Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter (You don't say…) warnings for language, violence, and possibly some other stuff down the line (new warnings will appear at the top of their respective pages). Got it? Awesome. Let's begin.


"When it starts, whatever the reason is that

you're doing this, focus on that. Maybe it'll help."

"Trust me, I've been through worse."

"No, you haven't."

Summer 1994

It was evening in Privet Drive, the uniform houses lay in the darkness, lit only by streetlamps and the last vestiges of orange light peeking over the horizon. The air was cool, not cold, but a comfortable, refreshing breeze rustled the leaves of bushes and trees.

The lightly lit houses lay side by side, Identical, down to the paint on the walls and the rows of tulips, roses and other such plants around the edges of each neatly mowed lawn. Yet, one house was different than the others. Not on the outside, or even the inside. No. what made it different was its residents. Or one of them at least.

You see inside this house was a very… different boy. A 14-year-old boy, his back covered in scars. Round, wire-rimmed glasses over his emerald eyes. And a soft smile on his face.

He lay on his back on his bed, the thin mattress dipping slightly beneath the short, scrawny boy, and his eyes staring off into the distance above him.

He rubbed the skin between his knuckles, a habit he noticed he'd picked up recently. He'd thought it ever so slightly odd at first, he'd never really been a fidgety person, yet, considering some of the other oddities he'd experienced, he thought little of it. It wasn't like it mattered, especially not since his most recent adventure, and revelation… He had a Godfather!

Well, he already knew that, he had for some months now, but he'd been of the impression that he was some psychotic mass murderer who'd betrayed him and his parents to the primary nutter. However, he'd found out at the end of last year that it was actually someone else that betrayed his parents, a certain rat he preferred not to name. this meant that his godfather was innocent! And thanks to a certain beardy wizard's advice, his pretty friends time turner, his best mate and some others (a friendly defence werewolf and overgrown flying-horse-eagle-thing), he'd managed to save him! He'd also found out he was pretty damn good at making a patronus, so all in all, it went about as well as he could have hoped, even if the stupid rat bastard got away.

And now he lay in bed, thinking of all the opportunities before him. He may finally be able to leave this hellhole! His godfather's name may not be cleared, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. Not when he would have a chance to get away from… them. His so-called family. The ones who beat and starve him. Well… the beatings stopped when Dudley finally got a tail to match the rest of his bod (god bless magic), but he still ate a snack's worth of food a day. But, he was used to it.

He abruptly stood up, walking to the window to close it and the curtains beside it. But as he stood at the window, staring out into the now fully black sky, he couldn't help but just bask in the slight cool breeze, his eyes seeming to glow in the darkness. His motionless form almost invisible in his unlit bedroom, making those eyes stand out even more.

He jerked his head to the right, seeing a snow-white owl scrolling over the sky. His most loyal companion. H one who demanded no explanations, yet listened whenever he spoke, seeming to understand every word he said. Knowing magic, it probably could. After a few moments, he shut the window and curtains, aware that his friend would not return until a few days later, when she wanted some treats and companionship.

He lay back into his bed, the floorboards and mattress springs creaking beneath the featherweight body. As he drifted off into the blissful land of unawareness, he realized he was content, for the first time in his life. And with a light heart and peaceful smile, Harry Potter fell asleep.