Their Love Child: Book One

Chapter One

I was sleeping when someone turned on the hallway light then I hear Harry's aunt, Petunia, "Up. Get up!" She bangs on the cupboard door. I hear it unlock. "Now!" She yells. Both Harry and I sleep in the tiny cupboard under the stars. It's small, but better than the streets, I guess.

My father is stuck in Azkaban and my other father is... I'm not really sure where he is. I remember staying with him until I was about three, then I went to stay with the Dursley's and Harry.

I sit up and turn on the light. Harry puts on his glasses. I put in my contacts to make my eyes dark brown. The Dursley's don't like my pale gray eyes. Suddenly, we hear Dudley. He stomps down the stairs causing the wood dust to fall down on us. "Wake up, cousin! We're going to the zoo!" Dudley yells Harry opens the door. "Harry, you might want to wait," I tell him. He ignores me and starts to walk out. Dudley pushes him back in and closes the door. "I warned you. He does that every time, you'd think you'd learn by now." "You'd think I would," Harry replies. We laugh a little, then go into the kitchen to make breakfast.

"Here he comes, the birthday boy," Petunia says to Dudley. "Happy birthday, son," Vernon joins in. We walk in to see Petunia and Dudley giving each other nose kisses. She turns to face us, "Cook breakfast and try not to burn anything." "Yes, Aunt Petunia," Harry replies. "I want everything to be perfect for my Dudley's special day." They walk over to the presents as Harry and I cook. "Hurry up! Bring my coffee, boy," Vernon barks. "Yes, Uncle Vernon." I put the food on the plates as Harry brings him his coffee.

"Aren't they wonderful, darling," Petunia asks Dudley. "How many are there?" "Thirty-Six. Counted them myself," Vernon brags. He didn't, I did. "Thirty-Six?! But last year I had thirty-seven!" Dudley whines. "But some are bigger than last year's." "I don't care how big they are!" "This is what we are going to do. Is that when we go out, we're going to buy you two new presents. How's that, pumpkin?" Petunia says, trying to calm Dudley down.

***

We head out to the car. "It should be a lovely day at the zoo," Petunia says as she walks to the car. "I'm really looking forward to it." Before Harry and I can get in, Vernon closes the door on us. "I'm warning you now. Any funny business, any at all and you won't have any meals for a week. Get in."

***

We're standing in front of a snake habitat. He's sleeping, but Dudley is being impatient. Dudley whines, "Make it move!" Vernon bangs on the glass, "Move!" The snake doesn't move so Dudley bangs on it and yells even louder. "MOVE!" "He's sleeping!" Harry yells back. "He's boring." They walk away, leaving Harry and I with the snake. "I'm going to check out the sloths. Try to stay out of trouble, Har." "Right back at you," Harry replies.

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"Sorry about him. He doesn't understand what it's like, lying there day after day. Watching people press their ugly faces in on you." One of the snake's eyes blinks at me, almost like a... wink? "Can you hear me?" The snake nods. "It's just... I've never talked to a snake before. Do you talk to people often?" The snake shakes its head. "You're from Burma, aren't you? Was it nice there? Do you miss your family?" I ask. The snake moves its head to point to a sign saying, 'Bred in captivity'. "I see. That's me as well. I never knew my parents either." "Mummy, Dad, you won't believe what this snake is doing!" Dudley runs over and pushes me to the ground. He presses his face up to the glass.

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I help Harry up. "You okay?" I ask. He nods and turns back to Dudley, who is still pressing his face on the glass. "I wish he was trapped in there. Then maybe he'd know how it feels to be falsely imprisoned," Harry whispers to me. Suddenly, the glass disappears, and Dudley falls in. Harry and I look at each other in shock. The snake slithers out and onto the floor. The snake hisses, and Harry... Harry hisses back? The snake slithers off. People around start screaming. Dudley stands up and tries to get out of the Habitat, but instead of his hands being able to reach out, they just touch the glass. The glass had reappeared like nothing had happened. "Mum! Mummy! Help me!" Dudley whines. Petunia screams, "My darling boy! How did you get in there? Who did this? Is there a snake?" Harry and I couldn't help but laugh. Vernon stares at us with a very angry look, which makes our smiles fade and laughs go silent.