When Harry entered his cousin's room again, the other boy had just sat down at his computer and was about to turn it on but upon hearing him come in, he turned around expectantly. "What is it?" Now that the conversation about everything that had happened was over, he didn't sound eager to see his cousin back in his room again. Harry, however, just shrugged while his aunt and uncle followed him inside. "What are you doing here? I wanted to play!" Harry still didn't understand how his aunt and uncle could let him talk to them like that.
"Sit down, both of you. We need to talk." Exchanging an uncertain look, both boys sat on the edge of Dudley's bed. Waiting for his aunt to continue talking, Harry scratched the back of his head. "We have come to an important decision." She paused, looking over to her husband. "Dudley, we will give your other room to Harry." Mrs Dursley had hardly finished speaking when her son jumped up and started raging.
"No! It's my room! I need it!" Harry just sat there, baffled at his aunt's words. He wondered what he had done to deserve a real room, even if it was a small one. Maybe his aunt and uncle would allow him to have a real bed. He decided that he liked the idea very much and wasn't really listening to his cousin positively screaming at his parents while punching the air.
"Now, now! I know you are used to having two rooms but you don't need it. You don't really play with any of the toys in there anyway. We will put them into boxes and store them in the attic." Petunia was desperately trying to talk loud enough for her son to hear but at the same time forced her voice to remain calm and gentle. If he had been in her place, he simply would have screamed back at Dudley.
"Don't bother, son. We have a already decided. He will get the smaller room to sleep in, simply because he's growing out of the room we gave him when he arrived." Mr Durley spoke with all the authority he could muster, resulting in his son actually shutting up and listening but as soon as he had finished, Dudley let himself fall down to the ground, curled up in a ball and forced out tears. Harry rolled his eyes at this obvious attempt of manipulation. His uncle sighed exasperatedly. "Dudley, stop acting like a little child. Get up." Mr Dursley made an attempt to drag his child to his feed but stopped after realising that his son was too heavy. Instead, he chose to ignore him and turned to Harry. "Be grateful for what we are doing for you. Come and help packing Dudley's stuff." He didn't wait for an answer but turned on his heels and left his screaming, crying son on the floor. Mrs Dursley had watched the scene with a look on her face which Harry couldn't quite describe. However, he knew that she had probably tried very hard not to intervene. When it came to her son, she was a very fierce woman. Nobody was allowed to talk to him like that, not even his own father.
"I am very grateful, thank you!" Harry had jumped up from Dudley's bed now, hurrying after his uncle. He didn't understand why this was happening; why the Dursley's had, out of the blue, decided that he should get his own room. Yes, he had been growing a bit lately but it wasn't more uncomfortable now than it had ever been in his cupboard. Anyway, this was a chance he naturally wouldn't complain about. When Harry left the room, his cousin was still on the ground whining and he swore he could hear his aunt console him. Whenever something like this happened, he missed his parents very much and wondered what it would be like to have someone who actually cared about him. He still didn't know what a hug felt like.
Almost three hours later, Mr Dursley was just putting the last box on the attic's floor. Harry was waiting at the top of the stairs, looking around at all the boxes. A few broken things they had thrown away but there were still so much stuff in here; it was almost uncanny. His uncle was gesturing for him to go downstairs, so he turned around and went down the stairs, the man closely behind him. The only thing left to do now was getting his old mattress out of the cupboard and into his new room. Of course, he would have to sleep on the ground but he had done so all of his life and was used to sleeping on hard undergrounds. His mattress wasn't very thick and didn't really help.
"Alright, boy. Go downstairs and start carrying your stuff up here. Your aunt and I will go and get a wardrobe and a bed." Harry stared at his uncle in disbelief. He had never gotten anything in his life. Only if it was absolutely necessary. "When you're done, help Dudley getting his clothes out of his closet. You will get his. And his bed, too. We will carry both to your room when Petunia and I are back." Without saying another word or acknowledging Harry's existence any further, Vernon turned and went into the bathroom, wiping sweat from his forehead.
Harry was left alone standing in the hallway, right in front of his cousin's room. He decided that getting on with it was probably best. Even if it meant that Dudley would get a new bed and cupboard, he could hardly imagine that the other boy would be delighted to see him. But his uncle had told him to help with getting the clothes out of his new closet and that was exactly was he was planning on doing.
He knocked on Dudley's door, more out of habit than politeness. When nobody answered, he knocked again. "What is it?!" Harry opened the door a bit and peeked in. Dudley was playing a game on his computer when he entered but as soon as the other boy realised that it was him, he jumped up from his chair and stomped towards him angrily. "How dare you! How dare you take my room from me!" Dudley had almost reached him; he couldn't help but take a step back.
Putting his hands in the air defensively, he took another step back until he met the wall and couldn't go any further. "How could it be my fault?" His cousin had reached him now and had grabbed him by the collar. "Let me go, Dudley! Do you actually think I asked for this?! They never would have given the room to me if I had asked!"
His cousin's face was full of rage; puffy and red, just like his father's whenever he was mad. The only difference between the two was the little vein that was always so prominent on Vernon's neck. "Why would mom and dad give you the room like this? Without you asking? It doesn't make sense!" He was right and Harry knew it. His aunt and uncle had no reason whatsoever to give him his cousin's second room. He shrugged his shoulders and opened his mouth to say something but closed it again when no words came out. Dudley let him go.
"I don't know! I swear I didn't ask them to do this." Even if the other boy believed him, he didn't seem to care very much. One of Dudley's hands let go of Harry's shirt. There was no mistaking his cousin's actions. His right hand was curled into a fist; he would surely hit him. Harry had hardly finished the dreadfull thought when Dudley got ready to punch him in the face. A pity, considering that he had just repaired his glasses with a lot of tape. He would have to do that again and it would take ages; he simpley couldn't see what he was doing.
As Dudley's fist started towards his face, Harry closed his eyes waiting for the pain that would never come. At the last moment, Vernon had left the bathroom and saw what they were doing. His uncle didn't really care that the other boy frequently hit him as long as he didn't do it in front of his father's eyes. "Dudley!" One word was enough to make his fist stop inches away from Harry's face. "Go and clear out your wardrobe. Both of you! Your aunt and I will be back in an hour. You'll better be done by the time we return!"
Harry watched his uncle walk down the hallway, passing them without another word. Dudley had let go but glared at him nonetheless. When Vernon disappeared down the stairs, Harry broke the silence. "Let's go." He went passed his cousin into the room; Dudley followed after a moment, hissing swear words under his breath.
