The zoo
The week following Harry's Hogwarts letter was one of the most eventful that the residents of number four Privet Drive had seen since the night that a small boy had been left on the doorstep. As promised Azalea had sent an owl back to her grandmother asking about her old school books, and sure enough a good 3/4 of Harry's list was able to be crossed off when everything was sent back. This also included a few extra books and items from Azalea's school days, prompting a trip through nostalgia, as well as marking a few more items off the list. Now here they stood the day before Harry's eleventh birthday and they were rushing around trying to get everything ready for their day at the zoo.
"Harry, do you have everything?" Azalea called as she quickly grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder.
"Yes Mum!" Harry called back as he hopped down the stairs while trying to shove his shoes onto his feet.
Azalea smiled as she helped balance him on the final step before giving him a once over and a firm nod, "Alright let's head out," she grabbed Harry's hand and they walked out to the car before heading towards the zoo. "Anything you're looking forward to at the zoo kiddo?" Azalea asked, looking over at the rearview mirror to glance at her son in the backseat.
Harry nodded as he answered, "Yeah I read that they just got a new snake exhibit that I think would be cool!"
Azalea smiled, finding out that her boy was a parseltongue had been interesting to say the least, especially as they'd found out by him talking a black snake out of eating Hornet on one of his trips up. "Yeah?" she asked, her eyes focused on the road, "Think they'll have anything interesting to say, or just zoo gossip?"
About fifteen minutes later they arrived at the zoo, stepping out of the car Azalea held her hand out for Harry, and smiled when he took it, he may have been about to turn eleven, but with how they both were with crowds neither one ever passed up the chance to reassure themselves that the other was there, "Here we go munchkin," she stated with a smile.
Harry laughed as they made their way towards the door, shaking their heads at the ice cream stall they passed, he knew that his Mum would buy it for him in a heartbeat but he also knew that she'd promised him a special treat once they got home and was pretty sure he knew what it was, the last thing he wanted to do was ruin his appetite with anything from here first. "Come on Mum," he called as he hurriedly pulled her towards the reptile house, clearly excited by the idea of seeing the snakes.
Azalea laughed, "I'm coming, I'm coming, no need to rush kiddo they ain't goin' anywhere!" but nevertheless she did speed up a bit, if for no other reason than to see Harry's smile widen that much more. She knew she was getting odd looks, most being for her young age, she was only twenty-nine and her son was turning eleven, others for the way she talked and others still for the fact that she and Harry didn't share any features, but frankly she didn't care, her baby was happy and that's all that mattered to her.
As they walked into the reptile house she could see several other families wandering around, including a father, mother, and what looked to be their two boys right behind them. She could have sworn the parents looked familiar but for the life of her she just couldn't place them, so with a small shrug she put it out of her mind and followed Harry up to one of the enclosure windows.
The small family hurried past them and stopped at the exhibit a few windows down, Azalea and Harry were talking quietly to each other pointing out a few things they saw in each exhibit and reading off some of the facts on the plaque that was there when they heard banging on glass and shouting from where the small family had wound up.
"Come on move!" one of the boys was yelling as the other one banged on the glass of one of the snake enclosures, "Daddy make it do something!" by this point he'd turned towards the father and screamed his demand at him clearly expecting to get his way.
Azalea snorted and muttered to Harry, "I'd have worn your tail out for doin' somethin' like that," Harry snickered back.
"You wouldn't have had to, you raised me better," this earned him a kiss and hair ruffle as they continued to watch the scene unfold.
Now the father had stepped forward and wrapped his knuckles hard against the glass, "Come on you, move!" he commanded, only to watch as the snake continued to lay there doing nothing.
"This is boring," the demanding boy whined before he and the other child pushed past both parents and rushed over to a different window.
Slowly Harry and Azalea wandered over to the exhibit they had just left and Azalea nudged Harry softly, "Go on and talk to him baby."
Harry smiled and did just that, "Sorry about them," he hissed out quietly in parseltongue, "Bet you're used to it though," it was then that the snake, a Boa constrictor according to the plaque, started to uncurl, and looked as if it was trying to talk back but they couldn't quite make it out, "Do you miss your family at all?" Harry asked tilting his head slightly, "I know I'd sure miss my Mum if I was taken away for something like this."
The Boa, using its tail, actually pointed towards the lower side of the plaque, the part proudly proclaiming this snake to be the first of its kind successfully bred in captivity there in Europe.
Just as Harry was about to reply he was shoved out of the way by the same selfish boy from before who pressed his pig face against the glass then started screaming, "Mummy, Dad come see what this snake is doing!"
The second Harry had gotten pushed Azalea was at his side checking him over, after helping him up off the floor she wheeled towards where the parents were still trailing behind their son, "Why don't you tell your little brat to watch where he's goin'," she snarled, her accent becoming even thicker, "He could have really hurt my son."
Both parents stood there looking aghast, as if they were surprised that someone had spoken out against their child, much less in that tone, though as the father's face slowly turned an odd shade of maroon, a loud gasp was soon heard followed by a splash and then screams. Both families wheeled around to see what the issue was, only to have two very completely different reactions.
Somehow the glass of the Boa enclosure had disappeared allowing the selfish brat, who had still been plastered to it like a leech, to fall forward into the enclosure, while also allowing the snake Harry had just been talking with to slowly slither its way out. It paused momentarily at Harry, and hissed something at him before starting to move away, scaring several of the other patrons in the process. While Azalea and Harry had been focussed on the snake the brat had tried to stand up and step back out only to find that somehow the glass was back.
"Mummy!" he sobbed the fear finally starting to set in, all the while his mother was becoming hysterical on the outside of the glass.
Both Harry and Azalea snickered slightly, at least until the father had wheeled on them trying to accuse Harry of having done something to the glass, this only pissed Azalea off, nobody messed with her kid, "Look I don't know nor do I care who exactly you feckin' are," she snarled out, her Southern slowly mixing with the Irish she inherited from her grandmother, "But if you point that finger at my son one more time you'll be pullin' back a nub," she pushed her way up into his face, "First your brat of a boy pushed my son out of the way, as if he wasn't even standin' there, and now you're accusing' him of doin' somethin' to that feckin' glass, when there is clearly no releases of anything on this side of the inclosure."
The father backed up and through his hands up as if that would ward Azalea off, all it did was piss her off more, "Oh an' now you're tryin' to play the victim when someone calls you on your bullshit," she hissed, "I suggest you apologize to my son and then stay the feck out of our way," she stepped aside so Harry was visible, clearly showing her expectations. But the father just stood there shaking, acting like the coward he was, Azalea clicked her tongue against her teeth, "Come on baby," she place her arm around Harry's shoulders, "Let's go buy you somthin' from the gift shop as an apology for havin' to leave early, then we can head home to finish your birthday."
Harry nodded, moving closer to his mother's side, "Yeah Mum," he murmured, "I'd like that." With that they both walked off, leaving behind the family whose names they still didn't know.
Later on with them both in the car on their way back home, Harry cuddling his newly acquired snake plush in the backseat (a large dark green, golden yellow and deep black plush he insisted on calling Boa), Azalea glanced into the rearview mirror once more, "Harry, baby, what did that snake say to you there at the end?" she asked, her curiosity finally getting the better of her.
Harry, the little shit that he was, giggled and replied, "He said 'thanks for the help'," he replied, causing Azalea to burst out into laughter of her own.
"I'll say one thing sweetheart," Azalea spoke after finally getting her laughter under control, "Your random magic bursts do have a sense of irony," this caused Harry to laugh again, which made her smile. After that kowtowing piece of shit father had tried to go after him Harry'd had this haunted look on his face, that just made her want to go back and yell at the ass some more, but now hearing her baby laughing and seeing him smile she knew he'd be alright.
As they pulled back into the driveway and got out of the car Azalea walked over and hugged Harry again, "Sorry the celebration wound up going this way kiddo," she whispered into her hair.
Harry looked up and smiled at her, "It's not your fault Mum," he cuddled closer for the hug, "Thanks for standing up for me," Azalea smiled and kissed his hair again.
"Anytime sweetie," she murmured, giving him a little squeeze, "Now come on there's a batch of homemade lemonade cookies with your name on them," there was a cheer from the boy as he rushed inside eager for the promised treat. Azalea laughed and hurried to follow her overly excited son back into the house as well.
That night was spent with the two laughing and joking around, both clearly having an amazing time. The next morning dawned with both of them cuddling close, sharing Azalea's bed as if it would be the last time they'd see each other. As they both slowly woke up Azalea looked down at Harry and couldn't help but remember the first night she brought him in and just how small he was, with a small nostalgic smile she placed one last kiss on the top of his head before getting up and making her way down stairs to begin breakfast for the two of them, and hopefully with enough left over for the person that Dumbledoor had sent to 'help'.
As Azalea was flipping the pancakes on the stove she heard the soft foot falls as they came down the stairs, "Mornin' Sunshine!" she called out, "Anything special you want on your birthday pancakes?" she placed the last of the aforementioned food items on the serving plate before moving them over to the table, "We've got strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and mullberries in the fridge, or the marshmallow cream is in the cabinet," she turned around to look at Harry, smiling at his wide eyed stare as he looked at the table full of pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, orange slices, milk, juice, and at his seat sat a plate of fruit made to look like one of the snakes from the trip the day before.
Harry looked back at Azalea with wide star filled eyes, and received a blindingly bright smile in return, "Happy birthday baby," she murmured happily.
Just as Harry was opening his mouth to answer there was a loud pounding knock on the door, Azalea rolled her eyes, "Sounds like our shopping 'help' is here," Harry laughed as he sat down in his seat, immediately starting to pile up his plate, while Azalea went to open the door. "Comin'!" she called out as yet another round of pounding knocks shook the door, not long after she was swinging the door open to reveal the huge bearded form of one Rubeus Hagrid.
"Erm," he gulped nervously, "Ello there," he took a quick glance to double check the number on the side of the house, "I'm lookin' for the Dursley residence could you-" he was cut off by Azalea waving her hand at him.
"Come on in Mr. Hagrid we were expecting you," she smirked, "Though I think both you and Mr. Dumbledoor are goin' to be rather shocked by what you learn," Hagrid paused as he watched the woman, much younger than the one he was expecting, turn and walk back towards the kitchen, "If we're lucky Harry's left us some of the pancakes," she shot a smile over her shoulder, "Growin' boys you know?"
Hagrid nodded, and then followed her inside closing the door behind him, completely unsure how to act, this was clearly not Petunia Dursley as this woman would have had no problems getting along with Lily or James, not to mention this woman was clearly younger that the two late Potters, and Petunia was supposed to be older than Lily. "I'm sorry to disturb ya," Hagrid stated slowly, "But, if ya don' mind my askin' who are you, an' jus' where are the Dursleys?"
Azalea sighed as she walked into the kitchen, rolling her eyes at Harry's antics as he tried to act like he hadn't just been caught climbing the counters to try and get the marshmallow cream, "Harry honey just ask next time okay?" she asked pulling out her want and levitating the jar down into the boy's waiting hands, she then turned to a wide eyed Hagrid and waved him over to a seat. "Well to answer your question my name is Azalea Rose, I have no idea where the Dursleys are, as they haven't lived here since they sold me the house ten years ago," she could see Hagrid begin to connect the dots at her statement, "They left no contact information when they sold the place, and I was the one livin' here when Harry was left on my doorstep that night," she gave a tight smile, "Havin' lost my own parents at a young age I wasn't about to leave a baby alone in this world."
Hagrid visually gulped, "An' ye ain't had any problems?" he asked hesitantly.
Azalia tilted her head, "If you mean parentin' problems every first time mother does, but I had my grandmother to fall back on," she narrowed her eyes, "But if you mean wizardin' problems nothin' more than the usual random magic surges and outbursts, powers comin' in, no learned control, nothin' to focus with yet, the little things," she moved between Hagrid and Harry, "But I don't think that's what you're talkin' about," Hagrid started to sweat, "Mr. Hagrid we may not be blood but Harry is my son, my baby, if there's somethin' that could put him in danger then I need to know about it now."
Hagrid gulped looking between the two, "I don' know much about it meself," he started out, "Dumbledoor'll know more 'en me, but I do know 'at it was supposed to be 'mportant for Harry to be with someone who was blood family,"
Harry grew angry at that, "Why?" he asked in anger, "Mum has shown me the note that was left with me, sounds like my aunt and birth mum hadn't spoken in years, why was it so important for me to be involved with blood relatives that putting me in with that seemed like a good idea?"
Hagrid sighed, "Do ye know how Lily an James Potter died?" he asked looking at Azalea, who shook her head, "They were killed by a wizard who I won't name, Harry is the only one to 'ave ever survived 'im."
Azalia tilted her head, "And the blood connection was important for how ever he survived?" she asked finally.
Hagrid nodded, "Least 'ats what Dumbledoor said, an' I believe 'im."
Now it was Azalea's turn to nod a thoughtful look on her face, "Well we haven't had any issues, and quite frankly if this wizard is as bad as you make him sound then some of what he's learned from me and my family might come in handy," Hagrid looked as if he didn't know how to react to that, "My Grandmother raised me after my parents died, but my aunts uncles and cousins always made it a point to come see us, and after I moved here to get away from some," she paused and looked at Harry, "Issues," she finally decided, "I had more of the extended family comin' round to see us, if somethin' were to happen I think we got it covered."
Hagrid seemed to think about that for a moment, before nodding in agreement, "I can see 'at,"he paused for a moment, "I'll still 'ave to tell Dumbledoor," he stated.
Azalea smiled a large toothy smile, "Oh please do," she stated as Harry started laughing, "I have a few choice words for exactly how I found Harry back then," Hagrid shuttered but nodded, he was pretty sure that Azalea meeting McGonagle would spell catastrophe for certain people.