A/N: Okay before reading this chapter let me explain a few things. I know that the kids do not sound like that five years old. I know that. It's a part of the story. So please if anyone was going to comment on how Harry doesn't sound like a five year old, don't. Criticize about my grammar or spelling or even how you do not like how the story is going.

If you're going to comment on how you hate the story, please don't do that either. If you don't like, you don't have to read it. Anyway...enjoy!

March 1985

Swing.

Swing.

Swing.

The chants of that one word kept on pounding in the mind of a young boy. His raven black hair ruffled in the harsh wind that blew past him. His large shirt hung off his tiny, frail body, and his torn slacks were one size too big. He sat on the swing set, his emerald-green eyes gazed longingly at a group of children who headed toward their respective parents, and the young boy looked up to see the darkening sky. The sun was hidden by the gray clouds, and the it's light would not shine upon the boy's pale, sickly skin today.

And it seemed unfair to the child that he could not experience the sun's ray on him today…the only day of freedom, for this month, away from the horror house he was forced to live in.

All in all, though, the young child's only wish was for someone to push him on the swing. He wanted to be like other children who had a mother, a father, or even a friend to experience the joy of swinging on the swing seat.

It was the closest way he could reach the sky, and the young boy desperately wanted to fly among the birds.

Oh, how the young boy envied his cousin who had his own mother to push him on the swing. How was it fair that his cousin, a pudgy bully who scared off any potential friends for the young boy, had someone to push him on the swing?

So the boy's chants tormented his fragile mind, a mind already used to the brutal way of the world and a mind losing the innocence that children are blessed with.

Swing.

Swing.

Swing.

"Oi, Harry, what are you doing?"

Harry's head went up at the sound of his, and he found it strange that there was someone who actually knew his name. The voice sounded strangely familiar, a voice from someone who could pull him away from the darkness he kept on entrapping himself in…

The same darkness that mystified him and that enticed him. The darkness that changed him completely, shattering his innocence and molding his mind away from the childlike tendencies.

But the voice came from the one person who had become his only companion in this cruel world with the power to shine.

She was a bit taller than him. Her dark brown hair, which was usually in a mass of waves, was pulled back in a simple ponytail. Her ratty dress was caked in mud and grass strains. Her flats looked as old as his trainers.

All those things did not matter to Harry, who was always in worse shape than her. It was her eyes that captivated him. He was entranced by those silver-gray orbs which you could clearly see the ice-blue flecks in them.

Still, it was her smile that he loved the most about her. It gave him warmth. It calmed him when he felt the most depressed. Her bright smile shone through the deepest of nights.

Most important, her smile showed that she cared…

He missed her dearly. He has not seen her in the last three days, which was rare since he had seen her every day since they met a month ago. Even since their first meeting, she had snuck into his uncle's backyard to be with him during his outside chores. She managed to hide inside his cupboard, and they would secretly talk all night long. She had become his best friend.

Then she disappeared for three days, and all the loneliness he felt before came back tenfold.

He frowned. If she did not want to be around him anymore, then why couldn't she just say so?

"Harry! I'm talking to you."

Her annoyed tone brought him out of his thoughts. He frowned. "What?"

She faltered for a bit, the tone of her friend's voice was frightening. He sounded angry, frustrated, but most of all, Harry sounded depressed.

Maybe it was better for her to just ignore it for now, especially if Harry was in that state.

"I was asking what you were doing?"

Harry looked down. "I was trying to swing."

"Well, silly, do you want me to push you?"

Harry sneered at her giggles. It sounded completely off to him, as if she pitied him. He didn't want pity, he wanted a friend.

"What do you want?"

She frowned. "I wanted to play, Harry. We're friends right."

Harry took a deep breath, as if he was deep underwater and finally taking his first breath of fresh air, and he managed to pull himself out of the darkness's grasp…

Though the darkness held on by a thread deeply connected within Harry's soul.

Harry loved her smiles, but he dreaded her frowns. Her frown, her sadness, made him feel worse than when Uncle Vernon punches him. And Harry hated the feeling after getting hit.

Harry smiled apologetically at his friend, "Of course we are. You're my only friend."

Her light came behind him. She gently gave him a hug, and then started pushing him on the swings.

"It is okay, Harry, I know you're pretty mad at me for not visiting you."

Nothing was said after that. It was strange how connected the two of them were, accepting each others' faults, and loving one another for who they truly were.

"So where were you?"

It would have been unordinary to hear two five-years old that were speaking as young adults.

It was a good thing that no one ever noticed the two children.

Harry patiently waited for his friend to speak. He should have known right away something terrible has happened to keep her away from him. She was just as stuck in her miserable existence as him.

"I was punished for sneaking out."

Harry was a bit shock. She has been sneaking out to see him in the dead of night the past month, and her mother finally realized it now.

The jealousy came back in his heart. While they both were similar, he could never forget that she was blessed with a mother and a brother. That she had an actual family who cared for her while he was stuck with an aunt who wished him dead.

Looking at her stricken face at the thought of her family, though, suppressed the spite. He had forgotten that her family had neglected her.

"Are you finished? I'm getting a headache from your up-and-down feelings."

Harry bit his lip in guilt, "Sorry, Cassiopeia."

Cassiopeia groaned out loud, "You know that I hate it when you call me that, Alex."

Harry blushed and grinned at the name. A couple of weeks ago, Cassiopeia was complaining about her name. So Harry had come up with the idea to call each other by a name they would have chosen themselves. Harry came up with Alexander.

Cassiopeia smiled, "Now you have to call me by my name, Alex."

Cassiopeia stuck with her middle name, claiming that it was much better than her first name. Unfortunately, Harry never really called her that unless she demanded it. He was fond of her first name.

"Fine, Alyssa."

They walked in silence toward the house where Harry lived at. The streets were deadly silent, not strange for Privet Drive, though, when a storm was approaching. Harry glanced at Cassiopeia who was unusually quiet.

"Are you going home, Cassiopeia?"

Cassiopeia glared playfully at the name before shrugging her shoulders, "No, I'll stay with you."

Harry nodded, "What's going on?"

She waved off his concerns before walking ahead of him. She already knew exactly where Harry lived, and how to get in there without his aunt or uncle noticing. Harry scowled while heading in through the front door.

"Is that you, boy?"

Harry turned toward his aunt's shrill voice. She stood there, angry and frustrated. It was always the same look that she gave him when he entered the house. Cassiopeia once told the young boy that his aunt gave him that looked because while she hated him, he still reminded her of his mother, his aunt's baby sister.

Maybe at one time, Aunt Petunia actually loved Lily Potter.

Harry doubted it.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia. Is there something you need?"

"Be glad you came before your uncle arrived. Also, boy, remember that you cannot go out—

—For another month. I know Aunt Petunia," Harry mentioned when interrupting his aunt.

A resounding slap was heard throughout the room. Harry placed a hand to his left cheek, and he felt the familiar sting that came with his aunt's slap. He could feel Cassiopeia bristled from wherever she was, and he wondered, not for the first time, how he could sense her.

"Do not interrupt me again, boy. Must you be like my worthless sister? She always claimed to better than me. Be grateful, freak, for my kindness and allowing you to live under my roof!"

His friend's calmness immediately swept over Harry, and he silently thanked Cassiopeia for it. It would be no fun if he was beaten, and Cassiopeia could be found out.

"Now you're allowed one bathroom break, which I recommended taking before your uncle gets home, and then you're sent to your cupboard without dinner."

His aunt seemed more upset with him today, so Harry decided to not question and do as he was told. He could sense that Cassiopeia was already by the bathroom waiting for him.

"Took you long enough."

Harry rolled his eyes at his friend's comment. "Sorry, my queen."

Cassiopeia wrinkled her nose at the comment, reminding her too much of her name's meaning. She hated her name.

"You gonna give me my candy or I'm a tell mum that you here."

The two children turned around to face Dudly Dursely, Harry's bullying cousin. Harry stayed silent, knowing that it was Cassiopeia who had to deal with Dudly.

"Okay, Dursely, you know the rule. I give you five delicious chocolate bars, and, in return, you will keep your trap shut about me. Got it?"

Dudly's mouth watered at the sight of the chocolate bars in the young girl's hand. They were delicious, better than the chocolate his parents brought him. He would do anything for the savoring taste.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it."

"And no bothering Harry as well, Dursely, or I won't bring these ever again. You can stick with the nasty ones that your mother buys you."

Dudly grimaced at the demand, but nodded either way. The chocolate in the girl's hand was worth much more then the bullying of his weaker cousin.

Cassiopeia handed the chocolate to bulky boy. The two other children giggled watching Dudly scampered away.

"How do you do it? I wish I could tame Dudly like that."

Cassiopeia grinned wildly, "Oh, Harry, if you were just a visitor with delicious candy, then he would have listen to you too."

"I'll wonder if it will work in the future too." Harry pondered, already dreaming of a future where he was left alone by his cousin. Cassiopeia kept her grin while pushing Harry into the bathroom.

She didn't want to see him get hurt.

"Are you ever going to tell me what happen?"

The two children lay next to each other. Harry stared calmly at the ceiling, the paint peeling off, and he doesn't turn to stare at his best friend.

Cassiopeia groaned quietly, not wanted to be heard by Harry's nasty relatives, "Tell you what, Alex?"

Harry finally faced the girl lying next to him, taking in the serious expression on her face. The envious feelings from before rose back into his soul, and the darkness easily overcame the young boy.

She frowned slightly, noticing the darkness creeping over her friend.

"What's wrong, Harry?"

Harry scowled at the girl. He did not want her anywhere near him. He pulled away when she crept forward, and he hated himself for making that hurt look appear on her face. He sighed.

"You have a family, Cassiopeia. You have a mother and a brother, and you're here. It's not fair."

Cassiopeia smiled slightly. "You have a family too, Harry."

Harry laughed harshly, the sound not appearing right coming from a child who was supposed to be innocent, supposed to be pure,…and supposed to be in the light.

"What family? You mean my aunt, who hates me, or my uncle who beats me when I look at him, or my cousin who could only stands me when you come by with candy. What family, Cassiopeia?"

Cassiopeia curled into Harry, fending off the darkness in his soul. Not compeletly, though, for she knew that his darkness was a part of Harry himself, and she loved every part of her friend.

"Don't let them make you forget. Don't let them win. Remember, Harry, that you as well has a family. You have a mother, a father, and a brother."

It was then that Harry was reminded of that fact that he, too, had a family.

"Just because we have people that are called family doesn't mean that they actually act like family."

It was then, when Harry hugged his only friend tightly, was he reminded that the two of shared the same present…

…Both alone in the world.

A figure smiled slightly as he watched the two children walked away from the park. He couldn't believe how similar they looked to his schoolmates long ago.

It was absolutely amazing to see Sirius's daughter.

The man fidgeting uncomfortably at that thought. He would never intentionally blame the child, the sweet daughter who had befriended his young godson.

It was electrifying to see his godson.

He should have known that Potter's son and Black's daughter already became close of friends. It was bewildering, though, to see that it was his godson to quickly care for the forgotten Black daughter.

Forgotten…

The man growled at that term. Sirius's daughter deserved the best of what life had to offer.

What on earth had Ava Williams been doing to that child?

And where was the child's twin brother?

Cassiopeia walked in the still dark morning sky. She could see the sun rising, and she smiled brightly about the fact that in an hour or so, she would be back with Harry.

She could spend five minutes with her family if it meant that she could spend the whole day with Harry.

"Hello, Cassiopeia."

Cassiopeia turned curiously at the voice. She wasn't from around the neighborhood, so she wondered who knew her name.

"I'm sorry for startling you." The kind voice remarked.

Cassiopeia smiled gently, "Hello Uncle Mooney."

Remus Lupin shook his head at the nickname. If it did not bring back such strong memories, then he would not have mind allowing the child of a marauder to use it.

Unfortunately, it did bring back memories, and those memories brought back sadder ones.

"Are you heading home, Cassiopeia?"

She scowled at the name. She told Mooney to call her Alyssa rather than Cassiopeia, but, as Harry was, he was fond of her first name.

Apparently, he told her once, it would have pissed her father off to call her that.

She nodded her head to answer his question, and she saw his gaze wander off in the direction where Harry lived.

"Are you ever going to tell him?" Cassiopeia demanded. She did not want Harry to be clueless any longer.

He chuckled quietly, "Such great loyalty for a child and to only known him for a month, extraordinary."

Cassiopeia blushed under the compliment. "If you meet him, Remus Lupin, then you might find out why."

"I doubt it." Remus said with a sad smile. "I will never have such a bond with him like the two of you…and I am perfectly happy with that."

Cassiopeia tilted her head in confusion, but she knew that he was not going to expand on that answer.

"And to answer your question, little Cassiopeia, I will soon take Harry away from those dreadful beings. He will come back with me…and to you."

Remus looked down kindly at his love's daughter, and he wondered briefly if Sirius Black knew of the children he had sired.

Probably not.

"Good." Cassiopeia smiled smugly, already dreaming of the adventures she and Harry could go on, especially without her brother, or maybe with him if he actually talked to her.

"Hold on, don't get too excited, little Cassiopeia. Unfortunately, there are things I must accomplished before gathering Harry, so please try not to spill any specifics to him yet. Just tell him that he won't stay any longer at the Dursleys."

She nodded at the request, but her curiosity deemed it necessary to figure out what Mooney's errands were.

"What are you going to do?"

"I have to make sure that Harry's disappearance does not clearly reach to the ears of others…I need to know if his parents are actually keeping up with his wellbeing."

At that, Cassiopeia scoffed. Harry's parents were worse than hers.

Remus continued on as if he did not hear the young girl's interruption, "And then I must pay a visit to your mother."

Maybe Harry was right and that the two of them did not have the best of luck.

She rather be stuck in the Dursley's home, without Harry, than be stuck in a room with her mother and Mooney.

Cassiopeia got the feeling that Uncle Mooney had feelings for Ava Williams.

And not the good ones.