this is going to be my main focus along with another one of my fics called A New Life (read that as well!) until I finish them both and then I'll work on one of my other fics. Please Review and leave Nicely Phrased Constructive Criticism, I have a fragile heart and low self-esteem.