A/N: It's 3:27 A.M. I should be sleeping. But no, this plot bunny had to hop into my head and ruin all thoughts of sleep. Wonderful. You'll just have to deal with the 1,000 word chapters.

I'm still looking for a HP Characterization beta. =)

Image Song: Kaze no Machi He composed by Yuki Kajiura. Featured in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, during the Otou arc.

Disclaimer: I don't own HP.

Melody of Magic

Written by Fenikkusu

Unbeta'd

Movement I – To the City of Wind

Floating beyond time, there's a city made of wind

Please dear, take me there

Where dreams draped in white flowers come true

~Kaze no Machi He (English Dub)

Christmas was supposed to be a time when families came together.

Why then, was Harry Potter thrown outside with a hiss of "Freak!" from his Aunt Petunia? The five-year-old stared at the door of Number Four Privet Drive with wide, innocent eyes. He only burned a little bit of the Christmas ham. If Aunt Petunia wasn't as picky as she was, no one would have noticed! If Aunt Marge weren't visiting for the Christmas season, maybe Aunt Petunia would've been less picky. But then again, it was better to be as far away from Aunt Marge's dog as possible.

The boy's stomach growled, and pale hands pressed against it. It's not like Harry was going to get any of the food in the first place. He only wanted a little bit of food. Uncle Vernon and Dudley were fat enough already! Why couldn't they share any food with him? Aunt Marge verged on obesity herself. Even the dog looked fatter than the poor kid.

Wasn't Christmas supposed to be a time for sharing too?

"Poor dear," a feminine voice whispered. Young Harry turned around to see a woman dressed in all white. A hood covered her face and hair from view. The woman knelt down and gathered the boy into her arms. "What are you doing here all alone? Where's your family?"

Harry pointed inside. The woman's grip tightened around him. She picked him up and held him, pressing his head into the crook of her neck. Harry whimpered and curled closer; she was so warm. He'd never been hugged before, let alone be touched in any manner other than a harsh tug into the house or Cupboard.

He shivered; the Cupboard was for really bad boys like him. Would the Huggy Lady put him in one too? Harry hoped that she wouldn't, but he tightened his grip on her neck anyway.

The woman sighed, pressing a kiss to the boy's disheveled locks. "Little One, why don't you come with me? I can take you away from these nasty people," she whispered to him, rubbing small circles in the boy's back. "You deserve a place where you'll be loved."

Love? What's that? Harry thought to himself. Betta than Unca Vernon and Auntie Pet.. Harry nodded against her shoulder, eyelids beginning to droop.

"All right, then. Hold on tight!" The two disappeared with a distinctive pop.

A screeching alarm made both Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore jump. The older one turned to a simple clock mounted on a nearby wall. A swish of the Headmaster's wand silenced the annoying machine.

"Oh dear," Dumbledore muttered, glancing over at the one hand of the clock. "I must ask you to do something for me, Severus."

"Anything, Headmaster."

A slight smile crossed Dumbledore's wrinkled face. "My clock says that Harry Potter has gone missing. Could you go che—"

"No."

"But Severus…"

"Absolutely not, Albus! I refuse. I am not the Potter-spawn's keeper!"

The smile faded from Dumbledore's lips as he replied in a soft tone, "But you often forget that Harry is Lily's child as well." At this the younger man tensed. "I hear there's a blizzard by Harry's house. The clock may be malfunctioning, but I cannot check myself as I have students to tend to." The Potions Master nodded; he knew Dumbledore was referring to the few children who stayed at Hogwarts over the Christmas Holiday. As the rest of staff spent the time with their own families, Dumbledore and Snape were the only ones at the school.

Severus would rather not think about why those children chose to stay at Hogwarts, though he knew why most of them did already. A good majority of them came from his own Slytherin house, and Slytherin was unfortunately known to be the home the less… appreciated children. Coming from one such household himself, Severus knew better not to ask unless the students came to him first.

"Very well, Headmaster," Snape replied tersely, his cloak billowing as he turned on his heel and began walking toward the door.

"Thank you, my boy," was the response before the door to the Headmaster's office slammed shut.

A quick walk and disapparation later, Snape found himself in the middle of the worst storm Little Whinging had seen in centuries. The wizard cast a warming charm and wrapped his cloak more firmly around him. Good thing that he apparated just before the boundaries of Number Four Privet Drive, as the bustle of snowflakes made it impossible to see a few feet ahead. Silently cursing the Potter-boy for ruining his Christmas, the man trudged forward.

He peered through the nearest window, which gave a view of a large feast and a family sitting around it. Severus grimaced; three of the four people sitting around the table were extremely overweight, while one woman remained as thin as a stick. Ah, Petunia, Snape thought with a sneer. When the lips of the inhabitants began to move, Severus whispered an amplification spell.

"My goodness! Is this ham burned?" the fat lady tsked, "I told you that boy was nothing but trouble! I'll sick Ripper on him again. Where's the damn brat?"

"I've already left him outside to think about what he's done," Petunia said without a care in the world. Severus' eyes narrowed. Didn't they know there was a blizzard occurring?

"I wanna throw snowballs at the Freak!" the youngest pig squealed, jumping up and down in his seat. His massive weight caused the dishes on the table to rattle.

"Finish your food first, Duddykins. Why don't you have Ripper join you?" the fat woman replied.

"You're stupid. Dogs can't throw snowballs!" the boy pointed and laughed.

The supposed man of the house turned to the boy, "Dudders, don't call your Aunt Marge names."

"But she's stu—" Severus left the windowsill as the whale of a boy choked on something. What did they mean by 'left him outside'? Surely they cannot mean… With a nagging tug in his chest, the professor slipped around the house to the back. Seeing no signs of life there, he walked to the front door.

To his silent horror, there were faint indents of footprints on the front doorstep. His eyes narrowed as he could see the outline of the toes. That meant the boy hadn't been wearing shoes when he was thrown out by Petunia. Severus turned his head to the left. He could see larger boot-shaped tracks in the snow, but there was no sign of the Potter-boy. Snape cursed as he followed the larger footprints outside the boundaries of the house. He immediately disapparated and began sprinting toward the castle.

Dumbledore's clock wasn't broken. Harry Potter was gone.