Chapter 8:
Disclaimer: HP belongs to JK Rowling
Hi guys, sorry it took me so long...
Enjoy!
Harry asking about his parents had reminded Petunia painfully of her nephews certain gifts, that he had -thank god- yet to display. For the following weeks she watched out for any signs of strange happenings around little Harry and tried to keep him from Vernon should anything happen. But of course she couldn't keep them apart for long. Harry soon began to miss his father figure and Petunia could tell that Vernon too missed spending time with Harry.
So, when Petunia was invited by a friend to go shopping, Vernon was more than ready to take the boys. A bit nervous Petunia agreed, after all nothing had happened yet and it was only for a day.
On the next morning Petunia left her boys peacefully solving puzzles on the floor of their living room, Vernon helping eagerly.
Petunia smiled at the familiar sight.
Not long after his wife left, Vernon and the children had finished all the puzzles momentarily available.
"Soooo, what do you boys want to do now?", Vernon asked them.
Dudley and Harry looked at each other. "Playground, playground!", they shouted.
"The playground it is then", Vernon agreed and shortly after he had dressed the little boys appropriately. Vernon took their hands and they left for the next playground.
It wasn't a long walk. Soon they arrived at their destination.
As soon as Harry and Dudley saw the swings there was no stopping them. Laughing Vernon watched them racing each other towards the play equipment. Patiently he sat down on a bench and watched the boys -his boys- play.
At first they played on the swings, later they played catch with a few of the other children and used the slide.
Vernon let Harry and Dudley play for an hour, but soon it became obvious that the boys were getting tired. When he saw Harry trip for the third time, he summoned them. Grudgingly they came, but soon cheered up, as Vernon promised to take them out for ice cream.
On the way Dudley and Harry were already talking loudly which flavour they were going to take. Dudley wanted Chocolate, while Harry preferred Vanilla.
In the ice café they sat down, enjoying the sweet taste and coolness of their goodies, Dudley snuggling up to his father from the left, Harry, after a short hesitation, from the right. At that moment everything was perfect for Vernon Dursley and he decided that he didn't wanted their trip to end just yet.
So after they finished their ice they went to the next play store. Vernon knew he was spoiling his kids, but he just couldn't help it, it had been too long since he had had enough time for his son. Another thing Vernon couldn't help was that Harry Potter, despite being the song of the persons that had hurt his wife so much, was slowly working himself right into his heart. The boy was just so sweet and innocent. When he saw how his little Dudders and the Potter boy -who had long since become Harry to him- interacted it was easy for him to forget about the boys parents and what was to come. Also he had yet to show any abnormal abilities.
At the play store both children got eyes as big as sausages, completely absorbed in inspecting all those toys.
Soon Dudley found the car section and began to marvel at each of the different types, eagerly showing his father the slot car racing tracks, basically begging him to buy one, but Vernon remained stern.
"You both can choose one toy, but maybe, if you are nice you will get the racing tracks for Christmas."
Dudley pouted, but accepted his fathers regulation. Soon he got engrossed in the next regal.
Harry at the time was looking at the section with the super heroes, not quite as vocal as Dudley about it.
After about an hour the small family had seen everything in the store and Vernon found that it was time to go home now. He urged both the boys to choose one part.
Dudley finally decided on a remote controlled car, while Harry chose one of those action figures.
Vernon was about to take them to the checkout, when he realised just what his nephew was holding in his small hands...
… a wizard! With his beard, wand and hat, he looked entirely too much like the headmaster of "their" school. Petunia had described the man to him once.
"NO!", he almost shouted at the poor boy, his eyes hard.
The two young boys looked at him, Harry utterly confused and at the verge of tears, Dudley curious.
With an effort Vernon managed to calm down.
"No", he said again in a calmer voice. "Harry, pick something else."
Quietly they brought the wizard back to where it was from. On the way back towards the checkout Harry fell in love with a big teddy bear and the incident immediately seemed forgotten once Vernon promised to buy the thing for Harry.
On their way back home Harry was being his usual self, joking around with Dudley, jumping over puddles. As they got home however, instead of playing with Dudley, who wanted Harry's teddy to be the pilot of his car, the boy followed Vernon around, all the while clinging to his bear.
As it was obvious that the boy wanted to talk to him Vernon went to the kitchen and sat down, Harry safely in his lap.
"What is it, Harry?", he asked gently, hoping that he wouldn't have to explain the scene from the toy store to the little boy.
"Why don't you like me?", the little raven boy asked, looking so heartbroken it made his uncles heart ache.
"Harry, don't you think that, I like you! I like you very much. You are just as much my boy as Dudley", he replied. Maybe he was bending the truth a bit saying that, but he couldn't stand the lost look in the emerald eyes and maybe, if he looked deep into his heart, it was the truth.
"Then why did Dudley get what he chose, but I didn't?"
Darn, that was it - the question Vernon had dreaded.
"You got the teddy, didn't you? Don't you like it?", his uncle tried to distract Harry – to no avail.
"I do like it", the little boy confessed, hugging the teddy more tightly. "But I orig … originally chose the wizard!"
What should he tell the boy? Vernon Dursley and his wife had sworn not to tell Harry about magic and their hate for it. They had tried to keep anything magical from the boy, afraid that it might trigger something. It seemed like there was only one way: Telling the boy a half truth and hoping that he would accept it.
As if sharing a secret he leaned nearer to the little boy in his arms.
"I don't like wizards, but don't tell anyone!", he whispered.
Harry was quiet for a while, thinking the answer over.
"I'm sorry, I don't like clowns. They are creepy, you know?", the small boy whispered back.
Vernon couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face at the sweet naivete of his nephew. Just like that Harry forgot all about the incident and went to play with Dudley. His uncle chuckled silently to himself as he watched the kids play, if only they could stay this young...
He wished it would be always this easy to keep the truth hidden, but deep inside Vernon knew that the older Harry got the harder it would get to hide his dislike- no, his hate- for anything magic.
Vernon found that he had long lost his heart to the sweet, caring, smart boy he called his nephew, but he knew that the magic of the boy would always float over his domestic happiness like the sword of Damocles. One day the day would come that Harry found out about his magic. That day would change everything.
Yay, I did it! This chapter is longer than the other! (Okay, not much, but it is an improvement and I am very busy lately...) I hope you liked it.
Please let me know what you think about it, reviews always cheer me up and right now I can use some cheering up, because I am learning for my super important final year exams, otherwise known as the Abitur :(
So don't expect me to update soon. Still I will do my best not to let you wait too long.
Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter and for the incredible amount of followers and favourites 3
