Prepare for the cousin-bonding fluff here, everyone! This isn't exactly following Order of the Phoenix yet because, well, I figured the Boy Who Lived could use a few little moments of joy now. Don't we all agree?
Oh, and I included a little Easter Egg here. Hint: It has something to do with The Guardians of Ga'Hoole by Kathryn Lasky ;) See if you can spot it.
NOTE: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING
Chapter Nine: Some Things You Wish That Will Never Change…
"Harry, come on! Hurry up, slowpoke! We're gonna be late!"
That was always what nine-year-old Jemma Dursley said to her cousin, soon-to-be-fifteen-year-old Harry Potter, once breakfast at 4 Privet Drive was done ever since he came back for the summer. To cheer Harry up after all the terrible things that had happened to him back at Hogwarts and to keep her family from torturing him all the more, Jemma decided that Harry should go along with her to her usual summer hangouts. At first mention of the idea, Vernon and Petunia were livid and figured that the boy should be kept out of sight but Jemma gave them her word that she and Harry wouldn't get into trouble. After much arguing and false starts, Harry found himself being dragged out of the house by Jemma on his first official day of summer to accompany her to fencing class.
Harry jogged to keep up with his younger cousin as she sprinted over to the school gym. By the time he got inside, Jemma was already putting on her protective clothing: chest protector, jacket, croissard, sous-platon, knickers, socks, gloves, and her mask. Jemma's sabre was already out, its blade glinting in the light. Harry looked away from the sabre and turned his attention to Jemma, who lifted up her mask so he could see her face.
"I started taking lessons after you left. You're in for a real treat. I'm facing one of the best students today. I hope I don't lose too fantastically," Jemma grinned. Handing his cousin the sabre, Harry smiled. "It's like waving a wand around, isn't it?" he asked as Jemma slashed the air with her weapon a few times. "A wand twice its normal length. You reckon I can take Malfoy's eyes out with this?" Jemma asked slyly. "Jem…" Harry gave her a warning look. "Kidding!" Jemma giggled before her instructor called for her.
Harry sat down on one of the bleachers and, for a moment, he allowed himself to forget about the nightmares he'd been having ever since he came back from his fourth year at Hogwarts. Watching Jemma wield her sword like a pro to win a fencing match against a rather beefy-looking boy twice her size made Harry smile. Seeing Jemma grow and develop her own interests made him proud to be her cousin. "Brilliant, Ms. Dursley! Brilliant as always," Jemma's fencing instructor, a slim man with thinning grey hair, beamed at the young girl. "That's two out of three, Greg. Wanna make it four matches so we can call it even?" Jemma asked her fencing partner. Greg, a rather stocky fourteen-year-old with bushy blond hair, sighed and shook his head. "Chances are you'll wipe the floor with me again, Jemma," he said before yelping as Jemma poked him in the stomach with her sabre. "And you know it," Jemma grinned before going over to the locker rooms in order to change.
Harry got acquainted with Jemma's fencing instructor, Mr. Javris. The man was surprised to hear that he was Jemma's cousin that went off to a boarding school for hopeless cases because he found Harry to be a respectable young man. "Fine fencer, that girl. I wouldn't be surprised if she'll take on the Olympics someday. Sweet little one, too, selling most of her party dresses and donating the money to charity," Mr. Javris said with a fond smile. Harry raised an eyebrow in surprise. "She did that?" he asked. "Aye, and she volunteers at the zoo's aviary. The girl's got a thing with birds, I've heard," Mr. Javris nodded before Jemma came back, dressed in the clothes she'd been wearing before she came to fencing lessons. "Same time tomorrow, Ms. Dursley. And bring your cousin, too. I think he'd like to see your progress," Mr. Javris suggested. Nodding, Jemma took Harry's hand and they left the gym together.
"You sold your dresses? Wasn't your Mum mad?" Harry asked curiously as they walked to the zoo. "Furious. And those dresses were ghastly for me. They were for little girls and, frankly, I'm not so little now," Jemma replied. That's when Harry got a really good look at Jemma and realized that she had sprung up like a weed during the time he was gone. She'd gotten taller, leaner, her childhood baby fat all gone, and the way her eyes looked at him made him think that he was looking into the eyes of an adult. "Well…what charity did you give the money to?" he asked, trying to sound casual. "A nearby orphanage. The kids needed some new books and clothes so I actually sold my really fancy dresses for the books and donated all of my other old clothes to the orphanage. The girls were really happy," Jemma smiled as they arrived at the aviary. Harry followed her to an office, where they were greeted by a smiling veterinarian with soft blue eyes.
"Ah, Jemma dear, lovely to see you. Oh, and a friend of yours?" the vet turned her gentle gaze to Harry. "Dr. McKellar, this is my cousin. Harry, this is Dr. McKellar. She's the vet-in-charge here at the aviary," Jemma introduced her cousin to her friend. "Wonderful to meet you, Harry. Now, I hope you're used to birds because we'll be helping some today," Dr. McKellar smiled as she led Harry and Jemma to her vet's office. After donning gloves, surgical masks and doctor's scrub caps ("Trust me. Some birds can get really riled up and tear your hair out," Dr. McKellar told them), they attended to their first feathered patient.
And it was an ill-tempered eagle with a broken wing.
'Merlin, this thing's madder than Hedwig when I forget to let her out at night…' Harry thought as an assistant brought in the cage containing the screeching bird. Its port wing was hanging limply on its side while the other wing was fluttering about madly as the eagle tried to break out of its cage using its powerful beak. Harry glanced at Jemma, who looked calmly at the eagle as it thrashed about in its cage. "We might need to calm him down," Dr. McKellar said, preparing a tranquilizer but Jemma stopped her. "It's all right, Dr. McKellar," she said softly and approached the cage. The eagle, which had been struggling in its cage, suddenly calmed down and looked at the youngest Dursley with curious golden eyes.
'We're going to fix your wing. Are you afraid?' Jemma asked the eagle in her mind. The eagle ruffled its plumage and Jemma heard a voice that sounded like a man's speak inside her mind. 'No, but I am angry at myself for breaking my wing,' it said. 'You don't have to be mad at yourself. Accidents happen,' Jemma told the eagle. Finally, the eagle was calm enough to be let of his cage.
'I suppose you're right…but it's quite embarrassing how I broke it. I was trying to do a high-speed spinning dive and crashed…' the eagle said sheepishly and Jemma giggled as she petted it while Dr. McKellar guided Harry in helping her set its broken wing. "A spinning dive is a bit of a risky move. Maybe next time you should do your spinning dive at a lower speed. Then you can increase it once you get the hang of it," Jemma said out loud, earning amused looks from both Dr. McKellar and Harry.
"Oops…did I…? I'm sorry…" Jemma mumbled sheepishly as they finished patching the eagle up. "Giving our friend here some tips on how to avoid broken wings, dear?" Dr. McKellar asked her. Jemma nodded shyly and focused on helping the eagle get back into the cage, its wing now all bandaged up. Dr. McKellar smiled at Harry. "She's got a way with them, doesn't she? When she looks into any bird's eyes…it's as if she's talking to them. And whenever she says something to it out loud, it's like she understood…" she said admiringly. Harry merely nodded, knowing that Dr. McKellar's words were more than just true. He'd seen Jemma talk to Hedwig and Ms. Flitteron, the robin that always stopped by the Dursleys every afternoon, and Jemma would always tell him what they had been talking about.
For the next three hours, they worked on healing any birds that had fallen ill at the aviary or had been rescued from traps. Wounds were bandaged, broken wings were set, and medicines given to ducks, geese, hawks, peacocks, and more eagles.
The last patient was a newly-fledged female Spotted Owl with a scratch across its belly. According to the assistant who brought her in, the little thing had been injured in a fight with a bobcat. Harry, fond of owls, helped Jemma calm the frightened bird down while Dr. McKellar tended to it. "Good girl…Brave, little one…" Jemma smiled as she and Harry petted it. Harry looked at his younger cousin with a loving smile and chuckled when Jemma yelped as the Spotted Owl playfully pecked at her fingers.
The distinct sound a camera shutter going off startled Harry and Jemma. That's when they noticed that Dr. McKellar was holding up an instant camera.
"Sorry! It's just that…Oh, you two look so adorable…" Dr. McKellar smiled while the two cousins laughed. Once the female Spotted Owl (who was named Otulissa, according to Jemma) was taken to the owl habitat to recover, Jemma and Harry got ready to leave. Dr. McKellar approached them with her camera. "I have two kids and…they're best friends, hardly see the two of them apart. As for you two, I'm really surprised to see that Dudley isn't with you," she observed. "He doesn't want to spend time with us, Dr. McKellar. He's always with Piers and his gang. They go all around the street, harassing anyone. And Dudley's a dud," Jemma rolled her eyes at the mention of her older brother.
"Now, Jemma, as much of…a dud…"
Harry bit his lip to hold back a laugh while Jemma openly giggled at Dr. McKellar's comment.
"Yes, as much of a dud Dudley is…he's still your brother. As for that bit of him and his gang going around harassing anyone in your street…I daresay, I ought to report it to the authorities. Who knows how many kids they've been terrorizing…" Dr. McKellar said, her face showing concern. "It won't work, Dr. McKellar. Every time someone complains, they always use the same excuse of visiting each other for tea every afternoon," Harry informed her politely. "Well, now that is a terrible lie to add to their list of felonies. Don't you worry, you two. I'll get in touch with the police in your area and see what I can do," Dr. McKellar told them, smiling.
Thanking her, Jemma and Harry left the zoo to head to the park. But not before Dr. McKellar took another picture of Harry and Jemma and gave it to them along with the other one she had taken. The first photo, which Harry decided to keep, was the one where he and Jemma were petting Otulissa. The other one, which Jemma decided to keep herself, showed her standing next to Harry who had his arm around her and they were both smiling happily.
Those were the only two pictures they had of each other.
"Can't catch me! Can't catch me!"
Jemma shrieked with laughter as she evaded Harry's grasp and ran about the park where they were playing tag. Harry laughed as he successfully tagged Jemma and hollered, "Try to catch me, Jem!" as he sprinted to avoid getting tagged. Of course, Jemma was fast and tagged Harry in mere minutes. "You're It – again!" Jemma giggled before squealing as Harry suddenly grabbed her and spun her about. "I guess we're both It, then," Harry grinned as Jemma giggled in his arms. They sat on the swings, out of breath, and just looked up at the clouds.
"You all right, Harry?" Jemma asked her cousin after a few moments of silence. Harry glanced at Jemma, her sweet face positively beaming at him but with the hint of concern, and smiled back. "Yeah. This summer's off to a great start, Jem," he replied.
And so that was how most of Harry's summer was like. Keeping out of Dudley's way and avoiding his Aunt and Uncle so he and Jemma could go off and do whatever they wanted. They'd attend fencing classes where Harry would encouragingly watch from the sidelines as Jemma parried and counter-parried fellow fencers' attacks before heading off to the zoo once again to volunteer and end their day at the park. Mr. Javris and Dr. McKellar soon became one of the few adult friends Harry had back in the Muggle world, although he refused to tell them of his life outside of 4 Privet Drive. Jemma, herself, would not be swayed to tell anyone about Harry's real story. She and Harry had both sworn to each other when they were little that they would keep whatever secret they shared between them a secret no matter what.
And one of those secrets happened to be Harry's real identity as a wizard.
Then, one day, Dr. McKellar stayed true to her word and came forward to Mr. and Mrs. Dursley with a constable one morning about Dudley's behavior. Naturally, the Dursleys (minus Jemma) defended Dudley and were only let off with a warning. But once Petunia and Vernon found out who accused their dear Dudley, they were horrified. Petunia refused to speak to Jemma while Dudley made it his personal mission to make not just Harry's but his own little sister's life miserable, often failing to do so since they were out of the house most of the time. Vernon, on the other hand, was more than furious.
"How could you do that to your own brother?!"
"Well, he and his gang have no right to terrorize anyone in the neighborhood! And, really, Dad! You and Mum are spoiling him too much! He's practically a delinquent now and you're both just fawning over him!"
"Your brother is just practicing what every boy must learn in life! As for delinquency, young lady, I ought to send you to a reform school for hanging out with the likes of that boy!"
"Harry's no delinquent! I don't care what you, Mum, and Dudley say! Harry is my cousin and my family…In fact, he's been more family to me than you three have ever been!"
Locked in his room, Harry listened to the argument between his uncle and younger cousin until he heard someone stomping upstairs to his room. Quickly, Harry scrambled into bed to hide just before his Uncle Vernon threw open the door. To his surprise, Jemma was there and Vernon harshly pushed her inside. "She's staying there with you until she learns the truth – that you, boy, are nothing but trouble for her!" Vernon snapped and slammed the door, locking it again.
"Well, that takes care of that. I better call Mr. Javris and Dr. McKellar and tell them that I won't be coming tomorrow…" Jemma sighed before Harry motioned for her to sit next to him on the bed. "Jem, why'd you do that?" Harry asked her. "He won't see the truth. Dudley's a bratty dud and do I really need to reiterate what he and Mum have been doing to you? They're lucky I haven't decided to call the police and charge them with child abuse," Jemma huffed. "Even so, he's still your Dad. My Aunt Petunia's your Mum and Dudley's your brother. Just because they hate me, that shouldn't make you hate them," Harry scolded her. Jemma looked at Harry sadly. "It's not fair…It's not fair to you, Harry. You deserve love. You deserve a family…" she said softly. "And I do have them," Harry smiled as he pulled out the photograph of him and Jemma, placing it next to the frame where he had the special moving picture of his parents. "My parents may no longer be alive, but I know they're watching over me. And as for you, Jemma…you're my family here. Your love's more than enough…" he told his younger cousin. Smiling, Jemma hugged Harry tightly. "No matter what, Harry, you'll always be my family and I'll always love you. We're cousins together; friends forever," she sighed. "Cousins together; friends forever…" Harry repeated softly, hugging her back.
After a while, Jemma was let out and she and Harry were back to their summer routine of fencing classes, volunteering at the zoo's aviary, and playing at the park.
Then the dementors attacked.
Next chapter is when the Order of the Phoenix events happen. Until then, read and review!
-GuardianDragon98
