Chapter 5

Photographs

Vernon Dursley rolled over on his bed and wandered through to the bathroom. He peered at his reflection in the mirror. He certainly had changed in the past seven months. His moustache had grown-out into a full beard which made his face appear less rounded and his eyes had lost their red-tinge. His relationship with Harry had grown immensely, he couldn't believe he'd once thought the boy a nuisance; he was as far from a nuisance as possible. Although his relationship with Carrie hadn't progressed any further than their kiss at Hogmany, they had developed a friendship, which was very close, but not nearly as close as Harry and Liam had become. After two months of having to escort the two boys between the two houses because of the road, (which wasn't busy, but they were only two after all) Vernon and Carrie had put a gate into the fence between the adjoining gardens, allowing the boys to run back and forth as they pleased.

Vernon made his way through to the living room, where he saw Harry and Liam, both lying flat on their stomachs with a vast amount of toy soldiers between them.

"Hi 'ncle Vernon, Liam's cheatin'" Harry said, waving to his uncle.

"No am not!" protested Liam, "The guys with bazookas always beat the guys with machineguns!" The two boys began to argue.

"Boys!" Vernon said loudly, "Stop that, we've got a long day ahead of us, and it won't be nearly as fun if you two aren't speaking to each other!" The two boys stopped arguing immediately and grinned. Today was August second, the mid-point between Harry's birthday on the thirty-first of July and Liam's on the forth of August. Vernon and Carrie were holding a party in the village hall, and had invited all the children from the nursery Liam, Harry and Grace went to three days a week, and the two boys couldn't be more excited.

Vernon wandered through to the kitchen-diner and Harry and Liam resumed their battle. He began organising breakfast.

"Liam, have you eaten?" he called

"Not yet, 'ncle Vernon," Liam shouted back. Vernon was now "Uncle" to all three children and Carrie had become "Auntie Car" to Harry. Ten minutes later, Harry and Liam called a truce (nobody ever won) and began to attack bowls of cereal, just as Carrie entered, Grace on her hip.

"Unc-unc!" cried Grace, reaching for Vernon. He took her from Carrie, swung her up into the air, and then clutched her tight, blowing a raspberry on her cheek. Grace giggled and squirmed, and Vernon placed her into her high-chair.

"Can we go to the hall soon, Auntie Car?" asked Harry, he was probably more impatient than Liam, as his birthday had been two days ago, and he'd only been allowed to open one gift. Much to Vernon's relief, Harry didn't remember his last birthday, which had comprised of no cake, and one present- a pair of Dudley's old pyjamas. Vernon was still deeply ashamed of the way he and Petunia had treated the boy because of something he had no control over. Besides, the more stories he heard from Carrie about Fabian Prewett and his brother, the more he realised how wonderful the world of magic seemed. Vernon and Carrie had talked to Harry and Liam about not using magic at their party and the two boys had agreed happily, to eager to object.

"It's only eight o'clock Harry, the party's not 'til ten."

The boys' third birthday party passed without a hitch. The twenty or so children ran around playing games, while their parents chatted about the boring pleasantries of adult life. Everyone had forgotten about the camera sitting on the windowsill until Harry and Liam were about to blow out their candles. The only photo of the day was of the two boys, each with an arm around the others shoulder, the two train-shaped cakes in front of them. It was the perfect picture to sum-up their party.

The photo took pride of place in the centre of the mantel-piece's in both cottages. Where they were joined by pictures of more birthdays, one of the three children sitting on the harbour wall eating ice-cream, the boys first day at school and one of Harry and Liam, in the august after their seventh birthdays, each holding one of Grace's ankles, as they dangled her over a paddling-pool…

"MUUUUM!" Grace screamed from the garden. Carrie rushed outside to find her son and his best friend, dangling her daughter over the paddling-pool her neighbour Vernon had bought the previous day. She laughed and quickly grabbed the camera from just inside the back door. She snapped a quick photo of the two boys, who were grinning proudly.

"OK you two, put her down!" she said sternly. The two boys smiled more broadly, glanced at each other, and dropped Grace, fully clothed, into the pool, before sprinting through the house and out past the harbour, Grace hot on their heels. There was very little traffic in the village and all the children tended to run around as they pleased. But the sight of the two boys sprinting past in their swimming shorts, being chased by the sodden little girl, still turned a few heads.

"Be careful!" Carrie shouted after them, "Try not to murder them Gracie!" She retreated back into her cottage, which suddenly seemed very quiet without the three lively children, in spite of the CD player blasting out one of her old favourites. Vernon was out at work, and she took the opportunity to quickly tidy up both living rooms. There was a quiet knock at the open door, and Carrie looked up to see a group of boys clustered around the front porch.

"Are Liam an' Harry about?" asked Tom, a tall boy with sandy-blonde hair and a face of freckles.

"Sorry boys, I'm not sure where they've gone, they should be about somewhere." As if in answer, the boys in question sprinted past, laughing madly. Carrie grabbed a still dripping Grace around the waist and swung her into a hug as the group of boys ran off after Liam and Harry.

"It's not fair!" wailed Grace, "They're always pickin' on me!" Carrie sighed.

"They're only teasing Gracie; they'll grow out of it."

"I wish I had a best-friend like they do!" she sulked.

"You do lovie, you have Alice."

"It's not the same, I only see her at nursery. They're together all the time. It's not fair!"

"I know lovie, sometimes life isn't fair. But you'll see more of Alice when you start school." She towelled her daughter's hair dry and got her a change of clothes. It was true that Liam and Harry spent a lot of time together; they were more like brothers than friends. She looked at all the pictures on the walls and mantel-piece, the only one that showed one without the other was the photo of Fabian holding Liam on the day he was born. She looked at the picture of their first day of primary school, standing side by side in identical school jumpers, brimming with confidence, the glasses Harry used to wear (He now preferred contacts) flashing in the sun. She still remembered the phone call she'd received later that day.

Flashback

"Hello?"

"Ms Prewett?" asked an irate voice.

"It's MacCloud, Is something wrong with Liam? Is he alright?"

"He's a menace! He and a friend felt it their place to release a shoebox full of frogs loose in their classroom!" Carrie had gone to great lengths to stop herself laughing then and there. Her son had inherited her late fiancés love of practical jokes, and had passed it on to Harry.

"I'm so sorry Mrs..?"

"Hill." the voice said grumpily.

"Mrs Hill, he doesn't mean anything by it, its just his and Harry's way of entertaining themselves."

"That may be so, but it is not appropriate behaviour during school hours."

"Okay, I'll talk to them."

End Flashback

The thought of the day still brought a grin to her face. She could only imagine what they'd get up to in the future.

She was still trying to calm Grace down when the two boys wandered in, looking rather sheepish.

"Sorry Grace," muttered Harry

"Yeah, Sorry," added Liam, "We didn't think it'd upset you that much,"

"I told you I didn't want to go in!" she cried, "But instead of leaving me alone, you threw me in anyway!"

"We didn't throw!" grinned Liam, "We dropped." Grace let out a strangled cry and leapt at her brother, who dodged and ran for the door yet again.

"I'm really sorry, Auntie Car," said Harry, as Grace chased after her older brother. "I wasn't thinking."

"You rarely are," Carrie joked, causing Harry to stick his tongue out at her. She looked at her watch, "You'd better go get ready for Tae Kwon Do, your Uncle'll be back to pick you up soon," Harry grinned and left for the adjoining cottage. He took a quick shower and dressed for his Tae Kwon Do class, tying the yellow belt, with green strip, around his waist. Vernon and Carrie had signed the boys up for classes the previous year when they found them trying to impersonate Bruce Lee, after watching one of his films. Harry and Liam had picked it up instantly and were currently working towards their green belt. Harry wondered vaguely if it was the magic in their blood that made it easy for them to pick up new skills. A car pulled up outside and Harry ran out to meet his uncle. He knew his family seemed odd to other people, and he wouldn't change them for the world. But he couldn't help feeling curious about his parents...

A/N. Hello! Sorry about the time-skips in this chapter, I wanted to get the story moving along. I'm also sorry about the lack of Vernon/Harry interaction in this chapter, there will be some next chapter though. Thanks to everyone who read/reveiwed.

Katie

Aqua Mage: Burns Night is a scottish celebration of the poet, Robert Burns (To a Mouse, Auld Lang Sine, etc) and traditionally a burns supper is Haggis, Neaps and Tatties (turnip and potatoes). Normally someone reads part/all of the poem 'Ode to a Haggis' and then stabs it! a wonderful time is had by all.