Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter…wish I did… sigh
Chapter 2: When Snape meets Vernon
The next few days at number 4, Privet Drive were very dull and uneventful. The sun had finally come out and it was extremely hot and muggy. Harry would still sit in his room all day and just sleep. When he was awake, he would stare at the picture Hagrid sent him. They all looked so happy, so clueless of what terrible fate would be waiting for them. "If only they knew," Harry thought.
Three days had passed since his birthday, and there was still no word from Lupin. Harry didn't know how to feel about going back to the wizarding world. Half of him was happy, but the other half didn't want to go back. Not that he wanted to stay at Privet Drive with the Dursleys, but he didn't know if he could face the wizarding world, now knowing what he would have to do. Errol and Pig left the day before with a small thank you note from him. He really appreciated everyone caring for him, but even with all this love and thoughtfulness, he felt alone.
It was close to lunchtime, and Harry had no intention what so ever to go downstairs. Even though he was hungry, he'd rather sit in his room than see the Dursleys stuffing their faces without a care in the world. Besides, he still had a bit of Mrs. Weasley's cake left.
He was lying on his bed looking up at the ceiling when he heard a loud "clunk" at his window. It sounded like someone had chucked a rock at it. Harry curiously got up from his bed, taking his wand from his bedside table at the same time, and walked to his window. For a moment, he saw nothing, then Pig came zooming upwards, sporting a bump on his tiny head. Obviously, he was flying so fast that instead of coming through the bottom part of the window, which was opened, he hit the top part. The owl flew through the window correctly this time, and started flying around the room, like nothing had happened. Harry laughed at this, for the first time in a long time, and snatched the letter off Pig's leg.
Harry, I'll be coming to get you tonight at around 6 o'clock. Have your stuff ready, see you soon.
LupinHarry read the letter twice, scribbled an OK, and Pig set off once more. Harry didn't know how to feel about this, so he began to pack his stuff, which didn't take very long. He then decided it would be best to let the Dursleys know about his departure, so for the first time since the beginning of his summer holidays, he left his room, and went down to the kitchen. He pushed the door open to show Uncle Vernon and Dudley eating while watching some game show on the television, and Aunt Petunia washing some dishes. As soon as Harry opened the door, the Dursleys stopped what they were doing and looked at him with a mixture of shock and anger.
"Err…" Harry started, "I just wanted to let you know that I'll be leaving tonight, one of my old professors will be coming at 6 o'clock."
The Dursleys just kept looking at him. Uncle Vernon had a sort-of evil grin on his face, Aunt Petunia looked mildly surprised, and Dudley was looking at him with a look of mixed disbelief, and to Harry's surprise, fear. Harry wanted to say something about this, but decided against it. He knew the Dursleys never liked wizards, and they were scared if someone pointed a wand at them, but never did he see Dudley like this. Dudley would usually just act as if Harry weren't even there.
"Well, that's all. I guess I'll see you later."
He turned to leave, when Aunt Petunia said, "Are you hungry?"
Harry stopped walking, and turned around. Was she actually trying to be nice to him? Against his normal attitude towards her, he found himself nodding and sitting at the kitchen table with a sandwich in front of him. He began to eat, when Uncle Vernon finally spoke.
"So boy, what's been your problem all summer? You haven't been down here since you came back from your freak school!"
"Nothing," Harry replied automatically.
Uncle Vernon just sneered and picked up his newspaper. That's when he noticed Dudley looking at him fearfully, and then quickly looking away. That's when Harry decided to say something about this.
"Um…Dudley? What's wrong? You're looking very weirdly at me."
Dudley looked even worse for being asked about this, and decided the best thing to do was to continue eating his second helping of pasta. Aunt Petunia then spoke,
"Dudley hasn't been the same since those Dementors last year… I'm worried about him. I've been trying to cheer him up ever since he's got home…but nothing seems to work. At school he was fine, very happy! But now…"
She gave a little sob, and ran over to give Dudley a hug.
This shocked Harry. Dudley was still afraid of the Dementors? And Aunt Petunia was being so nice to him? Why?
"Dudley, what did you hear last year when those Dementors attacked us?" asked Harry.
"Boy, you leave my son alone! He doesn't need this nonsense!" said Uncle Vernon, who finally gave up reading his newspaper.
"Vernon! Maybe he can help Dudley! He knows about this…stuff," said Aunt Petunia.
Now Harry understood why Aunt Petunia was being so nice to him, she wanted something from him. This made him angry, but curiosity got the better of him, and he wanted to find out what was bothering Dudley so much about his experience with the Dementors.
"Dudley… can you please tell me what you heard last year that made you so afraid?" tried Harry again.
Harry was thinking of possibilities while waiting for Dudley to answer. It was bound to be something with magic, why would he be fine at school and then as soon as he came home…
"It…was…you…" replied Dudley.
Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia stayed quiet during their son's statement, but you could see the rage mounting in their faces.
"Me? You heard me? You're afraid of me?" asked Harry stupidly.
"At first I heard nothing…" continued Dudley, who was looking at the floor, "but then I felt like I'd never be happy again…then I heard voices…" Dudley gave a dry sob, wishing not to continue.
"Diddykins, please, what did you hear?" said Aunt Petunia quietly.
"I heard him saying something, then I heard you guys screaming… almost like he…he…killed both of you! And then… all I heard was laughter!" squeaked Dudley.
Silence filled the room, as the shock of what Dudley had just finished saying started to slowly sink in. Dudley's biggest fear was Harry killing his parents with magic? "Something's not right…" Harry thought, "if you hear something while you're with Dementors, it's usually something that already happened…maybe he's really afraid that it will happen… but it does explain why he looks at me funny, he thinks I'm going to kill his parents… and then laugh about it? Something doesn't make sense here…"
"Well…first of all, that's what happens when Dementors are around you. You hear bad stuff. I hear my parents' last words before they got murdered. Second, I will never do that, I can't anyway, and I wouldn't do that. I have no reason to kill someone for the hell of it," said Harry.
Harry decided then was the best time to leave, so he grabbed his sandwich, and fled outside.
It was a beautiful sunny day, and for Harry, it was great to be outside. He didn't go very far, just down the street. He wanted to process what Dudley had just finished telling him. His first thought was to go owl Sirius, but then he realized he couldn't, and that brought up some fresh emotions of sadness. He then decided to just let Lupin know; he was all he had left.
He turned to go back to the house, when he saw Ms.Figg walking to him.
"Good, I was hoping to talk to you," she said. "Lupin told me your leaving today, are you packed?"
Harry nodded, and she continued,
"I heard about Sirius, and I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am for you and…"
"I just remembered I forgot to pack something, I got to go," Harry interrupted. He walked away, leaving Ms.Figg standing alone on the sidewalk.
It was almost 6 o'clock and Harry was sitting in the hallway on his trunk, with Hedwig in her cage on his lap. The Dursleys were completely avoiding him, and Harry thought this was best. It was less problems for him. He was wondering how Lupin would be getting to Privet Drive when he heard a knock at the door. Knowing that it was probably Lupin, he opened the door to see a very tired Lupin, looking shabbier than ever, and beside him, with black robes…
"Snape?" Harry said incredulously.
"Hello Potter, and it's Professor Snape to you," Snape replied with a wicked grin.
"Hello Harry, how are you?" asked Lupin with a smile.
Harry, who was still staring at Snape, turned to Lupin and muttered "fine".
"Well Potter, are you going to let us in or do we have to stand here waiting all day?"
Harry moved so that Snape could come in, then Lupin. Snape started looking around, when Uncle Vernon came in, with Aunt Petunia and Dudley not far behind him.
"Ah…" said Snape, "Potter's family, I'm Severus Snape."
He didn't hold out his hand, but Lupin did and said,
"Hello, my name is Remus Lupin."
Uncle Vernon did not take his hand. He still looked angry from before, and was anxious to get the boy who was making his son scared out of his house.
"Well you have the boy, you can leave now," said Uncle Vernon.
"Don't worry, I didn't plan to stay. It was against my own will to come here. Potter is my least favorite person. His big head makes me sick," said Snape.
"Likewise," said Harry.
"Now boy, treat this man with some respect!" said Uncle Vernon.
Obviously, anyone who insulted Harry was good enough for Uncle Vernon, but for him to defend a wizard, it was pretty shocking. It was very un-Dursley-ish. "What a day," Harry thought, "first Snape at Privet Drive, now Uncle Vernon respects a wizard…" He sighed as Lupin spoke to him,
"Harry, is this all your stuff?"
Harry nodded in reply, then saw Lupin take out something that looked like an old matchbox and he whispered "portus".
"OK Harry," said Lupin, "we'll take this portkey to Grimmauld place, so take hold of your trunk, and Snape will take Hedwig."
Snape looked like he'd rather hold dung than take something that belonged to Harry, but he took the cage anyway. Harry grabbed hold of his trunk, and turned to the Dursleys.
"Well…bye then, thanks for the sandwich."
He then put a finger on the matchbox, along with Lupin and Snape, and felt the familiar jerk in his naval taking him back to the wizarding world.
Author's note: Next chapter: Back to Reality. I'll try to update soon, with school and all, I might be a little busy. Thanks to everyone who read my story so far and to the one muggle who reviewed; George: Thanks! Yes he always remembered his birthday before, but he never had to deal with the death of a family member that he got to know and love, did he now?
Please leave a review; it will be greatly appreciated! Thanks! – SunFactoryGirl
