"Auntie?" Harry asked Petunia one day. He was seven now, and more glad than ever that he and Petunia had made up. Vernon ignored him for the most part, while constantly spoiling and praising Dudley, but Petunia was treating him more and more like her own child. Dudley was like a brother to him, and, with Harry's influence, wasn't as chubby this time around. Dudley and Harry had watched a Kung Fu movie once, together, and decided they wanted to do that. And so, Petunia enrolled them in gymnastics and martial arts. After a few months, Dudley had lost the look of a beach ball wearing clothes. He was still a bit overweight, but it looked more like baby fat than obesity.

Harry on the other hand was not malnourished, and the exercise he got with Dudley in the classes did him good. He was still slender, but not sickly looking. His hair, with product that Petunia showed him how to use, was now feathery and manageable. And when he was five he'd disguised himself as an adult, snuck into Diagon Ally, retrieved a bag of gold from his vault then bought the ingredients needed for a complicated vision correcting potion. He wouldn't ever need glasses.

Harry also no longer lived in the cupboard, he and Dudley shared the second largest bedroom while the smallest was a playroom they both shared as well. Currently, he and his Aunt were working side-by-side in their flower garden that they tended together. "Yes, dear?" Petunia asked as she pulled up a stubborn dandelion.

"Look what I found!" he said excitedly as he held up the small snake he had 'found'. Taffy was too big to hide in his hair, now that Petunia was showing him how to take care of it. The snake still on the small side, only six inches long and two centimeters wide. Petunia's eyes went wide as Taffy curled around Harry's wrist, his pink tongue flickering out. "He's cute" Harry giggled as he held Taffy closer to him. Petunia watched in amazement as the tiny snake slithered and climbed all over her nephew, while Harry showed no fear at it.

"He is very cute, but, Harry, snakes don't make very good pets."

Taffy snorted at this, though Petunia heard nothing. Harry stared intently at Taffy, pretending to listen hard. "He agrees with you," Harry said after a moment. "He said he won't be my pet, but he wants to be my friend. Please, can he be my friend?" Harry asked her innocently. Petunia paled.

She'd watched him closely for these seven, almost eight, years. He hadn't shown any signs of magic. When Lily was a girl, she'd been exploding things left and right by the time she was five whenever she got angry. But then, she thought, Harry was so sweet he never really got angry. Petunia didn't know what to think, she'd almost let her self believe that Harry wasn't a wizard, after all. But, if he really could understand the snake, there was no denying it. Petunia wanted to scream and rage at the universe, it was so cruel. The same magic that had taken away her babysister, first hiding her away in that school, then killing her, was now claiming her little nephew. In no time at all, he would have to go to Hogwarts, and he'd forget all about the 'muggle' world. Just like Lily.

"Of course you can," Petunia said hoarsely as she drew Harry close to her, for once to caring about the dirt that she was smudging all over their clothes. No, she wouldn't let Harry forget about them. Normalcy be damned. She lost her baby sister, she wasn't losing her sweet little Harry as well. She'd buy one of those bloody birds so she could stay in contact—something she'd refused to do when Lily left. She'd encourage every 'muggle' hobby he had, while being supportive of his magic. She wouldn't turn him away. She wouldn't. She'd make it up to Lily, somehow, through her darling son.

"Why don't you go get Dudley, and we can go into town do buy him the things we need to make him a neat little house. Snakes need things like heating lamps to stay healthy, and we don't want him getting sick, now do we?" she asked Harry with a smile that wavered only slightly. Harry bobbed his head eagerly as he charged off into the house calling out for "Big D!"

Petunia wiped her eyes on her apron, now all she needed to do was keep Vernon from finding out. After he'd met James and his friends at Lily's wedding, he'd hated the thought of anything 'abnormal'. She wasn't sure what James did to him, but she knew from Lily's letters that he was an incurable prankster. And Vernon didn't take jokes too well.

Petunia sighed, deciding to tell Harry all about his heritage that night before bed. Then she sent up a fervent prayer that she wouldn't lose her nephew like she lost her sister. "Cool!" She heard Dudley shout from inside. "MUM! Can I get a pet, too?!" Petunia laughed, quickly drying her tears.

"Of course, Diddydums!"

***1047***

Harry sat in front of Taffy's new terrarium where Death was currently lounging on a log, warming himself under a lamp. Dudley had bought a turtle, (which he'd named Laffy after learning what Harry was calling his snake), the turtle's aquarium was directly next to Taffy's cage. Dudley was laughing as he fed Laffy live crickets they'd bought at the pet store. Petunia had just left the room after 'explaining' his heritage to him. Dudley thought that it was really cool, and asked his mum if he was a wizard, too. Petunia only apologized to him, saying that it only ran in her sister's side of the family.

"That's okay, mum," said Dudley, throwing an arm around Harry's shoulders. "As long as Harry promises to show me magic tricks!"

"Promise!" Harry agreed with a firm nod. "But I don't know any yet."

"You'll start learning when you go to the school Lily went to," Petunia told him with a smile. "You'll learn all sorts of things. I remember that first summer Lily came home, she turned a tea cup into a toad! Though she got in trouble with her school for performing it outside of the magical world."

"Well," said Harry thoughtfully. "If you come to the magical world with me, I can show you what I learned in school there, can't I Auntie?" Petunia had immediately agreed, then left to get them a bedtime snack.

Harry suddenly noticed that Dudley was very quiet. "You okay, Big D?"

Dudley sent his smaller cousin a weak smile. "Mummy said you'll leave when we're eleven," he said quietly. "I've heard about boarding schools. It's not like the one we go to now, Haze," Harry smile softly at his cousin's name for him. "You live there."

"Is that bad, D?" Harry asked, stroking Taffy along his back. Dudley thought about it for a moment, then shook his head.

"No," he decided. "But promise you won't forget about me."

Harry crossed his heart. "Promise. I'll write you every day, if you promise to do the same!" Dudley crossed his heart as well.

"Promise."

***1047***

Harry lay in his bed that night, the top bunk in his and Dudley's bedroom. Taffy lay sprawled out on his chest. "Hello?" he sent the thought to the other consciousness he found there. The soul piece had been strong enough to communicate for a while, though it simply didn't. Harry assumed that it was because it knew who it's host was, and thought that Harry didn't know who he was. Most of Harry's mind was blocked off, he was lousy at Occlumency, he always had been. Though Death/Taffy had helped him erect walls around certain parts of his mind. The parts, for example, that showed his memories of his past life. The only part of his mind that the soul piece could access, was the part that Harry allowed him to be in.

"I can feel you!" Harry declared, pushing some of his magic at it. "And I know you're not a part of me. What are you?"

There was silence. Harry sighed, becoming resigned to the fact that Tom wasn't going to respond, just like he hadn't for the past three years. "No, I am not a part of you" a quiet voice in his head whispered. Harry's eyes went wide as he waited for the voice to say something else. When it didn't, Harry only smiled.

"What's your name?"

"What makes you think I have one?"

"You don't have a name?"

"I never said that."

Harry bit on one of his knuckles, to keep himself from laughing at waking up his cousin. "You're funny." Harry told the voice. "What's your name? Or should I make one up for you?"

The voice was quiet, but Harry could feel amusement and disbelief coming from the soul piece. Apparently, no one had ever told Voldemort that he was funny before. Shocker. "And just what would you name me, little one?"

"Bob." Harry answered immediately. "My name's Harry!"

"Yes, I know what your name is. No, you shall not call me 'Bob'."

"Why? Bob's a good name."

"It's so common it's repulsive."

"But I like Bob."

"No."

"What's your name, then?"

Silence. "I do not wish to tell you."

"Why? Is it embarrassing, like Leslie? Are you a boy or are you a girl? Ooh, can I call you Mort?"

More amusement was coming from the soul piece. "No, my name is not embarrassing, merely well known. And I'd rather you learn about me from myself, than from an outside biased source."

"What does biased mean? And can I call you Mort!?"

"Biased means to have firmly set beliefs that cannot be altered despite evidence nor truth. And…yes, that is acceptable."

"Cool! G'night, Mort."

"…Good night, Harry Potter."

A/n, sorry it's a little shorter than usual, but it seemed like a good place to stop. xD