Miss?

Petunia had woken sleepily one morning, and went out to fetch the paper. She shuffled to the door and opened it. Her eyes went wide and she gasped. On her doorstep was a baby.

She had a miscarriage a few months ago, trying for a sister for Dudley…and here was this adorable looking baby. She knelt closer to it, holding her bathrobe tightly around her in the cool November air. She saw the wispy black hair and the pale skin. It looked perfect. She urged it to open its eyes. "Little one, open your eyes for me…" She gasped as it did, slowly.

Her sister's eyes.

Beautiful emerald green. She frowned. Her sister had just had a baby, around the same time she had her son…why was this baby on her doorstep? The baby reached it's chubby hands in the air, giggling. She spotted a note in the basket it was in. "Might as well…come on popkins."

Later that morning, she introduced the boys at breakfast. Dudley had just started talking, and she was hoping little Harry might be able to too. "Dudley, this is Harry, your cousin." She sat them next to each other at the breakfast table. "He'wo." Dudley gave a baby grin, fisting his cheerios. "Hi." Harry smiled back, and hugged him. Petunia giggled to herself as her son blinked, slightly alarmed.

As the boys grew, they were close. Vernon wasn't that close to Harry, and never treated him right, but with her son and herself, she knew the boy would turn out alright. Dudley and Harry helped each other. Dudley was the protector, the big brother. Harry would help him with homework, among other things. Harry was a slip of a thing, he was so much like his mother. Dudley started taking boxing classes and karate when he was six, to get in shape. Vernon insisted on not wasting money on the other boy, so Harry stayed at home. Dudely would teach all he knew to Harry when he would come home from lessons.

While he was away, Petunia would teach Harry to cook, clean, gardening work.

Then…something happened. Harry was in the garden, tending to her prizewinning flowerbed, while she was pruning her rose bushes. She stiffened as she heard a loud gasp.

She looked over to see her flowerbed growing alarmingly fast.

Magic. Of course. He would be just like her. She almost grew angry at the thought, but something occurred to her.

What if she could use that magic for…her own means? So, she dug out his mother's old school books that she had left, and put them in Harry's room. She continued training him in cooking and the like, and extended his training to sewing and fixing things, like appliances and even the car. His tiny hands could fit into spaces that were hard to reach, and they were fast and quick. And there was no denying he was intelligent.

She never told him what he was, she had just left the history books there, expecting he could find out on his own. But she always told him. "Anything…special you do, keep it away from Vernon, keep him from finding out. She was terrified to let him know that her nephew was so abnormal. In primary school, both boys flourished, and were allotted extra tuition in language and arts courses. Vernon didn't like the idea at first 'I will not be having my son be a nancy'… but Petunia convinced him that if their son was taught languages and a creative outlet, that the languages could only help him succeed in over seas business deals, and something creative could impress potential clients.

Her neighbor friends doted on the boys. Dudley was a strapping boy, tall and muscles on his wiry frame, smart as a fiddle. Harry was kind, courteous, beautiful in his own way, and smart as well. They were a good team.

The only problem was, she showered her son with affection, but…never with Harry. It felt awkward, like he didn't belong to her.

She got the mail one morning, and she realized, he never did.

Hogwarts. That was his world. She had done as they asked. Took him in, gave him clothes, fed him, had she done enough to prepare him for what laid out there? She had never looked at those books she had provided for him, perhaps a long discussion was over due. While Dudley was at swim practice, She and Harry were sitting side by side, working on sewing.

"Harry, did you ever read those books in your room, the ones that look old, with the odd names?" Harry nodded. "I did. Quite interesting, I've learned a lot from them." "They were your mother's." Harry looked at her. "I suppose my mother didn't die in a car accident after all." "No sweetie." He sighed, looking down.

She studied him. He had grown to be beautiful, dare she say it, more than his mother. His black hair, when down, was long enough to fall past his shoulder blades, and his pale skin was flawless. His gorgeous green eyes, the ones that all the neighbor women swooned for, were perfect, long lashes, curious. Right now, they looked sad. "Harry…I couldn't say anything, with Vernon…" "I understand." "Here." She handed him a letter. He smiled. "Hogwarts. She went there." She nodded, her eyes starting to burn. "Harry, we cant tell Vernon. I…we have to tell him something though, if you are to go." Harry studied the letter, then held out his hand. A piece of paper appeared, almost identical, except for on first look, it was on regular paper, and it was typed. "There. An acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of the Creative Arts. He wont want Dudley to go there, he'll dismiss it right away. Since the tuition is paid for already, he'll have to let me go."

His aunt stared at him. "You are a genius, you know that?" Harry smiled cheekily. "Aunt Petunia, you flatter me!" He batted his eyelashes, giggling. "So…did you learn a lot from those books?" Harry smiled, nodding. "I learned a lot about the culture of the world, the history, the languages, the creatures and what not. I…I'd need to get my supplies soon." She smiled. "Shopping spree. Just us 'girls'." Harry smiled. Petunia knew the boy wasn't like other boys, she supposed she treated him more like a daughter than a son, but he didn't seem to mind. They hardly ever got to go shopping together, and usually it was just groceries, since Harry made a lot of their own clothes. She knew he was using magic to make them, but they always fit her and her family perfect, even if she swore that her husband had gained twenty pounds, his suit still fit him.

They went to London, where she got him some regular school things, then went to the Leaky Cauldron. She cleared her throat as they approached it. "I…cant go in, since I don't have magic. You'll have to do this on your own Harry." "I understand. What time shall we meet up?" "Four o clock, that would give you some time to look at the book stores and such." Harry grinned, hugging her as he went into the Leaky cauldron.