A/N: Hello! I hope you all enjoy my first Harry Potter fic. I'm using this as a creative outlet so I can keep focusing on my studies. Hopefully you, the reader, will enjoy this side project of mine and will want to keep reading it. This is my own interpretation of these characters, and I, of course, own none of them.

Please Enjoy!

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"-You won't believe it, mum! It was Harry Potter!"

Harry shrunk back from the window, not wanting to hear anything else as a blush rose to his cheeks. He could feel his face burning as he noticed more people looking into his carriage, but none seemed to want to come in. Ever since he had learned about his true past, only mere weeks ago, Harry still struggled with the idea that everyone knew his name. He wasn't sure what people were expecting to see when they looked at him, although he was sure it wasn't the scrawny, too thin, too pale boy that had been thrust in front of them.

Harry bit the inside of his cheek as he looked back out of the window, the red-headed woman was waving, as were most parents. Harry couldn't help the small pang of jealousy he felt coil in his stomach before it was swiftly replaced by sadness that his own parents had never been given the chance to wave him off. Perhaps, he thought bitterly, that he would have been more prepared, more equipped to be this so-called famous wizard he was supposed to be today if he had been raised in this world. Surely his parents had friends that could have taken him in, rather than leaving him with his Aunt and Uncle, who would sooner be seen kissing a frog than seen with Harry when they had dropped him off at the station this morning.

His bitter angriness was soon replaced with a small pang of fear and nervousness when the door opened, his head turning to the door where he saw a small girl standing there. "Hullo…" She said shyly. "Do you mind if I sit with you? Everywhere else is filling up fast." Harry shook his head as he watched her smile kindly at him, closing the door behind herself as she came to sit down.

The girl was small, obviously she was a first year too, however, she was a good inch shorter than Harry, and Harry could have made a comfortable guess that he would have been in the shorter end of the year as well. She was very pale, Harry thought he would never have met someone who was still breathing with that kind of coloured skin. Her eyes were large, cool, icy blue that perhaps would have made someone a little terrified to look at if they weren't obstructed by the mad mass of tight curls that fell from her head in a dark brown, bordering black, ringlets that fell to her mid back. With her high cheekbones and her full lips pulled into a smile, Harry could have sworn she was a doll that had come to life.

"Thank you... I'm Nathaira, but you're welcome to call me Nai if you'd like." She said with a smile. "What's your name?"

Harry blinked at the question, surely everyone must know by now that he was on the train… Of course, he soon realised that there must have been others like him, as in, those who came from the muggle world. He quickly felt a little better about not being at so much of a disadvantage before realising that she was still waiting for him to answer. "Oh, I'm Harry, nice to meet you." He said politely with a smile. "Have you known you are a witch for long?" He asked, hoping it didn't come across as something impolite to ask, he never thought of Wizard etiquette before.

"Oh, no. Not long at all. I had a professor show up a couple of weeks ago at... At my, home." Nai said after a moment of pause, Harry, of course, noticed it, but it was clear she didn't want to talk any more about it, so he didn't press. Harry knew he wouldn't really want to talk about his home life as well. "How about you?" She asked.

Harry shook his head. "No, it's been the same for me as well, I had this man, well… More than a man, he must be part giant! Show up and take me to get all of my school things." He said with a grin, so far, it had been the best time of his whole life. Nathairas eyes widened at the mention of a man who looked like he was a giant.

"Wow! I had a professor, he was a bit scary at first, I didn't believe I was a witch at first, I mean, strange things had always been happening to me, and I just thought I was… Well, a freak." She ended, mumbling to herself. Harry could understand though, Petunia and Vernon made him feel the same way, even going so far as to abuse him his whole life, just for being something he had no control over.

"I know how you feel… I had all sorts of strange stuff happening to me. I set a boa on my cousin accidentally a month ago." Harry grinned, with his punishment behind him, and no Dursley around to overhear him, the memory and the feeling he had when he had done it, brought a smile and a small giggle to his lips as Nathaira looked elated.

"I used to make friends with the snakes in the back garden! They'd always come out in the summer to these rocks where it would be sunny all day, and I used to talk with them all day, they were good friends." Nathaira said with a smile, she was sad to be going from her slithery friends, and had even been a little disappointed at the limited variety of pets one could bring to Hogwarts. Harry smiled, he wished there had been snakes to talk to when he had been gardening all those years in the summer, it would have been good to have a companion, but perhaps he could buy one himself, at least a snake would be easier to conceal from the Dursleys than Hedwig was, although, Hedwig had given Dudley a right pecking when he had tried to stick his chubby fingers through the cage to taunt her.

"Are your parents normal then? Er, that is, muggles, I think that's what Hagrid called them." Harry asked, although he feared it may have been the wrong question, Nathaira looked down at her lap, fiddling with her fingers.

"I… I don't actually know, my parents left me at an old orphanage," Nathaira said quietly, ashamed. "I was found and put into a foster system, I've been through a few families, and they say it's likely I won't be adopted now I'm almost a teenager." Harry instantly felt bad for asking the question. Sure, he lived with the Dursleys, but at least that had always been constant, one roof over his head, although he was sure they'd like to get rid of him as well. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be upset, I'm used to it now." She said with a small smile. "And now I have somewhere to come for most of the year, it'll be great."

Harry nodded, understanding more than most what it meant to be getting out of a bad place and going somewhere he could be independent and free. "Hey, it's alright… I lost my parents too, they…" He paused, she would find out anyway, and he didn't want her to think he was hiding anything from her. "They were killed by this dark Wizard when I was one… I didn't know until I found out I was a Wizard. I live with my mums' sister and her family, they're very normal." Nathairas eyes went wide and she nodded, understanding.

"It must have been pretty awful to find out like that." She said sympathetically. There were a lot of questions burning at her tongue, but she decided to leave it there, if Harry wasn't comfortable talking about his home life to her, it could wait, she knew there were plenty of things she didn't want to talk about right now, but if they got closer, who knows. "Have you read any of the books? I'm really excited to be learning all this… Magic!" She said with a grin, swapping her seat to sit next to him as she pulled out her potions book, brushing through the pages with Harry as they wondered in amazement at all the ingredients and what each potion could do.

"You won't believe it, mum! It was Harry Potter!" Ron Weasley exclaimed to his mother. Molly looked at the train with wide eyes, of course, how could she had not seen it. The boy had seemed so lovely and polite, she could already see him becoming a good fit for the family. Albus had made it very clear he'd be in need of some parenting, and Molly knew her family was just right for what Harry needed, she just needed to make sure that her children played their part without realising it.

"Oh, mum! I want to see Harry!" Her youngest shouted as she tried to jump, as though to look in through the windows, trying to find him.

"Stop Ginny, he's not some animal in a cage for you to gawk at," Molly said with a small huff as she hugged her eldest goodby before looking at Ron with a smile. "Now, look at you, my son Ronald all grown up." She could feel tears pricking in her eyes as her son flushed as red as his hair. "Make sure to take notes in all your classes, do your homework on time, and Ron…" She paused, making sure he was looking at her and paying attention. "Maybe speak to Harry, he was ever so polite and I can imagine he doesn't know what's going to happen. Goodness knows he won't even know much about the houses, although I'm sure he'll be a lion, just like you." Molly smiled, kissing his cheek as Ron nodded.

"Well sure, wasn't his mum and dad both Gryffindors? He saved us all from you-know-who, what other house could he be in?" Ron said with a smile, although he wiggled out of his mother's embrace, it was far too tight, and he didn't want anyone to see. "I'll owl you every week mum… I promise!" With a final goodbye, he climbed aboard the train, waving for a few moments before he felt the train beginning to pull away.

Ron pulled in to the busy corridor, kids running rampant with books, pets, toys, looking to find old friends, while Ron had to go looking for his new one. Harry Potter was the most famous wizard of all time. Ron had discovered nearly a year ago that he would be in the same class year as Harry, and he had dreamed about befriending the saviour of their world ever since. He knew he wasn't the best looking out of his family, he wasn't exciting or rebellious, he had always been picked on by his older brothers, and Ginny got a lot of attention for being a girl. He was sure she wasn't going to have to wear his old clothes.

Though Ron was no means small, his uniform positively dwarfed him. The rich black had faded to a grey through years of use. His mother had done her best to patch it up, but potion burns and roughhousing had left his robe something almost unfit to be worn another year. He thought that once he and Harry had become friends, he'd be able to look the part, Harry was rich, it was well known James Potter was very well off, and all of that would have been handed down to Harry. So long as Ron became his one and only best friend, then that fortune and his mothers' favour was as good as his.

Harry and Nathaira had been having a great time looking through their books when the door opened. The two looked up and Harry recognised the red-headed boy who had helped him through the platform. "Hey, Harry! You vanished so quick, I've been looking for you!" Ron wasn't too happy to be seeing Harry so close to another girl, but Ron was confident that their shared gender would be enough to knock out whatever companionship the girl had made in the last forty-five minutes of the train ride.

Ron shut the door behind him as he sat across from Harry, moving Nathairas bag as her books tumbled out. "Hey!" She protested, moving from her seat as she went to pick them up. Ron went about to move to steal her seat as she went to pick up her things, mumbling a half-hearted apology, before Harry also got down, helping to pick up the rest of the contents of the bag. Ron flushed red as Harry sat back up with Nai to his side, leaving Ron back to his original position.

"I'm Ron by the way, Ron Weasley." Ron put his hand out to Harry, who reluctantly shook it before pulling back, Nathaira went to introduce herself but Ron had already shoved his hands by his side as he continued to talk. "I can't wait to get sorted, my whole family was and is in Gryffindor, so I have a lot to live up too... Can't say I'd get into Ravenclaw, I'm not that brainy, although it'd be better than Hufflepuff, but, nothing is as bad as Slytherin, you know? Do you think you'll want to get into Gryffindor as well Harry? Isn't that the house your parents were in too?"

Harry and Nathaira looked to each other with confused glances, whatever gibberish the red-headed boy was talking about, neither of them knew what it was he was trying to say. "Sorry, I don't understand?" Harry said, not wanting to be rude, but at the same time, he had just been perfectly happy to talk with Nai about wizardry, it was nice to talk to someone who knew about as much as he did, all Ron's questioning made him feel nervous and sad that people seemed to know more about his parents than he did.

"Your houses! When we get to Hogwarts we'll be sorted into one of four houses. It's like a competition each year, you get points for school works and whatever, and there's a winner each year. I don't know how we get sorted though, my brothers never really spoke about it." Ron said with a small shrug of his shoulders as though it was an effort to talk through it. "There's four, all named after the founders of Hogwarts. Gryffindor is the best, it's for people who are brave and loyal. Ravenclaw is where all the brainy kids go. Hufflepuffs are just kind of there, a whole bunch of softies really, but Slytherin is filled with slimy gits. The whole lot of them are evil." Ron said, scrunching his nose. "You-Know-Who was a Slytherin, and he was the worst."

Nathaira frowned. "Seems kind of wrong to generalise a whole group like that… I'm sure not everyone from one house turns out evil and the others are all good. Seems pretty stupid that something can tell if an eleven-year-old is evil or not." Harry nodded, agreeing with her. He had faced a lifetime of being branded a freak, and yet, he had turned out to be just as ordinary in this world as the next person.

"But his whole family were Gryffindors, I'm sure he'll want to see how his family grew up," Ron said with a shrug.

Harry sat there, looking a little putout, unsure of how he should be feeling, all things considered. "I don't really know that much about my family, I'm sure I could learn about them no matter what house I end up in." Harry reasoned. He didn't need another reason to feel guilty over something that was out of his control, namely, his family.

Thankfully Ron was spared digging the hole he was in further when the trolley lady came past, offering sweets and snacks. Harry and Nathaira looked over at the trolley in amazement. Harry had never had enough money to afford any type of sweet, and everything looked so amazing. Nathaira had a few sickles on her, Hogwarts had provided her with a small trust that they had for all students who were muggleborn and orphaned. She had been the first in a while, and she had saved the little change she had left over from her supplies, considering that she had bought a lot of her things second hand, only her wand had been fully and completely her own, her most treasured possession now.

Nathaira was about to by a chocolate frog when Harry had told her to put her sickles away. He asked for several of each candy as he paid the trolley lady a couple of galleons. Nathaira thanked Harry with a small blush as she helped him carry the sweets to their seat. Harry enjoyed being able to by a friend something, even if it was something as trivial as a sweet. Ron started to go on about the different types of candies, taking some from the chair as he obviously ate them, thinking Harry had meant to share them with him as well. Harry wasn't about to deny anyone food, although Ron was starting to annoy him a little. He opened a frog, splitting it with Nai as they looked to the card, Ron droning on about his card collection.

As the train continued on, the sun sunk lower into the hillside as the sky darkened. Nathaira had kicked the boys out of the compartment as she changed, before waiting for the two of them to get changed, leaving all of them in black robes with the Hogwarts crest, waiting to be changed when they had been sorted. Soon after, the train had pulled to a stop at the last station, all of them getting off the train as the first years were called over by Hagrid.

"'Ello Harry! Glad tah see yah made it!" Hagrid said cheerfully as Harry smiled, Nathaira looking up at Hagrid with wide eyes and a huge grin, excitedly nudging Harry. Hagrid led them to boats, all bobbing along the dock on top of the darkest water Harry had ever seen. Each boat could hold five, and Harry spotted a boat with only three people in it, pulling Nathaira along with him so they could finally lose Ron. Grinning, the pair climbed onto the boat where a boy with white-blond hair and two who looked like they were half gorilla were sitting, looking out bored.

"Hello." Harry and Nathaira said politely to the three. A quick glance at Harry's bangs and the blond had become all smiles.

"So the rumours were true… Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." The blond said. The two boys behind him looked to each other, making some sort of gawfing sound. "Ignore them," Blondy said with a shake of his head, his shoulders falling as he became less formal, and more normal, to the other pair at least. "I'm pretty sure their half troll." He whispered, winking at Nathaira as she snorted. "I'm Draco Malfoy."

"Well, I guess you already know my name," Harry said, if not a little dryly, shaking the others hand. He was happy to see, however, that he did not ignore Nathaira, shaking her hand as well.

"It's hard to miss the scar," Draco said with a small shrug, looking to it once again. "You have to understand, we've been hearing your name for our whole lives, it's good to put a face to a name." Harry could understand that a little better, and it was nicer than having to hear his own story retold by a stranger again, having had to continually remind Ron that he didn't actually remember anything from that night when he had started to ask questions. "I don't know a Nathaira though, unusual name, what's your last? I don't think we've met before, which is something as I'm sure my mother has had every magical family in Britain over to the manor at some point… Well, anyone who's important at least." Draco said as he offered a small sniff in the direction of Ron, who was looking on from another boat as they took off, he was sitting next to a girl with wild bushy hair, seeming to be chattering non-stop.

Nathaira shifted a little uncomfortable. "I.. I don't know my real last name. I'm entered as a Smith in the system. My parents only left my first name on a note." She finished awkwardly. Harry stretched his fingers to gently overlap hers, a motion that had not gone unnoticed by the young Malfoy. Usually the idea of sitting next to someone who could potentially be a mudblood would have grossed him out, at the very least, he might have said something rather rude, but Harry Potter seemed friendly and interested in the girl, and so he would have to be as well, at least, for the meantime.

"Ah… I've read about rituals that can tell you your bloodline, they're complicated and need a lot of practice and potions, but maybe we can find out." Draco offered. "My godfather is the potions master, I'm sure if I asked, he could get us what we needed." His tone moved from helpful to boasting in a manner of seconds, but to Harry, it was far better than the annoyed tone that Ron had come out with when Harry said he didn't know what Quidditch was.

Nathaira was elated at the possibility, nodding excitedly. "That would be…. Everything, thank you." She didn't know why he would do something like this for her, but she would take any chance she got to discover her parentage. Draco nodded once as he turned to look at the castle that was slowly coming into view.

Lucius Malfoy had been very clear about what he required of his son and heir. Harry Potter was valuable. If the Dark Lord truly was dead, then Harry Potter was a door opener to all those in power who wanted to get to know their saviour better, but, in the of the chance the Dark Lord returned… Lucius wanted to be sure that the boy was in their grasp, and he would gain the favours of those who he knew weren't all too pleased that he was out of Azkaban, living in luxury, while those like his sister-in-law had rotted for the past ten years. Of course, he hadn't bothered his eleven-year-old with this semantics, only the promise of fame and connection should he befriend the boy.

Harry and Nathaira continued to watch in awe as the castle came into view, the stars slowly slipping behind the silhouette of the massive castle and for once, the pair of them felt hopeful at the idea of having a new home.

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AN: I hope you have all liked this chapter, this story will continue through, it will get darker as everyone grows up, and is obviously starting a new AU. Fair warning that this story will get dark, and while I can make no promises now of what will come, there will definitely be Dumbledore/Weasley/Light bashing, character deaths and Voldemort being a 'true' evil and Dark Lord. Please leave any thoughts you have so far, it would really be appreciated, however, I just hope you've enjoyed this first chapter.