Ravon: Ok, here is the next chapter people. There will be no spanking but there will be warnings of it. You will see what I mean. And don'tcha just love Sirius and his bananas? :)
Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter characters! They all belong to JK Rowling!
This story is taking place in late April, 1976.
James – 16 (March 27th, 1960) 5th Year, Gryffindor
Sirius – 16 (September 15th, 1959) 5th Year, Gryffindor
Remus – 16 (March 10th, 1960) 5th Year, Gryffindor
Peter – 15 (August 23rd, 1960) 5th Year, Gryffindor
Severus – 16 (January 9th, 1960) 5th Year, Slytherin
Lily – 16 (January 30th, 1960) 5th Year, Gryffindor
Kristin – 33 (October 2nd, 1961) Younger Self currently in 3rd year - Time Traveled from July, 1995
Sophie – 33 (April 25th, 1962) Younger Self currently in 3rd year – Time Traveled from July, 1995
~~~~~~~~~James~~~Sirius~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~Remus~~~~~~~~Peter~~~~~~
~~~~~~Sophie~~~~~~~~~Lily~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~Kristin~~Severus~~~~~~~
James -15
Sirius - 15
Remus - 15
Peter - 15
Severus - 15
Lily - 15
Kristin - 32
Sophie - 33
Chapter 3 – A Scare and Some Whacking
At around 9:45 the next morning, the marauders plus Lily made their way to the Room of Requirement on the 7th floor. Remus started pacing back and forth, thinking of the room they were in. When the door appeared and they all went inside, Kristin and Sophie were nowhere to be seen. Nor was the book anywhere in the room.
They got comfortable and Sirius started moaning suddenly.
"Moony, can I have a pain reliever potion please?" He asked his friend, while clutching his head.
Remus and Lily both snorted. "Why would I do that, Paddy? After all, you do know what chocolate does to you."
"And he still bloody ate it!" James cackled gleefully. Peter grinned.
Next second the door opened, and Severus appeared in the doorway, looking alert. When he saw all four marauders in already, he walked cautiously in the room.
"Don't worry Sev," Lily said to him smiling. "They haven't put and pranks or traps anywhere, you're safe."
"What's Black's problem?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow at Sirius clutching his head.
"Headache, due to all the craziness yesterday." Lily snickered. "Serves him right, in my opinion."
"Hey, Evans, that's not very nice..." James said mockingly, causing said person to glare at him.
"Well," Severus said slowly, "If you give him the potion then we don't have to deal with his groveling and/or begging."
"Heheheh, I never told him I had it to begin with." Remus said, trying not to laugh at the look on Sirius' face. Everyone else did laugh, and as thoughts turned back to why they were there, Lily spoke up.
"Hey guys," She said suddenly. "Are you sure we can trust Kristin and Sophie? I mean do you really think this isn't some prank their pulling?" They all looked at her as though she were insane. "Hello...earth to Evans...of course we don't know if we can trust them." James said eyeing her.
"Then why...?"
"Lily, did you look at their eyes? I mean really look? They're the eyes of those who have seen too much and lived through it. I don't think they are lying." Remus explained calmly.
"So you're going along with them?"
"Yes, even if we refused, we wouldn't be able to defeat them in a duel...so we just play along."
"Without the playing," Peter added
Everyone stared at him for a moment, before a blinding white light filled the room. As it died down, a glowing doorway appeared from thin air and at the top; the words read "Number 12 Grimmauld Place."
"Grimmauld Place? That's my parent's house!"
"What?!"
They all gaped as Sophie Orion stepped gracefully into the room. She flicked her wrist and the portal vanished. Immediately, they saw that she was grumbling to herself, and they caught the words "Dumbledore...meeting...bloody morning..." in her muttering.
Sophie sighed as she looked around the room, noticing Sirius' shocked expression, and James' raised eyebrows. The others merely gaped at her.
"Um...the hell?"
This broke the dam and everyone except Sirius started laughing, as Peter scratched his head sheepishly. Sophie just smirked. Suddenly Sirius jumped up, with his wand out pointing it at Sophie.
"Sirius, what-"
"Shut up, Moony." Sirius growled. He focused his gaze on Sophie, who was looking at him with a confused expression, hands by her side. What made the others worry was that she had visibly flinched when he pointed his wand at her... but made no move to grab her own. Almost as though she was used to it.
"Why were you there?" he growled at her, and realization dawned on her face.
"Grimmauld Place is Dumbledore's headquarters for the fight against V-Voldemort." Sirius advance on her with his wand still out, and fire in his eyes, making her back away, real fear in her eyes.
"You lie!" he growled advancing on her so fast she didn't notice till he had jabbed his wand into her neck and grabbed her shoulder with the other.
"Tell the truth! Why were you there?"
What happened next startled everyone. Sophie let out a shriek of terror, and crumpled to the ground in a heap, and curling up into a ball, trembling. Sirius released her in shock, and Remus noticed that something under her shirt was glowing green. A split second later, blinding light once again, filled the room, along with, once again, a door - this time with the words "Spinner's End"
Lily and Severus looked at one another in shock, but no one else seemed to know where that was.
Kristin came charging out, wand ready, much to the surprise of the others as they saw the anger in her eyes, as well as the slight fear.
She looked around the room at Sirius and Sophie, and frowned slightly. Remus and Severus noticed that the necklace she was wearing was glowing red. As she approached Sophie quickly, the glows got stronger. She bent down to Sophie's level with her hand on her shoulder and started whispering to her.
James, Peter and Remus all grabbed Sirius and forced him into a beanbag.
"What did you do that for you idiot?" Lily hissed angrily
"She was at-"
"It's in the future Sirius." James said, shocked that his friend had caused such a reaction from one of their hosts.
"Things are different there." Severus said calmly. "She hasn't lied to us at all. Neither has Kristin, for that matter."
Sirius had the decency to look abashed. "Sorry, I just-"
"Overreacted." a voice cut in coldly.
Everyone turned to look at Kristin, who was glaring at Sirius.
"I'm not going into details, but you just sent her into a flashback, and it takes her awhile to realize the threat isn't real. I hope you're happy, because you scared the living daylights out of her. I spent months trying to help her recover from the horror she experienced at Voldemort's hands, and you just sent it ALL down the drain you idiotic moron!"
Sirius looked ashamed, and the others were flabbergasted.
"So, what do we do?" Lily asked
Kristin sighed. "My husband will take care of her for now. He knows how to help her."
"You have a husband?"
"How old are you?"
She glared at them all and they shut up.
"We are both 33 years old," she said, as she walked back towards the portal. She stuck her head through it, and about a minute later, a cloaked figure came out and walked with her towards Sophie. After about 5 minutes, Sophie stood up still trembling, and Kristin and her husband helped her towards the portal. When Kristin's husband and Sophie were both through, Kristin closed it using her necklace.
She looked at the group and sat down across from them. Then she took a deep breath and tried to smile.
"She will be ok, but we still have a schedule to keep so we need to start the next chapter."
"Are you sure?" Severus asked.
"What about the necklaces?" Remus cut in.
Kristin looked at him for a moment before responding.
"After the book, Remus. Now then, who wants to read?"
Peter raised his hand, smiling slightly. He cleared his throat as the book was handed to him.
"Ok...The Vanishing Glass
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.
"Ten years...you know what that means Prongs?"
"Sure do Paddy!"
"It means,"
"that Harry,"
"will get his,"
"HOGWARTS LETTER!"
"Merlin, only one sentence in and you two are already annoying!" Lily groaned
Severus muttered something that made Kristin's eyebrows shoot up.
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,
"It can creep?"
"Figure of speech, you moron." Severus snapped
"Touchy..." Sirius smirked
"Idiots, the lot of you..." Lily muttered
which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-colored bobble hats
"A...beach ball?" Lily exclaimed
"Ok...these Dursleys need to really get some health tips." James said
but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby,
"Mentally or physically?" Severus drawled
Kristin and Remus both snorted
and now the photographs showed a large, blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a roundabout at the fair, playing a computer game with his father,
"What's a com...whatsits game?" Sirius asked
"Computer game is a game played on an electronic box, with a screen." Lily said, so they could understand.
"I'm thirsty..." James moaned, randomly.
Kristin wished for butter beer and water, and there were yells of triumph from the group as they got their Butter beer. She smiled at them, as she sat back drinking her water.
being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too
"My son better be there you-"
"Our son, not yours" Lily interrupted, glaring at the book.
James was so shocked that Peter took this moment to continue amidst the sniggers.
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 which made the first noise of the day.
"Ugghh." Lily shuddered.
"As much as I liked her, I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone." Severus said, grimacing.
"Wait, you know Lily's sister?" Sirius and James said in unison.
"Of course," Kristin replied offhandedly. "they do live next door to each other."
"Whaaaaat!" James yelled as the others looked dumbfounded.
"MOVING ON"
"Up! Get up! Now!"
Severus and Lily both winced.
Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again.
"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking towards the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the cooker. He rolled on to his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorbike in it.
"Listen to your dreams, Harry! They bring you good fortune!" Sirius yelled happily.
Kristin choked on her water, and Severus, (who had a weird look on his face) had to slap her back numerous times, to calm her down enough, so she could breath.
He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.
"No Harry, it's a memory." Lily said softly
"He can't hear you," Kristin whispered and Lily smiled sadly.
His aunt was back outside the door.
"Are you up yet?" she demanded.
"Nearly," said Harry.
"Nooooooo, my son's first word is nearly! Why couldn't it be something else..?" James moaned.
"Like what," said Remus sarcastically
"Dada?" Kristin snorted
"Puppy?" interjected Peter
"Or wolfy?" Remus chuckled
"Wait, how about BANANA!"
"ENOUGH WITH THE BLOODY EFFING BANANA'S BLACK! AM I THE ONLY SANE PERSON IN THIS ROOM?" Severus roared as everyone, save Kristin, howled with laughter, falling of their beanbags and rolling on the floor.
James scowled at the lot of them "We are moving on, please"
"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."
"Duddy?" Sirius cackled
"That kid is going to have some serious insecurity when he grows up." Severus added
"Indeed."
Harry groaned.
"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door.
"Nothing, nothing ..."
Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten?
"Because you obviously inherited one too many of James' genes."
"Hey!"
Kristin, Remus and Severus all laughed.
"Would you want to remember that, Lily?" James asked pointedly
"Well, no..."
"My point."
"Move on, Peter."
Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed
"Again, like James."
"Alright, already!"
and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept.
There was a tense silence
"HE SLEEPS WHERE?"the marauders shouted.
Lily looked like she wanted to rip Petunia in half, while Severus just glared at the book.
"That's child abuse." he snarled.
Kristin jumped and looked at him, suddenly reminded of the future Severus.
Suddenly Sirius closed his eyes, and a second later, some parchment and a quill were sitting in front of him.
"I'm making a list of people to get back at for." he said in response to the confused faces. He started to write.
"Brilliant Paddy!"
"Thank you, Prongs!"
When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents.
"Bloody..."
"Even the Malfoys don't get that many presents, and they probably have more relative than this kid!" Severus exclaimed.
It looked as though Dudley had got the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.
"What is...-"
"Don't ask," Lily growled
"Move on, please," Kristin said to Peter, sensing danger.
Exactly why 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 punch-bag was Harry,
At this Kristin thought for a moment, and another door appeared. Ignoring the marauder's and Severus's outbursts of anger, she whispered something to Lily, who jumped up and ran into the room.
A split second silence and then, crashes and bangs, as well as cursing were heard from the room behind the door way, and everyone turned to stare at the mysterious door.
James and Sirius, although angry, had settled with punching their pillows furiously, while the other two simply tried to calm down. Peter looked slightly afraid of them. When Lily came back out looking triumphant, they all eyed her cautiously till she sat down.
"Shall we?"
but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.
Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.
"Nope, runs in your mother's family." James said snickering.
Lily wacked him with her pillow in response.
"Oww!"
"Well, shut up then!"
"Abuse! Abuse!"
The others were trying not to laugh but failed as Lily swung too hard, missed and landed on top of James.
There was silence, then...
"Ahhhh! Rape! Rape!"
Remus Sirius, and Peter, fell over laughing. Severus gaped at the scene, as James pretended to be fending off Lily who was now smacking every part of him she could reach, with the pillow.
Kristin, who had had enough, stormed over and grabbed Lily by the back of her shirt, pulled James up into a sitting position by the front of his, and proceeded to hit them both upside their heads.
"Hey!"
"Owwww..."
"Get up, shut up, and Peter, read."
He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were 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.
"Lily's eyes..." they whispered.
"Poor kid to be cursed with your looks, Prongsie."
"Don't call me Prongsie!"
"Prongsie, Prongsie, Prongsie, Prongsie, Prongsie, Prongsie,"
"Don't call me Prongsie, don't call me Prongsie, don't call me Prongsie, don't call me Prongsie,"
"SHUT IT! OR YOU'RE BOTH GOING OVER MY KNEE!"
Everyone looked at Kristin in shock, even Severus.
He wore round glasses held together by a lot of Spell-o-tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.
"Don't even," Kristin growled, effectively causing Sirius and James to close their mouths.. "Go at least one paragraph before you open your mouths."
The only thing Harry liked about his appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead which was shaped like a bolt of lightning. He had had it as long as he could remember and the first question he could ever remember asking his aunt was how he had got it.
"In the car crash when your parents died,"
"WHAT!" James and Lily yelled
They turned to Kristin, who nodded.
"As if a mere car crash could harm m-...our Lily." Severus corrected, causing Lily to hug him tightly. Only Remus noticed Kristin's wince, and pained expression as she glanced at them. A split second later, it was gone.
James looked between Lily and Severus and sighed, walking over to them. When Severus looked up at him, he held up his hand.
"Truce, for Lily?" he asked.
Severus stared at his hand cautiously, before nodding and taking it in his.
"For Lily."
"Moving on, please"
she had said. "and don't ask questions."
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 a morning greeting.
"It's useless. The Potter hair, as well as the Potter females, cannot be tamed."
"What was that Potter?"
"Nothing!"
Everyone snorted
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 than 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.
"Again,-"
"Potter, shut up, or I will carry out my earlier threat."
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 muck 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.
"Oh, my..."
"How can she let a child, her own no less, grow up spoiled, and rotten..."
"Mmmmm... ham sandwich!"
"Black, I'm warning you..."
Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.
There was an outburst of laughter.
"Ah, Prongs your son is great!"
Kristin smiled a little and nodded, while Severus and Lily exchanged amused looks.
Remus shook his head.
Harry put the plates of egg 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."
"Thirty-six?" Severus yelled, gaping at the book.
Remus did quick math. "If they give him an extra present every year, then when he was born he must have gotten at least 28 presents.
Everyone gaped at the book
"Dear merlin," Sirius muttered
"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."
"Well that answers my earlier question." Severus stated, rolling his eyes. "He's only grown up physically.
Everyone laughed
"All right then, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red 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.
"Well, someonehasn't passed his terrible two's yet."
"Finally admitting the truth, Black?"
"I meant the boy!"
Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?"
James turned red, and tried not to laugh, while the girls stared at each other.
"Popkin?" Peter was staring at the sentence in disbelief.
"Lily, I fear for your sanity, if you live with this every summer."
"That's why I had Sev."
Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work.
Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty ... thirty ..."
"What an idiot!" Peter, exclaimed
"Yeah, he can't add 36 plus 2?"
"Again, physically I say."
"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.
"There it is!"
"What?"
"That-"
"That, what?"
"Huh?"
"That, what?"
That's, that what!"
"What?"
"Shut up!"Kristin yelled.
Everyone else was howling with laughter.
"Sirius, stop fooling around! James, Sirius was talking about the word 'little' in description of Dudley."
"Oh..."
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 cine-camera, a remote control airplane,
"A what?" Sirius asked
"A toy plane, Black" Lily said, exasperated
"Please tell me at least one of you took Muggle Studies." Kristin groaned.
"Pete tried, and Moony and Sirius did." said James
"Hey!"
"Well, you dropped out halfway..."
"I realized there was no point of learning about a world that doesn't concern us."
"Um..."
"Wait, if he took the class, then why is he asking all these questions?" Severus asked
"I only took it to annoy my mother." Sirius explained, while Kristin and Severus snorted.
"Ok," Lily said with an air of finality. "From now on Remus can answer these stupid questions after each chapter, and I am going to listen to the book."
sixteen new computer games and a video recorder. 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.
"He has a name, ya know" Kristin muttered
"Indeed."
Dudley's mouth fell open in horror but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday his parents took him and a friend to, adventure parks, hamburger bars or the cinema. Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away.
"Figg..."
"Isn't there a squib by that name?"
"Yeah, real friend of Dumbledore's."
"Well, then he should know about us, then right?"
"Let's find out."
Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made him look at all the cats she'd ever owned.
"Hey, I like cats." Kristin stated, looking offended
"I like to chase them." Sirius said happily
"Well, I tell you now, you even think about transforming in here without a warning, and you will experience serious pain." Lily growled
"Um...moving on please."
"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 himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, My Paws and Tufty again.
"Nice names," snorted Severus
"Ugh...those names are horrible..."
"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.
"Don't be silly Vernon, she hates the boy."
"Why would she hate him? He's a Potter!"
"You just contradicted yourself Potter."
"Wha-" Everyone started laughing.
"Hey, I know I'm smart but seriously, what does...contr-...er mean?"
There was more laughter at this
"Oh, please don't stop proving our point now." Remus gasped.
Kristin and Severus were clutching their sides and Sirius and Peter had their fists in their mouths.
"Please, just read." Kristin said, after calming down. James pouted.
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.
"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"
"Merlin, she's still friends with her?"
"Looks that way..."
"On holiday 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.
"Attractive," Kristin drawled, while everyone else snorted.
"And come back and find the house in ruins?" she snarled.
"Hey, there's an idea!"
Sirius went scribbling away with an evil grin on his face.
"Come on Prongslett!"
"Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do-" they chanted, but Kristin had had enough. Standing, and taking a leaf out of her husband's book, she walked up behind them.
Lily and Remus saw the look in her eyes and quickly scrambled away. Kristin grabbed the book from Peter, and whacked both boys on the backs of their heads with it.
Shutting them up with a glare, and ignoring the laughter of Severus and Lily, she handed the book back to Peter and sat back down.
"Moving on!" Remus announced.
"I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.
"Awwwwww..."
"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.
"What a baby."
"Black..."
It had been years since he really cried, but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.
"Spoiled brat."
"Indeed." Severus muttered.
"Dinky Duddydums,
don't cry, Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.
There was an awkward silence.
Then everyone burst out laughing.
"Dinky..."
"Duddydums?" Sirius and James howled.
Remus and Peter were on their backs and Kristin and Severus were merely eyeing the book as though it were diseased. Lily simply shook her head.
"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 a face like a rat.
"I take offence to that!" Peter growled at the book.
He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them.
"Nice."
"Another bully."
Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.
"So it's only ok around mommy?" Kristin snorted.
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.
"That's sad..."
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 had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's,
"Ewwww."
"Get away, you fat ham!"
Everyone looked at James, who was glaring at the book. Kristin's eyes narrowed.
"Moving on!"
"I'm warning you now, boy - any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."
"You better not, you fat walrus!"
"James, calm down," Lily sighed.
"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly ..."
But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No ever did.
The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.
"What is he talking about?" Peter asked looking up.
"Probably accidental magic" Severus explained and the others nodded.
Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barber's looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his fringe, which she left 'to hide that horrible scar'.
"Dear Merlin..."
"She is cruel..."
Dudley had laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and his Spell-o-taped glasses. Next morning, however, he had got 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,
"Hey it wasn't his fault, why did you punish him?"
"Denial is a strong motivator, Lily." Kristin explained.
even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.
Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old jumper of Dudley's (brown with orange bobbles). The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a glove puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry.
"Ahhh, don't you just love the way fate plots against you?"
"No..."
Sirius scowled, "You guys are no fun."
Remus shook his head.
Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.
On the other hand, he'd got into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens.
Severus raised an eyebrow while the others merely looked confused.
Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.
"Oh my god..."
"He apparated? At age 10?" Lily yelled shocked.
"Your son is AWESOME!"
Kristin looked shocked as well.
The Dursley's had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard) was jump behind the big bins outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.
"Oh yes, because the wind always carries people through the air and onto buildings." Severus said sarcastically.
"Shut up, he doesn't know about magic yet!"
But today, nothing was going to go wrong. 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.
"Ewwww, cabbage..." Peter shuddered amongst the snickers of his fellow marauders.
While he drove, 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.
"Likes to complain repetitively doesn't he?" Kristin snorted.
"Indeed he does." Severus replied. "His brain can't process the necessary information needed to gather more objects of interest to complain about, so he settles on repeating himself."
"Well put."
Everyone stared at them.
"Did you understand a thing they just said?" James asked Sirius who shook his head.
This morning, it was motorbikes. "... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorbike overtook them.
"I had a dream about a motorbike," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."
Everyone winced, waiting...
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 beetroot with a moustache,
Someone snorted.
"MOTORBIKES DON'T FLY!"
Dudley and Piers snickered.
"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 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 in a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.
"What's wrong with unusual?"
"Depends on who is talking or doing the unusual, Black."
Lily laughed "I agree. With you two the unusual becomes normal."
Everyone laughed as James and Sirius pouted.
It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with people. 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 lolly.
It wasn't bad either, Harry thought, licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head and looking remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.
There was a shout of laughter.
"GO PRONGSLETT!"
"Take him home and leave the pig there! No one will notice."
Kristin shook her head smiling.
"Shut it James!" Lily yelled.
Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time.
"Notice he said morning?"
"Yes, Remus we did." Kristin replied, frowning.
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 on their favorite hobby of hitting him.
Sirius growled.
They ate in the zoo restaurant and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbockers glory wasn't big enough, Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.
Everyone shook their heads at Dudley's greediness.
Harry felt, afterwards, that he should have known it was all too good to last.
After lunch they went to the reptile house.
Peter winced. "Why the reptiles...?"
The other three snickered and Lily frowned at them.
Severus glanced at Kristin and she raised an eyebrow. He smirked.
It was cool and dark in here, 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.
Peter shuddered.
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 dustbin –
"So it only could have wrapped itself around Vernon twice and Dudley once." Sirius said, eyes wide as everyone else laughed. Kristin shot a curse at him, and he started chocking on soapy bubbles.
Everyone stared at her until she took it off.
"Don't make fun of people's weight," she growled. "There are some people whom, no matter how hard they try, are never able to lose weight."
Severus shot a curious look at her while Sirius had the decency to look ashamed.
James said, "But Dudley isn't attempting to lose!"
"Doesn't matter, your actions make you sound prejudice against overweight people in general."
"MOVING ON."
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.
"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.
"Snake has better taste."
Everyone snickered.
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 people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard for 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.
"My son is relating to a snake..."
"BOOO! Down with Slytherin! Down with Slytherin!"
"Black! If you don't shut up!"
The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were level with Harry's. It winked.
"Read that line again Peter..." James said frowning.
He did.
"Ok...moving on" Remus said.
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.
The snake jerked its head towards Uncle Vernon and Dudley, and 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.
There was an uproar.
"My son is a Parselmouth!" James yelled
"How?" Lily asked in shock
Sirius and Remus were looking at each other in shock, while Peter stared at the page.
Severus listened in shock. No, that's impossible! The only one that can speak Parseltongue is the Dark Lord...
"Paddy..."
"I know..."
"He can...he can..."
"I know mate."
"How-?"
"I don't know, let Peter read and maybe we'll find out."
"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. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"
"Brazil... of all the bloody things to talk about..."
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!"
Dudley came waddling towards them as fast as he could.
"That's an insult to the poor ducks and penguins." Sophie said frowning as the others stared at her like she had two heads.
"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs.
"HEY!"
"Punch him back!"
Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. 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.
Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished.
Everyone fell over laughing, as they pictured Dudley or Piers being eaten by the giant snake.
The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out on to 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."
"Okkkk...that was weird." Remus stated, raising an eyebrow.
The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.
"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"
"Maybe to Brazil?"
"Shut up Potter!"
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,
"Nothing like a beautiful exaggeration to lighten the day."
while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death.
Everyone snorted and shook their heads.
But, worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"
"Bloody bastard..." Sirius growled
Kristin whacked him. "Language."
Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry 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.
Sirius began adding to his Dursley list.
"Poor Harry..."
"Well it was his doing..."
"Doesn't matter! You can't control accidental magic!"
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 in to the kitchen for some food. 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.
Lily sniffed and Kristin rubbed her back while Severus clenched his pillow and James bowed his head.
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.
"Avada Kedavra..." Kristin whispered, but everyone heard her.
"Lily, your son survived the killing curse." Severus said in shock.
"Wow..." Sirius whispered in awe.
This, he supposed, was the crash, though he couldn't imagine where the green light came from.
He couldn't remember his parents at all.
"My poor son..."
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.
"Remind me to kill Dumbledore."
Sirius wrote it down.
Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. Very strange strangers they were, too.
"Wizards."
"Yep,"
"Indeed,"
"Yes they are,"
"Everywhere,"
"In cloaks,"
"In stores,"
"In bars,"
"On the streets,"
"Ar-"
"ENOUGH!"
James and Sirius grinned
A tiny man in a violet top hat 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 woman dressed in all green has waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple cloak had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day then walked away without another word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.
"Hey, their messing with head that way!"
"Like it isn't messed up to begin with?"
Sirius was smacked with pillows from every direction.
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.
"I'd like to disagree..." Sirius growled, shoving all the pillows off of him.
"That's it for that chapter." Peter said.
Kristin stood up.
"If you guys are hungry, you know how to get it. I'm going to check on Sophie."
They all nodded.
She looked around and smiled. "By the way, in case you have already done the math, Sophie and I are in our third year, right now."
And, ignoring the shocked faces, Kristin muttered something, and the portal door appeared again. She stepped inside it, and a split second later, they had both vanished.
Ravon: Yay! Another chappy, done! Please review!
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