Chapter 5, Going home with Harry
Monday 2nd November
10:57 am, public bus
"...no way to treat a child,"
"Oh absolutely, in fact, it's despicable. Young life should be cherished not abused," stated the old woman, who was glaring rather harshly in Rose's direction. It was then that Rose jumped with surprise that those old biddies were talking about her, and dear little Harry.
Oh bloody hell, Rose thought, I'm really not in the mood to deal with them nattering on about me. Can't they keep their bloody noses to themselves?
"Of course, of course" they carried on.
"How horrid for the poor child, have you seen that finger mark on his face?"
Oh no they didn't...
"Yes it's utterly horrid, TO SLAP A BABY!" the old woman shrieked as though it was her life's goal to make Rose understand that slapping a baby is not the right thing to do.
"Mummy, my arm's hurting," wailed a seven year old little girl in school uniform.
"Oh darling it'll get better soon. We're nearly at your school now."
Rose's patience was gradually wearing thinner and thinner.
"And don't get me started on those rags she calls clothes. They're about 4 sizes too big, the poor little boy."
They'd better shut up sharpish. Rose thought. I cannot stand this for another... she looked at her watch... oh no, another bloody 10 minutes! Come on bus hurry up!
"Oh I know! How parenting standards have changed so dramatically from back in the day. Back in our day this would not have gone, oh no. The authorities would have been knocking on the door, taking the child away before you could even ask why they were there in a situation as dire as this!"
Have you quite finished yet? Rose asked in her head. She really didn't want to cause a scene on the bus, but then again she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep that renowned temper of hers hidden away.
"Absolutely, like I said I think it's despicable how society are letting, well..only children themselves, get away with bringing up the next generation. They're our future you know! Goodness knows where we'll be in 20 years if people like her carry on treating their kids like that."
Count back from 10 Rose, come on, try and calm down now...
10
9
8
"Yes she should be ashamed of herself. She's only, how old, 17 perhaps..."
"Mummy, who are they talking about?" the seven year old asked, now listening intently to the old women.
I'm 19 actually...
"Yes I would think so"
"Well no wonder society's like this if we're letting children get pregnant and spawning at 16 - they're still in school themselves and by far not old enough to raise a child!"
7
6
"Yes of course. She should know better than to open her legs to any old boy and save it for someone special and at a sensible age! She's-"
How dare they talk about my (non-existent) sex life in public!
5
"Mummy," the little girl tapped incessantly on her mum's arm, now fed up of being ignored, "what's wrong with opening your legs?"
"Um uh um uh... nothing to worry about sweetheart."
4
-obviously not been taught any sort of decorum by her own parents. Shame on them!-"
Oh they're going to wish they'd kept their bloody mouths shut!
3
"But Mummy, I'm a big girl, I want to know grown up things!"
"Not now Rhi."
2
"-You'd have thought they would steer her in the right direction of how to treat a child though! To slap a baby! I can't believe she has the nerve to bring him on a public bus and act as though everything is fine! She's a stain on society!"
That was the final straw...
WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP!" Rose roared at the two old biddies, "You don't know anything I've been through! He's not even my son!"
At this the two women looked startled and suddenly rather sheepish as the falseness of their previous words kicked in.
"Yeah, I bet you didn't know that did you! He's the son of my dear late sister and her late husband who were murdered two days ago at 21 years old!" Rose paused for effect, still fuming.
"Murder... does that mean a nasty man wants to kill me Mummy?" The little girl asked, rather scared.
"Only if you keep on talking."
(silence)
At this you could have heard a pin drop and the women looked deeply ashamed of themselves.
"And the mark on his cheek is from my other dear sister, who was nominated as his carer, until her and her husband turned out to be abusive!"
Utterly mortified, would be how you'd now describe the elderly women.
While a woman in her late 20s towards the back of the bus was sat on the edge of her seat with a look of pure glee on her face at the oh-so-exciting drama unfolding right before her eyes. Her beady eyes danced between watching that courageous young woman and those old biddies, looking embarrassed to the core. She soaked up everything that was happening as though she couldn't wait for the fascinating dinner-table conversation this would make.
Yes they should have kept their mouths shut, but this is severe public humiliation despite what they said.
"So I, at the age of 19, mind you, not 17, went to my sister's, the abusive one that is, house to see if she knew why my other sister hadn't been replying, to find my nephew LIVING ON A SPRINGY MATRESS IN THEIR CUPBOARD UNDER THE STAIRS, having not been informed of my sister and her husband's murders!"
Both women, looked like they would now rather be in a den of lions than facing either this fearsome young women or the utter public humiliation, let alone both at once.
"O-oh my goodness my poor d-dear we're so sorry, w-we had no idea..."
The bell dinged
"No, of course you didn't," Rose replied with a look towards them that clearly said 'duh, don't judge a book by its cover next time'. And with that she muttered her thanks to the bus driver and got off the bus (with Harry of course) in the town centre; leaving the bus in complete silence with the two old women trembling in their seats.
"Can I talk now Mummy? Has the bad man gone away?" whispered Rhi.
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A/N: Hi guys, so sorry I've not updated in so long. It took me absolutely ages to plan what direction I wanted the story to go after Privet Drive, but the good news is that I'm on a role now and I've got the next few chapters all planned out and ready to write! So the next update should be within the next few days, if you're all still with me!
With this chapter I was trying to give the inpression that many people were talking/thinking at once so I hope this wasn't too confusing to read. Please let me know either way what you thought!
As always, to my reviewers:
LambdaOfTheDead - Haha totally! I've planned that out and you should see it in about 2 chapters time!
bluepillfanfic - Glad you're still enjoying it!
city bookworm - Haha definitely! What does that say about 'genius' Dumbledore...!
lun27 - Thank you!