CHAPTER I

Harry Potter sat across from Daphne Greengrass in an otherwise empty compartment on the Hogwarts express. The train wasn't supposed to leave for another hour, but he had been determined to avoid a meeting with the Weasley family this time around. The compartment was silent, as both of its occupants had their heads buried in books.

In his past life, Harry had never had a particular fondness of reading due to the intellectual block placed on him by Dumbledore. This time around, though, Harry was a shoe-in for Ravenclaw. He absorbed knowledge like a sponge, and could never learn enough. Due to his fifty-two year old brain, he was able to understand the most advanced types of magic, and was determined to know everything he could.

Daphne, on the other hand, had always been smart. She had, however, been limited as a child. Her parents had molded her in a way that had made her never question their love for her, or their actions, and had subtly diffused her love for reading. They couldn't, after all, risk having their daughter discover anything about them that would result in her causing a scandal. Keeping Daphne dumbed-down had ensured that she would not form her own opinions, or denounce those of her parents.

Mr and Mrs Greengrass' betrayal had been the hardest hit for Harry, who had already been upset at the discovery of the true motives of the Weasley family. The Greengrasses had treated him like their own son, and he still had nightmares about Astoria screaming at her parents, only to be shoved roughly by her father and crack her head open on the table. Perhaps if they had acted faster, she could have been saved. Harry had been tempted to have Daphne bring her with so Astoria could grow up with them, but he knew that the pain of seeing her would be far too much for him to bare.

Harry's thoughts turned to the year to come. He was almost certain that he and Daphne would end up in Ravenclaw, and he couldn't wait to see the headmaster's face when they did. Although the disappearance of Daphne Greengrass had rocked the wizarding world, no one, as far as Harry was concerned, knew he had left the Dursleys, since no adults apart from Arabella Figg (who was sure to remain silent after being placed under a confundus charm that would stop her from realizing he was gone) had ever checked on him. Dumbledore would be in for a big surprise when Harry showed up strong, smart, and betrothed. Of course, he wouldn't know the last part for a while. Harry and Daphne had decided to officially start dating in second year, and stage a betrothal sometime in sixth or seventh year. Of course, the fact that they weren't officially dating now wouldn't stop them from holding hands, or giving each other quick kisses in public. They would be childhood sweethearts in the eyes of the public, nothing special (of course, Harry was almost sure that Rita Skeeter would make it into something special. The boy who lived and missing Greengrass, young lovers. He could almost see the article in the prophet).

One thing Harry absolutely hated this time around, though, was that he could do nothing for his godfather. The plan was to kill Voldemort in his fourth year, but in order for him to come back, things had to play out the same as last time. If Sirius was freed, word of Pettigrew being an animangus would get out, and he would be captured and unable to revive Voldemort. Harry had spent many nights in the last seven years laying awake, guiltily thinking of his godfather who was rotting away in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit.

"The Weasleys are here," said Daphne. Her book was now closed and resting on the seat beside her. Harry's cat, Juliet, was curled up on top of it. Daphne frowned slightly, and her cat, Romeo, as if sensing that she was troubled, jumped onto her lap.

Harry followed her gaze, and saw a large family of redheads. He scanned each of them, remembering their fates. Molly, as manipulative as Dumbledore, after only his fame and fortune. She had shunned him as soon as he had begun dating Daphne at the age of twenty-one. Arthur, clueless as ever. Killed in a car accident after trying to drive around without learning how to navigate through muggle traffic. Ron had laughed at his funeral. Ron, who had been Harry's best friend. It was hard, discovering that he was nothing but a jealous and greedy boy, who was after Harry's fame just like Molly. Ginny, who had never been the same after Voldemort possessed her. She could have been great, but her mother's schemes had destroyed her mind, and she had joined Alice and Frank Longbottom at St. Mungo's shortly before her twenty-fifth birthday. Fred, dead in the final battle. George, never quite the same. He had committed suicide only two years later. Percy, who had come around in the end, but was formally thrown out of the family after disagreeing with his mother's opinions. Bill and Charlie weren't there, but Harry remembered how they had fled from Britain after things started to get rough for the family, never once looking back.

Harry tore his eyes away from the window. Nostalgia over people who had betrayed him would do him no good. Harry took out his wand and textbooks. Across from him, Daphne did the same. He also removed the notice-me-not charms from the compartment. If nobody could find him, it would be a bit suspicious.

Both began practicing the spells in their books, and last minute studying the theoretical information. Last time, they had remained in the middle of the class, as far as grades went. This time, they were both determined to be at the top.

The first hour on the train was relatively silent, with the only noise being Harry and Daphne casting spells, as doing it silently at such a young age would be too suspicious, and occasionally quizzing each other on theoretical material, or offering pointers on how to do a spell. They weren't actually trying to give each other spell-casting advice; it was more of a way to annoy each other: their own special version of bickering. It was a competition to see who could offer the most ridiculous advice, and who would snap at the other first. Their 'pointers' consisted of sayings like: "you should hold your wand a bit closer to your chest" or "you need to flick your wrist more," along with the ever-popular "you're saying it wrong!"

It wasn't until about an hour and a half into the train ride when the compartment door burst open, and eleven year old Hermione Granger stepped inside. Hermione, while not nearly as evil as Ron, had denounced Harry and publicly claimed he was going dark after he and Daphne had begun dating.

"Have either of you seen a toad?" She asked in a bossy, superior tone. "Neville's lost one."

"Why not ask an older student to summon it?" Asked Daphne (who had never been very fond of the bushy haired girl) in an annoyed, clipped tone. She gave Hermione a superior look, as if to show that she was a queen and Hermione was nothing but one of her servants who had dared to speak out of turn. While not an avid follower of blood purity, Daphne hated it when muggle borns acted like they knew everything and were above everyone in a world they knew next to nothing about.

Hermione frowned. "Summoning?" She asked. "That's not in any of the books I've read, and I've memorized half of the Hogwarts first year curriculum. Are you sure it's a thing?" Harry could tell from Daphne's expression that she was seething in anger. Hermione knew next to nothing about the wizarding world, yet she had the gall to ask if Daphne, who had grown up in it, knew what she was talking about.

"It's part of the second year curriculum. And since both my companion and I have grown up in the magical world, it seems rather rude for one who has only just discovered it to question us on our knowledge," said Harry. He knew he probably sounded like a pure blood ponce, but he couldn't help it.

'We need to calm down," Daphne said through their soul bond. 'You're the boy-who-lived, word can't get around that you're acting mean to muggle borns, no matter the reasons. Besides, if we keep acting like this, we won't be prefects or heads.'

'Draco Malfoy was a prefect,' replied Harry through the bond, but he calmed himself anyways.

Luckily, Hermione didn't seem to notice the anger in Harry's words, because, just like the last time, she invited herself to sit down and immediately began talking, words rushed like she was going to run out of time to speak.

"How did you know I was muggle born? Never mind, I suppose it doesn't matter. You're right of course, I'm the first magical person in my family, and my parents were so surprised. I've read tons of books, so I hope I won't be too far behind. And I couldn't help but notice that your wands are out, are you going to do magic? Can I see?"

"Alright," said Harry, trying to keep his temper under control. He pointed his wand at her left shoe. "Colovaria," he said, and her shoe changed from black to green.

At first, Hermione looked impressed. Then her expression turned to one of anger. "Now my shoes don't match, and that's a horrid shade of green. Turn it back, turn it back!"

Daphne turned her shoe back to black, although there was a look of great reluctance on her face as she did so. "Perhaps you should find an older student to summon that boy's toad now," she said, her tone of voice making it very clear that she wanted Hermione to leave. The bushy haired girl huffed in annoyance, but stomped out of the compartment anyway, roughly closing the door behind her.

"How rude," Harry and Daphne heard her exclaim after the compartment door shut.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we're the rude ones," he muttered.

"I hate her just as much as you do, Superman, but we have to be nice or the prophet'll be calling us the next dark lords, and we won't become prefects or heads. Controlling our tempers will be a challenge for both of us, but we have to manage."

Harry sighed. "I wish we could reveal the truth about how horrid Dumbledore and Hermione and most of the Weasleys are," he said.

"Who'd believe us?" Asked Daphne.

"Good point," Harry said. "I'll calm down, but only for you, Kitten."

Daphne smiled. "That's all I ask."

Their moment was cut short by the compartment door once again opening suddenly. "I've heard Harry Potter is on the train. Is it you?" Draco Malfoy stood in the doorway, Crabbe and Goyle flanking him, standing dumbly and looking like the idiots they were.

"Perhaps," said Harry, who's bangs covered his scar. Malfoy looked at him skeptically, as if trying to decide who he was. While Harry had managed to prevent people from writing story books about him this time around, there were still 'pictures' of him everywhere. The pictures, however, showed a small, scrawny boy with glasses and hair sticking up in all directions. In reality, Harry was average height with the beginnings of a six pack, he had no glasses, and his scar was faded. His hair was also a bit more manageable than in the pictures.

"Hmph," Draco said. "Well, no matter who you are, I shall kindly offer you valuable advice. Don't associate with mud bloods and blood traitors," with that, he turned and left the compartment.

"Well that was odd," said Harry. His meeting with Malfoy had gone a bit differently than it had last time.

"I'd forgotten how obnoxious he is," said Daphne. "He couldn't even bother to close the door," she stood up to close it herself, but was shoved aside onto the bench by a familiar redhead.

"Harry, mate!" Exclaimed Ron Weasley, though Harry had no idea how Ron knew it was him. "I've been looking everywhere for you. Come with me, I've got us our own compartment," Ron grabbed Harry's arm and began to drag him out.

Harry yanked his arm out of Ron's grasp. "I don't know who you are!" He exclaimed. "And I have no intentions of leaving this compartment."

Ron frowned. "I'm Ron Weasley," he said. "And you wanna be careful who you hang around with," he eyed Daphne, and the look in his eyes was almost greedy, despite the fact that he was implying she was dark.

"I can decide for myself the people I want to hang around with," Harry replied. "And you are not one of them. Please leave us in peace," he said.

Ron didn't seem to catch the obvious dislike in Harry's voice. "I'll catch you later, mate," he said, leaving the compartment.

Daphne scowled. "Can no one be bothered to close the door?" She asked. Getting up to do so herself. She had just sat back down, when the compartment door opened once again.

"Oh for God's sake!" Daphne exclaimed. "Why won't people just leave us alone!" She turned to the people who had just entered. "Harry may be famous, but that doesn't mean that the two of us don't want some peace and quiet just like everyone else. If your here to gawk at my boy- best friend, we are not interested!"

Sophie Roper stared at Daphne in shock. Harry and Daphne froze, and stared back just as surprised, but for a different reason. Sophie Roper had been a Ravenclaw in their year at Hogwarts, and she had also been the one who set them up on a blind date. The girl had been close friends with Astoria, despite the one year age difference and different houses, and her early death during the death eater revival attack (which had succeeded in nothing but killing around twenty people and getting the rest of the death eaters who were still free after the war caught and sent to Azkaban) had been tragic. Next to Sophie stood her future boyfriend, Anthony Goldstein, who died in the attack on Hogwarts in 1998.

"I-I'm sorry," she said. "We're not here to gape. It's just, we got kicked out of our compartment by some obnoxious redhead, and we need a place to sit. I-we'll leave now, sorry for bugging you."

Anthony murmured a similar apology.

"It's fine!" Harry exclaimed. "Daphne didn't mean to snap, it's just, that annoying redhead came from here, and we're rather frustrated with people gaping. If you're not here to gape, though, we really don't mind if you stay."

Sophie and Anthony entered, dragging their trunks behind them. "Thank you for letting us sit here," Anthony said. "We're sorry for intruding."

"It's completely fine," said Daphne, tucking a piece of blonde hair behind her ear. Harry knew that she wanted to befriend Sophie this time around, and he hoped that her outburst hadn't messed things up. 'Well,' he thought. 'No better way to make friends than sharing a compartment with them for five hours.'

"Can you do any magic?" Asked Sophie, shyly, blue-green eyes wide as she looked at their opened books and wands lying on the seats. She tucked a strand up dark brown hair behind her ear nervously, just like Daphne had done moments before.

"Yeah," said Daphne. "Harry and I have been studying ahead and practicing a lot. We can show you guys a few spells if you want."

Sophie nodded eagerly, and Anthony perked up. "Sit down," said Harry. Sophie and Anthony did as told, occupying the seats next to Daphne and Harry respectively.

Harry looked at them carefully. Sophie seemed a bit timid, and Harry recalled that he had barely noticed her before she joined the DA and opened up more in fifth year. Hopefully he and Daphne would be able to get her out of her shell earlier this time around. She was also rather small, even more so than Daphne, though they both had the same slender build.

Anthony seemed a bit more confident, and Harry remembered him being rather popular during his Hogwarts days. Harry knew that the Greengrasses and Goldsteins were rather closely related, and he could see some similarities between the two of them. Though the coloring and build were completely off (Daphne having wavy light blonde hair, creamy white skin, vivid blue eyes, and a small, slender build, while Anthony's hair was sandy blonde, his eyes were dark brown, and he was broad shouldered and rather tall), they had similar smiles and facial structures, although their noses and ears were noticeably different.

Daphne picked up the charms textbook, and flipped through the pages, looking for a random spell. She stopped about sixty pages in. "This spell is the levitating charm, and the incantation is Wingardium Leviosa. You have to move your wand like this, and stress the syllables 'gar' and 'o'."

The rest of the train ride passed with Sophie, Anthony, Harry, and Daphne going over their textbooks and getting to know each other. By the time they arrived at Hogwarts, Harry felt closer with Sophie and Anthony than he ever had with Hermione and Ron.

A/N: Thank you for all of the comments I've gotten so far on the Prologue. Some were helpful in writing this chapter, while others were incredibly nice, or both. They are all very much appreciated. Nice comments make my day.

I have a couple questions for you guys about what pairings you want to see for Sophie, Anthony, Ginny, Luna, and any other characters. Pairings with Ron and Hermione might be in the story, though they won't really be important. At the moment, I'm planning on Sophie and Anthony being together, but that could change. Hermione and Ron have about a 1% chance of ending up together, as I don't think they ever would have gotten together in the books without Harry. Of course, the whole plot line of this story is different from the books, so if you really want Hermione and Ron together, I'll do it.

Also, if there are any characters you want to have a big role in the book, please comment. I don't really have any plans for who will be in Harry and Daphne's friendship circle apart from Sophie and Anthony, and I know that they aren't going to get along with Hermione, Ron, and Draco. As I said in the last chapter, I'm trying to not make this story too cliche, so if you feel like it's starting to become cliche than you can comment and tell me anything you think I should change. Also, I update the chapters often, so something might change about an earlier part of the story. When this happens, I will try to mention it in the A/N at the end of the next chapter I post.

I'm also relatively new to the site, so I'm not really sure how to work it. If you have anything about the site that you think might be helpful for me to know, please comment. I'm getting very frustrated over trying to figure it out. It took me about a week to figure out how to get the gray line to show up, and how to edit my documents. I'm not very good with figuring out technology, so any help is appreciated.