The Aftermath

Chapter Three
A New Acquaintance

Harry endured a few more days with the Dursleys before he felt the need for an escape. It was 6 in the evening when Harry left Number Four and headed to the neighborhood park. It was a nice summer day. It wasn't too hot and there was even an occasional cool, evening breeze as the sun sank behind the rows and rows of suburban houses. He sat in the last swing that hadn't been mangled by his cousin, his shoes scuffing the ground.

"I was going to sit there," said a gentle voice behind Harry.

He looked around to see a girl about his own age or a little younger standing there. She was staring off onto the horizon. She was wearing a baby blue visor, blue tinted sunglasses with black frames, a white mini t-shirt that had light blue sleeves and collar trim to match her visor, and a pair of dark jeans. She stood with her hands in her pockets.

"That's okay," she said. "I don't feel like sitting anyway." She walked forward and leaned against the poles that held the swings. Her voice sounded familiar, but Harry concentrated on her accent – which was British, but with a hint of something else.

"So, who are you?" she asked, not looking at him.

"It doesn't matter. Don't see why you should care," he said a bit shortly. At the moment, he didn't quite care about being rude. She had intruded on his solitude after all.

"I'm new here. I moved here with my dad's brother. We had to move out here because there wasn't room for me at their old house. I'd rather be on friendly terms with my neighbors, because if your neighbors don't like you, they're more likely to steal the trash bins and litter on your lawn," she responded, still not looking directly at him.

"I'm Harry Potter," he said with a small laugh.

Finally, she looked at him. "Really?"

He looked up at her. She couldn't be a witch, could she? "Yeah, what's it to you?"

She looked away. "I don't know. It's just a bit hard to believe that I'm standing next to a hardened criminal boy."

Of course, Harry thought. He shrugged. "I suppose if hating detesting relatives is a crime, then yes, that makes me an incurable criminal."

The girl laughed. "I guess that would be understandable, but every family has its good points . . ."

Harry sighed. "Unfortunetely, mine don't."

"I'll take your word for it," she said.

The girl turned toward him, and he looked up. "I had an encounter with your cousin yesterday, when we were moving stuff into the house. He tried to steal my cousin's motorbike. Imagine, stealing from a boy four years younger than yourself! And as if that whale of a boy could ride that bike – he'd squash it the moment he got on! No offense or anything."

Harry laughed. "None taken. That's Duds all right. His most distinguishing features are big and stupid. But there are ways to beat him."

"Yeah," she said, crossing her arms and again looking off into the sunset, or rather the spot where the sun had set a moment before, "We took care of him. He'll think twice about bothering Shane again."

"I'm impressed," Harry said. "Most kids in this neighborhood scurry into the nearest bush at the sight of Dudley."

"Well, most kids are cowards," she shrugged then checked her watch. "See you around, Harry." She began to walk away.

"And what's your name?" Harry asked, and she stopped and turned back to him. "Liz, Elizabeth Cain." She smiled (rather prettily) and walked away, her short, dark brown ponytail blowing in the breeze.

Harry hesitated, then set off down the street in the direction of Number Four, Privet Drive.

"They're saying that the new family on the next street is very rich. They loaded at least three trucks of furniture and boxes into that house!" Aunt Petunia was saying over breakfast the next morning. "Apparently, the father is a well accomplished barrister and the wife, well she's a surgeon."

"Really? I wonder if they would invest. With that kind of money we could take a three week cruise in the Caribbean," said Uncle Vernon, pulling thoughtfully at his mustache.

"And there are three children with them, two girls Duddykin's age and an eleven or twelve year old boy," Aunt Petunia went on.

Dudley grunted sulkily. Aunt Petunia looked up, "Really darling, the cucumbers will help you get nice strong muscles for your wrestling!" But Harry had a good feeling that Dudley wasn't just unhappy with the food.

"I don't think the girls are sisters though. One has brown hair and the other has blonde hair," continued Aunt Petunia.

Harry grew bored. He got himself excused early and left his aunt and uncle gossip some more about the Wallaces.

It became evident over the next few days that the family had been invited for dinner, and that it had taken a good amount of persuasion to get the family to agree to the visit. The Dursley's had made it clear that Harry wasn't invited, and they weren't going to bother to get him a suit for the occasion. Harry shrugged this off. He didn't much care. The night of the dinner he was up alone in his room early. He heard the doorbell ring and he turned the light on in his darkening room. He had cleaned his room the night before, so there was nothing he could do but sit around and wait. Hopefully, it would only be another week before he got to leave. He was glad he didn't have to go back to Grimmauld Place, but he wasn't too chuffed about not getting to spend time with Ron and Hermione. But maybe he would, you never knew.

Harry heard sounds drifting up from downstairs. A young boy was asking where the bathroom was and Harry heard someone stumbling hurriedly up the stairs. He watched as the door opened and a boy with sandy colored hair crept into his room backwards, and closing the door quietly with a sigh of relief. The boy turned around and saw Harry and jumped about a foot in the air with surprise.

"Who're you?" he said, giving Harry and analyzing look.

"Harry Potter," Harry responded, watching for the boy's reaction.

The boy looked terrified. Harry said quickly, "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I suppose you're avoiding my cousin?"

"Yeah," the boy said, still looking warily at Harry.

"That's understandable," Harry said nodding.

"Hey, it's not like I couldn't beat him," the boy said standing up as straight as he could and crossing his arms. "It's just that I don't want to do anything rough in front of my parents."

"There's no need to get defensive, I'm just saying that – " Harry stopped as he heard a voice say, "I'm going to see where Shane's got to." And another voice saying "I'll come along too." Something stirred in Harry's memory and the boy, Shane, looked up at Harry pleadingly.

"Don't look at me – your screwed mate," Harry said, his eye on the door.

Sure enough, two girls, one vaguely familiar, in flowy type dresses came in. One was blonde and the other had dark brown hair with platinum blonde highlights. The blonde girl, who was wearing a pink dress and had her hair up in a bun went directly to Shane and said, "Kiddo, what are you doing here?" She glanced at Harry suspiciously as the other girl rolled her eyes.

"It's all right Kerrie, he's not a lunatic criminal, I don't think . . . " Shane told her, grinning at Harry.

"He better not be," the girl, Kerrie, said, still looking daggers at Harry.

"Karen, exactly how many times do I have to tell you he's all right!?" said the other girl exasperatedly. Harry realized why she looked familiar (about time). It was Liz – it had to be. New family, two cousins, both with the names she mentioned. But really, it wasn't surprising that Harry hadn't recognized her at first. She had been wearing sunglasses that covered her eyes and her visor had kept half her face in shadow. And her hair was completely different; it did have highlights now, and it was also down and it curled slightly at her shoulders. And on top of that, she was wearing a green dress and looked about three inches taller because of her heels. She walked forward and stood behind Shane, her arm resting on his shoulder. With her standing there, Harry could see that with the heels she was still shorter than him, albeit by one or two inches.

"Remember me?" she asked, smiling sweetly.

"Yeah, yeah, I do," Harry said, shuffling awkwardly.

"We're sorry if he disturbed you or anything," Kerrie said, with a tone that said he had gained her approval.

"How old are you?" Shane asked Harry.

"I'll be sixteen by the end of July. You?" Harry asked anyway, even though he knew the answer.

"I'm eleven. Kerrie's older than you by about three months. Lizzy was born in July too, but she'll be fifteen this year," Shane said, doing the calculations in his head.

Harry raised his eyebrows and grinned. "You learn something new everyday."

Kerrie looked back at the door. "We have to get going now. Mum and Dad will be wondering where we are." She jerked her head to the door.

"Good bye Mr. Potter, you're welcome to visit us anytime you please," she said rather formally.

"Yeah, drop by, it's nice to know one decent person in the middle of nowhere," Shane said scurrying out of the door.

"Er, see ya around," Liz said departing and shutting the door behind her.

Harry listened as the three of them headed down the stairs and he turned back to the window. He doubted whether or not he'd have the opportunity to take them up on their offer.