The blissful silence that had descended upon the small house of Number Four Privet Drive was suddenly and sharply demolished the moment a rounded seven-year-old boy barged in with a disturbing squeal. "Mum! I'm home!"
The woman of the house, Petunia Dursley, didn't seemed fazed by this despicable behavior, even going so far as to get up from her seat at the kitchen table to wrap her son in a warm hug. However, she did deign to shoot a disgusted glare at the small, haggard boy that trudged in through the door moments later. This small boy by the name of Harry Potter, merely glanced at his aunt as she fussed over his cousin, Dudley Dursley, before walking around them and through the living room to the kitchen. "Dinner will be meat and two vegetables, boy. Vernon will be home soon, so I suggest you get to work."
The small Potter child nodded his head when the sharp, shrill voice of his aunt faded away. Harry began bringing out the ingredients as he politely responded. "Yes, Aunt Petunia."
Petunia huffed as she turned her attention away from her freakish nephew and smiled at her darling son. "How was your day, Duddydums?"
The large child wriggling in the woman's grip scrunched his face up in displeasure at being called such a degrading nickname, and elected to ignore her question. "Mum, I want to go to the beach!"
Petunia winced at her sweetum's loud voice and then frowned as she thought about his request. "I don't know Dudders, the ocean is a bit far away. I'd have to talk to your dad."
The fat child's eyes started to water as he sniffed pitifully. "But Mum..!"
Petunia's face grew horrified as she noticed her sweet child's distress and rushed to abate it. "No, no- it's okay Dudders, I'll make sure Vernon agrees. We'll go to the beach and have so much fun- your parents just have to figure out when."
In seconds Dudley went from tearing up to smiling happily. "Really? Thanks Mum." The manipulative little devil skipped up to his room seconds later, his purpose achieved, leaving Petunia to fall gracelessly into a nearby living room chair, inaudibly sighing in stress.
The Potter nephew shook his head as he continued to finish the evening meal.
-
"Do you have everything packed, Sweetums?" Dudley slid into the back seat of Vernon Dursley's car and buckled in, making sure to jab his elbows in his freakish cousin whenever an opportunity presented itself. After he had situated his large bulk, the seven-year-old deigned to respond.
"Yes Mum. I have all my gear."
A great big man chuckled as he managed to sit down in the driver's seat. Harry winced as he heard the car creak with the added ton, but made no comment to his uncle's ginormous body weight. "Thatta boy. Following after your dad by always being prepared, huh? Don't worry then, we'll be to the beach soon enough. Just have to drop off the Freak first."
Dudley sat for a few minutes in confusion as his father started the car and drove out onto the street, headed in the direction of the Dursley's go-to nanny, Mrs. Fig. Petunia was sitting in the front passenger seat, idly looking through a magazine and Harry was staring out the back window, frowning at the passing scenery. "But Dad..."
Vernon glanced in the rear view mirror at his son in confusion, noticing the distress commonly found when he didn't get what he wanted. "What's the matter, son?"
"I want to take the freak with us." Vernon's heart nearly stalled as he pulled the car over to the side of the road suddenly. Sharing an askance look with his Pet, Vernon craned his neck to get a look at his disgusting nephew. "If you think you can get away with whatever you did to my son, boy, you're in for a rude awakening. Take whatever... thing... you did to my son off right this instant and maybe I won't starve you for the next week."
Harry was now staring at his uncle in horror, confusion and terror rendering him mute.
"Well? Say something boy!"
Harry could only shake his head rapidly as he shrunk against the locked car door.
"Oh? So you didn't do something to him? Did you threaten him then? If he doesn't make us take you with him then you'll turn him into a frog or some such nonsense?" Petunia scowled at her nephew as she thought up similar scenarios, having known he was no good the moment she saw him.
"I-I-I-" Harry still could not get out a sentence to defend himself, as the thought of whatever kind of punishment awaited him the moment his relatives got home played nightmares in his head.
Neither parent had been paying attention to Dudley, and that was apparently too much for the selfish child, even if he did enjoy his cousin getting into trouble. "Mummy, Dad, he didn't do anything to me. I just want to bring him along."
Vernon and Petunia glanced at each other once more before turning to look at their sweet son in sync. "And why would that be, son? Surely you'll be fine at the beach without him?"
Dudley looked both his parents in the eyes blankly, wondering how stupid they could be. "If he's not there, then who's sandcastle am I going to destroy?"
Vernon gaped silently for a second before chuckling and pulling the car out and around. "Of course, Duds. Competition is the key to being a good salesman. I'm proud of you. But Freak, Of you try anything..."
Harry quailed under his uncle's dark glare, nodding his head frantically, before returning to looking out the window. Suppressing his confusion and worry, Harry tried his best not to let any of the Dursleys see just how excited he was to be allowed to the beach. A beach! He had never been before. Would the sand be all sparkly and soft like in those ads Aunt Petunia always watched on the telly? And the water- would it be as clear as those pictures of cresting waves he saw in adventure books? He had so many questions!
-
When the Dursleys and Harry arrived at the beach, they all clambered out of the car as fast as they could, each and every one in some way, shape, or form excited for what the day would bring.
It was a warm and bright Saturday, with a touch of a breeze promising a cool refresher from the scorching heat of the sun. The beach sand was soft and warm beneath their bare feet as the 'family' found an open spot on the fairly crowded beach. It wasn't too terribly covered, but just enough where everyone had tried to find their own separate area, and taken up most of the sand that was closest to the water.
Petunia humphed lightly to herself as Vernon scowled at the nearby couples, trying to subtly kick sand at them. After a few moments two of the nearest groups growled and walked off, shooting glares at the fat walrus and skinny horse as they attempted to find another nice spot to enjoy.
Vernon smiled proudly as he laid out a large towel, quite sloppily, and showed it off to his Pet. "It's lovely dear. I'm sure this will do splendidly. Come Dudders, you just need some sun cream and then you'll be off into the waves."
The young buffoon grumbled as he stood, caught in the sharp grip his rather particular mother had on his arm. Dudley was obviously not happy with the arrangement, and managed to take off the moment his mother turned her back. Ignoring her cries for him to come back, the big child waddled into the surf, snickering evilly.
Harry, abandoned from the first steps out of the car, had by now wandered over to a more secluded area of the beach where jagged rocks and seaweed were much more common. Carrying a small pail Dudley has discarded several birthdays ago, the little Potter picked up pretty rocks and random seashells that caught his interest.
Looking inside the tip of a conch, Harry nearly squealed in delight as he saw a small crab blink up at him. The small child stood enraptured by the even smaller being he held in his hand as it scuttled deeper into its shell. After a few minutes, the seven-year-old made sure to gently put the crab's home back on the ground before going back to his search.
-
After his adventurous time searching for lost riches, Harry was called back to the Dursley's by a bored Dudley, and forced to compete in a sand-building contest which was rigged from the start. In the end, it hadn't even mattered anyway, as the Great Dudders accidentally ruined his castle before it could be finished and thus had to destroy Harry's as well.
Pushing down the sadness of having his sandcastle desecrated, the little boy turned his attention back to his overbearing cousin, who was currently dragging him off into the sea. Obviously neither of the seven-year-olds paid attention to how far out they ran, and Dudley finally declared the depth perfect when Harry was struggling to stay afloat. The big potato had at one point been equipped with an embarrassing amount of floaties, but now Harry couldn't help but envy his disgusting cousin. As Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had never truly cared for him, there was absolutely no way they would've paid or personally taught their freakish nephew how to swim.
"Harry! Harry, behind you!"
The young boy whipped around at the frantic sound of Dudley's voice, water splashing from the flailing of his arms. Seeing nothing, Harry frantically spun around, searching for danger, before he saw Dudley snickered a few feet off.
Cursing his cousin, the seven-year-old tried to calm his racing heart as it pounded wildly in his ears. How could he have been fooled by one of the oldest tricks in the book? It wasn't as if Dudley didn't pull that one at least once a day.
Shaking his head lightly, the scrawny kid tried to tread water in a direction away from where he had last spotted Dudley, as the little miscreant had disappeared as soon as Harry turned his head back around.
Feeling something brush against his leg, Harry jerked lightly, before looking down through the blurry water. A small, bright shape was darting around Harry's legs, and the small child smiled in wonder.
A few moments later, however, the little fishie darted off. Looking through the water for his little friend, Harry spied a large, dark shape swimming towards him. Deciding to take the fish's lead, Harry tried his best to remember the swimming moves he had seen processionals do on the telly, but the shape was getting closer to him quicker than Harry could attempt to get away.
Fear froze the small boy as something cold clamped around Harry's ankle and yanked him down below the surface of the water. Trying to take in air to scream, Harry started choking, as water rushed into his lungs. He hacked and coughed blindly for a few moments before the hold on his ankle was released and he scrambled his way up for air.
Breaching the surface, Harry sloppily treaded water as he tried to get his breathing back under control. With a hand on his chest and the other helping him stay afloat, the scrawny seven-year-old turned watery eyes around to look for his attacker. Sure enough, Harry spotted Dudley floating a few feet from him with a malicious smile on his face.
Determined to not let his bratty cousin ruin his one chance at enjoying the beach, the little Potter doggy-paddled away to a nearby outcropping of rocks, wondering if he could find any more creatures living in the hidden crevices.
-
As it turned out, there were many different little sea animals living in the rocks off of the beach. Harry found some crabs, sponges, and all sorts of little fish. Poking inside a crevice he hadn't explored yet, Harry yelped when he withdrew his hand and an eel followed.
"Human! Quick! Swim away! Don't hurt me!"
Harry stared after the water snake in confusion as it disappeared over a drop off on the ocean floor. The little human could have sworn he had just heard a voice. Jerking up with realization, Harry narrowed his eyes as he searched for Dudley. The big meanie was always playing games on him.
Finding a dark shape coming towards him from that drop off, Harry frowned in annoyance. Dudley must have been hiding underneath the ledge, waiting for him to turn his back, but the little eel scared him into action.
Shaking his head with a sigh, Harry ducked his head under the water to confront the terrible sneak, only to nearly shriek when he realized that the dark shape wasn't Dudley.
Instead of fear freezing him as it had earlier that day, it ignited his flight instincts. With nowhere to run behind him, Harry did his best to swim around the shark, keeping his moments minimum like the teacher had said. 'The more movement you make, the more interested they are in you.' He couldn't just stay still though, there was a shark right there.
The white-tipped sea creature turned its body to follow Harry's odd path, pushing the little human to scrambling farther out and past the sea floor's drop off.
Without being able to touch ground anymore, Harry couldn't help his flailing as he fought to keep his head above the water, while the shark was still incoming.
Unable to think through his rapidly increasing panic with the shark getting too close, one of Harry's thrashing legs knocked into the shark. The little human's heart skipped a beat before a scream tore from his lips. It didn't matter that he couldn't breathe. It didn't matter that he was inhaling water. All that Harry could think about was the pain.
The shark was lashing and so was he. Fighting to defend. Fighting to survive. The two creatures slowly sunk in the watery depths just as the human, too, sunk into unconsciousness.
Only a wish could save Harry now.