Life has some very strange and twisted ways in taking people by surprise, confusing them and sending them in angry swirls down their souls. He lied on his back over his bed with his arms tucked under his head, thinking. It seems to be the only thing he was capable of these days, and it was rather exhausting, rather consuming.
With a sigh, he sat up, swinging his legs to the side of the bed, he paused however when he glanced at the presents stacked neatly on his desk. It was a bit strange, he thought, that people celebrated birthdays. Birthdays are a reminder of a year passed, a year nearer to death, it is downright absurd actually to celebrate birthdays. He smiled to himself, so much for positive birthday thoughts.
He got dressed, not minding that his torn jeans was the only clean pair available, and got down to the kitchen for breakfast. He walked rather groggily despite the fact that he was up right after the crack of dawn; his biological clock was screaming for mercy actually but he couldn't bring himself to comply. His sleeping patterns has been unstable and unpredictable, giving him constant headaches and sometimes dizzy spells.
However, his sleeping patterns were the least of his problems, especially after the letter he received from his headmaster. The master of the chess game that he calls a life.
He didn't know why he was panicking. If this was another summer holiday, the idea of the headmaster picking him up would have been too good to be true, but this is not another summer holiday, this is not the same privet drive he usually left behind, He knew exactly why he was panicking. Nada, as simple and as complicated as the four letter word.
Logically, he knew that sooner or later they both would have to go to their separate schools and go on with their separate lives, separate worlds actually. He knew that it would be nearly a year until they saw each other again. A lot of things can happen in a year, and in his case, a lot of things happen in a year. Logically he knew, but the abrupt letter was like a hard punch by reality in the gut.
He stood in the middle of the kitchen lost in his thoughts, not really remembering why his legs had carried him there until his stomach growled. Right he was hungry.
He looked around not exactly sure what he should do. Eating was always an awkward matter in his aunt's house. He never ate comfortably there, he reckoned that this was only natural when food was withheld as a punishment, and eaten nicked in the middle of the night. Even if he wasn't punished, even when he ate in front of them, or with them on rare occasions, he always felt that their eyes bore into his food, scaling and calculating, and for some mysterious reason he found the comments on the amount of food he consumes the most degrading. So his dilemma was, either to start on breakfast while his aunt is not up yet, and look like he was acting as if it is his own home, God forbids, or he eats anything from the fridge and look like he is stealing food. Between this and that, he just filled a glass of water from the tape to drink, and opted waiting until his 'family' is up.
He didn't wait long though, as his cousin entered the kitchen drenched in sweat and panting. Harry was shocked to realize that Duddikins was actually doing sport that doesn't involve victims trying to run away from him.
"You run now?" Harry said, not trying to hide the sarcasm in his voice.
His cousin almost dropped the carton of milk he was holding "Bloody hell!"
Harry chuckled "sorry," he said not sounding the least sorry.
His cousin however didn't reply immediately, in fact he looked somehow perplexed as if he is trying to figure out a particularly hard equation. He has been acting strange, Harry had to finally admit it after he caught him several times looking at him, or his general direction lost in thought, and the mere fact that Dudley was doing the slightest of mental activity is too hilarious to believe. He was somehow nicer to him, or at least not as sour as his usual self. It was somehow funny to think about, as he reminded him with Grawp, Hagrid's half-brother, trying to initiate a friendship. Harry couldn't pin point exactly when the new attitude has started as Dudley himself wasn't as around as he usually is in summer holidays, but if this attitude has started from the beginning of the summer, it has intensified those last couple of days.
"What are you sneaking around for?" he finally said pouring a generous amount of milk in a cereal bowl.
"I don't sneak around, I just woke up early," Harry said eying for a fraction of a second the bowl of creamy milk and cereal.
"Yeah, a new habit of yours" he mumbled more to the bowl, before he dug the spoon in to the mixture almost angrily and devoured a spoonful with manners that would made his mother cringe.
"I wake up early since forever, it is just that you were never up to witness it"
Dudley looked like he was struggling to say something, but was interrupted with a loud growl from Harry's stomach.
Harry blushed deeply, and moved abruptly from his chair causing a loud screeching noise against the floor heading to the backdoor and straight out to the backyard.
Dudley stood in the middle of the kitchen at loss. He has been trying to avoid his cousin since that shocking morning three days ago, with no success apparently. Part of him felt curious about the revelations he heard, so he kept stealing glances at him hoping to spot something different, something that indicates that the boy who is laying the kitchen table, mowing the front lawn, or washing the car, is waiting for his own death.
Harry didn't look sick, or different in any other way for the matter. Yet, he saw him in a completely different way. He saw that he often gets that distant look on his face, as if he is in another place or time, and yet he keeps focusing in whatever task he is doing as if it is as natural as breathing. He noticed that he got a new scar on his hand, jagged and weird looking; He noticed that each year he gets back with new scars and bruises. He caught a tinge of hurt in his features, when his mother shouted at him the other day for using one of their plates when he served himself dinner. The idea itself for separating his cutlery than theirs sounded ridiculous for the first time in his life. Well not only the cutlery, but the towels and linens and anything that makes direct contact with Harry's person.
He never put much thought in those things before, well he never thought of it at all. And although he felt a bit hurt by his mother's confessions to Harry, he was intrigued as well. He had a lot of questions all of a sudden, and he doubted that his mother would answer any of them.
Was his cousin sick, is that mag-ablities of him contagious? Was that why his aunt died so early? But he heard she was killed, wasn't she? And there were the other more embarrassing questions, like why did his mother hate Harry that much?
Of course he was a burden, Dudley couldn't count the number of times he wanted to go somewhere and his parents couldn't take him because his inconvenience of a cousin. He remembers the time he kept crying for his mother to go to Disneyland, because Piers went and kept teasing him about it, and after everything was arranged they couldn't go because Mrs. Figg fell ill, and they couldn't leave him there.
Harry was an annoying burden that they didn't ask for, he knew that, but he was family, wasn't he? Dudley was sure that his parents wouldn't mind being burdened if it was him, like the time he broke his leg and his dad took the trouble of carrying his strong big body up the stairs to his room because he wanted to play on his computer, and when his mom cooked for the whole family the food that his school nurse prescribed so that he won't feel left out or tempted.
But they were his parents, they are supposed to do such stuff, aren't they?
They are not Harry's parents though.
And Harry has no parents.
Was that fair?
Too many questions indeed, more questions than he ever had in his entire life that his head actually hurt.
He looked back to his bowl of cereal which went all mushy and saggy, his appetite completely lost.
"Want some tea?"
Harry was sitting in his usual spot, resting his back on the stone flower bed when his cousin's head poked out of the back door and mumbled the words.
"What?" he had heard him already, but he just couldn't believe what he just heard.
"I am making Tea, and nicking some biscuits, do you want some?" Dudley said, looking everywhere but at Harry.
"So, we are on Tea party basis now?" He snorted in disbelief, which immediately earned him a glare from his cousin.
Actually Dudley felt offended, the ungrateful bastard didn't even acknowledge the effort he made to- to talk to him. He was about to let him know exactly that, when someone interjected.
"Who can say no to tea parties?"
The feminine voice came before it was followed by its owner. A girl with tanned skin, short hair and wide eyes emerged from the narrow path that connected the front lawn to the back of the house. Dudley almost wondered how did she knew about the secret pathway but his cousin shocked him when he talked.
"Nada," he said in greeting albeit nervously.
"Hey," she said with a wide smile, " I was just passing by, and heard your gracious voice echoing through the boring silence of Privet Drive," she waved her arms around her dramatically.
Harry laughed "In a good mood today I assume"
"Nah, not really, but I figured out if I roared curses in the middle of the street at this hour in the morning, I will steal the lights from you" then she leaned a bit forward towards his ear faking a whisper " you wouldn't like that, would you?"
The sudden close proximity sent heat to his cheeks, but he merely chuckled "uh- well..".
"Besides," she interrupted with a mock cheerful voice "I heard that you are holding an early morning tea party" and for the first time since she barged in, she looked at the general direction of his cousin.
In fact, his cousin stood stupidly with his mouth hung open, watching their exchanges with eyes as wide as saucers.
"I- I don't think that's a good idea," Harry stammered nervously.
Harry couldn't believe how trouble can find him so ridiculously easily as early as he starts a day.
He was actually mad at her, because she knew that this would bring nothing but trouble, but she simply accepted Dudley's invitation to join them with strange eagerness, an invitation she actually asked for.
She purposefully ignored him the moment she passed from the backdoor threshold. A passing observer would definitely think that she was actually Dudley's friend not his, he doubted that Dudley himself thought that she fell immediately for his charms and forgot totally about the conversation she just had with Harry in front of him. It was sort of a legitimate assumption though, Harry thought as he looked at her sitting there on top of the kitchen table laughing with his cousin who was looking too pleased of himself that his jokes are earning him that shrieking laughter, which was nothing like her.
The way she sat, one leg over another, the way she ignored that her top kept traveling upward revealing that strip of tanned skin, the way she bit the biscuits and chewed them like some tacky ad girl, the way she was laughing at each of Dudley's stupid jokes, wasn't her.
Somehow Dudley's invitation to make tea was all gone, and Harry found himself pouring the tea himself and serving it to them.
"Oh thank you," she said with a high pitched cheery voice as he put the steaming cup in front of her. He looked at her in the eyes for a moment questionably, and he found her there. It was her playful self, not the bubblegum ad girl, but she switched to the latter immediately the moment she turned and looked at Dudley feigning interest in some story he was telling.
"Er- Hello?"
Harry's head whipped to the kitchen door to meet his aunt's face embellished by a strained smile. She was dressed in her regular morning dress, but took extra care with the hair. Apparently she assumed that Dudley had someone over.
"Oh Hi!" Nada said before Harry or Dudley could speak, "I am Sorry to intrude that early in the morning," she hopped off the table and walked to his aunt extending her hand " I am Nada, Dudley invited me for tea" she said beaming at him, he puffed his chest in response.
"You have a pretty convincing young man here Mrs. Dursely" she leaned towards her and added in a loud whisper "such a gentleman".
Petunia beamed proudly at her son "Well, well.."
"And believe me," Nada interjected more loudly "I know one when I see one, I have met princes, Noblemen, and Diplomats," she answered the question etched on Petunias face before she could put it in words "You see, my father is a Diplomat, that's our regular social circle you know" she shrugged casually.
Petunia's eyes gleamed with fascination and greed at the last phrase, she beamed so wildly at her son and looked prouder if that was even possible. "My Duddikins is indeed a gentleman," she said almost breathlessly and missed the embarrassment that she caused him mentioning the nickname "however, it is not appropriate to invite guests over tea that early in the morning- a full English breakfast is in order!"
Harry watched in pure astonishment as his aunt's eyes scanned Nada as if she is the perfect front lawn association gold medal. He didn't have any idea what was Nada up to, but somehow his irritation was replaced with sheer curiosity. This will be fun, he thought.
She was up to something, he thought a bit amused with the conversation he was hearing from the sitting room while he helped his aunt with breakfast. His uncle has joined Dudley and Nada, being his nicest upon his aunt's order and after he smelled the odor of money and authority as well. She had the ability to seem so nice, while she was actually offending them. He snorted loudly at her comment when Vernon told her what he does. "Oh," she said "Well, my dad always says that every job is important, even the most boring and the most insignificant looking ones".
He knew that he should feel bitter at the fact that he was playing the silent servant in that improvised play, but it was too amusing to sulk.
"..I told Dudley here that he will reach some great great places," he heard her saying, he was sure though that she told Dudley nothing of that sort- God she just met him, "once he loses several pounds" she continued, " and when he get rid of that slight stutter her has".
"I-I-d-don't stutter!" Dudley stuttered affronted.
"See?" she said and Harry assumed she was talking to his uncle "It is only very slight". He had to stifle a laugh at that, that he found it a bit hard to breathe.
By the time they retired from the sitting room to the dining room, Vernon's face was a nasty shade of purple, and one could fry an egg on Dudley's red cheeks.
"It's not much," Petunia guided Nada in "but it is the best traditional English breakfast you will eat"
Nada sat with grace that contradicted with her sportswear "Oh, I don't mind modest food" she said innocently "I am sure it will taste great".
Harry stood awkwardly beside the table not knowing what he should do. Normally he wouldn't eat with guests, but his aunt said nothing to dismiss him. Actually they were all so flustered that he thought maybe they forgot that he is there.
"Won't you sit Harry?" Nada addressed Harry for the first time. The sound of cutlery which has just started to scrape against china suddenly stopped.
His uncle seemed to be choking on his own tongue, his cousin fidgeted uncomfortably, and his aunt's mouth opened and closed like a fish.
Not waiting for their reply, Harry Spoke "Well-uh, I miss-counted- I will go get an extra plate"
His aunt looked surprisingly relieved by his reply, maybe she feared that he would say that his not normally allowed to eat with guests.
When Harry was back, and took a seat beside his cousin Nada was dominating the conversation "..and I told Daddy that Privet Drive would be just fine, no need to stay in a posh neighborhood when will move anyway to London".
His aunt looked a bit disappointed but she just gave her one of her fake smiles, while his uncle jumped in defense for the neighborhood "Privet Drive is one of the best neighborhoods in Surrey! " he said chewing on a fat sausage "the finest if I may say, very classy indeed!".
"Well," Nada said making a face and looking with poorly masked disgust at his loaded mouth "I can introduce you to my father, and then you can convince him"
Vernon and Petunia looked at each other with the excitement of a boy on Christmas morning, Harry never saw his uncle grin so widely that his beedy eyes disappeared where his cheeks met his brows. He could barely cover up his snort with a cough, earning a warning glare from his aunt.
"I will have to talk him in it a bit" Nada continued, maybe to distract his aunt "you know, he doesn't really like to mix with-uh- people" she left out like you in a fake attempt to be tactful.
They continued the meal with the awkward chit-chat, Nada being completely rude and polite at the same time, the Dursleys trying miserably to impress her, and Harry enjoying the show while he ate a magnificent full English breakfast.
"That was a Lovely morning Mrs. Dursley" Nada said pleasantly as Petunia Guided her out "I really enjoyed my time".
"Oh dear, please call me Petunia- I will be expecting another proper visit soon" his aunt replied with a high pitched laugh. Harry wondered what was so funny to even fake a laugh.
"Sure," Nada said "Oh, and I love your dress by the way".
Petunia looked down at her dress proudly, sliding her hands down it sides as if she was trying it on for the first time.
"Is it a Dior?" Nada asked, Harry didn't understand what she meant but the look on his aunt's face was priceless.
"Well, uh- No, but I do have a.."
"Ah-never mind" she waved her dismissively "It has a lovely cut, matches- you know, your pear shaped figure" she eyed her lower body with a smile "and your hair color- I love it! Not a singular white hair visible!" she said checking her hair with feigned astonishment "Where have you had it done?"
At this Petunia was finally losing it "I am naturally blonde" she said flatly but still maintain the friendly façade.
"Oh," Nada said curiously "I just assumed you know- because of the.." she gestured around her own eyes referring to wrinkles and dark circles "anyway- it was great meeting you" she smiled politely.
With that, and some final multiple goodbyes, Nada left, leaving a very self-consciences Petunia Dursley looking at her thighs in the hall mirror, checking her hair frantically as if she found one of Aragog's grand children in it
She would do great in Slythrin, Harry thought as he washed the dishes. If he hadn't known better he would have said that Nada was some kind of shape shifter, which changed in personality rather than in appearance. He was astonished at her ability to humiliate people by being so polite to them. He almost felt bad for the Dursleys about what she said to them, and that says something of her ability to be mean. His friend was a Slythrin personality shape shifter, he snorted.
Ron would be furious if he knew he had a Slythren friend, He thought as he dried the last dish, but Ron will never meet her, because she is not a witch, and she would never be a Slytherin because she doesn't even know that Hogwarts existed, that magic existed, and cold realization has dawned upon him. He was leaving in days, and he didn't tell her anything about it.
He was leaving and wouldn't see her for almost a year, and he didn't even mention it casually.
He strode towards the stairs feeling the sudden urge to hide in his room. However, he stopped abruptly at the sitting room threshold.
"Aunt Petunia?" he said with a curious voice.
" Emm" she didn't raise her eyes from the fashion magazine she was reading.
"What is a Dior?"
The china swan ornament hit the wall missing him as he ran upstairs.
AN/ I am very sorry for taking so long to update, unfortunately i won't be able to update as frequently because I am currently writing these last chapters. I will post my progress on the tumblr account though ( thegharibianfics ).
much love xx