Title: Never take your life for granted

Rating: PG

Summary: What if, one morning, Harry wakes up lost, surrounded by people who look suspiciously like his parents and others that Harry wasn't exactly familiar with, practically inviting him to tea!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter (although I wish I did!) so all the characters that you recognise belong to J.K Rowling.

'…….' thoughts

" …" speech

Now remember this is my first story so please bear with me! And review!

Narrator POV:

The misty, midnight sky looked down upon the small town of Surrey, the stars only scarcely visible.
The date is July 30th and in about 13, no wait sorry, 12 minutes Harry Potter was going to turn sixteen.

Although to some, this may be an exciting event, but for Harry, there was nothing special about it all. 16 was, at least to him, just a number. Reason being, that for the first eleven years of his life, his birthday was ignored; Less than, in the Dursleys books, it didn't exist! This was not exactly a pleasant fact to Harry, however over the years, he had accepted that he wouldn't be receiving any birthday gifts or cards from his supposed 'family', nor would it be acknowledged. So he mostly kept to himself, if he could help it, on his birthday.

You see, Harry potter was no ordinary boy, oh no - he was far from it. Harry potter was a wizard. Not just any wizard at that, he was The Boy Who Lived. This did not spark an increase of good-will towards Harry from the Durselys after this discovery, if anything, it decreased it. They despised anything that was out of the ordinary. And if being a wizard was abnormal, being The Boy Who Lived would only have made matters worse, had the Dursleys understood the implications that were included with this title.

(A/N: you know the history of Harry, he "defeats" Voldemort, parents die, is claimed a hero, yeah, yeah, yeah, don't make me do into detail!)

And, as only The Boy who Lived would, he received a lot of mail, and his Birthday was no exception.

At present, (no pun intended) we find our hero wide awake, on his small, cramped floor, opening newly arrived packages and parcels from his friends that had just been dropped or delivered through his window, with the small complication of un-jamming said window.

Third POV:

Finding himself a comfortable position on the carpet, Harry carefully freed a letter and parcel neatly tied to the leg of an obliging owl. He placed the parcel to the side, and began to read the neatly scripted scrawl - typical of Hermione.

Dear Harry,

First I must wish you a Happy Birthday! Finally 16! You must be excited.

He snorted uncharacteristically 'Yeah right, through their eyes only'. He read on, ignoring his betraying thoughts.

I certainly hope the Dursleys are treating you fairly.

Not a great deal happening here. I wish to see you so very soon! Ron, Ginny and the twins and I are trying greatly to convince Dumbledore to let you stay; however, we're still in the negotiating period. Several members of The Order are doing their part too. We all miss you, and want to see you here soon!

Hopefully we won't have to wait too long!

Sincerely Hermione

P.S - I hope you like the gift! I was so lucky to purchase this, as there were few copies left!

He recognised her guarded attempt at conversation; she was trying to keep his spirits up. But he couldn't care less. None of them could possibly imagine what he was going through with the loss of Sirius. As much as he wanted to get out and escape Privet drive and his own personal suffering, he wanted even less to face his friends and the order and their sympathy.

He left his thoughts to their continuing angst, as he tuned out. He slowly un-wrapped the gift, to find a strong, quality copy of Quidditch Through the Ages volume III. He expected no less of Hermione to bestow upon him a book...not that he didn't appreciate it. It was still about Quidditch.

"Sirius used to love watching me play quidditch."

He felt a stinging sensation behind his eyes when he recognised the existence of past-tense in that sentence. He tried to hold the tears back. 'Don't think about him now' he scolded himself.

Now even more upset, he placed the book to the side and quietly reached for Ron's parcel.

But then something caught his eye; another parcel. But this time, he didn't recognise the owl. 'Or rather bird' he corrected as he studied the gleaming jet-black feathers, sharp beak and piercing stare said bird was giving him...It was far from a barn owl, so that ruled out Hogwarts.

Ron's delivery forgotten, he picked up the curious parcel carefully and turned it over and around in his fingers, searching for a note of explanation. Finding nothing, he returned it to the floor, his gaze refusing to leave it.

He wondered for a moment, the possibility of him being the wrong recipient. However the look the delivery bird held on him quickly diminished that thought, and rather disturbed him.

He debated in his mind the advantages and disadvantages of opening the suspicious parcel, fully aware that he would be placing himself in danger. For all he knew, this was a trap.

But now he couldn't put his curiosity to rest, so quickly searching for his wand under the floorboard, held on to it tightly as he opened the parcel slowly with one hand, both anticipating and dreading what could be inside.

Once he had finished unwrapping, a glass sphere rolled out and onto the floor containing what looked like silver liquid dancing around in various patterns.

He picked up the curious object and studied it closely. If he looked close enough he could've sworn he saw a sentence appear.

Never take your life for granted…For there could be worse things.

Mystified at what relation that sentence could have, Harry began to feel a slight dizziness rise up within him. And before he knew it Harry's surroundings dissolved into darkness.

A/N:

What do you think! This is my first story so I would really like some constructive criticism! I know it is a bit short, but I was really excited to get my first chapter underway!

And I know that the book Hermione gave him was so un-original, but you know, it really had no significance what-so-ever to the story so I moved on.

Anyway please review!

Ciao!

MiEsHa