A Change of Scenery

This is just an idea I had about how Harry's life could have changed if events in the third story had gone differently and how the events in Harry's life prier to these changes would have made his personality.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, all belongs to J.K. Rowling

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sun began to set on the English suburb. The park started to empty out as the sky grew darker. With each passing moment the laughter in the park died down before becoming completely silent. There was still enough light to see. The boy with the messy black hair decided to stay a while longer.

He sat down on one of the swings, making it move slightly. Making sure there were no children around, the boy took out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. After a puff of smoke escaped from his lips the boy sighed. He really needed this. It had been a while since he was able to come across a pack; however, recently he had become friends with the right people and was now able to get things whenever he wanted.

Brock. Thank goodness for Brock. Brock was the neighborhood go-to-guy. If you were looking for something he could get it. If you wanted drugs, he'd have it the next day; a pack of cigarettes, no problem.

The boy wasn't into the heavy stuff, not yet anyway. For now a few packs of cigarettes would be just fine. He was only twelve, almost thirteen. He knew that he shouldn't be smoking, but at the same time he really didn't care. They helped him relax.

One thing this boy desperately needed was relaxation. His life wasn't exactly care free and happy go lucky. When you're famous, there is always pressure on you.

He was supposed to be their savior or something like that. He laughed when he thought about it. Him, a savior; now that was truly funny. How on earth was a scrawny thirteen-year-old with glasses and messy hair going to save the world from its most feared villain?

It just wasn't practical. Honestly, were these people crazy? How on earth could he actually save anyone when he couldn't even get his own life under control?

Okay, there was that time when he was eleven, but that was just a fluke, right? I mean, He never actually had to do anything to save that stupid stone; the whole thing wasn't really his problem. He just sort of got caught in the moment. Plus, he thought the whole thing had to do with the teacher he hated, he would have done anything to get Snape fired; too bad Snape hadn't been the bad guy.

And there was that time when he was twelve and helped his friend Ron save his sister. I mean, anyone would have done that. Ron was Harry's friend. He just thought he should help Ron out because Ron had helped him with the whole stone thing. He was just paying him back, right?

He was a loner for the most part. He wasn't really unfriendly or anything like that, he just wasn't really interested in other people's crap lately. Ron and Hermione were the closets friends he had; only he had not been a very good friend to them lately.

He met them when they were eleven. He was much friendlier back then, much easier to approach and start a conversation with. But recently he had become cold and distant. He hadn't written back to any of their letter at all this summer. He assumed that they were probably worried.

If Ron or Hermione had ever found out about the smoking they would probably have killed him. He could just imagine it now. Hermione yelling how smoking causes lung cancer and what it does to the rest of your body.

He didn't really care. Can't magic fix cancer anyhow? That's right, magic. Harry Potter wasn't just a regular boy with messy hair and glasses. He was a wizard, and one of the most famous ones to be exact and he went to one of the best wizarding schools around, Hogwarts. Unfortunately the reason Harry was famous doesn't exactly make for the happiest story.

When Harry was a baby his parents were killed by the most powerful wizard of the time, Voldemort. He tried to kill Harry too, only Voldemort's plan backfired. Instead of killing Harry with a nasty curse the tables turned and Voldemort lost most of his powers. Voldemort disappeared from the wizarding world after that day. Many believed him to be dead, but the wise knew he was somewhere out there, somewhere, trying to get back his strength so he could try to come back to power one day.

Harry had two encounters with Voldemort. Once, when he was eleven and he had tried to steal the philosopher's stone so he could come back to power. Harry was able to stop him, though Voldemort still escaped. Then, in Harry's second year Voldemort tried coming back to power through his old journal, luckily for everyone, his attempt was a failure.

School would be starting again for Harry in a few weeks. The only reason he was eager to go back was because it meant he'd be able to get away from his aunt and uncle. After Harry's parents died Harry was sent to live with his mother's sister. Harry's aunt and uncle weren't the nicest of people. They made Harry sleep in a cupboard under the stairs until he was eleven and started Hogwarts. They hated Harry because they hated magic and magic ran through every fiber of Harry's body.

Harry never told anyone about what his life at the Dursleys was like. He would just tell them that they weren't very nice people if anyone every asked about them. Harry kept everything bottled up inside, not wanting anyone to know about his past. The beatings and the mistreatment weren't exactly the nicest thing to bring up in conversation.

Oh yes, there were beatings. Could you expect a family who made their nephew sleep under the stairs be capable of any type of kindness towards him? The beatings had died down quite a bit since Harry started Hogwarts. Maybe it was out of fear because Harry could do magic or maybe it was from fear of someone finding out what as really going on, the Dursleys rarely touched Harry at this point…well, except for last night anyway.

The shirt on Harry's back covered the large bruise. Harry's cousin, Dudley, had gotten mad at him and pushed him into the kitchen counter. The edges of the counter are rather pointy so safe to say, when Harry's thin body smashed into the counter, the result wasn't very nice. Then uncle Vernon punched him in the stomach for making Dudley upset.

Harry sighed as he shifted on the swing uncomfortable. His back was bothering him a little. He felt very stiff. He took another drag of the cigarette and closed his eyes, feeling the tension release from his body.

For a long time, Harry wished he could leave the Dursleys and go someplace else. He'd thought about running away for a long time now, but he knew if he did he'd have no place to go. Harry ran away one time when he was six. He was hiding out in the park when a cop found him and brought him home. Uncle Vernon wasn't very happy with him when the cop brought him back. To this day Harry still has scars on his back from his uncle's belt.

Harry always wondered what it would have been like if he hadn't grown up with the Dursleys. He'd always dreamed of someone showing up one day and just taking him out of there. Before Harry could dwell on his pathetic life any longer a man sat down next to him on the swing and asked, "Aren't you too young to smoke?"

Harry gave the man a strange look that said 'I'll do whatever the fuck I want you crazy bastard'. Harry just shrugged at the man and said, "Doesn't matter."

"I think it does." The man replied

"How nice for you." Harry responded coldly

Who the hell was this guy? Harry had never seen him around the park before. He had black, shoulder-length hair. His face was sort of pale, as though he hadn't been out in the sun for a while. His grey eyes were fixed on Harry. Every time Harry took a drag from the cigarette the man looked like he wanted to rip it right out of Harry's mouth.

The man was wearing a really nice brown leather jacket and leather boots. He had on a white tee-shirt and a pair of jeans. On top of his head was a pair of sunglasses. Harry thought to himself 'What type of person needs sunglasses when it's almost night?"

"So, Harry," The man said, "Are we going to do this the easy way or are you going to be difficult?"

"What are you talking about I-wait; how the hell do you know who I am?" Harry asked as he quickly got off the swing and stepped away from the man, pulling his wand out of his pocket.

The man raised and eyebrow at Harry and said in an amused tone, "Is that really necessary?"

"Who the hell are you and how do you know who I am?"

"Put the wand down, I'm Sirius." The man said, slowly standing up

"Stay where you are, now I'm serious." Harry replied

"No," The man said, "Not serious, Sirius. S-I-R-I-U-S. Sirius Black, I'm here to get you."

"Get me? What the hell does that mean?"

"I'm your godfather. I came to get you, bring you back to my place for the rest of the summer."

"I'm not going anywhere with you, I don't even know who you are." Harry protested

Sirius sighed, "Okay, it was just an offer. I'll just leave you be then. I assumed this would happen. You don't have to come; you can stay with your relatives, its fine. But, if you change your mind, send a letter to Dumbledore; he'll know where to reach me. Well, see you around then, Harry." Sirius said and then walked away leaving Harry to reflect in his own thoughts.

"What the hell just happened?" Harry asked himself when he was alone again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, I'm taking it that it didn't go so well."

"Not quite." Sirius sighed as he took a sip of the beer in his hand, "Naturally he was suspicious and I don't think he really believed what I had told him. I just hope that I sparked his interest enough to try and find me."

"Maybe you should have waited a while before you approached him like Dumbledore had suggested, you know, waited till things quieted down for you." Said the other man. He had brown hair that was speckled gray and honey colored eyes.

"I didn't want to wait. I want him to come live with me. I want him to trust me. I haven't been part of his life for a long time, Remus; I have to make it up to him. Maybe I should have Dumbledore talk to him or something." Sirius said

"You already know how Dumbledore feels about you taking Harry. He's safest with the Dursleys." Remus said, "Dumbledore only agreed that Harry could live with you if you gained his trust that way the wards around your place would be safe."

"I know Remus; I was in the room when the three of us talked about this." Sirius said bitterly

Remus gave him a small smile, "What's he like?"

"Well, he's stubborn, just like Lily and he looks exactly like James but with Lily's eyes. But he has the attitude of his godfather." Sirius said with a half smiled which turned to a frown, "He was smoking."

"Was he now?"

"I wanted to yank the cigarette right out of his hand." Sirius grinned

"If I remember correctly, you smoked at his age." Remus said

"Yeah, but I quit."

"Not on your own."

"I know, but I can't exactly help him stop like you and James helped me if he won't even come near me."

"Harry will need to earn your trust before you can help him."

"I know. I think I'm going to have to tell him about everything." Sirius said

"Everything?" Remus asked

"Everything. Everything from what happened when James and Lily died to now." Sirius said, looking towards the floor, "I want him to understand that I wasn't able to be there for him then, but I want to be part of his life now."

"It's a start." Remus said, "What do you think he's doing right now?"

"Probably having dinner with his aunt and uncle, telling them about the creep in the leather jacket he met in the park."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Uncle Vernon?"

"What boy?"

"Do-er-do I have a godfather?"

"Not that I know of, now clear the table."

"Right." Harry said and started to clear the table. For the rest of the night, Harry's thoughts were on Sirius, and whether or not he should try and contact him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

An: Okay, this is just an idea I had. This is obviously an alternate universe type story.

In the next chapter I'm going to have Sirius and Harry meet up again. I will explain later why Sirius isn't in Azkaban and why everything is okay for him to go walking around in public.

Just too clear things up, Remus and Sirius don't live together, this isn't a slash; they were just talking because Remus knows about the situation and everything like that. So please read and review. I want to know if I should even bother finishing this one.

And I had an idea that I might want to run through this, lets just say, hypothetically of course (wink), if Sirius and Harry were to have a fight, like how parents and kids fight, what do you think Harry would have to do to get Sirius really, really mad?