Chapter 2 - Afternoon Tea

Number 5 Privet Drive had been continuously loud for over a month now. The neighbours were very worried about the two new arrivals, as there had to be something wrong for them to be making that amount of noise.. Another detail that interested the neighbours was that no one, not a single one of them, had seen the Dursleys' new daughter. They had paraded the son, Dudley, to everyone who showed any remote signs of caring. Actually, to be fair, he was also paraded to those who didn't care at all. But not the daughter. They hadn't even told anyone what her name was.

At six o'clock the Dursley family were woken to one of Dudley's famous tantrums. The day before, Vernon had gone out specifically to buy him a new rattle because he kept screaming every time he was given his old one, but now Dudley kept throwing it out of his crib repeatedly. Petunia watched as the girl shook Dudley's old rattle ecstatically, smiling each time she shook it hard enough for it to produce its monotonous shuffling sound. The girl stopped playing as she realised Petunia was approaching. Petunia bent down, until she was staring directly into the child's almond shaped eyes. She analysed every little detail of the girl's irises meticulously before standing up straight again.

Still getting darker.

Petunia took a deep breath, something she often did when she needed to gather herself. She normally only did this when she needed to protect her reputation, but now she was doing it to convince herself that this had nothing to do with any other special talents the girl might acquire later in life.

She's not going to be one of them.

In a sudden rage, she snatched the rattle out of the girl's tiny hand and placed it in Dudley's significantly larger one. She flew out the room and down the stairs, ignoring the girl's startled cries.

"That girl will stop crying if she knows what's good for her," Vernon growled, shaking his fist wildly in the air. He didn't like to be woken early on Sundays, so was even more bad tempered than usual.

"A letter from your sister, Petunia," Vernon growled, shaking his head in disapproval at how this particular letter had arrived.

Petunia forced a very unconvincing smile, and stretched her elongated neck uncomfortably while tearing the envelope open.

Dear Vernon and Petunia,

We are very well, thank you. Our first son, Harry James Potter was born on the 31st July – the same day we happened to receive your letter. We are over the moon. You are right, your son is beautiful, but we are also eager to see your daughter. And we are sure you are more than eager to meet Harry! We must get together sometime – how about a week from now, the 8th of August?

Love,

James and Lily Potter

P.S. Did Dr Wheeze have red hair and freckles by any chance?

Petunia's face was purple by the time she had finished the letter, but she began penning a reply immediately.

Dear Lily and James,

I'm sorry, but we are extremely busy at the moment. Vernon has his job, of course, and I am working from home currently so I will not be able to leave the house for a very long while. So, the long and short of it is, we cannot get together any time soon.

Yours Sincerely,

Petunia Dursley

P.S. He did have red hair and freckles.

Petunia did not want to see her sister, especially now.

Lily read Petunia's letter to James. Well, and Harry, but she didn't really expect him to be listening.

"Looks like they really do not want to see us," James said, and Lily detected a slight tone of happiness in his voice. It was to be expected really though, James liked the Dursleys as much as the Dursleys liked him.

"You don't know that. They might just genuinely be really busy," Lily lied.

James was looking down at the smiling boy in his arms, and Lily knew he hadn't listened to what she had just said.

"You notice they didn't ask about Harry, or congratulate us or anything."

"You think my sister and her husband are actually more caring than they pretend to be. To them, Harry's birth just means there is another disgusting freak in the world."

"They wouldn't think that if they met him," James said, while lovingly running his hand through Harry's already thick black hair.

Lily also patted Harry's head and said slyly, "They are going to have to meet him then. Petunia said she couldn't leave the house, so how about - we go there."

James groaned again.

"Dudley's still hungry, dear! Please could you get me some more baby food," Petunia called in her fleeting high voice.

Vernon grunted, and took her the pot he had been about to feed to the girl. The kitchen was too far for him to go. Petunia didn't bat an eyelid when she was given the girl's food, actually this was something of a regular occurrence. Petunia was happy, as she had no more reminders of the existence of the magical world, her sister hadn't tried to arrange to see them and she had got more spying done this week than usual. It all made up for a relaxing – and perfectly normal Saturday. Or so she thought.

The doorbell rang. Vernon gestured for Petunia to get it, even though she was feeding Dudley, and he was only watching television. She scurried over to the door swiftly and looked out the window to see who was there. There wasn't anybody.

Oh well, probably just some horrible children playing Knock Down Ginger.

Suddenly there was a loud crash, and what sounded like shattering glass. Then a surprisingly high pitched screech, one she recognised immediately as coming from Vernon. The noises were coming from the living room.

"Relax, it's no big deal," said a male voice.

"No big deal! You broke our TV! I hope you are going to pay for it," Vernon yelled.

"I'll do better than that."

"No! Don't!"

"What?"

"No funny business. Please, please put that thing away now!" Vernon was squealing, and that must mean only one thing. Lily and James had arrived.

Petunia scuttled into the living room, more dreading than frantic. Her watery eyes scanned the room, flickering in the way they did when she was peeping over the fence at her neighbours. However, this time she did not need to. Her sister's husband was grinning inanely, pointing a small stick of dark wood at the television. Her sister was standing looking at her as she entered. Petunia's eyes flickered once again, until they landed on the small bundle in Lily's arms. Their son, Harry.

No doubt our father would be pleased to have a wizard named after him.

"What the hell are you doing entering our house uninvited! You have the nerve to just appear here with yo-"

James interrupted her, in the uncivilised way she was used to expecting from him.

"Actually, we did ring the doorbell."

Lily snorted, and even Harry started to clap his hands wildly.

Lily stepped forward, challenging her sister.

"You said you couldn't come to see us at the moment – so we thought we would come and visit you."

"Yes, we couldn't come because we were busy! We are still busy here!"

"You don't look very busy," Lily's tone was almost as venomous as Petunia's.

"Well we are. And even if we weren't, you can't just appear uninvited. You can't disturb our children, and break our television!"

James rolled his eyes and sighed, "Well I don't get what you muggles see in these, but – reparo!" Vernon hurried backwards as each little piece of the broken screen rose up into the air, and then landed in its correct place. The newly fixed TV then placed itself back onto its stand.

Lily smiled. Magic still excited her, even though it was part of her everyday life. Conversely, Petunia looked away disapprovingly.

"Do you want to hold Harry?"

Petunia knew she didn't but Harry was already in her arms before she could object. She looked down at his charcoal coloured hair with disgust, and then noticed his eyes. This was when she practically threw him back to Lily. Lily frowned, seeming to know what Petunia was thinking, but her mind was elsewhere.

"Where are the twins?"

"They're, they're in the dining room. We were just feeding them."

"Good. I can't wait for them to meet Harry."

Vernon growled from the uncomfortable position he had taken up on the floor. Petunia forced her lips into a very unconvincing smile, and replied coldly, "And I can't wait for them to meet him."

"This must be Dudley," Lily said excitedly, but didn't dare to pick him up. Petunia had run between her and the baby to prevent her from getting any closer to her golden boy. James laughed, maybe at Petunia's behaviour or more likely at Dudley's appearance. The pictures had not lied. Dudley certainly did look like a beachball, his lack of neck making him appear almost completely circular. His face was much wider than Harry's, and was very red from all the tantrums he threw. Lily did noted the two large empty pots of baby food on his high chair, which seemed to explain Dudley's colossal size.

Always the polite one, Lily said that Dudley was a beautiful baby. James commented that he was sure to look just like his dad when he was older.

'Where's your daughter, Tuny?" Lily was brave enough to venture to use her childhood name for her sister. Petunia glared at her, and silently pointed to the corner of the room.

Lily didn't understand why she hadn't seen the child as soon as she had entered the room. She was very clearly there, it was not as if she was hidden away. Yet Lily had to have her existence pointed out to her. How can you not see a child? Living under Dudley's weighty shadow had obviously had an effect on the girl. She was left out of the photos and now it appeared she was left out at home as well. Vernon would have wanted a boy, and so the girl had simply been left out. Nothing that simple sibling rivalry wouldn't sort out. Lily repeated it over and over again in her head.

But the truth was, the closer Lily got to the child the more she knew this wasn't true. The more she knew this would never be true. The baby was brilliantly formed, with the proportions of Harry rather than the proportions of her unfortunately sized brother. The perfect curves of her tiny face were fixed in a position of calm, calm that stretched beyond her few days in this world. She was a beautiful, normal baby shining with all the hope a baby brings. But Lily saw she had a terrible curse, a curse that would place a stigma upon her her whole life. James noticed this as well, and Lily could almost sense his lips curling into a smile.

I know I've been a little bit vague about the baby's secret, but that's the point! If you haven't guessed already - it will be in the next chapter!

Again please review if you can!