Namesake
-A Harry Potter Fanfic-
*Written by Gale*
Note - I wrote about this much on the first try, maybe a bit more, then I got stuck, and despite my great wishes to maintain Rowling's style and her way of setting up events, I'm finding myself at a loss. I don't think I'm managing quite as well as I'd hoped, so brace for suckage. Once again, I have no beta. This is not the finished product. Enjoy.
Chapter #2: Early Holiday
Slowly but surely, summertime was winding into the last week before a day only grudgingly recognized by the entirety of the inhabitants of Number 4 Privet Drive -- all save for one, whom the day was dedicated to. Harry Potter knew better than to get his hopes up about receiving much from his relatives on his birthday, even if they had taken extra steps to stay out of his way this summer. He could only expect an old piece of clothing from his cousin Dudley's overstretched wardrobe, a command to stay in his room for the evening, and a that would be that. Harry supposed he preferred it this way, that Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and especially Dudley stayed away from him, seeing as how he'd not returned to their un-obsequious abode in the best of spirits, himself.
During the school year prior to his "vacation," Harry Potter found himself smack dab in the middle of all sorts of trouble going on at Hogwarts and in the Wizarding World in general. Voldemort had risen again just over a year ago. Harry was nearly expelled because the school's new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, a frog faced woman by name of Dolores Umbridge, set a couple Dementors on him, then proceeded to torture him for the entire year following.
The worst of it, however, something that hit him time and again when he sat down to write letters to his friends, was that in the previous year, his godfather, escaped convict Sirius Black, had died. And more so than it had been for Cedric Diggory, it was his fault. Entirely his fault. Voldemort's Deatheaters had set a trap to lure him to the Ministry. He took the bait, thinking Sirius was in danger, and when his godfather, along with many other members of Dumbledore's secret Order of the Phoenix, came to pull him out of a jam, he paid for it with his life.
As pathetic as it was, this had become an ever-recurrent theme in his letters to Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. He would answer their questions about what he'd been doing for the summer, how he was, how Hedwig was, ask a few of his own, even. But always, at the end, something about Sirius would come up. I miss Sirius, was becoming a popular one. He'd still be here if it weren't for me, was another. By now, his two best friends were at a loss, themselves. After all, even he knew that it could only go on so long before they ran out of things they could say to him. He found himself asking more questions to make up for it, though, feeling that the only way he was going to get through each day was by immersing himself in the doings of others.
When he wasn't reading or writing letters, of course, he was downstairs, watching the news. Uncle Vernon, last year's incident with Dudley and the Dementors fresh in his mind, did not ask questions anymore. He had at first, for whatever reason guardedly interested in anything that might have happened during Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, but Petunia eventually silenced him with a kind of rigid severity that Harry thought had only been reserved for him.
Dudley was slowly packing on more pounds, as he'd finally discovered an ingenious way to cheat on his diet. Harry made the mistake of informing his Aunt and Uncle the year before that chocolate would make him feel better after the attack from the Dementors. Indeed, it did, but now, whenever Dudley desired sweets, all he had to do was feign sickness and say "Mother, I feel very faint. And depressed. I don't quite think I've gotten over you-know-what yet," and of course, his mother bought it hook line and sinker. Harry was faintly surprised at his cunning in the situation, however, because Dudley got smart enough to realize he couldn't do it constantly without getting found out. So once a week, Harry would wander downstairs into the kitchen and see Dudley with a bar of chocolate pressed into each of his porky hands.
This was much the way Harry discovered him when he went down for breakfast the day before his birthday. It was a Saturday, and Dudley was dressed in his now slightly undersized leather jacket, (looking less tough and more like a pig wearing biker clothes), ready to go roaming with his gang of buddies after breakfast. That was another thing that changed because of the incident. When he was home from school, his parents were quite vehement in keeping him within sight. He moaned a lot about it, but for once, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon kept their feet down about it. On the weekends, they allowed him to go out with his friends, but only if he stayed in a group. Considering chocolate to be their talisman, now, Aunt Petunia made sure he had at least one bar in his pocket, just to be sure he didn't start to feel woozy while he was out and about.
Dudley sneered insolently at him over the table from behind brown smudges and stains on his lips, which hardly improved Harry's earlier observation of his swinishness.
"Best be careful, Diddykins," Harry muttered as he took it upon himself to fix a bagel, taking a short glance back at his portly cousin in order to register the pending rage in his eyes, and added, "You heard what my friends said at King's Cross," which killed whatever anger might have been there and replaced it with fear. He had to admit he took some small bit of perverse pleasure in making his older cousin squirm, but later he would feel bad about it, and he knew it.
No one deserved being put in his place more than Dudley Dursley -- well, no one save Draco Malfoy, maybe -- but Harry could already hear Hermione's voice in his head. "It's all well and good to get at someone who has it coming, Harry, but if it takes you down to their level, it's not worth it."
"Potter!"
Even from his end of the hall, he could see Uncle Vernon stamping toward the kitchen, Aunt Petunia trailing behind him in a troublesome, nosy manner like she always did whenever Harry had commit some atrocity he was not yet aware of. Resolving that he would have no chance of a quiet breakfast, Harry tore a piece of his bagel and shoved it into his mouth, feeling sure that would be the only bit he'd get for a while. He noted over their shoulders when they entered the room that the front door was standing open a crack, wholly unusual and remarkable given his relatives' propensity to have any and all things in their proper place.
He could not be troubled with that for long, however, as no sooner than he got a glance did he find one of Uncle Vernon's fat fingers in his face. "You said you wouldn't be going to visit your freak friends until next week, boy," the tubby man fumed accusingly.
"Yes," he confirmed. "I did, and as far as I know the plan hasn't--"
"Don't give me cheek, boy. Just send them away before the neighbors see them."
"Them?" he echoed.
Vernon pointed angrily for the door, and old instinct had Harry's feet going there long before his brain registered. Given his Uncle's reaction, and by the time the situation fully processed itself, he could only expect to see so many people behind the door.
And here I thought the next week of my life was going to be dull, he thought as he grasped the door handle and pulled it back.
The front walk was completely empty.
Harry quirked an eyebrow in surprise, wondering if it were at all possible that Uncle Vernon had finally lost his marbles. "There's no one there," he called over his shoulder.
Vernon Dursley muttered something along the lines of "probably got the right idea and shoved off," before barking back, "Shut the door, then!" which was cut off by a startling and resounding
CRACK!!
that summoned cries of alarm from every inhabitant in the household, even Harry, since it came up directly behind him. He slammed the door shut and rounded in alarm, and was a great deal less surprised than he should have been to set eyes upon two very smug looking Weasley Brothers.
"All right, Harry?"
TO BE CONTINUED….
