"Mum, can I go to the park?" I begged.

Mum sighed. "I suppose. Emily, take your sister to the park, please," she called upstairs.

"I don't want to!" Emily, my older sister, yelled back.

"I don't care. Go with Kallie or you aren't going with Brian tonight!" Mum threated.

I heard a huff. Moments later, my sister was downstairs, a pout on her pretty face. She glared at me. "Let's go, Twerp."

Emily was gorgeous, with her long, straight golden hair and bright blue eyes, flawless hourglass shape, and long, slender legs. Her face lacked any sort of blemish, and her long eyelashes curled around upon themselves, bringing out the blue in her eyes. Today she was wearing skinny jeans and cowgirl boots and a ruffled yellow top. She'd curled her hair and put on hot pink nail polish.

"Wear jackets," Mum called as we left. Emily snatched her varsity cheer jacket and my pink corduroy pullover from the coatstand and slammed the door behind us.

We arrived at the park at the end of the street, and Emily immediately went over to a bench and pulled out her iPhone. It was fairly warm that day, and the sun was shining brightly overhead. I ran over to the tube slide and climbed the ladder. When I got to the top, I saw a boy sitting in the slide.

I sat down across from him. "Hello," I said.

He looked up. "Oh, sorry, did you want to use the slide?"

"I'm all right. I'm Kallie Beckstrand. What's your name?" I asked.

"Harry. Harry Potter."

"Do you want to play together?"

"All right." He slid down the slide, and I followed him. "What do you want to do?" Harry asked.

"Why don't we play the question game?" I suggested.

"How do you play?"

"We get to ask each other questions about each other. That's how we make friends!" I explained.

"Okay. You go first."

"How old are you?" I asked, starting simple.

"I'm going to be eleven in two weeks."

"Oh, I just turned eleven last month! Now you ask me a question."

Harry thought a moment. "Where do you live?"

"I live at Number Five Privet Drive," I said.

"Really? I live at Number Four Privet Drive!"

"You're my neighbor!" I said excitedly. "What's your family like?"

Suddenly, Harry got quiet. "My mum and dad died in a car crash when I was a baby. I live with my Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and cousin, Dudley. They don't like me much. I spend a lot of my time here."

"Oh. I'm sorry. My dad was a soldier. He died at war three years ago. Now it's just me and my mum and my sister, Emily. That's her over there." I pointed to where Emily was now talking to a friend on her phone.

Harry nodded. "Dudley says he's seen her sometimes. One of his friend's brothers is her boyfriend."

"Oh, is Dudley friends with Marcus? That's Brian's younger brother."

Harry nodded. "That's him. He told Uncle Vernon that sometimes when he's at Marcus' house he can hear Brian and Emily upstairs kissing really loudly. Marcus' mum made Dudley bring me along once. I could hear them. It was quite funny."

I giggled. "I wonder if she knows they can hear her."

"Probably not."

"Boy! Get in here! Supper's getting cold!" a voice barked. Harry turned around. A fat man was standing on the porch of the house next to mine.

Harry sighed. "That's my Uncle Vernon. I'd better go. Maybe I'll see you here again sometime, though?"

I grinned. "I hope so! It would be fun to have a friend right next door."

Harry got up and started running to his house, waving over his shoulder. I bounded up to Emily. "Can we go home now? I want to tell Mum about my new friend!" I said.

Emily rolled her eyes and started walking home without a word to me, still talking on her phone. We got to our front porch and waited for Emily to hang up. She sighed. "I gotta go now, I'm home. Okay, bye, Tara!" Then she plastered a smile on her face and brought me inside.

"Thank you, Emily," Mum called as Emily went straight up to her room. Then she turned to me. "How was the park? You weren't there long; did something happen?"

I shrugged. "I made a new friend. He lives just next door at Number Four."

Mum frowned. "Do you mean the Dursley boy? I don't like that boy."

I shook my head. "No, I mean Harry Potter."

Mum's eyes widened. Then she shook her head. "No, that can't be right. The Dursleys only have one boy."

"Harry's their nephew. He said his parents died in a car crash and he was left on his aunt and uncle's doorstep. They took him in, but they don't like him much. He says they try to hide him from the neighbors," I explained.

Mum looked astonished. "Well, ah, do you think Harry would like to come over for dinner?"

"Maybe. May I ring him?"

"Sure. The Dursleys are in the phone book." Mum pointed to the thick book beside the telephone.

I went over and looked up Vernon Dursley and dialed his number. A woman, whom I assumed was Petunia, answered. "Hello?" she said, sounding frustrated.

"Hello, is Harry Potter there?" I asked politely.

Petunia paused. "Excuse me for just a moment." I could hear her set the receiver on the table and go over to the table. I could just barely make out their words. "There's a girl on the phone that wants to speak to Potter!" Petunia exclaimed.

"What!" a man replied. I guessed that he was Vernon.

"Why would anyone want to speak to him?" Dudley sneered. I recognized his voice from school; he was just a year ahead of me.

"Maybe I have friends," Harry said. "Let me speak to her!" He paused. "Please."

I heard shuffling feet and a scraping chair, and Petunia picked up the receiver. "Why do you need to speak to Harry?"

"I was going to invite him to supper at my house. I live just next door, Number Five."

"Oh. You're the young Beckstrand girl, aren't you?" Petunia sneered.

"Yes, my name's Kallie."

"Dudley's told us about you. I don't particularly like your family at all. Harry will be there in five minutes."

"Oh. Well, ah, thank you. I think." I was thoroughly confused.

Petunia hung up without saying goodbye. Five minutes later, the doorbell buzzed. I opened the door to see Harry standing there. "Hello Harry!" I said with a smile. "Come inside, my mum is making stew."

He followed me into the dining room. Emily was tapping away on her phone, feet upon the table, and Mum was finishing the stew on the stove. She wiped her hands on her apron and turned around.

Harry smiled at her and put out his hand. "Hello, Mrs. Beckstrand. I'm Harry Potter."

Her eyes got really big and she took his hand in shock. "Ah, yes, hello, Harry. Please, sit. Supper will be ready in just a few minutes."

Harry nodded and sat down beside me. Mum dished out the stew and we ate, talking about various topics. Harry told us about how Dudley had dropped a whole cake on his head one birthday, and Mum told me the embarrassing story of how I'd gone into the wrong class and stayed there until lunchtime when I realized my real teacher was across the cafeteria in my second year.

Soon, supper was over and Harry had to go home. Vernon and Petunia didn't let him come over anymore after that once they'd heard about how he enjoyed himself. I saw him at the park sometimes, but we drifted apart and went our separate ways. I wasn't too sad; I'd only known him for a day, and I had many other friends. Still, sometimes I wondered about what would happen if we had stayed friends.