Chapter One - Halloween
Halloween really was a nuisance! Ruddy guisers banging on the blooming door every five minutes! Well! This year he wouldn't bother with the buggers! Vernon picked himself up and plodded through to the kitchen where his beautiful wife, petunia, was beginning to prepare dinner, while his son Dudley sat in the corner, surrounded by toys.
"Petunia love?" he started "What say we go out for dinner tonight? You know, avoid the little buggers good and proper." Petunia began to smile, but it turned into a frown before it had properly formed.
"What about him?" she asked, jerking her head towards the hall. Vernon didn't need to ask who the 'him' was. It was almost one year to the day since their nephew Harry had been left in their doorstep, and the boy had been nothing but trouble since, well, not trouble, more of an inconvenience. He sighed.
"We'll have to take him with us love," he said, "Can't have him making a racket if guisers are at the door. It would be all over the neighbourhood by tomorrow morning if we left a two-year-old home alone."
"Yes, I suppose," sighed Petunia, " It would be nice to go out for dinner, much better than fumbling about in the dark all evening… alright, I'll get Dudders ready, if you could go and get the little brat."
Vernon kissed his wife on the cheek, thinking about just how lucky he was too have her, and made his way into the hallway. He didn't fully agree with his wife's insistence that the boy sleep in the cupboard under the stairs, but where else were they supposed to keep him? Petunia would have a fit if he even suggested Dudley's second bedroom, and where were guests supposed to sleep if they put the boy in the guest-room? Vernon opened the cupboard to see the little boy lying on his stomach, playing absently with a small stuffed stag that had been left on the door-step with him. Harry stared up at his uncle through small emerald eyes.
"We're going out." He told him, picking up the toddler under the armpits and placing him on the carpet.
"Out?" Harry asked, "Where?" The boy was always full of questions, had been ever since he arrived. The most common questions were; 'Where's Mummy?' 'Where's Daddy?' and 'Where pa'foo an mooey?' As neither he nor petunia knew who 'pa'foo' and 'mooey' were, they ignored this question and simply answered "Gone" to the others.
"To a restaurant." Said Vernon, and when Harry gave him a blank look he continued "To get some dinner." The boy still looked confused, but nodded.
Ten minutes later the Dursleys had both boys strapped into the backseat and had started the long drive into the town, and a restaurant Vernon knew was child-friendly.
Vernon relaxed as they ate. To most on-lookers, they probably looked like a perfectly normal family. Dudley was extremely big for his age, and Harry quite small, so they could past for big and little brother. They enjoyed a relatively calm meal and laughed easily, as normal families do when they're out for a meal. The couple left the restaurant an hour or so later, each carrying a sleeping toddler, and trying to avoid the heavy rain that was now pounding down. Vernon strapped his nephew into the back of the car, behind the driver seat, as his wife did the same with their son. Vernon thought happily about his family as they drove off through the rain. He had always wanted a troop of little boys, running around making mischief, but he and petunia had had a lot of trouble conceiving just Dudley. So Vernon was quite pleased when another ready-made little arrived on their doorstep, even if he was… odd. Petunia had been far from happy and-
Vernon was wrenched from his thoughts as the car slid slightly on the wet road. He became determined not to let his thoughts over-power him again as he heard a rumble of thunder in the distance, and concentrated all his efforts on the road.
They rounded a bend and Vernon's heart stopped. Directly in front of him, and clearly out of control, was a large lorry. He swerved violently in an attempt to avoid it, but too late! He heard Petunia's Scream as the truck smashed into the left-hand-side of the car, and everything went dark.
A/N. guisers are trick-or-treater's, i dunno what there called in england, but in scotland they're guisers. this is an idea that just popped into my head, please tell me if you like it (or not) and if you want me too continue it.
Katie