Disclaimer: Bree and the rules are mine. The characters of the Harry Potter series are not.
Bree's summer started off eventfully. The cat died, it was nearly fourteen years old and had a bad kidney, so her parents were arranging to get one of the kittens that her Aunt had found in her barn. Also, she almost violated the Statute of Secrecy when her schoolbooks came tumbling out of the closet when her sitter, Chloe Fisk, was there. Fortunately it turned out that Chloe was a muggleborn witch. Chloe was babysitting to earn money for college. She was going to college, despite having completed her magical education, because her parents had wanted her to have both a magical and muggle education. Bree's parent thought that this was a wonderful idea and so Chloe was asked to become her tutor.
One day, after a frustrating math lesson for both Bree and Chloe, Bree took one of the dogs, Roman a larger than average German Sheppard who was also a trained guard dog, for a walk. Bree told Chloe exactly where she was going (Pivet drive to visit Harry) then she left the house.
Walking alone with Roman made Bree a rather odd sight. Roman was about waist high to her, but while he could have easily dragged her wherever he wanted to go, he stuck protectively close to her side. It had been like this since her family had gotten him, he had apparently decided that Bree was the most vulnerable being in the house and therefore needed the most protection.
When Bree arrived at Number 4 Pivet Drive she found Harry outside weeding the flowers that lined the front walkway. Harry didn't notice her right away, but he did notice when Roman began sniffing him. Harry looked up, saw the huge dog looming over him and fell over backwards. Bree giggled causing Harry to look at her. "It wasn't funny." he said as he got up and brushed dirt off of his pants. Bree frowned when she caught sight of his ill fitting hand-me-downs.
"Roman, sitzen." she commanded. The large German Sheppard obligingly sat down. At Harry's perplexed look Bree explained "Some of his commands are in German."
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked after staring a Roman for a moment.
"I needed a break from my lessons." Bree stated.
"Lessons?" Harry questioned.
"My sitter turned out it be a witch. She going to college 'cause her parents want her to have both muggle and magical education. My parents thought it was a good idea. We just finished a math lesson. Math is evil." Bree responded.
"So what's new?" she asked Harry cheerily.
"Ron called me the other day." Harry answered.
Bree smirked. "And how did that go?" she inquired in a knowing tone.
"He, er, well he shouted, to make sure he could be heard I guess. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon weren't happy." Harry answered. Suddenly the front door slammed open. A very fat man who looked as if he were one cheeseburger away from a heart attack came waddling out in a fury, something Bree thought to be a rather amusing sight.
"BOY! WHAT DID TELL YOU ABOUT TALKING TO THE NEIGHBORS!" the man, who Bree figured was Vernon, shouted, causing Roman to go on alert. Vernon backed off a bit when he saw the intimidating dog.
Bree smiled sweetly. "Sir, you seem to have made a mistake, firstly, it was I who stopped to talk to Harry, and secondly," here Bree's eyes took on a darker more malevolent look while her smile remained, "I am not your neighbor."
Vernon gulped. The dark look on Bree's face along with the large, ready to strike should the command be given, dog made for an menacing sight. "I-I see, well c-carry on then." Vernon stuttered out as he backed into the house. Once he was gone Bree turned to Harry, a true smile on her face. "He's not my neighbor so I don't have to get along with him." she explained.
For the next few weeks things got into a bit of routine. Bree would walk with Roman to Number Four Pivet Drive to talk to Harry. If Harry wasn't outside she would sit on the curb across the street and grin malevolently at whoever came out of the house, or looked out the window, until Harry came out.
395. Not allowed to sit in across the street from the Dursley's house, with a very large German Sheppard, and grin demonically every time one of them comes out of the house.
On Harry's birthday Bree headed out early. When she got to the Dursley's house she saw Vernon storm out of the house. She grinned at him. He quickly got into his car and sped away. For the first, Bree went up to the front door and knocked, instead of waiting on the curb. Petunia answered.
"Oh it's you." she sniffed disdainfully. "Boy, get down here!" she called. Harry came down the stairs. "You have a visitor." Petunia said bitterly. Harry stepped out to talk to Bree, Petunia slammed the down behind him.
"Happy Birthday, Harry." Bree said as she handed him a card. Harry opened it and found a small glass ladybug taped to the inside of it.
"It's supposed to be lucky, and you seem to need all the luck you can get." Bree explained. Harry smiled. "Thanks." he said.
"Did you hear about the escaped convict, Sirius Black?" Bree asked suddenly.
Harry nodded. "I caught the end of the news story when I came down this morning, but I only heard his last name."
"He's a wizard. Got out of Azkaban. The minister is catching a lot of flak for telling the muggle Prime Minister about him." Bree stated.
Harry looked surprised. Bree checked her watch. "See you later Harry. I gotta go get ready for my lessons." and with that Bree left.
The next day when Bree walked by a bulldog dashed out of the Dursley's yard and attempted to attack Roman. The bulldog quickly ran back to the Dursley's after it got a snap from Roman and a kick from Bree.
"How dare you assault my dog!" a female version of Vernon shouted. Roman went on the alert.
"It was your dog that attempted to assault me. I'm on a public street, out for a walk, when your dog came charging out of no where. You're really lucky your dog didn't bite me or I'd have no choice but to bring the law down on your head. I still might, because your dog should definitely be on a leash." Bree paused to give Roman a command. "Roman, drop." the dog immediately lay down on the ground. The female version of Vernon was red in the face, she was about to speak when Bree cut her off.
"I'm here to talk to Harry. If you get him for me I won't call the police, this time." Bree stated.
Female Vernon stomped back inside, taking her dog with her. About a minute later, Harry came out.
"Who, or what, was that?" Bree asked as soon as he was within earshot.
"Aunt Marge. She's Uncle Vernon's sister. She's visiting this week." Harry explained.
"Tell her I walk by here everyday and if her dog attacks me again, I will call the police and animal control.
They chatted for a few more minutes, then Bree went on her way.
A few days later, Harry was no longer at Number 4 Pivet Drive. He sent Bree a letter telling her not to go by there for the rest of the summer because he was staying at the leaky caldron for the next two weeks. Bree saw this as an opportunity to create some trouble for the Dursley's. She didn't do anything to bad to them while Harry was there for fear that he would get caught up in it, but now that he was goneā¦
Bree obtained several bags of fertilizer, through questionable, but undetectable means. Planted the bags in the Dursley's back yard, and called in an anonymous tip from a payphone.
287. Not allowed to plant large amounts of fertilizer at the Dursley's and call in a terrorist threat.
Petunia and Vernon were arrested, and spent the next few days being questioned. They weren't charged with anything, and released, but the police still kept an eye on them.
I wasn't originally planning on having Bree live so close to the Dursley's, but it makes it easier for her to torment them. Oh, and Bree's dog Roman is based off of a dog my parents got after someone tried to break into our house. He was intimidating because of his size, professionally trained to be a guard dog, and people often went to the other side of the street when we walked him, but he was a big softy and very affectionate. He died of cancer a few years ago. I miss him and putting him in the story lets me relive the memories. And while not stated in this chapter, her family has another dog, but Bree doesn't walk her 'cause she pulls on the leash.
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