Harry woke up to the sound of Aunt Petunia screeching and a faint tap on
his window. He looked up and saw Hedwig sitting outside his window. (He
had fallen asleep early and had forgotten to leave the window open for
her). He got up, let her in and went downstairs for breakfast. As he
walked into the kitchen Aunt Petunia and Dudley stopped arguing for a
moment to look up. When they realized who it was they resumed their fight.
It had been a week since Harry had returned to the Dursley's and it seemed like everything had changed. Every morning when Harry came down to get his measly grapefruit quarter and tomato juice his aunt and cousin would be in a heated argument. The reason for all this was apparently that Dudley had been getting into trouble lately at school and wasn't abiding by the diet that his school nurse and Aunt Petunia had set for him. He had now gained 150 more pounds and was kicked out of Smeltings because they could no longer provide him with a uniform and his behavior had become very unacceptable. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had been furious when they found this out and had grounded him for a month. This had not been a pleasant experience of course, having Dudley skulking around the house all day.
Thankfully Harry was scheduled to leave in just two weeks for the Weasley's. He wished he could have been able to go there right after school but Dumbledore had thought it more wise for Harry to do the same as every year; go to the Dursleys for a while before staying at his favorite place besides Hogwarts, the Burrow. Harry wished the two weeks could be passed already, there didn't seem to be anything to do around here lately, except watch the quarrels amongst who they wanted you to think were the perfect family.
He took what was left of the morning meal, an eighth of grapefruit (Dudley must have really been hungry this morning) a glass of tomato juice and was on his way upstairs when something outside caught his attention. The neighbors next door had been seen putting a for sale sign on their front lawn a few weeks before Harry had returned home (according to Aunt Petunia) and now Harry realized it was no longer there, instead in the driveway was a moving van. While Harry was trying to figure out if the van was a moving in or moving out van a girl walked out of the house and went to the back of the van. After a minute or so she emerged with a trunk and rolled it across the driveway to the house. Harry was so mesmerized with the girl. He couldn't see her too closely but from the distance he was at she had a weird sort of charm. She seemed very different from any girl Harry had ever seen. He was trying to decide what he should do, should he go and meet her or just go upstairs to eat his small breakfast. Then just as he had decided he should go upstairs she turned towards him and smiled.
He was so surprised that he almost dropped his glass of juice (good thing he hadn't that would have really given Aunt Petunia something to screech about)
It was almost as if she had known he was looking at her, as if she sensed it. He wondered, if that could be true.
Harry did not know it at the time but he was right about this girl. And he would soon find out the hidden powers she had. He decided that since she had seen him that maybe he would go talk to her. He gulped down his juice and smashed the grapefruit piece down his throat as quickly as he could, brought it into the kitchen and was about to go outside when something came over him and his mouth opened to speak. "Hey Aunt Petunia,"
"Not now boy, I'm busy."
"Oh I just thought you might want to know that we have some new neighbors." The plate she was scrubbing fell in to the soapy sink as Aunt Petunia ran right away to the window to look at the neighbor's house.
Why o why did I do that? He thought. Now he wouldn't be able to sneak outside to see the girl.
But actually, Harry was wrong. Once Aunt Petunia saw that Harry was telling the truth she ran to the fridge and pulled out a Jell-O mold. It looked like her friends from her book club wouldn't be having any dessert at their meeting today. She handed the Jell-O mold over to Harry and told him to walk it over to the neighbor's house as a welcoming gesture. He was told to find out where they had come from and why they had come here. He was also to find out what the family was like (mother, father, kids?).
Harry already knew they had a kid, in fact a girl about his age (he was guessing) and hopefully she was waiting for him outside his house.
He didn't mind doing this one bit because it would give Harry a chance to find out her name. As he was leaving the kitchen a though occurred to him. It was definitely to his advantage today that his aunt was so nosy and his Uncle Vernon was now at work. Otherwise he definitely wouldn't be doing this. Vernon would want to make sure the new people saw little as possible of Harry.
He walked into the hall trying to keep hold of the massive Jell-O mold in his hands while taking a look in the mirror to see how bad his hair looked. He was surprised to find out that it actually didn't look to bad. One or two stray hairs were fixed and then Harry opened the front door and within a few seconds he was on his way to the neighbors. It had taken so long what with his hesitation of going and talk with his aunt that by the time Harry reached the front yard destination the girl from before was nowhere to be seen.
He walked up to the front door and had his finger on the doorbell, when he saw something in the backyard (through the window) that he didn't recall being there before today.
He walked around the house to get to the backyard and when he did he was able to see what it was. Sitting atop a tree in the rear right corner of the yard was a small little white house. It had a porch around it and a ladder leaning at the trunk of the tree. As he got closer to it he could hear the tapping of keys and some loud music playing. Even though Harry rarely listened to music outside or inside the wizarding world, Dudley did sometimes mention certain groups or songs of the muggle industry. Of the things he had head music wise this music sounded very familiar to Harry. He thought he might have heard Aunt Petunia listening to something like this, though, not Dudley. He spotted the trunk she had been rolling before sitting under the house and it confirmed to him that he had found the mystery neighbor.
He set the Jell-O mold onto the silver trunk and yelled up to the tree house.
"Hello?" The loud music immediately stopped along with the tapping keys. A loud smack and some footsteps and then she appeared. She was average height and weight, with shoulder length curly red hair pulled into a ponytail. She had bright blue eyes, freckles all over and dimples. She was wearing blue jeans, sneakers(Adidas all-stars), and a black T-shirt with an E in the center of a blue circle and under it the words: "Manhattan to Queens."
He was trying to figure out what to say when she yelled, "What is that?" He looked to where she was pointing and realized she had seen his Aunt Petunia's "welcoming gesture"
"Oh that's a mold made out of Jell-O. My aunt made it to give to your family as a welcome to the neighborhood gift. I'm sorry, it looks really gross, doesn't it? You don't have to eat it, don't worry Aunt Petunia won't know the difference if you don't." This all came out of Harry rather fast and he hoped he hadn't sounded like a complete idiot. Fortunately, she didn't think so because she spoke next.
"Oh, no, actually it looks really, well, I guess appetizing. It's just that I should probably put it inside so my dog Mags doesn't find it and make it her little snack for the day." She disappeared for a few moments and then reappeared beside him. "By the way my name is Liz Murphy and we've just moved here from the U.S., New Jersey to be exact. Would you like to come with me, I'm going to put this in the fridge."
Harry was speechless, he'd never met anyone from the states before. He managed to get a noise out of himself that remotely sounded like "yes" and then picked up the mold and followed her to her house. When they reached the back door she stopped and turned to Harry.
"Just warning you that Mags may jump on you or bark at you, she usually acts like that with strangers." She was just turning the doorknob when she stopped and turned back again. "Uh I'm sorry I never got your name, and I'm guessing my parents will be somewhere around and it would sound really weird if I didn't know your name to introduce you."
"Oh I'm sorry, I'm Harry, Harry Potter." He waited for the stunned reaction and when it didn't come he realized that she didn't know how famous he was in the wizarding world, and it was a big comfort to have someone who he could be just a normal person with. She opened the door and he walked into a big cozy kitchen. She walked over to the fridge and opened it to see lots of food. There didn't seem to be anywhere that the mold would fit so she told him to put it on the big wooden table and come with him into their den.
The room they walked into was a small but beautiful den with a fireplace, big cozy armchairs and bookshelves that covered the walls floor to ceiling. Harry was just thinking that the room reminded him very much of the Gryffindor common room when he noticed a small woman sitting in a deep red chair that seemed a little too big for her. She was sitting emersed in a big green book and Harry was just beginning to read the title when Liz cut in front of him and began to talk to the woman.
"Mom, we've got company, this is Harry Potter." The woman immediately put down the book and got up to walk toward Harry. She smiled as she shook his hand and spoke, "Hello Harry, I'm Mrs. Murphy, do you live in the neighborhood?"
"Yes, I live next door with my aunt and uncle."
"How old are you Harry?"
"I've just turned 15 Mrs. Murphy."
"Oh, how nice, kids Liz's age close by."
It had been a week since Harry had returned to the Dursley's and it seemed like everything had changed. Every morning when Harry came down to get his measly grapefruit quarter and tomato juice his aunt and cousin would be in a heated argument. The reason for all this was apparently that Dudley had been getting into trouble lately at school and wasn't abiding by the diet that his school nurse and Aunt Petunia had set for him. He had now gained 150 more pounds and was kicked out of Smeltings because they could no longer provide him with a uniform and his behavior had become very unacceptable. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had been furious when they found this out and had grounded him for a month. This had not been a pleasant experience of course, having Dudley skulking around the house all day.
Thankfully Harry was scheduled to leave in just two weeks for the Weasley's. He wished he could have been able to go there right after school but Dumbledore had thought it more wise for Harry to do the same as every year; go to the Dursleys for a while before staying at his favorite place besides Hogwarts, the Burrow. Harry wished the two weeks could be passed already, there didn't seem to be anything to do around here lately, except watch the quarrels amongst who they wanted you to think were the perfect family.
He took what was left of the morning meal, an eighth of grapefruit (Dudley must have really been hungry this morning) a glass of tomato juice and was on his way upstairs when something outside caught his attention. The neighbors next door had been seen putting a for sale sign on their front lawn a few weeks before Harry had returned home (according to Aunt Petunia) and now Harry realized it was no longer there, instead in the driveway was a moving van. While Harry was trying to figure out if the van was a moving in or moving out van a girl walked out of the house and went to the back of the van. After a minute or so she emerged with a trunk and rolled it across the driveway to the house. Harry was so mesmerized with the girl. He couldn't see her too closely but from the distance he was at she had a weird sort of charm. She seemed very different from any girl Harry had ever seen. He was trying to decide what he should do, should he go and meet her or just go upstairs to eat his small breakfast. Then just as he had decided he should go upstairs she turned towards him and smiled.
He was so surprised that he almost dropped his glass of juice (good thing he hadn't that would have really given Aunt Petunia something to screech about)
It was almost as if she had known he was looking at her, as if she sensed it. He wondered, if that could be true.
Harry did not know it at the time but he was right about this girl. And he would soon find out the hidden powers she had. He decided that since she had seen him that maybe he would go talk to her. He gulped down his juice and smashed the grapefruit piece down his throat as quickly as he could, brought it into the kitchen and was about to go outside when something came over him and his mouth opened to speak. "Hey Aunt Petunia,"
"Not now boy, I'm busy."
"Oh I just thought you might want to know that we have some new neighbors." The plate she was scrubbing fell in to the soapy sink as Aunt Petunia ran right away to the window to look at the neighbor's house.
Why o why did I do that? He thought. Now he wouldn't be able to sneak outside to see the girl.
But actually, Harry was wrong. Once Aunt Petunia saw that Harry was telling the truth she ran to the fridge and pulled out a Jell-O mold. It looked like her friends from her book club wouldn't be having any dessert at their meeting today. She handed the Jell-O mold over to Harry and told him to walk it over to the neighbor's house as a welcoming gesture. He was told to find out where they had come from and why they had come here. He was also to find out what the family was like (mother, father, kids?).
Harry already knew they had a kid, in fact a girl about his age (he was guessing) and hopefully she was waiting for him outside his house.
He didn't mind doing this one bit because it would give Harry a chance to find out her name. As he was leaving the kitchen a though occurred to him. It was definitely to his advantage today that his aunt was so nosy and his Uncle Vernon was now at work. Otherwise he definitely wouldn't be doing this. Vernon would want to make sure the new people saw little as possible of Harry.
He walked into the hall trying to keep hold of the massive Jell-O mold in his hands while taking a look in the mirror to see how bad his hair looked. He was surprised to find out that it actually didn't look to bad. One or two stray hairs were fixed and then Harry opened the front door and within a few seconds he was on his way to the neighbors. It had taken so long what with his hesitation of going and talk with his aunt that by the time Harry reached the front yard destination the girl from before was nowhere to be seen.
He walked up to the front door and had his finger on the doorbell, when he saw something in the backyard (through the window) that he didn't recall being there before today.
He walked around the house to get to the backyard and when he did he was able to see what it was. Sitting atop a tree in the rear right corner of the yard was a small little white house. It had a porch around it and a ladder leaning at the trunk of the tree. As he got closer to it he could hear the tapping of keys and some loud music playing. Even though Harry rarely listened to music outside or inside the wizarding world, Dudley did sometimes mention certain groups or songs of the muggle industry. Of the things he had head music wise this music sounded very familiar to Harry. He thought he might have heard Aunt Petunia listening to something like this, though, not Dudley. He spotted the trunk she had been rolling before sitting under the house and it confirmed to him that he had found the mystery neighbor.
He set the Jell-O mold onto the silver trunk and yelled up to the tree house.
"Hello?" The loud music immediately stopped along with the tapping keys. A loud smack and some footsteps and then she appeared. She was average height and weight, with shoulder length curly red hair pulled into a ponytail. She had bright blue eyes, freckles all over and dimples. She was wearing blue jeans, sneakers(Adidas all-stars), and a black T-shirt with an E in the center of a blue circle and under it the words: "Manhattan to Queens."
He was trying to figure out what to say when she yelled, "What is that?" He looked to where she was pointing and realized she had seen his Aunt Petunia's "welcoming gesture"
"Oh that's a mold made out of Jell-O. My aunt made it to give to your family as a welcome to the neighborhood gift. I'm sorry, it looks really gross, doesn't it? You don't have to eat it, don't worry Aunt Petunia won't know the difference if you don't." This all came out of Harry rather fast and he hoped he hadn't sounded like a complete idiot. Fortunately, she didn't think so because she spoke next.
"Oh, no, actually it looks really, well, I guess appetizing. It's just that I should probably put it inside so my dog Mags doesn't find it and make it her little snack for the day." She disappeared for a few moments and then reappeared beside him. "By the way my name is Liz Murphy and we've just moved here from the U.S., New Jersey to be exact. Would you like to come with me, I'm going to put this in the fridge."
Harry was speechless, he'd never met anyone from the states before. He managed to get a noise out of himself that remotely sounded like "yes" and then picked up the mold and followed her to her house. When they reached the back door she stopped and turned to Harry.
"Just warning you that Mags may jump on you or bark at you, she usually acts like that with strangers." She was just turning the doorknob when she stopped and turned back again. "Uh I'm sorry I never got your name, and I'm guessing my parents will be somewhere around and it would sound really weird if I didn't know your name to introduce you."
"Oh I'm sorry, I'm Harry, Harry Potter." He waited for the stunned reaction and when it didn't come he realized that she didn't know how famous he was in the wizarding world, and it was a big comfort to have someone who he could be just a normal person with. She opened the door and he walked into a big cozy kitchen. She walked over to the fridge and opened it to see lots of food. There didn't seem to be anywhere that the mold would fit so she told him to put it on the big wooden table and come with him into their den.
The room they walked into was a small but beautiful den with a fireplace, big cozy armchairs and bookshelves that covered the walls floor to ceiling. Harry was just thinking that the room reminded him very much of the Gryffindor common room when he noticed a small woman sitting in a deep red chair that seemed a little too big for her. She was sitting emersed in a big green book and Harry was just beginning to read the title when Liz cut in front of him and began to talk to the woman.
"Mom, we've got company, this is Harry Potter." The woman immediately put down the book and got up to walk toward Harry. She smiled as she shook his hand and spoke, "Hello Harry, I'm Mrs. Murphy, do you live in the neighborhood?"
"Yes, I live next door with my aunt and uncle."
"How old are you Harry?"
"I've just turned 15 Mrs. Murphy."
"Oh, how nice, kids Liz's age close by."