Chapter 1 - Making friends

At this time of the day a great many children of Britain were being taken to start another new year at school, those who lived close to their schools would walk it, those who didn't would be taken in the car of a family member or go on a bus or train with their parents, a guardian or somebody else who would look after them, this was not the case for young, eight year old Harry Potter.

His school was fairly far away yet he was walking there on foot, not because he couldn't go on public transportation and not because the people he were living with didn't have a vehicle, no, it was because he was forbidden from going on car, bus or any other method available to him. Forbidden? Why and by who?

The who was his Uncle Vernon, the why was because Harry had made the mistake of burning breakfast today, so for his punishment he had left the house an hour early so he could walk to school.

Harry Potter lived with the Dursley family, made up of his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia and Cousin Dudley. Mr Vernon Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large face that could easily turn shades of red and purple when angry, and in case it wasn't clear, he got angry a lot. Mrs Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbours. While she wasn't as intimidating as Harry's Uncle Vernon, she could still shout and shriek at him for all she was worth and was in no way more hesitant than Uncle Vernon about handing out punishments.

Punishments for Harry was something that the two adult Dursley's nearly always agreed on, Uncle Vernon was fond of the simple 'slap them and give them the belt' method of discipline, but with that being said he was equally happy with using the punishments that Harry's Aunt had come up with. Harry's punishments included extra chores - which was torture since he was already pretty much looking after most of the house and garden by himself - and being locked in the cupboard.

The cupboard being Harry's bedroom, he had been sleeping in there ever since he had first arrived in the Dursley's home. Harry never really knew how he got to be there, all he knew was that his parents had died when he was a year old and he had been sent to live at the Dursley's house. According to his Uncle and Aunt, Harry's parents were drunks who had died in a car crash, but Harry didn't really believe that. Mostly because he didn't really want to believe that his parents were 'drunk idiots' like the Dursley's had called them, but also because he wasn't really sure if he could trust Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia to be right when the two of them thought that Dudley was a smart and well behaved boy.

Dudley Dursley, blonde hair like his mother and a fat stomach like his father, was Harry's cousin and the third person in Harry's life who was responsible for making it a miserable life. Dudley, who was never really punished by his parents, was quickly able to realise that he could do anything to Harry and not get in trouble, in fact most of the time he was easily able to do something to or around Harry and get Harry blamed for it. The adult Dursley's would readily jump to the idea that their precious little son was an angel in human form and anything that went wrong was Harry's fault.

Harry, despite being the same age at Dudley, was massively different in looks. Harry was a small and skinny boy with barely any fat on him, his body wasn't the strongest it could be at his age thanks to the fact that most of the food in the house went to the Dursley's while Harry was allowed the leftovers, he once asked and apparently it didn't matter even if he was the one who made the food, he still had to have the leftovers. Harry's clothes were not brand new and expensive like Dudley, no, they were used clothes that Dudley had grown out of, including his school uniform, which explained why he looked too small for it.

Harry's hair was black as a raven, and was always messy, no matter what was done to try and fix it. His eyes were not blue like Dudley or his Aunt Petunia, no, his eyes were a bright emerald green. They were his best features, and the most noticeable thing about him, the second most noticeable thing about him would be the lightning shaped scar on his forehead. Harry didn't really know how he got it, nor did the Dursley's, but Harry did his best to hide it by covering it with his bangs, he did this because his skinny frame, bad clothes and bad reputation brought him enough unwanted attention as it was.

Harry's bad reputation was the result of not only his appearance, but also the stories that all three Dursley's had spread about him. By the end of his first year at school, everyone was convinced that he was a criminally insane idiot who would eventually be sent to jail. Harry didn't really know what the Dursley's problem with him was, as far as he was aware he hadn't done anything really bad. Harry knew that sometimes weird things happened around him but it wasn't like that was his fault, why on Earth was he being punished?

Harry, as usual was sat at the back of the class, he had quickly realised that that was the best place for him to sit to avoid attention, plus when he was at the back there was no chance for Dudley to throw stuff at the back of his head, the only problem with sitting at the back was the fact that Harry had to rush to get out of the class before Dudley and his friends could.

"Pay attention class," Mrs Roberts, the class teacher said as she stood at the front. "today we have two new students joining our class. Come in." She called, and a second later two new students walked in.

The first was a boy with light brown hair and blue eyes, he carried himself confidently, Harry couldn't help but wish that he had the same level of confidence as the boy. Harry watched as the boy's eyes scanned the room, looking around and taking in each and every detail that he could.

The next person to come in was a girl, she was about a head smaller than the boy. She had red hair that was currently tied up in a ponytail, at first Harry thought that her eyes were brown but upon closer inspection they turned out to be green, though obviously not the same shade as Harry's, her green eyes weren't as bright.

"Class," Mrs Roberts said. "these are our new students, Mr Clint Rushman and Miss Natasha Rushman, please treat them with the respect and kindness they deserve." She said to the class before turning to the two new students, "Now, you two can go and sit wherever you like." she said before she gestured to the class, as if to say 'take your pick'.

The other students exchanged glances, trying to work out who the new kids would end up sitting next to, most of them didn't really want to change their seating, partly because they were used to sitting in their spots but also because they wanted to sit next to their friends.

It was the new girl, Natasha, who moved first, she walked forwards, she looked around before she stopped at the back, stopping right next to Harry.

"Can I sit with you?" She asked Harry. Harry blinked in surprise, the reason behind it was the fact that he was surprised that anybody wanted to sit with him, though he supposed it was probably just because she didn't really know that he was a freak yet.

"If you want." Harry mumbled, looking down at the book on his desk.

"Thank you." She said with a bright smile before she sat down. Harry didn't reply, he could already feel the judging looks from the other students, his head was already filled with possible ways that Dudley would embarrass him or convince this girl that he was a nutcase.

The brown haired boy, Clint, took a seat at the desk next to them.

"Okay class," Mrs Roberts began. "we're going to start this day off with a spelling test." She said, reaching for the papers on her desk and ignoring the groaning and complaining from several members of the class, including Dudley and his friends, she began handing them out to each student before she sat behind her desk. "You have ten minutes, begin." She said before she turned her focus to some documents that were on her desk.

Harry kept his head down and quickly got to work, within seven minutes he was finished. Now he had to look through them all, Harry had learnt rather quickly that if he did do better than Dudley in school then his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would take offense to that, because in their mind that meant that Harry was cheating. Unfortunately for Harry, Dudley was what some people would refer to as a 'dumb-dumb', so that meant that Harry had to act like a 'dumb-dumb'. Harry knew that he had definitely gotten the first one right and the second one right, Harry moved his pen to change the second one.

"That's right." Natasha whispered to him suddenly, Harry blinked and nearly jumped out of his seat since he had briefly forgotten that Natasha was sitting next to him.

"I...I'm sorry?" Harry asked in a quiet voice.

"That one that you were about to change was right, you don't need to change it." Natasha told him. "Actually the only one you got wrong is the seventh one, it has two 'a's, not one 'a'." She added.

"Oh...thank you." Harry said, barely able to hold back on the frown that wanted to come on his face. There goes his plan to change the answers, though he supposed it wouldn't matter too much. It was only one test at the start of the year, it's not like the teachers would tell the Dursley's if he did good on one test, he'd just have to do worse on the next one.

At lunch time Harry had taken his dinner and sat down at one of the tables in the dinner hall, he was rather lucky today since his Aunt Petunia had actually given him money for school dinners since she wasn't able to make him his usual packed lunch (which was normally just a couple of toast and some water, juice if he was lucky).

"Hey," A voice called, Harry looked up and saw the two new kids standing in front of him, each with a tray of food in their hands. Their names were Clint and Natasha if Harry remembered right. "do you mind if we sit here?" Clint asked.

"Um...no, I mean...I don't mind if you sit." Harry replied.

"Thanks." Clint grinned at him, Natasha was the first to sit down, sitting opposite Harry before Clint sat down next to her. "I'm Clint, and that's Nat, what was your name again?" He asked.

"Um, I'm Harry, Harry Potter." Harry answered.

"It's nice to meet you," Natasha said with a smile. "you did really good on the test by the way." She added.

"Oh, thank you." Harry said, his cheeks turning slightly red at the compliment.

"Hey man, after we're done eating do you want to come outside and play football with me?" Clint asked.

"Um...I...I'm not that good at football." Harry admitted in an embarrassed voice.

"That doesn't matter, I'll teach you." Clint said in a dismissive voice, "So, you want to play?" he asked.

"Um..." Harry paused, very surprised that anybody was offering to play with him, he supposed that he might as well enjoy this while he could. "...if you want." He said in a quiet voice.

"Great." Clint smiled, as if not noticing Harry's discomfort.

Later, after they had finished eating, Harry had joined Natasha and Clint outside. Harry had asked Natasha if she would be playing as well but she had declined, saying she'd rather watch, leaving Harry and Clint to play one on one. At the start Harry had been very nervous about playing with Clint, in Harry's past experiences with physical sports he usually ended up dirty or in small amounts of pain, usually both.

But Clint was surprisingly gentle, Harry was actually surprised when he had actually scored a goal. Harry heavily suspected that Clint had actually let him score, but still, it felt nice all the same. Harry was even more surprised when Natasha had clapped and cheered at him, Harry would definitely deny it but his cheeks were as red as a fire engine.

After a few small more turns taking shots at each other, Clint had started helping Harry practise his football skills, Harry knew he wasn't a professional by any means but he did feel like he was much better by the end of it.

Unfortunately near the end of the lunch break, the trio was interrupted by none other than Dudley and his friends.

"What are you doing?" He said, interrupting Harry who had raised his foot to kick the ball, he stopped when he heard the sound of Dudley's voice, he lowered his foot and quickly looked at Dudley and his very amused looking friends.

"I...was just playing football." Harry said in a quiet voice.

"Does a freak like you even know how to play?" Piers Polkiss laughed, he was Dudley's best friend and regularly joined Dudley in tormenting Harry.

"Why are you two even playing with a freak like him?" Dudley asked Natasha and Clint as he gestured to Harry.

"Are you really going to call him a freak when you look like you've eaten other children?" Natasha said with a snort.

"Hey!" Dudley glared at her. "I..."

"Listen up tubby," Clint interrupted. "I..."

"Guy's," Harry said before Clint could say anymore. "just forget it." Harry sighed before he picked up Clint's football and tossed it to him, "don't waste your time on me." Harry said before he walked away, he ignored the laughter that came from Dudley and his friends. He knew that now Clint and Natasha would probably never be friends with, but he did enjoy it while it lasted.

During Harry's next class he was rather surprised when Natasha sat next to him again.

"W...why are you sitting with me?" Harry whispered, confusion evident in his voice.

"Do you not want me to sit with you?" She asked, also whispering.

"I...no...I mean I don't mind if you sit but why do you want to sit with me?" Harry asked, looking bewildered.

"Why wouldn't I want to sit with you?" She asked in a confused voice.

"But Dudley was..."

"You mean the fat guy?" Natasha snorted. "I don't care what the stupid caveman says. You're a much better person than he is."

"You smell nicer too." Clint added as he sat at the desk in front of them.

"Hmm," Natasha paused and sniffed Harry. "hmm, you do smell nicer." She agreed with a grin, Harry couldn't help it, he grinned back.

"Thanks." He said in a quiet voice.

At the end of the day Natasha watched as Harry was actually physically shoved into his Uncle's car by Dudley, anger filled her body when she saw it.

"Nat," Clint whispered into her ear. "calm down, yeah, remember what we need to do."

"I remember," She said in a quiet voice, "that doesn't mean I like seeing him like this."

"You think I do?" Clint asked as he glared at the back of Vernon Dursley, who was sitting in the driver's seat, the man was rather lucky that Clint wasn't able to kill with a single look. "I don't like seeing him like this, Nat. But you know what we have to do."

"Yeah," She said, taking several deep breaths. "I know, we're going to get him out of that house." She said, there was no doubt in her voice, Harry would be getting out of that house, even if she had to pull him out and burn it down with the Dursley's in it.

There were very few things in life that could truly piss off Natasha, messing with Harry was one of them.

A.N: Hi guys, hope you liked the chapter.

Every chapter of this story will be released early for those who support me on pat-reon, I'll be putting new chapters up on that website first and will then upload them on this site at a later is perfectly legal as I am not denying anyone the right to read it, just saying that some people can get it earlier. If anyone's interested in becoming a patron then just type in the pat-reon (spelt with a - because the website blocks the name) website in and then add a slash followed by JB21Q.

Thanks for reading, feel free to leave a review.