Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
As it turned out, the girl's name was Ella. She began to come over every day at noon, and stayed for about forty-five minutes.
Ella had renamed the dog Ruby, and now Ruby wouldn't answer to anything else. Neither Harry nor Dudley minded, because having Ruby actually respond to her name was much cooler than calling for Cleopatra or Butterscotch and being completely ignored.
At first, Ella visited shyly, and only for a few minutes. She would pet the dog, greet Harry and Dudley, and then leave. But conversation and laughter amongst the children eventually ebbed away at her social anxiety, and she began to stay longer and longer. She was the same age as Harry and Dudley, but went to a different school.
Ruby waited faithfully for her at the back door every day. Eventually, Harry and Dudley were waiting at the back door for their friend too, because they both liked her. She treated them equally, no matter what. It was a bit refreshing, for both of them.
The child grew on Vernon too. She was polite and respectful, which Vernon thought he deserved from all children and felt he didn't get enough of. He also noticed that she was smart, and predicted that she would go far in business.
"She's a bright one, that Ella. Wouldn't be surprised to see her in the paper one of these days, isn't that right, boys?" said Vernon occasionally.
Harry and Dudley would hasten to agree. Their friend was smarter than them. She had a way of looking at the world that was so different from others, and had a way of explaining things that made perfect sense. But Harry and Dudley knew that Ella had no intention of going into business: she wanted to become a teacher, just like Ms. Steagall.
Ms. Steagall had been her second grade teacher, and Ella had loved her. She ranted and raved on how pretty and nice Ms. Steagall was, and how she'd made Ella look forward to school every day.
"She was always there for me when I needed her," Ella said, reminiscing. "But she had to move to Birmingham with her husband, 'cause she got married, so she's not Ms. Steagall anymore, she's Mrs. Whitmore. And my third grade teacher was no fun at all, she made school all boring and mean. When I'm a teacher, I'm going to be just like Ms. Steagall, and I'm going to make learning fun!"
Neither boy could imagine school being fun, but if there was a way, they didn't doubt that Ella could find it. They assured her she'd be a wonderful teacher.
Petunia, unlike the rest of the family, didn't like her so much. Protective of her spotless counters and carpets, she made excuses for Ella not to come into the house: Ruby needed to play outside, the boys were playing in the sprinkler and Ella should join, the house had been sprayed for insects and nobody was allowed in, etc. Ella never doubted Petunia's excuses for a second (and never seemed to really realize how dirty she was, either.)
"Positively shameless! That a child is so filthy each and every day," Petunia complained. "Doesn't she ever bathe? I'll bet her mother's home is just as dirty."
But it was Vernon, in tune to this child for some reason, who noticed things about Ella that no one else did.
"Ella, dear. Isn't that the dress you wore yesterday?"
"Yeah, Mr. Dursley, it is. It's my favorite!"
"Ella, I told you that scrape on your knee needed a bandage. It's going to get infected if you don't wash it properly and wrap it up."
"Oops, I forgot. I'll do it tomorrow, Mr. Dursley."
"Ella. Are you hungry?"
The day he'd asked that question, Ella had been eyeing the sandwiches Harry and Dudley had been enjoying. The Dursley family and Ella were outside, enjoying lunch on a breezy summer day. Ella never ate while she was with them, so nobody had thought to offer her a sandwich too.
She gulped, and looked embarrassedly off to the side. Harry offered her his half-eaten sandwich, and she reached to take it. But Petunia intervened with a quick, "No, no, germs! Let me make a fresh one!" She strolled inside to the kitchen.
Vernon gazed at Ella. When Petunia came back with the sandwich, Vernon saw how fast she ate it. She positively beamed at Petunia and said that it had tasted wonderful, which made Petunia flush with pride and beam right back.
From then on, Petunia would always have a sandwich ready for Ella.
"Ella?"
"Yes, Mr. Dursley?"
"Where do you live?"
An awkward silence seemed to fall. "Wherever I want to." Ella responded, with less gusto than her normally cheerful self.
It was raining that day, and yet Ella had shown up at their back door anyway, dripping wet and hungry as ever for her sandwich. Petunia (though it was against her instincts) let the child in, dried her off, set her down at the table, and gave her a sandwich and a glass of apple juice.
It was August now, and the rain was a blessed relief from the terrible blazing heat. Ruby grew bigger every day, and was starting to gain a little sense in her foolish puppy head, though the day's storm was frightening her a little. Harry's birthday had come and gone with little celebration, and he hadn't felt the least bit lucky about it.
He'd shared this sentiment with Ella. She'd only stared at him, as though she couldn't comprehend his feelings at all. It had made Harry feel uncomfortable, so he'd dropped the subject.
"Live wherever you want to? Well, where do you sleep at night, then?" Vernon had said, hoping his hunch was not correct.
Ella frowned. "Well, yesterday I slept in the tunnel slide in the park, because it rained on me. But normally I sleep on top of the roof of the drugstore. Did you know you can get to the roof by the fire escape, and see all the stars from up there, Dudley?"
Vernon's hunch was indeed correct.
"That's so cool!" Dudley exclaimed. "Take me sometime?"
"Sure, anytime! I'll take you and Harry and Ruby there too! Though Ruby's too big to carry up the ladder now... We'll have to think of another way to help her up."
Petunia and Vernon were silent. Harry was on the same page as them, which Dudley was apparently not on. "Ella?" Harry said, with all the bluntness of a nine-year-old. "Are you homeless?"
Ella looked at the linoleum floor, an angry expression on her face. "What's it to you, Harry?" she muttered peevishly.
"Nothing, I don't care!" Harry quickly added, trying to make amends. "I think it's cool!" Ella's quick smile told Harry he was forgiven.
"Do you live alone, or with your family?" Petunia asked.
"Alone," Ella said with a giggle, "That's the point of running away!"
Another awkward silence fell, though it was unnoticed by Ella, who continued munching on her sandwich. In the distance, thunder rumbled.
"Are you the Shusterman girl, who the police have been looking for for the past two months?" Vernon asked quietly.
Ella put down the sandwich, eyeing them warily. There was an eerie stillness, and the look on the little girl's face was the only confession needed. Ella stood up slowly, never taking her eyes from Vernon and Petunia.
Suddenly, she dashed across the kitchen, threw open the back door, and escaped into the watery haze. Harry and Dudley hollered after her, but she ran down the street and disappeared into the pounding rain.