A/N: Oh gosh, it's been ages since I updated. But thanks to everyone who reviewed. This story isn't dead yet. And hopefully this chapter is a little longer for you. 13 pages I think. But yes, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except for Xavier… and my own rather pathetic writing style! 

Class had ended for the day. Harry joined the throng of students pushing and shoving to get out the narrow doorway and into the fresh afternoon air. Once free of the confines of the dingy school, Harry turned left and headed towards his sanctuary, the river. Harry himself couldn't understand why he was so drawn to the water. It had proved a curse to him on more then one occasion. Harry shuddered as carefully concealed memories pressed at their confinements, threatening to overwhelm him. Perhaps it was the villagers combined fear of the river that continuously drove Harry towards it. He, unlike most of the occupants of Billy Row was able to swim.

The water was Harry's escape, when he was submerged, he felt light as air, weightless, suspended in a time and place of his own creation. When he was in the water, Harry could pretend he was someone else, someplace else, with a loving family and bunches of friends. Harry didn't have friends. After the accident by the river, Harry, as the lone survivor, was viewed as some sort of abnormality. Why should the river, which had so unmercilessly slaughtered a whole family, spare an ordinary, bespeckled boy. He was shunned and viewed as a freak, people going out of there way to avoid him. Even the orphanage which took him in seemed to always be holding him at arms length. Thus, forced to grow up alone, Harry had turned to himself for comfort and sustenance.

True, there were those like the Patil twins, which attempted to befriend him, but Harry had learned by now that it was dangerous to rely on others. After that fateful day at school, some weeks ago now, when he had managed to, through what he at the time attributed to be a freak happening, had managed to see into the soul of Judas the bully, he had become something of a recluse. Harry suspected that the Patil twins were in some way suspicious of him, and it made him wary, if not slightly afraid. It also made him sharp, and prone to mistrust. He himself was a much safer bet when it came to getting things done. And oh, the things he could do. For introspection had yielded interesting results for young Harry. Forced by the delights of society, to spend countless hours with only his brain for company, Harry had stumbled upon something amazing.

He could, with his mind perform certain 'tricks', as he liked to call them, that no one else could. He could make things move; call objects to him at will and of course, see into the souls of others. Fascinated by his abilities, Harry discarded the idea of friendship altogether, and spent all his spare time down at the river, honing his skills and trying to develop new ones.

Today was no exception, Harry's feet trod the familiar and now well worn track down the river, his eyes looking, but not seeing the great, grey trunks of trees which towered overhead, hiding him from view. His mind was miles away as he stole down to the river, the water glinting in the afternoon sun, a thousand jewels, on fire in the burning rays of light that transcended down from the heavens to this place, his sacred place. How he loved to be alone, with only his brain for company, and the wondrous steps he made it dance. Unbeknownst to Harry, he was not alone, today would be a day to remember, for all parties involved.

The day started like any other, for Padma and Parvarti Patil as they ate the breakfast their mother had so lovingly prepared for them. Parvarti, always the more outgoing of the two, ate with gusto and enjoyment, often gorging herself to the point where she could scarcely move for fear of being sick. Padma, on the other hand, ate delicately and fussily, spending more time arranging her food then eating it, and never eating too much. For all their differences however, the two were still firm friends, rarely quarrelling, and valuing the other's opinions above all else.

This was why, when Parvarti announced she was having strange compulsions towards following Harry that afternoon, Padma didn't disagree, just merely glanced at her sister in surprise.

"What makes you say this Vati?" She asked, curiosity written all over her delicate Indian features.

"I don't know Pads, I was just walking out the door, when I saw that boy heading down towards the river, you know, like he always does… and I suddenly thought that I wanted to know what he was doing…" Parvarti paused for a second in confusion.

"All I know is I'm not going to be happy until I've followed him."

"Well Vati, mummy's not going to like us being late, but let's go." Joining hands, the two girls crossed the street together, heading towards the gap in the trees where Harry was so often seen heading.

They were halfway there, when a familiar voice rang out,

"Parvarti! Padma! Is that you?" Turning around, the girls smiled at the sight before them. Neville Longbottom was waving furiously, podgy hand enclosed within the hard embrace of his grandmother's hand. Waving back, the girls were surprised when the old woman bent down and whispered something in Neville's ear before letting go of his hand and pushing him towards the two girls.

"Gran said it was about time I started making some friends." Neville explain with a slight blush, at their curious expressions.

Not from the village school, Neville lived in a huge manor out in the countryside. It was said that he was home schooled by his grandmother, and that they were a strange, rich family that didn't associate too much with the villagers. Parvarti and Padma had formed a friendship with the plump 10 year old after catching him accidentally conjuring small whirlwinds as he cried behind the butchers shop. Fascinated by the magical displays Neville was unknowingly causing, the girls had eventually bullied the truth out of him. It had turned out that Neville was a wizard, though a poor one at that. His displays of magic had apparently started so late in life, that his family had feared he was a squib.

Eyeing the boy thoughtfully, Parvarti decided to let him in on their mission to stalk Harry.

"There's this boy, Harry…" Parvarti began, before Padma hurriedly shushed her.

"It's nothing much Neville, we're just going to find our friend, we think he's by the river, care to join us?" Not at all piqued by the sudden change in tone or by the furious glances the two girls were exchanging, Neville agreed, before running back to inform his Gran of their whereabouts.

"Oh and Neville…" Padma said casually, once the boy had returned.

"Yes Padma."

"Can you swim?"

"Of course I can!"

"Oh, that's good."

The three walked in silence down the winding track, their hearts thumping heavily in their chests. The path was dark and twisting, and gave an atmosphere of dark privacy that made the three feel as if they were impostors, intruding on some great affair.

"Uh guys?" Neville asked after a couple of minutes in the oppressive atmosphere.

"Are you sure we should be heading down here? It doesn't feel as if anyone comes down here very often, what if something happens to us?"

"Neville, Harry is down here. We need to make sure he's ok. You don't have to come." Parvarti answered immediately, the compulsion inside her growing to the point where she was practically jogging down the gnarly route.

"Vati, you're going so fast!" Padma cried, lengthening her strides in an attempt to keep up.

"Come on!" Was all Parvarti said, as they rounded the last bend.

The sight that met their astounded eyes was enough to bring a gasp of surprise to all their throats as they stared at the scene before them in undisguised awe and shock. The river stretched before them, its waters breath-takingly lit by the dying sun. Harry stood in the foreground of the scene, arms stretched beseechingly over the water, eyes tightly shut and a look of intense concentration on his suddenly elfish features. Under his hands, the water seemed to bubble and stir, before it burst upwards, bending and twisting into watery formations that danced and shone like slivers of ice as they crystallised onto leaves.

Harry opened his eyes and stared in undisguised pleasure at what he had created. Muttering under his breath, he flicked his fingers and laughed out loud, when the water changed from clear to a sparkling pink. Lowering his hands, Parvarti, Padma and Neville sighed in disappointment as the water was gently dropped back into the river, where it soon melted back into seething torrent being pulled southwards by the current.

Then, as if though some supernatural impulse, Harry's whole body went rigid and alert. He pivoted round and saw them, standing partially concealed within the bushes. All the colour drained from his face and he took a half-hearted step towards them before turning as if to run. Something seemed to stop him at the last second however, and he merely collapsed to the ground, eyes still warily trained on Parvarti, Padma and Neville. The twins stood stock still, slightly amazed at the sight they had just witnessed.

Neville, on the other hand, gave an excited yell before bounding out of the bushes towards Harry, who flinched backwards, unsure of what to expect.

"That was brilliant!" Neville cried excitedly, two spots of pink appearing on his cheeks.

"How did you manage to control your accidental magic like that? It's unheard of!" Harry blinked in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" He asked cautiously.

"Accidental magic, what you just did!" Neville was beside himself now and gesturing wildly with his hands.

"That thing you did with the water, how you managed to tell it what to do! How on did you get it so controlled, it's unheard of!" Harry blinked again, though the confusion in his eyes was replaced with a glimmer of hope.

"You mean, what I can do, the tricks…other people can do them too?"

"Yes! But normally they use wands. Magic without a wand is really hard to do. How did you do it?" Neville bounced up and down in his eagerness to know. His excitement had roused the Patil twins from their romanticisms; they walked out of the bushes and joined the two boys.

"Oh Harry that was-"Padma began.

"-so pretty and cool and," Parvarti added.

"Please teach us how!" They finished together.

Harry and Neville both looked momentarily stunned by the synchronisation of their performance and it was Harry who finally spoke.

"I don't know if I could teach anyone. I didn't realise that it could actually be controlled…until this man, well I think he's a man, came and taught me how. He said that I had skills that could be controlled by my mind. He taught me to meditate. I'm still not very good though. Today was the first day that that trick has ever worked properly." Harry finished speaking and smiled with pride.

"Who's the man?" Neville asked curiously.

"Yeah, do you think he could teach us?" Parvarti added quickly.

"He won't tell me his name, but he said he'd been worried about me for some time because I didn't seem to be able to control what I did. He said that…" Here Harry trailed off, embarrassed to continue in front of the three.

"What did he say Harry, you can tell us." Padma probed gently, placing a comforting arm on Harry's shoulder.

"It's stupid though. How would that man have known anyway…?"

"Just tell us Harry, we aren't going to ditch you over it."

"Ok fine…" Harry took a deep breath, before gripping the hem of his shirt as if seeking reassurance from its course folds. Padma's hand on his arm was oddly comforting, and it made what he had to say a lot easier.

"He said part of the reason I was struggling so much was because I was keeping everything to myself, and it was all piling up and effecting my concentration. He said I needed to start trusting people and unburden myself and let other people help me with my issues."

At these words, Padma smiled up at Parvarti before speaking to Harry.

"This man seems pretty smart Harry. I don't think I'd be able to concentrate if I had to deal with a bunch of silly adult issues."

"Yeah," Chimed Parvarti.

"Now you've got us Harry. You can tell us whatever you want. I knew there was a reason to follow you today. Imagine if you lost concentration doing some big trick, you might hurt someone." Though their words were spoken in all niceness and sincerity, Harry still felt wary, while he was starting to like all three of the people before him, he didn't think that he was prepared to tell them everything about him yet.

"Thanks guys." He said finally, smiling up at the three of them.

"Friends it is."

"Friends." Parvarti, Padma and Neville echoed, as the four clasped hands.

Xavier smiled in satisfaction as he watched the scene, invisibly from about 10 yards away. Things had turned out a lot better then he thought. His original idea, when he'd first compelled the Patil girl to follow Harry, had been to just arouse their curiosity about him. He'd figured that the boy would have been far too wary to open up about himself. Preventing Harry from running away had been his final intervention, as he'd whispered to the boy that he would make sure nothing bad happened to him.

For of course, the mysterious man Harry spoke of had been none other then Xavier. After the incidences with the dog and the bully, Xavier realised that it was time to step in before the ministry realised that there were some epic bursts of uncontrolled magic coming from Billy Row. It had been a tough couple of weeks attempting to control the boy, but Xavier was confident now that all readings were completely 'controlled' magic, nothing to arouse the ministry or Dumbledore's suspicions.

Thinking of Dumbledore, Xavier shook his head in annoyance. The man was very persistent. It was getting more and more difficult for Xavier to thwart the man's spells. For a human, Albus Dumbledore was incredibly powerful, not to mention some freak genius. Xavier frowned, it would be alright, just so long as he didn't send that bloody Phoenix.

As if it had read his mind, there was a popping noise, and the 'bloody Phoenix' appeared before him.

"Shit." Muttered Xavier, before immediately casting a spell to make sure none of the children saw anything. Xavier couldn't be sure, but he thought that one of the twins was looking over curiously. No matter, it couldn't be helped, there were much more pressing concerns to attend to, namely the envelope clutched in the Phoenix's talons. Taking the letter from the disgruntled bird, Xavier turned it over and read the front of the letter: To the carer of Harry. J. Potter.

"Shit." Xavier muttered again, before checking the envelope for spells. Finding none, the Fae carefully opened the letter.

To whom it may concern,

As it is you who my Phoenix has found, I can only assume that you are responsible for the 'disappearance' of Harry Potter on October 31st, 1981. If this is the case, then I would like to inquire as to the boy's well-being, as I have had no way of knowing how he has fared over the past 10 years.

Also, as you may be aware, Harry's 11th birthday is fast approaching. Due to the difficultly of finding your location, Harry's Hogwarts acceptance letter will be delivered on this day. If by some chance, the boy does not know of his rather remarkable past, I would ask that you leave me that particular honour, as I believe I can shed a truthful light on the dismal tale.

To you, yourself, whom by this point I have deduced to be of Faery origins, I give this warning. The affairs of human and Faery are most effectively dealt with when left to run separate courses. Intervention of your race in the matter concerning Harry Potter and Tom Riddle will not be highly thought upon by members of the Wizarding community. I warn you Faery; do not look lightly on the life of Harry Potter human as he may be.

That said, I look forward to meeting Harry on the 1st of September.

Yours Sincerely, Albus Dumbledore

(Headmaster for Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry)

Letter read, Xavier frowned in annoyance. Who did this Dumbledore fellow think he was? There were so many subtle meanings to the letter, that Xavier's head was completely full. So, a letter would be coming for Harry in a few months. Well, there would be plenty of things Xavier could do to prepare the boy for a world of Witches and Wizards. Friendship with those three was only the start. A frown of concentration on his forehead, Xavier apparated out of the clearing, there was a lot to do.

Back by the river, the four new friends were beginning to head back up the path to the town. Harry and Neville walked side by side while the twins chattered aimlessly. The reached the village and Harry turned to the three, a shy smile on his lips.

"Uh, thanks." He said awkwardly, but they all understood.

A/N: I hope everything makes sense/is at all interesting. If there is anything that is a little hazy, please let me know. I'd love some feedback as to how you're feeling about the story!! Reviews inspire me!