Disclaimer: all Harry Potter characters belong to JKRowling. If I owned them, I'd hire someone to write this for me and then I'd hire someone to find all the ppl who don't review!
Hi there. This is my first fic. It may not be great right now, but hang tite and it'll get better. Please read and review; any little bit helps! Thanks and enjoy!
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Chapter One: Happy Birthday?
"Beep, beep, Beep." "Damned thing," Harry mumbled as he slammed off his alarm clock and rolled sleepily out of bed. He shuffled over to the bathroom mumbling and groaning. It was a Saturday and he had gotten up at seven to make it to work by eight. He hated working on Saturdays, but he really needed the money. Sitting at the small table eating his cereal, he glanced up at the calender on the wall. There were three rows of neat X's and in the very last square, the only one not crossed off, was a large circle. Harry groaned again. Today was July 31, his 21st birthday. "What a great day to have a birthday on," he thought miserably. "I'm 21 now, and things should be great. They're not. I live alone in a crappy apartment that I pay too much for; I don't get paid enough for doing my job eventhough I enjoy it; and I'm just coming off a bad break up. Could there be a happier 21st birthday anywhere?" With that thought, Harry grabbed his coat off the hook by the door and walked outside. The sky was grey and it was cool, so unlike what a day in July should be. "Wonderful, the weather matches my happy mood," was the sarcastic comment Harry made as he was walking the three blocks to his work at Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bookstore. He worked restocking the shelves and at the cash registers and just general customer service. It wasn't the highest paying job, but Harry enjoyed it somehow. Today, though, he was far from enjoying anything. Lately, he had begun to feel very out of place in his life. He felt like something was missing from his life and he couldn't figure out what. That was really making him depressed. His girlfriend- well, now ex-girlfriend—was sick of him moping around all of the time and had broken up with him recently. Other than her, he didn't have any close friends and really was alone. "Tonight will have to be spent with another good book about kings and wizards and fairtales again," thought Harry as he walked into the bookstore.
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Later that night…..
Harry finally left the bookstore at nine-thirty. It had been his turn to work all day and then close up. And, of course, he didn't complain. Its not like jobs grew on trees, so Harry was always careful to make sure he kept his job. It was drizzling slightly as he locked the doors to the store. He would have to walk in the rain. Zipping up his coat, he began to slowly walk the three blocks home. "Home.." he thought. "Yeah, because it's just so homey. I love it soo much,"he grumbled to no one in particular. Maybe someday "home"wouldn't be just a boring little place. Wrapped up in his thoughts about the meaning of home, Harry barely noticed three blocks turn into two and then two into one and one into home. His apartment, though small and lonely, would be warm and welcoming on such a rainy night. Harry was wet from walking home and he was starting to get cold. "Cold," harry thought. "Cold is bad. I don't like being cold." He walked quickly up the stairs to his fifth floor apartment and quickly let himself in. For some reason, Harry had always feared the cold. When he was cold, he felt as though the very heat of life would drain out of him. Cold always left him feeling empty and lonely. "I wonder why," pondered Harry as he went to the bedroom to change his clothes. "I must've had a bad experience in the cold when I was younger, but I guess I'll never know. I can't remember anything before three years ago, and I haven't had any problems since then." That was the thing that bugged Harry the most and it got him thinking again. He'd had a horseback riding accident about three years ago and he'd knocked his head so hard that he lost all of his memories before then. He didn't remember anything that had happened before the last three years and he always felt so lost. It was like having to start everything all over again. New friends, a new life and new jobs, but he'd had a hard time of it. Something just wasn't right with this life. No matter what he did, he felt so out of place in the world. He assumed it was just from having no recollection of his past. "I just wish that was the worst of it," Harry said quietly as he settled on the couch with Tolkien's Return of the King. He hoped that tonight he could sleep well and not here the screams again. Screams of a young woman obviously in pain often pierced Harry's dreams. He had no idea why and it kept him awake all of the time. And then the funny scars. Harry had a scar across his left cheek, one that wound around his right leg and one that went from left shoulder to right hip. They had supposedly come from wounds and surgeries he'd had after the accident, but that didn't seem normal to him. They never seemed to heal as much as they should, they were too there and too big and sometimes they hurt. He also walked with a slight limp in his right leg. "Enough… think happy thoughts now Harry, happy thoughts. Nothing is going to change if you sit around and mope about it!" Harry scolded himself again and returned to his reading. And as the sky grew darker and the stars brighter, Harry fell into an uneasy sleep on the couch, not knowing the surprises that his dreams would bring him tonight.
Hey guys... you made it! Thanks for reading this chappie! It'll get more exciting I promise! Please review! Ch.2 coming soon and I'll make it better... maybe!
As for all you there who read and don't review.. ARRRR! not happy right now!
