Redux

  At the same time Harry was shaking dust from his hair in the cupboard under the stairs, Hermione woke up gently in a plush bed in her childhood bedroom. She laid there for a little while, trying to remember her dream, but all she could remember was a boy with glasses and that she really wanted to go see the snakes at the zoo. She made her bed, and grabbed clothes for the day. After showering and brushing her teeth, she went downstairs to help her mother make breakfast. While beating eggs to scramble, she looks up and asks, “Mum, *I was thinking*, could we go to the zoo today? I wanted to look at the Big Cats and the Reptile House.” Hermione didn’t quite realize the magic she put behind those words, but her mother thought about it for a short while, and nodded her head in answer as she put sausages in the pan. They continued to make and eat breakfast together, as Hermione’s father was already at the office. Her parents switched off going to work and taking care of Hermione in the summer. After breakfast, the two Grangers cleaned up after themselves, and worked together to plan their trip. After packing a healthy lunch, they got in the car and headed to the zoo.

  Harry, on the other hand, did not have as simple of a morning. He took over cooking breakfast from Aunt Petunia, and made sure not to burn anything as Dudley was fussed over. After serving everyone else, he was allowed two pieces of toast that were supposed to be dry, but he surreptitiously dipped pieces into the leftover sausage grease. He stood aside while the rest of the family ate, and started washing dishes while Dudley opened presents. The Dursleys kept giving Harry disturbed glances throughout the morning, as last night they were informed that they’d have to bring him along for their outing. Harry didn’t mind though, he was able to get out of the house, and he’d take any mean look or insult over doing chores or sitting with Mrs Figg’s many, many cats.
Piers Polkiss, Dudley’s best friend, knocked on the door just before 11, and after handing Dudley a tin of biscuits and asking why “the freak” was standing like he was coming with, not happy with the answer he was given, turned right back out the door and stood by the car. Everybody climbed in, Harry ended up sitting behind the seats like a bag of groceries. He stayed quiet the whole trip, even when he wanted to mention a dream he once had about a flying motorcycle, he felt a *need* to keep that to himself. He didn’t say anything even as he had to climb over the seats to get out and Dudley stepped on his hand. He did remember something from his dream last night, and as his uncle was about to buy a lemon ice lolly to save face at the ice cream parlor, Harry asked quietly, “*Uncle Vernon*, could I have a strawberry lolly instead?” Uncle Vernon went as red as a strawberry himself before changing the order, mumbling about Harry’s nerve to actually speak, and how at least the two treats were the same price.

  Harry and Hermione wandered around the zoo with their respective families, just barely missing each other. One family would walk away from an exhibit, just as the other arrived. They even ate only a few meters from each other, Hermione enjoying sandwiches and fruit, while Harry got Dudley’s leftover knickerbocker glory. After lunch, they all ended up in the reptile house together, Dudley and Piers going straight for the biggest snake there, while Hermione wandered around the outside of the exhibit looking at the lizards and smaller snakes first. She made it to the big boa just in time for the boys to walk away and to catch Harry start talking to the snake. She could understand what Harry was saying, but not what the snake responded with.

“Sorry about them, they’re always like that.”
“No need to apologize Speaker, their actions are not yours. The big one nearly broke the clear wall, that would have upset the humans.”
“You can talk? Wait, you called me Speaker, so am I talking to you differently? Not the weirdest thing that has happened around me. Neat. And, yeah, he does that. His parents would have kept him out of trouble, or blamed me”
“The bigger one and the stick? Why would they have blamed you?”
“They just do, I don’t even question it anymore. It’s how my whole life has gone.”
“I have lived my whole life behind clear walls, and even I know that is not normal behavior. You need protection, Speaker, not blame for the actions of others. If I could get past the wall, I would protect you. The other serpents tell tales of Speakers, and their power. But you are just a hatchling, you will grow into the tales.”
“I don’t know how to get you out, but I thank you for the offer. It’s nice to know someone thinks I’m special. My name is Harry by the way, do you have a name?”
“The humans call me ‘Boa 26’ but the other serpents call me ‘Oaktail’ I much prefer the serpent name.”

  It was at this moment that the other boys noticed the snake moving and pushed Harry to the ground in order to watch it. Hermione acted on instinct and ran over to help the small boy off the ground. When they stood up, they looked each other in the eyes. “You’re the one from my dream!” they said in unison. Hermione pulled him off to the side, as a few memories slipped into her mind like a bookmark falling out of a book. “I’m Hermione Granger, you’re Harry Potter, and that snake your relative is ogling needs to go home with you. I don’t know why, or how, but that’s what I remember from the dream, which I don’t think is a dream.” She spoke rapidly and quietly, shielding Harry from being noticed by his family. “Your family is not very nice, are they?” “They’re not really family, they’re just related to me. And no, they’re far from nice.” Harry replied with a frown, “I have no idea how to steal a snake from a zoo, but Oaktail said he would protect me if I could get him out”.
“He talked back to you? That’s so cool! And his name is Oaktail? We definitely have to help him.” Hermione all but shouted in excitement. The noise drew Dudley’s attention, and he leaned sideways on the glass, and sneered at his cousin.
“So, the freak found a friend? Is she a freak too? Must be, to be friends with you. Mum! Dad! Harry found a friend!” Dudley laughed as his parents looked over, and Piers leaned on the glass to stop from falling over as he laughed too. Harry glared at the boys, wanting them to stop laughing at them. He knew he couldn’t say anything, not with what usually happened.

  All of a sudden the glass separating the bullies from the boa vanished. The boys fell in, and the boa slithered out. Petunia ran over to help her son and his friend out of the mess, fussing over the birthday boy like he had been attacked. Vernon was still a ways off and started stomping his way over to Harry with obvious harmful intent. Oaktail looked back at his enclosure, before finding Harry off to the side. He slid around the adult Dursleys before approaching the small boy and wrapping his tree-like tail protectively around both children’s feet and ‘stood’ almost to Harry’s height. He told Harry that he knew the girl (she-hatchling) was very special and needed protection too.
Hermione’s mother nearly fainted when she turned to see what the commotion was about and saw her daughter wrapped up by a very large snake. But she also noticed that her daughter, and the snake apparently, were protecting a very small looking boy from an enormous, and purple-faced, man. She walked up, and put a comforting hand on each of the children’s shoulders, surprised when the snake looked back like it was assessing her and turned back to the threat. Vernon, startled, stopped his angry actions, and looked like he was reassessing the situation, now that an adult had inserted themselves.

  “Is there a problem sir? You seem to have been approaching my daughter with malicious intent.” Dr. Granger asked, knowing full well that the man had been approaching the boy.
Vernon’s demeanor changed immediately, “No ma’am, I was actually coming to her aid, as my nephew, the boy hiding behind her, is extremely prone to violent fits and I didn’t want him to hurt her.” He was lying through his teeth, and it was obvious.
“Sir, your nephew seems to be scared frozen, if the trembling is anything to go by. Even this snake sees you as a threat. Reptiles are very intelligent creatures, and I can not, in good conscience, believe that it would protect the antagonist in a situation. Try again please, or I will have to call security and take temporary custody of the boy. I don’t believe he’s safe with you.”

  Vernon, not wanting to take the boy back, but not wanting to be seen as abusive, slumped. “I’m not lying, ma’am, the boy really is a danger to those around him, but I was approaching him, not your daughter. He’ll have fits and people around him get hurt, I was hoping to get him out of here before the commotion caused one of those fits. My son already got hurt, falling into that display. I just wanted the boy out of here before someone else got hurt. I apologize for making you worry about her safety.” That last bit was said begrudgingly, but he got the agreed upon story out. When they had to take him into public, the Dursleys decided to allude to Harry being autistic, to explain why he was withdrawn, and to give them a reason to be a little more handsy with his punishments.

  The explanation seemed to mollify Dr. Granger, though it didn’t explain the snake, and she gave the boy a squeeze. “That, I can understand, my daughter has similar problems. I’ve found a gentler hand keeps the fits away. If you ever get overwhelmed yourself, the child is more than welcome to come visit my Hermione. Here’s my card, if you want to call to set up a visit.”
Vernon looked relieved. “Thank you, in fact, it’s my son’s birthday today, and we were going to a few more places to celebrate. I think my nephew, Harry, might have had enough excitement for the day. If you would like to let the kids get to know each other better now, I’d very much appreciate him having someone watch him who knows what they’re doing. We live in Surrey, would you like us to pick him up at the end of the day? We can meet up, say around 6? Wherever would be convenient for you.”
“Six would be fine, we can meet at the zoo entrance to make it easy for the both of us. It looks like the zookeepers have gotten your son and his friend out of the mess with the display, and are waiting on us. Let’s go see what to do about this snake, and I hope the rest of your son’s birthday goes well.” Dr. Granger was happy to take Harry away from the monstrosity of a man. She didn’t believe the “violent fit” excuse, but played along to end the confrontation.

  The zookeepers talked with the adults for a while, before letting the Dursleys and Piers leave. Oaktail’s Handler went to pick him up to put him in a tank, but the snake slipped out of his grip and headed out the door at a surprisingly fast pace for a snake his size. Harry had whispered to him to hide in the bushes until the three humans could leave. Unable to locate the missing boa, the zookeepers let Harry and the Grangers leave shortly after.

  Oaktail did as he was told and hid, but he went up a tree and pretended to be a branch. When Harry came out, Oaktail slid down the tree and slithered silently behind the boy, following the group to their vehicle, and, unbeknownst to Dr. Granger, slid into the backseat with the children. Once in the car, the kids noticed a shimmer around the snake as they both wished him not to be noticed by the adults around them, placing an accidental magic Notice-me-not on him. It worked very well, as Oaktail was not noticed getting out of the vehicle once they arrived at the Grangers’ house.

  The kids sat in the back garden, Harry translating for Oaktail, so they all could have a conversation together. Neither preteen thought the fact that the snake could talk was weird. They both had lived with odd occurrences throughout their lives. They talked about the dream they had, trying to remember any of it. They realized that it couldn’t have been a dream because they remembered the same things, like the obsidian office, and making a plan, but they couldn’t remember much of the plan at all, except, taking Oaktail home. The snake in question was happy to have met Harry, and by extension, Hermione. Hermione needed a nickname in the snake’s tongue, as when Harry tried introducing her, it came out in English, so they decided on Harmony, as it was close to her name, and Harry’s as well. The hours passed by quickly and soon it was time for Harry to go home. Dr. Granger called for the kids through the back door, and when they showed up by the car, she whispered to Harry that she had made a few phone calls, and he shouldn’t have to deal with his family being as mean for much longer. Everyone climbed into the car then and set off for the zoo.

  There were still a lot of cars at the zoo when they met up with the Dursleys, who piled out of the car to talk with the Grangers. Even Dudley and Piers got out, mostly to let Harry in the back, but Dudley tried to get one last ice cream from the stand out front. This allowed Harry and Oaktail to get in the car unnoticed. Hermione winked at him through the window. The adults were talking, seemingly civilly, though as the conversation continued, Vernon’s face got red, and Petunia started to look worried. When everyone got in the car to head back to Little Whinging, nobody said a word to, or about Harry. The car ride home was eerily silent, at least until they dropped Piers off. When it was just them, Vernon looked at Petunia, who gulped and nodded. She looked in the rearview mirror at Harry, took a deep, steadying breath, and began to explain what the adults talked about.

  “Harry” and he knew it was serious, because she never used his name, “The Grangers would like to have you over every Saturday this summer. Mrs. Granger said her daughter took to you right away, and since she doesn’t have many friends, that they’re glad we all ran into each other today, even if not the way we met. The daughter also asked permission to write to you, which we allowed, but the letters will not be interfering with your chores, do you hear? You will be able to read any post of yours at night and any responses need to be in the postbox first thing in the morning. Mr. Granger is coming with his brother this week to pick you up, but if you have to make your way there yourself, we will give you money for the tube, we are not wasting petrol to go across the country twice every week. We are however going to be treating you a little differently, for appearances sake. You’ll be getting Dudley’s second bedroom, as soon as you clean it up, and you’ll be having your meals with us, but you will have to cook more as well.
    When you go to London, you are going to act like everything, except the cooking, is how it’s always been, no mention of your cupboard, you and Dudley act like brothers, and any bruises are from friendly scuffles. Vernon and Dudley are not going to be punishing you anymore, I’ll handle that, but I have no control over Dudley and his friends when they play, you will have to avoid them better. We’ll figure out and start the new routine tomorrow, and you’ll have two hours a day to work on the bedroom. Dudley will be going in first to see if there’s anything he still wants, anything left over is for you to decide what is rubbish or not. But it has to look presentable before you can move in. If it’s not ready by the time you leave on Saturday, you’ll have a backpack in there to take with you so it looks like it’s your room. Am I Understood?”

  Harry said “Yes, Aunt Petunia” in all the right spots, looking at her in the mirror. His hand was on Oaktail’s head so he wouldn’t be reflected, as Harry didn’t know if he’d be noticed then. The rest of the car ride was silent, and when they got home Harry was told to bring in the parcels that were in the back. Which meant that Harry didn’t have to climb over seats to get out, as there was a latch inside the door. Oaktail was released and told that there was a large oak tree in the back garden, and that there have been issues with rodents that he was more than welcome to. He just couldn’t be seen by anyone, so he had to stay below the fence line when not in the tree.

  As soon as Oaktail had made it into the garden, Harry grabbed the two big boxes and a grocery bag and brought them inside. Petunia had him put everything on the kitchen table and then go to his cupboard. Harry read in the dim light of the single bulb until his Aunt told him it was time for bed. He knew things were changing, and hoped they were for the better.

  Hermione went to bed happy for her new friend, and immediately grabbed a blank journal to write about the day. She couldn’t wait until Saturday, as her mother told her not to write to him until after his first real visit.

  Both children shared a dream, where they were adults again, in that black office, going over the next week’s plan. They new it wasn't really a dream, since there was a note on the desk from Thanatos, saying that the use of his office was another boon to Harry. Harry filled Hermione in on what his Aunt said, and Hermione told him that she didn’t have an uncle picking him up on Saturday, but that her dad’s friend was a social worker, and they looked enough alike that he could get away with it. Harry asked if he was going to meet a lot of “family” and Hermione giggled and nodded. Her mother was devious, and were she a witch, would have definitely have been a Ravenclaw or Slytherin.