(Hello, here is a new story for you all. One which has been sat in the back of my head for months and now exam season here is drawing to a close I just had to type up. The general themes for this story is wrong BWL, hefty inheritance, lordships, and a HarryxMulti pairing, but hopefully in a tasteful way without the graphic and immature sex scenes that some stories of this kind inflict upon us all. This chapter is just a little pre-Hogwarts prologue. )

"Petunia!" came an impatient screech from the living room of number four, Privet Drive. "Aunt Petunia!"

"What is the matter boy?" she asked, poking her bony face around the doorframe of her immaculate lounge and fixing her nephew with her beady eyed stare.

"I'm hungry," he said simply, lazily flicking through the channels on Dudley's new television.

"Is that an excuse to scream the house down?" Petunia admonished, smoothing her already creaseless flowery housecoat as she crossed the room to peek through the lace curtains. "Think of the neighbours," she added in a hiss.

"I'm hungry," Dominic repeated, growing tired of the programming and lifting his dirty shoes onto the coffee table.

Petunia Dursley visibly flinched.

"Get your feet of the coffee table!" she started to shout angrily, but she was cut off before she could finish.

"Aunt Petunia, I am hungry," the redheaded boy repeated, his green eyes wandering around the room torpidly, as if he was so bored he could not even look her in the eye. In the time it had taken Petunia to take a calming breath, reminding her not to strike the awful boy, he was talking again.

"Remember Aunt Petunia, I'm the Boy-Who-Lived, I saved you… I saved the neighbours, I saved everyone. You owe me, get me some food," he said pompously. "And if you don't, I shall call Dumbledore and with his wand he shall make you." Petunia ground her teeth together, but in her fear of the old wizard and all things magical she consented to give a small, short nod.

"Excellent… I want you to make me doughnuts," Dominic ordered. "And none of that shop bought rubbish this time, I require certain standards from my baked goods."

Petunia, gritting her teeth and cursing any deity who was listening for her bad luck in having such a lodger stalked to the kitchen.

Dudley in the meantime was hiding upstairs, snivelling under his covers because Dominic had thrown his beloved Tortoise, Wriggles out of the upstairs window and through the greenhouse, and then threatened to turn Dudley into a pig unless he took the blame.

Dudley could not wait to go to Smeltings, were he would be away from his horrible cousin's bullying for another year.

"How many days is it now Harry?" A small, slightly dumpy boy asked his friend as they sifted through the strawberry plants in the garden, constantly looking over their shoulder, lest they be caught.

"Until we go to Hogwarts? Still forty three," Harry replied, pushing yet another juicy strawberry past his open lips.

"When do you think we will be allowed to go and buy all our things?" he asked again, a small smile on his face as he thought of all the interesting and exciting things they would discover at Hogwarts. Harry paused for a moment.

"I hope soon," he replied, he laughed a little. "I am excited to read some new books, the library is one of the best in Europe."

The younger boy nodded his agreement and went back to rooting around for berries; it was a while before he spoke again.

"Harry… do you think our parents would be proud?" he asked tentatively, not looking up from the leaves. Harry fixed his stormy grey eyes on his friends profile and let out a small sigh.

"I am sure of it," he replied. "Never forget that Neville, they'd definitely be proud." Neville gave a small nostalgic smile and nodded his head slowly.

"Look Neville, a chaffinch!" Harry had the tact to say loudly, standing and turning away from his friend when he thought he caught a glimpse of him wiping at his eyes. He followed the silhouette of the bird up into the sky, where he noticed the position of the sun.

"It's almost lunch time," Neville said, noticing his companion's attention. "We should get back before Gran goes on the warpath."

"And we say nothing about the strawberries."

Together they took the long walk back through the vegetable gardens, past the gree houses and up to the large house surrounded by immaculately kept lawns, bordered by wildflowers. As they trekked the last grassy slope they saw Neville's grandmother standing in the front doorway, the heavy wooden doors pushed back. Dutifully they hung their heads and filed toward her.

"Good morning," the Longbottom matriarch said, her stiff demeanour not faltering as they approached. "Neville, on my travels to the Alley this morning I picked up an assortment of seeds for you to plant in the greenhouses."

"Excellent Gran," Neville exclaimed, head snapping up with a wide grin. "When can I plant them?"

"As soon as you have had lunch," she replied surveying him critically over her spectacles. Neville was almost hopping with excitement. "Go on then," she breathed, inclining her head inside.

With a shout of, "Thanks Gran" as he went Neville raced off to the kitchens.

"Harry I wish to speak with you after you have had dinner, you will join me in my study after you have eaten and … cleaned up?" she said, noticing his grass stained knees and strawberry stained cheeks but not rebuking him.

"Of course Gran, I'll be as quick as I can," he agreed quickly.

Quarter of an hour later Harry was knocking on the door of Augusta's study with a full stomach and a new pair of trousers.

"Come in my dear," she called from within.

Lady Augusta Longbottom was a formidable woman, and in all the years Harry had lived with her he had not once dared to openly disobey her rules or wishes. Her silver hair was pinned to the nape of her neck, just touching the animal fur which was draped over her shoulders, over her deep plum dress. She was sat rigidly straight the other side of her large mahogany desk and in her usual, no nonsense style she instructed him.

"Sit, sit," she said gesturing to the vacant straight-backed armchair. "Now Harry I have a few things I wish to discuss with you this morning, but first things first. I am sure you are aware what a magical oath is?"

"Of course, a pledge of honour bound to your magical core. If you break the oath your magic decays inside of you and magical beings cannot function without magic, their physical forms will deteriorate shortly after," he reeled, pushing his glasses up onto his nose. He had spent many hours in the libraries of this manor, reading all the ancient tomes the Longbottoms had to offer.

"Excellent Harry," she replied, straightening her old, dark robes. "Now I am not going to tell you that the information I am going to tell you today has been kept from you for your own good, no. I do not believe that at all and first you must allow me to tell you a story, if you will." Harry nodded slowly and prepared to listen intently to what Lady Longbottom had to tell him. She rarely spoke if not out of necessity after all. It was also rare for her to show emotion freely, but he could plainly she the sadness in her eyes.

"I don't know how much you know about your own heritage Harry my dear," she sighed. "I swore a magical oath, to Albus Dumbledore no less not to discuss your biological family with you, until you were about to go to Hogwarts, where surely the rumours you may hear would be horribly unfair to inflict upon you. Tell me, what do you believe to be true… about you?"

"When I was younger, Professor Dumbledore gave me a brief outline..." he started slowly. "My parents were James and Lily Potter, who died when I was young, fighting Voldemort in a battle, they won the war for the side of the light, Neville lost his parents in that battle too, so Dumbledore arranged for us both to live here with you."

The elder lady nodded sombrely.

"Harry that is a lie."

(If you would be so kind as to leave me a review, perhaps saying which of the many HP characters you think HAS to be in this HarryxMulti pairing, that would help my writing of this story immensely. I look forward to your feedback. Thanks)

-Unbetaed