Chapter 2: The Retribution

Neatly ten years had passed since the Dursleys woke up to find little Harry on the front step. The photos on the mantlepiece, that for ten years ago showed a beachball looking thing with differet hats, now showed a boy playing computer with his father and being kissed and hugged by his mother. There was no sign that there lived another boy lived there. Yet Harry was still here, sleeping at the moment in his cupboard under the stairs.

"Up! Get up! Now!" Petunia said in her shrill voice.

Harry woke up with a start. He heard aunt Petunia rapping on the door again.

"Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking to the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the cooker. He sat up in his bed and tried to remember his dream, which had been about a flying motorcycle. He had a funny feeling that he'd had the same dream before.

"Are you up yet?" his aunt said from outside his cupboard door.

"Nearly," Harry said in his emotionless voice he'd taken for it seemed to frighten Dudleys gang.

"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn-"

"I know, I know. Dudleys birthday." Harry sighed, "You want everything perfect. I know."

"Then get up!" Petunia screeched. "And don't interrupt me again!"

She walked in to the kitchen again leaving Harry to wake up properly. He yawned and streched, taking of a spider from from his socks he'd picked up in the same motion. He then sat still for a few seconds before putting his clothes on, which was Dudleys old clothes. And Dudley was about four times bigger than Harry was. Harry had a thin face. knobbly knees, black hair and dark-green eyes. He had worn glasses till he was almost eight. He'd found thet he didn't need them any more. The only thing he liked about his own appearance was the thin scar he had over his right eye, it was shaped like lightning and had the coulor of dark, almost blood-red. But as he grew he'd found that his scar got darker. The first question he remembered asking was of how he'd got it.

"In the car crash that killed your parents." Petunia had said, "And don't ask questions!"

The first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.

When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. When he enterd he found that the table was nearly covered with Dudleys birthday presents. It looked as if Dudley had got the new computer, the second television and a racing bike. Dudley hated exercise of any kind, unless it involved using Harry as a punchingbag, so Harry had no idea as to why Dudley would want a racing bike.

As to being used as a punchingbag, Harry didn't mind the exercise to run from Dudleys gang. They were so afraid of his eyes, which turned slightly crimson-red if he got so angry that he couldn't control it, and cold-hearted manners that they only helped Dudley because they feared Dudley would hit them otherwise. So Harry escape quite easily.

Maybe that it had to do with living in a small cupboard all his life, but Harry had always been slightly paler and much skinnier than other kids. But while he wasn't taller than all the kids his age he was amongst the top three.

Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning the bacon.

"Comb your hair!" Vernon barked at Harry, by way of a morning greeting.

About once a week Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it maid no difference, his hair simply grew out the way it had been. Or nearly.

He also noticed that his hair had decided to make the fringe grow down over his right eye. The most odd thing bout it was that it seemed to cover the scar fully, but he could still se through, but it was only the right-side fringe that grew.

Harry was frying eggs by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. Dudley looked a lot like uncle Vernon. He had a large, pink face, not much neck, small, watery blue eyes and thick, blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head. Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel - Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.

Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table. Dudley was at the time counting presents.

His face fell.

"Thirty-six!" , he said, looking up at his parents. "That's two less than last year."

"Darling, you havn't counted the present from auntie Marge. It's here under this big present from your mummy and daddy."

"Thirty-seven then." He said going red in the face. Harry could see a Dudley tantrum come, so he ate his bacon fast, in case that Dudley threw the table over. Petunia saw it to because she hurried to say, "And we'll buy two morepresents while we're out today. How's that, popkin?"

Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said slowly, "So, I'll have thirty ... thirty ... "

"Thirty-nine." Harry said un a bored, but still frightenly calm, cold voice.

The Dursleys all looked at him, Dudley with fear of his strange voice, aunt Petunia with a scared look on her face and uncle Vernon with rage that ended in fear. Harry blinked slowly once to show how bored he was. But what he hadn't noticed, which the Dursleys did, was that his eyes had become crimson red, his voise had been more cold than ever, it also sounded more like a soft hiss. Harry cocked an eyebrow at their fear and they snapped out of their fear as his eyes turned green again. Vernon was out of himself with rage. But he couldn't find any words, he just pointed to the hall and voiced, "Cupboard!".

"No." Harry responded calmly, his normal voice again.

At that exact time the telephone rang and Vernon held back what he'd intended to say, or rather scream. Petunia took it and when she'd put the phone back down she turned to Vernon and said,

"Bad news Vernon, mrs Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." she jerked her head at Harry.

"Just tell me what you've decided later, will you?" Harry said looking so bored, it almost looked as if was tired. He then walked into the living room and sat down on the arm-chair beside the window, looking out.

Vernon had managed to calm down by now, and Dudley had his mouth closed again as he'd opened it in horror. "Well, wee can't leave him here. He'll be bound to burn up the house or something." Vernon told her wife. "What about your friend. Yvonne?"

"She's on vacation in Majorca." she snapped.

"We'll have to bring him."

"Noo!!" Dudley screamed, "I don't want him to come. He'll ruin everything." he started crying, but Harry saw that it was fake. He'd walked in and leaned to the wall without then noticing.

"We'll leave him in the car." Petunia said soothingly to Dudley.

"Never." Vernon said, "It's been washed only yesterday. He'll have to come with us to the zoo."

"I suppose it could be interesting watching the snakes and scorpions." Harry said, all the Dursleys jumped at the sound of his voice which had once again turned to the cold hiss. Dudley and Petunia gave a sound of fright before they say Harry. Before they could say anything to Harry the doorbell rang. Dudley had stopped crying as Harry had talked and now ran his hand under the eyes to see if there were any tears, there were none. He then ran to the door as the bell rang again. Dudley always had one friend with him on his birthday trips. This time It was, as most often, Dudley's best friend Pier Polkiss. Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat. Dudley came into the kitchen with Pier and mrs Polkiss behind him. Harry didn't think much of it when Pier winced when he saw him, he always did. But when mrs Polkiss also winced Harry wondered what it was. Wo he went into the second-floor bathroom and watched himself in the mirror. 'That's odd.' he thought, 'My eyes are almost crimson.' As he watched the eyes turned green again. 'Well, that's interesting.' he'd noticed that he'd relaxed when the eyes turned to its ordinary colour so tried making himself angry, which wasn't so hard really. All he'd to do was to think of the Dursleys. Then the eyes turned again. 'I guess I'll have to keep my emotions under more control. But it can't just have been the eyes.' He opened his mouth to see if he got any fangs, nope. "I could only hope." he then starred wide eyed at his reflection. "That didn't sound like me." At the end of the sentance he talked in his normal voice and his eyes were once again green.

"Boy! Come down here! We're going!" uncle Vernon yelled from downstairs. Harry had a smile on his face as he turned and walked downstairs and out to the car. It then, however, vanished.

"What's the matter with you?" uncle Vernon said fifteen minutes later, still in the car. "You haven't come up with any foul remark on anything of what I've said. Are you sick? And what's whit that cold look on your face? Think you can frighten us, huh boy?" Everyone in the car snickered a little, Polkiss almost burst out laughing. Till Harry turned and looked at him with crimson eyes. that is. Polkiss gulped and cowered. 'Just like Wormtail.' Harry thought. 'Who's Wormtail. I don't know anyone named Wormtail.' He thought of how strange it was that he combined Polkiss with someone he didn't even know. 'But I do know him. That's what's wierd.'

The following fifteen minutes flowed quietly. Harry snapped out of his thoughts as they arrieved at the zoo.

After they'd got out of the car Vernon took Harry aside and told him,

"If you do any of that funny stuff I'll make sure you'll starve till you're old enough to leave us alone." He watched Harry as if waiting for an answere, but when it didn't come he said, "Get a move on. We can't stand here all day."

"Ok." Harry said as they started towards the zoo entrance.

"Ok, what?" Vernon spat.

"I wont do anything funny. I'll keep up appearance that you are good to me, and that you'd never even try and hit me." he had a slight smile on his face. Because the last part was really true. Vernon wouldn't try it even if he'd had and army with him. He'd done it once. Something happened to Vernon before he even had time to land the blow. Harry had no idea whatsoever what had happened. His uncle had just stopped there and his eyes sort of glaced over. Harry had told him to punch the wall if he wanted to hit Harry again. And ever since Vernon have punched the wall if he raised his hand to slap him. Though Vernon hadn't tried it for nearly two years now.

Vernon looked at him with anger and walked away, Harry two steps behind him. Harry knew Vernon believed him. No one ever did. The thing is that these strange things that had happened this morning wasn't the only strange things that had happened aroud Harry.

Once when Petunia was tired of Harry coming back from the barber's looking as if he'd never been there. She'd taken a pair of kitchen scissors and cut his hari so that he was nearly bald. But she'd left the fringe, saying, "Atleast it covers some part of that horrible scar." Dudley had laughed himself mad at Harry. Harry lay sleepless that night thinking of how they would react in school. Probably laugh bahind thair back. No one ever laughed at him openly, if you count out Dudleys gang. But the next day his hair had grown back to the way it was, only the right side fringe was longer. He'd been given a week in the cupboard for this.

Another time, aunt Petunia had tried to force him into a revolting old jumper of dudley's. It had caught fire and it wouldn't go out till there was nothing left of the jumper. Luckily, aunt Petunia had had a lit candle close by, so Harry hadn't been punished. But there were no more candles in the house the next day.

But he'd got into terrible trouble for throwing a snake at his classmates. Dudley's gang had been chasing him and he ran around a corner and thought he'd throw a rock or stick at them, but when he threw the stick he'd picked up it was a snake. A small boa-constrictor, but the teachers thought that Harry had stolen it to prank his classmates. The Dursley's had opened the door that evening to see Harry being held by his teacher standing outside. The teacher had told Vernon, who had answered the door, what had happened. Harry had been without food that day and the next. if it weren't for dudley who told them another story, with Harry controling a great rattlesnake and telling it to kill Dudley. Of course his parents understood that it was a lie, but told Harry he'd live in his cupboard till the summer holidays.

He hoped he could manage to keep his emotions under control so that he wouldn't be punished for scaring Dudley in public or something.

Once in the zoo Dudley said he wanted icecream. Dudley and Pier got big chocolate icecreams and because the smiling lady in the ice-cream van asked if he didn't want one too, he got one too. Harry smiled at the nice lady and the lady's smile widened. Harry had the best day in weeks. When it had been lunch dudley had complained his knickerboxer glory wasn't big enough, Vernon bought him another one and gave Harry the old one.

Harry should have known the day wasn't to last. After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark and all sorts of lizards and snakes there. Dudley quickly found the biggest snake in the house while Harry found the deadliest one, a cobra. Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass.

"Boy, come here." Vernon called to Harry.

"Make it move." Dudley said. Uncle Vernon rapped at the glass saying, "Oy, move."

"Do it again." said Dudley. Uncle vernon did it again but the large boa constrictor didn't move an inch. Dudley was well on his way to throw a tantrum when he heard a soft hiss behind him and saw the boa snapping its head towards the hiss, hissing loudly. Dudley pressed his piggy nose to the glass once more. Another soft hiss was heard and the boa constriktor attacked the glass, hitting it right where Dudley's nose was. Dudley yelped and ran to the otherside, where Harry's cobra was. Vernon gave Harry a threatening glare while they went over to Dudley.

"I thought you wanted it to move." Harry said coldly. "But when it does you run away."

"Don't make the snakes eat me!" Dudley said stupidly. Pier snickered but Dudley took no notice because Harry was sneering at him with crimson red eyes. Making Dudley chiver in fear.

"You accuse me of making the snake hate you and trying to attack you?" he said coldly.

All snakes had turned their heads towards Harry at that. Vernon noticed that and chivered.

Luckily for them they were the only ones in there at the moment. Dudley did the most stupid thing he ever had in his life and said, "You're just a freak! You're parents were filth!" Before he could continue the glass behind him fell to the ground, shattered before it even reched it, and the cobra attacked Dudley. The snake bit him three times and Pier two before slithering up Harry to have eye contact. "Thhanksss. Iss theree anythhinng I can do foor youu, myy loord?" To say Harry was surpriced was an understatement. But as he still looked in the snake eyes he saw his own. They were crimson, but that wasn't all. He looked down on the steel handle of the fence to see two crimson red eyes with slits for pupils. He looked into the eyes of the snake again and said, "Why are you calling me 'my lord'?"

"Becaussse youu aree myy looorrd." the snake responded.

"Will you do everything for me?" Harry asked.

"Yeesss."

"Good. Then you can follow me home." Harry glanced at Dudley and Pier. "Why aren't they dead? They should have died in seconds."

"Theyy toook myy pooiisssonn."

"How long till you regain it?"

"Twoo weeekss." the snake then did something odd, it disappeared with a slight pop after saying, "I wiill waatcch ooverr youu." It wasn't till a few seconds later that they realised mrs Dursley had come to the scene.

"What happened Dudley?" she said as she ran over to her son, "Did he do something?" Dudley looked at Harry before he answered, "It was a great cobra." He wispered, "It attacked me! Jumped through the glass and attacked me!!" by this time a zoo-worker had arrived. He'd turned almost white at hearing what Dudley said. He regained his senses and turned to look at the glass, which wasn't were it should've been.

"Why is all the glass on the floor?" he said, then he noticed what sort of snake had been there, "Where's the snake!?"

"Where did it go boy?" mr Dursley asked Harry in a threatening voice. "Did you let it go so it could bite more children?"

"Let- let it g- go?" the zoo-worker said, "How could he have let it go? It's one of the top 10 poisonous snakes in the whole world! He couldn't have l- let it g- go, because that would mean thet he'd caught it!"

"Why have taken its poison?" Harry asked in a very cold voice, making the zoo-woker flinch.

"I- I don't kn- know." the zoo-worker said, "I on- only beg- beg- began work- ing here yest- yesterday." he stared at Harry with wide eyes. So did the Dursley's and Pier, all with fear written all over their faces. Harry looked into the dark glass behind him and saw what had put fear to them all an smiled.

"Go fetch the zoo director then." he said coldly, smiling. "I think he knows what happened here." When the zoo-worker was out of sight Harry made his eyes turn green again. He watched the Dursley's trying to say something, with an amused smile. He tried to figure out who would say something first. uncle Vernon who was shaking with fear, hatred and anger, aunt Petunia who looked as if she'd seen a ghost, Dudley who was shaking with fear and hatred for his cousin. But it was Pier who said the first word, "How?" then stopped the unfinished question, looking as if he'd anraged a crazy mass murderer.

"How what?" Harry said, but before Pier could answere the director came, looking as if the end of the world was to happen in a few minutes. He took a good look at the all and stopped at Harry.

"Weren't you afraid?"

"No, there's nothing to be afraid of. So why should I?" He said a not so cold voice as usual.

"A poisonous snake just attacked your two friends. You should be afraid." the director watched for any sign of fear, any sign of emotions in fact.

"My cousin and his friend. And the snake had no poison left. The zoo have taken it all out."

"How do you know that it was not poisonous?" he said suspiciously.

"They'd be dead otherwise, wouldn't they?" Harry said in colly,

"I suppose. What happened...

In the car back to the Dursley's, Vernon broke the, for Harry, blessed silence with a question, "Did you talk to the snake?"

Harry kept looking out the side window as he answered, "Yeah, so?"

"Did you set the snake on Dudley and Pier?"

"No. Seems the snakes doesn't like Dudley and Pier."

"And how did you know that it wasn't a slow poison?" At that Harry let out a could laugh, making the spines of the Dursley's and Pier freeze.

"How I knew? The snake told me."

"Where is it?"

"How should I know. And don't ask questions!" uncle Vernon started muttering as Harry said this, while the others looked at Harry in chock.

When Pier had left, Vernon told Harry to go to the cupboard and stay there, with no meals. A few minutes after that he heard something slithering in the corner.

"There you are. I was getting worried you'd run out on me." Harry hissed, looking the snake in the eye's

"Yoourr eyyeesss aarree diiffereennt."

"Yes. Can you tell me how you disappeared like that?"

"Yoouu doo nnoot knnooww?" the snake said in surprise, "I'll teell yoouu theenn."

They talked all night, Harry showed Cornus lunae, for that was the snake's name, the kitchen and living-room.

He'd lived with the Dursley's ten miserable years. Ever since his parents died in that car crash. He couldn't remember anything about his parents death. But if he consentrated, he could see green light. It also tickled a little in his scar. He supposed this was the car crash. But he couldn't imagine where all the green light came from. He could remember nothing of his parents. The Dursley's never spoke about them. And if he asked he'd be punished. There were no photographs of them in the house.

When he'd been younger he'd dreamed of somebody coming to rescue him. Saying he didn't belong here. And sometimes he met strangers on the street that came over and shook his hand or put a hand on his shoulder seying hello or something.

And they were strange strangers too. They wore robes and cloaks, could be small like dwarves, having beards that was way too long, if male. He first thought he imagined that they knew him. But when he'd learned to feel emotions and see the truth, he knew they knew him. Though he couldn't see how. They also seemed to vanish the second he tried to get a closer look.

At, school he had nobody. They all were afraid that Dudley's gang would think they were friend's with odd Harry Potter in his baggy clothes, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.

A/N: Hope you liked it. Please review.