girl in the corner…Thanks for the reviews! They make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

south manger 04 Usually Harry gets his letter before his birthday. So right now, he's ten. His birthday's on July 31.

Raver Styx The chapters will definitely be longer. Usually I use the first to make a bit of an introduction. Thanks!

SmacksKiller The story'll pick up a bit. I promise!

PsychicLunar Thank you. I usually write in more detail. Last chapter was an introduction. This chapter is Harry's POV, so there may not be so much detail, as I'm writing what he notices.

CHAPTER 2

The first thing that I noticed when I woke up was that it was dark. That in itself was not so unusual, as the cupboard was very dark. And then I could feel a light draft playing across my face. That wasn't unusual either, as the cupboard wasn't insulated and was right next to the wall of the house. And then I felt something crawling on me. I thought it was one of the many spiders in my cupboard. Then I noticed there was a sharp pain in my back. 'Vernon, most likely.'

Then… I remembered.

It was the pivotal moment of my life (besides my parents being killed when I was a year old, but I'll get to that later). I groped for the letter in the dark. 'Leaves. leaves. leaves- Ah! The letter.' I sat up and took it in my hands very carefully, so as not to break it. It was already precious to me, even though it had achieved me nothing other than being stuck in the woods at night. With those thoughts, I became very aware of my surroundings. The darkness closed in. Crickets chirped loudly. And if I listened very closely I could hear frogs from the lake and- a howl? I looked at the moon, and noted that it was full. 'I wouldn't be surprised if werewolves exist. Really.. Getting a letter in the mail from some unknown school that will supposedly teach me 'wizardry'. If this is real, I don't know if I could be surprised with anything anymore.' Some foreign power made me pull up a fact from a novel I'd read a while ago. 'Werewolves come out on the full moon.' This sent me into a panic, of course; especially after hearing the howl. Then I finally regained the little sense I had left and climbed into a tall tree. 'I guess running away from Dudley is good for something at least.' I heard several more howls during the night and went to sleep, eventually. It wasn't very different than sleeping in my cupboard except that it was more open.

I woke up again. This time it was morning. The sun filtered in through the thick leaves. I was on a very wide, scooped out sort of place where the branches spread out from the center. It surprised me a bit. I crawled over to the edge and saw several people sleeping at the base of the tree. More surprising. I thought for a moment and realized that I was very lucky. I lay down with my arms crossed, chin sitting on them at edge. My eyes were glued on the men as they woke up. It took awhile and when the first of them began to stir, he seemed to be in pain. I grimaced when I realized he had a large gash down his arm. He got up slowly. Easing himself to stand as if he'd been through the same pain many times before. And then he sniffed the air. 'That's odd.' And then he looked straight up at me. His eyes widened.

"ARE YOU OKAY!" he asked loudly.

I backed up and went to sit at the center of the branches.

"No! Really! Are you okay!"

I could hear him trying to climb up the tree. I guess he eventually got up, because I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Kid? Where are your parents? Do they know you're out here?"

"My mum and dad are dead. I live with my relatives."

"Okay. Do they know you're out here?"

"No. I ran away after I got the letter."

This seemed to confuse him a bit. "What letter?"

I looked up at him, horrified. "You aren't going to take it away, are you?" I asked in a small voice.

"No, no. I won't take away your letter. I just want to know what would make you run away."

"There are other things besides the letter that would make me run away," I mumbled. And then louder, "They hate me."

He looked surprised. "I'm sure they don't-"

"I would know, wouldn't I. How old do you think I am?"

He looked more confused. "Why? Eight?"

I glared at him. "I'm eleven. Our school nurse says that I'm much too small for my age, and that eleven year olds are ususally never this small unless they don't get enough to eat when they're younger."

His eyes widened at my meaning. 'Finally. We're getting somewhere.'

"What's your name, kid?"

"Harry Potter."

His eyes got really big then. I had to resist putting my hands out just in case they fell out of their sockets.

"Harry?" he asked in a small, amazed, awe-filled voice.

"Yeah. Who're you?"

"I'm- I'm Remus Lupin."

This time it was my turn to look confused and clueless. "Have I… Have I heard that before?"

He grinned. "Probably. I knew your parents. So you got your Hogwarts letter?"

"Um.. Yeah."

His grin dropped. "Good. You can get away from your relatives. I would've taken you in myself if it wasn't for…"

"You're a werewolf?"

"Yeah." He gave a small sheepish smile.

"So what?"

"What do you mean, 'so what?' Werewolves can't have custody of children. The ministry won't allow it."

"Who's the ministry? I mean, I didn't even know I was a wizard till yesterday."

Confused again. "Yesterday? But the Dursleys were supposed to give you a letter."

"Was it supposed to say that I was a wizard and stuff?" Lupin nodded. "Why the hell would they give me something like that? I mean, to them, I've always been the freak that they've given so much up for. And that only includes Dudley's old clothes, an occasional meal, and my cupboard."

"Your cupboard?"

"Where I sleep."

He seemed to be more angry than confused now. 'And is that guilt I sense?'

Lupin seemed to think things over for a a minute and then nodded to himself. "Would you like to come with me to see Albus Dumbledore?"

"Why the Headmaster of Hogwarts?"

"Because he's the one who put you at the Dursley's and told everyone who was a friend not to come near you after your parents died."

I can imagine I had an expression of dawning fury on my face when I replied, "Of course. I would love to see the man who's made my life miserable."

Several hours later found me whisked through fireplaces and cut throught time and space with an old shoe, which Lupin told me was a portkey. And I was standing right outside a giant castle. It was my soon-to-be school, Hogwarts. Lupin smiled gently at me and with effort was able to push the giant doors open. He limped inside. I followed. It took awhile, but we eventually got to a statue of a dragon. When I figured it out, I smirked.

"Don't you know the password?"

Lupin was confused. Yet again. "How'd you know that this was an entrance to something?"

"Well… You sitting here and staring at it is a rather large clue."

"Oh. And to answer your question, no. But it's always some type of candy."

"Sorry. Can't help you there. Don't know any muggle or wizarding candies except for Mars Bars and Chocolate Turtles."

The statue came open with the second candy. "Oh. Guess I can help."

"Apparently."

There was a winding staircase behind the statue. It reminded me of an escalator, somewhat, except that when it got to the top, it stopped.

An old man was sitting at a desk when we opened the door. His eyes twinkled. It was annoying, really. I supposed that this must be Dumbledore. I smiled.

"Hello, Professor Dumbledore."

"Hello, Harry."

I wasn't really surprised he knew my name, after all, he was the one who had put me at the Dursley's.

"I really don't intend to speak to you that long, and really, I would rather not speak to you at all, but I need to. So to be blunt, why the hell did you leave me with people who hate me?"

"Now Harry, don't you think-"

"I do think, sir, but if you say anything about my relatives caring for me, then that proves that you don't know me, and therefore, have no reason to call me Harry."

The old man's twinkle was diminishing from his eyes. I heard a soft trill from the corner of his office and noticed for the first time a large red bird.

:Hello, young one.:

'What!'

If birds could wince, the big red bird that had just landed on my arm would have done so just then.

:No need to scream.:

I managed to calm down a bit then. So it was the bird. I looked at it in awe. I didn't notice that Dumbledore and Lupin were both staring at me oddly.

'Sorry. By the way, what's your name? I don't want to keep calling you bird in my head. You seem to be much more than that.'

:I am Fawkes, a phoenix. You are my bonded.:

'Wouldn't Dumbledore be your bonded? He seems to be your owner. If phoenixes can really be owned, that is.'

:No. He is just my keeper. He took me from the rude-one.:

'Why is it that no one else seems to be able to hear you?'

:They cannot hear me. Only you can hear me, bonded.:

'Please, call me Harry. What does it mean to be bonded to you, Fawkes?'

:It means that you are the one I have been waiting for my whole life. I have lived for around two hundred years, I would guess.:

'You are female, right? Your voice sounds much more musical than I would expect of a male.'

:Yes, Harry. My keeper seems to think that I am male though.:

A hoarse voice brought me back to reality. "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you speaking to Fawkes?"

"Yes."

"And he understands you?"

"Well why else would I be speaking to him? And by the way, Professor, Fawkes told me that she was a female."

"Female?" It was quite an interesting sight seeing Dumbledore confused. The expression seemed to fit the man. It made him seem… Disturbed, I guess you could say. He seemed to try to be pulling off that appearance already. 'Well good job, old man! You've finally pulled it off!'

:What is it, Harry:

'Your previous keeper has finally pulled off the 'crazy' appearance. He seems to be quite confused that you are female.'

Fawkes let out a trill of amusement and in my mind I could hear peals of laughter. I started laughing myself. 'Well the mood has definitely changed. I thought the Professor could have turned my face into a block of ice just a minute ago.'

:He could do that any time really, with his magic-stick.:

My eyes widened. A magic wand? That was one of the things that I had expected to not be true about wizards and witches. It was really one of the most cliché things in any fantasy story I'd read. I shook my head and then remembered why I was there.

My eyes narrowed. "Sir, I know I can speak to Fawkes, and that I am bonded to her, but I didn't come here only to get her. I want to leave the Dursley's. I don't care why you put me there. They abused me. I want out." The room seemed to get several degrees colder. It didn't feel cold to me, but both Lupin and the Professor looked as if they were going to freeze over.

"They abused you?" he asked quietly.

"Why would I lie about that?"

"I'm so sorry…"

"I don't particularly care. You put me there. Move me someplace else."

"I- I… Is there any witch or wizard who you would want to be put with?" the old man asked dejectedly.

I looked at Lupin. I'd only known him a few hours, but from what he'd said to me he seemed to be nice. And he'd been a friend of my parents, which was definitely on the positive side. "Would you?..."

The question hung between us for a moment. He was surprised. "I will if I can, Harry," he said softly. "But you should know that the Ministry has very harsh laws against werewolves and I may not be able to get custody of you."

I thought for a moment… And then I grinned. From the looks on Lupin and Dumbledore's faces it was a pretty scary grin too. "Oh, but you will…"