Always (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

Chapter 2: The Zoo and a Boa

As it so happened, when Val woke up the next day, their usual babysitter, Mrs Figg, had broken her leg, rendering her unable to look after them. The Dursleys' idyllic plan to take Dudley out to the zoo seemed to slowly disintegrating.

She watched Petunia pacing around the living room, a hand in her hair. She was talking to her husband as if she and Harry weren't even here. To Val, it seemed like Petunia thought that she and Harry were slugs – foul and very stupid.

Her aunt and uncle's expression grew sourer and sourer as they realised that they had no choice but to take the two with them.

Val didn't know how to feel. On one hand she thought that she would really like the zoo (she had never been before). But on the other...it would mean more time with the Dursleys. And she guessed that something unfortunate was probably bound to happen.

"Happy birthday". She said dully to Dudley.

He looked up at her, seemed to think that she was being sarcastic, and burst into tears. His mother swiftly comforted him.

"It's alright Duddlykins. Mummy won't let them spoil your birthday."

Val groaned silently. It was going to be a long couple of hours. And if she heard 'duddlykins' or 'popkin' one more time, she was going to hurl.

Val looked over at Harry. He looked vaguely excited about the prospect of going to the zoo. She decided that she would be happy to, if only for his sake. Harry always got the worst end of things. For some reason the Dursleys usually treated him worse than the way they acted towards her, which was really saying something.

Val resolved to try to shut her mouth and make sure that nothing 'strange' happened.

The drive to the zoo started off uneventful, the air fraught with tension and mutual dislike. Val felt a bit uncomfortable so she stared outside the window and found herself dozing off.

Harry's voice bought her back with a jolt.

"I had a dream about a motorcycle," he said. "It was flying."

He seemed to realise his mistake as he spoke. Vernon's face was growing redder and redder. Val steeled herself.

"MOTORCYCLES DON'T FLY!" Her uncle roared.

"I know they don't," Harry said, at precisely the same moment that Val interjected – "It was just a dream".

Harry turned round to smile at Val. She smiled back and winked. Her uncle seemed to be so touchy about the weirdest of things. He couldn't possibly be scared off a dream...that was just bizarre.

Dudley's birthday fell on a Saturday, so when the group eventually arrived at the zoo, it was crowded and jam-packed.

The Dursleys strutted out in front, whilst Harry and Val lingered behind them. They all stopped why Mr Dursley pointed at a snake.

"Dudley! Come and look at the snake!" He shouted.

Dudley came parading there, and in his desperation to get a closer look, pushed Harry to the ground, with a dismissive - "Get out of my way".

Val felt anger rising in her. The next thing she knew, the glass vanished and the giant boa constrictor slithered out. As it glided away, Val swore that she heard something, heard it speak. But it couldn't be...

To say the least, Vernon was furious. Harry and her were confined to their chamber for a day with no food.

"Child abuse," Val whispered to Harry.

But, Harry seemed to be deep in thought. "Val..." He said slowly. "You...you didn't happen to hear anything did you."

Val stared at him for a second, before speaking.

"Okay, promise not to laugh? Well, I could have sworn that I heard 'Brazil, here I come – '"

"Thanksss amigos." Harry finished.

Val gaped at it. "What even..."

"Freaky," Harry said.

Sadly, they didn't have the chance to discuss this further. Vernon had realised that they were having their own little conversation, and yelled at them to stop talking.

Bemused at the fact that both her and Harry had seemed to hear a snake's thoughts, Val turned the corner to her room. She flopped herself onto her similarly cramped bed and scrunched her nose, looking up at the ceiling.

Taped to the roof was a photo of her and Harry, smiling with their arms around each others shoulders. Twin brother and twin sister. They had lived together ever since the car crash that had killed their parents.

It was strange however that they looked nothing alike. Where Harry's hair was so dark it was basically black, Val's was a deep chocolate colour. And where Harry's eyes were a bright green, Val's were a vivid blue, with flecks of silver imbedded in them.

Val remembered that her aunt had once remarked on how she remembered that Lily Potter and that 'disgusting freak husband of hers' had had green and hazel eyes respectively. There had been a cruel glint in her aunt's eyes then. A knowing look, that spoke of something unsaid. She had opened her mouth as if wanting to say more, but at the last minute, before the words left her lips, she seemed to have suddenly become tongue tied. Then she glared at Val (even though she had done nothing) and stalked away.

Val couldn't remember her mother at all. Her earliest memory was of a woman with long blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes, the exact same shade as hers. The memory always dissolved into something darker, a pair of red eyes that seemed to pierce her soul. That was strange too, for from the description it couldn't have been Lily Potter.

She shook away her contemplations. She had to stop wasting time think about stupid impossible things, and stop giving her aunt even more of a reason to call them 'freaks'.

Her stomach grumbled. That reminded her of the important task at hand: she would have to think of a way to steal some food off of her aunt and uncle. She'd be damned if she starved at their hands.