Dudley and Harriette sat together on the bed he was going to be using watching the late night Cartoon that was playing. Dudley braiding Harriette's hair for the night. They didn't get to to do this every night even after becoming closer but they did do it sometimes. They both seemed to enjoy the ritual as a something that soothed them when they were able to do it.
Harriette liked the way her hair looked braided, and Dudley enjoyed the being that could be done in. That's what he'd told Harriette once when she'd asked. So, that's what the two were doing right then. Harriette yawned a little. She was more tired then she'd ever been, but it was a good tired. A soft warm kind of tired.
"Did you have a good day? Or a bad one?" Dudley asked.
"What do you mean?" Harriette asked curious.
"I just want to know if I should stage some sort of rescue tomorrow," Dudley joked. Harriette snorted out a half laugh.
"No, I had fun, the most fun I've ever had," Harriette informed.
"That's good," Dudley said. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah," Harriette said. "I made lots and lots of new friends. I played lots and lots of different games. I got friendship bracelets!" She showed off the bracelets that she'd tucked away in her pocket for safe keeping. "I learned a lot about... well I learned lots and lots. I think I might have learned more then I even do at school!" Harriette said.
"Of course you'd enjoy learning," Dudley said, but the teasing was filled with a warmth. Harriette stuck her tongue out like she'd seen his friends do once or twice. She quickly pulled her tongue back in. She didn't like that at all. She'd do something else then.
"It's not my fault that there are a lot of interesting things in the world," Harriette decided she liked that much better. "Besides, you memorized a whole video game cut scene, don't lie I heard you!" She tried to put as much warmth in it as he'd somehow put into his, in the end she thinks she managed.
When Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were coming back Harriette slipped back into the bathroom to hide. Harriette decided not to listen in on whatever was being said behind the door. It took a while for them to stop talking, then Harriette was extracted from Dudley's bathroom and taken to the room her Aunt and Uncle shared. There she was shuffled into the bathroom and the door shut hard.
"Not another sound out of you for the rest of the night," Uncle Vernon had said, then added before shutting the door. "I mean it, Boy, don't cause any trouble for me or else!" Then, the bathroom was plunged into darkness. This meant Harriette would be alone for the rest of the night. She was fine with that. She pulled her backpack and shuffled through the smaller middle pocket to pull out her small hand light. She turned it on and placed it on the floor, then began freeing items from the tight confines of her book bag. She pulled out her Sun and Moon Plushies first since they were on top, then she pulled her blanket and the clothes she'd been allowed to have. She shuffled through her things to one of her clear pairs of socks and unrolled it, freeing her friend from her confines. Miss Spider looked at her curiously, as Harriette opened her jar. Miss Spider the third obediently stayed put while Harriette pulled out the jaw that contained her food. She happily watched as Miss Spider monched on her bettle snack, snuggling her Sun and Moon plushies. She imagined Mr. Sun and Mr. Moon being there with her in the dark, and smiled into her plushie. She'd have to put everything away before going to sleep but she was still happy.
Harriette woke to someone pulling her to her feet and then shoving something large and heave and mostly soft into her. She woke up enough to recognize it as her backpack and catch it before she was shoved out of the small room, a bathroom and onto a couch.
"Sit there, and don't cause any trouble boy!" Uncle Vernon growled. Harriette settled there waking up from her sleepy state. She didn't recognize the room she was in. Ah, right a hotel. The Dursley's were on vacation and she'd been brought along. She'd been made to sleep in the bathroom. Then yesterday came back to her. She remembered making friends. Playing at the daycare. Mr. Sun and Mr. Moon. Harriette's heart picked up speed as she woke more and more. Excitement buzzed in her heart. She was going back to the daycare. She was going to see her friends. She would hear Mr. Moon tell stories and play with Mr. Sun. Mayla, and Genni and Emelia and Katrina and Katie and Matty would all be there too. She had friends, aside from Miss. Spider. She was going to see them today, and soon. She'd get to add more spiders to her spider booklet. She'd get to draw and play. She wouldn't be considered bad for feeling overwhelmed. She was allowed to be Harriette, actually be Harriette. She didn't remember that last time that she'd been able to do that. She had to fight the urge to smile while the Durley's bustled about getting ready. Soon she'd be in a way better place. The best place.
"Alright get back into the bathroom, Freak," Uncle Vernon growled. Harriette's heart sank. Why was she being put into the bathroom? She was good, she'd stayed still and quiet and hadn't fidgeted or asked questions or been bad. She didn't understand. She stood, a little distantly.
"What restaurant will we be going to?" Dudley asked. Oh, oh right, they'd said they'd be eating first before going to the plex last night in the car. Harriette's heart soared. She hadn't been bad somehow without knowing it. She shuffled the rest of the way into the bathroom while Uncle Vernon answered. She waited listening to the sound of her relatives as they finished getting ready, then began her own efforts to get ready. She brushed her hair with her fingers as best she could. She thought about using the shower but she didn't want to get into trouble when the day was looking to be so good. She investigated the cabinet under the sink and found what she'd hoped for. A toothbrush, she rinsed it and brushed her teeth. She washed herself with the sink and a rag, that would be easier to hide since it was so small. She drank some water, and then all she could do was wait. She didn't want to risk getting absorbed into one of her school books and not notice when her relatives came back. Besides she'd be able to do all kinds of stuff later.. She put on her backpack and tucked her head in her arms and against her knees and took a short nap since she couldn't do anything else. Uncle Vernon once again pulled her to her feet, and consciousness in one single motion. She stood, rubbing her eyes as he dragged her to the car.
"Unbelievable, how ungrateful can you be," He grumbled. "Seriously, boy, what makes you so special you get to sleep in while the decent folk go about doing proper things. Harriette felt bad. She'd thought that napping would be a good thing, but she guessed she'd been wrong.
"Sorry," Harriette said.
"Oh, your sorry are you? Hear that everyone, the boy says he's sorry," Uncle Vernon Snarked. "Whatever?" He practically yanked Harriette off her feet. She hated when he called her boy. It was better, at least it wasn't completely the opposite of what Harriette was. After all Harriette was a freak. She followed silently behind. She hadn't meant to be bad by napping. She'd just wanted to be quiet. Like he wanted her to be. Uncle Vernon dragged her until they were outside and by the car. He let her go only then. "Get in." He growled. Aunt Petunia and Dudley were already seated. Petunia kept giving her weird glances almost like she was worried. Dudley looked at them openly concern written on his face. "Don't worry Dudley," Uncle Vernon said getting into the drivers seat as Harriette quickly scrabbled in and turned her backpack so it was seated in her lap instead of keeping her from sitting properly. "What's that you got there, Freak?" Uncle Vernon growled, noting the pack for possibly the first time.
"It's things that Harry's cupboard, dear," Aunt Petunia said. "I wanted to clean it out, check for contraband and such." She sniffed. "I decided I didn't want to deal with his things while scrubbing." she finished. "So I just had Harry keep them on him. It seems he didn't get the hint that he was supposed to put them back. Isn't that right Harry?" Harry, Harry, Harry; Harriette hated being called Harry. She wasn't a boy, she wasn't Harry. Only her parents could call her that. They'd died before she was a girl anyway. Harry died, died with his parents in that car crash, or maybe in that cupboard or maybe it was even before that but Harriette was PM me if you want to role play I gotta do some stuff at home so I'll be around but not staring and refreshing chat all day. I'm down to RP anytime not Harry. She tried to ignore that, the icky, sad, wrong feeling that being called Harry left her with. Harriette forced herself to nod.
"Answer the question, boy," Uncle Vernon growled. Harriette flinched. She was okay, she wouldn't be with them much longer, then she'd be able to be Harriette. Mr. Sun would do her hair the way he'd done Genni's. She'd put on her friendship bracelets and hold hands with Emelia and she'd- she'd be herself again soon.
"Yes sir," Harriette answered. "Sorry, sir." Harriette hated answering to boy. Freak was better, at least she was a freak.
Mayla, Fred, and Georg were all running to go down the slide again, when Harriette came in that day. She was wearing the same clothes as yesterday, and she was wearing the trash in her hair again. She also was still wearing her backpack. The Man with her, probably her uncle was yanking her along. When he arrived at the daycare sign in desk, Adriana, the woman working there, looked them over before telling him that she needed to talk to him a quick wink to them. The three of them quickly pulled Harriette along with them on to the slide, before the man could do anything to stop them.
Harriette giggled as they slid down the slide. Once they were all down, Sun scooped them up first Harriette and Mayla then Fred and George who'd started throwing plastic balls at each other. Once they were out of the ball pit, actually he put the twins down in another part of the ball pit to continue their game.
"That spot is a bit less deep than the slide and also isn't going to get you toppled over by a kid coming down." While he'd been doing that Harriette had shuffled through her bag to pull out her Sun and Moon Plushies. "How are you today Harriette?" Sun asked, crouching down to see meet her eyes.
"I'm better now that I'm here," Harriette said, smile growing.
"Have you eaten?" Sun asked. Harriette frowned, shaking her head.
"It's alright, I'm not hungry," Harriette said, then her stomach growled and she buried her face into the backs of her plushies.
"Well, that just won't do," Sun said. "I'm not allowed to let any kids go hungry in the daycare." Sun said. "C'mon, I'll have a snack early if you want." Harriette blushed but nodded. "Good! Good! Good!" Sun said, leading them to a table. "How would you like me to fix your hair?" Harriette smiled and nodded.
"My granny, and Grand-paw brought some for everyone, and they work here now. Maybe they have some clothes for Harriette to borrow as well," Mayla said, jumping into the ball pit to play with Fred and George, so Sun and Harriette could do what they needed.
"Oh," Harriette smiled at Mayla. "Maybe I can work here someday." But the smile faded a little. "Probably not though. I won't be here by next week." Sun ruffled her hair. "Wait! You can't let me borrow your clothes! They'll get all ruined, and Vernon will burn them."
"Never said they were mine silly, I am too big and tall for mom's old clothes so it is better if they are given to someone who could use them rather than throwing them away," Mayla said.
"Oh." Harriette said hesitantly. "That- that's probably fine. Uncle Vernon might not be as mad about it. But he doesn't think I should be mooching off other people's kindness."
"Nonsense!" Mr. Sun and Mayla said together. Mr. Sun was the one to continue after a second. "You're the one being kind. Right Mayla?" She nodded as answer, before being hit in the face with one of the ball pit balls. "They're taking up aaaalllll that space at their house. Mrs. Raywood was just talking about that. Wasn't she, Mayla?"
"Yepper, Sun" Mayla said with a smile on her face, she'd captured one of the twins, presumably the one who'd beamed her in the face.
"See you're helping them clean their house," Sun winked and Harriette giggled. "Be gentle with each other Mayla, George." He patted Harriette on the shoulder. "Let's get you something to eat."
Harriette was now in a new shirt, it had a big ink stain on the back but it didn't have any holes and the fabric was soft without any frayed edges or worn fabric. The shorts were clean and crisp even with the stains that dotted its front or back. Harriette was eating a pancake with blueberries on it, while Sun helped comb and braid her hair. She felt like a whole new, actually real, girl. Mayla and Emelia were talking about things they could do. Fred and George, Harriette was starting to figure out which was which, were talking about a joke they'd played on their older brother Percy. He was really bossy and even Mr. Sun agreed that he shouldn't have been bossing Fred and George around that way, even if he still didn't think the joke was a nice way of getting him back.
"It's always better to talk about your problems," Sun said. "Otherwise how will the other person know?"
"We tried telling him not to boss us around," Fred, Harriette was nearly sure of it, said with annoyance.
"Really?" Sun said skeptically.
"Mom said not to too," George said.
"Why don't you like Percy telling you what to do?" Sun asked.
"He's not that much older than us," George answered.
"Because he acts like he knows everything when he doesn't," Fred added.
"He'll do it to Bill and Charlie too," George added.
"He doesn't let us have any fun," Fred adds.
"He also told us not to help the littles," Harriette added. "I've never been told not to help before, but I didn't like how he said it. He acted like I didn't know anything." Harriette said. She was finished with her breakfast now and hummed happily. Sun was nearly finished with her hair, it was short and fine so a little hard to manage but he was pretty proud of how the braids turned out. Harriette patiently waited for Sun to finish.
"I think he would make a good squeak toy," Mayla said, biting the air. Harriette giggled, the twins fully laughed, and Sun made a discouraging sound.
"We do not chew on other children," Sun said. "Even the ones who deserve a little chewing." that got the kids into a full blown laughing fit. Sun couldn't help but feel a little warmer as Harriette giggled. Sun was surprised at that thought, but brushed it off as Harriette just having a hard life and being glad she had somewhere safe to go, and being part of the one to provide that for her. Yeah that was it. Just normal concern for a child with unusually bad circumstances. But the thought of Harriette's eyes softening as the little boy she tucked in thanked her made him second guess that assessment.
Okay, so now I'm fully in it. The majority of the scenes need to be written before I can add them so I'll be even slower to add them. Especially since I'm having a hard time figuring out how much of the kids just being kids scenes I should make. Feed back would be possibly helpful.