Chapter 02

"I won't tell you again, stand aside!" the snake-man ordered.

"Not Harry, please…have mercy…have mercy…" she was sobbing by now. I didn't know what was going on. I didn't understand. Why was mum crying? Why did this man want her to move? Did he want something from me?

"Stand aside!" the man all but roared at Lily.

Something seemed to change in the woman once she realized that the snake creature would not be swayed. Lily turned, putting him back in his crib despite his gurgled protest. When he looked into her eyes he saw something different, they had been afraid before but now they were smoldering. She turned back around and glared defiantly at the Snake-man, "no."

"Foolish girl," the man pointed the odd stick that mum, dad and the others used to do their magic. "Avada Kadavera!"

A flash of green light hit mum. I watched as she fell to the floor and went still.

"Mum! Mum!" I called out to her, but she did not answer. She just continued to lay there, not moving.

"Mum! Mum! Mum!" I felt scared. Mum wasn't saying anything. She wasn't getting up. She wasn't moving at all. What was wrong with her? Why wasn't she moving?

The man walked over to me. I looked up at him and felt both scared and angry. Mum wasn't moving because of this man. That green light he created caused mum to stop moving!

"You hurt mum!"

"Yes," the man laughed, amused. "I hurt mum. And now, I am going to hurt you to!" The man raised his stick at me. "Avada Kedavra!"

The green light shot from his stick and hit me. It hurt. It hurt a lot. And I cried. I cried for mum, and dad, and unca padfoo to make the hurting stop.

No one came. All I could hear was the man laughing at me, then a shriek of outrage followed by a cry and then nothing. My world turned dark.

XoX

Brilliant green eyes snapped open and found themselves staring at the white ceiling they had grown up seeing for the past ten years of his life. The room was dim, the only light source being the small trickle of sunlight that streamed in through the blinds and let him know the sun was beginning to rise. Seeing how the day was starting and he would be unlikely to be getting back to sleep anyways, Harry James Potter sat up in his bed with a heavy sigh, his hands going up to message his forehead.

It was that dream again, one of the many that haunted his sleep. This was nothing new to Harry, while his meditation allowed him to clear his mind and lock his memories away during the day so they wouldn't bother him, there was nothing stopping them from coming out during the night when he fell asleep. It was an unfortunate side effect of sleeping, all mental functions, including any defense he crafted within his mind shut down while sleeping.

Memories. Those were what he saw every night when he shut his eyes and allowed the sand man to claim him. Unlike most people whose dreams were often inconsequential, unusual, sometimes downright silly, and rarely remembered with any clarity, Harry Potter always remembered his dreams, they were of things he could never, would never, forget.

The reason for this was as simple as it was complex, Harry had what was known as Eidetic Memory, that is, he had the ability to perfectly recall anything he had ever seen or done with the same clarity of vision as if the event being remembered happened just a few seconds ago. Every sight, sound, scent, touch, and taste that he had ever had the pleasure or displeasure of experiencing was locked away within his mind never to be forgotten. It was as much of a blessing as it was a curse.

Turning his head and opening his eyes, he looked around the room that had been his since he was six. It was small, the smallest room at the Dursley's household on number four, Privet Drive in Surrey. Originally it had belonged to his cousin, Dudley, and was used by him to store all of his toys and junk that he never used or had broken but didn't want to throw away. It was only after Harry had, come into his own so to speak, that he had ended up getting the room for himself. Dudley hadn't been happy about that, neither had his parents for that matter, but there really hadn't been much they could do about it either way.

Despite it's small size, it was not lacking in quality materials. His bed while small, was made from a rich rosewood and had a dark, forest green bed spread. Next to the door was an armoire, and over to his left, right under the window, was a desk and chair, all of which were made from the same rich rosewood as his bed. These amenities had taken quite a bit of his hard earned savings from the various jobs he did over the summer to buy, but he considered them worth while investments, especially when taking into account what he had been forced to use before.

Deciding that it was time to get up and start his morning routine, Harry slid out of bed, his bare feet hitting the soft carpet. His left hand came up and waved over at the armoire, while he walked over to the desk. As Harry slid open one of the drawers, the armoire rattled for a moment, before the doors opened up on their own accord. Likewise, the two drawers on the bottom of the piece of furniture slid open as well.

Harry's hand reached into the desk and pulled the sports watch he had bought for himself a few weeks back. He didn't put it on just yet, instead setting it down on the desk and turning a moment after the armoire opened, seemingly of it's own accord.

Several articles of clothing came out from within the standing closet, a pair of black running shorts, a white sleeveless shirt, socks, briefs, and a pair of black running shoes. They floated over to Harry, who grabbed them one-by-one and put them on. Only after the last article of clothing had been placed on his person did he grab the watch and attach it to his wrist.

He looked down at his watch, checking the time. It was four o'clock in the morning, meaning it was unlikely that anyone else in the household was even awake at the moment. That was good, it meant Harry wouldn't be disturbed when he came back from his morning exercise. With those thoughts in mind, Harry made his way outside.

The air outside was crisp, cool, and refreshing. The perfect atmosphere to work up a good sweat, Harry decided as he locked the door and began going through his morning stretches, bending over and touching his toes, twisting his torso from side to side, stretching his arms behind his back and over his head. He was a bit stiff this morning, no doubt this came from the particular memory that had chosen to haunt his dreams last night. It took a bit longer to limber up because of that, but that was alright, he had woken up a little earlier than usual anyways.

As soon as he finished his stretches, Harry hit a button on his watch to start the timer and began his run. Harry made his way to the park, varying his speed from a light jog, to a full out sprint, going from a straight line, to zigzag patterns. He always liked to mix up his work out routine, sometimes just jogging, other times sprinting, and sometimes doing intervals like he was now. It helped keep his body from getting to used to his workouts. When Harry got to the park he began the next part of his routine, push ups, sit ups, pull ups, squats, and suicides. By the time he had finished his body had the pleasant ache of someone who had worked their muscles arduously.