A Privet Phone Call
On the 29th of July 1990 Harry Potter walked excitedly over to the telephone in Aunt Petunia's sitting room and dialed the number for the Grimore Residence. It had been seven months since the day of the party and Harry had to admit life had really only gotten better since that day, though it really began with him meeting Griselda at the playground in Little Whinging at the beginning of December.
Soon however, things would be even better, because for once Harry had a birthday to look forward to rather than dread. Letting the telephone ring Harry waited impatiently, tapping his foot. The Dursleys were out thankfully but one could never get too complacent, they could be home any moment and if they caught him on the phone there would no doubt be hell to pay.
The telephone rang for just a minute before Griselda picked it up. “Harry?”
“Who else, Griselda I was wondering…”
Flustered by Harrys snark, Griselda clapped back with some of her own.
“Oh, were you Harry? I didn't know you wondered.”
Harry groaned to himself, Griselda was not the one to cross words with that was for sure. “I- wanted to ask If I could spend my birthday with you and your mother. Cant trust the Dursleys not to use my birthday to get back at me for foiling their torment the last few months.”
Harry explained calmly and clearly, in the last seven months he had opened up to Griselda more and more. She knew how his relatives really were and it eased his burden, having someone to vent to about it. He could speak without feeling embarrassed or worried to receive overly sweet pity, Griselda knew how to handle his feeling without making him feel a fool and Harry massively appreciated that.
“Oh sure thing Harry, why not come over now, spend the next few days, we can have lots of fun!”
“I don't know.. If Uncle Vernon would want me staying over, he thinks I'm some problem child whos going to destroy poor Mrs. Grimore the sweet widow's house if left alone.
“Well then Harry! We won't leave you alone, not for one minute. I was thinking Harry, could we have Remus over on the day, he's your godfather after all, probably the only family you’ve got left unless you count some distant cousins. Not that anyone does, purebloods as a whole tend to be rather inbred so I'm sure those cousins are everyone's cousins.
Harry laughed, that was a ridiculous thing to say! “You’re not serious are you?...”
“...” Griselda was silent over the telephone giving Harry time to laugh more awkwardly this time…
“You are?... Seriously… Aren't you?”
“...”
“Ugh seriously?”
“Yup!” Griselda chirped, sounding far more pleased to hear his disgust than she should be. “Merlin's Beard! It's gross Isn't it?”
“Ugh totally!” Harry groaned, who in their right mind thought that screwing your cousin was a good idea? It sounded disgusting, repulsive and utterly bizarre, but he supposed from what Griselda had told him there was quite a bit of odd behavior among the elites of the wizarding world. In a world of people that once supported a genocidal inhuman looking maniac incest was a rather low bar after all.
“So Harry, what do you want for your birthday?”
“Oh, I don't know, I've never really gotten anything…” Harry trailed off, sighing heavily.
“Ugh that's awful, those rotten Dursleys I Swear someday I'm going to hex them into the next world for the way they treat you! Muggle baiting laws be damned, they deserve it!” Griselda was angry on Harry’s account hearing just how poorly his relatives had treated him, it was not too much to ask for one measly present.
“It's so not fair Zel, Dudley always gets at least twenty, or else he’ll throw a fit rival to the eruption of Mt Vesuvius…”
“TWENTY??! Oh you must be joking, that is utterly ridiculous I say. I don't get half that and mother is far more well off than the Dursleys. That's far too many really, over indulgent and probably makes Dudley more of a spoiled brat.”
Harry smirked as he curled his legs up to lounge on Aunt Petunia's floral monstrosity of a couch, it's not like they would be back for another hour at the earliest. “You’ve got that right Zel, and no I'm not joking, it's a bloody travesty.
“We should get you at least ten Harry, make up for lost time, maybe twenty to make it fair enough, you know you deserve that.”
“Oh gosh Zel, that's too much I swear! I could never know what to do with twenty presents, not to mention it would be hard to sneak that many past the Durslesys.”
“Who said you need to sneak them, some will be muggle in origin so you can walk them right through the front door. And others, we can keep over here. You’ll need them for Hogwarts.”
“For Hogwarts?”
“Well harry, you didn't think mother would let you get away with spending your family gold on pewter cauldrons did you? Plenty of purebloods inherit theirs unless their family is stupid rich, only those so capable would waste money when they’ve got perfectly fine ones at home.”
“That makes sense… I mean, where are my manners! Thank you Zel, was this your idea or Mrs. Grimore?”
“It was mama of course. I wanted to get you a nice nimbus, she said no, of course.”
“Why would you get me a broom? I can't even fly!”
Griselda snorted and he could hear her giggling against the rushing of wind, of course she was sitting in the sitting room with the windows upon now that it was warm weather. “Don't be silly Harry, you’ll be a right natural im sure of it, just wait and see. It's of course second year which we get to try out for quidditch but that will come soon enough, first year is a breeze.”
“Why do we have to wait till the second year of Hogwarts?” Harry was perplexed, in a society when most children seemed to be flying since they could walk. Why would it be banned for first years when most children at Hogwarts were of wizarding ancestry?
“Too many injuries to firsties I reckon, lotta bright careers ended by a bad crash leading to fear I would assume, so they banned it for the safety of quidditch talent. And of course to avoid disorderly conduct, children and flying brooms tend to be a recipe for disaster, especially when you add muggleborns to the mix”
“You're right I suppose.” Harry sighed, “it would have been nice to bring a broom along though, but I can wait.”
Sensing the melancholy in Harry’s voice Griselda attempted to rouse him. “Oh come on, cheer up Harry! When you come over we can play in the back, I have some easy-learner brooms, you’ll be tasting the breeze in no time!”
Harry smiled, “Thanks Zel, you always know the best way to cheer me up somehow.”
“Don't mention it Harry, see you laterrrrrr.” And with that Griselda hung up.