Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or anything else mentioned in this fic. I'm not making a profit or anything.

Chapter 1

Harriet Potter was a rather pretty young girl, if a little on the small side. Although considering that she had spent her life being fed barely enough to survive, her slight stature was unsurprising. If her parents had not died... well it was better not to think about what could have been. She could not change the past-at least she was pretty sure it was impossible.

Harri moved through the kitchen carefully. Breakfast had to be perfect this morning. It was her cousin Dudley's birthday after all. She watched as Aunt Petunia set out Dudley's presents. As always, Harri was completely silent when Uncle Vernon was in the room.

It was better not to say anything around Uncle Vernon. For Uncle Vernon was responsible for Harri's neglect and abuse. It was always Uncle Vernon who sent Harri to her room without food. It was always Uncle Vernon who insulted and belittled Harri. It was Uncle Vernon who hurt Harri.

Admittedly Dudley often participated in a sport known as Harri hunting, but he never did anything worse than tease, taunt, and push Harri. It was ungentlemanly to hit a girl after all.

Finished cooking, Harri carefully set out the food under Aunt Petunia's watchful gaze. Harri rather liked Aunt Petunia, although she would never admit it in front of anybody other than said Aunt. After all, it was Aunt Petunia who protected Harri as best as she could. It was Aunt Petunia who bandaged Harri up far, far too often. It was Aunt Petunia who comforted Harri, who sang to Harri when she could not sleep. It was Aunt Petunia who taught Harri useful skills like sewing and cooking and cleaning so that one day when she got married she could be a good wife.

Harri watched as her cousin-who happened to bear a striking resemblance to a beached whale-lumbered into the kitchen. She sat down at the table, shooting a grateful look at Aunt Petunia when a modest amount of food was placed in front of her. Uncle Vernon didn't seem to notice, he was too busy complaining about how Mrs. Figg had tripped over one of her cats and couldn't watch Harri because of a broken leg.

Harri ignored Dudley and his stupid little friend to the best of his ability. Really, why would the snake bother to move for those to imbeciles? Once they wandered off, Harri approached the glass, wanting a better look at the snake.

When the snake insulted Dudley, Harri giggled, "I know what you mean."

The snake turned to look at Harri. "You understand me?"

"Of course I do," said Harri, shrugging off her ability to talk to snakes as something to do with magic. After all, according to Aunt Petunia, both her parent had been magical and Harri was as well. Although she wasn't supposed to tell anyone. "Do you get bored in there? I guess that's a pretty stupid question. You must be bored out of mind with all these stupid tourists."

Harri didn't here the snakes reply because Dudley shoved her to the floor, shouting something about the snake moving. Dudley banged on the glass, only to fall into the exhibit.

Harri watched with growing dread as the snake slithered out. This was not good. Uncle Vernon would punish her so harshly for this. Harri curled up into a ball, hoping that Uncle Vernon wouldn't do anything in public.

It was nearly a week until Harri was allowed to leave the cupboard. Aunt Petunia had bandaged up the worst of the wounds and snuck food to Harri when Uncle Vernon was at work or asleep.

Harri didn't really want her aunt to put herself in danger like that. It wasn't very often, but Uncle Vernon hurt Aunt Petunia as well, and Harri didn't like to see her in pain.

Harri picked up the mail, sorting through it on her way to the kitchen. Seeing a letter addressed to herself, Harri slipped the letter under her clothing. Hopefully the waistband of her skirt would keep it in place. She looked up as Dudley walked by, breathing a sigh of relief that he had not seen the letter.

She gave the mail to Uncle Vernon and looked at Aunt Petunia. The letter had to have been her Hogwarts letter. Aunt Petunia gave her a questioning look. Harri nodded, trying to be as unnoticeable as possible.

"Vernon, I need to take the girl shopping for... feminine things," said Aunt Petunia. "We'll be back before supper. Dudley already said he'd be spending the day with Piers."

Uncle Vernon grunted, barely noticing that Aunt Petunia had said anything. Aunt Petunia grabbed her purse, ushering Harri out of the house.

After they got into the car, Harri took out her letter. She read the letter, still unsure as to whether or not magic really existed. According to Aunt Petunia, her mum and dad had been a witch and a wizard and Harri was a witch as well.

"What does an owl have to do with anything?" asked Harri.

"That's how they send letters," explained Aunt Petunia. "With owls. I'll show you how later."

"Where are we going?"

"Diagon Alley," she said. "We need to get your school supplies and visit Gringotts. Your father has several vaults there as does your mother. Wizards don't accept muggle money."

They eventually stopped in front of a dingy pub called the Leaky Cauldron. Harri moved closer to Aunt Petunia, a little frightened of all the people in cloaks. Admittedly they were fascinating, but she didn't want to be seen.

"Can somebody let me into the Alley? I need to do some shopping for my niece," said Aunt Petunia. "She just got her Hogwarts letter."

A red haired woman with five children following behind her walked over. "Why don't you come with us, we were going to do some Hogwarts shopping as well. I'm Molly Weasley."

"Petunia Dursely. This is my niece Harriet." Petunia looked around, trying to find Harri. "Harri?" She eventually pulled Harri out from behind her.

"Hello Harri," Mrs. Weasley said kindly. "These are my boys, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and my daughter Ginny. You and Ron should be about the same age. He's starting his first year as well."

"Hi," said Harri, ducking her head.

As the women walked into the Alley, Harri fell back with the boys and Ginny. All of the boys were really tall and looked really strong. But they didn't look scary like Uncle Vernon.

Unsure of what to say, Harri eventually said, "What house are you guys in? Aunt Petunia said there were four houses, but didn't really explain what they were. I mean, I know my mum was in Ravenclaw and my dad was in Gryffindor, but that's it."

"We're all in Gryffindor," said one of the twins.

"All Weasleys end up in Gryffindor," said the other.

"It's the best house."

"It's for the brave-"

"The strong-"

"The-"

"That's enough you two," interrupted Percy. "The four houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Gryffindor for the brave, Ravenclaw for the smart, Hufflepuff for the loyal and hard working, and Slytherin for the cunning and ambitious purebloods."

"Oh," said Harri. "What's a pureblood?"

"Somebody from a wizarding family," explained Percy.

"Then what am I?" asked Harri. "My mum was the only witch in the family and my dad came from a really long line of wizards."

"A half-blood," explained one of the twins. "But you really shouldn't worry about that sort of thing. Only snobs like the Malfoys care about whether or not somebody is a pureblood."

"Ok," said Harri. She turned to Ron. "What house do you want to be in?"

"Gryffindor, of course," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You?"

"I dunno," shrugged Harri. "Maybe Gryffindor. I don't think I'm smart enough to be in Ravenclaw."

As they walked through the Alley, the boys began to speak about quidditch, After explaining the rules to Harri (who happened to find the idea of the sport rather fascinating) they started talking about the best strategies. Even Ginny got involved, dragging Harri into the conversation with her.

By the time they left Diagon Alley, Ron and Harri had decided to owl each other over the summer and to meet at platform 9 3/4.

Aunt Petunia had even given her an early birthday gift, a really pretty snowy owl. Luckily they got home a hour before Uncle Vernon got off work. She had barely put away her stuff in her bedroom (the smallest bedroom in the house) before she heard her Uncle slam the front door shut. Harri was just grateful that Uncle Vernon thought she was going to an all girls finishing school that would teach her proper manners and how to find a proper husband.

Fred and George Weasley did not need to speak to communicat exactly how angry they were. Ron, Percy, Ginny, and Mum may not have recognized what was going on with Harri, but they had. The twins were nowhere near as oblivious as they led others to believe.

Somebody was hurting their new friend. Not her Aunt-Harri looked to her for protection-probably that Uncle of hers. The barely visible bruises, her extreme shyness, the way she flinched whenever anybody other than her Aunt touched her. The way she had paled and avoided talking about her Uncle when asked.

The signs were all there. First chance they got, the Weasley twins were going to get Harri away from that family of hers.