Disclaimer: I really think these are unnecessary, technically fanfiction should be safe and covered under fair use and/or parody laws, and I'm not even attempting to make money, but everyone does it, so I will too, whatever. Ahem, I do not hold any claim to intellectual ownership over any part of the Universe, Canon, or Characters of the Harry Potter Franchise which are the intellectual property of J. K. Rowling.

Chapter 2: Family Love

Harry wiped sweat from his brow. Working the garden on a hot summer day was exhausting work, but he did enjoy the garden, it got him out of the house and away from his uncle Vernon and cousin Dudley, and sometimes his aunt Petunia would come out to help and they would have a nice conversation.

Not today though, Petunia never came out when the sun was this hot, she fretted over her "alabaster complexion" and avoided sunburns like the plague. Furthermore, today was Dudley's birthday, which meant she had to show her affection for her Dudders and only her Dudders, he was her son, after all.

Harry always like Dudley's birthday, it was one of the few days of the year that Vernon completely ignored him. This year especially, they were spending the whole day at the zoo and leaving Harry to the blissful calm of Miss Figg down the street. She might not be very interesting and her house smelled terribly of cat litter, but she at least was very kind to him.

After the weeds were dug up and the roses pruned, harry smiled happily at his work, just as Petunia came out to fetch him.

"Miss Figg is here, Harry, clean yourself up a bit," she stated forcefully. Harry smiled and swept dust off his clothes before entering the house, walking through the kitchen to the living room, where Vernon was blustering angrily, already going slightly purple.

"What do you mean you can't take him? Why couldn't you have mentioned this earlier, woman? How are we supposed to find some to watch the boy now?" Vernon shouted at a quailing Miss Figg.

"I am truly sorry, you know I would love to take him, but I honestly have urgent business to attend. My sister, you see, she's—" Miss Figg began, only to be interrupted by the massive whale of a man that was Vernon Dursley.

"I don't care about your ruddy sister! Just go, we'll figure something out, thanks for nothing!" Vernon slammed the door in her face still grumbling to himself, "stupid useless spinster, why does she even live around here…" Vernon was livid, pacing and spluttering madly.

"Petunia! Is there anyone we can call? What about the Johnsons?" Vernon asked. Petunia shook her head.

"They're still on vacation in the Galapagos, and everyone else is going to that Community meeting, except the Polkisses, but they wouldn't take him." Petunia frowned and pursed her lips in a thin disapproving grimace. She really did not like Patty Polkiss.

Vernon sighed in defeat. "I guess we'll just have to bring him along to the zoo, we can't just leave him alone here, who knows what he could get up to?" Vernon grumbled. Dudley threatened to whine, but was silenced by a stern look from his father and a hug from his mother.

"It's alright Diddykins, we'll get you another extra present, alright dear?" Petunia crooned, which made Dudley happy. Vernon turned to Harry, with a measuring accusatory eye.

"There'll be none of your strangeness at the zoo today, understand? Nobody wants you around today, so just stay quiet and try not to bother us. And again, no strangeness." Vernon spat out the words with as much reluctance as if he were giving Harry praise, which is something he had never done. Harry merely stared at his feet, trying his best to feel nothing. He nodded.

Once Piers Polkiss arrived, the entire group, pressed into Vernon's tiny blue car. Dudley and Piers happily crushed Harry between the two of them with barely enough room to breathe and were pleased to "accidentally" shove, elbow, and punch him whenever the car turned. Petunia frowned the whole car ride to the zoo.

Once there, Harry was happy to find he could breathe again. When no one was looking, Petunia gave Harry a sad look and an affectionate pat on the back. She scowled at the Polkiss boy who was turning her baby into even more of a bully by the day. Piers did not seem to notice and just kept snickering along with Dudley over some unknown joke.

As they walked around, Harry subtly kept his distance from everyone in the group except Petunia. When they ate lunch at a small court, Vernon did not buy any food for Harry, but when Petunia dropped her carton of chips on the ground she picked it up, looking disgusted and handed them to him, with a smile and a wink that only he could see.

Towards the end of the trip, Dudley dragged the group to the reptile house for some reason, which he thought (probably because he knew nothing about reptiles) would be exciting. Inside, he flitted from exhibit to exhibit, disappointed as each lizard or snake ignored him and continued doing little to nothing.

After attempting to wake a sleeping python and failing, even after Vernon had banged on the glass himself, Dudley bounced off to another exhibit.

"Sorry about him, he likes to wake me when I'm sleeping too, he's kind of an idiot." Harry said to the snake, which immediately raised its head to look at him. Harry was surprised, looking around to make sure Vernon could not see him talking to a snake, which would probably count as "strangeness."

"Can you understand me?" Harry asked, leaning a little closer to the glass.

A soft hissing voice replied. "Yesss, ssspeaker."

Harry almost jumped back. "er… my name's Harry, I didn't want to come to the zoo, but I am glad I met you." The snake made sharp short hisses that Harry interpreted as laughter.

"None of usss wantsss to be here, but it isss where we are." The snake replied. Harry smiled, seeing the parallels between his and the snake's positions.

"You're from Burma, right? Was it nice there?" Harry asked. The snake laughed again, pointing its head down toward a plaque that read "raised in captivity." Harry felt those words described his own childhood as well.

Harry was about to speak again when Dudley rushed back to the Python, shoving Harry away and to the ground. "Mum, Dad, Piers, you've got to see this! You won't believe what this snake is doing!" Dudley shouted.

Looking up at his cousin he could not hold back the emotions flooding through him. He felt rage, and at that very moment Harry wished very much that Dudley could feel even for a minute like he did every day, like a captive.

Suddenly the glass of the python's enclosure vanished and Dudley, who had been pressed up against it, fell in. The snake only slithered up to Dudley, it's head inches from the fat boy's face, and hissed in indignant rage, promising to squeeze every ounce of life out of the boy, should they ever meet again, then uncoiling itself, the snake left the enclosure. Dudley wet himself in fear.

"Thanksss," was all the snake said as it slithered out of the reptile house to freedom. Harry smiled happily as it left, singing in its hissing voice about Rio de Janero. A girlish scream and pounding on glass made Harry turn around.

The glass surrounding the enclosure had reappeared, trapping Dudley inside. The fat boy was crying like a baby as kept rapping on the glass. A crowd had gathered, some were calling for help, others were silently observing, most were laughing at poor Dudley's predicament. Petunia was shrieking for help, looking like she might faint as she tried to hug Dudley through the glass. Vernon was staring at Harry with a sadistic smile on his face.

On the way home, everyone was silent, even Piers Polkiss. When they reached home, Piers waved and jogged down Privet drive to his own home. It was not until Vernon had closed and bolted the door that the storm finally broke.

"You bloody freak! Thought it was funny, did you? Thought you'd make a fool of my son, MY BLOOD! You are grounded for the rest of the summer, you are not to leave the cupboard for any reason, except to do chores and use the bathroom. The cupboard will be locked at night, and if I hear one peep out of you, I swear, you'll regret it. And Harry did regret it when he could not quite stifle a sob and Vernon socked him violently in the eye, knocking him to the floor and leaving an ugly bruise behind.

"Vernon! He's just a boy," was all Petunia said. Vernon merely grunted contentedly, seeing Harry's glasses had snapped again and his nose was bleeding. Harry looked down, keeping as silent as the grave.

"Now, go to the cupboard, you'll not be having supper tonight either." Vernon shouted. Dudley had a satisfied smirk on his face. Petunia looked concerned but didn't say or do anything more. And then Harry was inside the cupboard, it was in the hollow under the stairs and had just enough room for Harry if he tucked in his legs and hung his head. Vernon slammed and locked it behind him.

Late that night, Harry attempted to sleep, sobbing quietly. He was hungry, in pain, and had the uncomfortable corner of a wooden beam jammed into his back. If he were older he might complain it wasn't fair or wish to run away or kill himself, but at eleven he still considered number 4 Privet Drive his home. He was the one who was wrong, unnatural. He tried to stop the tears from flowing. Why couldn't he just be normal?

Harry tore out large patches of his hair, knowing it would grow back the same as always by the morning, wishing it wouldn't. He banged his forehead into a beam, wishing his ugly scar would go away, knowing it wouldn't. Harry wanted to scream, to make everything about himself change, to make everything about himself normal.

Harry felt a strange sensation well up deep inside then spread out over his entire body, felt his hair grow, saw it turn blonde as his bangs grew over his eyes. Focusing on how he looked before, he felt his body change back. If I suddenly look completely normal, that'll be even worse. Harry thought.

Late into the night, when Harry was sure everyone was asleep, he heard someone tiptoe down the stairs and sit down beside the door to the cupboard. There was a long beat of silence before Petunia's voice began to sing a soft sweet lullaby that Harry had never heard before, yet still felt familiar. Tears streamed from his eyes as Petunia quietly sang and brought Harry to fitful sleep.