one
to petunia dursley, harriet potter was a nasty little child.
not in the sense that harriet was dirty or messy, but because of the nasty blood that ran through her veins that allowed harriet the power petunia had always craved. petunia was sick of being the girl without any power, and she wouldn’t let her dudders be like she was. she would make sure her dudley was loved more than that nasty little spawn of her sister, even if it meant neglecting her.
vernon didn’t share her complex opinion, however. he just hated her. petunia wasn’t blind to the abuse he gave her, but in her eyes, the freak deserved it.
she used her freakishness to do what they wanted before they could say it, used it to predict impossible outcomes to their day-to-day life, and used it to make dudley somehow like her. after a few weeks of manipulating the boy, his likeness for his cousin disappeared, and he began his games of tormenting her, but the point still stood. the freak had gotten their angelic dudley to like her using that freakish magic.
harriet was seven when her first bout of accidental magic was displayed. she had lit a kid in her class’ hair in fire; no one could tie it back to her, but vernon made sure to give her several lashes and sent her to her cupboard without a meal. then, when she was eight she somehow teleported to the roof of her school building in an effort to escape dudley and his torments.
petunia and vernon whispered harshly in the dining room just after dudley had gone to bed after the teleporting incident, wondering what they would do to the freak. harriet was plastered up against her cupboard door, her thin blanket wedged between her and the wood so it wouldn’t hurt her sides. she could see the light from the opened window of her cupboard, as well as the pacing footsteps of her relatives.
“why can’t we just drop her off at an orphanage?” vernon had asked, and harriet felt her heart break a little.
she knew they didn’t quite like her like they did dudley, but she didn’t know it went this far. she has always tried to be a perfect child, but it seemed that perfect wasn’t what they wanted.
“we can’t do that! that teacher is paying us to take care of her!” petunia whispered back, her tone harsh and scolding of her husband. “besides, he said more freaks might hurt our dudders if she leaves.”
there were more people like her? harriet beamed excitedly. what were these other people like?
“aren’t there schools for the monsters?” vernon asked after a few minutes if deliberation. “boarding schools that would keep her far away from us? surely we can’t be bad guardians if we send her to some school.”
petunia gasped, and harriet could read from the words floating in her head that petunia enjoyed the idea. they were her thoughts, harriet knew that much. she had tested it out on a girl she had met before dudley, before the girl decided harriet was a freak and started joining dudley in his bullying. it was worth it, because harriet had found out about her weird power.
“that’s a great idea, vernon!” she explained, and by the wet noise that followed, harriet knew petunia had kissed her husband. “we could get her tested for whatever gene the monsters have and then send her off!”
“we can do it tomorrow morning,” was his only reply, and harriet quickly ducked down from her peeking spot as they hurried passed, no doubt meaning to engage in…activities.
harriet settled down onto her cot, her pillow bunched up to be at least a little comfortable and her body folded in a way that maximized her body heat, welcoming the sleep that washed over her.
~*~
when something finally happened, harriet was in the garden. it was a friday afternoon, cloudy yet still bright. harriet was weeding petunia’s…petunias, and keeping conversation with the small garden snakes that liked to visit her on occasion.
the snakes were mother and son. the mother was named poppy and the son rin. harriet had named them herself, finding the inspiration in various sources of literature she found in her schools library. the snakes had been around for about a year, bringing her whatever foods they could carry.
poppy liked to gossip about the other snakes that live in the neighborhood, and rin would usually be scaring off the birds or trying to eat the weeds harriet picked. it never really worked for him, and he would be sick for a few hours after.
the back door slammed open, and poppy and rin hid in the bushes beside them. vernon was standing on the porch, a grin on his face as his meaty hands clutched a few pieces of paper. vernons thoughts whispered to her that these were her papers for the school they were sending her to. they were a few forms of liability that had just come in, and jean could faintly hear petunia on the phone discussing meeting times.
“come on, freak!” he said, quiet enough so the neighbours wouldn’t hear him. “you have a meeting with a professor for a new school in an hour.”
harriet perked up, gladly following behind him, leaving the weeds undone. petunia could yell at her later for it; harriet was genuinely interested in this professor.
petunia forced her into a pair of decent clothes, brushing her hair too harshly and making her brush her teeth. there wasn’t any time for a shower, so petunia opted for spraying her with air freshener. it wasn’t enough for perfect petunia, who just scrunched her nose and cleared her throat before walking away, leaving harriet to follow silently after.
at six o’clock on the dot, the doorbell rang. harriet was shoved onto the couch, and after a hard glare from her relatives and a mean word from dudley, the pair of men were let inside.
on man was in a wheelchair, crippled from…a gunshot wound? harriet tilted her head at the image that flooded through her, yet shook it off as she continued to scrutinize them. he had floppy brown hair and a gentle face, obviously very happy with his job. he was genuinely interested in harriet as she was him, if his loud thoughts were anything to go by, and he was dressed very casually, yet still maintained business formality.
the man next to him was much more rugged and intimidating. sideburns, scars, tall stature and ripped muscles were enough to make dudley look down in fear, concentrating on the tenth biscuit he’s had in the last half hour. this man was dressed in a plain shirt and jeans, uncaringly leaving his hands in his pocket as vernon and petunia rush to introduce themselves.
“this is harriet,” petunia introduced, gesturing lazily to her neice.
“it’s wonderful to meet you, harriet,” the nice man says, coming to a full stop on the other side of the coffee table. “my name is—“
“charles, i know,” she said, making his eyes widen a little. “i saw you get shot.”
he shared a look with the meaner man, coughing into his hand. “can i ask how old you are?”
harriet goes to answer, but petunia beats her to it. “she turns eight in two weeks.”
the mean guy scoffed, making charles send him a chastising look.
charles cleared his throat. “do you know why we’re here, harriet?”
harriet nodded her head, like her aunt and uncle wanted her too, but kept quiet. she knew it was because they didn’t want her here anymore, but she couldn’t exactly say that.
“your aunt and uncle took you in for a test a few months ago, yes?”
harriet nodded. she remembered the office; too white, too clean. the doctors were disgusted by her, but were required by law to preform the test.
“that test was to prove if you had the x-gene or not, and the results show you do have it. do you know what the x-gene is?”
harriet nodded again. “the gene that gives mutants their mutation.”
he gave her a soft smile. “exactly! and, with the help of a dear friend of mine, we were able to determine what class you belong to in our system of power. you are an s-class mutant, harriet.”
petunia took in a deep breath of air, her thoughts angry and violent. harriet tensed, looking to the ground as waves of fury poured from her aunt, making her feel small and lightheaded.
“with your powerful mutation, you are eligible for a spot in my school for mutants like you. your relatives have already accepted the invitation for you. i wanted to pay you a visit to see how you felt about it,” he explained, and harriet grinned.
“i’d love to attend, charles,” she said almost immediately, and the men looked a little surprised at her answer.
“alright, perfect. i need to discuss some things with your aunt and uncle, then.”
petunia cleared her throat. “go play outside, dear.”
harriet scrunched her nose, not liking the endearment term. she hopped off the couch, walking outside and continuing on her weeding, knowing it would make petunia happy enough to feed her dinner. it was silent in the yard, and harriet frowned at it.
the next thing she knew, rin had attached his mouth to her hand and the mean guy had appeared next to her, almost protectively. after a few beats of silence, harriet started to giggle.
“rin, you know you can’t scare me!” she said, making the snake pout.
“it was worth a try!” he cried, and his mother familiarized herself with harriets neck, flicking her tongue out at her cheek.
“what the…?” the guy asked, and harriet turned to him, a scared look in her face.
“please don’t tell petunia and vernon,” she pleaded, looking absolutely distraught. “they don’t like my freakishness, and they’ll hurt my friends.”
the man scoffed. “i ain’t telling ‘em shit, kid.”
harriet relaxed immediately. “thanks, logan!”
“how’d you know my name?”
“your thoughts, i think,” was her answer. “sometimes it’s pictures in my dreams.”
logan hummed, sitting next to her and watching her weed the plants. he noticed a few cuts on her skin, probably from weeds considering the thorns in the weed pile, and then watched as they slowly closed up, no blood to be seen. harriet didn’t seem to notice at all, just hissing to the snakes like they were communicating.
oh, they were actually talking, he noted, watching her interact with the reptiles while he waited for charles to be done with her relatives. he could hear him inside, surprised to hear that Harriet's family wanted her gone as soon as possible. they were warning him about her, telling him that she was dangerous and the usual speech that uncaring guardians gave when charles rescued the kids. from harriet's lab results, she was probably more powerful than some of the mutants that fought on the X-Men team.
logan was reluctant to leave her.