When Harry Potter is discovered missing from the Dursley's house the whole wizarding is in uproar, frantically hunting him. But what they find is even more shocking. The wizarding world won't know what hit it.

A/N: This is my first fanfic, but I have had this plot knocking around my head for a while now. I have written it down out of sheer boredom. This is just a small chapter, kind of an introduction. See ya at the bottom!

Edit 10/1/11: Hello again. I've suddenly been inspired to continue this story, but I've decided that before I do that I'm going to try and improve the current chapters a little. Thanks to anyone who still wants to read this.

Italics are Parseltounge

Disclaimer: Only the storyline is mine. Everything else is JKR's.

"Boy!" A voice boomed "What have you done this time? Come on; clean it up this instant!"

The skinny child who was on the receiving end of this command froze in fear. His uncle had seen his cousin spill his juice; but he still turned on the quivering boy.

"S-sorry Uncle" the boy stuttered. The boy wanted to tell the large man his cousin had spilt the juice, but he couldn't think of the words. He didn't know many words. His relatives tried to speak to him as little as possible.

"Sorry? Oh you're sorry! And I suppose that makes it all better does it? That's a brand new table cloth, your aunt only brought it last week!" He stormed over to the doorway, shouting as he went. "Petunia! The he's done it again!"

An sharp sigh sounded from upstairs before a rather horse-like woman entered the kitchen.

"You!" she gestured sharply toward the child "Come into the garden. You'll miss breakfast as punishment" She turned toward the door started towards it. The child relaxed a little. At least the scolding was over.

"Wait!"

Or maybe it wasn't. Tension returned to his bony shoulders.

The bony woman poked her head back into the room. "Don't think this means that you can laze around while we eat. Go on, get outside and pull the weeds."

The boy breathed a silent sigh of relief. Outside was better than the cupboard.

"I meant now, not next week. Go on, get on with it."

His aunt wrapped her fingers around his slight wrist and led him into the garden. She pointed to the manicured flower beds, which had been tamed into neat rows. The boy cocked his head and studied them. They looked synthetic, scarcely qualifying as part of nature.

"Pull up all of the weeds. You know which ones are weeds don't you?" She paused, obviously waiting for an answer."'Well?"

"Yes Auntie..." The boy mumbled, only half understanding her. He was too young, and spoken to too little to really be able to hold a conversation, nevertheless he quickly set to work.

"Good" the woman said, half nodding her head. She eyed him for a while, before sniffing and stating "I will come and fetch you when you can have lunch." She started walking away but paused. She turned back to the boy. "If Vernon decides you deserve lunch, that is." She headed inside, a pleased smirk playing across her lips.

The boy nodded uncertainly and hurried back to work.

The boy was used to this kind of treatment; the unfair penalties for things he didn't do. The usual treatment was being locked in the cupboard without food, only let out twice a day for toilet breaks. Fortunately, the punishments were never more physical than the occasional overly-firm grip of an arm or a slightly too forceful shove. However, this didn't stop the child from fearing his relatives greatly.

Hours passed; the hot sun beat down on the child's back as he laboured amongst the flowers. A bead of sweat crawled down his forehead as he struggled to uproot a particularly tough dandelion. It had become too hot outside to be doing and kind of physical work, but he still hadn't been called back into the house.

If he had been allowed breakfast maybe this wouldn't be so difficult. He glanced around, wishing that his aunt had left a drink or a snack, even a cool ice lolly! But of course she hadn't. He scolded himself for his foolishness, letting out a dejected sigh.

His throat cracked and scratched, dehydration taking its toll. His tongue searched his mouth for salvia, desperately trying to quench the horrible thirst.

Out of the corner of his eye the boy saw a faint shimmer by the rose bushes. He rushed towards it, hoping it was a puddle, maybe a pond if he was lucky. He hurriedly yanked the bushes apart, staring expectantly. Instead of a pond he saw a small silver snake. It rose up and hissed at him:

"Ack! A human! Stay back or I'll bite!"

The boy crawled back in alarm, eyes darting around for an escape. A snake was talking to him. This confused him greatly; he was pretty sure animals couldn't talk! He mumbled "No, no! Please. I'm sorry."

"A Speaker!This could be interesting."The snake mused "What are you called human?"

"M-my Uncle and Auntie call me Boy mostly."

The snake swayed from side to side and huffed with irritation "No! What's your name?"

The boy couldn't remember. His relatives didn't call him by his name much, only when they had company. It began with H, he thought. Harley? No. Harris? That was closer, but not quite.

The snake blinked slowly, regarding him for a moment, before sighing. "Okay then. I'll just keep calling you Speaker, if you won't tell me your real name."

A fat head poked out the backdoor.

'Stop lazing around! You may come in for lunch. Count yourself very, very lucky boy!' The door violently slammed shut.

The boy started to make his way towards the house, the prospect of food reminding him of his desperate hunger. The snake stopped him.

'Hey, wait! I'm Persephone. I'll be back to see you tomorrow. We have much to discuss.'

The boy nodded and hurried away. Needless to say, small silver snakes slithered around his thoughts for the rest of the day.

So... what do you think? I'm quite nervous about this. Should I go on with it?

XX

Emme