A/N: This is the first of a series of one shots about Harry Potter characters and scenes from the books from Muggle (and sometimes other wizards) POVs.
This first is set in the first Chapter of the Order of the Phoenix. 6-year-old Rosie lives at number 8 Privet Drive.
Rosie wasn't allowed to talk to him.
Mummy said he was Bad Boy, and she wasn't to talk to him. Mummy said Mrs Dursley had told her he was Trouble and so she had to ignore him.
But Rosie didn't think he looked bad. Sad, maybe, but not bad. Maybe, Mummy had got confused; it was only one letter difference after all. Rosie, thought Dudley Dursley was the Bad one, he hit Ella's big brother once. Still, Rosie was a good girl, and so she didn't talk to to the Boy.
She saw him sometimes; he took a lot of walks.
His clothes were scruffy, his hair too. Mummy said scruffiness ought to be a crime, but the weather was awfully hot (hot enough to mean ice-creams and the paddling pool) and people always looked scruffy when it was hot. Even Mummy sometimes, but Rosie didn't mention it.
She never talked to him, but once when Mummy wasn't looking, she waved as he walked past.
Another day, she found out she wasn't allowed to talk about the Boy either.
It was the Hottest Day of Summer, Daddy said, and he read it from the newspaper, which meant it was true. Rosie was sitting on the garden swing, going back and forth and trying to make a cool breeze. She stared down at her white trainers and her flowery dress flapped a little as she swung.
Rosie looked out from her swing, her garden was a little bit droopy and brown and the whole street looked dusty. Mrs Figg, who was very nice and had lots of cats, walked past, she had brown clothes. The sky was the only colour she could see, a beautiful blue starting pale at the rooftops and then turning a deep, deep azure above Rosie's head. One white cloud raced across the sky in wind that wasn't felt this near the earth.
Sometimes, swinging so high and staring at the sky, Rosie really felt like she could fly, it was the most wonderful thing she could think of. She never told Mummy that though; Mummy didn't like Rosie to imagine too many things. It was something to do with Unrealistic Expectations of Life, but Rosie wasn't sure what that meant.
On the other side of the street Rosie saw something very strange; The Boy was lying in a flower bed.
Rosie didn't think that was the sort of thing lots of people did. Well, not grownup people anyway. She and Ella had once, to see what life was like if you were a worm; but Mummy had found them and told them off because they had got their clothes dirty and the might have bugs in their hair.
But the Boy was too old to be pretending to be a worm.
Then there was a huge crack which sounded like a gun on one of the programs that was on when Rosie had gone to bed. Rosie saw a cat run across the road; she didn't think cats could run that fast. The Boy jumped out of the flowerbed and hit his head on a window. Then he pulled a stick out of his pocket, and looked around nervously. Rosie wondered where it had come from.
"Rosabel!" called Mummy, who was leaning out of the window, "come back inside for your supper."
Rosie jumped off the swing, and Mummy said "Rosabel, be careful, you could hurt yourself." Rosie puffed a tiny little sigh and went back inside.
"Mummy," she said, "why was Harry Potter hiding in a bush."
"Rosabel," said Mummy sternly, "you mustn't talk about that boy. Mrs Dursley says he's a bad influence."
"Sorry Mummy".
Later, when Rosie had gone to bed and the weather went suddenly cold, she saw three people walking past, the middle one looked very ill. But she didn't mention it because one of them looked like the Boy, and she wasn't allowed to talk about him.
Hope you liked it. I can't promise to update soon, but it's the Summer Holidays now, so I hope to have a bit more time.
There's a poll on my profile about the topic for the next chapter if you want to have a look.
(I would also like a review or two … if it's not too much bother.)