Chapter 2: Friends to Family

A year later...

Tuesday, 19th December 1989

Knocking smartly on the door of Number Four, Beth took a step back to wait, clinging tightly to the Christmas present she had bought for Harry. A few minutes passed before the door was opened by a horse-faced woman with a sour expression.

'Good afternoon, Mrs. Dursley,' Beth began in her most charming voice. 'My name is Bethany Richman. I live over on Aloe Court. I'm here to see Harry.'

'Harry?' Petunia narrowed her eyes, as if asking to see Harry was a suspicious thing to do.

Beth pressed on. 'I have a gift to thank him for helping with some yard work last week.' She hoped it sounded believable.

The older woman reached out a hand. 'I'll give it to him.'

'I'd like to thank him in person,' Beth explained patiently, still grinning widely – perhaps a little too much so; Harry's aunt looked rather disconcerted – maybe that was just her natural expression. 'Is he home?'

'He's sleeping,' was the terse response.

'Sleeping?' That didn't seem right. Harry spent as much time as possible outdoors. 'During the Christmas holidays? I would have thought he would be climbing trees or playing in the snow.'

'Well, he's –'

Beth suddenly caught sight of movement over Petunia's shoulder. 'Harry? Did you just come out of that cupboard?'

Obviously surprised to see her standing at the doorstep, Harry shot a glance toward his aunt. 'Um…'

Recovering quickly, Petunia turned back to Beth. 'He was putting something away.'

'But you just said he was sleeping.'

Petunia pursed her lips in annoyance. 'Well, apparently he woke up,' she snapped. Grudgingly stepping aside to permit her entry, she added. 'You can talk to him in the living room. You have ten minutes.'

Beth had a childish impulse to stick her tongue out at the woman's retreating back, but managed to quell the urge. You're supposed to be a mature adult, Beth. Remember that, she reprimanded herself as Harry wordlessly showed her to the living room.

Shooting a cautious glance toward the kitchen, Beth smiled at Harry and handed him the present. 'Merry Christmas!'

Harry goggled at her. 'Is that for me?' he asked incredulously.

'Yes, Harry. For you.' She gave him a hug. 'What do you say we celebrate Christmas together this year? Come by whenever you can sneak away for a few hours and we'll have a real Christmas. As a family.'

He grinned. 'As a family,' he repeated sounding both awestruck and delighted.

Sunday, 24th December 1989

'It looks a bit lopsided, Harry.'

From his position near top of the stepladder, Harry tilted his head to study the Christmas tree more critically. 'You've said that four times. It's fine.'

'It's leaning too far to the right,' Beth said, glaring at the star as if the object was intentionally being stubborn just to be spiteful.

Humouring her, Harry reached out and tapped the star so it moved a fraction to the right. 'How about now?'

'Perfect.' Beth beamed at the fully trimmed Christmas tree. It was almost groaning with all the tinsel, lights, candy canes and assorted decorations she had insisted on using. She leaned down to pick up her pet ferret as he scurried past. 'Hey Sidney, you're just in time to see the tree.'

Sidney looked far from impressed. The ferret had already had more than his fill of the Christmas season; he had been forced to endure a bath and grooming that morning, only to have Beth tie a huge red ribbon loosely around his neck. Harry privately felt Sydney looked ridiculous but didn't think it polite to point out. It wouldn't make a difference anyway. He had long since learned that there was no stopping Beth when she got started on a project, particularly one involving Christmas.

The tree wasn't the only thing that had been generously decorated. Tinsel lined every window and wreaths hung on the front and back doors; fairy lights glowed from the front verandah; Christmas cards were distributed on every table, cupboard and shelf; ribbons were wrapped around the stair railings and there were sequins and glitter sprinkled on the tabletop. Wrapping paper, sticky tape and coloured pencils littered the living room floor. The mess would have been enough to make Aunt Petunia faint. Beth, however, beamed at the borderline bombsite.

'We need more glitter,' she declared decisively, moving toward the dresser she had dubbed the 'Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink-Cupboard.'

Harry grinned. 'Need help finding it? There's a lot of junk in there.'

'No need.' Beth emerged from the cupboard with four tubes of glitter in red, green, blue and gold.

Harry glanced around the room. 'Beth, you've run out of flat surfaces.'

'Oh, these are for something else,' she said mischievously, depositing three of the tubes on the table so she could open the fourth. 'When I was growing up, my family had a sacred tradition – which incidentally was started by me. I was the youngest, you see.'

Harry patiently watched as Beth tipped the glitter into a bowl. She put her hand in to gather a handful and then, before he could so much as blink, she had thrown it at him.

'Glitter fight!' she yelled, scooping up a second and third handful.

Covered in gold glitter, Harry blinked at her. 'That's your sacred family tradition?'

She shrugged, chocolate-brown eyes shining with mirth. 'What can I say? I was a rambunctious child.'

Friday, 6th April 1990

'I think we're lost, Beth,' Harry said as he turned in a slow circle, scanning the mass of towering trees and dense brush for familiar landmarks.

'No, we're not.'

'That pile of rocks look familiar.'

'Harry, all of the rocks in this place look the same.'

'I've seen that same leaning tree five times this afternoon.'

'It's your imagination.'

'Shouldn't we be heading back? You always tell me to be indoors before it gets dark.'

'We are going home, we're just –'

'Lost?' Harry offered.

'– following the scenic route.' Beth finished firmly, frowning at a group of young trees that barely reached her shoulder. 'Those trees should be bigger. What's the use of landmarks if they change on you?'

Harry flashed a cheeky grin. 'Well, since we're obviously lost, we can stay here for ten years or so while they grow. Then they'll look like the landmark you want.'

'Ha, ha. Very funny,' Beth said as she continued to stare mutinously at the offending trees as if she could terrorise them into becoming the ones she was looking for. 'I could have sworn that was the right trail.'

'So we really are lost.'

'You really do have some sort of obsession with that word today.' Beth picked a path at random. 'It's that way; come on.'

Feeling somewhat skeptical, Harry followed. 'You know,' he commented, 'we could just climb that hill over there to find the position of the sun. Your house is somewhere East of us, isn't it?'

Beth stopped in her tracks. 'It's more south-east, but that's a brilliant idea. Oh, Beth, where did you leave your common sense?'

'At home with your sense of direction.' Harry quipped.

She poked him in the ribs. 'Where you'll be left next time if you don't cut that out. Come on, race you to the top!'

Monday, 11th June 1990

Harry sat at Beth's kitchen table as she bandaged his bleeding hand.

'So, all in all, you aren't much of a dog person?' Beth commented wryly.

Harry winced as she secured the ends of the bandage. 'I don't mind most dogs. It's just that Aunt Marge's dogs don't like me.'

'They deserve to be shot if you ask me,' Beth muttered as she returned her first aid kit to its place above the fridge.

'The dogs or my relatives?'

'Both,' Beth answered decisively. 'Your relatives did make you spend most the night in the tree. I have half a mind to go give your uncle a piece of my mind!' Her eyes flashed dangerously. 'Grape or cherry?' she asked suddenly, holding out two lollypops.

Harry was used to her tendency to leap from subject to subject and had no trouble switching without missing a beat. 'Beth, I'm too old for that. I can survive a dog bite without being distracted by sweets.'

'Rubbish. Research proves that injuries heal faster with the help of sugar.'

Giving in, Harry took the cherry lollypop. 'Whose research? Your own?'

Beth grinned in satisfaction. 'Naturally. I'm a qualified nurse; my word on medical matters is law.'

'You didn't give me a lollypop last time I was hurt.'

'It's a fairly recent phenomenon,' she said, unwrapping the remaining lollypop and sticking it in her mouth.

Harry opened his mouth to point out she wasn't injured.

'It also prevents a wide variety of illnesses and injuries,' she added hastily.

Harry was still trying to hide his grin when she abruptly changed the subject again. 'So, how did precious Diddy's birthday go?'

Rolling his eyes, Harry recounted the fiasco. 'Every time I reached for a piece of party food, Dudley snatched it up. He ended up being sick from eating five times his share.' He shook his head. 'It's sad to see him go to so much trouble to try make me miserable.'

'That pig. How many presents was it this time?'

'Thirty-two.'

'I bet you a paperclip that number doubles by next year.'

'A paperclip?' asked Harry in bewilderment.

'A blue paperclip,' grinned Beth as if that factor made it equal to a solid gold bar.

'Alright,' said Harry. 'But if you lose I want two blue paperclips.'

Beth tilted her head as if deep in thought. 'Deal. Sheesh, you drive a hard bargain, kid.'

Tuesday, 31st July 1990

Harry stared at Beth in astonishment as she re-entered the room balancing a small cake that was generously decorated with sweets.

'Happy birthday, Harry!' She set the cake on the table in front of him and sunk into a chair. 'Well, what are you waiting for? Make a wish and blow out the candles.'

He stared at the cake in wonder. 'I've never had a real party before. Thank you.'

'They never even gave you a birthday party?'

'No.'

'Then I'm honoured to be giving you your first. But surely they at least acknowledged it?'

'No, they usually ignored it completely… although sometimes they'd give me presents… if you can call a coat hanger a present.'

Beth's face darkened and she muttered something unintelligible under her breath before pasting a smile on her face. The change happened so fast it was almost disconcerting. She reached under her chair and produced a brightly wrapped present. It was roughly the size of a lunchbox. Waving it in front of his nose teasingly, Beth grinned at him. 'Wish first, then you can have the present.'

Harry returned her smile before turning his attention to the cake. Making his wish, he blew out the candles and accepted the present. He unwrapped it slowly, savouring the excitement of opening his first present. When the wrapping fell away he looked up at Beth dumbfounded.

It wasn't a coat hanger. It wasn't even a frayed sock. There, packed neatly together were several items. There was a brand new green tshirt with the logo of Harry's favourite band, some sweets he'd never seen before, a folding camping bag, a mini first aid kit and a science activity book that promised 64 ways to shock friends (and enemies!). Harry stared at the gifts with wide eyes. Something caught his eye.

Taped to the cover of the book was a shiny gold key.

Harry found he couldn't breath around the lump in his throat. 'Is this –?'

'It unlocks my backdoor. You can come here whenever you need to get away from the Dursleys.'

Harry stared between Beth and his first ever birthday gift, suddenly unable to speak.

Beth seemed to understand. 'Just don't let your cousin get to it. I don't want that fat idiot getting into my fridge.'