Chapter 2

AN: I apologize once again that the story still hasn't picked up completely by the end of this chapter. I do promise though that Harry will be living with the Greengrass family by the end of the third chapter. Please leave a review or two so I can improve the story as I go along.

~Johnathan Greengrass~

"Cacus!" called the ministry worker.

"Yes master?" Said a small house elf as he appeared with a pop in front of his kind human owner.

Johnathan spoke with a smile, "I would like you to venture into the muggle world for me Cacus"

"Searching for another muggle contraption master?" inquired the elf with some degree of interest.

"No, no, I need you to find out who a certain small child is for me."

"Spying are we master?" said the elf mischievously.

"Please Cacus, you have been faithful to me for many years, humor me once more." Johnathan allowed the corner of his lips to turn up into a crooked smile. He had always been fond of Cacus, and allowed the elf many freedoms that most house elves were depraved of.

"Of course master!" the elf replied with a bow nearly touching his nose to the floor, "have you left a trail of your magic for me to follow?"

"Yes, start in downtown London, it should lead you to a," he paused in thought, "very giraffe like woman." Johnathan inwardly laughed at his own description of the muggle woman who seemed to be part of the family. "If you do not immediately find a small black haired boy, follow her until you do"

"Absolutely master!" Cacus disappeared with a pop.

Johnathan left his place in the eccentric living room to find both of his daughters bothering their mother in the kitchen. He paused at the entryway smiling at his beautiful family, thinking about the possibility of adding a third child to the bundle…finally a boy. His daughter Daphne was merely five years of age, and already Johnathan could tell she was going to be just as beautiful as her mother. Daphne even shared the silky blonde hair that Johnathan so loved in his wife. Astoria had recently turned three and entered into the "mine" stage of being a toddler. Astoria was as sweet as toddlers come with dark hair very much like her fathers. Johnathan swooped in behind his wife wrapping his arms around her waist.

Aeliana screeched in surprise as the girls giggled at her reaction, "well, hello there mister." She leaned over her shoulder and kissed Johnathan on the jaw with a smile.

"Cacus is already out searching love," said Johnathan as he kissed her neck.

"Mommy!" cried the five year old blonde Daphne.

Aeliana responded with a smile, "Yes my sweet child?"

The little girl pondered her own thought for a moment before saying, "where did Cacus go?"

"Just running some errands for me dear," responded Johnathan rather quickly. "Why don't you take your sister upstairs and play around with some potions, perhaps you can find one to make your mother more fun." He smirked at his wife.

"Tsk Tsk," said Aeliana as she smacked her husband, "am I not entertaining?"

"Ooh daddy you're in trouble now!" Daphne said as she giggled, "but okay!" Daphne grabbed her sister and guided her up the stairs as quickly as a five year old can carry a toddler while running.

"Johnathan, how long do you think Cacus will take" Whispered Aeliana hopefully. She turned around in his arms proceeding to wrap hers around him. "I do hope he is careful, what did you instruct him to do?"

"Cacus is smart, I'm sure it won't take him long to locate the family." Johnathan began to chuckle under his breath, "I gave him a rather good description of the woman I should say" He burst into full laughter.

Aeliana looked confusedly at her always funny husband, "what in the name of Merlin did you say?" She began to smile knowing that Johnathan had an incredible sense of humor no matter what the circumstances be.

"I told," he paused to catch his breath, "I left traceable magic on the woman for Cacus to follow." He looked thoughtful for a moment, "and I told him that the magic would lead him to a 'giraffe like woman'."

Aeliana still looked confused, "well I suppose that could be funny but I do-"

Johnathan cut her off, "You don't understand Aeliana. The man was very obese; and the other boy, obviously his son, was also obese even for such a young age. Neither of the males seemed to have any existing necks Aeliana. Yet the woman, compared to her family appeared to be a giraffe with her abnormally LONG neck!" He continued to laugh at his own joke once again.

Aeliana cracked a smile and began laughing as well, "You my dear have a very acute sense of humor." She pulled him in as close as possible and kissed him deeply savoring the feel and the taste of his lips against hers, "and that is why I love you," she whispered softly.

Aeliana was also extremely proud to be a part of the Greengrass family due to their position on Purebloods having no greater status than half bloods or muggle borns. Aeliana veered away from her maiden family, Flint, for their beliefs that purebloods were somehow elite and deserved to rule the world. Johnathan's point of view had always earned him dirty looks from some of the pureblood members of the ministry, but he was steadfast and she couldn't be happier because of it. Several times Johnathan would arrive at work and find signs of some of his coworkers trying to oust him, but he never let it stop him from holding on to his beliefs. She loved how strong he was in his stances, and how loving he was to the family. The current situation was just proof of his good heartedness; he was going out of his way to rescue a young abused wizard being raised by terrible muggles.

"Johnathan, right now I could not possibly be any more in love with you!" she whispered lovingly into his ear. She pulled his face close with her fingers laced behind his head cupping his shoulder length mane of hair.

Johnathan whisked her up into his arms and kissed her on the nose and then on the lips. "Then let me proceed to show you how much I love you Aeliana," he whispered into her ear lightly nibbling on her earlobe. "Children!" he called up the stairs, "leave your mother and I be, do not bother us." He carried her swiftly into the huge master bedroom on Greengrass Manner throwing his very beautiful wife onto their bed before casting silencing and privacy charms on the door.

…

~Harry~

Harry had just finished reading the story of Merlin, his mind was now set on the idea of wielding magic. He knew he wasn't supposed to even think about magic…it would most likely get him a good beating if he ever mentioned the word. Every time that he thought about the idea of magic though, something resonated deep within him. Some part of his being felt more alive and awake when Harry thought about magic, but he could never really seem to understand why.

Harry looked around the small cupboard which contained very little of what one might find in a normal bedroom. Taking up a majority of the space was his mattress laying on the floor which he was atop. At the foot of the mattress was just a single drawer containing his meager collection of clothes. Most of the items within the drawer were far too large for harry; they were old hand me downs from his fat cousin. Beyond that, there was a single small lamp, and a stand for him to place his glasses on while he slept. Underneath his clothes and mattress Harry hid the collection of books that he had gathered.

Harry loved to read taking in all the information he could. Since he often spent most of his life in the cupboard under the stairs he found the greatest entertainment through reading anything and everything he could get ahold of. His favorite book by far was the one about Merlin, but he had some short children's stories, and a few larger books that he had found under his mattress when he longed for something new to read. One of Harry's other favorite books to read through was the vast dictionary. He had not yet completed the dictionary, but his vocabulary far outmatched that of any average five year old. Harry most likely had an even greater vocabulary then his very own uncle. He flipped to his favorite page in the book, the one containing the definition of magic. Harry let his mind wonder as he thought about what life would be like if he could use magic, how much different it might be.

…

~Cacus~

Cacus found himself sitting outside the house he had followed the woman to. When he first appeared in downtown London to begin the search, his master's magical trace was easily present. He carefully followed the tracker to make sure he would not be seen. Despite the great kindness he received from his master, he would be punished if he were seen by ruddy muggles. Upon arriving at the house on Privet Drive Number Four, he knew it was the place to be. After waiting for what seemed like far too long he very carefully made his way into the house undetected via magic. Cacus was unsure of how exactly he could find the child without making it very plain to the entire household that there was an intruder. His master had warned him that there were two other muggles living in this house, he should stay wary of them as much as possible.

The tiny elf settled on the plan of casting a simple revealing spell to inform him of who was present. Elf magic is far different from that of wizards and witches, the elf would be able to glean the names of the people present from his revealing spell. Only a very powerful witch or wizard could ever perform the same type of revealing spell, and even then it was often met with minimal success. Once the spell had been cast, he waited in patient silence for the magic to respond. Within ten seconds four names were floating in front of him in an ethereal red.

Vernon Dursley

Petunia Dursley

Dudley Dursley

Harry Potter.

Cacus was truly shocked at the last name on the floating list before him. He was uncertain if he had cast the spell incorrectly or perhaps there was just a flaw so he cast again. Once more in less than ten seconds the list reappeared with the exact same names. "Oh my!" exclaimed the old elf, "master Greengrass will be most intrigued," he whispered to himself.

He had been ordered to wait until he visually witnessed the boy being abused by one of the two adults. Cacus did not want to witness such a small child being treated poorly by this family, but he was obligated to do so no matter what. He waited hoping it would get over with soon so he could report back to his master. Within an hour, the Dursleys gave Cacus exactly what he needed.

Vernon wrenched open the cupboard door to his nephews sleeping area, "Get your ass in that damn kitchen boy and help you aunt with dinner!"

Harry was shocked awake when the door flew open, and was slow to respond.

"Didn't you hear me freak?" Vernon roared as he grabbed the small child by the hair and yanked him out throwing him into the opposite wall.

"Of course Uncle..." Harry internally sulked as he left Cacus' view and entered the kitchen.

Cacus waited for the fat balloon like man to leave before disappearing with a pop and arriving in the living room of Greengrass Manner.

…

"Daddy, Cacus has returned from your errands," shouted a very happy and playful Daphne.

Johnathan popped up out of bed quickly; he redressed himself before heading towards the door to go down and speak with Cacus.

"Going to just leave your wife alone and naked in bed?" pouted Aeliana in a very sexy teasing voice.

"Didn't you hear my love?" He looked at her, "Cacus is back with news about the boy!"

Aeliana suddenly jumped up out of bed and dressed in hurry to catch up with her husband whom had already gone down stairs. Despite the very tiring last couple hours, she could not have felt more energized with the idea of the elf being back. This may be the beginning of a new lifestyle with another family member, and Aeliana was very excited to get started.

As she walked into the living room, she saw her husband sitting in his arm chair next to the fireplace facing Cacus. They looked tense, and Johnathan looked like he had just realized that he was getting into something far bigger than what he could handle.

"Johnathan, I know that look…what's going on?" she inquired hoping to help alleviate her husband's stress.

"The boy," he whispered, "is Harry Potter!"