"Harry stormed out the house before his Aunt Marge could say anything more about his parents or before he might end up doing anything stupid in response."

He was furious. Most people had the good grace not to speak ill of the dead, but apparently Marge didn't have a polite bone in her body. Harry had put up with too much already, both these past three days and his whole life for that matter, to want to go through any more of this.

His parents had died protecting him from an evil wizard when he was still a newborn. His aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had abused him growing up due to their own deep and abiding hatred of all things magical. His cousin Dudley had done his best to keep anyone away from him who might have been his friend.

Harry had grown up very much alone and unloved for most of his life.

Then two years ago he had discovered that he was a wizard and his world had opened up a bit. He had a few very good friends now. The gentle giant Hagrid. The other boys in his same year at the magical school he attended for most of the year, such as clumsy but well meaning Nevil, and Dean Thomas the only other third year boy who was just as lost in the magical world as he was.

Then there was Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, his two closest and most precious friends.

Harry shuddered as he thought of his friend trying to count his blessings and calm down. He had nearly lost Hermione this past year. She had been partially petrified by a monstrous basilisk that had been hiding in the school.

Luckily she hadn't taken the beast's direct stare which would have killed her outright, but had only seen it through a mirror. Later she had been revived with a mandrake potion. Harry was incredibly grateful, but that whole episode had completely terrified him.

Now that the long month of July had separated them, he was feeling that near loss all the more intensely. Harry couldn't imagine life without either of his best friends and so now more than ever he wanted some way to make sure they were his forever. Someway to protect them forever. To keep them by his side forever. This in turn lit another desire in his soul.

Harry wanted a family. A real family that loved him and stood by him. His aunt, uncle and cousin clearly weren't any real family to him. Whatever blood connections that existed between them were obviously too weak to be real. His relatives hated him and that disqualified them as family. So Harry would have to make a family for himself.

He supposed that meant settling down to get married and raise a family one day. Harry definitely liked that idea, but it was a distant prospect. Harry wanted a real family now.

Last year at about this time he had been rescued from his relatives by Ron, Fred and George Weasley with their father's flying car. He had then spent the month of August staying with the Weasley's, and he had to confess, he had never been more jealous of his best friend than during those days.

* The Weasley's didn't have much, but they had each other. And the love they showed for each other was something that Harry desperately wanted for himself.*

The deep and abiding yearning for a mother that would worry about him and his future, for a well meaning if bungling father who nonetheless had words of wisdom and guidance to offer when needed, for siblings that would both annoy him with pranks, but also have his back through thick and thin, had surprised Harry but now he couldn't get it out of his head.

The desire was only somewhat lessened by the fact that he knew Mrs Weasley thought of him as one of her own kids and looked out for him as best she could. Being an unofficial Weasley was good, but it wasn't the same as having his own family.

Plus Harry wanted Hermione in his family just as much as Ron. If Harry was honest with himself he really wanted all the Griffindors to be his family, or even all the students and staff at Hogwarts, even Draco and Snape if they would stop being such massive prats all the time. Having gone so long without anyone in his life, Harry would take anyone he could get.

All these thoughts and desires filled Harry's heart with longing, happiness and sadness in equal measures. Which was good since it steadily drowned out the anger that had been burning in his heart. So Harry wandered the dark streets of his neighborhood almost completely oblivious to the world around him.

Only one thing disturbed his thoughts during this time, which was the sight of a large black dog hiding almost out of sight in one of the hedgerows. For a moment, Harry thought the dog might have been following him or at least watching him intently. But the dog vanished almost as soon as he had seen it, so Harry didn't pay it much mind.

But after that he was free to get lost in his own head. So it was perhaps no surprise that Harry completely failed to notice the giant flying sailing ship that seemed to be made from some great sea monster, which suddenly and silently appeared from a portal torn open in the sky above his head. Not that noticing it would've done him any good. Harry didn't have his wand on his person, he didn't know how to apparate, and he couldn't have outrun the long tentacles that descended from the ship above him even if he had been fully grown and a professional sprinter.

"So he was caught up in a moment and dragged up into there air so quickly that the blood drained from his head under the g force and he passed out.