Number four; Privet Drive wasn't an ordinary house by any means, if sized up to the houses on the rest of the street. Of course, Mr. Vernon Dursley and his wife Petunia were as normal as could possibly be. It was their nephew, Harry Potter, whom they'd taken into their house fifteen years previous, who'd become the topic of rumors spreading about town, about the odd number of strange occurrences that seemed to keep happening, year after year since he'd been there. And after the strange incident, which occurred last summer, the Dursley's were considered just as strange as the boy they'd taken in.
Neither Vernon nor Petunia had spoken to him once they picked him up from King's Cross. Vernon stewed to himself about how he could ever let this wretched freak into his house in the first place. Half of the Order had given him a stern lecture, and it wasn't something that Vernon Dursley took kindly to. Aunt Petunia stared out the window. Her cold shrewd face showing no signs of any emotion or empathy. Harry was sent straight to his room right away, which he was more than happy to oblige by. The less time he had to spend with them this summer the better. As he entered came to the foot of the stairs, he noticed to eyes peering from a crack in Dudley's door. He glared in their direction and the door slammed shut. He smiled to himself, and then put Hedwig's cage on his desk in his own room. He didn't bother to unpack. He was tired. He layed down on his bed and drifted off into the first dreamless sleep he'd had in a long time.
When he awoke it was already evening. He'd been woken up by the call of his aunt down stairs. He sleepily came down the stairs and took his place at the table. Uncle Vernon looked at him and grunted, then focused his attention back onto the evening news. Aunt Petunia placed the cooked ham on the center of the table and sat down to eat.
"And what'll I be having?" Harry asked. He was accustomed to getting bread and cheese, sometimes jam for dinner, and was a bit thrown back by the fact that she hadn't said one word to him since he came down.
"Don't be foolish, you'll be having what we're having." she snapped. Dudley whined, but both she
and Vernon ignored it. So they had taken Moody's threat seriously. He smiled to himself and grabbed a plate. And so the first few weeks went on like this. The Dursley's started treating him like family. Well sort of. Uncle Vernon wasn't yelling. He wasn't locked in his room. He had no curfew. And even Dudley wasn't picking on him as much. He wrote to Lupin every second day. Uncle Vernon loomed over him, just to make sure he was writing that he was having a splendid time.
Three days before Dudley's birthday, Harry woke to his aunt looming over him. He sat up with a start, and put on his glasses. She was dressed to go out.
"Get out of bed and get dressed. You're coming with me." she snapped.
"Where are we going?"
"You're going to find your cousin a birthday present. Whatever he wants. After last summer's fiasco. You owe it to him. And don't think I'm that naive, I know your parents didn't leave you orphaned AND broke." she told him and left the room. He didn't know how to explain to his aunt that the only money his parents had left him was wizard money. He didn't think he could even buy Dudley a piece of gum for ten galleons. And he knew that Dudley would be asking for something other than a piece of gum. Then he remembered, he still had money from working with Mrs. Figgs that summer. He kept her company and did the house work for her, and in return she paid him, knowing very well that the Dursley's wouldn't give him a penny. Meanwhile he mumbled about how awful it was over there, just so that the Dursley's knew he wasn't having a good time. It gave them the satisfaction they needed, knowing he was miserable, and it was out of their control.
So he went with his aunt and his cousin downtown to look for a gift. He only had about a hundred pounds on him, and he told Dudley that he had seventy-five from the start. So he knew that Dudley was going to find the one thing that was a hundred and two pounds, just to irritate him. Dudley pleaded, whined, and begged for them to check out the new sweetshop on the corner, so that was their first stop. Dudley drooled at the sight of the different flavored toffees and chocolates.
Harry longed for a chocolate frog, or even a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Muggle candy didn't amuse him as much as it had did before entering Hogwarts. Harry giggled at the remembrance of the incident before his fourth year, when Dudley had eagerly fallen bait to one of the Weasley twins' joke toffees. His aunt gave him a stern look when he smirked out loud. Dudley had bought half the store it seemed, before they were finally back out onto the street. The first sight he saw made his stomach sink and his body go numb.
There in the middle of downtown Surrey was Draco Malfoy. Malfoy was with his mother leaving the shop across the street. Some sort of clothing shop. He must have noticed Harry too, because he smirked and came walking towards him. Aunt Petunia looked at the boy with annoyance. She could tell he was one of her nephew's kind, for even though out amongst normal, he was carrying a wand.
"So this is your family, Potter? Or what's left of it." Malfoy smirked. Dudley just looked at him, and hid a bit behind his mother. Harry stared at him, wanting him to just leave and not make a scene. He feared Malfoy might provoke him to use magic, but second thought that, realizing that Malfoy himself would be expelled too.
"What do you want, Malfoy." He gripped his wand in his pocket, just in case.
"I just thought I'd make acquaintances. It's not everyday you run into someone else from Hogwarts, now is it." he turned his attention from Harry back to Petunia.
"Allow me to introduce myself. Draco Malfoy. And I offer my sorrow to you madam, and pity, for I know what it is like to have to be around a peer such as him. I think you're very kind and brave for the ordeals that he must put you through. As, I'm sure you're aware. Harry here has been labeled the menace of the entire school. As a prefect, I completely understand what you must go through, as I've had to give Harry punishment often, myself." He smiled charmingly at Aunt Petunia, who was at a loss for words.
"That's a lie, Malfoy." Harry gritted.
"Oh is it, Potter? I mean I might be mistaken, but wasn't it you who nearly got expelled last summer for using magic outside of school. Wasn't it your friends, and not you who happened to make it as Gryffindor prefect, last year? Was it not you, who got Cedric Diggory killed? And was it not you that lead to the death of Sirius Black just a month ago? Now correct me if I'm wrong, Potter. But I don't think those kind of actions are the things are anything that would earn your family, respect of you." Malfoy snarled with a smile.
Petunia was looking around mortified by the conversation, not fully understanding it, and noticing onlookers beginning to pause to watch. If it wasn't bad enough that they'd been the talk of the town last summer for what'd happened, but her odd nephew was now it seemed, about to get into a fight with the whole town of Surrey to watch. She grabbed Harry's arm as he was about to lift his wand. Malfoy was content. Before Petunia rushed him off, he grabbed Harry's other arm.
"I'd watch my back if I were you. There are rumors going around, and I myself would not want to be the one in your shoes this year. Enjoy your summer. See you at school, Potter." and with that he was gone.
Infuriation was building up inside of Harry. How dare Malfoy approach him in the street like that, and then badmouth him to his already high tempered aunt. Reassuring her with nonsense. He desperately wanted to reach for his wand and send a curse at the back of Malfoy's head. It took all he had, to just continue to follow by his aunt. Dudley smiling smugly back at him.
"Even your schoolmates don't like you. Loser." he remarked.
Petunia was walking faster than she normally would. To get away from the Malfoy's, Harry presumed. Even if Malfoy was proving to be on her side, the mere sight of him obviously flustered his aunt, and she refused to speak of it. She turned her fear and annoyance at Harry, back lashing at him every chance he got. In the end, all Dudley had asked from him was an extremely high priced video game and a new CD. Once they'd finished shopping, they headed home. Petunia told Vernon about the meeting in the street, and Vernon laughed uneasily.
"Sirius Black. The name sounds oddly familiar..." Vernon thought. Harry sat at the table waiting to be lectured. His aunt and uncle discussed it for a while.
"He's a mass murderer. He was on the TV, three years back. Very, dangerous. I could've died." Harry lied to scare his aunt and uncle. He was still fuming about the meeting with Malfoy. They looked at him with disgust.
"Just like your father, running off into things that wasn't his own business. That's why they were killed you know. I bet you thought you could kill this murderer, and be thought of as some sort of hero, did you boy?" Vernon shouted at him.
"Shut up."
"Tell the truth, boy!"
"He was my godfather! I should've been spending the summer with him, not you! He died to save my life from Voldemort, because he actually cared about me! Diggory wasn't my fault either! Voldemort killed him! I couldn't stop him!"
"Don't you raise your voice at me you good for nothing-" his uncle advanced on him, but Harry jumped up and ran upstairs. He took out some paper, and he began writing to Lupin. He told him about meeting Malfoy on the street, and everything his aunt and uncle had been saying about him. He then wrote similar letters to Ron and Hermione. Vernon opened the door, just as Hedwig had taken off with the letters.
"I'm going to flog you for that one boy! Like you've never been before!" his uncle charged at him again. Harry jumped onto the bed.
"I highly doubt that! I've fought Voldemort! Dementors and highly powerful wizards have attacked me! I've nearly been killed every year since I've been at Hogwarts. You think you're going to finish the job now!" he pulled out his wand and raised it at his uncle, so full of rage and anger. Sirius' death was just now beginning to take a toll on him, and he couldn't stop the emotions, he couldn't stop the pain.
"You wouldn't dare use magic after last summer. I know you better than that boy!" Vernon yelled back.
"Try me! I don't care if I'm expelled! I don't care if the dementors come after me! I don't care if I'm locked up in Azkaban! I will not take one more summer from you!" Harry screamed. The lights in the room began to flicker on and off. Vernon headed for the door. He looked like a dog with a tail between his legs. There was a loud sound from outside, and they both heard the door slam open from downstairs. Harry was losing concentration. His head was swimming; he couldn't deal with any of this. Malfoy had pushed him over his limit by blaming him for Sirius' death, when he'd been inevitably blaming himself since it'd happened.
Lupin, Tonks, Moody, and Mr. Weasley, all came rushing into the room. Lupin held his wand at Harry.
"Expelliarmus!"
Harry's wand flew out of his hand and to Lupin. Moody pushed Uncle Vernon out of the way, and Tonks scooted him out the door and shut it. Harry collapsed on the bed, his arms around his head. And he cried. He didn't know how long he layed there. He no longer had any recollection of who was in the room. He just sat on his bed and cried. Lupin put his arm around him.
"You didn't kill him Harry. It was his duty to protect you. He died honorable, and by no means was it your fault." He tried to comfort.
Suddenly Harry stopped crying. He wasn't going to cry anymore. He'd lost his parents; he'd lost his Godfather. The war against the one responsible was about to start. Harry had to focus on Voldemort now, and soon he thought, Dumbledore will have found a way to kill him, and everything will be fixed. His parents death, Sirius' death would be avenged.
"We're going to take you to headquarters, Harry. It was stupid of us to even think that these muggles would take the warning, and heed by it." Moody mumbled.
"Do you have your things together, Harry?" Tonks asked. He looked up at her. Her hair was brown today. He smiled at the familiar faces. He didn't have to worry about the rest of the summer. He didn't have to worry about seeing Malfoy again for another month and a half. He packed up his belongings and they were off back to the headquarters of The Order of the Phoenix.
Neither Vernon nor Petunia had spoken to him once they picked him up from King's Cross. Vernon stewed to himself about how he could ever let this wretched freak into his house in the first place. Half of the Order had given him a stern lecture, and it wasn't something that Vernon Dursley took kindly to. Aunt Petunia stared out the window. Her cold shrewd face showing no signs of any emotion or empathy. Harry was sent straight to his room right away, which he was more than happy to oblige by. The less time he had to spend with them this summer the better. As he entered came to the foot of the stairs, he noticed to eyes peering from a crack in Dudley's door. He glared in their direction and the door slammed shut. He smiled to himself, and then put Hedwig's cage on his desk in his own room. He didn't bother to unpack. He was tired. He layed down on his bed and drifted off into the first dreamless sleep he'd had in a long time.
When he awoke it was already evening. He'd been woken up by the call of his aunt down stairs. He sleepily came down the stairs and took his place at the table. Uncle Vernon looked at him and grunted, then focused his attention back onto the evening news. Aunt Petunia placed the cooked ham on the center of the table and sat down to eat.
"And what'll I be having?" Harry asked. He was accustomed to getting bread and cheese, sometimes jam for dinner, and was a bit thrown back by the fact that she hadn't said one word to him since he came down.
"Don't be foolish, you'll be having what we're having." she snapped. Dudley whined, but both she
and Vernon ignored it. So they had taken Moody's threat seriously. He smiled to himself and grabbed a plate. And so the first few weeks went on like this. The Dursley's started treating him like family. Well sort of. Uncle Vernon wasn't yelling. He wasn't locked in his room. He had no curfew. And even Dudley wasn't picking on him as much. He wrote to Lupin every second day. Uncle Vernon loomed over him, just to make sure he was writing that he was having a splendid time.
Three days before Dudley's birthday, Harry woke to his aunt looming over him. He sat up with a start, and put on his glasses. She was dressed to go out.
"Get out of bed and get dressed. You're coming with me." she snapped.
"Where are we going?"
"You're going to find your cousin a birthday present. Whatever he wants. After last summer's fiasco. You owe it to him. And don't think I'm that naive, I know your parents didn't leave you orphaned AND broke." she told him and left the room. He didn't know how to explain to his aunt that the only money his parents had left him was wizard money. He didn't think he could even buy Dudley a piece of gum for ten galleons. And he knew that Dudley would be asking for something other than a piece of gum. Then he remembered, he still had money from working with Mrs. Figgs that summer. He kept her company and did the house work for her, and in return she paid him, knowing very well that the Dursley's wouldn't give him a penny. Meanwhile he mumbled about how awful it was over there, just so that the Dursley's knew he wasn't having a good time. It gave them the satisfaction they needed, knowing he was miserable, and it was out of their control.
So he went with his aunt and his cousin downtown to look for a gift. He only had about a hundred pounds on him, and he told Dudley that he had seventy-five from the start. So he knew that Dudley was going to find the one thing that was a hundred and two pounds, just to irritate him. Dudley pleaded, whined, and begged for them to check out the new sweetshop on the corner, so that was their first stop. Dudley drooled at the sight of the different flavored toffees and chocolates.
Harry longed for a chocolate frog, or even a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Muggle candy didn't amuse him as much as it had did before entering Hogwarts. Harry giggled at the remembrance of the incident before his fourth year, when Dudley had eagerly fallen bait to one of the Weasley twins' joke toffees. His aunt gave him a stern look when he smirked out loud. Dudley had bought half the store it seemed, before they were finally back out onto the street. The first sight he saw made his stomach sink and his body go numb.
There in the middle of downtown Surrey was Draco Malfoy. Malfoy was with his mother leaving the shop across the street. Some sort of clothing shop. He must have noticed Harry too, because he smirked and came walking towards him. Aunt Petunia looked at the boy with annoyance. She could tell he was one of her nephew's kind, for even though out amongst normal, he was carrying a wand.
"So this is your family, Potter? Or what's left of it." Malfoy smirked. Dudley just looked at him, and hid a bit behind his mother. Harry stared at him, wanting him to just leave and not make a scene. He feared Malfoy might provoke him to use magic, but second thought that, realizing that Malfoy himself would be expelled too.
"What do you want, Malfoy." He gripped his wand in his pocket, just in case.
"I just thought I'd make acquaintances. It's not everyday you run into someone else from Hogwarts, now is it." he turned his attention from Harry back to Petunia.
"Allow me to introduce myself. Draco Malfoy. And I offer my sorrow to you madam, and pity, for I know what it is like to have to be around a peer such as him. I think you're very kind and brave for the ordeals that he must put you through. As, I'm sure you're aware. Harry here has been labeled the menace of the entire school. As a prefect, I completely understand what you must go through, as I've had to give Harry punishment often, myself." He smiled charmingly at Aunt Petunia, who was at a loss for words.
"That's a lie, Malfoy." Harry gritted.
"Oh is it, Potter? I mean I might be mistaken, but wasn't it you who nearly got expelled last summer for using magic outside of school. Wasn't it your friends, and not you who happened to make it as Gryffindor prefect, last year? Was it not you, who got Cedric Diggory killed? And was it not you that lead to the death of Sirius Black just a month ago? Now correct me if I'm wrong, Potter. But I don't think those kind of actions are the things are anything that would earn your family, respect of you." Malfoy snarled with a smile.
Petunia was looking around mortified by the conversation, not fully understanding it, and noticing onlookers beginning to pause to watch. If it wasn't bad enough that they'd been the talk of the town last summer for what'd happened, but her odd nephew was now it seemed, about to get into a fight with the whole town of Surrey to watch. She grabbed Harry's arm as he was about to lift his wand. Malfoy was content. Before Petunia rushed him off, he grabbed Harry's other arm.
"I'd watch my back if I were you. There are rumors going around, and I myself would not want to be the one in your shoes this year. Enjoy your summer. See you at school, Potter." and with that he was gone.
Infuriation was building up inside of Harry. How dare Malfoy approach him in the street like that, and then badmouth him to his already high tempered aunt. Reassuring her with nonsense. He desperately wanted to reach for his wand and send a curse at the back of Malfoy's head. It took all he had, to just continue to follow by his aunt. Dudley smiling smugly back at him.
"Even your schoolmates don't like you. Loser." he remarked.
Petunia was walking faster than she normally would. To get away from the Malfoy's, Harry presumed. Even if Malfoy was proving to be on her side, the mere sight of him obviously flustered his aunt, and she refused to speak of it. She turned her fear and annoyance at Harry, back lashing at him every chance he got. In the end, all Dudley had asked from him was an extremely high priced video game and a new CD. Once they'd finished shopping, they headed home. Petunia told Vernon about the meeting in the street, and Vernon laughed uneasily.
"Sirius Black. The name sounds oddly familiar..." Vernon thought. Harry sat at the table waiting to be lectured. His aunt and uncle discussed it for a while.
"He's a mass murderer. He was on the TV, three years back. Very, dangerous. I could've died." Harry lied to scare his aunt and uncle. He was still fuming about the meeting with Malfoy. They looked at him with disgust.
"Just like your father, running off into things that wasn't his own business. That's why they were killed you know. I bet you thought you could kill this murderer, and be thought of as some sort of hero, did you boy?" Vernon shouted at him.
"Shut up."
"Tell the truth, boy!"
"He was my godfather! I should've been spending the summer with him, not you! He died to save my life from Voldemort, because he actually cared about me! Diggory wasn't my fault either! Voldemort killed him! I couldn't stop him!"
"Don't you raise your voice at me you good for nothing-" his uncle advanced on him, but Harry jumped up and ran upstairs. He took out some paper, and he began writing to Lupin. He told him about meeting Malfoy on the street, and everything his aunt and uncle had been saying about him. He then wrote similar letters to Ron and Hermione. Vernon opened the door, just as Hedwig had taken off with the letters.
"I'm going to flog you for that one boy! Like you've never been before!" his uncle charged at him again. Harry jumped onto the bed.
"I highly doubt that! I've fought Voldemort! Dementors and highly powerful wizards have attacked me! I've nearly been killed every year since I've been at Hogwarts. You think you're going to finish the job now!" he pulled out his wand and raised it at his uncle, so full of rage and anger. Sirius' death was just now beginning to take a toll on him, and he couldn't stop the emotions, he couldn't stop the pain.
"You wouldn't dare use magic after last summer. I know you better than that boy!" Vernon yelled back.
"Try me! I don't care if I'm expelled! I don't care if the dementors come after me! I don't care if I'm locked up in Azkaban! I will not take one more summer from you!" Harry screamed. The lights in the room began to flicker on and off. Vernon headed for the door. He looked like a dog with a tail between his legs. There was a loud sound from outside, and they both heard the door slam open from downstairs. Harry was losing concentration. His head was swimming; he couldn't deal with any of this. Malfoy had pushed him over his limit by blaming him for Sirius' death, when he'd been inevitably blaming himself since it'd happened.
Lupin, Tonks, Moody, and Mr. Weasley, all came rushing into the room. Lupin held his wand at Harry.
"Expelliarmus!"
Harry's wand flew out of his hand and to Lupin. Moody pushed Uncle Vernon out of the way, and Tonks scooted him out the door and shut it. Harry collapsed on the bed, his arms around his head. And he cried. He didn't know how long he layed there. He no longer had any recollection of who was in the room. He just sat on his bed and cried. Lupin put his arm around him.
"You didn't kill him Harry. It was his duty to protect you. He died honorable, and by no means was it your fault." He tried to comfort.
Suddenly Harry stopped crying. He wasn't going to cry anymore. He'd lost his parents; he'd lost his Godfather. The war against the one responsible was about to start. Harry had to focus on Voldemort now, and soon he thought, Dumbledore will have found a way to kill him, and everything will be fixed. His parents death, Sirius' death would be avenged.
"We're going to take you to headquarters, Harry. It was stupid of us to even think that these muggles would take the warning, and heed by it." Moody mumbled.
"Do you have your things together, Harry?" Tonks asked. He looked up at her. Her hair was brown today. He smiled at the familiar faces. He didn't have to worry about the rest of the summer. He didn't have to worry about seeing Malfoy again for another month and a half. He packed up his belongings and they were off back to the headquarters of The Order of the Phoenix.