AN: This is a response to a challenged offered by SofiaDragon her stories are wonderful read them.

Disclamer: not mine 

Summery: Harry is part of an organization called the Serpents Rose, kids working against the forces of evil

Harry James Potter lived in number four Privet Drive with his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Cousin Dudley Dursley. He had lived there since he was fifteen months old, roughly fifteen years, and for the most part his life had been tolerable.

His Aunt and Uncle were very normal people living in a very normal house where nothing extraordinary would even think of happening. After all, child abuse is quite common. Harry didn't get much to eat, and his clothing was always old, oversized hand-me-downs, but he had an inner light that refused to go out. After all, Harry was a very special boy living an extraordinary life, not that most people would have noticed.

Now, plenty of people knew he was a wizard, that he had fought Lord Voldemort five times in his short life, that he was an excellent Seeker, and that he was top of his class in Defense Against the Dark Arts. At least, most of the wizarding world knew those things. He was The Boy Who Lived, their eventual savior for a second time.

Then there were the things not many people knew at all. He was 1.44m tall (4'9") and not likely to get much taller before his growth spurt ended. He hoped for 1.52m (5'). He was not a late bloomer who would shoot up to a respectable height in the next three years; he was an abused child that hadn't gotten enough food before the age of ten to ensure proper development later on. He had nearly starved to death at age six when his Aunt decided that out-performing her beloved Dudley in school was a serious offence. He loved classical and rock music. He was as queer as a two galleon coin, but had not quite managed to act on that yet. His greatest fear was a Dementor at midnight. He took comfort in drawing a silver snake twined around a rose.

It was this last one that had the most complicated, soul shattering, and scandalous explanation behind it. Harry Potter, the Gryffindor Golden Boy, was a member of a secret organization. The Serpent's Rose, it was an organization Harry known in the Serpents Rose as Shadow Serpent, had been a part of since he was 4 years old and he became one of the three leaders at the age of 9 due to his brilliant mind which he kept hidden form everyone.

He lead the organization with two others. One who had started the group Amanda (Rose Dancer) 23 years old, one of three who had started the Serpents Rose, her parents were killed when she was 3 and she later found out it was because they were purebloods who had angered the Dark Lord, she found out about magic on her 11th birthday, and had gone to Hogwarts and learned the truth of whom they were fighting. Of the others who had started the Serpents Rose one had been killed by a Scull, the other had gone to France to go to collage and then became a high up politision in Britian, he still made huge donations to Serpents Rose and helped them when they were in trouble but he was no longer a member of the organization. So Amanda and the others had carried on selecting two new leaders to replace those that were gone. The second Harry servied with was a 19 year old named Jess or Venomfang, he joined when he was 5 years old and had always been active helping those in need give up food for others and giving them a place to stay even when he was punished by the lousy drunks the government called his parents. Since he had only been four when Voldemort had been temporarily taken care of, he didn't remember much, but still believed that something had happened and Amanda only reinstated those beliefes.

They remembered tales of children watching their families slaughtered, seeing parents and siblings being tortured or changed into animals before their deaths and how those children banded together to form the Serpents Rose to protect themselves and others. . The wild tales were still told to the youngest of them when they joined

The tales explained why there were enough of them to band together, enough of them to build a society where they weren't second class, enough of them to survive on their own terms. They even made from the symbol of the great evil that created them, the Dark Star, their own symbol. This was a symbol of life and protection. The snake came from the Dark Star, or the Dark Mark to the Wizerding World. They would become like their enemy, like the snake, in order to survive. Thorns from a rose protected their snake, and the rose itself was beauty and life. Quite simplistic, but what else could come from frightened eight year olds?

The horrible acts were committed by 'Sculls' according to the stories, but to the Wizerding World the were the Death Eaters. The Sculls wore masks and black cloaks. They came and went by magic, used wands and other terrible weapons. They were part of a secret society that killed anyone who found out too much about them or they didn't like. Their symbol was a snake coming out of a skull's mouth.

Harry was brilliant even tho almost none knew it, but he was also street-smart and survival oriented. If it looks like a duck, smells like a duck, and acts like a duck: it is either a duck, or someone under Polyjuice. The Serpent's Rose would be willing to fight tooth and nail, or fang and thorn as they often said, to protect themselves and those like them. The network of communication and free flowing channels of food, clothing, and other necessities needed to remain intact or many abused and homeless children would die.

Harry used to wonder why people didn't notice their activities. How else could a three year old street rat survive to become a ten year old thief, thirteen year old student, or eighteen year old worker? How could these kids learn to read, write, add, multiply, and even build and repair homes before they went to high school? He knew now that he had seen it for himself that people simply did not want to believe a problem existed. Their precious normality was more important to them then anything else, and they believed the government programs worked. Just like the witches and wizards would rather believe that Dumbledore and Harry were lying about the Dark Lord, and never mind that dead body Harry had come back with.

Since Sirius' death, Harry had decided that people in general could snuff it, and he didn't care. He had his list, and that small group of people he would care about. It made things easier, and was much simpler then he had expected. After all, wasn't he supposed to be a great caring savior who loved all of humanity or some crap like that? He supposed he could add that to the list of fallacies about Harry Potter: tall, handsome, strait, charismatic, attention seeking, and immortal.

He wondered which divine being, if any such thing existed, took credit for giving him a second life in which he was important without being famous. He supposed he ought to thank them. Unfortunately, there were more important things to be worrying about at the moment then seeming impolite to a creature that might not exist.

Spinner: So what do ya'll think? Tell me! Reviews will make me post faster and make me very happy 