Number 4, Privet Drive
── •✧• ──
𝐃𝐀𝐊𝐎𝐓𝐀 𝐃𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐒 nothing like her older twin brother, Dudley. He was the perfect golden child in their parents' eyes. She was, as her mother and father liked to call her. . .peculiar. Not that she understood why, of course. She didn't know that she was doing anything out of the ordinary, but with parents like hers that were prissy about things being proper and normal with logical explanations, she was constantly finding herself on thin ice for reasons that she couldn't quite explain.
Her cousin, Harry Potter, was the only one who seemed to understand. He had been scolded on many occasions for his hair growing back after it had just been cut, making a sweater that Petunia Dursley was trying to force him into shrink, and somehow making it to the roof of the school kitchens while running away from Dudley and his gang.
Dakota had similar experiences. One time when she was bored during the Sunday service at church, she had wished that something interesting would happen to make the sermon less boring. Almost instantly, the pages of the bible which the preacher was reading tore off and began flying around the chapel. Another time, she had accidentally caused Dudley's nose to bleed without even laying a hand on him.
Her mother would make excuses for her. She'd blame whatever happened on changes in the weather or something. But deep down, Petunia Dursley knew that her daughter was just as abnormal as her late sister, Lily Potter, her husband, James Potter, and their son, Harry. She mentioned nothing of this to her own husband, Vernon Dursley. If it wasn't talked about, then it wasn't real. She had a perfectly normal daughter, and the only strange one was her nephew.
Like normal people are able to make things happen just by thinking about them.
Dakota awoke on the 23 of June with a feeling of excitement bubbling in her stomach. It was the day of her 11th birthday; the one day a year when her parents would be forced to acknowledge her in a positive way. She got out of bed and dressed as usual before leaving her room to go downstairs.
Her twin brother was already out of his own room. Dudley ran down the stairs, stomping his feet extra loud to disturb Harry, who slept in the cupboard underneath the staircase.
"Wake up, cousin!" Dudley shouted, jumping up and down on the step. "We're going to the zoo!" He laughed and bounded down the rest of the way, slamming the door shut on Harry when he tried to crawl out. Harry let out a small grunt of pain and rubbed his head.
Dakota held the small door open for him and reached a hand out to help him up. "Are you okay, Harry?" she asked, concern in her voice.
"Fine," Harry replied quietly. "Happy birthday, Dakota. I made you this." He handed her a birthday card with a drawing of them on the front, the words Happy Birthday, Kody! written across in green crayon.
"Thank you, Harry." Dakota smiled and hugged her younger cousin. Together, they walked into the kitchen for breakfast, which Petunia was already ordering Harry to make.
Dakota frowned. She didn't like how her parents treated Harry as a personal servant instead of a nephew.
"How many are there?!" Dudley demanded to know as he stared at the pile of presents.
Dakota sighed and sipped her orange juice, eyeing the large pile of gifts that her parents had gotten for her twin. She rolled her eyes. He was so spoiled.
She was used to favouritism by now. Dakota, being "peculiar" like Harry, didn't get nearly as much attention from her mum and dad. She got less presents on their birthday and wasn't ever allowed more than what was given to her at meals, whereas Dudley could eat to his heart's content.
She didn't mind. She had Harry, who was more family to her than her parents or brother.
"Thirty-six." Vernon Dursley beamed at his son. "Counted them myself."
"Here comes the tantrum," Dakota muttered.
"Thirty-six?!" Dudley roared. "But last year— LAST YEAR I HAD THIRTY-SEVEN!"
"You could try being grateful for once, Dudley," Dakota grumbled.
"SHUT UP, DAKOTA!"
"Prat." She rolled her eyes.
"Yes, well, some of them are quite a bit bigger than last year's," Vernon said.
"I DON'T CARE HOW BIG THEY ARE!"
"Now, now, now, this is what we're going to do," Petunia said, kneeling down in front of Dudley. "When we go out, we're going to buy you two new presents. How's that, pumpkin?"
Dudley smiled, satisfied. He took his seat at the breakfast table and sent his twin sister a smug look. "Ya hear that, Dakota? I get thirty-eight presents. And how many have you got?" He looked over and counted the smaller pile next to his. "Oh, sad. You've only got five."
"I couldn't care less about birthday gifts, Dudley," Dakota said as she helped herself to a plate of pancakes. Her birthday was the one day a year when her parents would allow her to eat as much as she pleased. She snuck a few pancakes to Harry when no one was looking, and he stuffed them into his pockets for later.
After breakfast, the Dursleys and Harry got ready for their departure to the zoo. Dudley and Dakota were each allowed to invite one friend to come along. Dudley had picked his best friend, Piers Polkiss. He was a member of his gang that would hold kids' arms behind their backs while Dudley used them as a punching bag.
Dakota didn't have many friends at school. She usually stuck with Harry and a couple other low-profile students. Since Harry was already invited to come along with them, she decided to invite Aliyah Coleman, a black girl with voluminous curls whom she and her cousin both enjoyed spending time with.
"Fair warning, Dudley's being a bit of a prick this morning," Dakota whispered to her as they piled into the van.
"When is he not?" Aliyah chuckled quietly.
When Vernon was done threatening Harry to make sure he didn't try any "funny business", they pulled out of the driveway and were on their way to the zoo.
They spent the morning walking around and looking at the animals. During lunch, Dudley threw another tantrum over his dessert not having enough ice cream. As they walked to the reptile house after their meal, Dakota and Aliyah walked a little ways behind the others so that they could mock him without fear of being reprimanded.
Everything seemed to be going well. That was, until the snake incident.
"Make him move!" Dudley demanded as they stood around the glass and watched a python sleep.
Vernon banged on the glass. "Move!"
Dudley pounded on the glass when the snake didn't budge. "MOVE!"
"He's asleep!" Harry snapped at him. Dakota mimicked her brother's scrunched-up angry face, and Aliyah burst out laughing.
"He's boring," Dudley declared before walking away.
"Ugh, finally, some peace," Dakota said. She rested her arms on the railing surrounding the glass. She smiled a little as she watched the snake sleep. "You know, he's kinda cute."
"You wouldn't be saying that if he was roaming free, Kody," Aliyah said matter-of-factly. "But, yeah. From behind the glass, I guess he is a little cute. He looks so peaceful."
"I'm sorry about my idiot brother, Mr. Snake," Dakota apologized to the python.
"He doesn't understand what it's like," Harry added, sighing. "Lying there day after day. Watching people press their ugly faces in on you."
The snake raised his head. The three children gasped when it winked at Harry.
"You saw that too, right?" Aliyah asked, grabbing onto Dakota's arm. "He just winked!"
"Can you hear me?" Harry asked the snake in awe. He nodded, and the three kids exclaimed again. "It's just. . .I've never talked to a snake before. Do you. . .I mean. . .Do you talk to people often?" The snake shook his head. "You're from Burma, aren't you? Was it nice there? Do you miss your family?"
The snake gestured over to a sign on the wall, which read, Bred in captivity.
"Oh, you poor thing." Aliyah pouted softly.
"That's me as well," Harry said to the snake. "I never knew my parents, either."
"Mummy, Dad, come here!" Dudley shouted. He pushed Harry aside as he ran up to the glass cage. Like a domino effect, Harry bumped Dakota, who fell into Aliyah, and the three stumbled down to the floor. "You won't believe what this snake is doing!"
Harry and Dakota both glared at Dudley as he climbed up the railing and pressed his hands against the glass to get a better look. All of a sudden, the glass vanished, and he fell in.
The two cousins exchanged a look, and neither of them could help themselves from laughing a little. Aliyah covered her mouth with her hand, the crinkles by her eyes giving away the fact that she was smiling.
The snake slithered out of the cage. He nodded at the three kids and hissed thankfully at Harry. The reptile house filled with screams as he slithered away.
Dakota looked back to her brother. She sighed and stood up, deciding she'd be the bigger person and help him out. But when she held out her hand to him, the glass had magically returned.
Panic washed across Dudley's face. He pounded on the glass. "Dakota, do something!" he cried. "Mum! Mummy! Mum, help me!"
Petunia screamed. "My darling boy! How did you get in there?! Dakota, how did this happen?!"
"He fell in!" Dakota truthfully answered, raising her hands in surrender as she backed away from her mum. "I don't know how it happened, honest!"
But Vernon seemed to know exactly how it happened. He glared at Harry, and Dakota knew that her cousin was in for a world of hell when they returned home.
﹒⪩⪨﹒
( author's note ! )
you guys have no idea how excited i am about this story. i got the first six chapters written in 2 days, and i'm planning on writing more today. it'll definitely help with keeping updates more consistent whenever i get busy
but what do you guys think so far? i absolutely love comments, so please don't be a silent reader! it's super motivating for me, so let me know your thoughts!