Disclaimer: Everything you see here belongs to J.K. Rowling except my fingers which are so tired from typing.

Thank You everyone for the great reviews, Honestly it is you, readers who pushed me to keep on writing. Sorry about the confusion, I didn't know that it takes awhile for Fanfiction to post up fics. Well here is the real Chapter 2, hope you like it as much as i loved writing it. Keep on posting your reviews and remember to TELL A FRIEND.

Chapter 2

An Unexpected Visitor

Looking around, Harry was overcame by the beauty that surrounded him. The black sand that felt like powder flowing between his toes, the calmness of the ocean which reflected the sky and each and every single cloud perfectly. He ventured his eyes to the sky and there were no sign of dark clouds ahead and the sound of waves washing against the sparkling sand which glittered like the night's stars. I can stay like this forever.

"Harry" a voice called out to him. "Harry, what are you doing?" He looked up only to be blinded by the brilliant light of the sun.

"Just thinking" said Harry as he set his eyes back to the never ending blue ocean noticing a water spout a hundred yards ahead.

"About...?" the voice asked.

"About how my life has changed so much, I haven't been able to enjoy the people and things around me. How I have taken for granted so many things because I would always worry about how my past will come back and haunt me. If I keep feeling sorry for myself because of the past, it will affect my future and if I keep worrying about the future, I'll never be happy." Suddenly two arms draped from his shoulders and ran her fingers across his stomach bringing an amazing feeling that coursed through his body. She had the perfect touch, a touch that melted your soul which craved for more and more. Harry felt intoxicated with a feeling that he had never felt before.

"When did the famous Harry Potter become such a great philosopher?" with this she gave him strong hug.

"I have had fourteen grueling years to evaluate my life and everything suddenly came into perspective. Who cares what tomorrow brings, I am going to start living day by day and enjoy every second." With this he took her hands into his own and just when he was about to turn around..."HARRY!" came a thundering voice. Uncle Vernon. "Our breakfast is waiting!"

Harry opened his eyes and quickly closed them again. Damn! I lost it.

Every since he started meditating before he went to bed, pleasant dreams filled his head. No more Cedric, No more Voldemort, No more nightmares waking him in the middle of the night. But there was always the silhouette of the faceless girl in his dreams. For the past five nights, that girl has haunted my dreams, well not exactly haunted, more like graced my dreams. The only thing that Harry could remember was her scent. Country Apple Harry thought. It flowed through her skin, it resonated from her pores. It was the only thing that he was able to distinguish from the girl in his dreams.

Harry got out of his bed and looked into the mirror a changed man. The shadow of death that resided on his face after Cedric's death was washed away, the only thing that remanded was ME. Minus the skin and bone, muscles started to develop and he felt he was growing even taller.

Harry ran down the stairs, made breakfast, and listen to Uncle Vernon constant complaining of how lazy he was, but Harry was a changed man. Nothing, especially Uncle Vernon's constant yapping, could bring him down. Harry took the dishes, washed them and ran up stairs to get ready.

"I'm off." Harry yelled.

"Why you little..." Uncle Vernon's screams of protest was drowned out by Harry's running to class. Like everyday after the first class, Harry would run to the gym because Dudley already dropped the class because of its lack of fighting and Uncle Vernon would surely not drop him off. Harry made and effort to come to class at least 30 minutes before class starts. Man, if Hermione heard that I was going to class early, she'll flip. Of course he would glad to be away from Uncle Vernon and Dudley, but he liked to observe the advance students while they practice. Harry was always the type to learn more from watching and copying, he was never the book type of person. I guess all the practice of copying that Ron and I did off of Hermione is starting to pay off.

He also made friends with Sifu Chow's son, John. He was a tall Asian male, unlike his father, and was 22 years old. Sometimes John would take Harry to the side and show him some illegal moves when his father is not watching.

The class usually starts with meditation, then they would practice with the four stance. Harry always loved to practice the horse stance, he felt a certain affinity towards this stance. It reminder him of his father, James Potter and his Animagus form which was a stag. They also started to learn Kung-Fu forms, which were a series of moves done in consecutive order to form a sort of a dance. Then, Sifu Chow ended the class with a warm down stretch and another ten minutes of meditation.

"Harry" called Sifu Chow, motioning Harry to come and talk to him. "You know that after today's class, I'll have to ask you pay. Right?"

"Yes" Harry nodded and stared at the ground knowing full well that he did not have the money to pay. Surely Uncle Vernon would not lend me any money for something I enjoy. "Well the thing is, my Uncle..."

"The uncle that made you walk home after the first day of class?"

"That same one. I don't think he'll want to pay cause he is not very fond of me." Now if that's not the understatement of the Year I don't know what is Harry thought, feeling all his hopes to excel in Kung-Fu diminish just like that.

"You don't say?" As he said this Harry notice him stroking his white beard. "Hmmm...Harry, are you working, by any chance?" Sifu said with a look like he was just hit by a bolt of brilliance.

"No, Sifu"

"Well my family owns a fish market, not that far from here and we are looking for a strong and dedicated working. All you have to do is pack the fish with ice and carry them to the market. We will pay you just like the rest of the workers but we will take a portion of your pay for the class. Interested?"

Harry jumped up with amazement on hearing the news. "Well I take that as a yes."

"Yes, of course Sifu."

"Is Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday good for you?"

"Well I was hoping that with my Uncle and all that I can..."

"Everyday it is then." said Sifu Chow

With this news, he was sure to be out of the house at least half of the day and he did not have to expect hand-me-downs from Dudley's old wardrobe. He is finally becoming a man.

"Well, off you go, you start work tomorrow right after class."

With that, he was off and running to Privet Drive.

*******

"Hmmm...I wonder if his ready?" said the old man to himself as he watched the young man run pass him across the street. "I guess he finished that whatever you call it class." The old man has been following this certain boy with raven black hair, glasses and a pair of emerald green eyes. "Must run in the family" he muttered to himself. The old man would sit here on an ordinary wood bench at the edge of the park with a perfect view of the gym. He would sit there every day at the same time, rain or shine for over a month now. Discretion was critical. No one could think otherwise. He planted that flyer knowing full well that his cousin What's his name again? Dudly or was is Dudely, ah nevermind. Would ask his pig of a father to join, with a few minor changes to the flyer that the old man added. Who would go for "Be One with Your Mind" or "Learn the Secrets of Chinese Art." I mean how many fourteen year olds would go for that. I might be old but when I was the kids age, all I ever wanted was to have fun, like hunting deer with bow or practice jousting. He was surprised that his plan worked out so perfectly. He planted himself on this bench earlier this month hoping that no one would think he was out of place. Many people thought he was crazy because he would sit there as if he were sleeping while it rained cats and dogs. Some of the regulars that walked through the park would notice him and give him a one pound here and there. Some of them look at him in disgust as they passed by like Mrs. Davis and her brown and white beagle named Charlie. She was married to an online broker but their marriage was falling apart. She caught her husband Jim, have online line sex, its been going down hill from there. He sometimes would see Mrs. Davis drive down this same street in her grey 1999 VW Golf. Her dog Charlie always sticking his head out the window, was already a year old and was the total opposite from it's owner. Then there was Josh, a spoiled brat since he was one. His Father is a physical therapist for the stars and Mother sits at home and gets drunk. If he were my son, I would send him out back to wash the outhouse. Josh's favorite past time was wasting his father's money on drugs that he bought here at the park. All of his friends named the old man, "Willy Will" which in fact wasn't far off. None of them really noticed that he was there to observe just like he did for centuries. But he really never cared for any of them, the only concern he had was with the Boy-Who-Lived. He has waited too long for this moment to let such trivial things distract him. I missed so many chances before, but with James, I was so close. Only if it weren't for Salazar's heir I might had a chance to move on with my life. James just needed a couple of days and he would be ready, but Harry here, is just about ready and his only 14. I wonder if that Voldy person's attack on him when he was a child effected him, will he be able to control it...I wonder?

*******

His first day of work was a learning experience Harry thought. There was nothing in the morning that would wake you up better the smell of fresh fish It had a distinct smell that lingered on what ever it touches. Salmon, Marlin, Tuna, you name it Chow's Fish Market is the place to go. Harry had to learn each technique of packing the fish in ice. Certain fish had to be packed with ice over it, while others could be laid on top of the ice. Harry thought that memorizing each fish and how it's packed was hard but lifting it was a whole lot harder. He was corrected by John, who worked there also, because Harry was lifting with his back. "you wondered when all your practice doing the horse stance was gonna come in handy, you have to lift with your legs, it takes the strain of your back and builds more muscle" he told Harry. Following John's advice made a huge difference, but it still was not a simple task. he did this for two hours straight and took a break.

"Hey, Harry" John called "taking your break?"

"Yeah"

"So what do you think?"

"It's interesting, hard work, but interesting. It just feels so good to do something different, to get out of the house and get my hands dirty."

"So, do you go to school?" Harry nodded. "Where at?" John asked

"Um...Smelting" Harry said hoping John would see through his white lie. Harry had a hard time keeping a straight face when he told a lie, "and you?"

"Yeah...um...this private school in China." Harry notice a small twitch when John said this. Harry felt that John did not want to continue to discuss anything that dealt with school. Harry felt relieved by this because how much do I know about Smelting anyway. "So how long have you been practicing Kung-Fu?" Harry asked.

"All my life. My father used it as a disciplinary thing. I was a bad kid when I was young, always looking for fights, you know, to test y skill. I challenged kids twice my size even full grown men. But this one time there was this guy messing around with my best friend's sister and we caught up with him one day. He pulled a knife and me and something just clicked, and I just snapped. I was always a firm believer of that any fight, even street fights, should be fair. So imagine how furious I was when I saw him take out a knife" with this John stood up and went through every motion.

"First he lunged at me with his knife," "WHOOSH!" came out of John's mouth as he side stepped his invisible opponent. "Then I brought down my elbow down like this." Harry watched as the elbow strike slammed into an invisible arm. "I grabbed his same arm, twisted like this, dislocating his shoulder." Harry winced as he could feel the pain from the words. "Still holding his arm, I saw his head dropped forward and HIYA, HIYA, HIYA" John screamed "three knees to the chin, the landed perfectly. I ended it with a backwards round house and saw him fall back and slam his head on the pavement. CRACK!"

Then John settled down and sat down next to Harry. He held up two fingers, his thumb and his index, and showed Harry. "He was this far away from death, unconscious and a cracked skull. Thank God for the police, they saved his life. The took me in and I claimed self-defense and my friends backed me up too, but I knew it wasn't and so did my father." He let out a long sigh. "For punishment, I stood in the middle of the yard, day or night, rain or shine, in the horse stance." Harry's eyes widen in shock.

"How long did you stay like that?" Harry asked.

"Five Days."

"WHAT!" exclaimed Harry. I was struggling just doing five minutes, I can't imagine doing that for five days.

"I would have stayed longer, if my father was satisfied with my punishment. I wouldn't have survive if it wasn't for my niece, who snuck my food and water."

"How old were you?" Harry had to ask.

"I was 13"

"NO WAY" Harry said with amazement.

"I shit you not" a small grin started to develop on his face. After that my whole life came into perspective. Back then, trouble always tend to find it's way to me, so I decided to strike first before it gets to me, but I'll tell you this Harry." John looked strongly into Harry's eyes. "Trouble will always find you, the important thing is how you will deal with it, will you take the easy way out or would you take it like a man and believe me when I say easy, there is no way telling where you will end up." John stood up, dusted his pants and offered Harry his hand. "Now lets get back to work."

******

The next day, class went on as usual. Meditating, Forms, and back to Meditation. Harry had a lot to think about, especially his conversation with John. Harry was able to relate in some way with John. They both had a troubled youth and at a young age, they were forced to grow up. The innocence of youth was short lived, they were forced to deal with real problems. No more fun and games or waiting for their first real kiss. They were old men living in teenage bodies.

"Harry, Harry?" called Sifu Chow. "Class is over, is there something bothering you?" Sifu reminds me of Dumbledore, he was always able to see through my defenses.

"No, Sifu. I was just thinking."

"But its the way your thinking, that your doing wrong." Harry looked at him with a confused expression. "Do not ponder on things or ideas or thoughts. Thinking too hard will cloud you mind. Patience is a virtue, my young grasshopper, with time all your answers will come to you."

As Harry tried to absorb everything Sifu Chow has said, a loud voice called out.

"GRANDFATHER!"

Before Harry looked up he was shoved accidentally away as the girl ran up and gave Sifu Chow a bug hug.

"I brought you lunch" said the girl.

"Now, Now, Granddaughter of mine, say sorry to my student that you so unkindly pushed away."

She let go of Sifu Chow, "Granddaughter meet Grasshopper, his name is..." As she turned around.

"HARRY!" she screamed and quickly covered her mouth.

Cho, Cho Chang

*******

Man, if thats not a cliff hanger, then what is. WHOO. Chapter 2 in the books.

Stay tuned for the next Chapter:

Who is this mysterious old dude?! Will Harry's feelings of regret resurface or maybe his feelings for Cho will come back? Only time will TELL!

TILL NEXT TIME

THANKS FOR YOUR REVIEWS

A Stupid Person, Otaku freak (twice), HViper182, Raven Dragonclaw, Hannah Abby, M-27, VyingQuill,Blondie, Spaceshifted, and AtmaVegeta