Author's Note: Never written a fanfic before, been lurking on this site for a couple of months but now let's try it! This was kinda inspired by esama's Business on A03, which you should read it's awesome! Anyway, i don't know if any one will actually read it, still not sure how that works as i've never read a brand new fanfic with not reviews or favourites, but obviously it happens. But i digress, hopefully some one is reading, Harry will be dark, though he's more just of muggle attitudes, than like dark lord evil. Remember how they said that video games and TV was turning kids violent? Well harry's had all those muggle influences and now he's going onto the wizard world.

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Harry Potter, nor am i making any money. Although i wonder if JKR does writefanfiction? you would right? ust to do all the stuff that you've kinda wondered about or something you thought would be funny, because you obviously couldn't put it in the real book cause it would ruin the plot. Just a thought...

Still with me? (maybe) onwards!

Prologue

The War had ended. There were parties of witches and wizards dancing in the streets, hundreds of owls darting over Britain to deliver the news and even some impromptu shooting stars, to the bafflement of the muggle astronomers, by some enthusiastic wizard in Kent. Death Eaters were frantic, pulling massive political favours and draining their Gringotts accounts with barley a wince with the single minded determinedness to stay out of azkaban. Those without such wealth and influence simply fled. It was pandemonium as wizards were hugging strangers in the street, most in hysterics with tears running down their cheeks with either overwhelming joy or horror for the events of the past, was anyone's guess. Most thought the emotion was just a resounding outburst of relief from the constant oppression and fear from the war. Yet in their celebrations no one grieved for a boy with a lighting bolt cut inflamed and bleeding. He lay in a ruined house with his mother and father lying dead before him and the last of the infamous Dark Lord Voldemort's disintegrated body flaking away. Not even Lily Potter, who upon reading the letter sent by Dumbledore of the Dark Lord's defeat, called out to her husband and laughed happy tears at their release from hiding. No, no one grieved for Neville Longbottom who would always be marked as the boy-who-lived.

Chapter 1: A Telly-What?

"James!" Lilly called from the kitchen door where she was watching James and Sirius teach her son David to zoom about on his new training broom, while her youngest, Rose, danced around the garden picking flowers to show her mother. James, Sirius and David trooped in with Rose skipping behind them, they all looked sheepishly at Lily suspecting that she was she angry for the dangerous loops David at been attempting on his new broom. "Look Mummy!" Rose beamed presenting the tangle of flowers and weeds to Lily who smiled and conjured a jug of water to place them in, "David Honey, take Rose upstairs, your father and I need to talk". Grinning at being let of the hook, David grabbed his younger sister's hand and pulled her upstairs, teasing her good naturedly as he went.

"Lily, I-"

James began, before Lily cut him off saying "James, we have to talk about Harry. Sirius it might be best if you stay too, your his godfather and Harry looks up to you." Perplexed, the two friends sat down at the kitchen table and James started, "Lily what's wrong? Is Harry okay?".

Lily glanced at her husband and sighed, "Harry's fine, I'm Just concerned he's spending too much time with muggles, he's always in the village or at that girl's house. Whenever we invite the Wealsey's round it's always Daniel who plays with Ron, despite Daniel being a year younger than him. Wouldn't it be better for Harry to have some wizarding friends?"

"Lily!" Sirius said with alarm, "Muggle's are perfectly acceptable friends. This is why we fought the war to stop such prejudices!"

"It's not that I want Harry to hate muggles!" Lily amened, "But Harry is only eight! What if he tells someone about magic? You can't expect an eight year old to hold up the Statue of Secrecy!"

At that moment the door opened and Harry stepped into the house and paused at the three adults at the table. "Harry sit down" James said. Harry sat down at the table with trepidation, he didn't like the way the adults were looking at him. With a glance to his wife, James sighed, "Harry, your mother and I are a little worried your spending too much time in village. Wouldn't you rather visit the Burrow once in a while? I know Ginny has been asking about you."

Harry paused, "But Lucy lives in the village and she's my best friend. And… and I don't like the Burrow, Ron only ever wants to talk about quidditch and there are gnomes in the garden and Ginny's annoying!"

The adults paused, surprised by the outburst. Then Sirius rounded on Lily and said, "See! I don't see it as that of a big deal, I was interested in muggles as a teenager and I'm sure Harry will make lots of wizarding friends at Hogwarts, won't you Pup?"

Harry nodded enthusiastically and Lily sighed, "Okay Harry, but you know you can't ever tell anyone, that you can do magic? That has to stay at secret okay?"

Harry looked confused and whined "Why not? Your mum and dad knew about magic and they were muggles."

"Yes, Harry, that's true" Lily said, "But they were my family, you can tell your family, but no one else okay?"

Harry slumped in his chair but nodded. Lily sent him upstairs and sighed, James reached across the table and took her hand, "Don't worry, love" he said, "Harry is smart and I'm sure this muggle thing is just a phase."

Lily bowed her and shared a concerned look with her husband, "But what if it's not James?" she asked, "What if he doesn't make any friends because he's too wrapped up with muggles?"

James looked into his wife's eyes and said, "It's not like we can stop him."

Three Years Later

Harry was lying with his back on the sofa his feet on the headrest as his head dangled of the seat and he watch taz-mania on the television upside down. He felt a finger poke his side and before he knew it he was under attack from a savage tickling. Caught between laughter and tears the two children rolled unto the floor, gasping and grinning wildly at each other. The attacker, a tiny fierce little girl with cropped blonde hair, glared at him.

"I can't believe your going to boarding school!"

"Believe me Lucy, I'd rather stay here and watch cartoons with you."

The girl's narrowed, "Then why don't you? I could hide you in my room and fake a kidnapping."she grinned evilly, "Or I could just do a real kidnapping."

"Pft like anyone could kidnap me, I got ninja skills" Harry scoffed. Then he seemed to deflate and collapsed on the sofa, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Hey," Lucy's voice softened, "I'll call, every day, and you can tell me all about your posh boarding school."

"Nah" Harry sighed, "no phones, you'll have to write."

"Write!" Lucy exclaimed, "What are we in the dark ages? And who doesn't have a phone? Never mind, stupid rich kids rules, I'll just get you a mobile, guess I'll have to nick mum's new boyfriend's. Don't worry he'll be gone in a couple weeks anyway."

"Won't work, no signal." Harry explained with a wince, he hated lying to his friend.

"We'll you'll have to break into a teacher's office and use their land line Harry! I can't not hear your voice for months, your my best friend!"

When Harry shook his head, Lucy's face crumpled, "I-I'm going to miss you Harry… I-I thought we were best friends, but if you don't want me at your fancy new school..."

Harry couldn't bear seeing his best friend, his partner in crime looking like that, and, knowing it was a bad idea, pulled a crumpled piece of parchment from his back pocket. Sitting cross legged on the sofa and drawing Lucy across from him, he asked her, "Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course I can Harry." Lucy said warily, the fact that Harry had asked rather than simply assuming as Harry and Lucy always kept secrets for each other suggested that this one was Big, even bigger than when Lucy told Harry that her mum was having an affair with the guy from the village corner shop. Harry bit his lip and quickly, like he wanted to get it over with, gave Lucy a weird scratchy piece of paper, written in odd green ink, she read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr Potter, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Lucy looked shocked and glanced at her friend who looked deadly serious back at her, "Harry?" she asked, her voice a little higher than usual. Harry looked down and worried at his lip. "This… this is a joke right? You can't really be going to… to this school?"

Harry sighed, "I know it seems kinda unbelievable, but it's true alright? That's why you've never been round my house okay? My parents are magical and they don't like that I'm spending time non-magical people. Or they think I'm going to go round telling everyone about magic. Which I suppose I have..." Harry trailed off guilty.

"But, Harry come on! Magic isn't rea-" she paused at Harry's genuine worry. "Okay, show me some magic!"

"What?" Harry stammered, startled. "But...But I can't do any magic! It's illegal for anyone under-age to do magic outside of school! And anyway I don't know any magic. What do you think the school is for?"

Lucy glared, "Harry, do you honestly think I'm going to believe that you are going to a boarding for posh kids to… to turn people into frogs and… and pull rabbits out of hats if I've yet to see any real magic?" she asked incredulously.

Harry could admit that she did have a point. Then exclaimed, "You have seen magic! Remember when that guy knocked you over in tesco and one minute he was yelling at us, the next he was locked in the freezer with the pizza's?"

Lucy gaped, "You did that? It was such a small freezer that he broke both his legs! The manger had to call the firemen!"

"We'll not intentionally. It's called accidental magic, and he was fine wasn't he? He barley has a limp now!" Harry replied, "Or when your dog fell off that bridge and floated back up again? Or when we saw my brother in the park and he called you names and all his hair fell out?"

Lucy looked at the boy, no, wizard, before her and whispered, "Harry, your going of to learn spells and real magic? Why didn't you tell me before!" Harry winced, he really didn't like keeping things from his best friend.

"Well, it's not aloud, it's illegal to tell people who can't do magic about wizards. I just broke, like, the biggest wizarding law telling you about it."

"Oh" Lucy pondered this for a moment. "Well I'm not going to tell anyone, I wouldn't want to get you in trouble. And," she said with a roll of her eyes, "It's not like we haven't broken a law before."

Harry grinned, "This one's a bit bigger than stealing from the corner shop, Lucy"

"Not really," Lucy mused, "We stole from the shop to get back at that guy that mum had an affair with, so we broke the law for a good reason. You broke this one for a good reason too."

Harry smiled sadly, the man who Lucy's mum had an affair with had gone on to tell Lucy's dad about it. Lucy's dad had left and now she never saw him and had to deal with her mum's new nasty 'boyfriends'. The pair had delighted too see the man panic when he opened up shop to be greeted with an empty room. Everything had been taken, not just all the stock. The shelves had been taken down, the till gone, and the counters removed. It had taken a pair extensive planning and a few sympathetic teenagers who were paid in the contents of the shop to help with the heavy lifting, but they had managed it. The man at the corner shop deserved far worse. Then Lucy smiled, and the sadness evaporated with Lucy's manic grin. "So, why don't you tell me everything about magic? And what the hell do they mean 'we await your owl'?"

Harry stood at platform 9 ¾ beside his trunk, a vicious-looking brown owl named Indiana Jones, his tearful parents and sulking siblings.

"Bye Harry, remember to write" Lily said, hugging her son.

"Pull some good pranks son," James smiled, then coughed after a sharp glance from his wife, "I mean get good grades"

With a kiss from his parents, and grudging hugs from from his siblings, Harry dragged his trunk onto the train. Seeing a carriage with a skinny dark skinned boy inside, Harry dragged his trunk in and greeted him with a smile. "Sorry, I can't be bothered to drag this bloody thing any further and you've the most empty carriage I've seen so far. Can I sit here?"

"Er, sure" the kid smiled, "I'm Dean Thomas"

"Harry Potter"

Harry put his trunk away, and rounded on Dean, "So, looking forward to Hogwarts?"

"Yes," Dean breathed relieved that Harry had thought of something to say. "I'm bit worried though, I just found out about magic you see, I don't want to be behind."

"Don't worry about it," Harry said, "Loads of people are in your position, so do you like football then?"

Harry and Dean were in an animated discussion about Man U's chance's this year when a boy with sandy hair burst into the carriage and slammed the door behind him.

"Where's the fire?" Harry joked.

The sandy haired boy flushed, "Sorry, trying to avoid some idiot I bumped into at Diagon Alley. Doesn't like half-bloods. Oh bloody hell, looks like he's coming in here!" The boy backed away worriedly as a boy with white blond hair and rather pinched features barged into the carriage, flanked by two large goons on either side of him.

"I heard a rumour that Neville Longbottom was on the train. You haven't seen him, have you?" the blonde drawled arrogantly. The boys shook their heads. The blonde's eyes appraised them, until they landed on Harry.

"Oh, messy hair, glasses, associating with filth", this was punctuated with a sharp glare at the sandy haired boy who grimaced. "You must be a Potter."

Harry glared at him, the boy was arrogant and rude, Harry disliked him instantly. "Let's see shall we, your blonde, you see to think the whole world belongs to you, yet you seem to need body guards to fight your battles for you. That kind of narcissism and arrogance coupled with cowardice and insecurity tells me that you" Harry grinned tauntingly, "are a Malfloy."

Malfoy flushed angrily, "My is family is powerful potter! And we aren't contaminated with mudbloods and scum"

Harry just turned back to the other who were staring at him with open awe and astonishment.

"Get out Malfoy, you're embarrassing yourself"

"Yes, Prince Potter, Lord of the Mudbloods. Come, Crabbe, Goyle, we'll get the conductor in here, there is enough filth to fill a pig sty, it's a safety hazard"

With a sneer that the boys ignored, Malfoy swept from the compartment.

The was a moment of dead silence until the sandy haired boy whispered, "Wow, that guy is idiot."

The three boys laughed. The sandy haired boy introduced himself as Seamus Finnigan, and soon they were pulling up to Hogwarts. Harry stumbled out to the platform, were he was greeted by a huge man whose hands were the size of dust bin lids, who showed the children to boats to cross the lakes. Harry couldn't contain his gasp as he first caught sight of the looming castle and he was hastily hurried through the castle until he stood before the sorting hat and his name was called.

"Potter, Harry"

No one was much interested, their excitement had died down after Neville Longbottom, the-boy-who-lived was stored into Gryffindor. But as the hat settled onto his head, Harry felt a rising sense of trepidation. He really had no idea where he would go.

"Hmm, interesting"The Hat murmured. It chuckled at Harry's rising sense of alarm. "Don't worry child, I can not repeat anything I've seen inside a child's head."

"Oh" Harry thought, "So you know about Lucy then?"

"yes," The Hat whispered "But don't worry, I'm more concerned with were to sort you. You have a fine mind, no doubt about that. But you do not seek knowledge for knowledge's sake, but for leverage, for what it can do for you. You're cunning in that regard, better be SL-"

"NO!" Harry cried, and the hat paused.

"no? Well that never happened before, I've never had a student interrupt my final verdict. You don't like Slytherin?"

"My parents would kill me" Harry thought, "And I don't want to be in Slytherin! Everyone hates Slytherin, too many stereotypes, it would haunt me forever."

"well are you sure?" The Hatter said confused, "your ambitious, certainly smart and you have a streak of ruthlessness, you could be great you know."

"Please?" Harry implored, "Not Slytherin?"

"Well alright. Can't put you in Hufflepuff, you'll scare the badgers. I suppose behind your Slytherin traits are Gryffindor tendencies. Your ruthless and frighteningly practical, but these are born from a sense of protectiveness. Not so much noble, no, but your playful and love danger. Oh yes, you do not lack for bravery. Oh all right it'll be GRYFFINDOR."

Harry plucked off the hat and ambled to his house table. Ignoring his house mates slightly perplexed looks as they could have sworn that the hat had been about to say Slytherin.

Anyone here? if you are then wow, please tell me what you think?