Abandoned But Happy

Chapter 1

Ten-year-old Harry hummed happily to himself as he moved around the kitchen, cooking breakfast for his family. They would be awake soon and he wanted everything to be perfect for his cousin's eleventh birthday. While Harry didn't have to cook breakfast every morning, he genuinely enjoyed it, especially on special occasions such as this one.

All around him, things were doing tasks on their own. The oranges were squeezing themselves and a butter knife was buttering toast as Harry kept a close eye on the bacon and eggs. Harry had always had this ability, and his family had no idea why, but they accepted him for it and encouraged him to improve his skill and control.

"Good morning, Harry, dear," Petunia greeted as she entered the room. She smiled at the sight of the floating objects. He was improving. "Thank you for making breakfast again."

Harry beamed at her. "Of course, Auntie!" he said cheerfully. "You know I love cooking for other people."

"I know," Petunia said with a fond smile. She lovingly kissed Harry's forehead and started to set the table.

"Ah, good morning, my little prince!" Vernon said as he entered the room, ruffling Harry's already messy raven hair.

"Uncle!" Harry whined, though a happy smile adorned his lips.

Harry quickly plated all the food and asked his powers to start washing the dishes.

When Dudley came down, Harry smiled widely and gave him a big hug. "Happy Birthday, Dud!" he cheered.

Dudley smiled back and sat down in his seat at the table. "Thanks, Harry! Ooh! You made my favorite!"

Harry smirked as Dudley immediately began devouring the food on his plate. "I'm glad you like it," he said joyfully, taking a bite of his own bacon.

After a nice breakfast, Dudley offered to clean up, but was waved off by Harry, who used his powers to clean and put away the dishes.

As usual, Dudley cheered in awe at Harry's powers. He thought they were the coolest thing ever.

"Present time!" Harry said happily, passing Dudley his first present.

Dudley ripped open the present and gasped excitedly at the baby tortoise that was lazing in a terrarium. "Oh, thank you, Mum and Dad!" he cheered.

The next present was from Harry. "Here you are," he said. He had spent the whole school year working for it and hoped his cousin liked it.

After opening the present, Dudley practically squealed in happiness. "You didn't!" he said in disbelief.

Harry smirked. "I did."

Harry had spent the whole school year working as an assistant for the theater teacher, who had lots of connections, and had spent half of his savings on a paid trip to New York for him and Dudley, with VIP tickets to Dudley's favorite musical on Broadway. He had asked his aunt and uncle first and both had agreed that they could go and stay with a friend they had in the U.S. for a few weeks.

Dudley launched himself at his cousin and hugged him tightly. "Have I ever told you that I love you?" he asked rhetorically.

Harry laughed. "Maybe once or twice," he teased.

After presents, the family of four loaded into the car and headed to the zoo, where they immediately got ice cream cones from the ice cream truck. Harry got chocolate and Dudley got strawberry.

They wandered throughout the zoo, talking and laughing with each other. When they reached the reptile house, Harry made a beeline with Dudley to a Brazilian Boa.

"Stupid people!" he heard a hissy voice. "Always staring at me! Go away, dumb humans!"

Harry stared at the snake with wide eyes. "Dud?" he whispered. "Dud, I think the snake just spoke."

Dudley's eyes grew very wide. "Try saying something back!"

Harry tilted his head. "I'm sorry for staring. We've never seen such a majestic snake before. Your scales are so beautiful."

"A speaker?" the snake hissed curiously. "Hello, Little Speaker."

"Hello," he replied. "This is my cousin, Dudley. My name is Harry."

Dudley was staring at Harry with adoration in his eyes. He couldn't understand his cousin, but he knew he was speaking with the snake.

After speaking with the snake a bit more, Harry and Dudley wandered off to a different area. They both had their phones on them, so they weren't worried about getting separated from their family.

"So, Harry, are you going to try out for that play too?" Dudley asked as they wandered around the gift shop.

Harry nodded excitedly. "I can't wait for auditions!" he exclaimed happily. "I'm hoping to get the lead, but I can easily see you taking it instead since it's not a musical."

Both boys were in a theater program that worked with their school, but was a separate program. They were both the top actors and competed for lead nearly every production. Usually, Harry got any musical leads because his voice was angelic, but Dudley's was good too.

The boys were top of their classes as well, and Harry was the most popular kid in the school: the top of the food chain. He was known for being proficient in nearly anything he tried and was always kind. Dudley was also popular and was known for being Harry's right hand.

See, their school was different from most. There was an official student leadership. Every year, one student was chosen as the "Prince" of the school, and every year, it had been Harry. The "Princess" was his partner. It had been Gloria Hopkins until she had graduated the year prior. Now, Harry was awaiting the decision of his new partner.

The Prince and Princess had duties, of course. Both had to actively be involved in the Student Council and had to attend staff meetings. It was mainly their job to make sure that the students were not being bullied and got the proper help they needed to thrive. For example, Harry noticed one girl in his year was struggling to see the board and brought it to the school's attention before accompanying her to an eye exam and helping her family, who were fairly poor and had little money for glasses, to pay for them with his savings.

After their trip to the zoo, which ended with getting more ice cream to celebrate Harry's newfound power, the Dursleys drove back to their house on Privet Drive.

On the way, Harry came up with a speech for his aunt and uncle to try and convince them to get him a snake. He figured it wouldn't be hard, as long as he made the right points and promised to take care of it.

"Auntie, Uncle?" he said at dinner, catching Dudley's wink of encouragement.

"Yes, my little prince?" Vernon asked.

"Could I have a snake? I promise I will take care of it and everything! I just think it would be a good way to practice my new power. Besides, it would be nice to have another friend, and we can register it as an emotional support animal so it can help me calm down and control my emotions better."

"That's not a bad idea," Vernon mused. "And, it can help you defend yourself too."

Harry nodded along encouragingly. Perhaps he could even get a venomous one! "So?" he asked eagerly.

Petunia and Vernon exchanged smiles. "Alright, Harry," Petunia said. "You can go on down to the pet store after school tomorrow."

"Yes!" Harry cheered. "Thank you so much!"

The rest of the night was filled with happy laughter and joy before the family retired to their rooms for bed. After all, they had school in the morning.

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I don't know if anyone noticed, but I changed Dudley's birthday. It's no longer in the summer, but the beginning of the school year. He's also almost a whole year older than, though they're in the same year at school.