Phantom of the Chamber (DPxHP crossover)

Chapter 11: Dursleys

"Ah, Mr. Masters! Welcome to our home! Please, come in, come in." The man boomed in an effort to welcome them graciously to his home.

Danny shuffled inside after Vlad. The blonde boy stepped (more like waddled) in front of the two and blocked their path.

"May I take your coats, Mr. Masters and..." The boy trailed off, watery blue eyes locking onto Danny expectantly. The large man grinned proudly at his boy's action. By the boy's fake smile, it was obvious to Danny that the kid must have rehearsed his lines.

"Daniel Masters, but I would prefer to be called Danny," Danny answered.

Mr. Dursley looked at Vlad questioningly, "I wasn't aware that you were married or had a son..."

"Adopted, but he will be succeeding my company after me." Vlad smiled warmly at Danny.

Instantly the man's face lit up and he fixed Danny with a barely concealed calculating look. "Well Daniel, you can call me Vernon and this is my son, Dudley." Apparently, the man must have thought that by sucking up to Vlad Masters' son was an easier way to worm into Vlad's good graces.

Danny twitched in irritation as the man blatantly ignored his request and proceeded to call him 'Daniel'.

"It's nice to meet you, sir," Danny said, straining to sound pleasant. Ugh, he regretted coming here already... These people were getting on his nerves.

"Mr. Masters, you have such a well-mannered son!" The host exclaimed with exaggerated enthusiasm. "You have raised him well. Better than some other brats I know..." He finished darkly. His expression was fixed in a way as though he was thinking of some offensive trash that he would rather not be bothered with.

For a moment, Danny lost his emotionless mask to confusion as he saw Mr. Dursley do a complete 180 with his personality. But as quickly as it came, the utter disgust and hatred were soon replaced with the sickening overly sweet smile. Danny regained his composure, brushing off the strange occurrence as a trick of his mind. The stressful situation was making him paranoid. He barely even knew the man to make any sort of concrete judgment on him yet.

Danny broke out of his train of thoughts when he heard Dudley ask, "May I take your coats, Mr. Masters?"

Again the large man beamed at his son for performing the role of a courteous host flawlessly. He then proceeded to lead the two guests into the lounge.

"This lovely beauty here is my wife, Petunia." Mr. Vernon introduced the woman as she curtsied to the two.

Beauty? Danny thought incredulously. Danny seriously began to question the man's taste. She was anything but 'Beauty'. She had a long, horse-like face and her bony features were exaggerated with the unappealing salmon-pink cocktail dress she wore.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my lady." Vlad gently took her hand and gave it a chaste kiss. Danny refrained from rolling his eyes at the man's action. It was funny watching Petunia's flustered expression as she blushed pink at the attention.

Vlad and Danny were poured drinks and after some light conversation, they were shown to the dining room. The topics focused mainly on the Dursleys spewing endless compliments at Vlad.

Danny almost lost himself in a fit of laughter when Dudley's comment took the cake with, "We had to write an essay about our hero at school, Mr. Masters, and I wrote about you." Seriously? They had just met!

Danny wanted to gag at the obvious display of flattery. They were literally trying to butter Vlad up. He seriously hoped Vlad had enough sense to be able to tell what they were doing.