DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. I'm adding things from both the movie and the book series. The start is from chapter 2

The door to my cupboard shook as my aunt Petunia knocked harshly on it to wake me up. I had lived with her and my uncle and cousin since I could remember, although I did have faint memories of different people holding me. I got out of the cupboard, before Dudley came down, and went to the kitchen to make breakfast.

He always got a lot of things for his birthday. Toys, games, and the latest electronics, while I only got something old from Petunia or Vernon. Putting on the eggs, bacon, and toast, I could hear Dudley complaining about something, then opening his presents. I put the food on the table and took a small portion for myself. "After you clean up, put something suitable on, we're going to the zoo," aunt Petunia said. "One of the nicer dresses you have, please."

"Yes aunt Petunia." We sat in silence as we finished our meal, and then I quickly washed the dishes. I could hear Dudley upstairs in his room playing with something. I went to my closet, and tried to find something among the hand-me-downs that looked nicer than what I usually wore. I found a blouse and a pair of jeans, which looked old and worn. I didn't remember seeing them anywhere, but they were my size, so I put them on.

Coming out of the cupboard, I decided to braid my hair back so it wasn't in my face like it always was. I grabbed one of the elastic bands from a package I had, and a brush, and crept into the bathroom. To french braid my hair didn't take long, but I needed a mirror to tell if the braid was straight or not.

Aunt Petunia was in the kitchen, drinking tea when I came out about seven minutes later, and when she saw me, she looked startled. I'd never seen her like that before.

"Are you alright aunt Petunia?" I asked cautiously.

She nodded briskly and turned away from me. "Alright, Duddykins, let's get to the zoo now." I walked towards the door and put on my ratty sneakers and went out of the door to the car.

Before I got in, my uncle whispered, "No funny business, or you'll not have meals for a week!" I nodded, and got into the back seat with Dudley.

The car trip didn't really take that long, but sitting with my cousin was awful. I had to keep my hair on my shoulder to keep him from tugging on the braid when he was bored, which was like every five to ten minutes.

We finally got to the zoo, and I looked around at the area. I hang back while my Aunt and Uncle got Dudley an ice cream. Before we walked away, the lady asked what I wanted. Before I could respond, Uncle Vernon had gotten me a cheap lemon pop, which tasted great.

The rest of the trip flew by, and we stopped for lunch at the zoo's diner. Dudley got an ice cream, but he complained that it didn't have enough. Uncle Vernon gave that one to me, and ordered another for him. It was one of the best things I'd ever ate.

Then Dudley wanted to go see the reptile house, so we went there. I tagged along behind them, taking my time with them, but also making sure I could find them if I stayed too long. I saw him try to get a snake to move, but it appeared to be asleep. I lingered by a different animal until Dudley stopped banging on the glass.

When he finally moved on, I went up to the snake. Looking at it, it was large enough to crush my Uncle's car into a trash can. I felt like I could relate to the snake, it having to deal with people coming over, trying to wake it up from what could be a peaceful dream, just to stare at you while you ate or moved. I had that with Aunt Petunia, her banging on my cupboard, waking me up to do the chores. At least I got to move around the house, while the snake only had the confines of it's glass enclosure.

It moved it's head up as I thought, and looked at me straight in the eyes. I could've imagined it, but I heard him say, "I get people like that all the time. I'm used to it by now, although it doesn't get any easier."

"You just spoke to me, do you speak with humans often?" I whispered, looking over my shoulder to see if Uncle Vernon was watching me.

"No, you'd be the first."

I looked around the glass, searching for something to recognize the snake with. "It says here that you're a Boa Constrictor? Have you been here all your life?"

He nodded sadly. "I was raised in captivity, and the only interactions I get have so far been when food's brought over, and now you."

"MUM, DAD, YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT THE SNAKE'S DOING!" I jumped and fell backwards, Dudley's voice coming from right behind me. I got furious as he pressed his face up to the glass, when it just vanished.

Dudley fell into the case with the Constrictor, and the snake slid out of the case. "Thanks, I will repay you for helping me, someday." He slid out of the Reptile House, and I laughed at everyone's screaming.

Then I noticed that Dudley was trapped in the enclosure, the glass had reappeared.

"But I didn't do it!" I said as I was shoved into my cupboard after we got back from the zoo. I lay there for I don't know how long. I didn't even understand what had happened. I felt my stomach rumble, but I didn't know if it would be safe for me to sneak some food. My thoughts wandered to why I was with an aunt and uncle. They told me that my parents had died in a crash, and that was the reason I had a strange scar on my forehead, even though I don't remember it, or my parents. For almost ten years I'd lived under the stairs. For as long as I could remember, I had dreamed of my parents. A whisper of their voices here, a face or memory there, but the one that dominated my memory was of a green flashing light. I didn't know why I dreamt of them, because I hadn't seen them since they died, because there weren't any pictures of them in the house.

Sometimes I looked at myself in the mirror and wonder, how much did I look like my mum? Sometimes Aunt Petunia would just stare at me, and I didn't know why. Another thing I didn't know was why strange people always came to me, or why I had a weird scar on my forehead, although Aunt Petunia said it was because a piece of glass had cut me in the car crash.

I also wondered what it would be like to have friends. Because of Dudley's gang, I didn't really know anyone because they were all afraid of them. I always went over these things in my head when I was locked in my cupboard.