I'm sorry it took me sooo long to upload again! College is more work than I originally anticipated. I'll try and updated sooner from now on, but I can't make any promises. Thank you, to everyone who reviewed! Your encouragement is what got me writing again, and hopefully it will continue to inspire me. I hope I can do right by all you wonderful people!
I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters. All credit goes to the Almighty Lord J. K. Rowling, praise be to her greatness. I can only hope to honor her by doing my best not to butcher her characters.
(Also, I think there may be more typos/spelling errors than the last one.)
The next morning, Sirius was the first one awake. By time the other three emerged, stretching and rubbing the sleep from their eyes, into the main room, Sirius had already snuck off to the kitchen and come back. He was stretched across one of the couches in front of the fire, half a donut sticking out of his mouth and white powder all over his face. He waved, then pointed to a pile of simple breakfast foods on the table.
As the other three sat down to eat, Sirius sat up straight and finished his donut and wiped his face on his sleeve. "Ok!" He announced, "I'm with James. This is not our future. It will change even if I have to do it all on my own." Sirius smiled a broad, confident smile, which James returned. "That's the spirit!" The two boys, now eager to read, turned to face the very quiet Remus and Lily. After a moment of quiet contemplation, Remus sighed, "Of all people, I should know, Lily, when those two make such sweeping declarations on what they plan to do, they always go through with it. For better or worse." Remus punctuated this with a glare at the other boys that spoke volumes about the number of times it did not work out so well.
Slowly, Lily looked up from her muffin to see James watching her, he had this wild excitement in his eyes and his smile was so warm. He was so sure, so positive, it was hard not to believe him. She smiled, "Sirius is right, we can't let this future happen. We'll all work to fix it, but I don't know how. All we can do for now is read the book."
As she spoke, James went over and grabbed the book off the table. "Then lets read." He sat back down beside Lily and opened the book to where they left off.
Chapter 2
The Vanishing Glass
Sirius made a high pitched squealing sound, "Finally, some magic!"
Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about owls. (Sirius snickered.) Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed.
Lily sat up, eager to hear her son's description at 11 years old.
Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bonnets - but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too. (James frowned at that part, as did Lily.)
Yet Harry Potter was still there, asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shrill voice that made the first noise of the day.
"Up! Get up! Now!"
Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again
Frowns all around. Lily sighed, "That's how she wakes me up on the day I get on the train. Her voice just goes so high."
"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. He rolled onto his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorcycle in it. He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before. (At that, James couldn't help but stop and smile. He loved his son already.)
His aunt was back outside the door.
"Are you up yet?" she demanded.
"Nearly," said Harry.
"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."
"Petunia let him fry bacon at 11 years old? He could of burnt himself!" Lily huffed, her sister was going to be at the wrong end of some accidental magic come the next summer holiday.
Harry groaned.
"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.
"Nothing, nothing…"
Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten? Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because
James face sort of twisted, and he stuttered a bit. The group frowned and leaned forward, curious as to what made him look so unhappy.
because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.
"What?" Lily gasped out. James looked up from the book to the horrified faces of his friends. Lily tried to form more words, but nothing came out. Remus shook his head slowly, "That…that can't possibly be legal by muggle laws, can it Lily?" He turned to her, but she didn't answer. Lily was very, very angry. Not even Sirius was foolish enough to push an angry Lily. Courageously taking her shaking hand, James continued to read.
When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents. It looked as though Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. (Sirius mumbled something about weird muggle toys before Remus shushed him) Exactly what Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favorite punching bag was Harry, (James squeezed Lily's hand supportively.) but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.
"Sounds like James," Grinned Sirius, "He's near impossible to catch!" Lily groaned as James puffed out his chest proudly. "Now look what you've done!" Remus and Sirius started laughing, and even Lily had to crack a grinned. He had always been the one to defuse a stressful situation, and it seemed his skills were needed now more than ever.
Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age. He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear wear old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes. He wore round glasses held together with a lot of scotch tape because of all the times dudley had punched him on the nose. (Lily growled, and it took a lot bravery on James' part not to shrink away in fear.) The only thing harry liked about his own appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had it as long as he could remember, and the first question he could ever remember asking his Aunt Petunia was how he had gotten it.
"In the car crash when your parents died." she had said.
"A car crash?" Huffed Sirius, "Like anything as silly and muggle as a car could ever take down James Potter! Or Lily for that matter." Remus frowned thoughtfully, "Didn't they read Dumbledore's letter? Surely he told them what really happened." Lily shook her head, "It doesn't matter. Petunia, she hates all things magic and it's clear that her husband feels the same way. They'll do everything in their power to ignore all things 'abnormal', as if that will make it go away! You should see the way she turns purple when she sees my school books." Lily crossed her arms across her chest and slumped back against the couch.
Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.
Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.
"Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of morning greeting. (A grin split across James face, and he struggled not to laugh while he read this next part.)
About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts then the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - all over the place.
James burst into laughter, and Sirius followed suit. "You should see his mom's face sometimes!" Laughed Sirius, rolling over on his back and grabbing his sides. "She has tried every spell charm and hex in the books! I think she's even made up a few! Nothing works." James grinned proudly. Lily's eyes narrowed thoughtfully at her boyfriend's wild hair. "I'll think of something." She declared. "Good luck." added Remus with a smile, "You'll really need it, Lily."
Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. He had a large pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes, and thick blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel (Sirius snorted.) - Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.
"Thats my boy!" Announced James proudly, Lily sighed and shook her head. Sirius was jumping in his seat, he tugged on Remus' sleeve. "Looks like he really will be a mini James!" Remus nodded in wholehearted agreement.
Harry put the plates of eggs and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile, was counting his presents. His face fell.
"Thirty-six," he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."
"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."
"All right, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going read in the face. Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.
"What a spoilt brat!" Frowned Lily. Sirius nodded in agreement, "No wonder he's so fat. And, really, I pick on James for being spoilt but even he doesn't count his presents like that." Sirius shook his head in disgust.
Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger, too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents. Is that all right?"
Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. (Snickers all around.) Finally, he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty…thirty…"
"Thirty-nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.
"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."
Uncle Vernon chuckled.
"Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.
Remus' face twisted in horror. "He's praising that behavior? I almost feel bad for that boy! With all that spoiling, theres no way he'll be prepared for the real world." Sirius snorted, "So what? He picks on our baby Potter, who cares if the world chews him up and spits him out."
At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. ("What?" asked Sirius, and all three boys turned to Lily for an explanation. "Muggle things, really its not important." she sighed, and the boys dropped it.) He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking both angry and worried.
"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction.
Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart have a leap. Each year on Dudley's birthday his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants, or the movies. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage ("Ewww." Sirius stuck out his tongue and frowned.) and Mrs. Figg made him look at photographs of all the cats she's ever owned.
"Now what?" Said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this. Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded myself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty again.
"What kind of pet names are those? She must be mad." Sirius shook his head. "Is it a muggle thing?" He asked, turning to Lily. She shook her head, "No, it's more a crazy old lady thing."
"We could phone Marge." Uncle Vernon suggested.
"Don't be silly, Vernon, she hates the boy."
The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there - or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.
Lily looked very distraught, "My son is not anything like a slug!" Huffed and glares daggers at the book.
"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"
"On vacation in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.
"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer.)
Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon
Lily laughed allowed at the image she could so clearly picture, as she'd seen that face many times before.
"And come back and find the house in ruins?" She snarled.
"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.
"I suppose we could take him to the zoo," said Aunt Petunia slowly, "...and leave him in the car..."
"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone..."
Dudley began to cry loudly. In fact, he wasn't really crying - it had been years since he'd really cried - but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.
Lily shook her head, "What a brat." James looked away. "I don't know," mumbled James, blushing, "I mean if you don't do it often and only for really important stuff…" Sirius was trying hard not to laugh, having seen fake tears full James' eyes many times while facing Mrs. Potter. It stopped working for James years ago; but it still worked when Sirius did it with her, which was something James always found very unfair.
"Dinky Duddydums,(Sirius pretended to gag) don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" She cried, flinging her arms around him.
"I...don't...want...him...t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge, pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.
Just then, the doorbell rang - "Oh, good lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. Piers was a scrawny boy with the face like a rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them. (Lily couldn't help but compare the boy to Peter back when they were younger and the boys, mainly James and Sirius, liked to pick on Severus.) Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.
Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life. His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.
"I'm warning you," he said, putting his large purple face right up lose to Harry's, (No one looked particularly happy with the mental imagery.) "I'm warning you now, boy - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."
"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly…"
But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No one ever did.
Before she continued, James smiled wide, having read over Lily's shoulder.
The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.
Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barbers looking as though he hadn't been at al, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his bangs, which she left "to hide that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spend a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and taped glasses. (They all frowned at this, except for James who continued to read over her shoulder and was suppressing laughter.) Next morning, however, he had gotten up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off. He had been given a week in his cupboard for this, even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so fast.
"Well thats obviously accidental magic." Commented Remus, who had to nearly yell to be heard over James' and Sirius' laughter. Lily nodded in agreement, she, too, was smiling at the story. She, like Remus, just couldn't help but dwell on the punishment part.
Another time, (Lily continued to read in spite of James' giggling fits,) Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old sweater of Dudley's (brown with orange puff balls).
Lily made a face, "She probably made it; she made a similar sounding one last summer for the cat, it was awful! She held her down and forced her into it, then cried to Mother and Father when the cat scratched her hands." She huffed and nudged James away. "Enough reading ahead, James! Go sit with the others." Lily commanded with a huff, looking adorable and frightening at the same time. James, looking like a puppy with its tail between its legs, slipped off the couch and plopped down between Remus and Sirius. Satisfied, Lily continued to read.
The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a hand puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry. Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished. (The boys enjoyed that story especially, considering he wasn't punished even though it was technically his fault.)
On the other hand, he'd gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens. Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's suprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney. (Lily's eyes widened in shock as she read and the boys leaned forward.) The Dursleys had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all e'd tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big trash cans outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wing must have caught him in mid-jump.
Sirius snorted loudly, "He's been around Muggles far too long! He rationalizes obvious magic just like they do." Remus nodded thoughtfully, "That is a particularly impressive bit of accidental magic," he turned to James, "I really shouldn't be surprised by that, though, considering you and Lily are both very powerful magic users." James, who constantly joked about his own greatness, was elated to have a real compliment, often feeling as though he could do better. His face lit up and Lily smiled kindly, "Thank you Remus, but you and Sirius are powerful too." Remus smiled but said nothing, only waving for her to continue. He had really meant it; they were more powerful than they ever realized.
But today, nothing was going to go wrong. (Sirius snorted in disbelief.) It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard, or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.
While he droved, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank, and Harry were just a few of his favorite subjects. This morning, it was motorcycles.
" …roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorcycle overtook them.
"I had a dream about a motorcycle," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."
"Bad idea, Harry!" Exclaimed Sirius, burying his face in his hands and shaking his head in disappointment.
Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beet with a mustache: "MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!"
The group of 7th years winced in sympathy. "What a horrible thing to have so close to your face, and be so loud." Lily mumbled, shaking her head, before picking up the book once more.
Dudley and Piers sniggered.
"Of course they did." James sighed.
"I know they don't," said Harry. "It was only a dream."
But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas. (They couldn't help but smile at that.)
It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams at the entrance and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice pop. It wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head who looked remarkably like Dudley, except it wasn't blond.
Even Remus and Lily laughed at that. "Oh, James, he's just like you!" Sirius gasped between laughs. "I'm so very proud." James cooed, whipping a fake tear from his eye and puffing out his chest.
Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back to their favorite hobby of hitting him. (This sobered them up quickly.) They ate in the zoo restaurant, and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbocker glory didn't have enough ice cream on top, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.
"The zoo seemed to have a lot of ice cream," sighed Sirius longingly, "we should go sometime! I like icecream." "NO way!" Cried Remus suddenly, "Knowing you, you'd let the animals out into the crowds!" James nodded in agreement, "Besides, I've been to a zoo once, and theres nothing interesting, like dragons, only boring animals muggles know about." Lily frowned, "I thought you liked going to the zoo with me." "No, no I did! Really Lily it was fun, but because I was with you more then the animals we saw." James added quickly, and it seemed to work as Lily smiled and continued to read.
Harry felt, afterward, that he should have known it was all too good to last. (James groaned and leaned back against the couch. Sirius patted his knee supportively, while leaning closer to the book in excitement.)
After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. (Sirius, who deeply hated all things slimey and/or slithery, shuttered.) Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can - but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.
Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.
"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.
"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.
"They should just leave the poor thing alone." huffed Lily, but she couldn't help but smile. "I can't imagine how uncomfortable Petunia must be there, she despises all wild animals, and barely tolerates house pets."
"This is boring." Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.
Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least he got to visit the rest of the house.
James couldn't' help but smile at his son's kindness. He was going to comment on it, when Lily squeaked. "Lily?" he asked, concerned. Instead of answering, she continued to read.
The sake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with Harry's.
It winked.
Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too. ("Why?" groaned Sirius.)
The snaked jerked its head toward Uncle Vernon and Dudley then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly:
"I get that all the time."
"I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."
The snake nodded vigorously.
"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.
The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it
Boa Constrictor, Brazil.
"Was it nice there?"
The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. ("Sounds like Harry is dense like you, James." Sirius chuckled, but no one responded, too freaked out by young Harry's conversation with the snake, the weirdness of which Sirius had yet to pick up on.) "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"
As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. "DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"
Lily had to take a moment to drink some water before she could continue.
Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could.
"Out of the way, you," he said, punishing Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. (James growled protectively and Sirius glowered at the book. Remus didn't even attempt to calm them down, knowing it would never work.) What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror. ("Good" huffed James.)
Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.
As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, "Brazil, here I come … Thanksss, amigo."
Sirius was the first to speak. "Um… thats not normal, is it?" He asked, turning to Remus, as he usually did when he had questions. Remus was so shocked, he didn't realize his mouth was hanging open until Sirius' question pulled him back into reality. "No… its not. I read about it once, I think. I mean; I could be wrong, and there's probably another more fitting explanation…" "Remus!" James interrupted his friend's nervous babbling, "Spit it out already" Remus stuttered again, so Lily spoke over him, "Parseltongue. Its called Parseltongue. Its a language some know used to speak with snakes. Its very very rare and something you are born with." Her and James shared a lingering, nervous glance. How had their son ended up with that skill. "But theres probably a different explanation." Remus interjected, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself then the others.
The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.
"But the glass." he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"
The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong, sweet tea while he apologized over and over again. Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed, but by the time they were all back in Uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg, while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death.
Sirius snorted, "What idiots." The fact that Sirius was known to exaggerate in much the same way was enough to make the others smile at his obliviousness and break the tension hanging in the air.
But worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"
Dread filled the room. "Petunia… she will not like that. Oh my god, poor Harry." No one had anything to say to that, knowing full well she is right.
Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angryy he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals," before he collapsed into a chair, and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.
"No meals?!" cried James, "They can't be serious." He turned to Lily, who looked very distraught, knowing it is exactly the type of thing Petunia and her future husband (who she had met but once and instantly despised) would do.
Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking to the kitchen for some food. ("Good," nodded Sirius, his shoulders relaxing. "At least he doesn't just ly down and take it.")
He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died in that car crash. He couldn't remember being in the car when his parents had died. Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light and a burning pain on his forehead.
James went so pale, Lily stopped reading. "James?" Remus asked, placing a supportive hand on his shoulder. "Green light…" he whispered, "Once, this witch tracked my family down, my parents had put her husband away and she wanted revenge. She attacked and… anyway, green light is the color of that spell. The one he... he probably used on us; on Harry." Lily took a deep shaky breath, and Remus and Sirius comforted James in a careful, brotherly way. It was so horrible, Lily thought, that his one memory was of his near-death. "Keep going, Lily." James said after a moment. She nodded and picked the book up once more.
This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He couldn't remember his parents at all. (It had become suddenly hard for Lily to speak without her voice shaking.) His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.
When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened; The Dursleys were his only family. (Sirius stared at the boo, a horrible mix of pain and horror in his eyes.) Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too. A tiny man in a violet top had had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. A wild-looking old women dressed in all green had waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple coat had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day and then walked away without a word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.
At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.
"That it." Lily croaked. After a moment of silence, Sirius stood dramatically, grabbed James' hands, and pulled him from the couch. "C'mon, James. You and me will get us lunch, and then we can pick up the next chapter after." Before James could protest, he and Sirius disappeared behind the door. Remus stood and crossed the room slowly, sitting beside Lily. "I know this isn't easy for you, Lily. I'm really sorry." Lily rubbed her eyes and smiled up at him, her and Remus had always gotten along well. "I'm okay Remus, or at least, I will be. I just...need to get over the shock of it all, you know?" Remus nodded in understanding, "You know, from what I've heard, Harry has a lot of you in him Lily. And I don't just mean his eyes." Lily smiled more and hugged her friend. Remus held her, seeing her much like a sister. "I'm with Sirius; I won't let that child grow up without you. I don't know why he hasn't shown up in the book, or why I haven't even been mentioned, but we will fix this, all of it. Even if it means…" he took a deep breath, "Even if it means it takes longer to stop Voldemort."
Lily looked up at him, but before she could say another word, Sirius and James (who was now smiling) burst through the door with food overflowing from their arms. "Lets eat!" cried Sirius.
So that's chapter 2! Please review, its what keeps me going. Constructive criticism is also welcome! I hope you like it so far.
