The Midwinter Soirée

A week went by without any change, Harry went to school, played with the other children, read books, played with clay, and enjoyed his classes. It was probably one of the best weeks of his life up to that point.

At the end of the day on Friday, as he was waiting for his aunt to arrive, the girl with the glasses who he had learned was named Tracey, approached him and asked in a very sheepish voice, "Are you REALLY Harry Potter?"

Harry just responded with, "My uncle says I'm just Harry." Tracey gave him a small smile, then hugged him and walked over to Mrs. Davis to stand with her.

Harry was frozen in place from the hug and didn't know what to do. Harry felt like he did when Charlie ruffled his hair, but around his body. He stood there, frozen in place trying to figure out what he was feeling until his aunt snapped him out of his thoughts by poking him in the shoulder saying, "Time to go, there's dusting to be done at home."

The weekend returned Harry to his routine, which after such a hectic week, felt vaguely comforting. Even running away from his cousin and his friends almost felt like a game after spending each day running around the schoolyard with other children… though he was brought back to the sad reality he lived in whenever he was pushed to the ground or hit with a rock.

At the end of the day on Monday, his aunt wasn't there to pick him up at three.

Mrs. Davis asked him if his aunt had told him anything about being late to which Harry simply shook his head. Mrs. Davis had gotten used to a lot of Harry's non-verbal responses but still looked at him with concern. At nearly four, Dudley arrived at school on the bike that he had received for his last birthday. Seeing Harry and Mrs. Davis, he approached her with a smile on his face. Harry took a few steps back, a smiling Dudley meant he was up to something.

"Hi, Harry!" Dudley greeted cheerfully. "You must be Mrs. Davis, I am Dudley Dursley, Harry's cousin. My mum asked me to walk him home. She gave me a note." He said, sounding rehearsed.

Mrs. Davis took the note and read it over. She turned to Harry. "Please stay here with your cousin while I verify this." Then headed into the school to her office.

Dudley lost the smile and spoke to Harry in an annoyed tone, "Mum told me I have to walk you home from school now. She told me that you need to know the neighborhood and how to get home from school." Harry nodded, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

After a few minutes, Mrs. Davis returned, her lips in a thin line. "Harry, I spoke with your aunt, she assured me that your cousin will be able to show you the way home. I had her tell me your address, and I don't think it will take longer than thirty minutes to get there." She handed Harry a small card. "This is my phone number. When you arrive home each day this week, I want you to have your aunt call the school to let me know you have arrived safely."

She turned to Dudley with a stern look on her face. "Young man. This is a big responsibility that your mother is trusting you with. I assume you know that. Take your cousin straight home, do not take any side trips. Do not go to get sweets or fizzy drinks. I expect to hear from your mother in thirty minutes that Harry arrived home safely."

Dudley soaked her words in like a brick trying desperately to absorb water and barely succeeding. Mrs. Davis watched as Harry walked alongside Dudley and his bike out of the schoolyard.

When they had gotten to the street, Dudley pulled out a small map with streets on it. It looked old and was torn in a few places. He gave it to Harry with a glare on his face that mimicked his mother's. "Mum says this is your map. You need to keep it and you won't get another."

As they walked down a main street, Dudley pointed to the map and told him the street names. At a large intersection, they turned and Dudley pointed to where they were. As they continued, they passed by a pub with a swinging sign that had a strange horse with a horn on it. It looked funny, so he giggled.

Dudley asked what was funny to which Harry replied, "That horse has a horn."

Dudley looked at the sign, squinted, and turned back to Harry, "No it doesn't… that's just a regular horse."

Harry looked back at the sign. It most definitely had a horn, it seemed to sparkle a bit. He opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. This was just one of those things where no one would believe him.

After a few more turns, The road split in three. To his right was a road up to the local hospital where he remembered he had received some shots before. To his left, their path continued alongside a park. But straight ahead was a trail that wasn't on the map. When he asked Dudley about it, Dudley couldn't see the path. Every time Dudley was about to look right at it, his head turned just a little more to the side, almost deliberately missing it.

Dudley was looking strangely at Harry as they continued. Not even a block later, Harry started looking around in different directions. He was hearing whispers. He could tell they were somewhere nearby, but couldn't figure out where the voices were coming from. Suddenly his concentration was broken by a punch to the shoulder.

"Move it freak!" Dudley yelled. "I'm missing my cartoons!"

Their walk continued uninterrupted, passing by the park where Harry once went down a slide before when he was three and a half, and then by the supermarket, he had been to a few times with his aunt. To Dudley's delight, Harry picked up his pace a little bit, knowing kind of where he was before turning into Privet Drive and arriving home. When he walked in the door, Aunt Petunia was in the kitchen working on dinner. Harry approached her and waited for her to acknowledge him. Finally, she turned to him and looked past him to Dudley, who had already settled into his father's chair to watch TV. "Was he any trouble?"

Dudley mumbled something and added to it "freak…" Petunia turned to him with a glare.

Harry pulled out the card from his pocket and looked up at his aunt with hesitation. "Mrs. Davis told me that she wants you to call her this week when I get home to make sure I've gotten home safe."

His aunt looked irritated, "The nerve of that woman. You're here. As long as you show up tomorrow, I don't see why I need to let her know anything."

Petunia still took the card but went back to making dinner. Harry thought this would be a good time to check the weeds out in the front yard.

Twenty minutes later, he heard the phone ring inside and his aunt talking on the phone. "He's here… Yes, he gave me the card… I can't pick him up… Dudley will be there tomorrow too… FINE, I will call when he is home this week." Harry heard the phone hit the receiver with a loud *CLANG* and his aunt came out into the front yard.

Petunia glared at Harry for a few seconds, Harry could feel her eyes on him, but he just kept his head down and continued the work. That seemed to be the right call as she let out a huff and returned to the house. Harry exhaled loudly and continued his work.

The next day at school went by like usual, but at the end of the day, he waited for Dudley in the schoolyard with Mrs. Davis until 3:30 when his cousin showed up on his bike again. Mrs. Davis gave him the glare Harry had begun to associate with when one of the other students was about to break a rule. It was impossible to hold her glare and Dudley, just like the other kids in class who received it, looked away. As he walked away, Mrs. Davis called after him, "Make sure your aunt calls me today." Harry turned around and nodded.

Today when they walked, Dudley ordered Harry to repeat the directions from the previous day out loud. The main streets were easy to remember, but the smaller ones took a second to remember the names and where to turn.

Dudley stopped his bike in front of Harry and kicked his briefcase. "Get a pen and draw on your map. You do know how to draw, right?" This seemed like a good idea, so Harry took out his red-colored pencil and traced their route as they walked.

They still walked by the pub with the strange horse that still had a horn, but this time Harry didn't mention it. They walked by the park with the path that Dudley couldn't see. They walked by the area where Harry heard whispers after the park but still couldn't figure out what the voices were saying. They seemed to all be talking at once. When the two of them got home, his aunt grabbed the phone and called Mrs. Davis, as soon as the line picked up, she just said, "The boy is home," and hung up with a *clang* on the receiver.

The next three days Harry saw Dudley getting more and more impatient with needing to escort him home so he would often ride his bike away from Harry to alleviate his boredom before circling back. However, with his trusty map, he didn't get lost. He also had the markers of the horned horse pub, the missing street, the whispers, the park with the slide, and the supermarket to help get him home. Each day when he got home, his aunt would make a quick call to Mrs. Davis confirming he was home, and Harry would start his chores.

The weekend was the same as it always was with his chores and avoiding his cousin and his friends. This weekend, however, Nigel threw a rock at Harry and struck him in the forehead, right on top of his scar.

"Ten points!" yelled Piers, as the three older boys walked away, Dudley gave a high-five to Nigel.

Harry didn't notice right away but a large chunk of his aunt's prized roses that were next to him immediately died and rotted at the same moment the stone impacted his forehead. When his aunt saw it, she screamed at him, called him a freak, and had him remove the entire section before anyone saw it. Harry understood something weird happened, but knew he wouldn't get any answers by dwelling on it. He just pushed it out of his mind and focused on not hurting himself as he removed the rotting thorn bush.

The next week, he had a new development in his routine. At the end of the day, Dudley showed up to pick him up, but after they had traveled to the end of the street, Harry saw Nigel and Piers waiting for them on their bikes. Fearfully walking forward, Dudley and Harry reached the other two in Dudley's gang. Piers stepped forward and Harry backed into Dudley, who had turned his bike sideways. "So, your cousin Dudley had an idea" Piers began, "With school in session, we only get to play with you on the weekend, so now and then, we're going to want to do a little 'Harry Hunting' after school."

Harry didn't know what to do, so he kept still with his eyes on his feet hoping they would just go away.

Nigel stepped in. "Here are the rules. You know your way home, right?" Harry looked up and nodded fearfully. "Dudley will pick you up at school. Once you get to this corner, you have to get home. We will be waiting for you on your route. If you get tagged, we each get a punch. If you flinch, we get another. You can't tell anyone. If you get home without being tagged, we will give you 20p. Do you understand?" Nigel pulled out a coin and flipped it in his hand.

Harry looked terrified but nodded in compliance.

Dudley said from behind him, "You have a two-minute headstart. You need to be running or it's no longer fun."

Nigel yelled, "GO!"

Harry bolted. He got down to the corner and around under the sign for the horned horse before he heard the boys behind him. The street in front of him was downhill, he had no chance. He made it maybe another twenty seconds before a hand slapped the back of his head and he fell to the ground, dropping his briefcase at the same time, the latches springing open. The boys circled around in front of him. They took their turns hitting him in the chest, Dudley got two for making him flinch.

They caught him two more times before he got home. He was saved once by a traffic light changing and a second time by a dog walker coming around a corner, blocking off two of the boys on their bikes. When he got home, he was dirty, sore, and tired. Nigel and Piers had gone to their own homes, so Dudley and Harry entered the house together. His aunt took one look at him and yelled at him to take a bath.

When he got out, his aunt was standing by the door, Dudley behind her. "Where's your briefcase?" she demanded,

Harry could see Dudley behind her silently saying, 'Remember the rules.'

Quietly, and with shame, he responded, "I lost it."

"Well, you're not getting another. You waste enough of our money anyways."

Harry began to cry, but not out loud. He had something that was his and he had lost it. All the things inside it that were his were gone. He felt like tears were falling inside his body. He was reminded of his haircut, now something else of his had been taken too, and he had to lie and say it was his fault. No one cared if he cried, so why waste the tears?

The next week was more routine, now with the added element of Harry Hunting after school. Every day, he got tagged multiple times and then punched. On Friday, when he got around the first corner, he ducked behind the horned horse pub and let the boys ride by. He got almost all the way home, but Dudley and his gang caught him near the supermarket.

The following Monday, at school, Mrs. Davis approached him carrying his briefcase. His eyes widened like she had found treasure. Because, to him, it was.

"Your case was found by someone at the pub down the street. They found your name inside and checked with the local schools. The man who found it used to go to school with my husband. I was told he is a bit of a dodgy guy, so you may want to check if everything is still inside."

Harry panicked a little, quickly opening the case. Everything was still there. Though he could see the cover of one of the notebooks was torn off. He had been practicing writing his name on the cover over and over.

"He stole my name," said Harry with a bit of sadness and shock. "Why would someone steal my name?"

Mrs. Davis frowned but reassured him, "I'll have my husband speak to his friend to get the page back." Then, more quietly, but Harry could still hear, "Assuming he hasn't sold it."

This made Harry even more confused. Why would someone sell his name? His aunt and uncle had convinced him over his life about how worthless he was.

Harry asked Mrs. Davis in a pleading voice, "Can I leave my case at school? So I won't lose it again."

Mrs. Davis looked at him, like she knew something more was going on, but agreed without argument.

It wasn't until near the end of November that there was any change.

While running away from Dudley and his friends, Harry had just crossed the street where the road forked and headed to the hospital. He was just about to go by the park, where he would always hear the whispering, when a car honked loudly. He jumped to the side and ran down a small path with tall hedges on one side and a stone wall on the other. He collapsed against the bush and tried to regain his breath.

Suddenly, Nigel was on the sidewalk outside the path, within rock-throwing distance from where he sat. He called out, "I lost him! Do either of you see him?"

Harry was very confused, Nigel was standing right in front of him. Harry cautioned a wave, but Nigel didn't even react. Piers came to stand next to Nigel and they both looked all around, but every time they were about to look at where Harry was it seemed like their eyes just slid off Harry before they could look directly at him.

Harry heard Dudley from the other side of the hedge, "Let's get moving! He's probably getting away now." The two boys in front of Harry got on their bikes and rode off.

Harry waited ten minutes before going back onto the road and looked around. The boys were gone. He started to walk home, always looking around with caution in case they were hiding somewhere. He had gone a block and a half before he heard the whispering. This was the first time he would get to stop and try to figure out where it was coming from. He thought it was originating from somewhere across the road, but couldn't figure out exactly where. He managed to isolate a few of the voices, they said mostly the same thing:

§Hey Stupid! Bring us food!§
§We're hungry!§
§More food, fatty!§

Now that he understood what was being said, he was even more confused. But he didn't want to stand in the open for too long, so he kept moving.

When he got near the park by his house he started to move more cautiously. He arrived at a building down the street from the supermarket and peeking out from behind the house, he could see Dudley, Piers, and Nigel leaning on the wall outside the shop eating ice cream. Harry backed up behind the house and pulled out his map. He could still get home by going around the supermarket.

Almost 10 minutes later, he was home. Dudley still hadn't arrived. His Aunt Petunia was sitting in the living room with Karen Polkiss, Piers's mother.

Petunia looked at him and asked, "Where's Dudley?"

Seeing no reason not to tell the truth, Harry replied, "He stopped at the shop with Piers and Nigel for ice cream. I have chores to do, so I came straight home."

Karen looked at Petunia and admonished her, "You let your son have ice cream before dinner? There will be no dessert for Piers tonight!"

Petunia, not wanting to appear like she encourages delinquent behavior, responded quickly. "He is for certain not allowed sweets before dinner. Maybe a pretzel, but never ice cream."

Harry knew when to shut up. That time was right now.

Two minutes later, while Harry was washing his hands, he heard Dudley come home. "And where have you been, young man?" His aunt asked.

Dudley replied, "Harry ditched us, we were out looking for him."

His aunt's voice became angry, "Harry is home. He said you went to the shop for ice cream and let him go home by himself."

"No, I swear we were looking for him, I haven't had any ice cream!"

Karen's voice chimed in, "The chocolate on your lip says otherwise. Petunia, your son needs to learn that lying is wrong. He seems to be a bad influence on my son."

He heard Karen leave and close the door. His aunt told Dudley, "Go right now to wash your face, and I will be telling your father about this when he gets home."

Dudley stormed into the bathroom where Harry was. Harry looked scared, but said straight to Dudley, "You owe me 20p." Dudley looked like he was going to welch until Harry said, "If you break the rules, I break the rules."

Dudley reached into this pocket and pulled out a coin and dropped it on the floor, then wiped his mouth on a towel, and stomped out. Harry picked up the coin with happiness, it wasn't about the money, he had nothing to spend it on. It wasn't even about getting home without getting punched. He had won, winning was a good feeling.

Harry Hunting became more of a challenge for everyone. Harry would win three to four days of the week, now that he had his hidden path, he just had to get there, before getting tagged. After a couple of weeks, Dudley and his gang realized it wasn't so easy anymore and started setting up ambushes at different places along the route. This led Harry to be even more creative and look for alternate routes with the help of his map.

He was also getting a reputation in school as the best kid at tag. He was able to weave around anyone who was 'it' and slip away any time he was cornered. Though he nearly refused to be 'it' when it was his turn. He would just go after one of the easy kids and get back to running away. Harry enjoyed being the best at something.

When the second week of December came around, Mrs. Davis met Harry and his aunt outside one day when he was being dropped off and flagged her down before she could drive off. Petunia gave Mrs. Davis a look that could only mean 'What do you want?'

Mrs. Davis tried to be very direct. "Mrs. Dursley, my daughter Tracey has a friend being homeschooled who has invited our whole class to a soirée to spend more time with children her age, and I wanted to give you Harry's invitation personally."

Just as she was pulling out the envelope, Petunia said, "He can't go."

"You don't even know the date," said Mrs. Davis. However, knowing exactly what was going on, she quickly added, "Well, the Abbots will certainly be disappointed."

The change in Petunia was immediate. Everyone knew of the Abbots. They lived right next to Abbots-Langley which was where Abbotswood Forest used to be. The park where Harry went down his first slide was Abbotswood Park Play Area. The Abbot family had lived in the area for as long as anyone could remember. They weren't connected to the Royal Family, but for the residents of the area, they might as well have been.

Harry knew that a lot of the women Aunt Petunia would have tea with and gossip from the neighborhood were always trying to find the tea room that Mrs. Abbot supposedly owned, but never could discover where it was. They would always hear a rumor, but then it wouldn't pan out. So to be invited to the midwinter soirée at the Abbots' private residence would make all of Petunia's friends green with envy.

Petunia composed herself quickly and accepted the envelope. It was made of old paper with a wax seal on the back. Harry could have sworn he saw his aunt's eye twitch for a moment before opening the envelope.

Mrs. Davis decided to narrate what was inside. "The party will be on the evening of December 21st. The dress code will be smart-casual. There will be food for everyone, wine and cocktails for the adults, and some fizzy drinks for the kids. You don't need to bring anything but there is a suggested donation to an English orphanage, which is mostly children who lost their families during the IRA attacks in the last decade."

Petunia continued to read the invitation before asking, very politely, "Would it be acceptable to also bring along my son Dudley? We have wanted to meet the Abbots for some time, and if their daughter is homeschooled, my son may never get the chance otherwise."

Mrs. Davis grimaced slightly before responding in a similar tone, "I will inquire with Cynthia Abbot if that is alright. The invitation does say that it is only for the class and their parents." Mrs. Davis emphasized the word 'parents' when she said it.

Petunia received a phone call later that evening that it would be acceptable for Dudley to accompany Harry, Petunia, and Vernon to the holiday party. Petunia took Vernon to the next room to discuss the matter.

At dinner, Petunia brought up the issue. "Harry, you already know, so this is mostly for you Dudley. Harry's class at school has been invited to the Midwinter Soirée at the Abbots' residence. I asked if Dudley could also join us and they agreed." Even Dudley understood the significance of this as his face lit up.

Petunia continued, "You two will be on your best behavior." Petunia looked at Harry, "No freakish behavior." She looked at Dudley with a slight glance towards her husband too, "Be polite, do not stuff your face with food." Dudley looked slightly disappointed. "We will go into London this weekend to pick out outfits for both of you to wear to the party. We will take the train to Kings Cross and head to the shopping center from there." Again, a look towards Harry, "No funny business."

That weekend, they went into London. It was the busiest place Harry had ever seen. The ride in had been peaceful, watching the landscape zip by, but it was over quickly and they were thrown into total chaos. People were moving every which way, he had an almost impossible task keeping up with his aunt and uncle. However, while his aunt seemed to slip easily between all the people walking, his uncle knocked over almost everyone, so the couple of times he seemed to lose them in the crowd, he just listened for shouts of indignation and cursing to find which direction they went.

Once, when waiting at a traffic light, Harry saw a man in a lopsided red hat exiting a corner shop who stared at him before gasping and waving frantically. Harry looked around him to see who the man was waving at, but the man pointed at Harry so he timidly started to wave back only to have his aunt grab his hand and pull him away quickly while muttering, "freaks, everywhere."

They spent a few hours getting Dudley a very smart suit with cufflinks and a bow tie. Harry thought it made him look something like a penguin or a very proud seal. Vernon picked together pants, a shirt, and a jacket for Harry that kind of matched, but definitely wasn't made to be. Harry didn't realize this as for the first time in his life he had clothing that was bought for him and that fit him properly. The feeling of the clothes made him feel at first a bit like when he was tied to the chair for his haircut, but as he moved a bit more it felt much better. He felt special like the clothes were made for him.

The next week was relatively peaceful. Dudley had decided to spend his time after school bragging to his friends about the soirée rather than hunting Harry with them. Petunia was also enjoying the attention from the prospect of the party. She was enjoying herself so much, Harry would often get a second helping of food at dinner from his aunt without her realizing she wasn't serving Dudley.

When the night of the party arrived, Harry made sure to stay clean during the day leading up to it, and amazingly enough, so did Dudley. He even appeared to eat a light lunch to keep from getting his usual upset stomach before dinner. When Vernon came home Harry saw his uncle had rented a black Land Rover for the evening, trying to make a better impression than the little boxy car he normally drove and barely fit into.

When they turned off the main road to the Abbots' private residence, a great iron gate opened automatically and took them up the drive. They drove by a tennis court and then what looked like a few small apartment buildings. Dudley spoke up, saying "I thought it would be bigger."

His mother replied, "That dear, is the servant's quarters. Each of them has their own place almost the size of our house." As they passed by, Harry could see the envy in his cousin's eyes, much less controlled than how his aunt and uncle looked.

The main house was on top of the hill. It wasn't a tall hill, but it was the only one around, so depending on where you were around town, you could sometimes see the house or the small tower that was on the highest side of the house. Harry guessed that you could see the whole town from the top of the tower. The house was circular with tall stone walls on the first floor. On top of the stone section, there were more modern developments. While he was staring at the house, he could hear his aunt giving a history of the property to everyone, which didn't interest Harry much.

Upon reaching the front door, a man in a suit greeted them and escorted them into the entry hall. The entry hall itself was two stories high and nearly as big as their entire house. The family was looking around as a man and woman with their daughter approached them. As they got close, Petunia's head snapped forward and held her breath. The man spoke, "You must be the Dursleys, allow me to introduce my family." He gave a quick glance at Harry. "My name is Gerald Abbot, my wife is Cynthia, and our daughter is Hannah." As he spoke, Cynthia gave a small nod. She was just a little shorter than her husband, wearing a fine red dress of an older style that Harry hadn't seen before, she had her hair in ringlets and wore a large pendant around her neck. Hannah looked like a carbon copy of her mother but Harry's size with a slightly crooked nose, she gave a small curtsy when introduced, and her eyes were locked on Harry.

Vernon took charge of their introductions, puffing his already puffed-up chest as he did. "Thank you for inviting us to your home. I am Vernon Dursley, and this is my wife Petunia and our son Dudley." Dudley was still looking around the room when he was being introduced and got a poke in the head from his mother which snapped him out of it when he smiled and nodded. There was a large pause at that point, and Petunia then prodded her husband in his side and gave a head tilt towards Harry who was looking up at his uncle. Vernon hastily added, "Oh, and this is our nephew, Harry."

Handshakes were exchanged all around, Harry noticed Hannah covertly wipe her hand on the back of her dress after shaking Dudley's hand. Gerald reached down to Harry to shake his, "It's an honor to meet you Mr. Potter. We have heard quite a lot about you… From your classmate Tracey," he added.

Cynthia took over from there. "Hannah, would you please take young Mr. Potter and Mr. Dursley to the other room with the children? Vernon, Petunia, the bar is over there for drinks; we can introduce you around in a few minutes." Then she and Gerald walked off leaving Harry and the Dursleys with Hannah.

Hannah looked up and said very politely, "Mr. and Mrs. Dusley, it was nice to meet you. Harry, Dudley; if you'll follow me to the other room," and walked off with Dudley pushing ahead of Harry to be in front.

Petunia grabbed both of them quickly and in a quiet but very harsh voice, told both of them, "Dudley, BEST behavior. Harry, NO freakishness." And left them to catch up with Hannah.

When they got into the next room, Harry looked around and saw food along one wall with a young man in a fancy suit serving drinks to a few children. There were toys scattered around the room with children playing and talking to each other. Most of the children were Harry's age, but there were a few that were slightly older. As they were looking around, he heard a gong sound and saw Hannah standing next to a golden metal plate that she just hit. Every child looked up and Hannah spoke, "I would like to introduce Dudley Dursley and Harry Potter." Harry could see a lot of his classmates and a few called out, "Hey Harry!" If he had paid attention to the others, he would have seen quite a few with wide eyes and raised eyebrows. Harry ran off to greet his classmates, and Dudley went over to the food.

The whole night was highly enjoyable for Harry. Dudley mostly left him alone except for a few moments when one of the older boys and girls would ask him to get an introduction to Harry. A few moments stood out to Harry though.

The first was when he was digging through a toy chest and found a stuffed white horse with a horn on his head. He ran over to Tracey with it and exclaimed, "It's just like the sign I saw!"

Tracey was confused, "Did you have a vision?"

Now it was Harry's turn to be confused, "What? The sign on the pub down the street from the school."

Tracey's eyes widened in realization, "Oh the Unicorn pub. That's what you mean?"

Harry mumbled, "I guess so," then brightened a bit, "what's a unicorn?"

Tracey said, "This is," holding up the stuffed white horse, "If a horse has one horn, it is a Unicorn, if it has two horns it's a Bicorn. My father says when I'm older Hannah's dad can take me to see a real one. If your aunt and uncle let you, maybe you can come too!"

Harry smiled at the thought of seeing a real unicorn. Then dismissed it because there wasn't any chance of his relatives allowing him any kind of request.

The next thing that happened was a few of the older kids called Harry over to a corner of the room. They were passing around a small glass ball with a golden band around it. There was some kind of substance inside it that would change colors when they passed it to each other.

One of the girls passed it to Harry and said "You try it!" and started to give it to Harry.

However, just as he was about to take it, Dudley showed up and took it from the girl. "I'll give it a go." All the color in the middle just vanished as soon as he touched it. He stared at it for a second, shook it, and then walked away, tossing it in the air behind him as he went. Harry snatched it out of the air, and as soon as he held it, the substance inside blossomed into a smoky white flower of some kind. As they all stared at it, a dark red, almost black pulse started to grow from the center of the flower. Before much else could happen, the ball was snatched out of his hands by the man who had been to the side serving drinks.

He looked at all the older kids who had gathered there. "You shouldn't have this out. I will be telling your parents." He put it into his pocket. However, Harry didn't see the man's pocket bulge at all in the shape of the ball. The other older children scattered and Harry saw a few leave the room towards the main hall.

The last strange thing to happen was very brief, but a kid his age, not from his class, approached him and just looked at him funny, then poked him in the chest and said, "You don't really look like you could tame a dragon." Then he huffed and walked off.

Towards the end of the night, the children were gathered and taken outside with the adults. However, they did so in the interior courtyard of the house. The courtyard was circular and made of a smooth type of stone that had a geometric pattern of some kind drawn onto it. Harry couldn't see all of it because there were various potted plants placed all around and heat lamps near tables to keep everyone warm. There were twinkling fairy lights around the outside walls branching into a tall pole in the center. The whole thing was beautiful. Harry stared at the twinkling lights and could see stars in the sky beyond them.

All the guests were given a white frothy beverage that warmed them up inside. The children's glasses were noticeably smaller and differently shaped. Harry took his time to drink his, every sip felt like liquid happiness spreading from his lips to the tips of his fingers and toes.

Gerald walked to the center and tapped on his glass with a knife creating a ring that silenced the assembled guests talking with each other. Cynthia and Hannah walked out to join him.

"I want to thank all of you for coming to our midwinter soirée," he began. "As many of you have noticed, today is not Christmas eve." A few chuckles echoed around the room. "Tonight is the winter solstice. The shortest day and the longest night of the year. We find it more significant, and quite easier to invite people to the party without conflicting with the larger Christmas celebrations." More chuckles. "As guests in our home that have shared with us bread and water, we would like to give you a blessing. As the night recedes, may more and more light enter your lives, and may the new year bring happiness and fortune to you all."

During the blessing, Harry felt something indescribable, he saw a little light in the lines in the stone on the floor and a kind of energy in the air. It felt like a combination of getting a coin for winning a day of Harry Hunting and anticipation with energy in the air at the moment between a lightning strike and a clap of thunder. It all vanished as soon as Gerald stopped speaking.

Cynthia stepped up, "I would also like to thank all of you for coming. Please stay as long as you wish and on your way out, please take the bag with your name on it by the door, the children's bags are red."

The Dursleys stayed for another hour before gathering up Dudley and Harry to head home. They each took their bag from the table. Dudley tried to take Harry's but as he reached for it, he stopped, looked confused, and moved on.

They were greeted by the Abbots outside who thanked them for coming and made sure to shake Harry's hand. Cynthia spoke to them, "Now which of you will be driving home?"

Petunia spoke up happily before Vernon could, "I will, I think Vernon may have snuck in an extra 'nogg there at the end."

Cynthia responded, "I will give you a clear head to make sure you get home safe." She pulled out a small stick and tapped Petunia on the head.

Harry's aunt was frozen in place, Vernon had noticed too, but could only figure out they had done something to spook his wife. "What did you just do?" he asked angrily.

Petunia's silence was broken and her face turned furious. "You! You're one of THEM?" she said with venom in her voice. The Abbots looked taken aback. Petunia continued, "You stay away from my family." Then grabbed Vernon and Dudley and pulled them towards the car. She took their gift bags as they left and tossed them on the ground. Harry stood there in front of the Abbots not knowing what to do.

He looked at the shocked faces of the Abbots, and before running off to catch up, he just shuffled his feet together and whispered, "I'm sorry."

They drove home in silence. What had just happened? Why did she suddenly hate the Abbots? They were nice and friendly. Harry's mind was racing through the possibilities. His aunt and uncle only hated foreigners, people who thought they were better than them, and Harry. Oh, and they also hated freaks, but Harry was the only freak he knew. He did know that if there was any chance of getting to go with Hannah's dad to see a unicorn, it was gone now.

When they got home, Harry was put in his room without time to take off his nice clothes and everyone else went upstairs. He could hear his aunt and uncle talking in what they probably thought were hushed tones for a while before they went to sleep.

With the small light over his cot, Harry started to look through the gift bag he had received.

On the top of the bag were tons of small scraps of folded paper. He unfolded the first one and it just said, 'Thank you.' He unfolded the next one and in different handwriting, it said, 'Thank you, Harry.' This trend continued as there were about twenty small folded pieces of paper in different handwriting, all with thanks and congratulations to him. It was very confusing. He wondered if everyone got those, and who wrote them. He hadn't written any for anyone else, and he felt a little ashamed for not doing so.

Underneath all the paper notes were a few candies and a business card. On the front, the card said, 'Please bring this to our tea room for a free afternoon tea time.' The writing was in a shiny gold type. Harry turned the card over to find a map. The tea house was located on the south side of the park where his secret path was, but his path was not on this map either. The tea house was very close to his own home, but when he had been walking around, he only remembered seeing a dirt lot with nice cars parked out front of a small building with high walls, and no signs to say what was there.

The lines of the map were in shiny silver. As he tilted the card back and forth for the silver to reflect on the little light he had, he saw a sparkly line show up and he dropped the card. When he picked it up again, the line was gone, so he waved the card in the light again and it slowly showed up. The line was where his secret path was, exactly where it was. The line sparkled the same way the unicorn's horn did on the pub sign. Harry stared at it for a moment before putting it back in the bag. The last thing in the bag was a sprig of mistletoe. He saw people at the party hanging them up in various places and Hannah had told him that it was meant to bring happiness to people who walk under it. Harry held it for a moment thinking of the happiness he felt at the party before sliding the stem of it under a board in his ceiling so it hung over his head.

Harry turned off the light and stared at the mistletoe in the dark above his head. Just as he was losing consciousness, he swore he saw movement and a tiny green face disappear into the sprig.

The next day was not fun. After he made breakfast, his aunt came down with his uncle and Dudley and she spoke to Harry and Dudley. "You both are not to go anywhere near that house again. You are not to speak to Hannah either if you see her. We have one more freak in our life than we want and we don't need to go about adding more. Now get ready for school, I don't want you to be late."

So Harry wasn't the only freak. But what made them freaks? How were they like Harry? He couldn't figure it out. There was nothing similar between them.

When Petunia dropped Harry off at school, she practically ejected him from the car and drove off. When Mrs. Davis asked him how he enjoyed the party, he just told her he liked it but that he was not allowed to go back.

Throughout the day, Tracey and her mother tried to get Harry to open up about what happened, but Harry was quiet the whole time. Sharing his feelings never helped before. He spent his playtime just sitting at the clay table making unicorns and then crushing them with his fist.

At the end of the day, he didn't even wait for Dudley to show up, he just started walking home.

Mrs. Davis looked angry, and sad, and went back to her office and pulled out some red stationery.

Author's Note: I'll go into explanation later, but Remembralls in my fic are going to have additional uses than they do in canon.

I'd like to thank Gathamphetamine for telling me where I was making sentences and paragraphs too long and la_topolina for pointing out a few continuity errors.

Beta thanks to MadDoe 1138 for helping get rid of a lot of redundant sentences and words in my writing.