Padfoot?
by
Padfootz-luvr
A/N: To those who have beared with me throughout the years, I thank you, and I apologize profusely. To those just joining us: Welcome! This story has been a big, fat, work-in-progress for almost three years now, and I almost abandoned it. ALMOST. Then I sat down, re-read what I had written, and, before I knew it, I made the conscious decision to correct all grammatical and punctuation errors, and to add to it a bit, give it more dimension and depth. So now here we are, reader and author, ready to embark on a new, perilous journey. This time, I primise to not abandon the wheel of the ship.
Disclaimer: :le sigh: I don't own Harry Potter or anythign else you recognize, blah, blah, blah, etc.
Chapter Five:
The First Letter
"I'm far from lonely
and it's all that I've got..."-All That I've Got, the Used
Harry set about the Dursley's house as usual, cleaning odd bits and pieces of the useless objects that they collected from various vacations, none of which he had been allowed to attend.
It was early morning, the day after his visit to Mrs. Figg's, and Harry's mind was still whirling with questions: who had the other voice belonged to? What had the man and Mrs. Figg been talking about? How come they had been talking about him?
So many queries and no answers...
Harry shook his mind mentally, trying to rid himself of them all, and then moved into the kitchen where the rest of the family was eating breakfast.
Vernon ordered Dudley to get the mail without a simple acknowledgment that another being had entered the room, but the obese child protested.
"Make Harry get it!"
After a few more seconds of arguing they came to the conclusion that either Harry would get the mail or he would get hit with Dudley's Smeltings stick.
Harry chose the former of the two, and dodged a whack from the stick as he slid out the door.
Absently wondering where Padfoot had been all morning, Harry picked up the letters and glanced through them, noting a postcard from Aunt Marge, a letter for Harry, a bill, a–wait, letter for Harry?
Harry's emerald eyes widened at the thought of a letter for him, and he turned it over in his hands, marveling at the fact that it had his room—or, rather, cupboard--labeled on it as well as his address. Curiously, Harry stared at the purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms on the front.
Vernon called out to him, so the raven-haired boy returned to the kitchen, clutching the letter. He handed the other mail to Vernon, but continued to stare at the envelope in his hands, wondering whether to open it or not.
Before he could decide, Dudley drew attention to the fact that Harry still had something in his ten-year-old hands. Vernon snatched it out of his thin hands with his own pudgy ones quickly.
Vernon's face changed hues so fast that he ended up looking like a bag of Skittles for a few seconds before he finally settled down to an odd palish grey. He stuttered, calling for his wife, who came forward instantly to see the cause of his stammers.
Petunia and Vernon stared at the letter, then one another, then the letter, as if not able to decide what to do, but Harry and Dudley wouldn't have it. They asked for the letter repeatedly, and even demanded it, but were thrown out by Vernon.
Harry and Dudley stared at each other and then dove for the keyhole, but were both pushed out of the way by an enormous black dog that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He looked through the keyhole, tongue lolling out of his mouth in excitement, and ignored the two boys on the floor.
"Nice timing, Padfoot," Harry said sarcastically, realizing Padfoot could easily have grabbed the letter from Vernon.
Dudley scowled at the dog as well, and, for a one bizarre moment, they were on the same team.
"Yeah, couldn't have come when we needed you, eh?" he said angrily at the grim-like dog. It took him a moment to realize what he had just done. "God, I've been hanging around you too much, Potter...I'm starting to talk to animals!"
Harry and Padfoot rolled their eyes simultaneously and resumed listening to the Dursleys' conversation.
Petunia and Vernon paced the kitchen, muttering about what to do about something or other, when they seemed to come to a decision and Vernon stomped out the door from the kitchen to the front yard, to go to work.
Later that day Harry was inexplicably moved from his cupboard to Dudley's second bedroom upstairs. Padfoot, however, was kept in the cupboard under lock an key. Harry opposed and protested this decision desperately, having never slept a night without his dog by his side, but in the end had no choice. It was either the cupboard or the pound.
A/N: So...I updated super fast. two updates in one day...woo! Go me! I think I deserve some reviews for that one! ;)