Chapter 9
The House Next Door
"Rewrite your essay, boy!" Petunia shrieked as she tossed Harry's scholarship essay back at him. "Better yet, have your brother write it for you."
"I asked him to help me, but Stevie says that would be actually dishonest," Harry grumbled from his place at the kitchen table. After football practice Petunia forced them to sit at the table and fill out the applications the coach had given him. Dudley was allowed to go outside to play.
"Academically dishonest," Severus corrected absently as he finished his application. "Harry's essay is on par with what the admissions board would expect from both his age group and test scores. Any tampering would be obvious and run the risk of disqualifying him."
"Humph!" Petunia sputtered as she stomped across the kitchen. She pulled out a bowl of pealed potatoes for dinner's mashed potatoes from the fridge. "Your handwriting is atrocious. At least type it up! Both of you!"
"With what? You said I wasn't allowed to touch Dudley's computer."
"You're to stay away from it. How you do it is your problem to figure it out. Your school library has computers and typewriters, does it not?"
"I don't know," Harry shrugged, lying, and looked to Severus. "Do you know?"
"I've never noticed as I've no use for such Muggle nonsenses," Severus absently replied as he reviewed his application, essay included.
"I've told you not to use that vile word!" Petunia shouted as she slammed the pot of potatoes and water onto the stove. "One more word out of you and the both of you can spend the night in your room, without dinner!"
"My apologies, madam," Severus dryly apologized. Starvation was a common threat, but since Severus's arrival, it was mostly empty. In any case, it was still best not to push the woman too far. "Where I'm from it's common verbiage, and I meant no offence."
"You're to do your best to pretend to be a normal, respectable, boys! I'll not have you screw up this scholarship with your abnormalities." Petunia pulled out the Shake 'n Bake chicken form the oven and slammed the casserole dish on the counter. "No freaky funny business!"
"Of course Aunt Petunia." Severus did his best to look up at Petunia innocently, attempting to appeal to her senses. "We want to look normal and go to a good school too."
Not fooled by the act, petunia glared.
Every night at nine Severus spent twenty minutes or so in the bathroom taking a shower, brushing his teeth, and getting ready for bed. If Harry was to investigate the Andersons, he'd have only that short period of time to act, and he needed a plan.
Harry looked out the window at the house. The overgrown yard could be seen, but most of the house was hidden from view. One window however, was nearly directly across from theirs. It was dark in the house, appearing as if no one lived there anymore. He needed to get inside that house, to find out what happened to the people that live there. If he did that, then maybe he could figure out what his adoptive brother wasn't telling him.
Since he began scheming about the Andersons he noticed that Severus never left his side like, a grumpy shadow. Was that normal behavior for a big brother? He suspected not, and usually welcomed the company. But if he was to investigate the house next door, he needed both a way in and a way to shake his hovering shadow.
His eyes fell to the strange brass key sitting atop the desk. Since Halloween the other boy had taken to wearing it around his neck on a string, only taking it off for showers. When he asked why, he simply stated it was for 'emergencies.'
Guy Fawks night was tomorrow and there'd be a small fireworks show in town. The neighborhood generally went all out for Halloween, but there'd be a small gathering at the park to watch the fireworks. It'd be the perfect time to borrow the key and sneak next door.
He pulled the small battery operated torch out of his back pocket. He nicked it from the kitchen so he could use it tomorrow. He flicked it on. Its light was weak as the batteries were old. It'd have to do, as he couldn't find fresh batteries—unless he wanted to take them out of the remote control.
The sound of the bathroom door opening startled him. Harry shoved the flashlight in the night stand drawer just as the bedroom door opened.
"It's your turn." Severus glanced up at Harry. His eyes narrowed, as if sensing he was up to something. He dropped his towel and dirty clothes into the hamper and grabbed the key. "I suggest you get in there before your cousin uses the toilet."
The school library did have several computers. Severus had seen Dudley use his, had seen several students on the computers in the library, but never used one himself, until now. If he had it his way, he'd never use one.
"First you put in the disk," Harry explained as he shoved one of the plastic rectangles he nicked from Dudley's room that morning into the slot. Severus copied him. "Then you wake up the computer with the mouse."
"A rodent?"
"No. This is called a mouse. You use it to move the pointer on the screen then click on the program you want, like this. We want Word." Harry demonstrated, wiggling the 'mouse' across a pad and something he was told was called 'windows 3.0' appeared on the monitor. "Click on the picture of the blue 'W' to open Word."
Severus pushed the button on the mouse once. Nothing happened. He tried the other button and a grey box popped up. "I believe it is malfunctioning."
"No. Click it twice," Harry laughed, the sound irritating Severus. He was one of the world's leading experts in potions and complex dark art rituals, but this grey box left him flummoxed. It was worse than that blasted VCR. He wasn't sure if it was worse than the loathed microwave oven, but it was close.
Severus clicked it, twice. Nothing happened.
"No, quicker, like this."
Frustrated, he loudly slapped his finger on the button until a small picture of an hourglass appeared. "What now?"
"Wait a moment. It's loading."
"Why is it so slow?"
"Slow? It just takes a minute for the program to load. These are faster computers than the ones in the computer lab."
Finally, a picture of a blank piece of paper appeared on the screen.
"Now type your essay. You'll want to click on save every once in a while, to back it up."
Severus had no idea what was meant by 'backup' or 'save', but started to slowly type. He looked over a Harry. The boy was quickly tapping away at the strange keyboard, barely looking at it as he worked. By the time he had typed a single sentence, Harry had several paragraphs completed.
"How do you remember where the letters are on this infernal muggle typewriter?"
"We had a computing class once a week last year," Harry said, as if the simple explanation was the most obvious thing in the world. Harry finished another paragraph and Severus completed his second sentence. "We get swimming classes later this year instead."
Severus suppressed a shudder but trudged on. He didn't know how to swim, and hated the water, hated it worse than football. "I punched the wrong key. How do I fix it?"
"Hit backspace or delete."
Severus studied the keyboard. It was quite by accident that he discovered how to move the cursor with the arrow keys. "DEL?"
"Yeah."
By the time the bell rung, Harry's essay was typed, printed, and he was deftly playing what appeared to be a muggle card game on the computer. Severus was only a third of the way done. "You'll have to finish tomorrow. Save it to the disk and close out of the program."
He emulated what he saw Harry do and clicked on the 'x' at the top of the page.
"No Wait!"
"What?"
"You didn't save it. You'll have to start over tomorrow."
He let out a string of vulgar Latten curse words. The librarian looked up from her stack of books, shocked. "Stephan Prince!"
"I received a call from your school today," Petunia glared at Severus. "The Headmistress said you used some vulgar language today. In Latten."
Severus shrugged. "It's not my fault the librarian is the only Muggle within a hundred mile radius fluent in Latten."
"And I've told you not to use that word!"
"What, Muggle?" Severus huffed. He refused to modify his language for her. He continued with his dinner.
"Fortunately for you, she seemed more impressed that you could speak Latten and suggested you take up linguistics."
"No, thank you. If I'm to study any muggle subject it'll be chemistry."
Petunia pressed her lips together in an angry bloodless line. Vernon's left eye twitched. Dudley ignored the conversation in favor of stuffing mashed potatoes down his gullet and watching the telly. Harry watched the conversation, appearing anxious for some reason.
"Why would he need to study Latin if he already knows it?" Harry asked, before turning to the other boy. "How many languages do you speak anyhow?"
"Four, seven if you include several related dialects."
"You're to stay home tonight. No fireworks for you," Petunia huffed.
"Can I still go?" Harry asked.
"No," Severus answered at the same time as Petunia said, "I don't care."
"Then I'm going," Harry defiantly stated, having no interest in going to the park. He had other plans for tonight.
"No you're not." Severus glared, sensing the boy was up to something.
"It's not up to you. Aunt Petunia said I could go, so I'm going, without you."
"No you're not." Severus suppressed an angry glair. He'd been waiting for this day. So far Harry had been malleable to his wishes, but knew eventually the headstrong Gryffindor would assert himself and rebel. He had to put an end to that. "Don't you have some homework left? Also, your scholarship application isn't quite finished."
"My essay is finished!" Harry glared at Severus. "I printed it out. The rest is filled out and ready to mail. You know that!"
"Then where is it?" Petunia asked. "And what about your math homework?"
"I left the essay at school. Most of my homework is done too, and it's not due until next Monday."
"You're a nasty little liar," Petunia declared. "You're to stay here to finish, both of you."
"I don't want the two of you running amuck through the neighborhood like you did on Halloween," Vernon added around a mouthful of food in his 'that's final' voice. "You embarrassed us with your antics. I'll not have a couple of little vandals under my roof."
"But that's not fair! I didn't-"
"Enough! You're to stay here with your brother," Petunia threw her napkin on her plate and stood up. "You two begin on these dishes. If you two want lunch tomorrow, I suggest you pack it from the leftovers. Make sure you pack one for Dudders, mind you."
"Yes Aunt Petunia." Harry glared at Severus, who raised a challenging eyebrow in response, but said nothing. "I'll stay here and work on my homework."
Severus studied Harry. He expected the boy to put up more of a fight and to complain about the unfairness of it all, in typical Gryffindor fashion. For a reason he couldn't define, he felt uneasy at Harry's easy acceptance. The boy was up to something.
Harry wasn't lying when he said that most of his homework was done and would be due until next week. However, he pulled it out and finished the last of it when the dishes were complete. Now he had nothing to do but watch the telly and wait. And wait, and then wait some more.
He was mad at Severus, and refused to talk to him. This didn't bother the older boy in the slightest, seeming to enjoy the silence. He settled for shooting the occasional glare at the older boy, who again didn't care about his ire. However, the silence in the room seemed to drag on Harry.
The Dursley's had left, and wouldn't be back for another hour or so. Severus would probably take his shower early, before they came back. This meant he'd have to be careful. The last thing he needed was to run into the Dursley's while out.
With his arms crossed, he glared at the television. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Severus stood and took off his key and placed it on the desk. He then pulled out a set of pajamas. He couldn't quite see the expression on his face, but noted that the other boy paused at the door and studied Harry suspiciously.
Harry resolutely didn't look up at him or out the window, where the pops and crackles of fireworks could be heard outside. Finally, after what seemed like forever, but was only a moment, he turned and left.
Harry waited until he heard the shower turn on, and then sprang into action. He pulled the flashlight out of the nightstand, and stuffed the key into his pocket. He then pulled on an old black hoodie, and pulled up the hood. He made a point of wearing his black trousers that day in an effort to blend into the shadows.
Quickly, he made his way downstairs and out the front door. He paused on the porch, looking for any sign of the Dursleys. He then looked up at his destination. The house windows were dark. The yard was still overgrown, with leaves littering the yard. The two front trees still had toilet paper clinging to it, visible now that most of the leaves were gone. In whole, it had an air of emptiness, as if the occupants were on vacation for the last several weeks.
Gathering his courage, Harry slinked up to the porch. He tried to peak through the front window, but the drapes were drawn. He put his ear to the door and listened, but heard nothing. He was sure the Andersons weren't inside, but it couldn't hurt to be cautious, could it?
Harry pulled the magic key from his pocket and slid it into the keyhole to unlock the deadbolt. He needn't had bothered, as the door was already unlocked, both the deadbolt and knob. He pulled out the key, and stuffed it back into his pocket.
Cautiously, he opened the door. A pile of mail lay on the floor in front of the mail slot. The unopened bills bolstered Harry's courage, supporting his belief that they were gone on Holliday. They probably just forgot to lock the door before they left.
The house was quiet, cold, and dark, and the air smelt stale. It was so dark inside that Harry left the front door open so light from the porch cold make its way in. He pulled out his flashlight and flicked it on. From what he could tell, the living room and kitchen looked undisturbed if a bit dusty.
There were some dishes in the sink. A ring of keys lay on the counter, with a woman's purse. A jacket was draped over a chair. Their child's toys were out. It wasn't messy, it just looked as if the Andersons left to go to the park and expected to be back in an hour or so, except they never came back.
Finding nothing else of interest, he made his way upstairs. The house was laid out just like the Dursleys. He looked in what would be his and his brother's bedroom. The Andersons had it set up to be a young child's room. The smallest room was set up to be a baby's nursery. Both rooms were empty, but the child's room had clothing and toys on the floor, again looking like the Andersons were expecting to return home any moment. He decided to look in the corner room, Dudley's room next.
Harry's flashlight died, but the streetlights from outside streamed in through both windows. The drapes were open in this room, unlike the rest of the house. Harry walked up to a window and peered out. It overlooked the Dursley's entire back yard, and into Dudley's bedroom. From the vantage point, he could partially see into his own bedroom. The light from the television flickered, but he couldn't see much more through the partially drawn drapes.
In the sky, in the direction of the park, colorful burst of light could be seen as the fireworks show wrapped up.
It was then when he felt it, a faint warmth on his chest. Harry pulled out the pendant Stevie had given him several months ago. The well wish stone Stevie called it, felt warm. The magic inside the teardrop shaped stone buzzed. It still felt like his brother's magic, but for the first time he felt something else buzzing within it. If he had to describe it, he'd say the magic felt like home.
Harry glanced about. The room looked to be set up as a home office. Papers were scattered on the desk, which held a computer. There were several bookcases along the walls. One bookcase had a weird shadow next to it, wedged between it, the wall, and the open bedroom door. He stepped closer, slowly, allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness. A burst of red light from the fireworks briefly illuminated the shadow.
And Harry dropped the dead flashlight, startled.
It was Mister Anderson. He sat in a chair, eyes open and staring blankly towards the window.
"Hello?" Harry hesitantly asked, squinting in the dim light. "Mister Anderson? Are you okay?"
He only blinked, not aware of anything around him. His eyes didn't move, not focusing on anything. His face looked gaunt, and his short beard was scruffy and unkempt. He also smelled like he hadn't showered in weeks.
Harry backed up several steps, spooked. The hair on his arms stood and a cold sweat broke out on his upper lip. His forehead began to burn and ache.
Mister Anderson blinked again. This time his eyes moved, then focused on him.
"Hello Harry Potter." His voice was scratchy, as if he hadn't used it in weeks. "I've wanted to speak to you for some time now."
"Um…." Harry took another step back, until his back hit the wall.
The bedroom door slammed shut.
"Take your shower now," Clad in pajamas and toweling his hair Severus instructed as he made his way into the bedroom. "Get to it before your relatives get back."
Harry didn't answer, apparently still giving him the silent treatment. He tossed his towel into the hamper and looked up. Harry wasn't in the room. He sighed, a little irritated as he reached for his key. It was missing.
"Potter?" he raised his voice as he checked the floor and the space between the wall and desk, finding nothing. He specifically left it there in case the little brat needed the portkey for some reason. Was the little brat in the kitchen? If so, then why would he take the key? Did he go to the park to watch the fireworks after he told him not to? Or did he accidently activate the portkey? Quickly, he threw his clothes back on. Making sure his wand was sheathed in the hidden pocket sewn into in his shirtsleeve.
Severus quickly checked the other bedrooms before rushing downstairs. "Harry!"
The boy wasn't in the house. He'd kill the little brat when he found him—that is, if Death Eaters didn't get to him first.
Authors note:
As this is the first story I've ever written, I've learned a lot about the process. Primarily, I've learned to sketch out an outline before writing. As the plot develops, new ideas evolve and plot bunnies mutate.
Some may have noticed that a few details have changed since I first posted this story last year. The central plot remains untouched, but a couple of details have since evolved. There were simply too many plot holes in letting Severus remain Harry's biological brother, so I changed his status to a foster or 'godbrother.' The change closes a few plot holes, but doesn't change the premise of the plot. At the time I didn't think anyone was following the story closely enough to notice—I was wrong.
I've refrained from posting chapters until now, in case I needed to make more changes or add details. The story is now about 90,000 words long, and about 3/4 of the way complete. I know how the story ends, but I'm not sure how to transition to that ending. Furthermore, The time I have for writing is limited.
~R
P.S. Sorry for the cliffhanger! The next chapter is written, it just needs to be edited.