Little things had become precious to Harry.
Small moments in the evenings when none of the Dursley's were yelling at her.
Staying up late under the blankets reading over her textbooks.
When she cleaned the restroom, locking it for a few minutes and practicing speaking in a higher-pitched voice and smiling at the thrum of electricity it sent through her, as good as magic.
Her favorite, though, was the small, pink hairlip she'd found at the park on the one of afternoons where Vernon had thrown her out of the house to have a business meeting. Dudley, as usual, was shadowing her with a few sneering friends and lobbying insults her way, which Harry simply gritted her teeth and shook her head to block out. She was preoccupied with what she'd put in her first letters to Ron and Hermione. Maybe she'd even owl Hagrid back at Hogwarts to see how he was doing, if she was allowed that.
Anything, really, to distract her.
And distracted she was, as one of the older kids broke off from Dudley, came around, and tripped Harry casually, sending her crashing over into the park bench.
White sparks flared as her forehead hit the seat, and she was doubled over on the ground as laughs rang out, sounding distant. She scowled, shook her head, and checked the impact spot, finger coming away red. Great- If she'd had magic, it would've been no problem. As it was, she'd need to find a place to wash up before getting back home if she wanted to avoid Vernon's likely flaring allegations that she'd started a fight with the neighbors or something. As she was getting up, she saw something gleam at the edge of the park bench, and looked at it- There on the wood was a lavender-hued simply hair clasp with a small flower design on its front.
Quickly, Harry slipped the item into her pocket before raising up. She was glad to see only the usual amount of suspicion on Dudley's bully entourage's faces. Even before the incident with the Philosopher's Stone, Harry had become quite good at quietly pocketing things, unseen.
Later, in front of the bathroom mirror, bandaid snug against her chin, Harry took two minutes struggling with the accessory until she heard the click of plastic and a small pull against her hair. She looked at her reflection in awe, the petals nestled against brown strands. She cleared her throat and said, "My name is Harry Potter, and I am a girl."
She blinked away tears.
It was like holding her wand for the first time.
It was like the world was finally orienting itself the right way around for the first time.
And while she wished she could stand there forever, or at least longer than the three minutes before Vernon barked up about her needing to cook them all dinner, Harry would take this little thing, too.