Disclaimer: I waved the Harry Potter wand that I bought, but I still don't own Harry Potter.
A/N: Yay! I never actually expected so many reviews! I'm going to answer one reviewer's question for everyone. Mystical Witch brought up the fact that the Dursleys would be arrested for neglect and child endangerment. Well, before I started writing the story, I did consider it ending with Harry being taken away from the Dursleys. But after long consideration, I decided that I didn't want to mess with the plot of the books. I just wanted to give people a glimpse of Harry's childhood. So no, Harry will not be taken away from the Dursleys and they won't be arrested. For one thing, they're not neglecting him, really. They do feed him, and give him clothes. And they're not exactly endangering him either. They're extremely mentally abusive, which is appalling, but hard to prove. If you don't think that these are good enough arguments, then I ask you to please suspend disbelief for a while, and remember that this story is slightly AU.
As soon as the door was opened, Harry jumped to his feet and poured his tea down the sink. Then he began washing the mug.
A very large man entered the room. Christine had seen him in the photographs in the family room, but they hadn't really conveyed just how large this man was. She stood up, but he was still at least six inches taller than her, and much, much wider.
"Hello, Mrs. Walker," he said, holding out a hand. Christine suddenly figured out where Dudley Dursley had learned his sickeningly-sweet fake courtesy.
"You can call me Christine," she said, shaking his hand.
"And I'm Vernon," he said.
"It's very nice to meet you, Vernon," she said. Vernon Dursley was apparently as stupid as his son, because he too missed the sarcasm in her voice.
"Nice to meet you too," said Vernon gruffly.
"What are you doing, boy?" Vernon said, turning to Harry.
"I-I'm washing some things from tea," said Harry quickly.
"Tea?" Vernon asked.
"I made tea for Harry and myself so that we could talk," said Christine, sensing that some explanation was needed.
Vernon was turned towards Harry, so Christine missed his raised eyebrow. The cameras didn't.
Christine found the whole situation very awkward, so she decided it was time to get Vernon out of the room.
"Well, it's five o'clock now. I should probably start dinner," she said.
"Okay," said Vernon. "You be sure to help her, Harry."
"Yes Uncle Vernon," said Harry obediently.
With that, Vernon left the kitchen. A moment later, Christine heard a television being switched on and the five o'clock news blaring.
"Well, Harry, I guess I should get started on dinner. What do you think I should make?" said Christine.
"Well… I guess chicken and mashed potatoes. And broccoli," said Harry.
"That sounds good," said Christine. "So I guess the chicken and broccoli are in the refrigerator."
"Yeah," said Harry. "And we have boxed mashed potatoes in that cupboard." He pointed to a cupboard near the sink.
"Okay, I'll get started then," said Christine, searching for the chicken in the refrigerator.
Harry started to get the mashed potatoes out of the cupboard.
"You don't have to do that, Harry," said Christine quickly.
"I always help with dinner," said Harry.
As much as Christine hated to admit it, Harry was right. It was part of the rules. But she decided she was going to have Harry do as little as possible.
When dinner was finished, Christine called to Vernon and Dudley.
"Dinner's ready!"
Immediately footsteps could be heard thumping down the stairs. The television stopped blaring and Vernon appeared in the kitchen, followed shortly by Dudley. The two sat down at the kitchen table which Christine had set for four.
Harry moved to start serving the food, but Christine gently nudged him toward the table. He sat down, and Christine set the food on the table and poured water for three of them and soda for Dudley.
Dudley was the first to take food. He loaded his plate with half of the mashed potatoes and an entire chicken breast. He didn't take any broccoli.
Vernon went next. He took both chicken legs, a good portion of the mashed potatoes that were left, and only two pieces of broccoli.
Christine waited a moment for Harry to start getting food for himself before she realized that he was waiting for her. Uncertainly, she served herself a piece of chicken breast, a spoonful of mashed potatoes and six pieces of broccoli.
Finally it was Harry's turn. He took a spoonful of mashed potatoes, what was left of the chicken breast, and a few pieces of broccoli.
"So," said Vernon, getting the conversation started, "you've met Dudley, then? Best boy there is!"
Christine thought back on Dudley pushing his cousin through the door and the veritable tantrum he threw over his snack.
"Oh yes," she said tonelessly. "Lovely."
Sometimes, Christine decided, she was too polite for her own good.
"This one, on the other hand," said Vernon, gesturing toward Harry with a fork full of mashed potatoes, "he's no good. A delinquent, he is. Just like his parents, they…"
But just what Harry's parents were, Christine would never find out. Vernon had trailed off. He was still moving his mouth as if trying to talk, but no sound was coming out. The cameras zoomed in on his face.
Christine turned in surprise to Harry and found that his kind, curious, emerald eyes were now a hard mixture of deep anger and deeper fear.
Vernon cleared his throat and appeared to regain the power of speech. After glaring at Harry, he resumed speaking, this time changing the topic to drills. Christine zoned out for the rest of the meal.
When dinner was over, Christine began to clear the table. She didn't see Vernon pull Harry aside and tell him to go straight to his cupboard, and that there had better not be anymore "funny" business while she was at the house.
She did, however, see Harry slink dejectedly off to his cupboard, and as she washed the dishes, she decided that as soon as she was done, she would go see him.
A/N: Well, there's the next chapter! I hope you liked it! Thank you so much to the people who reviewed!
Mystical Witch: I already answered part of your review at the top, but about the cameras, they're there, I just wasn't mentioning them. I put in a couple of references in this chapter.
HaRrYrOxMuhSoX: Thank you!
LittleEar BigEar's sis: Thank you so, so, so, so much! I am so honored that you like my story so much! Thank you so much for reviewing!
american-born-confused-desi: I tried to fit in a little bit of description this time. The first chapter had almost no dialogue, and I guess the second chapter just evened that out a bit. I promise I'll read you're story.
I'll leave you with a plea for reviews, because I've just discovered how wonderful they are!