A/N: It might take me a couple of weeks to put out each chapter as they will be longer, so please be patient.
Chapter OneA young boy with jet black hair and emerald green eyes stared in astonishment as a very large moving van came whoring down the perfectly paved street of Privet Dr. where it stopped a bit past Number Four to actually stop at Number Seven.
"Boy!" a ridiculously obese man roared. "Go help the new neighbours!" The little boy had just managed to finish cleaning the windows when that order had been given. The supplies were hastily put away before he had rushed out into the blistering heat.
"Sir, let me help you!" he said shyly. Warm grey eyes met his own. He was wearing practical, but expensive clothes. They consisted of a yellow polo shirt paired with white pants and black steel-toed shoes.
"Here," the man said gently, offering him a light box. The child went inside and put the box down. When he returned, more light boxes were set aside for him.
By the end of the afternoon, all of the light boxes were in the house. "All done!" he announced quietly. "Now, I'll help you with the other ones." The old man shook his head.
"They're far too heavy for you to carry," he rebuked softly.
"But I'm supposed to help you with everything," the boy retorted. "My aunt and uncle told me so." The man glanced at Number Four and made a decision.
"Come," the elderly man commanded, gesturing for the boy to follow him into the house. "Take a rest." He walked to the bottom of the stairs. The child followed him curiously, but didn't say anything. "We've got a visitor!"
The stairs were flooded with an assortment of animals. "Erm, what?" the boy uttered in shock. One of the animals that caught his eye was a very large, black dog in the back of the group.
"Oh, that's Polaris," the man answered his question, catching the green-eyed stare. Polaris approached the pair at the sound of his name.
"Hi, Polaris," the boy giggled, stroking the canine's fur softly. His small, pale hands sank into the thick fur, smiling at how calming it felt.
"My name is Marius and if you need anything, just call me," Marius advised warmly. "Polaris and the others would love to spend time with you." A soft bark followed that statement.
"My aunt and uncle call me Boy, but at school, I'm called Harry," Harry returned.
"It's a pleasure, Harry," Marius continued with a smile before he went outside. Something tickled Harry's mind as he directed his attention back to petting Polaris. Even if he was left with a bunch of chores, as long as he was gone, the Dursleys were happy since they had never wanted him anyway.
The slew of animals flocked to the empty upstairs sitting room in which the occupants of the house had expanded on the inside before arriving with their belongings.
A small fox with a black stripe down its back nudged Harry, wanting attention from him. "Hi," the four-year-old greeted shyly. "You're so pretty!" The fox climbed onto the boy's lap and settled there comfortably. With a hand each, Harry stroked Polaris and the fox happily.
That's how Marius found them a little while later. "Meow!" a large tiger vocalised in slight jealousy as Harry carded his small hands through Polaris' fur.
"Figaro, seriously," Marius huffed in amusement. "You're acting like a kitten." The fox yipped in her approximation of amusement. Figaro hissed and slinked off.
Harry looked up from his ministrations when he felt Marius' eyes on him. "Silly tiger," he giggled. The old man laughed.
"Silly indeed." His grey gaze was lit with fondness as he observed the little boy with the pair of canines. "Are you hungry?" Harry shifted to get up, to the fox's dismay.
"What's its name?"
"Georgia."
"Sorry, Georgia," Harry said softly, scritching the spot behind her ear to appease her. Georgia yipped in what she hoped was forgiveness. Normally she wasn't, but how could she not be with the most adorably sweet child petting her?
Marius had prepared a steak and kidney pie for them to enjoy. Harry ate slowly, a guilty look on his face. "What's the matter?" Marius asked, catching the expression.
"I could make it for us," Harry explained. Grey eyes widened.
"Does your aunt and uncle force you to make their meals?" he asked. The four-year-old nodded, flinching at Marius' darkening expression.
"Harry," the man began in a steady voice. "I am a very old man and know how to cook, but I didn't know the basics until I was fourteen. Most children don't know how to prepare a sandwich, let alone a whole meal. While you are here, you are only expected to be entertained by the animals. Do you understand?"
There was an air of uncertainty in those innocent green eyes that Marius wanted to erase immediately.
"But what about the Dursleys?"
"While you are at their house, all you have to do is sleep there for now," the other answered. "Additionally, we'll watch over you to ensure that you are safe, okay?" Harry didn't give an answer. They continued to eat.
A sleek, black owl swooped down next to Marius' plate, snatching his piece of bread. "Wisdom!" the man admonished. Harry giggled.
"Naughty!" he declared. Wisdom hooted at them indignantly. That made the pair laugh harder.
When they were finished, Marius asked, "Wash your hands and face, will you? I'll take care of the rest." Harry scampered off to the kitchen where he washed his hands and face. Marius followed him with the dishes to wash them.
He waited until Harry was finished and watched as the little boy looked up at him, his green eyes questioning whether or not he should wash the dishes. Marius shooed him away.
"But…" he protested.
"They've been waiting for you for a very long time," the man reasoned. It wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a lie either. Harry had seemed to have dropped off the face of the Earth after his parents disappeared.
Harry spotted the only insect of the group, a Mourning Cloak Butterfly. "Ooh, a butterfly!" He rushed toward it excitedly, and it fluttered away a bit.
"Carefully," Marius instructed gently, holding out a finger for it to land on. It did so gently. "See?" The little boy nodded and held out his own, much smaller, finger for it to land on. It fluttered onto it gracefully.
The butterfly was large and maroon-coloured with a pop of yellow to act as trim on its wings. Bright green eyes were wit with laughter as it sat there with its wings opening and closing rhythmically. With the utmost care, Harry used another finger to gently stroke one of its wings.
"What's its name?"
"Moona." Harry smiled.
"Pretty!" Grey eyes twinkled with happiness. Then Harry's eyes cast down in realisation. "I forgot. Where's Figaro?" Moona fluttered off as Harry rushed up the stairs to find the tiger, which he did, but he found him sulking. "Hi, I didn't forget you." If he could roll his eyes, he would've.
Tiny fingers sank into surprisingly soft fur. It was short and coarse, but when run through in the same direction of its growth, it was soft. It was denser and longer around the neck. His smile grew as his hands gently rubbed Figaro's short, round ears.
The tiger felt as if he was having the time of his life, being petted by a tiny toddler. His powerful body rumbled with the force and sound of his purring.
Soft giggles erupted from the boy as he felt a large, dry tongue slightly scratch against his skin. He was licking Harry's wrist in happiness.
Figaro had been laying on his stomach, flat on the ground, but after he had given Harry's wrist a bath, he shifted his body to around the tot. The orange feline's body encircled him entirely.
At this, Harry laid down in the foetal position and his head ended up on Figaro's flank. Green eyes disappeared behind heavy lids as he drifted off to a heavy slumber.
Marius went searching for Harry and nearly cooed at the soft sight before him. He almost resisted the urge to leave it as it was, but he didn't so that the neighbours didn't ask questions. He carefully extracted the four-year-old out from the circular cocoon of warmth in which Harry shifted only slightly and then went back to sleep while Figaro whined a bit.
"I'm glad that you like him," the man said amusedly. "You'll see him soon." He got a mewl in return. A short, quiet laugh escaped him as he made his way through the house to return Harry to the Dursleys' to sleep.
The following morning, Petunia Dursley came down the stairs to the kitchen when she spotted a swan using its claws to turn on the stove.
The graceful, white bird launched off and disappeared through the open window, which Harry had appeared to finish what it had intended to do.
It watched from a careful distance as Harry prepared breakfast. The bird hissed indignantly as Uncle Vernon and Dudley came down the stairs to demand their breakfast, which was a full English again.
Harry internally grumbled when they demanded their food. The swan swooped out of the oak tree in the yard to return to Number Seven.
"What was he doing?" Marius asked. It led him to the stove. "Making breakfast?" Its head inclined a bit. "I'll get him."
Marius was dressed in a similar outfit as the day before, but he was wearing a light blue shirt instead.
Inside Number Four, Vernon demanded, "Hurry up, Boy!" Harry flipped the sizzling sausages and bacon as quickly as cooking would allow. Eggs were already stacked neatly on a platter while a package of hash browns were waiting to be cooked.
"How about you cook your own breakfast, Mr. Dursley?" Marius' smooth, deep baritone voice cut in a suggestive tone. "Maybe, you might gain some patience."
"What do you know about me?" Vernon countered as Marius took over the cooking for Harry.
"Not much, but I have plenty of time to learn," Mariud returned coolly. "One thing that I have learnt is that you have a four-year-old cooking breakfast for you."
"He does all the cooking," Mr. Dursley revealed matter-of-factly, his dark eyes flashing in challenge. Dudley watched in fascination while Petunia astutely kept her mouth shut.
"Additionally, who sends out a four-year-old to help random strangers with their things even if they are far too heavy for them to carry out?"
"Well, he's different," Vernon answered as if the man was stupid.
"Different, how?" Marius prodded, removing the sausages to a plate followed by the bacon, replacing them with the hash browns to cook.
On a different burner, a pot of black beans was simmering away. "Won't the freakishness protect him?"
"Freakishness?" the squib asked, playing dumb.
"Won't his m-magic protect him?" the walrus of a man stuttered.
"Oh, so you treat him differently because he possesses magic?" The hash browns were flipped. "Well, that's a dumb form of discrimination. Oh, wait. Any form of discrimination is dumb." Grey eyes pierced through three souls. The elderly man waited for the hash browns to finish cooking before he removed them from the pan as well. "Oh, and does he have to serve you as well?' The silence that followed was telling.
Marius retrieved a single plate and dished out the leftover mushrooms and tomatoes as well as the pudding and added the fresh food onto it.
"Mine!" Dudley declared.
"Harry's!" Marius retorted as he set the plate in front of Harry who stood against the kitchen table, listening intently. Bright green eyes widened at the amount of food that was placed in front of him. "Eat," Marius commanded gently.
As Harry ate as quickly as manners could allow, Marius' heart clenched as he watched. He wasn't properly fed either. "Thank you," Harry whispered.
"My pleasure, Harry," the old man responded warmly. Then his voice sharpened. "Now, I'm not going to serve you all. You are more than capable of serving yourselves. If you can serve yourselves, you can serve others." He gestured to Dudley.
Petunia ended up serving her son, husband, and herself. The two of them didn't acknowledge their wife or mother.
Harry finished eating a few minutes after. "You seem to like the boy, we were planning to have a family day with just us three if you want to take him," Petunia offered. Vernon caught his hopeful look.
"Or we could include him," Vernon proposed to Harry's shock and confusion.
"No!" Dudley wailed, throwing himself to the ground dramatically. Marius sneered at Dudley's theatrics.
"Or not," Vernon backtracked. His son stopped immediately. Petunia knelt before him, wiping away the evidence of his tantrum off his face.
"Here, Pumpkin," she murmured softly. The swan chose that precise moment to fly through the window and land in front of Harry. It knelt in front of him and waited for him to figure out that it wanted him to climb onto its back.
With that, it took off and flapped its wings and soared out the window, Harry's giggles filling it with joy as it turned to land inside Number Seven.
"That's my Melody," Marius said fondly. After Melody the Swan delivered a giggling Harry to Marius' house, she flew to her own home.
A few hours later, Melody sighted her home. It was an impressive structure meant for humans. She flew over the wrought-iron gate and followed the long drive to the front door, where she landed, but instead of a swan, Melody was a woman.
The door opened, revealing a tall, imposing man with short bleach-blond hair and light-blue eyes. "Oh, my dear, Narcissa," he greeted in a similar baritone voice to Marius, but with a cooler tone. She stepped inside and the man closed the door behind them.
"What about the boy?" the man asked, referring to Harry.
"He has been found and has been subjected to mistreatment," Narcissa answered in a soft alto voice.
"Mistreatment?" he pushed, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
"As we all know," she began, "he is the same age as our Draco, but he seemed to be treated as if he were a House-elf. As Melody, I was trying to prepare breakfast and was caught, but just yesterday, his uncle ordered him to help Uncle Marius with the boxes. They didn't help at all and this morning, the man called Harry's magic freakishness." The last word was uttered in a growl.
"New friend?" Draco interrupted them.
"Yes, Dragon, new friend soon," Draco's father promised.
A smile touched Narcissa's rosy-red lips. "Lucius, I did give him a ride on my back and his giggles were the sweetest."
"He'll be getting plenty of those," Lucius smirked. Draco was privileged to a single ride a day and he loved it.
"For now, Harry will spend his days with Marius and with his relatives by night," Narcissa said. Lucius nodded.
The family could now rest since the search for Harry Potter was over. Now was the process of acclimating him to the Wizarding World from an outside perspective.