Easter ~ April 3rd 1988

Harry Potter awoke on Sunday morning to the sound of heavy thudded footsteps coming down the stairs above his cupboard. Every morning, he was usually rewarded with his cousin thumping down the stairs to make dust fall on him, but today his cousin seemed to jump down each step with excitement. It took Harry a few seconds to remember; today was Easter. Easter was one of those special holidays that occurred every year that meant excitement for normal children, and a day of misery for him, the Freak that lived in the cupboard under the stairs. Harry stayed lying in bed while he heard his cousin talking to Aunt Petunia in the kitchen. There was no point getting up until either his Aunt or Uncle unlocked his cupboard door as he couldn't get out. He put on his glasses and amused himself by watching a spider crawling around on its web in a corner of a step above his head. He was not afraid of spiders: they were his friends. After about five minutes, a sharp knock was sounded on his cupboard door and he heard the click of the lock.

"Get up. You're to make breakfast whilst Dudley goes on his Easter egg hunt. Hurry up," said Harry's aunt.

"Yes Aunt Petunia," he replied and sat up and quickly got changed into some of Dudley's massive hand-me-downs. Whilst he got dressed, he heard the even louder thumping of his uncle stomping down the stairs. He waited until his uncle had walked through the hallway until he opened his cupboard door and stepped out into the hallway. He walked into the kitchen and sleepily rubbed his eyes. Out the kitchen window he could see his cousin running around the garden looking for chocolate in delight whilst his aunt and uncle watched him chuckling at his enjoyment. Harry felt a pang of jealousy and envy for his cousin. He had never tasted chocolate before. He simply wasn't allowed treats like that. Chocolate was for good boys, normal boys. Harry wasn't either of those things.

He sighed and started cooking the bacon and eggs in the frying pan. He popped some bread in the toaster and set the table with plates and cutlery. He only set the table for three. Meal times were 'Family Time' and according to Uncle Vernon, Harry was not part of the family. He went back to finish cooking the eggs and bacon and flipped them out onto a plate which he placed in the middle of the table. He then got the toast out of the toaster and placed the stack on a plate and put it on the table too. His tummy growled as he looked at the two plates of food and his mouth watered at the smell of the bacon.

He went to the back door and called out, "Breakfast is ready!" In return he received a nasty glance from his Aunt and Uncle as if he were interrupting something really important, but was knocked aside from his fat cousin who came running past at the mention of food. Rubbing his arm where Dudley had knocked him, he went back into the kitchen to start doing dishes and looked at the basket full of Easter eggs and bunnies and he felt sad that all that chocolate was for Dudley. He sometimes wondered why the Easter Bunny didn't leave any eggs for him but was often reminded by his uncle that he was a bad boy and didn't deserve any. Only normal boys got chocolate, and he was a Freak. He washed the frying pan and spatula in the sink, dried it and then put it away. His relatives had now finished and he cleared the table whilst they went to sit in the lounge room so Dudley could show his parents his collection of chocolate. Harry washed and dried the rest of the dishes and put them away and then poured himself a glass of water. He drank it quickly before going back to his cupboard where he was to stay until he was issued chores for the day.

He was not allowed out of his cupboard except to do chores on celebrations or special holidays like Easter as they were family days, and he was not part of the family. A few tears escaped his eyes as he sat down on his mattress back in his cupboard whilst he imagined what it would be like to be a normal boy and get to eat chocolate and spend days with his family. Suddenly he noticed a flash of blue and saw one little Easter egg wrapped in pretty blue paper. He wiped away his tears and stared in shock at the little egg sitting on his shelf. Harry wondered how it got there and picked it up, examining it closely in his little hands. He slowly unwrapped it and placed it in his mouth. The effect was almost instantaneous, a big smile formed on his face and his eyes lit up and the sweet taste of the chocolate melting on his tongue. In that moment, he felt slightly less alone as he thanked whoever had sent him that one small egg. In that moment, he felt like perhaps he wasn't a Freak, and was part of a different family to the Dursleys. In that moment, he felt a small amount of happiness for once in his life, and that was enough for him.