Disclaimer: Nope, still not owning it. Gee, thanks for reminding me!

Author's Notes: Even though I'm back at school, I'll still update every week. Every Tuesday to be precise. I hate it when authors take forever to update after promising to do it sooner.

I'm actually glad that winter break is over. I had all of these High School swim practices to attend and all of these meets to participate in. With piano and violin added, it didn't feel much like a break. : (

In this chapter, Dudley and Harry have their first day of school. ( ;

Chapter Three: First Day for All

Fortunately, Dudley's birthday was the most catastrophic happening of the summer. Harry's own fifth birthday came and went unnoticed yet again. He sometimes questioned whether or not his relatives actually knew the day of his birthday….

Dudley certainly knew how to hold a grudge. He detested Harry for almost three months just because he almost lost at musical statues. As dumb as a peeve it may be, everything was competitive in Harry's cousin's eyes. Even Harry beating him to the salt shaker at the dinner table enraged Dudley. To take out his anger over his almost spoiled fifth birthday party, he pounded on anything or anyone in the general vicinity, including that certain brand new T.V….

Apart from Dudley's signature temper tantrums, the rest of the summer flew by typically. The days grew longer and the sun blazed extendedly on the now parched perfectly square lawns. Number Four was as boring and predictable as ever.

Harry spent most of his time outside. That way, he could avoid his cousin's attempts of snapping him in half out of revenge. Dudley was hardly seen away from the living room let alone outside the house. There was now a faint curve in the sofa where his abnormally large bum stayed perched everyday for hours on end.

While outside, Harry usually strolled down the walk to town. The town of Little Whinging was just bland and normal as the houses on Privet Drive. The roads were all clean and no litter inhabited the grass. It was also rather small, being a couple blocks in length and having only a few traffic lights. No tourist ever came, as there was nothing exciting to see.

Harry enjoyed walking into Little Whinging. He was now pretty familiar with the layout. He had found the school he's to attend soon on the south side of the main drag, only a ten to fifteen minute walk from the Dursleys. The school grounds were bordered with a heavy iron fence that was at least twice as tall of Harry. He never went too close to it, but from what he could see, it looked like a prevalent red brick building, camouflaged by the rest of the red bricked stores of the town. When he strolled by while school was in session, he could watch all of the older children run and yell on the playground. In the past, Harry would purposely walk by to spy in on the other kids playing. He would always find himself grasping the cold iron gates, wishing hard to join them.

At least he was allowed in the public library. The run down yet still beautiful building wasn't too far from the Dursleys either. The outside walls always fascinated Harry as ivy grew there vertically. This made the place easy to spot while on the opposite side of the street. Harry would typically walk on the bike path to stay away from the busy lanes when he ventured to the library. Even though he couldn't read, he enjoyed staying at the there since it was quiet, he was called a freak just because he was born, no body would yell at him for asking questions, and it was the last place on Earth Dudley would ever be.

The main drag of the town was where most of the people could be found. Store fronts, restaurants, and banks were all spread out over the approximate two mile road.

Betty's Florist was the first shop in town. With a small garden area in the front, Harry would walk by a take a look at the handing flowers and potted roots.

There was this Greek restaurant down town where Uncle Vernon liked to bring the family for dinner on Saturday nights. If Harry was good and did all of his chores, he was sometimes permitted to go, depending on whether or not his relatives were in a good mood. The whole place smelled like olives and the waiter once brought out an appetizer of flaming cheese. Dudley was really intrigued when he watched it be lit on fire, only to devour it moments later. Harry remembered it as one of his fonder memories. If only he remembered the name of the dish, he developed a taste for Greek food.

Aunt Petunia's favorite coffee shop, the Blue Bean, was always crowded with adults trying to get a cup to go on their way to work. Harry didn't know what was so good about coffee. He had accidentally taken a sip of his Aunt's mug, only to spit it out in the sink two seconds later.

One of the only shops Harry actually went to one the main street was the ice cream parlor. Harry would usually sit outside, enjoying the smell of ice cream drift through the door as people entered and exited. If only he had a little money on him, the first place he would go to spend it was there.

Those were basically the only places Harry had ever been to in Little Whinging. There were still roads and shops he hasn't ever covered. How much could be expected of a five year old?

And if Harry didn't want to take lengthy walk into downtown Little Whinging, he would usually stay closer to Privet Drive by going to the small playground on the corner. It wasn't much, but to the eyes of a toddler, it was as good as heaven. The climber was usually infested with small kids but on boiling hot days in the midst of summer, Harry usually had it all to himself.

If Dudley were to ever set foot outside of the house, he would be found at the park. Just this past spring, he went to the park to test out his new bike with training wheels while his father supervised. In the fall, he would take his mother's hand and trudge off under the trees to play in the leaves. Dudley wouldn't go near the trail into the woods even if he held his mother's hand. He often told Harry of the creepy ghost who eats children.

Harry didn't mind the scary walking path into the woods. His favorite part of the park had to be the swings though. If he pumped his short legs and got high enough, he felt like he could fly!

Even today, Harry would keep a safe distance between himself and the sandbox. He didn't forget what Dudley did to him there not to long ago….

Summer had to be one of the best times of the year for Harry. Not because of the nice, hot weather or for the crisp, clear blue skies, it was because it's the one season he could stay away from the Dursleys the most. It was quiet the double win for everyone. Harry got out of the Dursleys' hair and the Dursleys got out of Harry's.

Winter was the worst for Harry. By having to stay inside all day, both he and his family were stuck with each other. He usually had to stay inside and do chores while Dudley and his father would go outside and build a snow man. Harry would watch sadly from the window as he helped his Aunt sweep the floors of the kitchen. The snow had looked like loads of fun….

Spring and fall were of equal likings of Harry. When it was warm outside, Harry could creep out of the house and wonder around. When it would be cold, he would have to stay inside and be miserable all day.

Unfortunately, Little Whinging had rather long, cold winters….

….Except this year would be different. This year, Harry and Dudley would start school. Upon learning what school was, Harry could barely mask his joy as he had the strong urge to jump up and down for joy. As for Dudley, he was rather traumatized to hear that they don't have T.V. time. He drug out his little boy drama for days. Harry considered himself lucky that he could go outside. At least there, he couldn't hear Dudley's wailing.

Both he and Dudley would start school on the first of September. Harry would count down the days on the large calendar hanging on the fridge. Dudley would try to cram in all hours of morning cartoons to last him the whole year. His lower lip still trembled at the slight mention of the school, or as he put it, prison.

The last day of August just couldn't seem to end. At the dinner table, Dudley would stab his mac and cheese gloomily. Harry was as quiet as he normally was, eating what he could while maintaining a constant eye on Dudley. He was expecting an angry punch to head his way at any minute.

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon seemed to be doing the same thing. They would look up all of the sudden at the smallest moves Dudley would make. Both of them were certainly weary from their son's nonstop number of melt downs.

They practically jumped when Dudley shoved his food away and abruptly hopped off his chair. Unaware of everyone's anxious eyes on him, he trudged his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Harry figured that he was trying to get a couple more hours of T.V. in.

The rest of the family then heard a door slam close upstairs. Aunt Petunia gave a heavy sigh as she swirled her food around on its plate.

"Don't worry, Petunia," Uncle Vernon assured. Harry didn't think he looked personally assured though. He was patting his face with his napkin and looked like he was about to burst out laughing. "He'll cool down after a good hour or so."

He, Aunt Petunia, and Harry then heard the door upstairs get opened and shut closed repetitiously. Aunt Petunia's brow frowned as she put her unfinished dinner down and headed for the stairs. Dudley sure wasn't going to calm down anytime soon….

That night, Harry kept tossing and turning on the small cot in his cupboard. He had checked his laid out clothes about five times before turning out his light, but kept waking up to make sure he didn't forget anything. It wasn't as if he had much to lose, but he was afraid of Dudley finally achieving his revenge by stealing all of his clothes. Therewere all once his by the way.

Breakfast the next morning was just as uncomfortable as dinner the previous night. Both Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon presented Dudley with a small bag for school to cheer him up. Aunt Petunia found him a nice yellow standardized bag. Uncle Vernon got him a red backpack with hot rod flames on it. When Dudley's close to tears eyes spotted the red one, a large grin spread out on his face. He was sure to be the coolest kid at school with his hot rod flames….

Aunt Petunia looked rather hurt when her son didn't approve of his yellow bag. Harry vaguely remembered it being one of his cousin's birthday presents that he just tossed aside at first glance.

"Just keep it as backup, dear," Uncle Vernon told his wife. Dudley looked positively flabbergasted at these words.

"I don't want it!" He wailed, looking for another door to slam shut over and over again to prove his point. His wide fingers found the knob of the kitchen door. "I don't want it! I don't! I don't! I d-"

"Why, Dudders?" his mother asked loudly over his fake crying. "Tell mummy what's wrong with it, please?"

Dudley looked at her unruly, "It's yellow. That's a girl color! I'm not a girl!" He then slammed the door so hard that Harry was sure it was about to come off of its hinges.

"But I though yellow was your favorite color," Aunt Petunia exclaimed gravely but her son wasn't listening. Uncle Vernon finally pulled his baby whale away from the door.

"Come on Dudders," he said gruffly, dodging his son's flying limbs. "It would make your mother very happy. You want her to be happy, don't you?"

Dudley shook his blonde hair while clamping his ears shut. "No! No no no! No!"

"Now what am I going to do with it, Vernon?" Aunt Petunia asked her husband tiredly. "I spent good money on it too! We just can't through it out!"

Harry looked up at them hopefully. Dudley escaped his father's grasp and was now running around the room with his ears clamped yelling 'no' on the top of his lungs. Uncle Vernon's piggish eyes fell on his rather small nephew. Then, he and Aunt Petunia shared a small glance….

Harry couldn't believe his luck as he was sporting a bag of his own. He didn't care if yellow was a little girly, it's not like it was pink! He was practically glowing at the table as he munched on his toast. The day was certainly looking up.

"Well, it's about that time," Uncle Vernon exclaimed, glancing at his watch. Aunt Petunia almost looked relieved, almost. "Are you ready for your first day of school, Dudders?" he asked. Dudley nodded somberly. He had barely touched his breakfast.

Aunt Petunia had packed Dudley a nice, large lunch with a thermos of soup. Harry almost looked hopeful as he wondered if he was packed a nice lunch too.

He should have kicked himself for ever being too hopeful. One miracle was enough for the day, apparently as Aunt Petunia shoved some change in his hand.

"This should cover your lunch," she said with unnecessary venom in her voice. Her contorted face turned soft as she walked over to her son to do her routine of mollycoddling.

"Oh! My little Dinky-Dumdums is all grown up! Oh, mummy is so proud of you!" Even his mothers cuddling couldn't cheer Dudley up. He still seemed ready to explode into another wave of screaming. This unnerved his mother quite a lot. The walls of the house weren't that thick, you know….

"Hurry up, Petunia! We're gonna be late!" came Uncle Vernon's hasted voice. He was already at the door with his car keys in hand. Aunt Petunia wrapped up her spoiling before turning back into the kitchen. She didn't even spare her nephew a second glance.

Both Harry and Dudley went out to the car with Uncle Vernon. Apparently, he was going to drop off the two boys at school on his way to work. Once again, Harry was disappointed as Uncle Vernon turned on him as he was about to climb in after Dudley.

"What are you doing, boy?" He asked rather loudly. He then looked alarmed as he glanced around the street, searching for eavesdroppers. When he found none, he glared down at his nephew, his voice still angry but rather hushed.

"I'm driving Dudders to school today, boy," he whispered speedily. "You are going to walk your selfish behind like I used to. Uphill both ways, it's one hell of a march. I'm sure you know where to go!" He grinned nastily as he hopped in the driver's seat.

Dudley soon noticed that his sad-excuse-of-a-cousin wasn't coming. His fake pouting washed away immediately as he mirrored his father's evil smirk. Harry watched as they drove away, Dudley pressing his fat, ugly face against the mirror at him as they turned the corner.

Harry sadly trudged off to school, his yellow girly bag on his back and his small amount of money clanging in his pocket of his oversized corduroys. Maybe today wasn't gonna be as great as he thought….

uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

Successfully, Harry arrived right on time. He had walked the five blocks to the south end of Main Street so fast his legs were burning. When he got there, he could still see other kids coming in. Harry exhaled the air he was unaware of holding, he was rather sure he would end up late….

He had never walked up this close to the school. It was an all red brick building with windows every couple meters. There were small trees and scrubs in the front that were freshly cut and welcoming. There was only one story to the whole building and the wave-like slope of the roof reminded Harry of mountain tops for some reason.

Abruptly, a pang of nervousness struck the bottom of Harry's stomach. He had just realized that he had no idea where to go. What if the other kids didn't like him? What if they were all big fat Dudley clones that will pull his hair and snap his glasses everyday…?

Taking a large gulp of air, Harry dove through the small crowd of people entering the building. If he was going to find his classroom and be on time, he will have to start moving it.

Once inside, Harry felt that he was in some type of maze. All of the gray stoned walls looked the same. There were people everywhere as well, even grown ups. Apparently, parents take their children in to get settled on the first day of school. Was Uncle Vernon here too?

Taking a sharp turn around a corner, Harry was disappointed to find yet another long hallway, except this hallway wasn't bare. It had a large banner hanging at the end of the hall. Harry couldn't really make out what it said but he saw a group of small children in a line underneath the banner, they were all his size.

From what Harry could make out, the line was some type of registry. A child and their mum or dad would go up and tell their name. The nice looking ladies behind the fold out desks would look at a long list before pointing out a classroom.

Harry joined the line to the left, praying that he was in the right place. The line went rather fast. One moment he was deep in thought, wondering where Dudley was. The next, a small girl was nudging him in the small of his back. Looking up, he realized that he was next to go.

The nice lady behind the desk gave him a kind smile as he approached her. She had a light brown-reddish hair color that was cut right before it reached her shoulders. Her face was round and pale with some freckles. She was slightly plump but healthy.

"Hello, I'm Miss McKenna. What's yours?" She asked politely in her little kid voice. She straightened up her long list of papers.

"I'm," Harry started to say, his voice very raspy. He realized that he hadn't said anything at all today.

"Don't be shy," Miss McKenna said gently. "Today is everyone's first day of school."

"I'm," he started again, clearing his throat, "I'm Harry."

"Well it's very nice to meet you, Harry," she said kindly, "but I need your last name too."

"P-Potter," Harry said abruptly, "My name's Harry Potter."

"Potter, eh?" Miss McKenna started flipping through her papers. "Potter. Potter. Potter. Potter. Potter…." Harry's heart dropped. What if his name wasn't on the list? What if this were all some type of mistake? Would he have to spend the rest of his life in his cupboard with the Dursleys…?

"Here you are, Harry," she exclaimed, pointing at his name on the list. Harry's heart started beating again. "And look at that! You're in my class! My room is right over there." She pointed at the door right to their right. Through the small window in the door, Harry could see other children running around.

Harry reached up to turn the knob of the door, happy that he had found the right classroom without being late. Opening the door, Harry's eyes widened as he took in everything. There were small clustered tables in the majority of the room, all with name tags on them. On his immediate left, there was a small cubby area for everyone's bag and coat. Near the back of the room was the teacher's desk. On her desk was a cage of birds, happily chirping at their company. All of the walls were covered with colorful pictures and cartoon characters reciting numbers or letters of the alphabet. In the back corner of the room was a large rainbow carpet where most of the children were, including a certainly large baby whale.

Dudley was sitting in one of the bean bags on the edge of the carpet. Uncle Vernon was standing next to him, talking to one of the other parents. Dudley saw his cousin come closer, his jaw dropping. Apparently, he hadn't expected Harry to make it to school at all. Dudley turned to his dad and tugged on his pants leg.

"Daddy," he exclaimed, "you won't believe who's here!"

"Who, Dudders?" Uncle Vernon asked, diverting his attention to his huge son. "Don't tell me it's that hoodlum's kid we saw in the parking lot!"

"No Daddy," Dudley started, pointing his finger at Harry, "it's him!"

Uncle Vernon's pig-like eyes fell on his nephew. He looked ready to charge after Harry, with the look on his face.

"How did you get here, boy?" He asked, his voice mean, but soft. The other parents were other peeping at the three.

"I-I walked," Harry said timidly. He wasn't sure why Uncle Vernon was mad at him. How else was he supposed to get to school?

"And you're in Dudley's class?" Uncle Vernon continued. His face was starting to turn a nasty shade of purple.

"I guess," Harry shrugged. He wouldn't have been surprised if steam started coming out of his Uncle's ears.

"I-you-I'm gonna," he started, his arms stretched out to grab Harry's shirt collar. He then noticed that other parents were watching them. His face turned to mock concern. "I'm gonna have a talk with the teacher, boys." The rough hands that were about ready to strangle Harry gave him a pat on the back as Uncle Vernon walked out of the room.

Both Harry and Dudley shared glances between each other. They both seemed to agree on the same thing as the tore off to the door. They stood on tippy-toe to see through the window of the door, just as Uncle Vernon approached Miss McKenna.

They couldn't hear the conversation, but they knew what was going on. Uncle Vernon obviously didn't want his good-two-shoes son and his good-for-nothing nephew in the same class. Miss McKenna thought otherwise as she pointed out her list of names and shrugged.

Harry and Dudley backed away from the door as the two approached and came through the door. Miss McKenna's kid voice came back as she rounded up all of the students. All of the mums and dads were saying their goodbyes and heading out. Uncle Vernon turned to the two boys.

"Well, I'm off to work you two," he said. He addressed Harry too, knowing that he couldn't bad mouth him in a room full of witnesses. He gave Dudley a small hug and Harry an awkward pat on the head before turning heel and heading out.

"Okay boys and girls," Miss McKenna started up again in a sing-song voice, "let us all gather around the magic carpet!" She had everyone sit in a circle on the rainbow carpet. Dudley pushed and shoved his way so he could get back his already occupied bean bag chair.

Harry took a seat between the sandy-haired kid he recognized from Dudley's birthday and some girl he didn't know. Supposedly, the two boys had the same thing in mind, stay away from Dudley.

"All right everyone," Miss McKenna started, "Today is the first day of school. Aren't we all excited?"

"Yes!" Everyone recited back. In fact, Harry was rather excited to be at school. If only he and Dudley weren't in the same class...

"Now," she continued, "since everyone doesn't know each other, we are going to play a little game."

"Ooooo," the class sounded excited at the sound of a game. Harry's spirit seemed to soar as well. He was pretty sure he'd be allowed to join in this game.

"Yes," Miss McKenna replied, "a game to get to know each other. Now, we are going to go around the circle on the magic carpet and we are going to first say our name, and then tell the class what we want to be when we grow up."

Everyone appeared thrilled to participate, but Harry was slightly apprehensive. Whatdid he want to be when he grew up?

"I'll start the game," Miss McKenna said. All of the little kids leaned in to take in everything that the teacher has to say. "My name is Miss McKenna and since I'm already grown up, I'm a nursery teacher." All of the children let out exclaims of 'oooh' and 'ahhh' as if they didn't know this.

"My name is Carol," came the small voice of the blonde girl to the left of Miss McKenna. Everyone replied with a round of 'Hi Carol'.

"And what do you want to be when you grow up?" Miss McKenna asked supportively. Carol fidgeted with her striped pink dress.

"I wanna be a cook," said let out timidly. The class let out a chorus of 'oooh's and 'ahhh's.

"Maybe you can make us lunch one day, Carol," the teacher said. Everyone instantly smiled at the mention of food. Carol, though, turned a brilliant shade of red.

"My name is Mark," came the next kid. He had windswept brown hair and hazel colored eyes. "When I grow up, I wanna be a garbage man!" All of the girls in the class squealed out in disgust. On the other hand, all of the boys thought this was the coolest thing. Harry even heard someone exclaim, "I wanna be a garbage man, too!"

"Alright everyone, settle down! Who's next?" asked Miss McKenna as the classroom hushed. A tan girl with dark, curly hair and brown eyes raised her hand.

"My name's Christina, but I like to go by Nina," she stated shyly, "and when I grow up, I don't want to be a garbage man." The class giggled as Mark gave her an appalled look.

"Why's that, Nina?" asked Miss McKenna, "what's wrong with the garbage men?"

"N-nothing," Nina stuttered. "I just don't think I could stand the smell of rubish all day. Besides, I'd get really tired."

As more and more kids introduced themselves, Harry grew nervous. What did he want to be when he grew up?

Anything that keeps him away from the Dursleys seemed like a good answer to him. But that wasn't a real job (even though it was a hard job for him to stay away from his family). He always liked animals, he kept eyeing to birds in the cage. Also, he liked planes. How many days of the summer did he spend laying on the grass, watching to planes fly above his head?

"My name is Frank, but my mummy calls me Boo-Boo," came the next boy, "when I grow up I want to be a professional football player, like my daddy."

"My name is Che and I want to be a ballerina!"

"My name is Frank Thomas," said the sandy haired boy next to Harry. "b-but I go by FT," he exclaimed quickly as the other Frank in the class was glaring at him ominously. "When I grow up, I want to be a baby doctor." All of the girls sighed as Harry gulped. It was his turn.

"M-my," he started, shaking slightly, "my name is H-Harry." He still didn't know whether he wanted to be a zoo worker or a pilot….

"And what do you want to be when you grow up?" the teacher asked gently. Harry grew slightly more confident.

"And I want to fly planes and work at the zoo!" He exclaimed proudly. The class seemed pretty astounded by this feat. The boys exclaimed about how cool it would be to fly a plane while the girls exclaimed about how cute koalas are.

"Quiet the busy man, Harry!" Miss McKenna exclaimed. Harry's muscles loosened up a bit, that wasn't so bad.

Dudley, otherwise, looked like he was fuming. How dare his cousin impress everyone when no one was impressed when he revealed that he wanted to be like his father and work in an office. He picked up the bean bag he was sitting on and charged after Harry. He practically jumped on the smaller boy, pinning him under his bean bag chair.

"Dudley, what are you doing?!" exclaimed Miss McKenna. She difficultly tried to pull the pseudo baby whale up with a heavy heave. Harry took a big gulp of air as his boulder-like cousin rolled off of him. He sat up straight and adjusted his glasses, at least they were still in tact. The sandy-haired kid next to him, FT, looked almost nauseous at the frightening sight of Dudley.

"Now Dudley," the teacher started sternly, but her kiddy-voice was still there, "we don't hurt others, especially our cousins. Now, why don't you apologize?" Harry almost snorted at the thought. 'Dudley …apologizing!?'

But Dudley wouldn't do it. He clamped him mouth shut and shook his head stubbornly. The teacher kept pestering him to apologize but the more she tried, the closer Dudley was to bursting out in hysterics.

Sighing softly, Miss McKenna seemed to have no other choice. "It's either that or the corner, young man!" Harry was sure he caught Dudley cower faintly away from his teacher. He definitely wasn't making that necessary good impression.

Harry received another shock of the day as Dudley slowly got up from the ground and headed to the corner. He didn't understand this… Dudley never listens to his mother, yet he has known her all of his life. Then, he meets someone for five minutes and already obeys them like a loyal dog?

Harry took a quick glance to the door, wondering whether or not his cousin would start slamming it shut.

But he didn't! If this teacher could keep Dudley away from him, then maybe this year would be an unmistakable improvement from previous ones, Harry calculated in his brain while Dudley took a seat on the short stool in the corner. The legs of the chair bent a little under his vast bottom.

Harry thereupon imagined his cousin sporting a dunce cap and didn't bother covering up his smile. He sure was gonna like school….

TBC

Next Chapter: The class takes a field trip picnic one day and Harry is fitting in to school much better than Dudley is. Harry meets a very nice girl who he thinks will be his first best friend.