My second FanFic. The first one I got bored of because I didn't really know what I was writing about. Please R&R! Constructive critism is welcomed, and hopefully the next chapter would come out soon. Don't worry, it's gonna be longer than this one!

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It was a miracle! Uncle Vernon had actually remembered Harry's birthday!

Harry was so shocked he nearly dropped the bacon he was carrying to the table for the Dursleys. Luckily he didn't, or his birthday would have been spent in his room, locked up. He stared at Uncle Vernon with suspicious eyes. Maybe he wanted Harry to clear the lawn of bark and leaves... but then, Uncle Vernon could just order him to do that (and have done so many times before) without having to exhaust his pitifully miniature brain to remember the date of Harry's birthday. He wasn't even aware that Uncle Vernon knew his birthday.

By the look on Dudley and Aunt Petunia's faces, they were clearly shocked as well. Dudley was starting to turn red, because he had just spotted the tiny wrapped gift Uncle Vernon was holding behind his back.

"As I was... well, saying... um," Uncle Vernon stuttered, as though he was being forced to say so,"Happy birthday, Harry. You're... 14, now, aren't you?" He chuckled nervously.

"Er, no, actually," Harry told him. "I'm only turning 13 this year."

Harry said that in a disbelieving tone, because Uncle Vernon was only one year off the correct age. Last year, when Harry was still 12, Uncle Vernon had sent him off to bed at 7:30pm, because as he said, "Little 7 year olds should go to bed early, so they can wake up early the next morning to water the plants and rake the lawns. Oh, and feed the fish, cook breakfast, sweep the veranda..." then Vernon had continued to tick things off on his fingers, thinking up random jobs for the next 5 minutes, which included helping the neighbours wash their car.

"Uh..."

Uncle Vernon's voice broke him out of his unpleasant memories and he landed back on Earth.

Harry glanced at Dudley, and wasn't surprised that he was staring hungrily at the plate of bacon Harry was just about to serve when he had been frozen by shock.

"Oh, right." Harry walked up to the dining table and placed the bacon in front of Aunt Petunia. And then something started to sizzle on the stove.

"The eggs!" Harry cried. He ran over to the stove to find that the eggs were now resembling burnt wood. Except softer. Squishier.

One glance at the eggs told Harry that he was going to spend the day in his bedroom, after all. But to his surprise, Uncle Vernon said from behind him, "Don't worry, Harry. Eggs are unhealthy, after all. Maybe we should stop eating them altogether."

Harry whirled around. Since when had Uncle Vernon sneaked up behind him? And saying that it didn't matter... there was definitely something wrong with Uncle Vernon.

The something unusual happened. Vernon seemed to muster up his courage (by sucking in air with squelching noises), and said, without pausing, "Happy-birthday-Harry-I've-got-you-a-present-I-hope-you-like-it." He shoved a hastily wrapped package into Harry's hand and hurried to the table, calling, "Open it in your room, Harry. Not here." And followed that with stuffing a large piece of bacon into his mouth.

Dudley started complaining. "Dad! What was that for!? It's a waste buying things for Harry, and you know it! Didn't he wreck the jumper you bought for him on the very first day at school when he was 5!? Why!? WHY!? WHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYY!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

Uncle Vernon just mumbled, without looking up from his plate, "Dudley, it's my money, I do whatever want with it, understand?"

"But really, dear... I mean, it is Harry, you know..."Aunt Petunia said, wringing her hands.

Dudley looked smugly at Aunt Petunia and then at Uncle Vernon. "See? Even Mum agrees. You hav-"

"Be QUIET!" roared Vernon. "If you continue this debate I will NOT buy presents for you this year, get it, Dudley? No presents AT ALL!!!" Aunt Petunia and Dudley were stupefied. Vernon had never shouted at Dudley before. Always at Harry, but never at his Dudley. And no presents for Dudley – that was a serious matter for Dudley, who considered his presents the only thing keeping him alive. The dining room was suddenly quiet, except for the sound of Uncle Vernon chewing his bacon and breathing heavily with his nostrils flaring.

Harry took this opportunity to sneak into his room under the stairs. There, he closed the door (he couldn't lock it because it had no lock) and began unwrapping the present on the floor. Inside was a birthday card and 4 packets of 'Yu-Gi-Oh' cards. Harry shook his head. Amazing. The price tags on the packaging of the cards read: $5.90, $5.90, $6.90, and a most shocking $19.90. That totalled up to about - Harry did a quick calculation - $39. Almost $40. Absolutely shocking.

The card boxes had the following printed on them: Starter Deck Yu-Gi-Oh, and 3 'Booster Packs'. He opened the Starter deck first, since It was bigger and had more cards in it. 40 cards, the back said, including a game mat and a rulebook. 1 Ultra Rare card, and 39 commons.

He looked through the cards, then proceeded by opening all 3 other packs. They were cool cards – the drawings were especially realistic. This had turned out to be one of the best birthdays ever.