AN: I got the idea to write this piece by reading a new story called 'Dark Gold' which I rather enjoy (to those who are curious it can be found on my favorites list) and decided to do my own story with a similar basis. Harry, Ron, and Hermione (and Luna as well thrown into the mix) meet up as children trying to escape their crappy lives…for the most part. Luna ran away because her father wasn't able to take care of her due to the death of her mother and she thought he didn't care, Harry's parents (yes it's Wrong BWL…deal with it) only pay attention to his sibling and neglect him, and Ron's mom ignores him and lets Ginny and Percy take advantage of him, only caring about getting Ginny into a marriage contract with Harry's brother. The Harry, Ron, and Luna run away, meet up, and eventually meet Hermione whose parents take them all in (after learning about magic from the children). They will all have their own unique powers as well as some useful magical skills they know as a group and I hope this is going to be a fun story.

AN2: In this world Hogwarts is kinda like a high school where everyone starts at about fourteen to finish up their education, having gotten basic life skills in their earlier years as well as learning about the wizarding world in general. The children from muggleborn homes get an introductory course on the wizarding world itself while the children from wizard families learn about the responsibilities they will have to their family name during that time.

And I Should Care…Why?

Chapter 1

-Harry-

Sighing he put the rest of his possessions in the small bag that he had managed to buy in Diagon Alley with his allowance, when it wasn't being given to Adam anyway. It had been seven years since his younger brother, Adam Potter, had supposedly defeated Voldemort, surviving the 'unstoppable killing curse' and 'followed the prophecy' and whatever other rubbish his 'parents' talked about with Dumbledore when the old man came over and they thought he wasn't listening.

Ever since he could remember he had been ignored at best by his 'family' and at worse he was treated like dirt. He ate meals…but if he didn't get downstairs in time they forgot to set a place for him and he had to eat what was left over after they were done. He had a room…but it was more the size of a closet as his 'brother' had wanted a spare play room and chose what used to be his bedroom, despite there being a half dozen empty rooms in the house Adam could have chosen from. The few things he did have, besides the clothes on his back, were ones that his Uncles Sirius and Remus had managed to help him hide in his small room so Adam wouldn't steal them.

Shaking away his thoughts he ran his fingers across his prized possessions, a silver pendant in the shape of Mjölnir, the hammer of Thor, which had been his eighth birthday gift from his Uncles. Sirius had smirked when they gave it to him, saying that maybe he was Thor reborn thanks to the lightning bolt scar on his head, something his 'parents' had attributed to a shard of glass during the Voldemort attack, which would make him far superior to some 'chosen one'.

Smiling at the memory he ran one last check through his possessions as he sifted through the bag. Extra clothes? Check. All the gold he could get from his trust vault? Check. Copies of the spell books from his parent's library, all shrunk down with the help of their family house elf? Check. Set of Goblin steel daggers in case of emergency? Double check. Finally he made sure he had the single photograph he was taking with him, the one that showed him with his Uncles and his only two friends in the world, Ron and Luna.

Not even glancing back at his room he snuck out the door and down to the main hall of the house, heading over to the fireplace and used the floo network to vanish in a flash, going to an abandoned house in Ottery St. Catchpole which was used as a floo point for travelling wizards before heading to a nearby park to meet Ron and Luna who, like him, were running away into the night.

-Ron-

Moving silently throughout the house, the youngest son of House Weasley made his way over to his twin brothers' room, wanting to leave something to say goodbye to part of the few people he honestly did see as family that were left in the house, Charlie and Bill still at Hogwarts for the term. Opening the door silently he slipped through the opening he had made, carefully stepping around all of the traps Fred and George had set up, and left a letter to them on their bedside table along with a pair of leather wristbands he had made for them from scraps he had found in his dad's old toolshed.

At the thought of his father he sighed sadly, sending a prayer for the man who he had never gotten to meet. His brothers told him all about Arthur Weasley, how the man had been kind and witty, willing do to anything to take care of his family…how the man had sacrificed his own life to save a muggleborn child during the last days of the war when the Death Eaters did a raid on Diagon Alley. With the death of her husband though Molly Weasley had taken over the family and where her husband had been kind and understanding she was demanding and cruel. If she wanted something she made sure she got it, no matter who or what was in her way. When she had learned about Voldemort being destroyed by the younger Potter child she had immediately started cultivating a friendship with them, trying to get a marriage contract with them to marry Adam to Ginny, who had been born mere days after his dad had died.

During one of his trips over to the Potter house he had wandered off, mainly to avoid hearing his mother smoozing up to the smug Potter parents or their stuck up brat of a son, and ran into the elder Potter son, Harry, who had snuck off to avoid the same thing he had.

They had managed to strike up a good friendship that day and it had grown stronger with every visit his family made to the Potter home or whenever the Potters came to his home. The latter was how he and Harry had met their third friend, Luna. They had wandered off into the woods surrounding the Burrow, the two Potter sons having been brought over for a sleep over, when they found a blonde girl who was their age named Luna. She was nervous about them at first but after playing together for a while she had opened up and confided in them as they learned about how her mother had died and her father started drinking, ignoring her more and more with each passing day. It had all boiled to a head the week before when she had ran to him and Harry, crying about how her father didn't even recognize her anymore.

So they decided to run away. Their families didn't want them around, they weren't happy…so why stay? They all decided to meet up in the park after getting what they needed and planning out where to go and tonight was the night he'd finally be free to leave with his real family. In his bag he had a change of clothes and the few important possessions he owned. He had a bandana and a clip on earing that Charlie and Bill had given him, he had a set of lock picks from Fred and George, a wizard's chess set that his grandfather had given him, and even a book on machines that his dad had left him. He also had a picture of him with his brothers as well as one of his dad.

Creeping out of the bedroom he walked down to the living room and grabbed some floo powder from the pot on the shelf and flamed over to the abandoned house in the village, not wanting to run all the way down there.

-Luna-

Tiptoeing silently through her tower like house Luna carried a small bag with a change of clothes inside, the only other items she brought with her were a picture of her in her mother's arms as well as a dream catcher her mother had helped her weave before her death. Looking at the chair near the door she saw her father, snoring away with half empty bottle of Firewhisky clutched in his hand.

Letting a single tear fall down she moved out of the door and grabbed an old broomstick that Ron had managed to smuggle her so she could get close to the village, knowing it would barely get her to the village edge before falling apart as her house didn't have a floo network to use. Mounting the broomstick she took off through the trees, heading to her real family…and her new life.

AN: I know this was kind of short and, likely, unfulfilling but this was more of a prologue than anything else. Next chapter they are going to meet Hermione and, after that, things will start to get rolling so I'll see you then.