Disclaimer: I own nothing but Xavier, Judas and the setting thus far. Oh and Judas is of course a reference to the biblical figure that betrayed Christ. I thought it was a suitably evil name.

Chapter 2

Nine O'clock.

The school bell rang; it's clanging resonating throughout the village. Harry ran, bag flapping against his back through the gates, bounding up the steps with quick, agile leaps. He was late again but he was safe. Safe from Judas and his gang at least for the morning, Harry smiled grimly; unimpressed by his cowardice even though he knew that defending himself would probably end up killing him. 10 minutes late to class, Harry accepted the teachers scolding's and suppressed a smile when she gave him a detention. He was safe this afternoon as well.

Recess came around and Harry's throat constricted. Recess was always spent hiding from Jude's gang. More often then not, they found him though, and the torture would begin. Harry could barely remember when he'd first attracted Jude's attention, though he suspected that he had somehow embarrassed the bully. That was the impression he got when he'd once had the misfortune of looking him in the eye. Harry was sometimes able to see the intent behind people's motives when he looked them in the eye. He couldn't understand how or why he was able to do it, only that it had saved him on more then one occasion, including when he was very young. He shuddered again as he remembered the near brush with death.

He'd been wandering alone down near the river, a common occurrence in the village as Harry was often seen on his own. He just didn't seem to mesh well with the other kids his age; he seemed almost too grown up for them, though they would always say there was something scary in his eyes bottle green eyes, almost another presence. Wandering on his own, he was able to consider other people's reactions to him and it seemed to his young mind that most of the reactions were unpleasant ones. Unable to fathom a reason for this, apart from him being in someway different from everyone else, Harry had continued to wander aimlessly, not noticing the shadow that lurked on the edges of his vision until it was too late.

There had been rumours of a wild dog that attacked and ate chickens and geese but there hadn't been any real confirmation of its existence (apart from the massacred bodies of the birds). Harry was more then able to confirm its existence now as the monster in question had backed him against a tree. Harry stared, riveted in terror at its foam flecked face and snarling jaws. He briefly considered calling for help, but then dismissed the idea. He'd learned quite quickly that adults were more a hindrance then a help and that it was better for him to fight his own battles. Unable to see any fix as to his situation, Harry squared his shoulders and decided that if he was going to die, he wasn't going to die peacefully.

He'd stared the animal straight in the eye and was immediately assaulted with a barrage of images. He saw a small puppy cowering as a vicious looking man beat it with a stick, he saw a slightly older puppy trying in vain to hide from the same man and the same stick. He saw the older dog jumping out at the man and biting savagely at him before running off. In that instance, Harry knew what he had to do, he felt with a cold certainty that there was only one thing he could do now to get him out of his situation. Feeling around him, his fingers closed around the smooth wood of a stick and attempting to mimic the savage snarl of the man he'd seen, Harry raised it high and swung it at the dog. The reaction was immediate; the dog had jumped away in terror and run off howling, while Harry had sped off in the opposite direction thankful to whatever God had sent him those startling images.

Harry shuddered, the momentary release bringing him back to reality. He wasn't up against a 4 legged beast. He was outside, trying to hide from a 2 legged one. Trying being the operative word though, Harry suppressed a shudder as a shadow loomed over him. Jude stood over him, grinning maliciously as he eyed the smaller boy.

"Well, would you look at this, never would have expected to find you here midget."

Jude grinned wolfishly as Harry visibly flinched. Midget was Jude's nickname for him, most probably in an attempt to make him feel small and worthless. Harry was at a loath to say it, but it worked every time.

"So what's it going to be midget? How long will you stand to play the pain game with ole' Jude?" Jude's voice was sickly as he bent down slightly, down until Harry and he were eye to eye and Harry could see directly into Jude's resentful brown eyes.

His mind was immediately assaulted with a kaleidoscope of events, rushing by so quickly that Harry barely had time to register them; Jude shaking in a corner, while a man and a woman argued furiously, the man waving a bottle of gin in the air. The same man punching and beating the same woman while Jude hid in a cupboard, Jude slightly bigger, trying to protect the woman from the man, Jude starting school, a curious look on his face, Jude being cornered by bullies and fighting back, earning the bullies respect, Jude trying once again to protect the woman and getting punched, his mother whacking the man over the head from behind, both of them burying the man in a shallow grave outside, Jude tossing fitfully in a bed, Jude beating up younger children, Jude stalking Harry…

Harry stared at Jude, a thoughtful expression on his young face. Inside his mind was whirling and though he didn't look it, Harry was beyond shocked. Then his mouth opened of its own accord,

"You can stalk me and hurt me all you want Jude. But I know your secret. I know where he's buried."

A look of absolute horror came over Jude's face, and he took an unconscious step backwards.

"I don't know what you're talking about Midget." Jude's voice wavered, and his usual contemptuous tone was missing. Harry smirked.

"I think you do Jude."

Harry had no idea where his words were coming from. It was like there was a part of him that instinctively knew just what to say. Harry knew that if he was going to get Jude to leave him alone for good, he was going to have to completely destroy him. There wouldn't be a second chance. If he didn't make everything absolutely clear, then it was unlikely that Harry would survive Jude's next attack. Harry was in survival mode, and he wasn't going down without a fight.

"As a matter of fact, Jude, I KNOW that you know what I'm talking about. Don't hit me daddy! Don't hurt her! It was too much after a while wasn't it. A big strong boy like you wasn't going to be pushed around anymore was he? If someone was to find out what you'd done…you and your mum would be in a lot of trouble…"

Harry felt cold inside. The words were rushing out of him, each one making him colder and colder. He was cold as ice, alone on an iceberg. And now…to deliver the crushing blow. He stepped forward, closing the gap between him and Jude until only a couple of inches separated them and he could feel the older boys ragged breath on his face. Harry was in absolute control now. And they both knew it.

"I don't know about you Jude. But if I was in your position and the boy I was "targeting" knew a dirty little secret about me…I'd be extra nice to him…otherwise he might accidentally "slip up" and spill that little secret."

Jude recoiled slightly again, blinking furiously. Then suddenly, he gave a little nod and, pivoting on his foot, bolted off in the other direction. Watching him go, Harry gave a strangled laugh, then his legs collapsed from underneath him and he gave into the shudders that wracked his body. He hated himself for what he'd just done. He hated that he'd seen something that was not his secret to see. But most of all, Harry hated that he'd been forced to become like Jude. He heaved another shuddering breath and fought to control his emotions. He couldn't break down like this. Not at school, here it was too open and crowded. Harry could not be seen as having any weaknesses. Jude's gang was bad enough. But now that problem had been dealt with. Harry wasn't going to go around now creating more for him.

Ever since Harry could remember, he'd been faced with difficulties and hardships that your average child would be unable to deal with. The first had come at age three, when his family had died. They'd all gone down to the river for a picnic and Harry the youngest was dozing happily in the sun, while everyone else played in the river. The wall of water had come so quickly that none of them had survived and Harry, wide awake as soon as it had come, had witnessed the whole thing. He had hated the feeling of helplessness as he watched the people he loved be swept away. Though only three at the time, Harry had made a silent vow to himself that he would never be helpless again. Six years later, Harry could remember that day as clearly as he could remember his own name, and his vow was stronger then ever.

This thought calmed him as he snapped back to reality and noticed two pairs of brown eyes trained on him. Looking up he saw the Patil twins standing over him, staring at him in evident concern.

"Are you ok Harry?" asked one, Padma, he thought her name was.

"Yeah, we saw Jude head around here and thought we'd follow," explained the other, Harry couldn't remember her name. The Patil twins were both in his class, but Harry had never had much to do with them. He usually kept to himself in class.

"Yeah I'm fine, Jude missed me, I hid behind the rubbish bins." Harry spoke quickly, saying the first thing that came into his head.

"Oh ok then, well Parvarti and I were wondering if you'd like to-", started Padma

"Come and hang out with us by the-", added Parvarti
"Jungle Gym", they chorused together.

Harry was saved from refusing by the school bell ringing, signifying the end of recess. He merely smiled in thanks and moved off the join the throng of students moving towards the crowded doors. Sparing a glance behind him, he noticed the twins whispering conspiratorially behind him. Harry felt an uneasy prickling in his spine and had a feeling that it wasn't the last he would hear from the Indian twins. Oh well, he thought with a shrug, I'll be so obnoxious they won't want anything to do with me.

Xavier shook his head in frustration as the scrying pool cleared. The boy was taking things too hard. Going too deeply into his shell, the balance was so delicate. How was he, Xavier supposed to craft the most lethal weapon since Merlin when all he had was a stupid 2nd rate scrying pool and a bit of compulsion…? The boy needed friends; there was no doubt about it. Those half-blood witches would do the job, he mused. The boy would make it hard for them, of course, but a little Fae compulsion never went astray. Rubbing the slight pain developing between his slanted eyes, he sighed in frustration. Nothing was ever easy with that boy. He hadn't even reacted properly when his foster family died.

Xavier sighed again. This was so hard. He needed to carefully sculpt the boy. He had to be independent, but not too withdrawn. Compassionate, but not a sucker. He needed to be intelligent, but not a know-it-all. Most of all, he needed to have empathy and the ability to love, thought at the rate things were going now, this wasn't really happening. Still, with the greatest threat since the extinction of the land dragons looming, it was up to the Fae to train the one who would right the balance. The Fae, haha, good joke, thought Xavier. How about ONE Fae, as in singular, as in NOT plural, for the thousandth time, Xavier wondered how he'd ended up having to train the next Hero. Oh well, there was no way out of it now, if he stuffed it up then he'd spent the next thousand years in transit.

Gritting his teeth, he moved back over to the scrying pool again and focusing hard, willed the image of Harry to appear again. That stupid farsight of the boys was getting out of hand too, he thought. If he kept it up, Xavier was going to have to reveal himself early just to get some training into him.

"Why did everything have to be so hard?" he asked himself again, as the murky waters cleared and a familiar black haired, green eyed boy swam into view.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait between updates. I've been really busy with exams and stuff. A few of the reviewers mentioned that stuff they'd read was confusing, I'd love it if you could be more specific so I could try and explain myself better. Also it was mentioned that it would be hard for Xavier to convince the family that a one-year old was their dead stillborn. I'd just like to say that compulsion is a very powerful thing. It could make you think that you'd just married a Unicorn. It's Xavier's strongest skill and he can make you think the sky is lemon if he wants. Just thought I'd clear that up. Hopefully I'll update sooner next time…unlikely as I'm very busy with sport but I'll try. Thanks for reviewing, and I'd love more feedback.