AN: This was written for the 80s fest: Harry Potter: Back in Time.

Prompt: Little Mermaid

I don't own anything, all rights go to the creators!

Enjoy!

~NicoDiAngeloLover7

Freak of Nature – Chapter 1 (A Freak?)

Harry knew he wasn't normal, and he didn't need his relatives to tell him that. Though he found their description pretty accurate.

Freak.

He knew he was one. At first, Harry believed it was because of the scar on his forehead. He had found it a bit unusual and been told he got it in the car crash. The same car crash that had stolen his parents' lives. The scar had never hurt him, though he wasn't sure how a crash could have caused it.

He didn't think he would ever have an answer for that. His aunt refused to talk about his family, except that they were freaks just like him. And he had gotten smacked for daring to ask a question. He figured it was better than being hit by one of her pans.

It wasn't even performing accidental magic that would solidify that opinion. Though Harry wouldn't realize what it was he was doing until years later. It would be several years later that would tell Harry he definitely was not normal.

It would come to be on a morning that the Dursleys actually left him alone in the house. He figured it was because they thought he was still locked inside his cupboard. He took advantage of that.

One of them was taking a bath for the first time. The Dursleys only allowed him to take showers so he stayed clean and didn't smell. He wondered if that was his first mistake.

Harry screamed.

Because it wasn't feet that was greeting him in the tub full of water, but a tail. He was a monster?! What was happening to him!?

He tried closing his eyes and pretending that he hadn't seen what he did. But once he opened them back, he still saw it. Instead of skin he had scales. His upper body hadn't changed any, so he was a bit thankful for that. There had been slight burning from when his legs morphed into a tail.

Harry felt his breath quicken in panic, eyes wide in horror. He forced himself to take a deep inhale. With trepidation, he lifted the tail just like he would if he had his legs. Surprisingly the tail responded to his whims like his arms and legs. The scales shimmered under the light in the ceiling, every small movement lit up different patches. Harry felt himself tilt his head to the side as he looked closely, even inside his fear he could see the beauty. The entire tail was made of scales of two different colours, a strong eye-catching emerald green. He recognized the colour as the one of his own eyes from the mirror. The other colour was the one he felt himself examining carefully like it was important, but he wasn't sure why. It was the deep blue of the ocean after a storm, dark and alluring. The scales didn't seem to have any pattern or reason for how they were spaced, some patches had more blue, others had more brown. But overall, it did appear to be even amounts of each in total. Raising a shaking hand, Harry let himself feel the rough tail, he let out a slightly hysterical laugh at the first touch. How on earth would he explain this to the Dursleys'? Lifting the tail into the air again, he took a look at the fin at the end, the shape was bizarre, he thought, like a half-moon crescent, the sides the longest part, curling in slightly. He had no scales on the fin, but the colours were the same, blending together where they met. He let the tail fall, making a splash in the water. He was a freak. It was official.

He resisted the urge to cry, he wanted to be normal like the Dursleys. Why did he have to be such a freak? He doubted that his relatives had a tail. Though it was a bit stunning to look at. It was kind of beautiful in a freakish sort of way.

What was he supposed to be? Some type of mermaid? Or rather merman?

Harry eventually had to tear his eyes away from the tail. He still needed to be clean though he wasn't sure how he was supposed to clean a tail. But that didn't stop him from washing his upper half and hair. Though he couldn't really move the tail much in the small tub.

Harry frowned, it felt too constricting to him. He wasn't sure where the thoughts were coming from, but he wanted something bigger that could accommodate him and his new tail. He knew that wouldn't be possible at the Dursleys.

He was careful as he pulled himself out of the bath. Carefully drying himself so he didn't drag water everywhere. With a tail, that was extremely difficult, but he managed. Though it was obvious that he really couldn't walk back to his cupboard. He was just hoping that maybe the tail would go away.

It was painfully slow as each scale slowly faded and he had his legs back. It was a weird process to watch as his tail morphed back into working legs. To watch as scales morphed into pieces of skin returning. He wasn't sure if would ever get used to that.

Harry breathed in a sigh of relief before scrubbing down his legs, refusing to get back into the tub. After that, he would hide back into his cupboard like he had never been in the bath. Hoping to forget this entire thing, like it never happened. But he never wanted to be in another tub again.

Unfortunately, Harry never realized how hopeless that thought was.

But getting his Hogwarts letter a few years later would tell him on how wrong he was. It would be years later that he would also find out about his accidental magic.

Harry had gotten the scare of his life several months after the tub incident. He had started to notice the frequent headaches he had been getting. Taking quick showers had helped ease it some, but it didn't completely go away. He ignored it because he couldn't risk not getting his chores done. He didn't want to imagine the punishment he would get if they weren't done.

His Aunt Petunia could be very picky about that, especially if the kitchen wasn't spotless to perfection and that the garden was taken care of. He didn't mind the garden most times, it was soothing. But he could the heat irritating his skin, where it usually didn't bother him. The thing about the stupid tail shouldn't have done anything, right?

It wasn't just the heated temperatures that Harry was feeling and the mind-blowing migraines. The pain slowly trailed over his tiny body. He knew he was small for his age but knew not to complain about it. Just like he knew it wasn't fair that Dudley was able to eat more and while he was given the scraps.

At least the cramps were just tiny bits of pain that he was able to get through. Or he would just work through it while gritting his teeth. But soon the showers weren't even helping him feel better, but he refused to get back into that tub. He didn't want a tail, it showed him how much of a freak he was. But he knew that baths were not allowed at the Dursleys.

Soon enough, that decision would be taken from him. It was like the very bones in his body started to seize up on him. He could feel himself sweating bullets and he couldn't get them to stop. He wasn't sick… was he?

Then he collapsed.

Aunt Petunia had been the one to find Harry lying in the floor. Instead of leaving him where he was, she lifted him up in her arms. He was lightweight so it wasn't a hardship for her to carry him. Not like it was for Dudley anymore, he was too big to pick up anymore. She felt an intense amount of guilt run through her. This was her fault…

"Foolish boy! You would have the gene and go past your own limit..." she lectured.

"Why are you helping me?" Harry asked weakly. He couldn't recall someone ever holding him, it felt nice. But he was waiting for the moment for his aunt to drop him. He honestly thought he was hallucinating.

Petunia twisted her lips, "even though me and your mother didn't get along near the end. I could not bear to see her in pain. I had hoped it would skip you, but I am not as lucky."

"You hate me…" Harry mumbled. Had he been fully aware he may not have said that allowed.

"I—I may have let some of my past anger towards my sister get the better of me. I push that onto you while I tried to deal with that," she admitted.

"I'm a monster…" Harry sobbed.

Petunia bit her lip, perhaps she had been a bit harsh whenever she had called him a Freak. It was how she coped with it. She still wasn't sure on how to take her sister's death and being thrust with taking care of a second child didn't help. So, she had tried to push that to the back of her mind and distance herself. Knowing that this was her sister's son didn't ease the guilt she constantly had at her mind; Lily would never have treated Dudley that way. Lily always had a kinder heart than she ever had. Her parents would be disappointed in her.

But she couldn't just let the boy… Harry just lay there. She knew what was happening, she had been there when Lily had gone through the same thing. She had hoped and wished it would pass by her son. That way she could keep pretending. There was a part of her that did care, but it was Vernon.

She recalled that Lily had fainted the first time she had seen her tail. She remembered feeling in awe of the tail. It was another thing that separated the two of them.

Vernon hated anything about magic, especially after meeting James Potter. She had learned to hate it herself, but it was more than that. She had hated herself. And pushed that hate forward.

She envied Lily and her magic, desperately wishing she could go with her every year. She knew that whatever sister bond they had was broken. She had quickly turned to hate her sister and now she was dead. She could never ask for forgiveness for her actions. Though she knew that Lily would never have held it against her. Why had she turned away from her?

Could she really continue hating Lily and push that onto her son?

Harry started to tremble and thrash in her arms upon entering the bathroom.

"No!" he cried. He could feel the fear overtaking him. He didn't want to go back into that tub, he didn't want to be a monster and freak.

Petunia had been used to Dudley fighting in her arms before, she didn't drop him. But it was a close call.

"Harry," she said, almost calling him boy. But she knew she needed to break that habit. That is probably what prompted that action.

Harry's frantic eyes met her pale blue, but it caught him off guard. He had never been called by his name by his relatives.

"You will only get worse if you do not get into the tub," she said.

Harry shook his head; he didn't want to. He could handle the pain, he could.

"Would you rather I have left you in the floor and Vernon find you," she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Harry felt a shiver of fear run through him; he didn't like his Uncle Vernon's punishments. They hurt and scarred.

"The water will help," she promised.

Harry knew that he shouldn't trust his aunt, he had only known hurt in their home. Though his fingers shook too badly to undress himself. He only felt shame that his aunt had to undress him before easing him into the tub. He still felt terrified, he didn't want that tail back. But he knew what was coming after the tub was slowly filled of water.

It hurt.

Harry felt his body wracked with pain as he twisted and turned.

Petunia bit her lips, she had never witnessed Lily go through the first change herself. Though her parents had been in the bathroom when it first happened. She didn't know what to do, if there was anything she could do. But with amazed eyes, she observed as her nephew's legs turned into scales and shifted into a tail. It was beautiful with the way that the green and blue merged all together. She thought she saw hints of brown as well. It looked like Lily's…

The green had matched Lily's eyes and she knew they would be the shade of Harry's. She knew some about them, least as much as Lily had told her. Until she had refused to speak to her sister again.

She felt a twinge of guilt, Lily should be guiding her son through this, not her. She was not equipped to help her nephew; she had never been worthy enough. How could she help him with this, and she didn't know anything about it?

Petunia watched as Harry slowly relaxed into the water, he seemed much calmer than before. She had been right? It had been so long since she saw the signs, but it was like she had never forgotten. For now, the tub would fit the size of Harry and his tail, but she knew that he would grow. Soon, the tub would be too small for him and his tail but for now, it did the job right. Her parents had a private pool that they had bought for Lily. She had remembered the jealousy that stewed because of that. Everything was for Lily, never her.

The floor was already a mess but for once it didn't bother her. Water had splashed out from the tub and would need to be wiped up later. She couldn't help but notice how young her nephew looked. Even with a tail.

When first Harry had entered the water in the tub, he thought this had made everything worse. He knew the first time that his legs transformed into a tail, it hadn't hurt. It was like every bone in his body was breaking and every bruise he had was being pressed into. He had a scream at the tip of his lips but refused to make a sound. He could feel himself tossing and turning in the small tub.

As quick as the pain came, it faded just as fast. He was slowly able to relax, though avoided looking at his tail. He still didn't know what he was but he still felt like a monster. He had a lot of questions, but he knew that wasn't allowed. Why had his Aunt Petunia helped him? None of this was making any sense. As delirious as he had been, he still heard her. She had never helped him before, what changed?

Why was there hate between his mother and her? None of it made any sense and he didn't know anything about his parents. Only that a car crash had killed them, and he had survived somehow.

Maybe he could fall asleep and forget about today. It was getting too much and none of it was making sense to him.