Harry woke up the next morning still exhausted from fighting off Dudley the night before. He rolled over in his bed and noticed that Alli was not lying in her pile of blankets. Oh no, Dudley! Harry bounded out of bed, once again forgetting to put on pants. He seized the doorknob and flung it open, only to reveal that Alli was perfectly safe about to reenter his room. She stood with a coke bottle and a bag of sour cream and onion chips.
"Where did you get that?" Harry wondered aloud gesturing to the food.
"Da pantray," Alli said with a handful of chips in her mouth.
"That's the Dursley's food, Alli! You can't eat it!" Harry snatched the food out of her arms. Alli swallowed and reached for the food.
"They're not even here! Give it back!"
"They'll notice!"
"I don't care. I'm hungry," Alli said stealing a chip from the bag. "Where are they anyways?"
"They're at Dudley's football game." Harry pushed past his cousin into the hallway. Alli tagged along after him following him down the stairs.
"Dudley plays football?" Alli said raising an eyebrow.
"It's quite funny actually," Harry admitted.
"You've seen him?"
"He can't run so he hobbles."
"I would think he'd play goalie."
"His eyes are too tiny to see the ball coming towards him." Alli giggled.
Harry rolled up the chip bag and set it back in its place in the pantry.
"They'll notice a coke gone," Harry told Alli. Alli shrugged.
"It's not like it's a big deal."
Harry turned on her. "Maybe not to you!" he snapped. "But I sure don't want to get in trouble and not have dinner another night. You just don't get it!" He tried to walk away, but Alli stretched out in the doorway.
"What don't I get?"She asked. Harry sighed.
"You don't get that we have no power here, Allison! The Dursley's have the last word. They hate wizards! They're the most muggle people you could possibly find and yet you don't seem to care! They take care of us. What if you provoked them enough that they just decided to kick us out on the streets?"
"Oh, come on. Like you couldn't last a day on the streets!" Alli laughed. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "We're Potters," Alli reminded him. "We get anything we want."
"I'm sorry, but I think you may have mistaken yourself for a Malfoy," Harry snapped. "Excuse me." He pushed past her and stomped up the stairs to his room.
-
"Come on, Harry! Let me in!" Alli banged on his locked bedroom door for the hundredth time. Harry sighed inside his bedroom and angrily twisted the lock and flung the door open. Alli shoved past him into the room carrying, in her arms, a bunch of cords and one of Dudley's game consoles.
"What?" Harry asked.
"Let's have a little bit of fun, shall we?" Alli asked with a giggle.
"You know who you remind me of?"
"Hmm?" Alli answered hooking up the cords behind Harry's microscopic television.
"Dolores Umbridge."
Alli turned on her heel.
"That fat old lady? Eww," Alli said. She turned back to the cords. "There we go. All done," Alli said standing up. She turned on the game and handed Harry a controller.
"Alli, once again, you can't do this!"
"Dudley loves me. He won't mind," Alli said.
"Alli…"
"Don't be so uptight! Loosen up a bit, will you? Pick your character."
Harry sighed, defeated and the fighting game started. Alli beat him 4 times to one.
"Damn girl. How'd you get so good at this?"
"I used to play it all the time back home," Alli told him.
"Home?"
"I lived with Severus Snape for quite a while. When he was off at work, I had a tutor," Alli said just as Harry's mouth dropped open. "Do you know him?"
"Th-That's my potions teacher. H-He…"
"When Dumbledore found Mr. Snape not to be trusted with me, he offered to take me to my cousin, you."
"Dumbledore no longer trusts Snape…" Harry muttered.
"Dumbledore was going to help see me off. But I waved him away and told him I should be fine. Then it started to rain and I didn't get here until late."
"Hmm," Harry said interested. "Do you know why Dumbledore decided not to trust Snape?"
"Beats me," Alli said.
-
"Where is she?" a snakelike voice hissed through the darkness.
"M-Master, she is difficult to get a hold of," another voice said.
"You will find a way, Wormtail! Do not fail me!"
"We know nothing of her whereabouts, Lord," a third voice said.
"Liar!"
"We do not know, sir!" the third voice demanded.
"You lie! Crucio!"
The screams of the men were drowned out by a loud bang on the bedroom door.
"SHUT UP! Some of us are trying to sleep!" Dudley's voice rang out. Both, Harry and Allison woke with a start. Both were covered in cold sweat.
"Alli?" Harry whispered.
"I'm awake. Did you see?"
"We had the same dream?"
"I'm not sure."
"The one with Voldemort, Wormtail, and the other man."
"Yes."
"Strange…"
"Do you know the third man?"
"His voice… it sounded familiar. It was too dark…"
"I couldn't see either."
"I have a lot of dreams like this."
"I don't. Harry, I'm scared."
"It'll be fine."
"Are they true?"
"It's hard to tell. Go back to sleep. We leave for school tomorrow," Harry reminded her.
"Good night."