Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Many can and will tell you about him – his wealth, his deeds, his power. Yes, his legend is spoken the world over but very few people know the man beyond the legend. It's no surprise really, what with him being such a polarising figure. But to know the legend – to truly know it, to understand it, you must know the man behind it. You must go to the beginning, to the root of it all… Let me tell you a story, not of a legend or a powerful man – let me tell you a story of a little boy, a brilliant boy, who wanted to make his ancestors proud….

A Modern Legend: The Life and Times of Hadrian James Potter-Black

Cassandra Moore

Clouds. Large, white and infinitely fluffy; they drifted lazily across the sky. Puffs and wisps breaking off from the larger mass before dissipating a distance away. He wondered what it felt like – to drift and glide, going where the wind willed. He often wondered if it would be as soft as he imagined; lying on the clouds. His cousin had told him it wasn't possible to lie on the clouds; 'Why would you want to anyway? It's cold and wet up there.' Still he had asked auntie once and she had given that soft smile of hers, eyes twinkling in that tell-tale sign that she was suppressing a laugh.

'Harry dear, I'm sure that one day you'll find out just how it feels; you're clever like that.' She had then proceeded to ruffle his hair making him pout as it got even messier. His hair in the beginning had often gotten him into trouble with his teachers as no matter how much you combed it, it never resembled anything neat. His cousin often called it a rat's nest, which if he hadn't been annoyed at the time, he might have agreed with. Both his aunt and teachers had of course eventually given it up as a lost cause, which suited him fine. He let out a sigh as he once again brought his attention to the clouds, which he was saddened to realize had thinned out during his introspection.

He lifted up his arm, stretching it towards the heavens; his fingers splayed out as if grasping the distant clouds. His hand was tiny, like the rest of him, except for his fingers. His fingers while keeping well with the proportions of the rest of his body, were a tad long, thin and nimble. Spider like fingers, he had once heard. He rather liked the comparison; the spiders in the cupboard under the stairs were fast little things. He shook his head softly as he brought his attention back to a cloud that rather looked like a bird or maybe an arrow? He tilted his head slightly to get a better look; definitely a bird. He frowned as that feeling of forgetting something important tickled the back of his mind. No matter how much he tried to remember though he drew a continuous blank. He gave a mental shrug; it must not be so important.

BANG! He quickly scrambled upright, eyes swivelling frantically as his heart ran a marathon in his chest. His eyes settled onto the ajar door leading to a set of stairs and the man who stood there looking at him; his face narrowed in irritated exasperation.

"Mr Potter..."

"Hadrian." The man's lips thinned as he took a deep breath through his nose to calm himself down. The little hellion just loved to annoy him; why else would the brat go up to the roof everyday of this week when he happened to be on duty. The child hadn't indulged in his cloud gazing the previous week; yet this week was a whole different thing. He stared at the child as he stood there, fidgeting nervously looking anywhere but the stairwell. The child was dressed in dark blue shorts and a long sleeved light blue shirt with sandals. He was small for his age, but was perfectly healthy with his smooth pale skin and slight frame. His ink black messy hair tumbled around his head while his large glimmering green eyes stared back at him behind long lashes. Despite how awkward it made him feel, even he could admit that Hadrian Potter resembled a cherub.

"Is there something you might have forgotten?" He eventually asked leadingly and smirked as the child dropped his head slightly, his hand scratching the back of it.

"Class maybe..."

"Got it in one," he brought his hands together in a loud clap and delighted in the child's startled jump.

"Come along then; to the headmistress' office with you."

Hadrian sat on the rather uncomfortable chair outside the office, waiting for his aunt to finish her discussion with the Headmistress. He occupied his time with swinging his legs that came nowhere near the floor, in time to the imaginary beat in his head. He was quite familiar with the Headmistress' office and more so with the outside. He had been here more times than he cared to admit, usually through no fault of his own. He honestly did not understand what was so wrong about him cloud watching on the roof; he had after all finished all his assigned work. He would have struck conversation with his neighbour, if Ms Whitley wasn't so strict. He had happened to glance out the window and had seen the clouds drifting. Such a view shouldn't be wasted was his thought; so he'd left. The class had been boring anyway. He'd tried explaining that once but it had gotten him time-outs; which he didn't really have that much of a problem with except that staring at the same wall for minutes on end got boring really fast. Still he wondered why auntie was taking so long.

"Mrs Dursley, today was the fourth consecutive day that your nephew was found out of bounds; on the roof to be more specific." The Headmistress a middle-aged brown-haired woman started.

"I assure you madam, Hadrian knows not to do anything dangerous. He's rather sensible." Petunia said neutrally, hoping to settle this quickly.

"I am aware of the fact," the lady gave a tired sigh. The whole staff was aware of just who Hadrian James Potter was.

"Every time he has been questioned, the answer has been the same; boredom." Petunia made to protest but was stopped by a gesture from the lady behind the desk.

"Now I know that every parent believes their child to be utterly perfect with no faults; but you are an intelligent woman Mrs Dursley and you know that this is often not the case." Petunia clenched her jaw to keep from lashing out.

"Headmistress, I am well aware of my boys' behaviour, I raised them after all." She took a deep breath to calm down before continuing.

"Now could you stop beating around and get to your point."

"We would like Hadrian to go up a grade or two..."

"Absolutely not! He's too young and to just uproot him like that..."

"I understand your concerns; believe me I do. But I think it would be good for him if he was amongst his intellectual peers. Give him a challenge so that he stops wandering off..."

"What about his friends then?" Petunia was surprised when the lady shook her head.

"I'm not surprised that he didn't tell you. He barely has friends to be honest."

Petunia looked askance at that, Hadrian was such a delightful child; she pointed this to the head teacher who nodded.

"I agree but children are often cruel without meaning to. They are intimidated and so shun him; but he seems not to mind." Petunia was struggling with what she had just been told. Her nephew had never once mentioned the fact that he was without friends at school; neither had Dudley for that matter. In hindsight perhaps, this explained why Hadrian always seemed so happy when she came to pick the boys up; she had just thought he had missed her is all. Was she wrong though? She had her doubts; Hadrian seemed to enjoy spending time with her, helping her on her errands. But maybe he enjoyed it so much because he had nothing else to do. Dudley hardly spent time with her; always off with his little friends. Hadrian on the other hand could be found by her side so much that he might as well have been attached to her hip. She grimaced; she doubted it would be healthy for him, socially at least, to spend so little time with his peers in a relaxed setting. She did not want her nephew to become some sort of social outcast.

"And you are sure that he will make friends in the new class?"

"It is our hope that being in the same class with his cousin could help with that."

Petunia looked unsure, mentally weighing the pros and cons of the situation.

"You don't have to give me an answer right now. Think on it and give me an answer during the PTA meeting next week." Petunia nodded as she got up, her face still thoughtful. She opened the door only to be met with a dull thud to her abdomen. She looked down to find a paper plane with a crumpled tip lying at her feet. She looked up to meet the gaze of her sheepish nephew, a grin teasing the corner of his mouth. Strewn all around the room was a mess of paper planes, some dull white while others came in different colours, some even multi-coloured. The janitor was going to have a field day.

"Hi auntie." He waved cheerfully at her making her smile as she shook her head; perhaps he did have too much time on his hands.

During the trip back home, Petunia had a thoughtful expression on her face; she would occasionally glance at her nephew who was preoccupied with a cone of ice cream. Her ward ambled along besides her, licking the frozen treat on occasion; a content smile plastered on his face. Her nephew could be so contradictory at times; she was well aware that he hated not having something to do, yet there were many occasions where he would just sit around or wander, relaxed and serene. He was mischievous, just like how his mother had been; but unlike his mother he was possessed with a patience not seen in most, if any child. She smiled nostalgically at that; Lily had never been able to sit still as a child; it had often driven their mother up the wall. To be honest, while Hadrian had a mischievous streak a mile wide, he more often than not kept it in check, unless he got bored. Which brought up what the Headmistress had discussed with her, 'Every time he has been questioned, the answer has been the same; boredom.' 'Give him a challenge so that he stops wandering off...' Those words kept ringing in her ears and she was aware of how very true they were. Hadrian had inherited his mother's intellect and more; the child in her humble and perhaps biased opinion was a genius. The idea of having him skip some grades was not a new one; she had thought of it a few times, especially when Dudley had begun school leaving Harry alone at home. She had almost sent him to school early but had decided against it.

An article she had read one time had convinced her that it might not be a good idea. She couldn't remember it all but she did get the gist of it. It had basically said that certain geniuses often lost touch with the world because they had poor social foundations. She didn't want that for him; to be the socially awkward kid in the upper classes, intimidating older students with his intellect. But it seemed that it was already happening; he had no friends.

"Hadrian," she got a hum in return as the child looked up at her. "Why didn't you tell me that you didn't have any friends?" A slight widening of the eyes before he dropped his gaze down to the pavement. She didn't push him for an answer; he would answer when he was ready, he always did. They walked in silence for a while before… "I didn't want you to get mad at me." Petunia turned sharply towards him but he was stubbornly refusing to look at her.

"Why would I be mad at you?" she asked not only him but herself, but he didn't know that and proceeded to answer.

"When Duds came back from his first day and told you about how he had made friends; you were happy. Really happy. I didn't want to make you sad cause I didn't have any…" his voice trailed off at the end seemingly unsure. They were passing the park so Petunia gently grabbed his hand and dragged him to a nearby bench.

"I would never be mad at you for that; it's not your fault…"

"It's because I'm smarter than them." His quiet voice cut through her own. She looked down at him and was met with an emerald gaze full of emotion and conviction. Petunia wasn't surprised that he knew or at least suspected why the other children shunned him.
"If…if maybe I wasn't smarter than…" "No!" Petunia's voice startled the both of them and attracted the attention of some passers-by. Petunia looked apologetically at one older lady who was looking at her appraisingly. She then turned to her nephew, not surprised by the curious and attentive gaze. In a quieter voice she continued, "Don't ever think like that. Don't ever think of changing who you are so that some random people can feel better about themselves. You are you Hadrian; don't ever try to be someone you're not." She tried to convey the seriousness of her words by giving him a firm but kind look; she knew he was young but this was amongst the most important things she would ever teach him. Hadrian looked at her then, his gaze still curious, still attentive; he didn't quite understand but he knew that his auntie was serious. So he promised to himself to always remember her words, to always remember her advice.

When she received a hesitant but serious nod from the child; Petunia gave him a radiant smile and ruffled his hair making him pout cutely. She couldn't help but giggle at how adorable the child looked. They sat in silence for a while; Hadrian leaning into her side while she stroked his raven locks. He was finishing off his ice cream which strangely enough was not even showing hints of melting.

"Harry?"
'Yes auntie?' She couldn't help the soft smile that blossomed when she heard his answer, she liked being called auntie.
"The Headmistress wants you to skip some grades. Do you know anything about that?" She felt him shift at her side, squirming and burrowing deeper into the underside of her arm.
"Some of the teachers talked about it, once or twice." His voice was hesitant as he looked up at her.
"Do you want to skip a grade? Say join Dudley's class?" She watched in amusement as his eyes widened before he turned a questioning look on her.
"Can I?" she gave him a small smile accompanied with a nod.
"If you want." "I do." He looked sheepish at how rapidly he answered her making her cover up a laugh.
"Then I guess you'll be in Dudley's class next year." He gave her an enthusiast nod, a small grin creeping onto his face. "I don't want you slacking off mister, is that clear?" she said in a mock stern voice.
"Yes Ma'am!" the salute he gave her was ruined by his stupidly happy grin. The two dissolved into laughter a few moments later. After composing themselves they headed off home; Petunia had to make dinner for her three hungry boys.

When they got home, Petunia busied herself with preparing supper; Hadrian as he was wont to do was helping her. He was standing on a stool, much to his shame, by the counter peeling potatoes. In the past Petunia had always fretted that the child would end up cutting himself on the peeler; but like in most things he proved her worry unnecessary. He had been slow in the beginning, his tongue sticking out and brow furrowed in concentration; making sure he did it just right. He had never once cut himself and after he got familiar with the job; he went about it with efficiency, whistling a little ditty. While she was always hesitant to let him handle knives; every time he handled one she always hovered over his shoulder, peeling potatoes was something she left him to do unsupervised. She had tried to get Dudley interested in helping out in the kitchen but other than helping her with the dishes, he absolutely refused to do anything girly. Hadrian was the exact opposite, eager to turn on the oven and chop anything within sight; she had kicked him out on occasion.

She had just helped Hadrian put the potatoes on the cooker to boil when they heard a car pull up the drive. She noticed his head perk up at the sound before he turned to her with a leading look.

"Go along…" she had barely finished talking before he had darted out of the kitchen and she heard the front door open. She shook her head in mock exasperation, boys will be boys, she thought.
"Dudders guess what?" Hadrian's chirpy voice floated into the kitchen.
"How many times have I told you not to call me that you shrimp?" came Dudley's petulant response.
"Why would I keep count of that?" Petunia almost giggled at the seemingly curiously innocuous question. She could almost picture Harry with a wide-eyed curious expression. She shook her head as more conversation floated over.
"…just guess already."
"You went to the Headmistress' office again?" There was a beat of silence before she heard a whine.

"That's not fair, it wasn't what I asked you to guess!" She heard Dudley sputter in indignation.
"What do you mean it's not fair? 'Tisn't my fault you're a hellion."
"I'm gonna be in your class come next year!" There was a beat of silence before a Dudley let out a surprised shout, "What?"

"I'm skipping a grade Dudders; we're gonna be mates, you and me."

"But you're a shrimp!"
"I'm a smart shrimp." Petunia turned around to see the two coming in, their hands laden with bags full of groceries. She smiled faintly; despite how busy he was Vernon could still be thoughtful. The two placed the bags on the counter, Hadrian going on his tippy toes to reach. Stood side by side you could almost not believe the boys were related. If Hadrian was night then Dudley was day; unlike his cousin his hair was a sandy blond straighter than Hadrian's messy raven locks, Dudley was stockier but also taller, well over a head taller than his cousin, he had healthy peach skin, rosy cheeks and blue eyes a shade lighter than Petunia's. Night and Day as it were. But if you looked closer you would see how their eyes although different colours were the same shape or how they had the same nose. Petunia stepped forward and gave her son an affectionate hug which he returned.
"I missed you Dudders." She smiled mischievously at him making him pout.
"I missed you too mommy." He said in a slight whine before he glared at the snickering boy off to the side. She noticed a smudge on his cheek and proceeded to wipe it off with her saliva coated thumb much to his protest.
"Is it true that the shrimp is going to be in my class."
"Starting next year and I expect you to look after him; he's a shrimp after all." Dudley and Petunia snickered while Hadrian pouted.

Vernon came in to see the boys scampering off upstairs, probably to get a bath or something before dinner. He walked up behind his wife and wrapped his arms round her delicate waist and rested his head on her shoulder. He inhaled her scent, a curious mix off vanilla and cinnamon, he loved her scent. Petunia tilted her head back and caught the corner of his lips with her own in a chaste but affectionate kiss.
"How was your day dear?" She leaned back into his embrace as she stirred the contents of the pot.
"Same as usual, Emerson was being a prat again and I had to pick up the slack. I'm exhausted." He buried his nose deeper in her neck and inhaled deeply. Petunia felt a shiver travel down her spine and tried not to let her thoughts wander.
"So Hadrian is skipping a grade?" His voice broke her out of her thoughts; she took a minute to replay the question in her head before she responded.
"Yes." She turned to look at him and was met with a raised eyebrow. "I know I said I didn't want to rush him but…Vernon he has no friends in that class."
"Why doesn't he have any friends, he's likable. A bit of a smart arse, but likable." He grinned as Petunia playfully hit him.
"Vernon Dursley, watch your language." She smiled at him before her face took on a pensive expression.
"He's smart, it intimidates the other kids."

"So, what? You think going up a few grades might help him?" he asked not unkindly.
"Well yes. He gets along with most of Dudley's little friends; plus, maybe he'll stop wandering off because the class got boring for him." Vernon let out a soft chuckle when he heard the last comment.
"You got called in again today?" She gave him an exasperated nod.
"Are you sure he doesn't have something like ADHD?" he gave her a teasing grin.
"No, I had Poppy check just in case." She gave him a sheepish look.
"Hmm," he gave a thoughtful hum. Petunia gave him a curious look prompting him to share.
"Oh it's nothing Pet just a thought…" he gave her a dismissive shrug.
"Out with-it man." She gave him a poke on his muscular chest for emphasis.
"Well could it be his…um…" he looked around the open windows before lowering his voice, "His magic."

Petunia had always found it slightly comical how Vernon would always look around before mentioning anything to do with magic. Even the word itself was always whispered. She honestly thought that he had gone a tad too far in keeping magic a secret. She often teased him about it; in private of course, but the rather serious look on his face brought her up short this time around.
"I don't know how that could intimidate the children." She said hesitantly, her face contemplative.
"Maybe it's in his aura?"
"His aura?" Petunia snorted derisively before she noticed that Vernon still looked serious, if a tad bit embarrassed. "You're serious, aren't you?" his nod caused her to sag minutely.
"If he has an aura, as you say, I've never felt it nor have I ever felt anything like that from either Minerva or Poppy." Vernon nodded, her words seemingly confirming something for him. It suddenly struck Petunia that Vernon just might have put more thought into this than she had originally thought.
"Well you have told me that certain events, when Hadrian was a baby make him unique even amongst people of a similar disposition." Normally she would have laughed at how Vernon was avoiding any mention of magic but this time round she just nodded for him to continue.
"That could account for that and as to why you never feel anything from him; well maybe the whole blood-ward thing might explain it." Petunia looked at her husband with understanding; Vernon might not be a genius but he was smart and what he said made sense, a bit disjointed but definite sense. Still there was one thing she was curious about.

"Do you feel this aura?" she asked dreading his answer.

"No." she sighed in relief. "But there is something…" her dread came back with a vengeance.
"What?"
"His eyes. Sometimes when he looks at me or someone, something happens behind those eyes. Something flashes by; something different." Petunia felt her entire body tense when she heard him say that before she looked at him when he chuckled self-deprecatingly.
"Look at me a grown man, jumping at bogey men and ghosts." She gave him a strained smile and hummed in response. He did not seem to notice her tenseness or if he did, he didn't comment on it.
"I'll set the table, supper is almost done. Why don't you go wash up?" she didn't wait for his response before she disengaged from his embrace and set about busying herself with the cutlery. Her motions were practised, automatic, not really paying attention whilst her body did a task she had done a thousand times on auto pilot. Her mind though was a whirl of thoughts and half formed ideas, frantically flitting through her head, trying to gain her attention. All through the usual boisterous supper the thoughts continued to plague her and she barely paid attention to the conversations and jokes being thrown around by her boys. As she lay in bed that night, Vernon snoring lightly at her side blissfully unaware of her inner turmoil, she couldn't get that image out of her head. Green eyes staring deeply into her own before for just one fleeting moment they flash a vibrant electric green; a flash that retreated into the glimmering emerald depths.

A/N: Yea, that's the first chapter after the prologue. The first few chapters are just there to set the tone, building a foundation so to speak. I can't just dive into the massive fights and epic magic that i have cooking up, even though i wish i could. Read and Review, thanks