A year in the life of Harry Potter
Chapter 3: July, 30
Like the day before Harry spent many hours in bed. His aunt brought him breakfast but he didn't eat it. When he finally did go downstairs he could hear his uncle and aunt talk in the kitchen. He crept to the half-open kitchen door in order to eavesdrop to their conversation.
"...I told you before!" he heard his uncle say. "We don't have the money!"
"He's never had a proper present since he set foot into this house for god's sake!" Petunia yelled. "He didn't have a childhood! All he ever had was a life as a slave!"
"So you say it's my fault that his parents -"
That my parents what? Harry thought bitterly. That they killed someone?
"Vernon, I'd never say such a thing. You know that."
"Then you know what to do."
"I can't! It'd be barbaric to do such a thing!"
To do what?
"He might bring money into the house, but do you want Dudley to suffer from it?"
To suffer from what?
"He'd never -"
"How do you know?" Harry's uncle cut her short. "How do you know that over the long term he won't be suffering from it?"
"Vernon, don't be ridiculous," Petunia told him.
"Ridiculous? Who is here ridiculous?" Vernon roared angrily, and Harry jumped in fright. "That boy has been high on the clouds on my costs, Petunia. MY COSTS!"
"He's brought in money, you know."
"Yeah, how much? Fifty pounds for every photo that is published? And how many photos were published? Fifty, Petunia. Fifty photos. That makes £250. How much did all these wafers he's eating cost? More, lots more. I'm only glad Ted forbid him to eat anything too fatty, otherwise he'd demand to get the same luxuries our Dudley is getting."
"Now, now. You're seeing everything too serious. He's nothing more than a little boy."
Harry didn't understand the world anymore. His aunt standing up for him?
"TOO SERIOUS? WHO IS WORKING ALL DAY TO PAY FOR FOOD, CLOTHING AND EVERYTHING ELSE? YOU OR ME?"
"Vernon, calm down."
"CALM DOWN???"
There was a long silence. Then - sobs. Harry hardly had enough time to hide in the cupboard under the stairs before his uncle stormed out of the kitchen.
What had the argument been about?, Harry wondered, kicking a stone out of his way. He'd gone outside after he'd made sure that Uncle Vernon had not been anywhere near the house. He remembered hearing a faint noise of a car starting, so his uncle had probably driven to the pub.
It still shocked him that his aunt had stood up for him. It was true that before he'd started taking up modeling and before they had suddenly started to like him she'd sometimes given him a scrap or two from the leftovers from the meals or let him spend an extra few minutes in the bathroom, but standing up against her own husband for whatever their argument had been about?
"Hey, you!" Harry turned around. A stocky fifteen-year-old boy ran towards him. "Aren't you that boy Harry Potter? The one that broke my sister's heart?"
Harry's heart sank. He'd totally forgotten about Josy's older brother. He gulped.
"So you're him, aren't ya?" the other boy continued, closing in on him. "You know, you made my sis cry. I hate it when people make my sis cry cause it makes her beautiful face look ugly."
"Can't we discuss this somewhere else?" Harry asked, trying to stay calm.
"DISCUSS THIS?" the older boy bellowed, his fist flying through the air.
Harry did not know how to describe what happened next, at least not at that time. Instead of being punched by Josy's brother he [Josy's brother] suddenly flew backwards on top of a car which had been driving down the road. It came to a sudden halt, the boy falling onto the cemented road, unconscious.
Harry stumbled backwards, shocked. What had happened? What had he done? Before he knew it he'd run back to Privet Drive.