Disclaimer: My name is not J. K. Rowling. I don't own Harry Potter and I never will.

"Parseltongue"

"Normal speech"

'Thought speech'

Flashback

"Parseltongue in Flashback"

Prologue

Darkness.

Pain. Loneliness.

Those were the first things he had ever known.

Those were the things he was familiar with.

Those were the things he thought he'll never be without.

Here he was, bathed in blood. Chained to the wall of a dark dungeon cell. The likelihood of getting out of this situation was near to none. Yet still he thought of the happiness he had experienced in his short and ill-fated life. Back to the beginning when all of this began.

Chapter 1

One of the earliest things he could ever remember was the sound of yelling.

"BOY!"

Loud thumps were heard above, accompanied by clouds of dust and a rain of spiders.

Harry Potter, age seven, cringed at the sound. Barely breathing, he waited, huddled in the corner of his cupboard for whatever punishment that was to be brought down upon his head.

The lock on his cupboard door rattled as it was being unbolted. Harry blinked rapidly as a torrent of light flooded into his cupboard when it was flung open. It was no wonder when he didn't see the massive pudgy hand that dragged him out.

"Boy!" his Uncle Vernon roared. "How dare you not iron my lucky shirt?! Today is the important Bendan meeting! I need my shirt to settle a deal!" Vernon positively snarled at Harry who flinched and started to stammer out apologies.

"Sorry! I didn't know you wanted to wear that shirt! I'm so sorry! I'll iron it! I'll iron it right now! Please! I'm so sor-" Harry stuttered out before being slapped across the face.

"Sorry?! I'll make you sorry boy! I'll make you sorry that you were ever born!" Vernon bellowed before backhanding Harry hard across the face again. Harry whimpered and tried to twist out of his uncle's grip.

"Vernon? Vernon dear, punish the nasty ingrate after he makes breakfast. Last time you hit him so hard he couldn't standup to cook breakfast and poor Dudders nearly went hungry." Aunt Petunia called out as she went up the stairs to wake Dudley.

"Hmph." Vernon grunted and dropped Harry. Harry dropped with a thump and winced as he landed on the big bruise on his back from when Petunia had thrown a bucket at him for missing a spot when he was mopping the floor. That had resulted in a bigger mess where he had to clean it all up and was sent to his cupboard that night without his dinner scraps after being beaten by Vernon for causing trouble.

He slowly got up and limped to the kitchen and stove, favoring his left leg where Dudley had kicked him. He got out a frying pan and turned on the stove. He got out some eggs and juice from the fridge and poured the juice into a glass while waiting for the pan to heat up. Quickly he carefully poured some cooking oil into the pan. As he started to fry the eggs, Dudley stumbled into the kitchen and headed directly for the juice and began gulping at it. Harry rushed about; setting the table, putting bread into the toaster, setting the fried eggs on the table, and pouring a cup of coffee and tea.

Vernon toddled into the kitchen wearing his second lucky shirt with Petunia right behind him. They sat down and only then did Harry grab a slice of toast and a cup of water that served as his breakfast. He quickly gobbled most of it down, saving a small corner, just in time to hear the daily mail come though the slot on the door.

"Dudley, get the mail," Vernon rumbled as he drank his coffee and read the morning paper.

"Make the freak get it," Dudley whined through a mouthful of eggs.

"Fine. Boy get the mail." Vernon grumbled, getting slightly annoyed.

Harry quickly got up and fetched the mail. There was nothing interesting; just some bills and the occasional ad. He handed the pile of letters to Vernon, relieved that Uncle Vernon had forgotten his anger over his shirt. Then he stood by Aunt Petunia to hear his chores for that day.

Petunia glanced up from her magazine, sipped her tea and said, "Today I need you to wash the dishes, mop the floor, dust the living room, fold the laundry, clean the windows, mow the lawn, weed the garden, water the garden, and make dinner."

Harry nodded and picked up the dirty dishes, brought them to the sink and began to wash them. Once he was done, he set off to gather the mop and bucket for the next task. Soon the floor was nice and shiny and he began to dust the living room. After that was done, he went to the washing machine and dryer and neatly folded all the clothes in minutes.

Cleaning the windows was slightly more tedious and took a little more time than any other chore since it was not one he did on a regular basis but soon that was also done. Now it was for the outside chores; the ones he both hated and loved.

As he went to the outside shed for the lawnmower and other garden tools, he spied an inky shape in the corner of his eye. Once he reached the shed and went inside for the materials, a black blur hit him in the side.

"Oomph." He huffed as he nearly fell with the momentum from the hit. He looked down into mismatched red and purple eyes, fluffy pointed ears, and a long sleek tail.

"Hiya Neko," he whispered, patting the petite black and white cat. He set her down and tried to give her the crust of bread he had saved for her. As usual, she turned her nose, but not before gently setting down the small bunch of grapes in her mouth. He smiled and ate the dry bread with the small offering of fruit that seemed like heaven to him.

She purred and rubbed her head against his leg. He could never forget the night he had met her.

Flashback

It was raining really hard. Harry shivered as tried to hurry back as fast as he could. Aunt Petunia had sent him to the store in the middle of a rainstorm for peppermint candy that Dudley wanted.

As he stumbled near an alley, a dark shadow loomed from it. He tried to change his path but crashed straight into it. He nearly screamed when the figure grabbed onto him with a vice-like grip.

"Little one," the figure gently crooned. "What are you afraid of?"

Harry, who was five, was both terrified and a bit curious. He had heard aunt Petunia tell Dudley to not talk to strangers and especially dark hooded men. But the voice that had whispered to him was definitely female.

"Little one," the figure crooned again. "What are you afraid of?"

"Being alone." Harry whispered back.

The figure leaned closer and murmured, "What do you want?"

"A friend." Harry breathed back.

"Very well," the amusement could be clearly heard in her voice as she muttered. "Take her. She comes from a very distant land and all she wants is someone to love and to love her."

Harry gasped as a tiny black and white kitten and placed in his grasp. When he looked up the cloaked woman was gone.

"Meeew!" The tiny thing mewed pitifully as it began to become drenched in the icy storm surrounding them. Harry came to his senses and quickly gathered the candy and ran to the cover of a bus stop to gain at the very least some protection from the elements. When he looked down again at the kitten he was shocked at the sight of its eyes.

The right eye was a deep purple, both bright and velvety dark at the same time. The left eye was a crimson red, so vivid that it looked like freshly spilled blood. She was covered in patches of black and white fur with it turning silvery grey on the edges. Her front right and back left paws were black while her front left and back right were white.

"Where am I going to keep you?" Harry murmured crestfallen. Not a single thought of giving her up passed through his mind. Only the various discarded plans of where to hide her went through his mind. He wanted to keep her so badly but there was nowhere to hide her really.

Then he thought of the perfect plan. He would go back with the candy with her hiding in his shirt and give the candy to Dudley, all the while sneezing and coughing. While would most likely give something to help dry off. After all if he got sick they wouldn't get most of the chores done. Then, he'll get to keep the clothes, since Aunt Petunia felt the less something had to do with him the better. With that, he would get to keep the kitten while gaining some more clothes to keep it warm.

With that in mind, he did everything he planned and it worked without a hitch. As soon as he was dry and in his cupboard with the slightly damp kitten, he finally realized he had forgot something. A name. She didn't have a name yet.

"What should your name be?" he murmured.

"Neko." Harry nearly jumped when he heard the low hissing sound that seemed to echo around.

"What was that?!" Harry muttered, a bit shaken by the strangeness of it all. He looked down at the kitten who was sleepily blinking at him.

"Do you like the name… Neko?" he asked hesitantly.

She blinked twice at him and gave a big yawn, snuggled into his side, and started purring.

"Okay then, your name is Neko." Harry said half to the newly dubbed Neko and half to himself.

End Flashback

Since then, he had snuck bits and pieces of food to her whenever he could. When she grew larger, he let her roam free outside. He still tried to bring food to her, but she had apparently decided at some point that he was far too skinny and needed more nutrition since she had started to refuse any food he gave.

She actually brought back little things she could carry for him to eat. It was usually some grapes, two or three cherries, and things like that. But sometimes she had the audacity to bring things that made him wonder where she was getting the food from. Once, he had found her carrying half a sirloin steak to him. He feared that she would one day get caught for stealing the food from wherever she got it from but so far she seemed completely okay.

Not only that, he had discovered she seemed to be able to get into the house. Whenever he called for her while in his cupboard at night after a particularly harsh beating, he thought he heard purring and felt soft warm fur just as he fell asleep. Sometimes he even dreamed of purple and red eyes, watching over him always. It wasn't creepy but comforting. Those dreams almost always changed into something different and ended with both eyes turning red right before he woke up. There was more to the dreams but he could never quite remember.

He sighed, patted Neko one last time, and trudged always to start his gardening chores. She mewed and darted under one of the rosebushes for both shade and a safe spot to watch him.

The afternoon slowly went by with Harry laboriously doing each outdoor chore. Neko stayed by his side for the most part, hiding in the shadows to keep from being seen by a nosy neighbor or worse, Petunia.

While Harry loved that he could see his little friend while gardening, it was very tedious. Although the gardening part wasn't too bad, it was the fact that he had to do it in the hot sun that made it so painstaking.

As he plucked the last weed for the day, he uncoiled the hose and turned on the water. Once all the hot water that had been sitting in the hose throughout the day was gone he watered the garden, occasionally playfully splashing Neko who darted out of the way for the most part.

Once he was done, he turned the water down and took a long drink. He then poured some water in the dented bowl he had squirreled away when he saw aunt Petunia throw it away. Neko gracefully padded to it, trying to avoid the worst of the puddles. She delicately lapped up several mouthfuls before butting her head against Harry's leg. She knew he would have to go in to cook his relatives' dinner now.

"Good girl, Neko. I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay?" he mumbled, crouching down to pet her once more before going inside. She meowed before turning around and flitting away.

Harry opened the door and trudged inside, carefully making sure to not dirty anything. If Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia saw any dirt, he would be punished.

He made his way into the kitchen and quickly began to gather all the ingredients for that night's dinner. He then started to diligently cook, fry, and bake, knowing that if anything was not to the approval of his relatives he might get sent to his cupboard without dinner. If he was lucky that is.

Finally he was done, just in time to hear Vernon's car pull up into the driveway. He set the table, carefully placing all the food, and hurried to open the door.

"Get out of the way you no-good freak!" Uncle Vernon snarled as he stormed inside. Harry just barely stumbled away as to not get hid on the head with the suitcase Vernon was swinging around.

"Vernon? Vernon honey, what's wrong?" Petunia's voice sounded concerned as she entered the kitchen with a magazine in her hand. She had read that and spied on her neighbors all day.

"I didn't get the bloody deal that's what's wrong! Mr. Fangpi took one look at me and didn't pay attention to me again through out the meeting!" Vernon began look even more menacing as he sat down and shovel food into his mouth with tasting.

Dudley waddled in at the moment, glanced at his father, and promptly sat down to devour as much food as he could. Petunia sniffed and also began to eat, but in considerably less portions.

Harry could only watch as all his hard work in making the food disappear in minutes. The smells were almost unbearable and he fidgeted; waiting for them to finish so he could what was left over.

Dudley managed to look up in the middle of swallowing a huge mouthful of food and his face wrinkled in what Harry guessed was a smirk. Harry felt his stomach drop; Dudley was up to no good at all.

"Hey Dad, the freak never folded the laundry. They're all over the floor in the laundry room. Even after forgetting to iron your lucky shirt." Dudley maliciously grunted. "I bet that's why you didn't get the deal. You didn't wear your luckiest shirt."

Harry froze in absolute shock, terror ran through his body as Vernon stopped eating and menacingly turned towards Harry. At that moment, Harry knew he just might not live to see the light of day.

"You damn freak! This is all your fault! We give you all this and this is how you repay us?! By making a mess and muddling up my job! We should never have taken you in!" Vernon roared as he started to stand up. At that point, Harry's brain kick in and he quickly tried to get as far away as possible.

"Oh no you don't, you bastard! You aren't getting away this time! I'm going to make you wish you were never born!" With three great strides, Vernon reached out and smashed the slim boy to the wall in the hall. "I should have known you'll do something like this you ungrateful little shit! I'm going beat that freakiness right out of you!"

With that, Vernon pulled back and swung his fist around, smashing it straight into Harry's stomach. With Harry gasping for breath on the floor, Vernon started to viciously kick him, again and again. Harry tried to curl into a ball to try to protect himself but unfurled and screamed when Vernon stomped on his right leg.

"That's what you get for doing anything freakish in this house!" Vernon bellowed as he started to punch Harry viciously.

Dudley suddenly spoke up. "Hey Dad, can I help? He's such a useless lump! I want to try!"

Vernon settled back with a groan and grunted to his son. "Go ahead, it'll show it who's the boss around here!" With that, Dudley got up and started to punch Harry over and over.

Harry gasped as each blow brought a wave of intense agony throughout his being. Just as he thought he was going to die if any more hit him, they stopped. Then, he felt a new wave of pain on his neck as a hand grabbed him, and stuffed him into his cupboard.

"Hmph, that'll show him. If he tries anything we'll do this again and again till he gets it!" he heard distantly.

Every part of him ached and he was sure that some bones were broken. He just knew, instinctively, that if he didn't get help he would die there. Alone. Without even Neko. He tried to call for her, but his throat was too bruised. He couldn't even rasp out a sound.

'Help me!' Harry cried out mentally, wishing that his pleas would be heard somehow yet knowing it was hopeless. 'Help me! I don't want to die! Help me…'

As he faded from consciousness, he thought he heard a hiss.

"'Harry Potter.'"

To be continued…

Squee! My very first fan fic! Reviews are greatly appreciated! Flames will be used to create a giant bonfire to toast smores with my friends!

Review for me and Mr. Bunny!

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