Harry woke up with a start, sweat pouring down his face and neck. He had been having the same dream for nearly a week now but was still not sure what it meant. The only thing he was sure of even as an eight year old was that it was not good. In his dream there was an unfamiliar man who scared Harry every time he saw him. He always muttered something Harry could not understand before there was a flash of green light and then he woke up.

Sighing Harry looked at the time, it was six in the morning and he was going to be let out in an hour. Laying back down on his old cot he looked up at the stairs. Yes, Harry lived under the stairs, and had been living there his whole life. He was not all that sure why, but he had stopped asking questions when he was three. They only got him in more trouble. Well, that and getting better grades than his cousin Dudley. He remembered that one time he had come home with a test score higher than Dudley's. His uncle had accused him of cheating and then beaten him badly. It goes to say that after that he had never received higher marks than his cousin again.

He had not realized he had been daydreaming until a loud rapping came from the door to his cupboard with his aunt screeching for him to get up and make food for them. When the door was unlocked, Harry got up and put on a pair of ratty old socks before pulling on a pair of shoes that were so old they almost had holes in them. He sighed, and putting on his broken glasses, went to start breakfast for his relatives.

It was Dudley's birthday and the table was covered in presents. He tried not to think of the fact that he had never got one as he reached the stove.

"Don't burn the food this time boy," His uncle spat at him as he say down with the paper.

"Yes sir." Harry nodded before starting the bacon and getting the eggs and butter.

As he cooked, Dudley came down with a happy look on his pig like face. His eyes were covered by his mothers hands and when he opened them he squealed, just like a pig as well. Or at least that's what Harry thought, suppressing his giggles as he turned over the bacon and plated the eggs.

A moment later he could hear Dudley trying to count how many he got. "One. two. . three. . . "

When he got stuck Aunt Petunia said, " Thirty-six dear."

"Thirty-six! That is less than I got last year!" His face scrunched up in what to Harry looked like a pained expression as he tried to calculate how much less that was.

After a few moments Aunt Petunia helped him out. "Three less my dear."

Dudley looked so mad his face turned red as he yelled, "Three less than last year! Why?"

"The ones from Aunt Marge have not arrived yet and we will get you two more when we get to the Zoo." His mother was quick to mollify him.

Dudley seemed happy at that and let it go, just in time for Harry to serve the food.

Harry was pushed back into his cupboard as they prepared to leave. It was not being locked only because he might need to use the bathroom. However it was made very clear by Uncle Vernon with a sharp punch to the gut that if he did anything else he would not be eating for a week.

Harry knew that his situation would not get any better and thought it would be best if he just left. So after waiting about a half hour to make sure the Dursleys did not come back he packed what little belongings he had in an old backpack. Going into the kitchen, he grabbed a little bit of food for the road before leaving through the back door so the neighbors did not see him and tell someone he had left. As he made his way down the alley behind his Uncles and Aunts home he wondered were he would go.

He looked at the snake that was on his shoulder and smiled. He had known for a while that he could talk to snakes and at first it had scared him but now they were the only friends he had.

He sighed and said, "Ruby where should I go?"

The snake, who he called Ruby for the odd red stripe going down the middle of her back, lifted up her head and said, "Well, my dear there isss a housse a few townss over that would be very good for you."

He smiled and nodded. Ruby had never led him wrong before, and if she thought it was a good idea and knew how to get there, then that is where he would go.

It took him a few days to get there and by that time he had run out of food. He was tired,hungry and cold but he felt happier and more free than he had in a long time.

As he walked up to the house, Ruby said "There are already people living here and if you ask nicely, they will let you stay."

Harry was scared now that he knew there were other people there, but he walked up to the house and knocked anyways after an encouraging nod from Ruby. He heard a bit of rustling behind the door before an older looking teen answered. She had short brown hair, tanned skin and was wearing a white tank with black pants.

It were her red eyes, though, that caught his attention as she snapped, "Yea, what do you want?" Then she saw the snake on his shoulder and crossed her arms."Where did you find my snake?"

"I am sorry. Ruby said that if I came here I would be safe from my Uncle." Harry blushed and looked down at his shoes.

"You know if it was not for her I would not let you in." She pulled him into the house and he looked up with hope in his eyes as she continued, "You are going to have to earn your keep here like everyone else does. Do you understand?"

He nodded, wondering why she had not asked him how he had understood Ruby, but let it go as she waved her hand for him to follow her. She showed him around the house as she explained how he would not be allowed out for a while as he had just run away and she did not want the cops to come snooping around.

Harry nodded and replied with a "yes miss" to everything she told him.

She rounded on him when she was done said said, "Stop calling me miss. It makes me feel old. What's your name?"

He blushed and replied, "Harry."

TWO YEARS LATER

A couple of years later Hanna had finally gotten word that no one was looking for him anymore. And as he was thought to be dead he was free to go out and help with more chores around the house. Though he would still be the designated cook seeing as he was better at it than anyone else there, and despite being forced to cook for most of his life he liked this time Harry seemed to get along well with the thirteen other kids that came and went from the house.

He had also found out in the two years he had been living there that he had powers which Hanna had explained to be magic. She had told him that he must be a wizard, and being a witch herself was able to teach him everything he needed to get his powers under control. So alongside earning his keep, he was also learning magic, and without a wand at that! Though he did not know he was not supposed to be able to do wandless magic, it nevertheless came to him very easily. And since Hanna was old enough to perform magic, her presence was enough to mask Harry's magic use.

A YEAR LATER

It had been a few months since Harry had been allowed outside and he could not wait! He was learning the art of pick pocketing - who to go for and when to distract people for his friends to swoop in. He was very good at it and had already snagged a few wallets that day, scrounging a total of six hundred dollars. After wiping the wallets down so no one could get prints off of them he dumped them in the river. As he made his way home he missed the red on black eyes that had been watching him for the past few days.

It was his birthday today and he was excited because Hanna had promised to tell him about himself when he turned eleven. Hanna and he knew that he would have to go to school, so she did something that she had never done for anyone - she blood adopted him. The ceremony lasted all night and he had to drink something she called a potion with their blood in it and now his name was Harry Blackwood. He was happy to know that he was safe to go to Hogwarts without being sent back to the Dursleys as Hanna was his mother now. Harry didn't think she was old enough to be a mother, but he wouldn't know as she had never given him her age and he had never dared ask.

When he got home a letter was waiting for him. He had known it was coming but had not expected it so soon.

Picking it up he looked at Hanna when she said, "I am sorry dear, but it is time you knew who you are and what our world expects from you." Her blueish green eyes showed how sad she was for him and Harry suddenly felt nervous. He knew it was going to be bad because Hanna never showed emotions. It took about five hours with lots of questions and hurt feelings on both sides before Harry calmed down and understood that he had to go. There was only so much that Hanna could teach him, but she promised that no one would make him go back to his Uncle's house as the letter had come for Harry Blackwood and not Harry Potter.

Over the course of the next week they got most of the things he would need from Diagon Alley and a few others from Knockturn Alley. He had also bought an extra wand and another snake along with an owl because Ruby had to stay.

The goblins at the bank had known who he was the moment he had stepped inside and had immediately ushered him to a back room along with his new mother Hanna. They had explained that he was very rich and even though he had a different last name now, he still had access to the Potter family vaults. After making sure that no transactions other than those for his school tuition and for what he used from a new card he was given would be allowed, they thanked the goblins and headed back home.

The day he was to leave for school Harry woke up in a cold sweat, having had the same dream that he had when he was eight. He found it was six in the morning, and knowing he would not be going back to sleep, Harry decided to get up and pack the rest of his things before starting the coffee for Hanna. He knew she would need it as she was going to have to wake up a lot earlier than she normally did to take him to the train station.

Hello I am sorry if my chapters are short this is my first story and I would like to know what you think. It will hall me more for reviews to be posted and if I spelled anything wrong I do not mind being told as long as it is nicely done I am sensitive like that LOL

I do not know if I will have it a M/M or not but we will see latter as we progress and how everyone reacts to him showing up out of the blue.