Before, then After

Disclaimer: I own nothing original to the HP universe. I got the inspiration for this from KuraiArconis - check out her page for awesome stories.

Each chapter will contain 5 ficlets. Enjoy~

Chapter 1

Family

Before:

"Isn't Diddykins the best son you could ask for?" Aunt Petunia said to Piers' mother during one of their afternoon tea get-togethers; and Harry cringed in his cupboard, because what was he but a useless, ungrateful freak to the Dursleys?

After:

Harry couldn't stop the grin that came when Remus and Sirius both ruffled his hair and when Mrs. Weasley forced another plateful of roast onto his plate while Mr. Weasley gave him a knowing wink from across the table.

Laugh

Before:

Harry curled up tighter into a ball as Dudley and his gang towered above him, snickering cruelly in anticipation of the pain they were going to cause the freak.

After:

Ron and Hermione sidled closer up to Harry from either side as they tried to contain the laughter at the botched-up prank Fred and George Weasley had somehow managed to land themselves into; they were now both sporting elephant trunks and kangaroo feet.

The End

Before:

Clutching his worn blanket to his mouth, Harry tried very hard to muffle his sobs, because no matter what Uncle Vernon said, he didn't want to die, even if it meant without his freakishness, the world would be a much better place.

After:

As the Resurrection Stone fell from his hand, and the images of his parents, Sirius and Remus disappeared; Harry took a deep breath, whipped off his Invisibility Cloak and walked towards the clearing to face Voldemort one last time.

Cry

Before:

Petunia couldn't be bothered to brood on it – because it was probably part of his freakishness anyway – but when she did unwillingly brush upon the subject, she could not for the life of her seem to be able to remember the last time that freak cried.

After:

George Weasley frowned as he saw Harry slumped in the corner of the common room a few days after his name came out of the Goblet, then sauntered up to the boy to give him a good old fashioned Weasley cheering up (because Ron was still being a prat, and no one else seemed to notice) – all the while wondering where on earth had Harry learned to cry without tears or sobs.

Parents

Before:

"-and if being worthless wasn't enough, Lily had to go marry that useless drunk. She even had the nerve to die and leave her ungrateful brat with us!" screeched Aunt Petunia, as Harry did the dishes, trying to pretend that he didn't hear her and that the words didn't hurt him one bit.

After:

"Your mother was a genius at Charms – she even modified a few to make James talk backwards for a week and turn his hair pink that one time he tried to flirt with her. It took weeks – and a hell lot of chocolates – for your father to get on Lily's good books again," said Remus, and Harry didn't stop the silly smile that came.

I love, thrive and crave for constructive criticism and reviews. So click that button down there, it won't hurt you.

And if you guys want, I take suggestions for theme words/phrases too~

X3