Standard disclaimer applies. I do not own Harry Potter, it belongs to J.K Rowling and publishers

Chapter 1

Number four Privet Drive in Little Winging was in many ways a most ordinary household. It included for instance a most ordinary father, a man of the name Vernon Dursley, who believed himself to be perfectly respectable and was very proud of it too. He had a mediocre job at a dull factory that made drills, a nice car, a moustache that had taken him quite some time to get it the way it was now, and a very lovely wife and son. He had troubles now and then with his anger management, though he would deny this if ever accused. He despised owls and cats, but didn't mind dogs that much. Besides his wife and son, he also had a sister he liked very much, Marge Dursley. He had a love of food, especially if said food was fried of baked.

His wife, Petunia Dursley, was also a perfectly respectable and ordinary woman. She liked wearing dresses with flowers, listening in on conversations of their neighbors and indulging her chubby son, who was now almost 8 years old. She prided herself on her well-kept garden, the neat state of her interior and her dislike of anything that was not completely ordinary.

The last member of the Dursley family - as far as they were concerned- was their aforementioned son Dudley Dursley. Whatever they were thinking when they named their son such would've been anyone's guess, but fact was that the two elder Dursley's were very proud of their chubby, bordering on fat, bully of a son. Alright, he might not get the most amazing marks in school, but surely that was the fault of the teachers? And even if some of the other parents warned them that their lovely Dudleykins acted a bit spoiled, it was only because their children could never reach the amount of perfection that their son had in him? No, the Dursleys were quite content with their mostly dull lives. There was only one big annoyance that prevented them from being the epitome of being ordinary. And that big hindrance was called Harry Potter.

'BOY, get down here at once, and explain to me why the garden hasn't been mowed yet! Can you do nothing right, you good-for-nothing freak? I thought I clearly said that I wanted the grass to be mowed before Mrs. Garrison came over for tea , did I not? Now, you'll better get working at once, or it will be no food for you tomorrow'. Petunia's face had gotten a rather unattractive color during this tirade, and bits of spit could be found flying in the air. Harry watched them with a disturbed face, before looking down at his feet once more. 'Yes, aunt Petunia, I will start at once'. The meek reply from the boy contradicted sharply with the glint of rebelliousness in his eyes. Thankfully for the boy his aunt did not notice, or it would've been two days without food instead of one. You see, in the Dursley household lived also Harry Potter, Petunia's nephew. Harry Potter stood for many things that the Dursleys did not like. His hair, for instance, was much too stubborn, and his eyes were much too green. The list of things Wrong With Harry Potter would be very long indeed according to them. But the thing they despised the most about Potter, was his magical heritage. Something that Harry himself had no knowledge of, and which the Dursleys would like to keep that way as long as possible.

Harry had lived with the Dursleys since he was two years old, but the years with them had not been kind to him. At forty-six inches tall and forty pounds heavy, he was both too small and too thin for a eight year old. Petunia Dursley claimed it was because his freaky genes, Harry himself though it more likely to be because of lack of food. Instead of a bedroom, harry had a cupboard with spiders, and instead of a family who loved him and cherished him, Harry had to do with being despised and considered a burden. Petunia and Vernon always gave him more chores to do than the skinny boy could manage, and otherwise his cousin Dudley would make sure that it took him almost twice as long. Like now when he was trying to mow the garden. It had taken him half an hour before all Dudley's discarded toys were removed from the grass and he could begin with the actual work. After another hour in the burning sun the now thirsty boy was finally finished with his job.

Harry Potter was not a stupid boy, and experience had learned him that it was best to hide as soon as his chores were finished, before his aunt or uncle could think of something new for him to do. Taking a big glass and filling it with water, Harry tip-toed past the living room in which Vernon and Dudley were presently watching TV. Some show about the dangers of immigrants. Now and then you could hear uncle Vernon exclaiming loudly about job stealing intruders. When Harry was past the living room he let out the breath he'd been holding. Thank god, he really did not feel like cleaning the bathroom or some other stupid job his uncle would've likely given him. He then opened the door to the basement. The basement was an ideal hiding place. It was usually quite dark in there, since Vernon had been too lazy to replace the lightbulb. It had stopped working last month and the only light now could come from a flashlight. Furthermore, there were a lot of spiders and possibly mice in the basement. Petunia was scarred of spiders, and funnily enough Vernon had a fear of mice. And his fat cousin was frightened of the dark, spiders and mice, so there was no way he would ever venture into the basement. All in all the basement was a pretty good place to be at the moment, especially considering the hot wetter.

After Harry had made his way down the stairs, carefully balancing the glass of water, he sat down between some old cushions. He looked around him, his eyes slowly adjusting to the lack of light. There was the box of books that Dudley had once gotten and had thrown down here without even looking inside. On the opposite wall stood a toolbox, with equipment that Vernon rarely used. And there were some discarded cookbooks from Petunia. The basement really was a mess. Curious and a bit bored Harry stood up from his place and began to look between the discarded boxes. He was busying himself that way when he came across a box, shoved in a dusty corner under the stairs.

Wiping the layers of dust that had gathered on the box over the years away with his sleeve, he read the black letters on the top. Property Of Lily and James Potter was written with big curly letters. Harry's heart skipped a beat. He had nothing of his late parents, and Petunia would never talk about them either. This could be his change to finally discover what his parents were like. An exited smile decorated the little boy's face when he lifted the top of the box. It was full of various books, albums and objects. Harry could not wait to read and discover each one of them. And the best part was that he had the whole night to do so. The Dursley's would assume he was in his cupboard and would not disturb him seeing as they had visitors. Harry reached out and lifted the first album out of the box.

To be continued