Chapter 01
ok chapter one lets go gang
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All Harry could focus on was the boiling sun that seemed to blister his skin with the heat seeping through his long sleeved shirt. Excluding the blistering sun, and strange gray cat that always seemed to linger and stare at Harry, there was nothing particularly odd about Number Four Privet Drive. Petunia had left to go get Dudley from his day at school and left Harry to mow the front garden before Vernon got home. (and inevitably yell at him for not doing it correctly, despite having one of the best yards on the street.)
Harry, lost in thought (and struggling with the mower due to his head barely going over the handles), hadn’t noticed Petunia’s car pulling back into the driveway until she honked the car’s horn.
“Harry! Come on, get in the car.” Doing as he’s told, Harry brushed off his pants, put his supplies away and rounded to the right back seat of the car. Vernon had put a cushion so he wouldn’t jostle in his seat, due to his small stature. Harry barely made it into the car when Petunia started to pull out of the driveway again and began to drive to the local park. “We’re going to the park in celebration of Dudley finishing his second year, and if I leave you alone outside for too long the neighbors will think you're a stray,” Petunia explained, grimacing at Harry and cooing at her son doing the bare minimum.
Harry knew that when they got there Dudley would throw a fit about him being anywhere near the playground while he was on it, so Harry decided to stay quiet and enjoy the car’s air conditioner. Dudley kicked Harry’s leg, Harry ignored him. “Muuuuum, put the radio on,” Dudley shrieked at his mother, and ever the doting mother, Petunia obliged. A song Petunia deemed appropriate (California Dreamin’) came on, and even started singing along, “This was popular when I was younger,” She enthusiastically said to her son, who paid no attention to his mother. They continued to drive their way to the park, which really wasn’t that far, Harry suspected the reason they didn’t just walk was because of Dudley. God knows he wouldn’t walk anywhere if he didn’t have too.
Getting to the park was the easy part, being allowed on the swings or slides was not. Dudley wouldn’t let Harry get anywhere near the playground (which he expected), and since other mothers and fathers alike had decided to bring their children here too, Dudley's friends didn’t let him anywhere near the playset either. So he resorted to sitting near it instead, he sat on the bench next to Aunt Petunia under the shade, and when anyone asked why he wasn’t playing, Aunt Petunia would reply and say, “He’s just a bit tired, don’t mind him.” In the fake voice she put on for strangers and people she didn’t like.
Dudley played with his friends, and boasted about all the presents he’d get for his birthday. His friends that Harry only knew because they often picked on him. So the few times those friends fell or scraped their knees, Harry allowed himself to chuckle. Although Petunia gave him a look that he knew all too well, he didn’t try to stifle his laughter. She couldn’t do anything to him in public. There was Pier and a few others Harry didn’t really care about except when they were chasing him but he knew Dudley was good friends with them. Which is why he probably didn’t want Harry by the park, didn’t want Harry to ruin the time with his friends with his freakness, or something dumb like that, Harry didn’t know, he tried to tune out Dudley when he could. That was most of the time, Dudley was rather easy to ignore especially since Harry knew Dudley hates to be ignored.
A piercing voice shook Harry out of his thoughts,”Oh, Petunia! How are you?” It was a woman close to his aunt in age, but blonder and skinnier, she lived next door, and came over often to gossip, of course. Petunia didn’t like her because she didn’t mind Harry, but she always had good gossip so Petunia kept her around. His aunt thought it suspicious she always talked to him in a nice tone. Rather than disgust or annoyance. Harry thought it was suspicious too.
“Rather great, today. Look at my Dudders, playing with his friends. He’s so friendly and kind, isn’t he?” The woman grimacing, nodded her head. Petunia took it as a smile. “How are you, Mabel?” Petunia fakely smiled. “Great, great! My lilies are growing quite nicely, all thanks to Harry’s advice!” (Ms. Mabel saw him gardening one day, and asked.) Petunia looked at Harry with a,“We’ll talk about this.” look. “That’s great! I’m glad he was good for something, Haha!” They both laughed for a couple seconds, then it slowly died out, then silence. “Well, I just wanted to see how you were doing. Didn’t see you at tea the other night.” Mabel said, questioning. “Oh! Yes,” Petunia chuckled,”Duddy had a school play…” Harry let her words fade and tune her out, no longer interested in the conversation.
So sitting there in the shade, Harry was content for the most part. It was cool and the bench was good for his legs that ached from working on the yard. Deep in thought , he spaced out and continued looking at the ground as time passed and families began leaving. Dudley continued to play with his friends and sometimes occasionally throw a stick at Harry but not long later Dudley’s friends were starting to slowly go home, as it was getting late when Dudley’s demanding voice interrupted his jumble of thoughts, “Mum! Mummy! Mummy look!!” Dudley was facing the forest, Harry and Petunia couldn’t see what he was pointing at so they both got up and walked over, (well, Petunia more realistically ran, never wanting to keep her darling boy waiting.) And when they got next to Dudley and followed his finger, they could see a dog.
A rather strange dog. Shaggy fur, black with hints of gray, gray piercing eyes. Gray piercing eyes that were staring right at .. Harry? His eyes widened in shock, and Harry could see the dog's tail wag a little bit faster and start to trot over. Dudley all but squealed like a pig and started to pat the dog on the head, Harry stayed back apprehensively, not having good experiences with dogs. His only experience has really ever been with Aunt Marge’s dogs and they liked to chase him and nip at his heels/shins. “Mummy, look! Look, he loves me!! Don’t you? Don’t you love me?”
The dog continued to stare at Harry while Dudley poked and prodded at him. “Mummy! Can we keep him? I want him! He’s my dog now!” Petunia looked a bit disgusted at the grimy state of the dog, “I don’t know Duddy..” Harry tunes out their back and forth and focuses on the dog. His eyes are even more piercing up close, they almost look human. He doesn't know what kind of dog he is, or if it even is a he, but the dog's eyes make him feel relaxed for some reason. The black dog tilts his head and Harry does too. The dog's tail wags a little faster and he visibly perks up a little bit.
There’s a certain familiarity connected to the dog that Harry can’t place. Dudley’s voice interrupted his thoughts, “But it’s almost my birthday! Mum, please!” He starts to repeat, ‘Please’, until Petunia finally lets out a long sigh and gives in. “Ok, Duddy. You know I can never deny my Duddykins, especially so close to your birthday!” She smiles down at him, then dread crosses her face, “I suppose we’ll have to go to the vet first, get him cleaned and make sure he doesn't have.. Rabies or something.” Petunia shudders.
She ushers them all in the car, Dudley in the front, the dog, and Harry in the backseat. The dog shifts close to Harry and that’s when he sees it. Under the fur, a collar. “A.. Aunt Petunia?” Harry asks, quietly. “What, Harry?” “He has a collar.” “What? What’s it say on it, does it have a number?” Harry reaches towards the dog, very slowly, and slightly scared until the dog pushes his face into Harry’s hand. He relaxes slightly, pets the dog gently, but still slowly reaches for the sliver of the gold name tag he saw. He turns it in his fingers while he reads the tag, “Padfoot. It says Padfoot. There’s no number. Just the name.” Harry answers his aunt. She sighs, “Well, we're going to the vet anyway, they’ll check if a dog has been reported missing.” It’s a silent car ride after that. The do- Padfoot scoots closer to Harry and puts his head on Harry’s lap, looking up at him with a silent plea. Harry gives in and gently pets the dog, now confident he’s nothing like Aunt Marge’s dogs who won’t even let him get close without biting.
Padfoot happily sighs and Harry pets him until they pull into the Vet’s parking lot. It was rather small, and the lights from the building lit up the parking lot, as the sun had started to go down prior. Petunia rushes them out of the car, all except for Harry and while getting Padfoot out she says, “Stay here, I don’t want them thinking I have two mutts and with your appearance they just might.” Harry deadpanned at her, as she slammed the backseat door. It’s not new, them leaving Harry in the car. Though Padfoot had slightly growled when she said it, Harry didn’t know whether to chalk it up to Dudley prodding at the dog or Petunia’s words. They walked into the Vet, Padfoot looking back a few times, while Harry watched from the car window.
Harry sat and thought for a while, thought about the dog and why it seemed so familiar. Since Harry really didn’t know that many people it confused him, Padfoot didn’t belong to anyone he knew. So why did he seem so familiar? Especially the name and the eyes, Harry could swear he had heard Padfoot before. Harry had just started to doze when they came out, Padfoot trotting along, with a new green leash and looking a lot cleaner than he had been in the car. Petunia opened the backseat and Padfoot jumped in happily, immediately laying back on Harry, who was still nearly dozing off. Tired from chores, gardening, then the Padfoot ordeal. Padfoot had his head on Harry’s lap as he pet the dog as gently as he could, sometimes scratching behind his ears. “I can’t wait to tell Da! My own dog! My own Deerhound! Pier is gonna be so jeloos!” “It’s jealous, sweetheart.” “Whatever!”
The ride back was silent, though Harry was happy. Although Padfoot was Dudley’s, he still seemed to like Harry, and Padfoot didn’t even bite him! Not once! So, with these thoughts in mind, Harry allowed himself to doze off, his hand on Padfoot’s head. Dreaming about flying through the sky on a motorcycle with a man, not knowing how close that man really was.