Disclaimer: Still not J.K. Rowling. I tried. I really did!
A/N: Well, I'm back! This isn't the most fast-paced chapter (although, sadly, none of them will be very fast-paced), but I hope you like it!
Christine, having finished cleaning the kitchen, ventured out into the hallway. She had a few questions for Harry, not the least of them being, what had happened to Vernon's voice at dinner?
As she approached the cupboard under the stairs, however, she heard strange whimpering sounds. At first it reminded Christine of the wind, but then she realized that it sounded much more like… a child crying.
She gently opened the cupboard door. Harry was sitting on his cot, knees drawn up to his face, arms wrapped around his legs. At the sound of the door opening he looked up.
All thoughts of questioning Harry flew out of Christine's head as she saw the stated that the child was in. His face was tracked with tears, and even though it was obvious that he was trying to stop, tears continued to leak from his eyes. He was making faint sobbing sounds.
"Oh, Harry," she said softly.
Christine realized that the cameras had followed her.
"Do you mind?" she said indignantly to the cameramen. They shrugged and continued filming.
She gave an indignant groan, then entered the cupboard and slammed the door after her.
Inside the cupboard it was small, cramped, and dark. Christine felt a string dangling from the ceiling and pulled it to find that a light bulb flared above her.
She turned to Harry, as well as she could turn in the cramped space of the cupboard. Tears were still flowing from his eyes.
"What's wrong, Harry?" she asked gently.
"E- Everything," Harry choked softly through sobs.
"Oh, Harry," said Christine once again, and she cradled the boy in her arms.
After half an hour, Harry's sobs ceased and his breathing slowed, and Christine saw that he was asleep. She gently laid him on his bed and covered him with the blanket.
When Christine exited the cupboard, she noticed the cameras were gone. They were waiting for her in the kitchen, though. She glared at them and stomped up to the guest bedroom. She felt like turning in early tonight.
The next morning Christine woke up at seven; before Dudley, after Harry. When she got down to the kitchen, Harry was frying bacon. Christine took the pan from him.
"Don't do that. I'll take care of breakfast," she said.
Harry didn't protest. He went to a drawer and pulled out two brown paper lunch bags. He began packing two lunches, one for Dudley and one for him. One lunch, which Christine assumed was Dudley's, had two ham sandwiches, three candy bars, and two cans of soda.
The bacon was done and Christine had started scrambling eggs when Vernon and Dudley came downstairs.
Dudley quickly ate half of the bacon. He had only just finished eating it when Christine set the eggs down on the table, which he promptly ate most of too.
"Good morning Dudley, Vernon," she said.
"'Morning," said Dudley in between bites.
"Good morning Christine," said Vernon. He was wearing a grey business suit and a truly awful yellow and green checked tie.
"Finished," said Harry. He handed a bursting lunch-bag to Dudley and took the much smaller one for himself. Christine looked on disapprovingly, but realized that there was little she could do for the situation. Yet.
Vernon looked at his watch. "It's time for you two to catch the bus," he said.
The unfairness of it astounded Christine. Dudley had eaten over half of the food for the entire family, while Harry hadn't gotten any breakfast at all because he was too busy making Dudley's lunch! There was nothing she could do. The children did have to go to school.
When Harry and Dudley were gone Christine sat down to eat her breakfast in silence. Needless to say, she ate much less than Dudley had.
"Oh! I must be off!" said Vernon a few minutes later. "Don't want to be late for work!"
"Have a good day," said Christine, while secretly wishing that he would spill coffee all over his vile tie.
"I will. Goodbye!"
"Bye," said Christine. A moment later she heard the door slam and a car engine start, and then all was silent again.
An hour later, Christine had finished breakfast and cleaned the kitchen, and was now checking the rulebook to see exactly what time she was supposed to be at Mrs. Harris's house. Apparently Petunia Dursley went to lunch and tea at a friend's house every weekday.
There! 11:30! That left her with an hour and a half to get ready and more importantly, to think about her situation. Or rather, Harry's.
It was unthinkable that people could show their own nephew such blatant unfairness. The boy was only nine years old, but he was supposed to cook and clean more than Petunia! Why? What led the Dursleys to act this way?
Well, she thought, they're not the nicest people to begin with. That was true. But they were at least somewhat polite to Christine, even if it was all an act. Harry, though, they didn't even pretend with Harry. Something had to be going on!
Unfortunately, Christine could think of nothing that would help her figure out what was going on, and she only had half an hour to get ready for Mrs. Harris's.
At 11:30, Christine knocked on the door of Number 13, Magnolia Crescent to find a house that looked very much like the Dursleys'.
She met four women who looked, spoke, acted, and probably thought very much alike.
She ate food and drank tea that tasted very much like the food at the Dursleys' house.
And all through the sickeningly sweet chatter and gossip, all Christine could think about was one thing.
Harry Potter.
A/N: Well, there it is. Another chapter. I'm a little bit self-conscious about this one, so if you would review I would be really, really happy.
american-born-confused-desi: Thank you. I considered doing a chapter from Petunia's point of view when I first started, but this fic is really about Harry and Christine. That doesn't mean that we won't see Petunia or hear what she thinks, though. It just won't be from her point of view.
CommaSplice: Thank you very much!
sabrina: Wow! That's a lot of questions! Well, if you've ever watched Wife Swap, you'll know that there will be two very good occasions for Christine to yell at Vernon, and one to yell at Dudley, and believe me, she won't pass them up. She will move Harry out of the cupboard, don't worry. You'll find out what Petunia has been doing later on. And as for Harry's magic on national television- it's a great idea, but I don't think I'll use it. I've already put in a little bit of accidental magic, and Christine will get far too suspicious if she sees anymore. It's actually key to the plot that Christine not know that Harry's a wizard yet, but know that something weird is going on. You'll see.
Midgette: Thank you. I have.
Again, please review!