Ok, so I decided that I'm just writing a chapter out of this and continue with more ideas or add more on to this as I go along. (Since I have no idea where this is going to go...)

Title: A Mother Like no Other
Rating: I'm keeping this rated T for now and might go to M later
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, belongs to JK Rowling. Although she's never adding obvious slash into hers.
Warnings: slash of LV/HP, Gray!Harry, slash doesn't appear until later in the story though.

For now, just enjoy the story with some peanuts and popcorn. Peanuts and popcorn? It's good.

Sorry, the last comments was from my good friends (your only good friend is me shut up before I eat you ohh scary) and they're having a little...lovers' spat.

HEY! Stop interupting and let them read.

"Maggie! Can I get some ice cream?" Little five-year Harry Potter asked, using his I'm-an-innocent-little-boy voice.

Margaret Torrent mock-glared down at the boy whilst smiling gently, "Have all the manners I taught you suddenly disappeared? What's the magic word, Harry?"

Harry giggled and pretended to think it over, "Gimme?"

Margaret chuckled. "Alright, you little monster. If you're not saying the magic word, I guess I'll have the ice cream all by myself." She taunted him and internally laughed at the sight of his eyes widening in childish horror.

"No, wait! Please, please, please! There, I said it!" the boy exclaimed as he jumped from his seat to watch the plastic spoon scoop some of the chilled treat and lift towards the woman's mouth.

She laughed wholeheartedly, "Okay, Okay, Harry. Here." She handed the cone to the boy, along with another spoon.

She knew that he'd deserved the treat; he would always smile thankfully for every cone, every swirl, every bite. It saddened her to see him eat everything like it would disappear before he'd had a chance to eat any. It was like watching a starved boy eating his last meal…scratch that, it was.

They had gone shopping that morning for all things Harry would need as a child and so far, they'd only gotten half of it all. Of course, they'd stayed in Muggle London for the simple reason of Harry knew nothing of the wizarding world and Margaret was just too exhausted tending to the hyper-active child to tell him.

She was angered by the thought. The nerve of those horrid relatives of Harry's…beating him, starving him, trapping. He was just a boy for Pete's sake! When she'd rescued him from that home, he was barely conscious and just about half-dead. She'd been walking by when she heard his screams and acted on her motherly instincts. Being a witch, luckily, allowed her to help the horrid people forget they even knew Harry Potter as she took the child and Apparated away.

It's been a week and Harry becoming more accepting of his new adoptive mother. She would smile and hug him and say nice things. She would hold him when he had nightmares and she always smelled of a roasting fire and vanilla, like what he thought a home should smell of.

Of course, there were times when Harry grew hot-tempered or cynical, which Margaret had berated him for speaking in such a manner. There were times when Harry cried over his parents or cried because he needed to and she would gently pat his head, rock him back and forth and whispering soft encouragements in his ear.

Harry Potter then decided that he liked Margaret (As a mother, of course. Get your mind out of the gutter.) despite the fact that she a little too blunt about everything. Margaret was delighted that her son suddenly came up to her to hug her and say, "I love you, Mom." before running out to play with his toy soldiers in the garden.

Margaret vowed to protect the child with her life and teach him in the most unprejudiced and unbiased manner there was. The problem was – and she knew that there would be – he was Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, Savior of the Light, the rest of the wizarding world would not take kindly to her teachings. After a day of hard and serious thinking, Margaret came to her motto.

Screw what the others think. Do what you gotta do.

And with that, Margaret began to teach little Harry Potter about the wizarding world.

"So…I'm a wizard?" Harry asked, tilting his head cutely to one side.

His mother nodded, "Yes, just like I'm a witch." In order to prove it, she waved her wand and the tray of biscuits and tea floated in from the kitchen.

Harry watched, amazed and took one of the biscuits, sniffing it delicately before nibbling on it. He was losing his appetite because this curious conversation. "And there's something called the wizarding world…"

Once again, Maggie nodded. "You're a part of it, Harry and you'll need to know this."

Harry seemed lost as he tried to digest this information. "So does that mean I can fly and…and do magic?"

She laughed, "I guess that's one way to put it, yes."

"And…there's a war right now…in the wizarding world…between the Light and the Dark?"

Her expression grew serious, "Yes…"

"Maggie, are we good or bad?"

His mother sighed and looked at him with dark, sad eyes. "Harry, the Light and the Dark are different but not because one is good and the other is bad. The Light wants us to talk more with humans and the Dark want nothing to do with them really. The Dark prefers dark spells while the Light doesn't like them."

"Dark spells are dangerous right?"

Margaret thought it over before answering, "All spells are dangerous, Harry. It depends on how you use them that truly will hurt them. Even simple spells can kill, and those that aren't careful…might."

She stared at Harry so seriously, he shivered against the hidden emotions behind it. "Everything depends on the caster Harry, everything depends on the one who did the spell."

For two years, she taught him, everything she could about politics, the Light side, the Dark, magic, the history of his family, his parents, and most of all, him. She would tell him rules and idioms, all the quotes she held important and Harry absorbed everything like a sponge and ever so often, would ask questions about the war, never finding it curious that Margaret knew so much.

On one of his birthdays, Harry received many presents including a Chocolate Frog. He tore at it eagerly, not what it was, and a brown frog jumped out and landed in Margaret's sinfully delicious chocolate cake. She said nothing, but plucked the frog from the frosting and tore off one of its legs. Harry watched, immensely shocked as his mother, who loved all the creature of the world, tore off the other leg and handed it to Harry.

He quietly grabbed it and looked at it in horror while watching Maggie eat the other leg. The witch laughed, "It's chocolate, go ahead and eat."

Cautiously, he took a small lick at the padded foot and his emerald green eyes sparkled. It tasted delicious, so creamy and chocolaty. The boy gobbled it up ravenously and stared down at the card before him.

"Albus Dumbledore?"

Margaret's face flushed with anger at the name. "Headmaster of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry and a conniving, controlling man." She seethed. Her lavender eyes narrowed before she took a deep breath and smiled at Harry who stared at her in confusion. "Don't worry about it, Harry. Open the rest of your presents."

Harry wasn't one for simply forgetting something that happened. Instead, he headed into the library and knuckled down to find everything he could about Albus Dumbledore. What he found was not liked at all. Dumbledore was a two-faced devil with no backbone. He was suspicious of others and often passed on his suspicions to his supporters. He would control others as pawns like part of a chess game, saying everything he'd done was for the 'Greater Good.' Harry wasn't sure what the greater good meant, but he was certain he wouldn't like it.

A couple of weeks before his 11th birthday, Harry was shocked as he'd suddenly received a letter. Margaret grew extremely excited as she woke him at six in the morning just to open it, talking about magic and secrets.

When Harry was conscious enough, courtesy of Maggie who threatened to have him recite potions ingredients alphabetically, he ripped open the letter with the eagerness of a child and read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Harry Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Sincerely,

Minverva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

The witch cooed, "Oh this will be so much fun! We'll need to get you the school uniform and of course, the books, the wand...Perhaps an owl as well…Harry, dear? Are you alright?"

Harry nodded weakly; the thought of going to a new school full of people he didn't know was appalling. He knew that as the Boy-Who-Lived, he would be forced into many things, though some might not be things he agrees with. His head drooped as he remained silently in his seat.

Margaret sighed and hugged the boy close. "You'll turn out alright, just try it as an experience. Remember, you still have those lessons I gave you." She smiled excitedly, blackened eyes shining. "Come on then, it's time to get you your school supplies."

Harry nodded followed Maggie out as they walked to Diagon Alley. He honestly didn't want to go near Albus Dumbledore, not even with a ten-foot barge pole. The headmaster was planning to have him save the world, he just knew it! But if he'd learned anything from Maggie – which he did – it was this:

Lesson 16: Everything is something you decide to do, and there is nothing you have to do.

Well that's the end.
Indeed.
How about we get some champagne to celebrate? Maybe a little dancing...

...Let's just have them review eh? Please review and any suggestions on which year Harry should meet Tom in his human form would be greatly appreciated. Thank you again for reading.

Before I forget, the quote at the end for Lesson 16 was from Denis Waitley.

~Wings Over Wealth