Yup. This was meant to be a chapter which covered all of Chapter 2 of Philosopher's Stone, but it was way too long. So I've condensed it into two separate parts. The Vanishing Glass will be in the next chapter.

Nearly ten years have passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew and niece on their doorstep, but Privet Drive had barely changed at all. In fact, only the photographs on the mantlepiece 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 coloured bonnets - but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and the photographs now showed a large blonde boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign of the two twins who lived in the house.

Yet Harry & Nicole Potter lay there, asleep at the moment, in their bedroom, which was clouding with cobwebs everywhere, with a floor the Dursleys never bothered to clean, or asked the twins to clean, even though he asked them to clean every other room in the house once a week, even if there was not a speck of dust there. Of course, it couldn't be worse. It's not like they could put two twins in The Cupboard Under the Stairs.

They didn't care.

The two twins woke up when they heard their Aunt Petunia awake, and it was her shrill voice that made the first voice of the day.

"Up! Get up! Both of you!" Petunia said.

The two woke up with a start. "Wow, we definitely got enough sleep there," Nicole whispered sarcastically.

"Be quiet," Harry said to his sister, "She'll hear us!"

Nicole was a lot more rebellious than Harry. Of course, she couldn't afford to be disobedient, not when she lived with the Dursleys, but she stood up for herself & Harry more. Most of the time in private, she would rant more about how terrible their life was than Harry. Despite this, her and Harry remained very close. They always had been. Probably because they had both had basically the same life, they just dealt with it in different ways. They were the only friends each other had, especially in school. They don't know what they would've done without each other.

"Up!" Petunia screeched again. They heard her walking towards the kitchen, then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove. Harry rolled onto his back, looking like he was remembering the dream he was having. It looked like it had been a good one. While Nicole was just thinking about what was going on in the Dursley's heads.

"We need to get up," she said.

"Are you two up yet?!" Petunia continued to shout, from the other side of the door.

"I am, he isn't," Nicole said, as she walked to the door. She realized that Harry must've not remembered what day it was. He was probably wondering why Nicole was so eager to get up, when Harry was known in the house as the well-behaved twin.

"Well, tell him to get a move on!" Petunia said. "In the meantime, come and look after the bacon. And don't you let it burn! I want everything to be perfect on Duddy's birthday."

Harry groaned.

"What did you just say?" Petunia said to Harry.

"Nothing," Harry said.

When they were sure Petunia had gone downstairs, they started to talk, like they always did every morning, but this time, the Dursleys were of course more eager, so they had less time.

"How could I have forgotten about Dudley's birthday?!" Harry moaned.

"I remembered," Nicole said.

"Then why didn't you remind me?" Harry asked.

"I thought you were smart enough to remember yourself," Nicole said. "But never mind that, we have to get up now!"

Nicole got some clothes out of her wardrobe, which had spiders all over it of course, and walked to the bathroom. Harry got dressed in the bedroom, unusual for him since Nicole wasn't usually the first out of bed.

When they were dressed, they both walked downstairs to the kitchen. The table, as it was always every year, was covered with Dudley's birthday presents. Dudley had gotten the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike. Exactly why Dudley wanted one was a mystery to the twins - as they have been talking about for ages, he was very fat and hated exercise, unless of course it involved punching somebody, which was usually Harry, usually if Nicole wasn't there to stop him. But then he would punch Nicole instead. He didn't care if she was a girl.

Perhaps it had something to do with living in a small dark room, but Harry & Nicole had always been pretty skinny for their age. Most of the clothes Harry wore were old clothes of Dudley's, and Dudley was four times as big as he was. Nicole on the other hand, wore the same clothes almost every day, because the Dursleys barely ever bought some new ones for her. Once every 6 months at most. No, they didn't do it for their birthday - she doubts they ever remember it. Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair, and bright green eyes, Nicole's appearance was similar, but far from the same. Her eyes were brown for one, and her hair was slightly lighter, and while her knees were as knobbly as Harry, her face was slightly bigger. Harry wore round glasses held together with a lot of scotch tape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose. Nicole did not wear glasses, as her sight was more clear, but that didn't help.

Harry's appearance was helped by a very thin scar on his forehead, shaped like a bolt of lightning, but Nicole had no such scar. Her forehead was completely clean. He's had it as long as they could both remember, and the first question the twins can ever remember asking was how Harry got it.

"In the car crash were your parents died," was what she said. "And don't ask questions."

"But if that's true," Nicole said. "Why haven't I got one?"

"I said no more questions!" Petunia shouted, as she punished her, even though she told Harry no more questions, but said nothing to Nicole. So Nicole had no idea why Harry had a scar from the crash, while Nicole got out completely uninjured. It's like she wasn't even there. Nicole thought they might be lying - that their parents died in a different way, but Harry kept denying it thinking why would they lie to them? Nicole said that they're the Dursleys, and Harry then said that she had a good point.

Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Nicole was turning over the bacon.

"Comb your hair!" he said as a morning greeting.

"Which one of us are you talking to?" Nicole asked.

"Both of you!" Vernon shouted.

About once a week, Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry probably had more haircuts than any boys in the class put together, but it made no difference. His hair grew that way, simply all over the place. While with Nicole, her hair was really messy that he asked her to comb it every day. Of course, she rarely got haircuts, but she did get her hair done a lot.

When Nicole had finished with the bacon, she said to Harry, "I'll comb my hair, you do the eggs."

"Okay," Harry said, as he started getting the eggs ready. After the twins were done, Harry put the bacon and eggs on the table, as Nicole came in, super annoyed, but trying to hide her emotions because even facial expressions can be enough to get someone into trouble in The Dursley household. Dudley was counting his presents. How he knew how to count past ten, Nicole had no idea.

"Thirty-six," he said, being annoyed. "That's two less than last year!"

It's still more presents than any other child in existence! Nicole thought angrily.

"Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present," Petunia said. "See, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."

"All right, thirty seven then!" Dudley said, still having a tantrum like a 5-year old. Or even a 3-year old. While Harry began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible, while Nicole was standing there, moaning to herself. Wanting to rant so much, but of course they would hear her.

Of course, the two did get time to themselves, mostly when Vernon & Petunia couldn't bother to tell them to do chores. They enjoyed that. But it of course wasn't enough.

Petunia obviously scented danger too, as she said. "And we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that, popkin?"

"So I'll have thirty... thirty...," Dudley thought. This was why Nicole was surprised he could count.

"Thirty-nine sweetums," Petunia interrupted.

"Oh," Dudley said. "All right then."

"Phew," Harry & Nicole whispered simultaneously.

Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke wants his money worth, just like his father. Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair.

At the moment the telephone rang, Aunt Petunia went to answer it, while Harry, Nicole & Vernon watched Dudley open his presents. They saw the racing bike, a video camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. He was ripping off the wrapping paper off a gold wristwatch, when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone looking angry and worried. Which means it was good news.

"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs Figg's broken her leg! She can't take them!"

Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, while Nicole's heart gave a leap, and she could tell Harry was feeling the same. Every year on Dudley's birthday, his parents took him and a friend out for the day, to adventure parks, hamburger restaurants (for all 3 meals of the day), or the movies. Every year, the twins were left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away. The two hated it there, the whole house smelled of cabbage and Mrs. Figg made them look at all the photographs of every cat she's ever owned.

"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at the twins, like one or both of them planned this, which to be fair, Nicole totally would've if given the chance, yes she should feel sorry for Mrs. Figg, but it wasn't easy when she remembered when she reminded herself she & Harry wouldn't have to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws and Tufty again.

"We could phone, Marge," suggested Vernon.

No. That would be even worse, thought Nicole.

"Don't be silly, Vernon," Petunia said. "You know she hates the child."

Nicole sighed in relief. The Dursleys did often talk about the twins like this, as though they weren't there, or rather as though they were nasty stuff like a slug and a snail.

"What about what's-her-name?" Vernon suggested again. "Your friend Yvonne."

"On vacation in Majorca," Petunia said.

"You could just leave us here," Nicole suggested, knowing that they weren't going to say yes, but it was worth a try.

"And come back to find the house in ruins?!" complained Petunia.

"We won't blow up the house," Harry insisted, but the Dursleys weren't listening.

"I suppose we could take them to the zoo," Petunia said slowly. "And then leave them in the car."

"The car's new," Vernon snapped. "He's not sitting in it alone!"

Dudley began to cry loudly, but he wasn't really crying. It had been years since he actually cried, but he knew if he screwed up his face and wailed, his parents would get him exactly what he wanted.

Nicole wanted to punch him. But then again, she always wanted to.

"Dinky Duddydums," Petunia said. "Don't cry. Mummy won't let him steal your special day!"

"But I don't want them to come!" Dudley said. "They always ruin everything!" Dudley shoves the two a nasty grin, as Nicole goes in to punch him, but Harry pushes her away.

Just then, the doorbell rang. "Oh good lord, they're here!" Petunia said, 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. A really ugly rat. He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their back while Dudley hit them. Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.

Half an hour later, the twins, who couldn't believe their luck, were sitting in the back of the Dursley's six-seater car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in their lives, as they smiled at each other. but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon pushed them aside.

"I'm warning you two," he said. "I'm warning you BOTH now! Any funny business, any at all! And you two will both be locked in your room from now until Christmas."

"We won't do anything," Harry said.

"Why would we?" Nicole moaned.

But Uncle Vernon didn't believe them. No one did.

The problem was, strange things happened while one or both of them were around, and it was just no good telling The Dursleys that they didn't make them happen.

Once, Aunt Petunia, sick of Harry coming back from the barbers like he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hair so short except for his bangs, which she left to cover his 'horrible scar.' Nicole watched with horror, while Dudley had laughed himself silly. They both spent a sleepless night, where Nicole wouldn't stop ranting, while Harry was just enjoying how rebellious she would be if she wasn't so determined to not get into trouble. Next morning however, they had gotten up for Harry's hair to be exactly as it was before Aunt Petunia had sheered it off, as they both spent a week in the cupboard, even though Harry had told them neither of them were responsible.

Another time, Petunia took Nicole to the dentist, a really mean dentist, because her teeth weren't that clean. Not because Nicole never brushed them, but because they were just like that. The dentist gave her braces straight away, as Petunia watched with ease. The next morning, after another sleepless night, the braces were completely gone. Like they were never there in the first place. The twins got a month in their room for that, even though Harry wasn't there at the time.

But today, nothing was going to go wrong. Well, at least Nicole was determined not to do anything. It was even worth being with Dudley & Piers than not spending a day in their room, or school, or Miss Figg's cabbage-smelling living room.

"Don't worry, Harry," Nicole said. "Nothing's going to go wrong today." They both got in the car, excited, neither one of them scared to what might happen.