I don't own Harry Potter, if I did, the series would have gone much, much differently.

Words: 1,187

CHAPTER 1:

Saving a Savior

Time is fleeting; it is ever-changing and ever-flowing. It is different, and yet the same. It always moves in the same way, at the same rate. It moves forward, and it makes the world move on. It doesn't matter what happens in time, because time doesn't care.

For a small five-year-old boy named Harry, that is all at once a blessing and a curse. Time moving on meant that each punishment from his uncle Vernon eventually had to end, but that there would always come another.

Normally, the Dursleys, Harry's "family", never brought young Harry out for any reason. Today was special, though. Vernon Dursley, Harry's Uncle, had taken Harry's cousin Dudley to the cinema, which left Harry home with his Aunt Petunia. Petunia, however, needed to go to the grocery store to get things to make her son's birthday cake, and seeing as the child's normal babysitter, Mrs. Figgs, was out of the country, and the boy was only five and couldn't possibly be left in the house alone, she had no choice but to bring him with her.

"Let's go, boy!" Petunia yells from the doorway, her horse-like face pinched in a seemingly permanent scowl. She watches as the green-eyed, mute child quickly comes out of his cupboard and to her. "Well, let's get on with it." She walks out the door, and gets into the taxi car, expecting the tiny freak to follow.

At the grocery store, Petunia walks quickly, and Harry struggles to keep up with her. Harry gives up in his attempt when he becomes distracted by the sight of three of the strangest people he has ever come across. They all have shockingly pale blond hair that looks white, and they all appear to be wearing dresses! There are two adults, one tall and a man, the other a good bit shorter than him and a woman. The lady is holding a young boy, who appears to be her son, and is hiding his face in her shoulder and neck. The man has a walking stick that has a silvery looking skull on the top of it.

Harry wanders a little closer, trying to hear what the two adults are saying, but being careful to remain unnoticed by the people.

"I don't see why we have to do this!" The man says in a furious whisper, that wasn't really a whisper, to the woman.

"Because, Luc, if we don't live as muggles and serve our punishment, then the ministry won't trust us and we won't be able to help our master!" She pauses and looks at the child in her arms, who lifts his head and returns her gaze. "And besides," she adds in a broken voice, "they would take Draco away from us." Harry could see the child wince at the fear he heard in his mother's voice at this simple statement. He watches as the boy looks straight over the woman's shoulder at Harry.

He watches as the boy tugs on his mother's sleeve, and she puts him down with a kiss to the cheek, before returning to her -somewhat- whispered argument with her husband. Harry stands transfixed in the middle of the isle as he watches the blonde-haired, silver-eyed boy walk towards him. The blonde stops just a step away from Harry, and smiles.

"Hi, I'm Draco." The boy says in a soft, beautiful voice.

Harry, in awe that another child would talk to him, gives a half smile and a slight wave.

"What's your name?" The boy -Draco- asks. Harry blushes, looks down, and shrugs. A slight confused look crosses Draco's young features.

Getting an idea, Draco grabs the other boy's hand and drags him over to the two still whisper-arguing adults. Draco grabs his father's hand and tugs on it. The man looks down at his son and asks, "Yes, Draco?"

"Daddy, I met this boy, may I be friends with him?"

The man looks over his son's tiny companion. "What is his name?"

Again, Harry blushes and looks at the floor. Draco answers his father, saying that he doesn't know.

At this, Draco's mother crouches down to the children's height. "Dear, do you know how to talk?" At Harry's furious shaking of his head, she scowls.

"Are you here with your parents?" Harry gives the man a sad look, and again shakes his head.

"Are you here with someone else in your family?" Harry hesitates for a moment before giving the woman a slight nod.

The woman reaches out and touches Harry's arm, and, seeing the boy's flinch, gently pulls him closer. She simultaneously wraps an arm around his waist in a hug, and tugs his overly large sleeves up to look at his arm. What she sees makes her gasp, and she pulls her husband down to look as well. There is a large purple bruise on his arm, obviously fresh, as well as multiple others of varying sizes and colors. They notice that his clothes are too big, and hang off of him. From his features, he looks to be around Draco's age, maybe slightly younger, but he is so tiny that he looks to be a large two year old or small three year old, rather than a four or five year old.

"Mother," Draco starts, "His hands are very, very warm."

She takes Harry's free hand between her own two. With a slight frown, she reaches a hand up, and, moving the child's bangs, feels his forehead.

In doing so, she exposes a unique, lightning-bolt scar.

She keeps his bangs away from his forehead and gives her husband a meaningful look. The man nods, "We can't let him go back to whoever he was with."

"No, we can't." He looks thoughtful for a moment, before getting a determined look in his eyes. "Child, would you like to come and live with us?

Harry hesitates, these people are nice, but what if they find out that he is a freak and send him back? Well, he thinks, I don't think my punishment with Uncle would be much worse than it was yesterday if I was to go with this family and they send me back… He looks nervously at Draco, who looks hopeful. Making up his mind, he looks up at the man and woman, who, even crouched, tower over his small frame, and nods.

A happy jolt goes through Harry as the woman smiles at his answer. "Alright, it's settled then. You will come with us. One of us will just have to come and finish the shopping later." With that, she picks up the tiny boy, and carries him out to the parking lot, her husband and son trailing behind the pair.

The group gets into a small white car, the man in the driver's seat, and the two children in the back. They leave the lot and head through town to a small dirt road leading into a forest. About a half hour later, the forest opens up into a beautiful meadow, with rainbows of wildflowers. A shadow falls over the car, causing Harry to look up and gasp.

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