Harry shivered as he woke, wrapping the thin blanket tighter around him as he tried to focus on magicking enough warmth to stop his hands shaking - although he couldn't tell if the trembles were from the cold itself or the dream he'd woken from. Whispers were echoing in his ears, and he couldn't help but feel that the woman he saw in it wasn't just someone his mind had conjured up. The red hair seemed familiar, for some reason. He couldn't quite place why.
He sat silently for a few moments, drawing the heat in his hands away so it ran through his blood - a trick he'd learned after some experimentation: it took less energy than warming the area around him, so he could practise magic while comfortable. He could just about see the first rays of sunlight poking through the gaps in the curtains and shining onto the hallway floor, golden patterns swirling in unison with each other, and he watched them for a moment through the grate in the door.
"Up! Get up, boy!" There was a hard rap on his door.
"Yes, Aunt Petunia."
Harry pulled on a shirt lying on the shelf, before he searched for a pair of socks he was sure he'd put next to it last night. He sighed quietly as he found them in the corner, and pulled them on quickly. "Well? Are you up yet?"
"Yes, Aunt Petunia."
He felt the door unlock before he heard it, and closed his eyes for a moment to avoid the dust that fell as it opened. "Look after the bacon, and don't you dare let it burn. Everything needs to be perfect for Dudley's birthday." It took all his self restraint to stop himself rolling his eyes.
The kitchen table looked as if it would snap in half under the weight of all Dudley's presents, and he eyed them all for a second. Half of them would be in the bin or broken within the month. Exactly why Dudley had demanded a racing bike, he had no idea. Or a second television, when the one he'd had for Christmas in his bedroom was still working.
Harry shook his head slightly, wrapping the tape back around the joint of his glasses before pushing them back up his nose and turning to the cooker, grabbing the fish slice off the counter to turn over the bacon in the pan.
By the time Dudley stormed into the kitchen ahead of Petunia, he'd piled enough eggs and bacon onto the three plates to feed a small army. He balanced them on his arms, waiting by the side of the table for someone to make space for him to put them down. Vernon glared at him, as if it was Harry's fault they'd decided to fill the table with presents, then gave Dudley an enthusiastic smile as he finished counting them.
"Thirty six?" He took a small step back as Dudley's face fell. "That's two less than last year!"
"Darling, you haven't counted Aunt Marge's present, see? It's under this big one from-"
"All right, thirty seven then."
Harry didn't think he'd ever loved Petunia more as she staved off another Dudley Tantrum, patting him on the hand gently as she said, "And we'll buy another two presents for you while we're out today. How's that?"
"So I'll have… thirty…"
"Thirty nine, popkin."
"That's alright then." He grinned, grabbing a large parcel that was leaning on his chair, completely oblivious to the plate of food in front of him.
Harry ignored whatever it was Vernon was saying when the phone rang, and Petunia jumped to answer it. Her face moved from confused, to worried, to angry, and Harry couldn't help but wonder who was on the other end of the line as she slammed it down and walked stiffly back into the kitchen. "Bad news, Vernon," she said, "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take the boy." She jerked her head in his direction.
He supposed he should feel sorry for her, but he'd always hated being left behind with Mrs Figg. It wasn't even because he missed out on Dudley's birthday trips - they were never really fun, anyway; her house smelled funny, and she adored telling him about the cats she'd owned. Every single one. With photographs. He could probably fill a book writing each one of their life stories.
"Now what?"
"We could call Marge." Vernon suggested.
"She'd never get here in time. Besides, she hates the boy."
He watched the two silently, smirking slightly at Vernon's panicked face.
"What about, what's her name, your friend - Yvonne?"
"On vacation in Majorca," Aunt Petunia snapped.
"You could just leave me here," Harry put in sullenly. He faked a frown at the floor.
Petunia looked at him with disgust, "And come back to find the house in ruins?" she snarled.
Huh. That sounded cool.
"I suppose we could take him with us, and just leave him in the car…" Petunia said slowly. Vernon protested loudly, and Dudley began to wail loudly.
"I don't- I don't want… him… t-to come… with us!" He yelled between faked sobs. "He spoils everything!" Dudley sent him a menacing grin over Petunia's shoulder, and he turned away, rolling his eyes.
Just then, the doorbell rang, and a moment later, Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in with his mother. He'd looked almost exactly the same for the past two years - tall, thin, pale, and a face like a rat. Dudley stopped his 'crying' at once.
Ten minutes later, Harry watched Dudley and Piers squash into the back seat of the car as Vernon grabbed his shoulder and held him back a moment.
"I'm warning you, boy," he said slowly, his nose barely an inch from Harry's own, "Any funny business, anything strange - anything at all - and you won't be leaving your cupboard until Christmas."
"I'm not going to do anything."
Vernon scoffed, forcing him towards the car as Harry wiped the spit from his face, and he climbed in between Piers and Dudley, ignoring the kicks to his shins from both sides.
For Britain, it was a strangely sunny Saturday, and the zoo was crowded full of families enjoying the warm weather. Almost as soon as they walked in, Petunia bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice creams, reluctantly buying him a cheap lemon ice pop when the woman in the van asked what he wanted. It wasn't too bad, either, Harry thought, as they walked past a gorilla that looked almost exactly like Dudley, minus the blond hair.
He walked a little way behind the Dursleys to avoid Dudley and Piers, who'd started kicking at the ground in boredom by lunchtime, and were sending him malicious grins every so often. Even so, it was still a fun morning - he'd managed to steal the last of Dudley's food at lunch when he complained that it didn't have enough chips, and Vernon ordered him another one to replace it, and he'd got to look at all the animals by himself without having to listen to any of their voices for a while when they stopped for a snack.
After lunch, they went to the reptile house. It was colder than outside, with tanks lit all along the walls, full of all sorts of lizards and snakes slithering over the stones. Dudley and Piers ran over to the cobras and the 'man-eating' pythons (Harry didn't believe that for a second), and quickly found the largest snake in the place, pressing his nose against the glass to watch it.
"Make it move."
Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake ignored him.
"Do it again!" He knocked on the glass hard, and Harry rolled his eyes at the snake in front of him as he saw the 'Do Not Touch The Glass' sign affixed to the wall. "This is boring."
He rolled his eyes again. That snake was probably dying of boredom itself, lying there all day long with only stupid people knocking on the glass for company. He moved in front of the tank, and watched as it opened its eyes, slowly, and raised its head to watch him.
He smiled.
"Hello."
The snake seemed shocked, a look he recognised from the snakes Jasa occasionally brought to the garden to meet him, and he winked.
It winked back.
"Annoying aren't they?"
The snake nodded vigorously, and he continued - " Give me a minute. "
As the snake hissed, he jumped at a deafening shout from Piers behind him. "Dudley! Mr. Dursley! Look at this snake! You won't believe what it's doing!"
Harry moved out of the way before he could be pushed to the floor, and moved to the tanks of grass snakes on the opposite wall, placing a hand on the edge of the glass there, and pulling at his magic to make it disappear. After a whisper, they slid up inside his sleeve, and he turned slightly, stretching his magic out again to the glass on the boa constrictor's tank.
One second, Dudley and Piers were leaning up close to the glass, the next, they leapt back with howls of horror - it had vanished.
The snake uncoiled itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. Throughout the reptile house, he watched people screaming and running for the exits, and he followed them out. As the snake slid swiftly past him, he heard a low, hissing voice say, "Brazil here I come. Thanksss, amigo."
The zoo's manager himself made Aunt Petunia a strong cup of tea while he apologized over and over again for the 'disaster'. Piers and Dudley barely said a word, shaking in the corner of the room. From what he had seen, the snake had only turned its head in their direction, but by the time they had reached Vernon's car, they were recounting how it had nearly bitten off their legs or attempted to squeeze them to death. Harry barely managed to stifle his laughter.
That night, Jasa gained three more friends, and Harry got two days in the cupboard. He didn't regret it for a moment.
