You're a protagonist Harry

Chapter 02 – He's a bad boy
…

Tis a strange thing the passage of time. No consistency. Twelve years pass in the blink of an eye, while a single hot summer day that's barely begun looks ready to last far too long.

"And make sure you get up under the hedges this time."

"Yes Uncle Vernon."

"And you're to do number nine and number five as well, they've already paid."

"Yes Uncle Vernon."

"And when you're done you can clean out the garage till we get back."

"Yes Uncle Vernon."

It was an odd thing, thought Harry Potter, that some people looked forward to summers. He didn't see the appeal. Never had.

For Harry, the dirty secret of #4 Privet Drive, summer meant work. Work in the hot, hot sun all day, or as much of it as Vernon could find work for him to do, and he was very good at finding work for him to do.

Spirit of the middle manager and all that.

Which meant his day started early. A short breakfast, just long enough to break the fast, the usual chewing out from Vernon, because it just wasn't a day ending in Y without a good tongue lashing, and then it was off to the garage for the mower.

But lo, what was this. It was summer, which meant Dudley was home from Smelting's. And with barely a couple months to make up for his time away, he was taking every opportunity to rub it in.

"Hi Harry."

The hardest working man at #4 looked up at his cousin, grinning smugly as he towered over Harry while he prepped the mower.

"Something I can do for you Diddy Dums."

His use of the old nickname didn't earn so much as a flinch, "It's my birthday today."

"Mm, one more foot in the grave, eh old man."

That made him flinch, but he rallied quickly, "We're going to the aquarium. You're not."

No, he wasn't, but that didn't mean he was going to let his cousin enjoy it. "Aquarium huh? Well that sounds fun. You'll have to check out the eels. You know what those are right, their like big underwater snakes. Kinda like the one we saw at the zoo that time, you remember."

It was fun watching the smug superiority drain from his cousin's face the longer he talked till all that was left was a bitter scowl. "Well, you're still not coming."

"No, I'm not," said Harry. "But rest assured, I'll be thinking about you, all day long," he grinned maliciously. "It's the least I can do, it is your birthday, after all."

"You suck Harry," he growled.

Harry just kept grinning, "No Dudley, I don't suck. Not even for your birthday."

And, leaving his cousin to ponder the ramifications of what he'd been told, Harry pushed the mower out to the front yard and got to work. He'd be about half done when the family backed out of the driveway and headed for the aquarium.

"Maybe if I'm lucky he'll fall in the shark tank," he chuckled wickedly, but not that wickedly.

As much as he once resented Dudley, the sting of it had faded with time. He'd discovered it just took too much energy to hate the big oaf all the time.

Plus, not seeing him most of the year helped.

With the family gone, and not set to be back till late afternoon, the day could begin the drag, and boy was it a day for it. The heat was up, the humidity high. His shirt was abandoned before he'd moved on to #9 and by the time he got to #5 he was sweating rivers, glistening in the sun.

That sort of glistening drew attention.

"Hi Harry."

See what I mean.

"Hello Annabelle."

The girl of #5 leaned out the window grinning at him. She was a year younger than he was, arriving on Privet Drive the same night he had according to rumor.

"You look like you're working hard," she said conversationally.

"Don't let that fool you," he said, making her titter. She was always good for a titter. A right old titterer. "Your mom home?"

She shook her head, bouncing her curly locks, "Daddy's not home either."

"That so," he said, reading the message in those flirty blue eyes. "House all to yourself?"

"I guess," she said, coyly fluttering her lashes.

"Would you like some company?"

This was where he always broke her. She was all sweet and flirty and come-hither eyes till he gave her the leer. It was a very good leer; he'd given it lots of practice. It was the sort of leer that would make the most innocent, to the point of stupid, virgin feel like she was being undressed, slowly.

"Harry!" she cried, blushing like an embarrassed tomato, "you are so bad!"

The accusation did not displease him, "That's what they say."

That's what they all said, for as long as he could remember. It had taken on a slightly different meaning when he started secondary school and punched out the biggest jerk in the grade above his when he tried to hassle him. The tone had changed when puberty hit and all the girls in his class started giving him 'the look'.

He hadn't understood it at first, till one of the other boys, with an older brother, had explained it all to him. And when I say all, I mean all, diagrams and everything, thank you Playboy.

He hadn't been able to look at Petunia for three weeks afterward but once he got past that he'd started working on the leer.

"I'm just gonna… go back inside."

"I'll come join you when I'm done."

He wouldn't really, but as she ducked back inside, the thought of her sitting in there waiting to see if he would or wouldn't, and unable to decide if she did or didn't want him to, put a smile on his face that stayed there through the rest of the lawn and all the way back to the garage.

Setting the mower up on a couple old sawhorses, he went about his usual ritual of cleaning and maintenance. It was boring, tedious work, but it had to be done. The mower was good as his, he was the only one that used it, and as someone who didn't have much, he took good care of what he did.

He was just finished cleaning the blade, setting it down on the work bench when he heard a voice. It was quiet, just at the edge of his senses. He stopped and listened, nothing.

"Hmm, my imagination," he mused and went back to his work.

Then it came again, a raspy, almost hissing sound. He couldn't make out what was being said but it sounded displeased.

He set down the blade and stepped outside. The sun glared down like an oppressive master, but beyond that baleful eye, there was nothing to be seen.

"Odd," which was not a thing they like to see on Privet Drive, he knew.

But, it was also not a thing he was unfamiliar with. Odd things had happened to and around him for as long as he could remember. It's why he was #4's dirty little secret. A secret that was also being kept from him, he was sure.

The Dursley's knew, Vernon and Petunia anyway. They knew, and they hated it, hated him, feared him probably, as they adamantly refused to explain, no matter how often it happened.

It had happened a lot less as he got older, and he'd gotten a lot better at hiding it when it did. This particular bit of odd was one he'd dealt with before.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, exhaled, and listened.

The voice came again, raspy hiss, but clearer. They were definitely complaining.

"Sounds like… the rosebush."

The voice grew louder as he approached but no sign of the source became apparent until he peeked beneath the bush.

"There you are."

The little garden snake looked up at him, flicking its tongue before slithering into his hand.

"Complaining again?"

"The grass is shorter," it hissed. "It is too hot. I cannot nap."

Harry chuckled as the tiny serpent continued to gripe. It was a familiar bit of odd, the fact he could hear snakes talking. And he could hear them, he knew he could.

Vernon said it was his imagination. Petunia just gave him an ugly look.

It was stupid really, mentioning it to them.

"Hey Harry."

"Huh, Annabelle."

My but that girl did have sneaky feet.

"I heard you were done with the lawn, but you never came inside," she said, hiding her fidgety hands behind her back and staring at the grass to hide her blush.

So, she did make up her mind, Harry thought. "I had to clean the mower," he said.

"Oh," she replied, daring to look up and seeing he was holding something, "what's that?"

"A little garden snake," he said, displaying his tiny friend and awaiting the expected reaction in 3, 2, 1!

"Aw, he's so cute!"

… or not expected reaction.

"You like snakes?"

The girl nodded emphatically, bouncing her bouncy curls, "Mom and dad don't know though. You won't tell them will you, they'd think it was weird."

Harry chuckled, because what else could he do, even with that plaintive face staring up at him.

"Don't worry. Your secrets safe with me."