Hello! This story is starting out as a Christmas giftfic for a very good friend of mine. I do intend to continue it. I apologize for the jagged beginning and the absolutely cliché end to this first chapter; the second chapter will be posted in a few hours, and hopefully will be followed by chapter 3 shortly.

Chapter 1

October 31, 1932

The first thing that Harry remembered when he woke up was pain. A horrible, searing pain that burned his nerves into flayed strands. The next thing that Harry remembered was the darkness that followed the blinding green light. He screamed, he tried to blink, but everything was dark and no matter how hard he tried to see there was simply nothing there. He must have passed out from the pain, he knew, but he wasn't sure. The darkness never left. The last thing he was sure that he remembered was a soft, cruel laugh.

November 1, 1932

The darkness persisted. Sometimes he thought that he heard voices, but he wasn't sure. His eyes itched, but he found himself unable to move. When he struggled, he was instantly restrained, and sometimes he felt something tingly rush over him and then he would know no more. He stopped trying to move, but the tears didn't stop. He didn't like the tears. They made his eyes sting and the voices he thought he heard would get panicked. However, eventually his eyes would cool. Sometimes they started hurting again. When that happened, he would whimper, and someone would pour something cold into his mouth. The pain stopped then. He must have been in a hospital.

November 3, 1932

Harry was ridiculously bored. Nobody even tried to talk to him. He finally was able to distinguish the words he occasionally heard, but when he tried to say something, he was shushed, and the voices would leave. Once, he tentatively asked one of the nicer, female voices why it was so dark.

The voice told him that there had been an accident. Somehow, he didn't believe the voice.

November 7, 1932

"Does he know what happened?"

"I don't think so. Mandy told him there was an accident, but nobody has said anything else yet."

"Good. We need to find out what happened to him and his parents, if he can remember it."

"Maybe I can ask Professor Dumbledore to stop by. His eyes are perfectly healed now, even though he can't see. Perhaps he'd be able to look into them and do his mind-reading thing."

"If only that was so easy. I'll get started."

The last voice drew nearer. It sounded stern and rather harsh, which scared Harry a little bit. He much liked the other voice better; it sounded rather sympathetic. Harry struggled to sit up, swaying a little bit from vertigo.

"Why hello there, young man," the stern voice said. "I'd like you to answer some of my questions."

Harry nodded, wringing his hands. "Okay," he said weakly.

"Do you remember what happened a week ago?" the stern voice said. "I'm doing an investigation right now to see if I can figure out what happened to your parents and anything you might be able to tell me would be helpful."

Harry froze. Maybe this voice would know. "Where are my parents?" Harry asked, cringing slightly. Please let it be a good answer, he chanted inside his head. Please tell me that they are okay. The nice voice from before hitched a breath. Oh no, that wasn't good, Harry thought. Please.

"I'm sorry to inform you about this, but your parents were in some sort of magical accident. We are trying to ascertain - that means find out - what happened. Was anyone else there?"

Harry sat numbly, mind processing. It wasn't an accident. That much he was certain of. "There was someone else there. He didn't like my parents. He laughed very scary," Harry whispered.

The stern voice sounded a little bit eager. "Do you remember what he looked like?"

"No," Harry said, a little upset. "I don't remember seeing anything after that green spell."

There was a little silence.

"Green spell?"

"The man wasn't very nice. He laughed at my mum and my dad. And," Harry said, breathing in slowly, "then he pointed his wand at me and said something funny. And then there was a green spell and then my face hurt."

Harry looked up in the direction he thought the man was. "Why can't I see?"

The stern voice was a silent.

Harry didn't answer any more questions.

November 10, 1932

When Harry woke up that morning, he could feel that something was different. It seemed like his whole body was just itching somehow, for some reason. He scratched at his arms a little bit, but it didn't do anything. In fact, he thought it was maybe his magic itching. That was strange. He didn't believe that magic could itch, out of all things. But it was the only thing that was present in his whole body that he could imagine itching. If magic could cause itching, then surely it itself was capable of itching?

His favorite nurse, Mandy, walked in just then. Her footsteps were always very soft, and she always wore something that clanked and jingled a bit as she walked. Harry thought it must be jewellery of some kind. He remembered his mom having some.

"Hello, Harry!" she called cheerfully. Harry looked in her direction, and then froze. He couldn't believe his eyes. His eyes, the traitorous eyes that always showed him endless darkness even though he heard people say that they were healed perfectly...were showing him something. But it wasn't anything that he had ever seen before. Right where Mandy should be, Harry saw something golden and swirly. It reminded him of happy days on his training broom with his father. It looked as if Mandy was made up of this golden and swirly light. It was very faint, but Harry could see her! Harry was very excited for a moment. Maybe his vision was coming back! But it wasn't showing him anything he was used to seeing.

Harry decided to wait a little bit and investigate before telling anyone.

"Hello, Mandy," Harry said, waving at the golden figure.

"Are you hungry?" asked Mandy. "I brought you breakfast. And one cheese bun that I managed to steal from the kitchens!"

Harry was hungry indeed. "Yeah, I'm hungry," he said. The golden figure lifted a hand and Harry saw the most peculiar thing happen. The glowing stick that he saw in the golden figure's hand must be Mandy's wand. And the funniest thing happened! The golden swirls began to stream to the hand holding the wand, and the golden swirls began to spread to something right above Mandy's other hand. The golden figure dimmed! As the golden swirls settled, Harry was shocked to realize that it looked like a platter of food, with a distinct shape that looked like a teapot and a shape that could only be a bowl. And the golden swirls, on the platter and below it and above it and absolutely everywhere, carried the platter right into his lap. Then, the golden swirls streamed back to the golden figure and merged with it, making it brighter once again.

Harry understood what he was seeing. He must be seeing magic.

He'd never heard of seeing magic before, though. His parents taught him a little bit about the wizarding world, but even though there were many things that he was told he would learn later, he was sure he would have heard of someone being able to see magic. For some reason, Harry suddenly got the strong feeling that he should keep this strange development a secret.

"Thank you," he said, feeling for the platter. He couldn't see it anymore since the golden swirls left, but he could remember the approximate locations of all of the items he could distinguish.

"Do you need any help? I know you want to be all grown up and eat by yourself, but if you need help eating, it's perfectly fine to ask, especially as you can't see," Mandy said, voice tinged with sadness.

"No thank you," Harry said, slightly irritated. He was in a magical hospital. He'd heard of people's limbs being reattached. For some reason, though, they couldn't fix his eyes. He knew he was being silly and was acting his age, but he allowed it to himself. He was only five, surely he wouldn't get in trouble for being a little grumpy. His parents...his parents always understood.

Harry swallowed heavily, shakily pouring some tea into the teacup he had just located. He paused several times, feeling with his finger how much tea was in the teacup. The first time he tried to pour his tea, he forgot to check, and ended up pouring tea all over himself. It was rather painful.

"Alright," Mandy said sadly, and he heard her footsteps drawing away.

November 11, 1932

When Harry woke up the next day, he bit back a scream. When he opened his eyes, it was like being assaulted by a vortex of colors and light so bright that it reminded him of the green light that he remembered. He closed his eyes, whimpering. His eyelids didn't dim everything very much, but it wasn't painful. He whipped his head from side to side, hands grasping his covers in a deathly grip. He saw funny shapes all over the wall, looking a lot like the runes his mum used to play around with. He saw a veritable rainbow of colors, of magic, all over everything. His new vision must have obviously developed overnight.

Harry still didn't want to tell anyone. But if he was going to keep it a secret, he couldn't stay here. If it got stronger again, like it did after only one night, then he absolutely could not stay here. It wasn't as if anything was happening, anyway. Occasionally healers would walk in and cast spells on him, and he would hear them discussing his eyes, the curse, the accident that...killed his parents that obviously wasn't an accident, and his future. But there wasn't any more healing to be done, he was sure. He'd heard some healers mention it repeatedly.

But there was the question of his future. Some people mentioned finding some random magical family to adopt him. But Harry didn't want to be adopted. He thought he would do fine without parents, thank you very much. His parents were very nice, but they weren't around anymore. He didn't want replacements. In fact...he didn't have a family anymore. He was just Harry, alone in the world. Even though that thought made Harry feel somewhat sad, he thought he preferred that thought to being placed with some random family and forced to have different parents.

So, Harry decided that he was going to run away.

It was going to have to be a very delicate procedure, and it had to happen today. Tomorrow, his vision might get worse. Tomorrow, other people might find out about his talent. The talent that he was so strongly sure must be kept secret from everyone. So Harry began to plan. They'd taken off his restraints days ago, and he was sure his room wasn't watched as much as it used to be before. He was sure he would be able to make it out of the hospital. He'd just have to avoid all the people, and hopefully being able to see the magic over everything would help him figure out where to go.

Harry waited until after receiving breakfast to make his move. He sat up and bunched his sheets in the center of the bed. He wasn't sure how his attempt at subterfuge would work, but hopefully, if the lump looked anything like it used to when he used this technique to fool his parents into believing that he was sleeping, it would pass someone's quick glance at his room.

Harry crept toward the door, squinting to keep the magic from hurting him. He carefully opened the door, and peeked out into the hallway. He saw some human-shaped magical auras on the left, but then they turned the corner. On the right, he saw an indentation in the wall. It looked rather like a window. Harry walked in a casual manner over to it, trying to look like he was allowed to be out in the corridor. After a few checks, Harry stood on his toes and ran his hands over the window. He found a latch and quietly opened the window. He peeked his head out and looked down. To his dismay, the magic on the wall of the hospital seemed to extend down very far. Harry thought he had heard someone mention that this was the fourth floor. Oh no. He should've remembered it.

What to do? Harry continued looking. Maybe he could utilize accidental magic to his advantage? Harry knew accidental magic was supposed to be accidental, as the name implied, but maybe he could try jumping out of the window, and with luck, he wouldn't get hurt.

Harry weighed his choices. Get stuck here and suffer burning vision and telling people about his new vision? Or risk dying from a fall?

Of course he was going to choose the fall.

He took a deep breath and clambered onto the ledge, slowly inching through the window. He glanced back, and the hallway remained oddly clear. Harry thought himself amazingly lucky that nobody had walked by yet. His part of the hospital must be fairly empty.

He shivered a bit as he looked down. Harry had forgotten that it was nearing wintertime, and that his plain and thin hospital clothes would be grossly insufficient. But it was too late to back out now. Harry took another deep breath before flinging himself off the ledge.

For one beautiful moment, Harry was flying by a mosaic of colors and swirls and other patterns. Then, Harry saw green. A dark, deep green that reminded him of the forests behind his old house, with scattered flashes of gold and dark, bluish shadows. It materialized from nowhere, and suddenly Harry wasn't falling rapidly. He slowly drifted to the ground, feet touching down on icy pavement littered with something sharp. He thought he cut his foot, but he wasn't sure. Harry stared at the pretty, multicoloured green, mesmerized. He steadied himself, and then watched with shocked eyes as the green condensed and seeped back into his skin.

He knew he had magic, but he had never seen anything underneath his skin like he had seen on other people. He never questioned not seeing it. But now that he had seen it in action, he thought he could see a green glitter where his arms were. For some reason, it was harder to see his own magic when it was inside his body than it was to see the magic of other people.

How odd. He was constantly learning new things about his magical vision.

As he contemplated this, he realized that he had to move. People would be searching from him soon, and it would be so totally lame to be caught right outside the hospital!

Harry carefully stepped away from the beautiful wall of the hospital, trying not to cut his feet on the ground again. As he reached another wall without magic, Harry realized a flaw in his plan. He could see pretty well when surrounded by magic like he was in the hospital. But now, as he neared Muggle territory, he was becoming truly blind. Even though he'd only had his magical vision for two days, he'd already grown reliant on it.

Harry would have to make do. He wasn't going to cry, of course not.

He kept his hand on the wall as he cautiously shuffled forward, ears pricked for any sounds. Ahead of him, he could hear whispers of conversation, and the sound of automobiles. He must be in a city.

Suddenly, the wall ran out. Harry continued dragging his hand around the corner of it, and walked along the wall away from the hospital. People were shuffling by him, loud and rather violent. Someone pushed him into the wall as they muscled their way onward. But overall, he was simply ignored.

Harry continued on until suddenly, the wall ran out. He heard cars ahead and realized that there must be a road there. But he didn't know how he was going to cross it, with so many cars there! With a sudden bit of inspiration, he began trailing after a man and his companion, who were having a relaxed conversation. Listening carefully, Harry stopped when they stopped, and walked when they walked. He had to stick very close to them, as the crowds were remarkably thick, but he was doing fine. Harry allowed himself to feel happy. He stumbled occasionally on the uneven ground, but with every step, Harry knew he was getting further from the hospital.

Harry navigated the strange city for a few hours, choosing random people to shadow. Finally, freezing, with feet sore and bleeding, Harry stopped as the woman he was following passed through a park. The cold grass felt absolutely lovely on his worn feet, so he inched forward until he ran into a tree. There, he laid himself down among the roots, and decided to take a nap.

-break-

There was something poking him. Harry shivered violently and curled himself tighter. He was poked again, and rather painfully. Harry yelped, and sat up, rubbing at his eyes.

"Hello, boy. Where are your parents?" a male voice asked.

"Who's asking?" Harry inquired suspiciously, cautiously getting up.

The voice snorted. "I'm Constable Jeremy. Do you think I wear this uniform just to look pretty?"

Harry awkwardly wrung his hands together. "Sorry. I can't see," he said, alert for any suspicious sounds coming from the Constable.

The voice was silent for a long moment. "You can't see?" it asked hesitantly.

Harry sighed a little bit. "Yeah, it sucks. Sorry about not noticing your uniform."

The Constable made a choked sound. "Where are your parents?" he repeated.

"Oh, they died in an accident, even though I'm sure somebody killed them," Harry said authoritatively. His memories did not lie, even though he was sure that the stern questioning voice from before didn't quite believe him.

"Ah," the Constable said. "That's rather problematic. Where are you staying?"

"Nowhere," Harry said. "I was hoping I could find someplace to go."

"Do you have any family?"

"I don't think so."

"Is anyone looking for you?"

"No," Harry said decisively. The Muggle Constable didn't need to know that Harry ran away. It was going to be hard enough to evade the notice of the people in the hospital as it was.

"Well," the Constable said, "you look rather cold. Here, take my jacket. I know someplace where you could go."

Harry felt a thick and heavy jacket being placed around his shoulders. He sighed a little bit at that heavenly warmth. He carefully arranged it on his shoulders, fiddling with the large circular buttons on the front. Harry tilted his head up toward the Constable. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Constable Jeremy said, grabbing onto Harry's right hand. "Here, follow me very carefully. I'll try to keep you from bumping into anyone."

Harry was led for quite a while. Constable Jeremy did try to keep him from running into anything, although he could have done a better job warning Harry where the ground became uneven. Harry tripped several times. He kept quiet, though. He wanted to know where Constable Jeremy was leading him. He would be fine with it as long as nobody tried to give him to new parents.

After some time, Constable Jeremy slowed down and turned to Harry. "I'm taking you to Wool's Orphanage. Mrs. Cole isn't the nicest lady, but you'll have a place to stay and food to eat. If you're lucky, you might even get adopted."

Harry scoffed in his mind. He'd try to not get adopted. No new parents. The memories of his old ones would serve him just fine. "Alright," Harry said, trying to sound compliant.

"Here we are, then," Constable Jeremy said, and walked forward. Harry heard the loud screeching of a metal gate being dragged open. Harry was led up a cobblestone walkway to what he presumed was the orphanage. Constable Jeremy knocked on the door loudly several times before stepping back.

Harry heard the door open. A warm voice said "Hello, Jeremy" before falling silent. Harry had a strong feeling that he was being examined. He tried to stand up straighter, turning his eyes to where he imagined the head of the woman was. "Who is this?" the voice asked.

"Hello, Martha. Found this one curled under a tree in the park. Said his parents died and that nobody was looking for him. Do you have room for one more?" Constable Jeremy said.

"Well," Martha said, "I'd have to ask Mrs. Cole. But I think we could squeeze him in with Tom. He looks like he's the same age. But come in."

Constable Jeremy led Harry inside. Mercifully, it was warm inside. Harry awkwardly pulled off Constable Jeremy's jacket and held it out to him. He was rewarded with a chuckle, and the jacket was taken away.

"Mrs. Cole!" Martha called. "We have another one!"

"Bring him up!" Harry heard coming from above him. There must be several stories, Harry thought. Constable Jeremy started leading him, and then suddenly Constable Jeremy felt taller. Harry, confused, crashed his foot into something and fell. He fell forward onto what felt like stairs. The Constable forgot to warn him that they were there. Hissing in pain, Harry picked himself up, grabbing onto the railing.

"I'm sorry! I forgot!" the Constable said, sounding slightly guilty.

"Forgot what?" Martha asked curiously.

"Oh, he's blind," Constable Jeremy said, patting Harry's shoulder. "He seems so normal though that I forgot. Sorry about that," he added in Harry's direction. Harry grimaced a little bit but turned up the stairs, carefully pulling himself up. He wasn't going to cry. Not here.

Constable Jeremy followed him up, grabbing onto Harry's shoulder and steering him forward. He stopped suddenly and Harry was turned through a doorway, which clipped him on the shoulder. He winced, but suddenly he was forcibly pushed down onto a chair. He heard Martha whispering softly in front of him. He sat there for a minute, fiddling with the edges of his shirt. Suddenly, Constable Jeremy's voice rang out. "I need to get back to my patrol. Hope you like it here, boy!" Harry heard him get up from next to him, a chair squealing as it was pushed back. Then, Harry heard footsteps retreat.

He felt cold. He was alone now, in a strange place with a lady called Martha, and someone named Mrs. Cole. He kept breathing deeply. A few minutes passed before the hurried quiet conversation ended.

"I don't care, Martha. Someone would have roomed with Tom eventually, I expect. It's the only room we have. Go and get the children ready for dinner."

"Yes, Mrs. Cole." Martha said, leaving quickly. Harry thought that her footsteps sounded angry. But who was this 'Tom' character? Martha made his name sound ominous.

"Hello, boy. What's your name?" Mrs. Cole asked.

"H-harry," Harry said, surprised that she was talking to him. But of course, there wasn't anyone else left in the room.

"Well, Harry," Mrs. Cole said, "welcome to Wool's Orphanage. Tell me about yourself. Do you remember the names of your parents?"

Harry shook his head. He didn't want anyone finding out about his parents. If the wizards would actually search Muggle records…

"Do you have a last name?"

Harry thought this over for a second, but decided that it was safer not to say anything. So, he replied "no."

"Well," Mrs. Cole said, "in that case, we can provide you with one. Or you could choose one later if you wish."

"I'd like to choose one later, m'am," Harry said, suddenly remembering that manners were very important.

"Oh, you're a polite one!" Mrs. Cole said happily. "Well, that settles that. Martha said that you're blind?"

"Yes," Harry said, picking at a thread on the hem of his shirt.

"Well, in that case we'll have to work something out. Tell me what you need, and I'll try to provide it, alright?" Mrs. Cole said. "I don't really know how blind people get around, but I'll look into it. But for now, I think it's best to show you your room. Dinner starts soon."

Harry heard Mrs. Cole stand up, and stood up as well. She walked over to him and took his hand. Her hand felt cold, and the veins stood out a little bit. She led him out of the door to the room he was in (probably her office, he thought) and into the hallway. She then led him over to the stairs, giving him a warning, and then led him along another hallway. She then stopped at a room.

"This room is at the very end of the hallway, so it should be easy enough for you to find."

Mrs. Cole then knocked on the door.

"Tom?" she called. "You have a new roommate. Open the door."

Harry heard shuffling from the other side of the door. He heard the door open, and then Mrs. Cole forcefully walked him inside.

Harry froze.

Tom was glowing blue.

"Well, Harry," Mrs. Cole said, "this is Tom. Tom, this is Harry. He'll be your new roommate; Martha will bring an extra bed by later."

With that, Mrs. Cole left the room. Leaving him with Tom. Who was a wizard. Oh no.

They stared at each other for a few moments.

"Why are you here?" Harry suddenly blurted out, feeling mortified.

"What kind of question is that?" Tom asked. Harry saw that his deep blue magic flashed pale green. It was very pretty. Harry thought that Tom sounded rather hostile.

"W-well," Harry stammered, "I wanted to know why a wizard is in a Muggle orphanage."

Tom was silent for a moment before cautiously repeating "Wizard? Muggle?"

Harry paled. "You didn't know? Oh man, I'm going to be in so much trouble. Maybe." Harry wrung his hands again before furiously pulling at the thread of his shirt. Would he get in trouble for breaking the Statue of Secrecy? Tom wasn't a Muggle though. Oh gosh.

"Know what?" Tom's voice sounded a little high. Suddenly, Tom grabbed Harry's shirt, pulling him down onto something that Harry presumed to be a bed. Harry was exhausted, so when he felt that consciousness was slipping away in his panic, he let it fade gladly. The last thing he saw was Tom's pretty blue magic leaning over him. Pretty blue. Flashing green.