Once, in the world of the wizards, there was a rare white nine-tailed fox. She was a very curious creature, always sticking her nose in where it didn't necessarily belong. One day, she heard the sounds of shouting humans, and saw brightly coloured lights flashing through the trees. She wanted to know what was causing all the havoc, so she trotted to the destination.

When she arrived, she witnessed two wizards dueling. Entranced by the colours of their spells, she stood by idly to watch them. Then, one of the wizards spells went out of control. The fox's eyes widened in shock as the spell hit her directly in the face, knocking her back and causing her to slip into unconsciousness.

When she awakened, she felt...different. She looked at her paws...They weren't paws anymore! Confused, she looked into a nearby lake for her reflection...and gasped at the sight. She still had her fox ears, and her tails, but other than that, she was now one hundred percent human! Confused and scared, the fox turned human turned and ran, on all fours, as fast as she could, not caring where she was going.

When she arrived to a nearby human village, she was instantly turned away by the villagers, them thinking she was a demon. She found herself chased out of town by an angry mob.

During her travels, she had been met with the same results. But she had managed to make a few friends in curious, innocent children. Ahri had developed an immense soft side for human children. They were so pure and innocent, and they didn't hate her for simply existing.

One day, she came across a kindly old wizard, named Albus Dumbledore. Taking pity on the young woman, he offered to help her blend in to human society. She still had a little bit of natural magic inside of her, so he taught her a spell that allowed her to hide her tails and ears from view.

Grateful to the man, Ahri decided to start a new life in the Muggle world. She'd managed to attain a job as a waitress at a successful diner, her good looks being the main selling point, and earning her plenty of money to get by. She was blending in to the public...even if she still has the tendency to act on her more fox-like instincts from time to time. And Dumbledore still comes to check on her monthly.

It was just another evening at the diner that Ahri worked at. About an hour before her shift ended, she went to take the order of a family that just arrived.

Ahri smiled pleasantly as she approached the table she was to wait. Her lips curled upwards in amusement when she saw what appeared to be a walrus, a giraffe and a beach ball gathered around the table.

"Hello, I'm Ahri and I'll be your waitress for the evening. Would you like drinks before ordering?" Ahri recited for the trio. The second that the walrus started talking, Ahri knew she was going to have one of those nights.

"Yes, bring us the best wine you have, and for our Dudders, a glass of apple juice. And make it snappy!" Ahri's eye twitched. She wasn't a fan of the way the man was talking to her...But, alas, she had to take the fat man's order. It was her job, after all. So, wordlessly, she turned and went to grab the drinks.

But as she was walking away, her sensitive hearing picked up their conversation. "I still can't believe that little freak burnt the dinner." The man growled lowly so no one else would hear.

"I know dear... That little ingrate can't do anything right." The Giraffe woman replied.

"You hit him real good dad." The little obese child said obnoxiously, causing all three of them to laugh.

The fox stiffened when she heard those words come from the child's mouth, and the rest of the family's reactions. What in the world were they talking about?

She was snapped back into reality when she felt something hit the back of her head. She turned to see Dudley had thrown his fork at her.

"What are you doing, woman?!" Vernon snapped. "What do they pay you for?! Bring back Dudley's fork, and stop standing around and get our drinks already!"

"Right away sir." Ahri said with a forced smile as she picked the fork up and fetched them their drinks. "Here you all are, one wine bottle with two glasses and a glass of apple juice for the young sir." Ahri said with a sickly sweet tone.

"Now, what will you have to eat?" Ahri said, still trying to keep up her sweet tone.

"Steak and potatoes." Vernon said in a demanding tone.

"A salad. I'm watching my figure." Petunia requested curtly.

"I want a burger and fries." Dudley demanded rudely.

"Alright, then." Ahri said as she took out a pen and notepad and wrote their orders down. " I'll bring your food to you when it's ready." She said before turning and walking away. Her face contorted to one of suspicion and anger as she headed to the kitchen.

Ahri glared at the family from the kitchen. Not only were they an absolutely unbearable nuisance, but they had mentioned a "freak" being hit. This resonated deeply with her...She too had been called a freak and abused simply because she looked different. She decided...she'd use her sensitive ears to eavesdrop on the family while she waited for the food to cook.

Thankfully it was a slow night and there wasn't to many people to wait on.

As she eavesdropped on them, her suspicions and fears increased as the Walrus started planning out things he would do to the 'freak' when they get home, All of them sounded horrible...

"First, I think I'll hit him with my old cricket bat a few times. It's falling apart, maybe he'll get some splinters." Vernon chuckled evilly at the thought. "Maybe I'll make him drink the chemicals again... Or burn him on the stove... I could break a few bottles over his wortless little head... We've been too soft with him, you two. If we want to beat the freakishness out of him, we have to go all out!"

"You're absolutely right, dear." Petunia said gleefully. "We need to be much harder on him to get the freakiness out of him."

'They're not human...What ARE these monsters?!' Ahri thought to herself as she continued to listen. She was so enclosed by what she was hearing, that she all most didn't hear that their food was ready.

The cook waved his hand in front of her face, finally getting the fox's attention. She blinked in surprise, then turned to the annoyed cook.

"Ahri, the food's been ready for almost a minute now. Stop staring at those people and get it over there." Ahri shook her head and nodded.

"Of course...Sorry..." Ahri grabbed the trays of food and carried them over to the waiting family.

She made it over to there table while trying to hide the pure rage and disgust she felt for them. "Here your fo-" Ahri started to say before getting interrupted by the angry Vernon.

"About time you brought our food!" Vernon bellowed. "Bet you were just standing around again, you poor excuse for a waitress!"

Ahri had to stop herself from dropping his plate on his head. "My apologies sir, it won't happen again." Ahri said as she placed their food in front of them. Vernon scoffed at her as he picked up his fork and knife. "Don't expect a tip from us. " Vernon told her as he started to cut his stake.

'Like I'd want to take money from swine like you...' Ahri thought to herself, still smiling a fake smile. "Very good sir, will that be all?" Ahri asked in a sickly sweet tone again.

"Yes, now leave us be!" Vernon snapped. "We'd like to eat our meal in peace, thank you very much!"

Ahri wanted to strangle the bastard so bad...It took every ounce of willpower she had to not just lunge at him and wrap her fingers around his chubby throat and cut off his air supply until he passed away...

She decided. The instant her shift was over, she was going to call the police on her cell phone. And then, she was going to follow them to their home.

Luckily, a few minutes before her shift was over, they were done eating and she brought them there bill.

"Here you go sir, I hope that you had a pleasant dinner." Ahri told them, mentally getting ready to start her plan. Vernon sneers as he took the bill and read what he owed, then put the appropriate amount of money on the table.

Ahri glared at the Dursley's backs as they left the building. The moment they were gone, she pulled out her phone, then froze. The police couldn't really help her if they didn't know where they lived... But if she followed them home and found out where they lived, she'd be able to get the cops on them in no time. With a smirk, she snuck out into the bushes. Her magic enhanced her speed greatly, allowing her to keep up with a car moving at an average speed. As such, she followed the Dursley's on foot, stealthily keeping out of their line of sight.

After 20 minutes of following their vehicle, they pulled into the driveway of what Ahri assumed to be their house, and the fox watched them get out.

"Well poppet, it's time for the little freak to get punished for making us have to go out and eat.' Vernon said as he stormed to the front door.

"Can I help, Daddy?" Dudley asked excitedly as he waddled behind his giant father.

Ahri wasted absolutely no time in pulling out her phone. Immediately, she dialed 911.

"Hello, 911, what's your emergency?"

"Hello, I think there's a kid being abused at..." Ahri looked at the address. "...Number Four Privet Drive."

"What makes you think this?"

"I heard three of his relatives talking about it. They said they were going to..." She took a deep breath and explained everything to the woman on the other end of the line.

"...I see. We'll send in the police as soon as possible."

"Okay, but I don't think I can wait that long. I'm going to go in and save the kid."

Before the woman could protest that it wasn't safe, Ahri hung up and slipped her phone into her skirt pocket as she waited for the three Dursley's to get inside. The second they walked into the door and slammed it shut, Ahri made her move and stealthily made her way to their window and peeked in. What she saw on the other side shocked her to no end.

The walrus was towering over the tiniest child she had ever seen in her life...And the little boy was cowering as a blunt object slammed into his back multiple times...

Vernon had made good on his idea to use the cricket bat on the "freak". And the old bat had, in fact, left large chunks of wood sticking out of the little boy's back...

Ahri's maternal and primal instincts completely overtook her as her lips curled back in a snarl directed at Vernon. She leapt away from the window, and with a mighty lunge, she burst through the window and into their living room.

She landed perfectly, crouched on all fours. In her fit of rage, she had dropped her spell, revealing her fox ears and nine large white tails. The lighting was dim, making the fox woman look downright demonic. And she pointed a glare directly at Vernon, snarling all the while.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" Vernon yelled in surprise at seeing this... this thing that had destroyed his window. He tried to swing his bat at her, but she easily caught it and crushed it like it was nothing.

Ahri snarled as she rose to her feet. She created a small ball of flames in her hand, then let it fly, nailing Vernon in the chest and launching him back. The pain of the heat was so intense, it knocked the man unconscious almost instantaneously.

She wanted nothing more than to tear into him... but she stopped herself. The child was more important at the moment. She looked to where the little boy was to see him barely conscious, with lots of splinters in his back. She could hear small whimpers that tugged at her heart strings.

Standing tall, the young woman slowly approached the child, and tentatively reached out to place a hand on his back. He flinched and whimpered. It hurt Ahri to see an innocent child in such condition...

Those splinters had to go, she decided. Slowly, and carefully, she began pulling the large chunks of wood out of the child's back. He yelled out in agony every time. Ahri stroked his head.

"Shh...I know it hurts...I know..."

She continued to give him comforting words while removing the splinters. Every time he winced, yelled out, or whimpered from the pain, Ahri felt pain going through her heart.

After a few minutes, all of the splinters were gone and Ahri couldn't have been happier. But her happiness was short lived when heard the sounds of a shotgun being loaded. She looked over to see the fat man's wife pointing a shotgun at her head.

"GET OUT OF OUR HOUSE, YOU FREAK!"

Ahri trembled with rage. This brought back bad memories of her time spent when she first attained her human form... Slowly, she turned to glare darkly at Petunia, her golden eyes mere slits. Petunia whimpered and staggered back, dropping her gun at the whithering glare Ahri sent her.

Then Ahri pounced.

She landed on Petunia's chest and held her arm to her throat. Petunia started to cough from the weight. "Get-Get off me you monster!" Petunia gasped out.

Ahri growled menacingly, sounding almost like a wild dog. Without another word, she planted a fist firmly into the ugly woman's face. Not content with simply knocking her unconscious, she decided to disfigure the other woman by clawing at her face violently, leaving nasty scars that would not fade any time soon.

Sighing with exhaustion, she turned back to look at the child. He was now curled up in a corner. Ahri immediately stood, intent on scooping him into her arms, no matter what.

She walked over to him and took him into her arms, only for him to start squirming desperately. His squirming made it hard for her to keep him steady in her arms. She didn't know what to do at first... until she remembered what her own mother did for her when she was upset. With this in mind, she started to lick his scalp with her tongue.

Harry could feel something warm and wet scraping along the top of his head.

Harry slowly opened his eyes, and looked up at the pretty fox-eared lady, utterly baffled by what she was doing. Was she...licking him? He didn't think that was something normal people did... Then again, she did have fox ears...and it did feel rather calming... Wordlessly, Harry snuggled further into the woman's arms, enjoying the soothing sensation of the embrace.

Ahri saw that he was loving her displays of affection, and couldn't help but feel warm inside. She continued to lick his head... until she froze..

'Wait...That's not human...' Ahri thought to herself, remembering that she was trying to blend in with humans, and licking people's head isn't considered socially acceptable.

Blushing slightly in embarassment, she realized that her fox features were also in plain sight. With a quick flex of concentration, her ears and all nine of her fluffy white tails disappeared, leaving her looking like a normal human being once more.

With that out of the way, she looked down at the child. He was looking up at her almost disappointed that she stopped licking him. She frowned.

What was that thing human females did for their children rather than licking their heads?

After a moment's thought, she remembered that they kiss their foreheads. She smiled as she moved her lips closer to his head and planted a kiss in the middle of his forehead.

'Why is she being so nice to me?' Harry thought. 'Freaks like me shouldn't be taken care of like this...'

After letting her lips linger on the child's forehead for a few moments, Ahri finally pulled away and smiled tenderly down at the scared child. He looked up at her sadly, and her face fell.

"...Wh-Why?" Harry asked softly.

"Why what, sweetie?" Ahri replied gently, messing with a strand of his hair.

"...Why don't you hate me? I'm a freak...You should hit me..."

She paused and looked at him, shocked.

"I could never hurt someone so young as you." Ahri said with a sad frown before perking back up. "Besides, you're just the cutest little thing." After she said that, she gave him another kiss to the head.

Harry was stunned. She didn't hate him...She though he was...cute? But...

"But I'm not cute..." He said quietly. "I'm a stupid, ugly freak and no one will ever love me."

Ahri looked at him, her face absolutely heartbroken. "Did that fat monster tell you this?" Ahri asked him, in which he nodded his head yes in response. "Well he's wrong. Everything he has ever did to you is wrong, and he's about to get what's coming to him." Ahri told him.

As if to emphasize what she said, police sirens could be heard approaching.

Ahri looked out the window with a pout. "Well it's about time! I already did most of the work for them!" Harry was frightened by the loud noises.

"Um...M-Miss? What's happening?" Ahri shushed him.

"It's okay. They're not gonna hurt you. They're just here to take the walrus and the horse away..."

"Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon...?" Harry asked softly. "Then what's gonna happen to me?"

Ahri just looked at him, not completely sure what was going to happen to him. They would probably put him in a foster home where he would be given away to some random people who could be just as bad or worse then the Dursley's.

Ahri gritted her teeth at the thought. No...She would not let that happen! She needed to make sure he was living in a safe, loving home where he could grow up happily, loved and cared for by his guardian. Then, she had a thought. Her eyes widened, and a smile creeped across her face...

Harry looked at her confused. Then, she spoke.

"I'm going to apply to be your guardian." Ahri said much to Harry's shock.

"R-Really" Harry asked timidly.

Ahri tightened her grip around the little boy and nuzzled the top of his head.

"REALLY really." She cooed softly before licking his head again, and instantly realizing her mistake and correcting it with a kiss to the cheek.

Harry couldn't believe that someone wanted him. Him of all people! He felt a few tears escaping from the bottom of his eyes as he hugged her neck.

Then the police broke open the front door.