Title: Calcination

Summary - AU, Calcination...The process of disintegrating a substance by the expulsion of some volatile matter. Harry's whole life as been volatile thus far. Why should anything change for his first year at Hogwarts?

Warnings- eventual slash, but the rating is more for violence and language instead of the bunny hop

Note: Where this came from I’m not sure but here it is. Hopefully, from the way it mapped itself out in my head (and when I say it mapped itself out I mean it) it’ll be a complicated retelling of Harry Potter in an AU universe. I know it’s been done before. But we’ll see won’t we. I’ll update as often as I can and threaten me if I don’t. I want to see where this is going to go more than anyone.

Overall Disclaimer- All recognizable characters, spells, locations or items are the work of one J.K. Rowling. I’m simply borrowing them.

Chapter One- In the Night

It was dark in Little Whinging, but 6 year old Harry Potter did not fear the dark. He was cold though. He’d tried waiting outside his Uncle’s house for a while, hoping that he’d be let back in. After 2 hours he’d gotten to the point where he couldn’t feel his feet anymore. He’d learned somewhere that when one moved they were less cold. Harry experienced the truth of this when he got to his feet and began pacing the driveway of Number 4 Privet Drive. After another hour of waiting Harry realized that his Uncle had no attention of letting him back in anytime soon. His knocking and ringing of the doorbell had been ignored.

Harry drew his arms into his overlarge T-shirt and shivered. He gave the locked door a morose look before giving up and walking to the end of the street. He thought fleetingly about knocking on a neighbor’s door but then decided that it wasn’t such a good idea. The Dursleys had made it very obvious that he wasn’t to speak to any of the neighbors and when’s he’d tried anyway he’d been locked in his cupboard for a week without meals.

Harry gave a world weary sigh as he reached the end of Privet Drive and turned onto Wisteria Walk. He didn’t understand why his family didn’t like him. They told him that he needed to do his part around the house and he did whatever they asked him without complaining. In return they did things like this to him. Harry knew that throwing a family member out of the house in the middle of December without even letting him put his shoes on was wrong. Harry knew that most of the things that his Aunt and Uncle did to him were wrong. They never did them to Dudley.

Harry reached the alley leading to Magnolia Crescent and walked through it as fast as he could. He stuck his arms out of his T-shirt long enough to climb over the short fence baring him from the park and made his way to the swings. He settled down on one and shivered again. He knew the police made a habit of driving down Magnolia Road from aunt Petunia, who he’d overheard gossiping about a teenager who’d been arrested at the park for selling smokes to children. Aunt Petunia had seemed very upset at the news and had ranted for a very long time about what awful things kids were doing these days, her son not included. Harry was half hoping a police car would show up so he could be escorted home. He was getting really cold.

Harry wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting there, but by now he couldn’t feel his feet or his fingers at all. He shivered violently and somehow managed to pull his legs up so that he could tuck them into his T-shirt. He gave a little sigh when feeling began to return to his sock covered toes. He sat in silence for a while and looked around him. The houses all looked the same but everything looked very pretty, like the postcards Aunt Petunia sent in the mail at this time of year. He heard the crunching of someone’s shoes over the snow and looked up, thinking that the police had showed up. Instead a woman came out of the darkness and began to walk towards him. She was wearing a heavy looking black coat that reached her knees and thick looking black boots. Harry eyed them enviously and looked away, expecting her to walk past him like everyone else did. He was very surprised when she sat on the swing next to his. He looked up at her in shock and she smiled at him.

“Hello,” she said pleasantly.

“Hi,” Harry said meekly and looked away.

He hoped that she wasn’t one of those teenagers who sold smokes. He didn’t want to get arrested by the police, just taken home by them.

“Why are you out here all by yourself?” the woman asked lightly.

Harry looked up at her again. She seemed nice. She had dark hair and dark eyes but a pale face. But she didn’t look like a police woman. Harry decided to ask just to make sure.

“Are you a police woman?”

She smiled at him but he could tell she was a little confused.

“No. Why? Did something happen to you?”

“No. I just want to go home.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“My Uncle locked me out.” For a moment Harry was afraid he’d get in trouble but since the woman just looked over at him in confusion he decided to explain. “I tripped over a rug in the living room and almost knocked Dudley over. Uncle Vernon got mad at me and said that if I couldn’t stop myself from hurting Dudley then I shouldn’t be around him. So he kicked me out. I wish he would’ve let me put my shoes on though. It’s cold out here.”

The woman was frowning now. “Why do you live with your Uncle?”

“My parents died in a car accident,” Harry said sadly.

The woman’s eyes roamed over his face in silence. Then she raised her eyebrows. Her eyes were on his forehead. Harry flushed and tried to cover it with his fringe. When he looked back up at the woman she was smiling again, but it didn’t look as nice as last time. Harry ducked his head again. The woman reached over and tilted his face up with a cool hand. With the other one she brushed his fringe away, reveling what Harry had been trying to cover up. The woman cocked her head to the side as she examined him.

“That’s a cool scar,” she finally said and released him.

Harry placed his chilled hands over the scar and stared at her in astonishment. “Really?”

“Of course. Not many people have lighting bolt shaped scars on their foreheads. I wish I had one.”

Harry flushed with pride. The woman gave him a long look but then she smiled again. “My name is Lati. What’s yours?”

“Harry Potter,” Harry said, still recovering from the praise for something he’d been told was unnatural for as long as he could remember.

“Mr. Potter may I ask you a question?”

Harry nodded.

“Does your Uncle do things like this often?”

Harry grew uncomfortable again and wrapped his arms around his knees under his T-shirt. Lati watched him carefully for a moment and surprised him by standing, taking her coat off and draping it over him. Harry’s first guess was right; the coat was very warm. He wanted to give it back because now Lati was only wearing a sweater and a pair of jeans. He didn’t want her to get cold. He opened his mouth to tell her that he was fine but the firm look she sent him changed his mind. She sat back down on the swing next to his and looked at him expectantly. Harry looked away.

“Not all the time. Mostly it’s just chores and stuff. If I’m bad they send me to my cupboard.”

Harry looked up at Lati cautiously, but she just smiled again.

“That does not sound fun,” she said firmly. Her smile widened. “How about this Harry—May I call you Harry?” she asked abruptly. Harry laughed and nodded. “How ‘bout this: Every time you get tired of your Uncle you come here. Just call my name and I’ll hear you and I’ll come hang out with you for a while until you’re ready to go back.”

Harry stared at her, happy enough at that moment to hug her. Thinking that she may not like that he restrained himself.

“How would you hear me?”

“Magic,” she said mysteriously with a smile. “Is that a yes?”

Harry nodded enthusiastically.

“Good. I’ll walk you home.”

Harry hopped down from the swing and began to shrug Lati’s coat off. The look she sent him changed his mind again. She motioned for him to lead the way and he did. He climbed over the fence and waited on the other side for Lati. The way she climbed over it seemed much more graceful than the way Harry did and he glared at her enviously. She laughed and placed at hand on his head.

“Don’t worry about it Harry. You’ll grow up and be taller than me just like everyone else.”

Harry looked up at her. He only came up to her waist.

“You’re tall,” he argued as they turned onto Privet drive. “Everyone’s taller than me, even at school.”

“How old are you?” Lati asked seriously.

“Six,” Harry muttered contritely.

“What are you worried about? You have plenty of time to grow. I’ve stopped growing. I’ll be this height forever.”

“You’re tall,” Harry persisted and stopped in front of his house.

Despite not having any shoes on and being very tired, Harry did not want to do inside. He looked up at Lati as sadly as he could. In one night she’d been way nicer than all the Dursleys combined in all the time he’d lived with them. She looked down at him sadly.

“Is this your house?”

“Can I live with you?” Harry asked instead of answering.

Lati shook her head. “Sorry Harry, but remember what I told you. Just go to the swings and call for me if you need me.”

Harry nodded sadly. Lati kneeled down so that he could look at her face without straining his neck. She placed her hands on his shoulders.

“From what you told me about your Uncle he isn’t very nice. I’m sorry about that Harry. I see no reason why anyone would be mean to you. But I’ll always be around when you need me, I promise.”

“You promise?”

Lati smiled and squeezed his shoulders. “I promise.” She looked up at the dark house of number 4 Privet Drive and made a face. “Come on. I’ll make sure you don’t get in trouble.”

She stood and offered Harry her hand. He stared at it for a moment before pushing the long sleeve of the coat up so that he could wrap his fingers around hers. She smiled at him and Harry led the way up the drive to the front door. Lati smiled down at him and rang the doorbell. At first there was no answer. Lati frowned and rang it again and again and again. Finally the hall light was turned on and Harry could hear his Uncle Vernon’s curses through the door. He tugged it open and stuck his plum colored face out into the cold air. He must have been sleeping because he was dressed in his pajamas underneath a bathrobe. Harry wondered what time it was.

“What?” Vernon Dursley snapped angrily.

Lati scowled darkly at him but didn’t answer right away. Instead she looked down at Harry. “Is that your Uncle?”

Harry nodded slowly. Lati sighed sadly. When she looked back up at Vernon her expression was dark.

“I don’t know why your nephew was wandering about at 2 in the morning, in the middle of winter, without any shoes or a coat but I suggest you take better care of him from now on.”

“How dare you say those things to me! The boy never does anything he’d told. How am I to know why he was out this time of night?”

“Maybe if you hadn’t locked him out he’d be inside,” Lati hissed sharply. Vernon opened his mouth to shout but Lati narrowed her eyes and hissed at him. Harry looked up at her, startled, but didn’t let go of her hand. Vernon paled and took a step back. He tried to slam the door in her face but Lati’s free hand held it open. “I’d suggest taking better care of your nephew,” she repeated darkly.

Vernon nodded shakily and ran back up the stairs without looking back. Lati and Harry heard the sound of a door slamming and the loud voices of Harry’s aunt and uncle. Lati looked back down at Harry and ushered him inside. Harry stood on the threshold looking up at her wearily. She gave him that soft smile again. Harry relaxed.

“Do you want to come in?” he asked her.

She smiled and stepped into the house. She ruffled his messy hair fondly.

“I’ll see you Harry,” she said and turned to leave.

Harry stopped her by grapping onto her hand. “What about your jacket?” he asked and gestured to it.

Lati smiled and shook her head. “It’s yours now. I don’t need it.”

“It’s too big,” Harry said and flapped the sleeves of the coat for emphasis.

“It doesn’t matter. Bye Harry. Lock the door behind me.” Lati smiled at him one more time before leaving, closing the door firmly behind her.

Harry did what he was told and locked it behind her. He looked down at the jacket draped over him and found that it suddenly seemed to fit a lot better. It reached his waist and the sleeves had become shorter, short enough for him to have full use of his hands. Harry removed it and stared at it in amazement. He considered hanging it on the coat stand with all the another jackets but changed his mind. If he did that he’d never see it again. Harry walked over to his cupboard and crawled inside. He was really tired and he would have to get up in a few hours anyway to begin his chores.

The coat, he found, made a very good blanket.