Like A Boat
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Summary: To say that it's scary and confusing to be reborn into a world of magic is the understatement of the year. OC - Self insert.
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Prologue
Out of Body Experience
ONLY DEAD PEOPLE KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN U DIE AND THAT FRUSTRATES ME – tumblr user heteroh
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My name is Daphne Dursley, and I have a story for you.
This story is quite different. You see, it started with the end.
To be honest, I didn't know what to expect when I died. Like, would there be a tunnel in which you'll find light at the end? Would someone in a black hood and a scythe be waiting to escort you to the afterlife? And what even is afterlife? Is there even an afterlife?
For someone who died, you would think I have answers to these questions. Well, I don't.
Look, all I know was that I was dead.
I saw myself dead. And trust me, the sight of your own unconscious body- mangled and broken and bloody—is totally not a good sight to look at. It was more than terrifying that I can't put it in words. But I won't delve with the details of it. This is not a story about that, after all. That was the end.
And then, total darkness came over me.
I did not know how long I was there, but that place was surprisingly comfortable. I never went hungry or thirsty. And I was constantly… well there's no other way to say this, but I was calmed by muffled humming sounds. I thought then, if this is what being dead feels like, I am fine with it.
However, the universe is a cruel being who likes to take things from us. The time I spent inside my happy place came to a violent end.
Imagine being in bed, it's raining outside and it's so snuggly and warm under the blankets. Then, something grips head and wants to drag you away from your bed. So you resist. But the… thing that's got you won't let go. Now multiply that feeling a hundred times.
It was painful and terrifying, to say the least.
I tried to open my eyes to check on my surroundings, but everything around me was blurred and all I could hear were garbled nonsense. What's going on? Was I really dead or alive? Where am I? Were some of the questions that raced through my mind. The other questions were: Was I wrong about being dead? Was all of it a product of a coma that I came out of? Had I suffered brain damage?
I wanted to scream. I wanted to kick and flail. I wanted to do something. Anything. My fear multiplied, as if it wasn't on an all-time high already, when I realized I couldn't move. So I followed the most basic instinct of being human. I cried. My limbs were limp jelly, but the sound that came out of me more than made up for it.
What was going on? Was I really dead or alive? Where am I?
But like I said, the universe likes proving me wrong, and nothing could have prepared me for what occurred next.
In my life before, I had been of average height and weight. But I was lifted and carried like I weighted nothing. The panic and fear that simmered inside me increased the sound of my cries. Never mind that I couldn't speak. It was the only thing I could do to resist against… against whatever that was. I didn't know what was happening, but it seemed like I was being held in the crook of someone's arm.
It was all bizzaro crap, seriously. I thought I was abducted by giant aliens. Screw rational thinking.
Well, it turned out that I was turned into a baby. So what happened and why?
To keep this all short, I'd like to say I was reincarnated.
Mind you, that's a tentative guesstimate. The memories from Before was so vivid that I'm not thoroughly convinced I just imagined them. And I mean come on, compared to the giant alien abduction theory, being reincarnated was far more… believable. I don't know much about reincarnation, and what I do know is that if you were good in your previous life, you step up the karmic ladder. You get to be like a king or something in your next life. But if you were an asshole, you get to be cockroach, and unless you get to do something good, you'll stay as a cockroach. Or any kind of insect, I guess. But I mean, what good can you do if you're a cockroach?
But well, I digress.
The fact remains, that I was reborn into a new life, and to be honest, I don't know which direction is this in the said ladder.
Wanna know why? Well, I was reborn in a place that was only supposed to exist within the bounds of fiction and fantasy. I've read the books. I've seen all the movies.
I am in the Harry Potter universe.
Crazy, I know. Fill the papers and join the club.
I didn't know how I could remember the things that happened Before, or how I was reincarnated. But maybe a Deity with a wicked sense of humour was bored; millennia after millennia of being immortal, of being the same, cosmic entity, that he/she/it decided that it was fun to play with the life of a mere mortal.
Well, that or I was too stupid to die. Maybe both.
So, on the 23rd of June in the year 1980, a set of twins were born to Vernon and Petunia Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.
I was born Daphne Leigh Dursley, older sister to Dudley Vernon Dursley by ten minutes.
And this is where our story begins.
To be honest, while I more-or-less accepted that I had been reborn; I never really thought that I was in the Harry Potter universe, much less a Dursley. The first few months after my birth were a blur, and you don't really get to think about fictional characters when:
you are an adult that got turned into a baby, and / or;
you spend more than half of the day asleep
All I know was that I liked being fussed over by this thin-faced woman, who would coo at me and prompt me to say "Mum", and this equally giant man who would call himself my "Dada". They fed me, and changed my diapers. Aside from my new twin, they were the only people I interacted with (well, most of the time. There were days where relatives, which now I know is from Vernon- err Dad's side, would come and visit. But they would always pinch our faces. Neither Dudley and I liked that). It's kind of hard to be dependent on them without feeling affection.
I had been a teenager, and to be a baby again is very, very frustrating. It's like being drunk and sober at the same time. Your mind is clear but your body won't respond. It was bad enough that I can neither walk nor speak. Add losing control of my bowel movements, and well, it made me cranky.
Also, I wasn't used to the cold climate of England, so I was deemed a sickly baby.
I cried. All the time.
To my relief, my eyesight returned when I was about four… maybe five months old. And I got used to the colder temperature. The hospital visits gradually lessened. I was able to crawl when I was six months. Before our first birthday, I can speak simple words. Like Ya and No, Mum, Da, and Duddy. I was trapped in the limitations of my body, but it was fine. There was progress, after all. Language hadn't been an issue. it seemed that life was starting to be good.
That little period of acceptance and peace came to an end one day.
It was a normal morning. Mum changed our diapers and sat us down to our high chairs for breakfast. Across the table, Dad was having his morning tea, flipping through the paper. The news man's voice filled the dining room, reporting something about birds and some other stuff. And then, the doorbell rang, Mum came to get it, and what followed was a shrill scream.
Dad rushed to Mum's aid… and well, you know what happened.
Baby cries and hushed voices filled the house that day. I remembered Dad talking to someone on the phone saying he can't make it to work today because of a family thing. They sat us down to the playroom, and it was the first time I was able to get a good look at him and all the pieces fell into place.
He was thinner and Dudley and I. He had tufts of dark hair, which, at that moment, were being pulled on by Dudley. I crawled towards them and lightly removed my brother's hand from the other boy's hair. Dudley's chin wobbled, signalling an oncoming tantrum, but I offered him my bottle and he happily took it.
I turned back to the other child; he blinked his green eyes at me and started to let out a giggle.
And then, I saw the scar.
I am indeed in the Harry Potter universe.
Shit.
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A/N: : Inspired by Silver Queen's Dreaming of Sunshine (10/10 would recommend). This has been a shit long hiatus. Sorry about that. Let's get this show on the road! I edited the chapter, tweaked some things. Thanks to SNicole25 and sweetlilsunshine for the baby development comments.