Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; I'm just borrowing the characters.

Summary: After the fiasco with Aunt Marge, Harry Potter finds an unusual dog. Trouble seems to follow Harry throughout the year and his new dog appears to avoid the Defense teacher. Soon a devastating betrayal reveals the truth.

See Who I Am

Chapter One: Found In The Darkness

The night sky was dark, lit only by small pinpricks of starlight. Drifting clouds obscured the moon. Every once in a while, a stray beam of moonlight would escape the clouds, casting long shadows on the earth below. The chill of the late August air combined with the shadows of the night made it a perfect night to stay indoors. But, if one were to peer into an old alleyway on that very night, a dark silhouette could be seen darting from shadow to shadow. The silhouette stopped and two haunted eyes stared at the quiet house in front of the alley.

'Run. Run. Must keep moving.'

A skeletal dog dashed from the filthy alley to the house across the street. Pausing at the bushes in the yard, the dog raised its nose and sniffed. Scampering around the house, the canine found a waste bin. The smell of rotten food permeated the air.

'Hungry. So hungry.'

Standing on its hindquarters, the starved dog knocked the waste bin over. It landed with a resounding bang. Startled by the loud noise, the canine backed away with its tail between its legs. After a few moments of silence, the dog moved forward and sniffed at the contents of the spilled bin. The canine deemed the contents edible and began to eat. A light came on in the house behind the dog. Paying no heed to the source of light, the canine continued to sate its hunger.

A door suddenly opened. The dog paused and lowered itself to the ground. Teeth bared and ears back, the canine watched as two humans appeared. One was wielding a baseball bat and the other was cowering behind the doorframe.

"There's nothing out here. You're just hearing things, Martha," said the man as he lowered the bat.

"I swear I heard something," replied the woman, loosening her grip on the doorframe.

"Quit watching horror films. I'm going back to bed."

The man turned to leave, but at that moment, the woman spotted two glowing eyes staring at her from the darkness.

"There!" she screamed, pointing in the direction of the dog.

The man swung the bat back around and followed the woman's finger. Seeing the animal, the man started forward. Realizing it was no longer safe to stay, the dog tensed in preparation for a sprint.

"Go on! Scat! Shoo, ya mangy mutt!" the man yelled as he swung the bat in all directions and ran towards the dog.

The canine frantically ran away from the house and the man. Still in a panic, the dog ran through yards and bound across streets as quick as it could.

'Need rest. So tired.'

As the dog continued to run, its left forepaw went into an abandon snake hole. Falling forward, the dog rolled onto its side. The canine panted as it lay there, and began to calm down. As the dog lay panting, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky. The skeletal dog's matted fur quickly became wet. The chill of the night was suddenly stronger.

'So cold. So very cold.'

The only shelter that the canine could see was a bench between two rows of thorny bushes. Slowly getting back on all four paws, the dog started walking towards the bench. As the dog put pressure on its left forepaw, it gave a small yelp. Keeping the paw off the ground, the canine limped its way to the bench and went under it. Laying down on the ground, the dog gently put its head on its forepaws. The drizzle continued to fall and hit the dog through the spaces between the wooden planks of the bench.

'Not safe. Never safe.'

Shivering, the canine let out a whimper and strived to stay awake.

-Line Break-

Harry Potter was having a bad day. Well, truth be told, the entire day wasn't so bad, just the evening. There were two major problems with his evening. He had just blown up his aunt and then ran away from Number Four Privet Drive. It wasn't as bad as it sounds. His aunt didn't explode; she merely bloated and floated. Really, the best way for Harry to cool down was to get some air; and it wasn't as if he had many things, so the obvious thing to do would be to bring all his possessions with him. He would return to Privet Drive, just at a later date.

'If Aunt Marge wouldn't instigate arguments and talk bad about my parents, none of this would have happened. So what if I got mad? I'm not just going to let her get away with insulting my mum and dad,'thought Harry, walking away from Number Four Privet Drive at a fast pace.

Approaching a park, Harry figured he was a good ways away from the house of his angry uncle. As he put his trunk down and sat on it, Harry let out a sigh. "I guess this means I won't be going to Hogsmeade this year. There's no way Uncle Vernon will sign the permission form now."

Harry looked around. The park behind him was completely deserted and there was no traffic on the road in front of him. Everything was damp, but luckily, the light rain had stopped falling before Harry decided to leave the house.

"Now what do I do?" Harry asked himself. "Maybe I could go to the Burrow." 'It would be nice to see Ron and his family again. But how would I get there? Fly?'

"Or I could go to the Leaky Cauldron," he mumbled to himself. 'Again, how do I get there? I could pay for a ride to London and then to the Leaky Cauldron, but all I have is wizard money. I don't think any Muggle would accept any Knuts, Sickles, or Galleons as payment.'

A snapping noise pulled Harry out of his musings. Quickly getting to his feet with his wand in his hand, Harry observed his surroundings. A pair of eerie eyes peered at him from the darkness across the street.

-Line Break-

The lightly dozing dog was startled awake by a sudden sound. Jerking upright, the canine looked towards the source of the noise. It was a human sitting on the other side of the road. The dog slowly inched its way out from under the bench and caught the scent of the human.

'Safe?'

An image of a young man with dark, messy hair, hazel eyes, round glasses, and a lazy smile crossed the dog's mind. Fully out from under the bench, the dog limped closer to the side of the road. The canine inadvertently stepped on a stick and snapped it. The boy hopped to his feet and looked around, pointing a stick in front of him. The dog locked eyes with the human boy, a boy with vibrant green eyes.

'Green? Not hazel? Not safe!'

The dog bared its teeth and began to growl lowly in its throat. With its ears flat against its head, the dog started to back away.

-Line Break-

'What is it? An Auror come to arrest me for underage magic and blowing up Aunt Marge? An enemy?' Harry thought wildly as he saw the eyes staring at him. Squinting, Harry saw that it was an animal. 'Wait… is it some type of canine? A dog or a wolf, maybe? Well, whatever it is, it's huge!'

Indeed, it was a dog. Although it was dark, Harry could see that the dog had frightened grey eyes and matted fur. It was too dark to tell if the dog's fur really was black or not. The dog was showing its teeth and slowly backing away.

Trying to show that he wasn't a threat, Harry slowly sat back down on his trunk. The clouds drifted away from the moon for a few seconds before covering it once more, but that allowed Harry to get a good view of the dog. 'Poor mutt looks so skinny. It's also favoring its front paw. Is it hurt?'

"Come here, boy," Harry called softly, pointing his wand at his feet and holding out his empty hand. "I'm not going to hurt you. It's okay. Come here."

-Line Break-

The boy sat back down and called out softly causing the dog to stop backing up. Teeth still bared, but no longer growling, the dog's ears perked up to hear the boy.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

Not moving, the canine stared at the boy sitting on the trunk.

'Not hurt? Safe?'

The dog took a step forward and sniffed the air for the boy's scent.

'Boy, my boy? No. Boy is…'

An image of a laughing baby with dark hair and green eyes crossed the dog's mind.

'Same scent? Same human?'

"It's okay. Come here."

'Boy is… Harry!'

The canine jerked forward, but stepped hard on its left forepaw. Letting out a loud yelp, the dog crashed to the ground face first. Staying still on the ground, the dog gave a soft whimper. Its forepaw was really aching. The sound of shoes on pavement coming closer caused the injured canine to give a low warning growl. The movement stopped. Raising its head, the dog looked for the boy. The canine was startled to find that the boy was only a few feet away. Giving the human a soft whine, the dog attempted to get back on its feet. Hearing movement once more, the dog looked up to see the human moving closer. On its paws once more, the canine gingerly limped towards the boy. When the boy stopped walking, so did the dog. The human held out his hand, so the canine used it as a chance to be sure that the boy really was Harry. Taking a deep sniff of the human's scent, the canine confirmed the boy's identity.

'Harry.'

Looking into the human's bright green eyes, the dog gave into the exhaustion that had been plaguing him.

-Line Break-

He should know better than to approach an injured animal. He'd heard all about animals attacking when they were hurt or backed into a corner. He should be smarter than this, because clearly, walking towards a large, starving, injured dog is just asking for trouble. 'But I can't just leave the poor thing alone, obviously in pain.'

Leaving his possessions on the curb and carrying his wand in his hand, he walked across the street. Harry was only a few feet away when he heard the canine growl. It wasn't an "I'm-going-to-attack-you-right-now" growl; it was a warning growl, at least that's what Harry hoped it was. Still, Harry stopped where he was, trying not to make any sudden movements. The pained animal lifted its head and looked at Harry. Whining, the dog started to slowly get up. Taking that as a sign to continue moving, Harry walked to the hurt canine trying to appear to be as harmless as possible.

The dog was cautiously walking towards Harry. Both the dog and the boy stopped about a foot from each other. Harry held out his hand, hoping that the canine wouldn't bite him. The dog put its snout in Harry's hand and gave out a loud snuffle. Looking down, Harry saw the tired, grey eyes of the canine. The next thing Harry knew, the dog collapsed unceremoniously at his feet. The front half of the dog had knocked Harry backwards. Trying to find his balance, Harry took a step back to keep from falling. Unfortunately, Harry tripped over the uneven rise between the grass and the sidewalk. As he fell, one hand went back to catch himself and the other hand, his wand hand, went up to prevent himself from falling on his wand and breaking it.

A loud bang sounded on the road right next to Harry. Peering up, Harry saw that it was a triple-decker, purple bus. All of a sudden, Harry realized that his night had just become more complicated than it already was.

-Line Break-

Author's Note: Warning: I'm a first time fan fiction writer… Anyway, I've had the idea for this story floating around in my head for a while. I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes I've made. Please tell me your thoughts on this story so far and leave a Review!