A/N :The characters, references and majority of the plot all belong to J.K. Rowling and I make no money or gain anything from this other than for my own pleasure. This is my first ever published story and I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to read, review and comment. Any constructive comment and review is welcome and I am more than happy to take any helpful criticism into account.

Chapter 1 – Discovery

It had been a number of years since the quiet and normal neighbourhood had been awoken to the sound of a new voice. One that belonged to a child of only a year old and had almost immediately been treated as if it were a plague by everyone. After five years, very little had changed at Number Four Privet Drive. The once neat and tidy lawns of the neighbourhood had remained so, the old families had only grown older. But in Number Four, things were anything but prim and proper. Inside the small four bedroom house, one would be forgiven for thinking that there were only three people who resided within its confines. There, on a mild summer evening, a small boy was writhing in pain, trying to get himself loose as his over grown pig of a cousin sat on his chest; slowly crushing the air from his lungs. The small raven haired boy's face barely resembled him. His face had been beaten bloody, and his arms and legs supported severe bruising and were twisted into odd angles. While the small defenceless boy writhed in agony, the fat cousin laughed and brought the iron poker down on to any part of his tiny victims' body as he could. Hand, fingers, toes; nothing was left untouched, nothing was not bruised.

It was during this beating that there was a ring at the door. The fat boy quickly threw the bloodied instrument to the side, wiped his hands on his little victims' already dirty and blood stained shirt and hurried to the door. As he did this, he made sure to stamp particularly hard onto the small boys' throat to prevent him from making too much noise. The raven haired boy just lay there, unable to move from the excruciating pain he felt in his arms, legs, chest, face and throat. He could hear the voice of a stranger at the door with an accent he had never heard before. With all his might, he tried to make any sound he could. Anything that might bring some help for him. But the pain of his bruised throat made it almost impossible to breathe let alone speak. He prayed his little whimpers of pain would be enough for him to be saved from his torment.

As the evening had worn on, the middle aged gentleman found his car had broken down. He walked down the street in hopes to find some form or help. He found a small neighbourhood with neat lawns and gardens, and promptly walked up to the fourth door. Once he rang the doorbell, he was greeted by a large fat boy with barely any neck and a large amount of sweat on his red face.

"Bonjour." greeted the middle aged gentleman. "My name ees Alain. Unfortunately, my car just broke down outside of your neighbourhood and I was wondering whezer or not I could use your telephone."

"My parents aren't in so no, go away." Panted the slightly exhausted and angry boy.

The gentleman was about to leave when he heard a sound. A sound that he had heard far too many times and one that would go usually go unnoticed by any other individual. But from his training and experience as a medical man, he had heard it too many times to ignore. He knew it was a cry for help. Pushing the fat boy aside with as much force as he could, the man found himself in the living room, staring in horror at the sight of the small bloody mess that was once a boy. He quickly lent down and gently placed his index and middle finger on the boys' neck. Satisfied he was still alive, he quickly checked the extent of the injuries before gingerly lifting the boy and pushed pass the fat lump that tried to get in his way.

When the small raven haired boy had finally began to regain consciousness, he heard the voices of two men. Not wanting his uncle to find he was actually alive and awake, he kept his eye closed and used his other senses to feel where he was. He could smell the unmistakable scent of cleaning products; the very air seemed to be sterile and clean. Harry knew he was not in Number Four and the voices did not belong to any he knew. When Harry opened his eyes, he saw the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his young life. She was about his age, had silvery blond hair and bright blue eyes; but it was her smile that she had on her face that made him forget the pain in his arms and legs, but then it brought a feeling of shame and deep fear.

"Well, I'm glad you're finally awake. My name is healer Asante. You've been unconscious for quite some time." Said the man wearing a long white coat, with the insignia of a cross on his left coat breast. He still had a strange accent that the boy just couldn't recognise. "How are you feeling?"

The boy said nothing. He was both scared and shocked to find someone ask a question like that.

Seeing his reaction, the healer smiled a reassuring smile and walked around from the foot of the bed to the side. "It's alright, your safe now. Could you tell me your name?"

"I'm Harry…Harry Potter." Replied the boy, now extremely frightened.

"It's nice to meet you 'arry." Said the healer, still smiling and trying to make Harry feel safe. "Zis ees a safe place. No one can 'urt you 'ere. zis man saved you. I zink I'll let you get better acquainted." With that, he stepped back to the foot of the bed and stood there reading from a clip board before walking away.

A middle aged man with wavy brown hair and light hazel eyes, smiled warmly at Harry and stepped closer to him. "Hello 'arry. My name is Alain Delacour, and as ze 'ealer just told you, I did take you away from zose people." Said Alain. "I think you have already met my eldest."

"Hello 'arry. I'm Fleur." She said warmly. "Are you alright?"

He couldn't help but feel more and more anxious and could only nod sheepishly before asking the only question he felt confident enough to ask. "Please sir, where am I?"

"We are in what you could call a hospital." Replied Alain. "When I found you, you were unconscious and had severe injuries. We needed to get you some help. Right now we are in France."

"France?" asked a shocked Harry.

"Oui, we are French and needed to return after a small get together with some family members and then I had some car trouble outside your door. When I found you, I took you to a hospital in England before requesting you be transferred to a French one. I don't want you to have to go back zere. Tell me do you have any other relatives?" Asked Alain.

Harry lowered his head solemnly and shook it. "That was my family. I think I have to go back there. I don't have anyone else."

At this the young Delacour flared up in anger. "Non!" She cried. "You will not go back to zat place! Papa can't we adopt 'im?" She was more begging that asking.

"Ma chérie, we can't adopt him fully. But I have asked the lawyers to make the necessary paper work to take him in as our foster child." Said Alain with a smile. " 'arry, you will never need to go back to zat place eef you don't want to." Alain placed a warm gentle hand on Harry's shoulder to re assure him that he was safe, that he was never going to have go back there. At this, Harry could only feel tears forming in his eyes and rolled down his face. He felt the warm engulfing hug of the strange French man and then another embrace of the young strange French girl. Harry kept crying tears of pure joy for many more minutes before the Healer returned, along with another woman with silvery blond hair, holding a small child.

" 'e is awake. Why is 'e crying?" Asked the new woman.

"Ma chérie, please meet 'arry. 'arry, may I introduce, ma femme, er wife Appoline, and zis," he said taking his youngest from his wife. "is Gabrielle. Dire bonjour Gabrielle."

"Bonjour 'arry." Smiled the little child.

"Now 'arry, you stay here with our girls. We just need to ask the healer some questions." Said Appoline warmly after the slight look her husband gave told her enough to not pursue the question. Both Alain and Appoline left the room to speak to the Healer, leaving Harry alone with both Fleur and Gabrielle. Harry sat there and gazed from girl to girl but never made a noise. When the elder Delacours returned a few minutes later; they smiled at Harry.

" 'arry, I have just asked our solicitor and 'e says zat we are now your guardians. Ze healer says you are fine to leave now. Would you like to come home wiz us?" Asked Appoline kindly.

Harry broke down in tears and hugged her and sobbed into her shoulder, nodding his head. As they walked outside to the car, Appoline made a suggestion to her husband. "I think we should go get something for 'arry to wear before we get home. We can't have him wearing nothing but these rags."

"Oui, I think you are right." Replied Alain. " 'arry, are you hungry?"

At the mention of food, Harry's stomach gave an ungodly rumble. Harry nodded timidly, almost afraid to answer. Seeing this, Appoline frowned with concern.

"I zink we should get something light to eat, zen we will go to get some clothes for Harry and the girls." Said Appoline. She looked at Harry in a way he had never been looked at before. It was almost as if a mother was looking at her own child with concern. He felt strange. He had always expected scorn, or anger or anything other than the look of concern and motherly love that seemed to come from her gaze. This only made Harry more anxious and slightly embarrassed, but those feelings left him when they got to a small little restaurant near a river. There they ate a small lunch which made Harry smile for the first time in a long while.

"So tell us 'arry, how old are you?" asked Alain.

"I'm six sir." Harry replied.

"My you're nearly a man then." Appoline joked. "Could I ask, have you been to school yet?" Appoline knew from what her husband had told her, that Harry was abused by his last family. But she was very surprised at his answer.

"Yes. My Aunt and Uncle sent me to school, but I never really liked it there. My cousin went there as well." Harry looked down at his plate. He hated his relatives but was always told that they were all he had.

"Oh, I see. You don't have to go to school just yet. You can stay at home and we'll find you a school you'll definitely love."

"Can... can I ask if I can go to school in France?" Asked Harry shyly. "I like school. I just don't like the people in my last one."

"Of course 'arry." Said Appoline with a warm smile. "We're your family now. But first, let's get you some clothes."

For some reason that Harry could not understand, Mr Delacour had a mixed expression of fear and pity on his face when he looked at Harry. Soon Harry found out the reason. At every shop the ladies wondered in, pulling shirt after shirt, jeans after jeans, and pushing Harry into the nearest fitting room to try them on. At every item that was pulled off the rails, Harry protested, saying that he was fine with only a small number as he was only a small boy. None of the protests seemed to have been heard or at least was disregarded.

"Nonsense Harry. This you need clothes, they are important. You wouldn't want to go to your new school wearing what you were wearing before, would you?" Asked Appoline kindly. Harry knew she was right and let the ladies choose his clothes and even learnt a few hints and tips on fashion from his new foster sisters and mother.

"I am sorry 'arry. Zey get like Zis whenever shopping is involved. Trust me and just go along with eet." Whispered Alain to Harry. After a while Alain told them it was getting late and that they still needed to get Harry settled at their home. At this, Harry could feel his heart start pounding faster in excitement. Appoline agreed, saying that they had the bare necessities for a couple of months at least. At this Harry and Alain both shared a look of pure fear as they struggled to hold the boxes and bags of clothes; if this was what the female Delacours thought was just the bare necessities, then Harry knew he didn't want to know what they would be like in a few months' time.

The return journey to the Delacour house was quite long. It had been such a tiring day, Harry could feel his eyes droop slightly and his mind going to semi-consciousness. When they had arrived, Harry's eyes almost popped out of his head in surprise. They hadn't mentioned their house before, but he knew this was not a house. It was the size of a mansion. The walls were made of many yellow stones and rocks with large windows that went from the floor to the ceiling. There was a huge garden with a drive way that led to the front door. On the beautiful front lawn, there were statues of figures and creatures that had been cut into the bushes. Large patches of flowers of every colour lined the side of the lawn, there were more species of flowers than Harry could count. The front door was made of a light brown wood, simple in design but beautiful and inviting. As Harry entered the "house", his head turned to every direction. There were comfy looking sofas and chairs littering the room, next to them were small tables and coffee tables made of iron and glass. Against a wall was a magnificent stone fireplace with marble and wood finishing's. There were doorways off to the sides leading to other parts of the house and a spiralling stair case leading up. He felt almost too dirty to be there.

"Welcome home 'arry." Said Alain. Harry was left speechless as he looked around the most beautiful house he had ever seen. Suddenly, a three small skinny creature wearing what looked like white shirts that was several sizes too big appeared before them with popping noises, causing Harry to involuntarily jump.

"Bienvenue à la maison Monsieur et Madame." Squeaked one of the creatures.

"Merci Margot. Ceci est Harry , il va vivre avec nous à partir de maintenant." Said Appoline. "Sorry we never warned you before Harry. This is Margot, Zoe and Liliane. They are our house elves and take care of us. I know you want to know what is going on but I think we should discuss it at dinner. Fleur, why don't you show Harry to his new room."

"Oui Maman. Come 'arry." Fleur said taking Harry's hand, pulling him towards the stairs. "Ze first floor is where Maman and Papa sleep. Papa has a study 'ere and we have a couple of guest rooms."

"Does that mean I'm sleeping on this floor?" Harry asked curiously.

"Non." Fleur replied with a smile. "Of course not. You are not a guest." She turned fully to face Harry, getting closer to him than he was used to. "You are part of the family now. Maman and Papa both see you as family now."

Harry looked into her blue eyes and could see she was telling the truth. Almost as if she wanted him to be part of the family. He nodded in agreement before Fleur closed the distance and gave her new foster brother a very warm hug and a slight squeeze. Fleur had never admitted it to anyone, but she had always wanted a brother. While she was strong willed and more than capable of handling any boy who had any thoughts of messing with her, she still liked the idea of someone there to protect her so she didn't like having to always doing it.

"So if your parents sleep on the first floor, where do you and Gabrielle sleep then?" Harry asked when they separated from the warm hug.

"The three of us sleep on ze second floor. And Maman and Papa should have already sent one of our house elves with all your new clothes up to your room."

When they reached the second floor, the long hallway lead to both sides. As Harry looked, he counted about six bed rooms on this floor. Fleur guided Harry to the right and showed him where he would stay. Inside was plain white and felt unused. There was a large desk and a couple of shelves littered across the walls. In the middle of the room was a huge four poster bed that looked like Harry would simply be swallowed into it the moment he lay down. To the sides were a large wardrobe and the entrance to his own ensuite bathroom, complete with a shower.

"My room is just opposite yours." Said Fleur. "Ef you don't like ze colour you can tell us and we can have ze elves change them to anything you want."

Harry had no real reply. He just stood with his mouth opened wide, gawking at the size of his room and the fact that he now had the nicest room in the world. Better still; it was his room. For the first time in his young life, he no longer needed to sleep in the cramped and slightly draughty cupboard under the stairs. He never need to wake up to his fat cousin jumping on the stairs above him, laughing and jumping on the stair above his head, causing dust and spiders to fall on him every morning. For once he had his own room. He had a family.

Without warning, his eyes started to water and tear of joy and happiness streamed down. Not wanting his foster sister to see him cry anymore, he turned away from her and wiped them away as best as any six year old could. However, it was to no avail. Fleur saw the tears and the intention of hiding them and went over to him and hugged him, pulling him closer to her and stroking his back with one hand, and the top of his head with the other. When the tears had been shed, she pushed him into the bathroom so he could wash is face before going down stair to eat.

When they were back down stairs, the rest of the Delacours smiled at Harry and Fleur. Before going to the small dining room they used for less formal meals or for when there was not enough people to warrant the use of the large one. When they were properly seated, the elves appeared and started placing plate of food in front of everyone, much to the shock of Harry.

"Sorry 'arry. You will eventually get used to them. Zey are your House Elves as well now." Explained Alain. "So 'arry, 'ow do you like your new home?"

"It's very lovely sir. I've never seen one so big and so nice before." Harry replied, spearing an asparagus at the same time.

"Please call me Papa, or Alain if you're still uncomfortable with it."

"Alain." Harry said shyly. He had never addressed an adult before by their first name before. Come to think of it he had never really addressed any adults before, other than his school teachers of course. But there was a question he desired to ask more than anything right now. "Can I ask a question?"

"You already have." Appoline joked, smiling at Harry so he knew to continue.

"How did those elves appear like that?" Harry asked.

"Ahhh, yes well before we answer that question, let me ask a few of my own." Alain said. " 'arry, can I ask; 'ave you ever done anything strange or impossible before. Maybe something you could never really explain when you were angry or scared?"

Harry thought for a moment and told the Delacours all the times his cousin and his gang had chased him and tried to use him as a punching bag at school but somehow, he ended up on the school roof, just above the kitchens and completely out of the reach of his fat cousin and his louts. Then the times his "Aunt Marge" had come round and brought her vicious bulldog Ripper along. He told them about how the dog had scared him and one moment he was running away to the garden, then the next he was up the tree with Ripper barking and growling below. Harry kept the worse parts to himself but the elder Delacours being adults and much more experienced, could tell there were stories he was holding back. Stories they knew they would not want to hear and that he wasn't ready to say.

"But it was just the wind. I mean I'm very light and it was a windy day so when I jumped the wind just carried me up there." Stated Harry. He didn't want them to think he was mad. Not these kind people who had within the space of a couple of hours, saved him from the Dursleys and opened up their home for him.

"Non 'arry eet wasn't ze wind. Ze truth is zat, you are very gifted 'arry." Said Appoline. "You are a wizard 'arry."

"I'm a what?" gasped Harry.

"A wizard 'arry. Just like Mama et Papa." Said the soft voice of Gabrielle. "Papa es a wizard like you, and Maman, Fleur and me are witches."

"But I can't be a wizard. I'm just Harry. Just Harry." Stammered Harry, looking from person to person, wondering whether today had been one big joke.

" 'arry, I know zis may be 'ard to accept, especially as you were raised by zose celui que ne possède pas de pouvoirs magiques." Appoline almost spat the last part. "But eet es true. You are a wizard. One day you will go and learn magique just like everyone else. You can even choose where to go. But that is for another time. For now, just know zat you are a wizard and to answer your question, ze house elves are magical. You could try and call one of zem from one side of the house and zey will 'ear and find you. Zough, they only speak French so you may need some lessons"

"'arry, you could learn with me and Gabrielle." Suggested Fleur.

"Oui, vous idée est excellant ma petite une fille." Exclaimed Alain. "'arry, we can get you a tutor to learn French until you are capable of joining Fleur with her tutor if you want. Would you like zat?"

"Yes sir." Was Harry could say given the amount of information he had been told that night.

At this point the elves return to remove the empty plates and returned a moment later with the main course and pumpkin juice. Harry thought about what the Delacours had told him and found himself unable to believe them.

"But if I'm a wizard, how come I couldn't do anything when they were hurting me? How come I couldn't just use my magic to turn them in to toads or just do anything?" argued Harry.

"Magic doesn't work like zat 'arry. Don't worry, you'll learn more soon. We 'ave a library in the east wing with all the information for you to read."

At this, the rest of the meal was met with chatter about who would teach Harry and telling him about his new extended family. After dinner, Harry bade his new family goodnight and went up to his room, exhausted from the turbulent day he'd had. As he started to fall asleep, he heard his door open, felt a warm soft hand stroke his head gently, a tender kiss being planted onto his head before the words that he had desired to hear more than anything were said.

"Goodnight 'arry. Sweet dreams. Welcome to our family."