Chapter Two

Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nice and nephew on the front step, but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door, it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing different-coloured bobble hats – but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large, blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a roundabout at fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that two other children lived in the house, too.

Yet twins Harry and Roxan Potter were still there, both asleep at the moment sharing a dark and musty cupboard under the stairs. There Aunt Petunia was awake and it was her shill voice which made the first noise of the day.

"Up! Get up! Now!"

Harry woke with a start. His aunt raped on the door again waking Roxy up.

"Up!" she screeched. They heard her walking away towards kitchen and then the sound of the frying being put on the cooker. Harry rolled on to his bed and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorbike in it. He had a funny he'd had the same dream before.

Their aunt was back outside the door.

"Are you two up yet?" she demanded.

"Nearly" Harry said.

"Nope" Roxy added in a whisper. Harry laughed softly so that only she could hear.
"Well get a move on, I want one of you to look after the bacon. And don't let it burn, I want everything to be perfect for Dudley's birthday."

Harry groaned. Roxy laughed.

"What did you say" their aunt snapped through the door.

"Nothing, nothing…"

"Dudley's birthday – how could we have forgotten?" Roxy said as she got out of bed looking for her socks. She found two pairs under her bed and gave one to Harry who was still looking, after pulling a spider off one of them Roxy put them on then followed Harry into the kitchen.

Roxy was placing the bacon on the table as Dudley came bounding into the kitchen. He pushed Roxy out of the way so he could get to the table. Harry caught her just as she was about to hit the ground but as he did so, he spilt the coffee all over the ground.

"Boy! Clean that coffee up, NOW!" Uncle Vernon roared as he came into the kitchen "And because you like making so much mess, you can clean the whole house!"

"But he was just catching me because you're stupid so pushed me!" Roxy yelled at uncle Vernon.

He stared at her with his beady little eyes and said "Well missy you can clean the house and the gardens today! And if you haven't finished in time for dinner, you just won't get any! Oh and boy you can do upstairs and girl you can do down stairs plus what you have to do with the garden. Oh and it must be spotless." Roxy and Harry stared at their uncle before going to make more coffee and bacon.

After breakfast the Dursley's went out to pick up one of Dudley's friends so the twins started cleaning the house. They were so angry that it went faster than they would have thought.

"Hay Harry" Roxy yelled up the stairs "Are you done?"

"Yeaah. Why are you using that tone it scares me when you do."

"Well it's just I'm done too. What time did we start?" she added walking to the kitchen and looking at the microwave.

"7:30, I think. Why?" Harry asked coming down the stairs

"Cause its only 7:45"

"Really!" Harry said running into the kitchen "Lets go start on the gardens" he added turning away but Roxy pulled him back.

"Harry we can't. Remember that time when aunt Petunia got tired of us coming back from the barbers looking like we hadn't been at all. So she grabbed the kitchen scissors and cut your hair so short that you were almost bald, but only left your fringe to cover your scar and remember she went out and got die not hair die just normal painting die and tried to get the red strikes out of my hair then ended up leaving it with and it some funny colour. And remember how we dreaded going to school where you were already teased for your baggy clothes and Sellotaped glasses and I was teased for my baggy boy clothes and my hair cause black with red strikes and it's curly. Then the next morning when we woke up our hair was exactly the way it was before aunt Petunia had sheared it off and tried to die it. Remember we got a week in our cupboard for that."

"Your right, if the Dursley's come back and the house is already done they'll go ballistic and we'll be in there forever!" Harry said

"Exactly."

"They don't know what one we started on right?" Harry said thinking

"Right" Roxy agreed

"So lets go do the garden and when they come home we go inside and do the house cause I'm not aloud to help you in the garden uncle Vernon said before he left."

"He did? I never heard him." Roxy asked

"Yeah he did. Well anyway let's go do the garden" Roxy followed her brother out the back and into the garden shed.

"Okay let's go!" Harry said walking out of the shed and to the front.

The gardening like when they cleaned the house went much faster than normal, soon they were inside pretending to clean the house. They heard the car pull op and the crunching of the gravel as people walked along it.

The door opened uncle Vernon, aunt Petunia Dudley and his friend Piers Polkiss walked in. Dudley and Piers laughed as they passed Roxy had to fight the urge to stick her foot out and make them fall on the ugly faces. Once they finished pretending to clean the house Harry and Roxy walked into the kitchen for lunch.