Chapter Text
His favorite dream started with someone knocking at the door. It wasn’t loud or aggressive, but polite.
Harry walked down the hallway and opened the door. The face of the person was blurry, and the stranger’s words were garbled like they were underwater. Every time, however, Harry could tell what the person wanted to do.
This person was here to take him away.
The young boy always ran to the cupboard, quickly packing all of his things. As Harry turned to head back to the doorway, the stranger was still there, just at the edge of the doorway.
As the two met again, the person would reach out to Harry, smiling. Not the fake smile of Aunt Petunia, or the ominous one of Uncle Vernon.
The two walked past white-fenced houses and the playground, holding hands.
No matter how long the dream was, Harry and the stranger never left Little Whinging. They would walk and walk, but they could never get to a new home. The realization never hit Harry, however, as he was too happy with the thought of escaping the Dursleys.
The banging of feet upstairs, loud yelling, or a sharp knock on his door always woke him. His smile faded. His chest tightened; his breathing went shallow.
It was his favorite dream, but afterward, he felt like he had a gaping hole in his chest. It was mornings like these where he could barely breathe from the pain.
However, a kick at the door made him take one final gasp of air. He mustered up his courage before heading towards the kitchen.
“Get up, and set the dishes!” snapped Aunt Petunia, who quickly turned back to keep watch over the eggs and bacon. The smell of food wafted through the air.
As Harry opened a cabinet to get four sets of dishes, his older cousin ran into the kitchen.
“Where’s my fork and knife?” Dudley complained.
“It’ll be just a moment, sweetheart,” Harry’s aunt kindly exclaimed. She turned sharply towards Harry, and growled,“Hurry up!”
“Yes, Aunt Petunia.”
As Harry quickly set the plates and grabbed utensils, Uncle Vernon in a suit and tie walked in. He gave a quick kiss to Petunia, fondly talked to his son, and ignored Harry.
Everyone dug in when Petunia brought the dishes over to the kitchen table, except for Harry. The young boy was standing near the trash, holding his empty plate over the garbage.
As the rest of his family ate, Harry remembered faintly of a bald man in a purple coat. It was one of his first and last memories of going outside of Little Whinging. The man briefly smiled at him as he shook Harry’s hand.
Petunia quickly dragged Harry away from the man, and they went back home. He couldn’t remember that day, except for the odd man and later Harry’s punishment. He was locked in his cupboard for two days before being further scolded and questioned.
They had told him inadvertently about the others. A tiny man in a top hat bowed to him, and the lady in green waved. For a while, the idea of people paying attention to him brought him happiness. A sense of hope. Now, it was starting to wane.
The tiny man, the bald man, and the green lady didn’t care about him. They didn’t notice the tattered clothing or the broken glasses. They didn’t care to stick around long enough to take him away. To take care of him.
Harry was alone. No one liked him, not even his family. No matter how often he followed every order by Vernon, Aunt Petunia, or even Dudley, none of them loved him.
He wanted to leave and go somewhere where someone would care about him. But, he didn’t know where or who would do that.
He stared into the trash until Vernon left.
Petunia snapped him out of his daze, yelling at him to clean up the dishes. Dudley left to go into the living room to play with his toys.
Harry made a plate for himself and ate as he cleaned up.
As the young boy was washing dishes, Petunia humphed and sighed as she examined the pantry. She asked Dudley if he wanted anything from the grocery store, and soon left.
After washing the dishes, Harry briefly looked at his older cousin playing with a train set. Dudley had a big grin on his face as his favorite red locomotive went through a wooden mountain pass.
Harry’s mind wandered as the train went round and round on the tracks. He was still tired and briefly imagined what it would be like on a train. A big red one with smoke coming out of the top.
Where would he go?
“Hey, what are you staring at!”
Harry snapped out of his daze, looking at Dudley. He stammered as he backed away from the older, stronger boy, “N-nothing. S-s-sorry, I’ll get going!”
Dudley nodded as he scoffed.
Harry left the living room in a hurry, passing his cupboard, and slipping on his oversized shoes. He opened the main door and rushed to the park.
There were some kids with their parents playing on the far edge of the park. Off to Harry’s right, an older kid was sitting at a bench, writing something. The boy was smiling as he wrote. As Harry walked to an unusually huge bush, he could see people meeting up with their extended family. There were hugs and gifts. They were all so happy.
He wanted that. That type of happiness.
He got on his knees, carefully situating himself into the bush. Harry had learned this when hiding from Dudley a couple months ago.
There was enough of an opening for Harry to see the clouds moving past. He closed his eyes, tuning out the people. He could feel the summer breeze blowing through.
He imagined getting on a train to take him far away. He drifted back to sleep.
Harry woke up, hearing the turning of a page. The noise of families talking and walking was gone. He squinted his eyes to see the sun was right overhead.
It was the hottest day of the year, so everyone went back home.
He wasn’t hungry, but restless. He carefully crawled out of his bush, getting to his feet.
The park was empty, except for him and the boy. The older kid had finished writing and was now reading a book.
He didn’t look old, but as Harry searched around, there was no one else with him. Most kids had people with them. Harry noticed that if it wasn’t adults, then it was other kids.
Harry often came to the park to hide, thinking of himself as an expert people watcher. He would know if the kid was a part of the neighborhood.
He was a stranger.
The teenager had sandy hair and green-blue eyes. He was wearing a simple white t-shirt, black pants, and work boots.
Harry glanced at the book’s title, quickly double-checking. The title was an odd language. It wasn’t English. The script looked flowy, almost as if it was moving.
The young kid glanced one final time around the park, before rallying his nerves. Harry walked closer to the boy and the odd book, acting as if he was looking at nearby bushes.
The older kid glanced up from his book, smiling and nodding towards Harry. The smile was like the one from his dreams. Genuine and friendly.
He took a big breath, before speaking, “Good morning, sir.”
The older kid closed his book, laughing lightly.
“Please, just call me Alex. Not sir. I don’t think I’ve been called that in a while.”
The older kid, Alex, reached his hand out.
Harry took it, shaking it.
“Will do, Alex.”
Alex waved his hand towards a spot beside him, as he put the book on the opposite side of him.
“Please, sit. I have a feeling you might be able to help me.”
“Help you?”
Alex nodded before answering.
“I’m trying to find Four Privet Drive. Do you think you could help me?”
His eyes widened as the young kid blurted out, “Why?”
His face grew red.
“Y-you’re not family,” sputtered Harry, trying to explain his surprise.
Alex’s smile didn’t falter, but widened as he exclaimed, “You’re my cousin!”
Before Harry could do or say anything, he had his first hug by a complete stranger, or maybe — cousin.
It was a warm hug that made Harry smile, even though he was nervous. The older boy smelled like food, dirt, and old books. He felt safe.
As he thought that, Harry’s eyes started to tear up. He felt happy in his cousin’s hug.
Alex pulled back quickly, worry on his face.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hugged you. I’m sorry that I scared you.”
Harry’s eyes were filled with tears as he tried to smile.
“It’s okay. My name is Harry.”
As Alex carefully searched his cousin’s face, Harry looked at his new family member. The young boy started to grin from one ear to the other as he looked at his worried cousin’s face.
Harry was never hugged or smiled at nicely. No one had ever apologized to him. Alex may actually care about him, Harry thought.
“Nice to meet you, Harry,” Alex said warmly. “Would you like to grab lunch with me? I noticed you walked into that bush over there in the morning.”
His cousin pointed at Harry’s hiding spot as he continued, “And I think you may have broken your glasses.”
“Oh, no, they’ve alw—I mean uh—”
Harry didn’t want to say his glasses were always broken. What if his cousin thought of him poorly? Harry thought worriedly.
“No worries. I know the summer can be busy. How about instead of lunch, we go fix your glasses? We can chat while we go?”
Harry stared at the dirt for a while, thinking. He didn’t know what to do.
He glanced at his older cousin nervously. His cousin was smiling, waiting for a reply.
“Y-you aren’t busy? I’m not going to be a problem?” muttered Harry.
Alex shook his head.
“Of course not! I’m here to be with family. You’re not going to be a problem. I don’t have anything else to do, but be with you and everyone else.”
Harry nodded, then quickly added, “Uncle Vernon isn’t at home, and Aunt Petunia went to the grocery store in the morning.”
He hesitated for a moment, before continuing.
“Dudley, our cousin, is at home, playing with his train set.”
Alex didn’t answer for a while, thinking as he looked briefly at Harry. The older boy spotted the nervousness of mentioning his other cousin.
“Well, we wouldn’t want to take him away from his fun, would we?”
Harry froze for a moment, before speaking again, carefully.
“Yes, we wouldn’t want to ruin his fun.”
A slow grin grew on the boy’s face.
After Alex confirmed with Harry that his aunt and uncle wouldn’t mind, they tried to hail a cab. While Alex didn’t say anything, he found it odd that a cab in the middle of suburbia was waiting for them.
As Alex and Harry got in, the taxi reeked of tobacco and alcohol. The driver had bloodshot, baggy brown eyes and matted ginger hair. It looked like the man rarely shaved or showered.
“Good afternoon, sirs. Where would you like to go?”
Alex briefly looked at Harry, who shrugged.
“Center of Staines, please.”
“Grand. We’ll be there quicker than quick, sirs.”
The man shifted gears and the cab lurched forward. With a couple cursed mutters under his breath, the man got the car in the right gear.
Alex kept his face neutral as he asked his first question to his cousin.
“So, Harry, have you ever gotten your eyes checked?”
Harry nodded.
“I think my parents did when I was born. It’s why I have all my shots and stuff.”
Alex nodded.
“But you haven’t gotten them checked since?”
Harry shook his head. The boy was staring outside, as Little Whinging started to fly by.
“Has Dudley been able to go to all his doctor’s appointments?”
Harry nodded. He wasn’t paying too much attention to his answers since they were so simple.
The question-and-answer lasted for most of the car ride. Soon enough, they were in Staines.
“Come on, Harry. We’ll grab some food, then go get your eyes checked.”
As Harry hopped out of the taxi, Alex paid the driver.
Before he closed the door, the man cranked down his window and called out.
“Sir, would you like me to park somewhere, so you have a taxi back to Whinging?”
He turned back to the driver with a smile, agreeing.
Alex and Harry held hands as they navigated the streets to find a restaurant near an optometrist’s office. The older boy followed his senses, quickly navigating to a small eye doctor with a sign: free* NHS eye tests.
“What would you like to eat today?”
Alex turned towards his younger cousin, who was still looking around the streets curiously.
“Um, I saw a candy store nearby?”
Alex laughed, nodding his head in agreement.
“We can go there after we eat some real food. Would Tex-Mex work for you?”
Harry’s eyes widened, nodding quickly. Aunt Petunia didn’t enjoy “greasy” or “odd” food, so the Dursleys didn’t often eat fun food.
Alex smiled, turning them back around to go to the Cantina.
While the odd driver was still following them with some form of magic, Alex didn’t let that show. He and his cousin had a great time eating way too much food.
After double-checking that Harry’s teeth were fairly clean after chocolate-dipped churros, they went to chat with the eye doctor.
Alex could tell his cousin didn’t want to go home, so they didn’t go back to Harry’s house to get identification. When the time came for the doctor to ask for paperwork, he had Harry distract the man with an overly long and slightly rehearsed story. Harry went on about losing his report card. Moments before Harry’s story was unleashed upon the doctor, Alex left to go to the bathroom.
By the time, Alex came back the doctor had already taken Harry to get his eyes checked. When they came back, Alex politely but insistently gave the doctor some money for his help.
The man, likely similar to when he faced Harry’s story, gave up and took the money. As the two boys walked out, Alex could hear the doctor mutter something about “two peas in a pod.”
To end their adventure, the two boys went to the candy store, Woolworth. With a small bag full of candy, the two left the store and headed back to the center square.
Alex could see the man in an odd magical cloak rushing back to his taxi as the two cousins turned into a particularly empty street. By the time they made it to the square, the driver was back in his taxi, waving wildly at them.
“Good afternoon, sirs. Back to Whinging then?”
The man hopped out of the taxi to open the door for Harry.
Alex opened his door as he replied, “Yes, sir.”
After thanking the driver, Harry climbed into the less-smelly-than-before taxi, holding onto his bag firmly.
As the driver ran back to the driver’s seat, Alex looked over to see Harry’s puzzled face.
“What is it, Harry?”
“Are…Are you going to come back tomorrow?”
Alex nodded, and Harry’s face lit up.
“I’ll be here for a week or so, so we can hang out for a whole week if you want—”
“YES!” Harry shouted. His face went red as he quietly added, “That would be great.”
The driver paused for a moment before starting the car. Harry was unaware, too busy imagining tomorrow’s day of fun with his cousin. Alex didn’t notice either.
Alex looked out the window as he thought about his cousin…and his guess of what 4 Privet Drive was like.
Harry and Alex talked about boring stuff: how he liked school, did he have friends, and what type of books he read.
As the car was turning into Little Whinging, Alex’s smiling face grew serious. While Harry thought what he was saying was perfectly fine, Alex could connect the dots. He also knew when the boy was lying. He would squirm in his seat, stop eating his candy, or look away from everyone.
Alex briefly looked at the driver, before smiling at his cousin.
“Harry, I have a serious question to ask you. Are you ready?”
His younger cousin polished off the rest of the candy and was in a sugar rush. With some effort, the boy focused his attention and nodded his head.
“You have plenty of time to think about this, but I wanted to know if you would like to live with me? I am family after all.”
Harry’s eyes grew wide, as Alex continued.
“I think your aunt and uncle wouldn’t mind, right?”
He whooped happily, “YES!”
“I really want to live with you! They wouldn’t mind at all. Really, I promise!” he added with a beaming smile.
“Now, Harry, I want to make sure you understand that I might not always be as fun as I was today. I’m gonna make sure you do all your homework, and I might not let you eat as much candy as you did today.”
Harry was still grinning, shaking his head.
“I don’t care! I’ll do all my homework, and do chores, and everything.”
“Okay, okay, take a breath, Harry.”
His cousin’s smiling face was growing red. He had a feeling that his cousin was worried he might backtrack on his offer.
“Tonight, I’m going to talk with our Uncle and Aunt. Their names were —”
“Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon,” offered Harry, going back to his normal color.
“Right, I’ll talk with them, and see if they accept. I think they will.”
Harry smiled, nodding.
The driver slowly drove the car through the neighborhood. As the conversation seemed to wrap up, the taxi stopped at the park.
The driver got out of the car to help open Harry’s door, while Alex fished through his wallet for payment.
He got out, paid, then waited until the driver drove off — further into the neighborhood.
Alex shook his head with a slight smile.
“Lead the way.”
Harry skipped slightly as they walked to the Dursleys.
As Alex first saw 4 Privet Drive, he didn’t notice the carefully trimmed flowers and well-maintained home, but the giant magical dome surrounding it.
A protection spell. To protect who? Who was the target? When was it set up? Who set it up — not Harry?
Harry’s odd stories — like his teacher’s hair suddenly turning blue — were evidence of his cousin’s magic, but also his obvious unawareness.
As they got closer, Alex pushed his magic out to identify what the barrier was. Runes filled his vision as he scanned the spell.
There were several common protection runes surrounding the house. There was a rune for family and a rune, or pictograph, of a snake. His vision was speckled with runes for child, transformation, and adult carefully interconnected together. Finally, he got one last clue — his vision went red.
His vision cleared just as he was about to step into the barrier. Harry was holding his hand, leading the way.
Quickly, he pushed down his magic, hiding it as he passed the white picket fence.
“Do you think Uncle Vernon will be back by now?”
Harry frowned for a moment, before shaking his head.
“No, he’s always back by 5:30, but Aunt Petunia will be back. You can talk with her, while we wait for Uncle Vernon to show up.”
Alex nodded.
The two cousins walked up to the door. Harry slipped his hand out of Alex’s and stepped behind him.
Alex knocked on the door, taking note of Harry’s nervousness.
“It’ll be alright. I’ll figure out a way to convince them,” Alex muttered.
He could hear pans being set down, and footsteps making their way over.
He tried to think more about the runes. The red meant it was blood magic. His books had taught him that much, but why here?
Wizards in this world didn’t have much magic, Alex thought. So, this level of magic protecting the house must have been fatal. A sacrifice.
Alex concluded it was Harry’s family — the Potters. A family member must have done a sacrificial act. Aunt Petunia couldn’t and likely wouldn’t do that for Harry.
The day before, he visited the Potter’s old home hoping to meet Aunt Lily. Instead, Alex saw a memorial dedicated to the Potter’s sacrifice in stopping some wizarding war. The sign said that Harry was alive, but it didn’t tell Alex anything else.
He searched for more clues that day, but couldn’t find much.
The plan was to meet Aunt Petunia and learn more about how the Potters passed. At the time, he also wanted to meet with another family member. Now, however, plans had changed.
He still had questions he was going to ask his aunt, but he was aware that it was unlikely she would know everything. After all, how would she know how the Potters magic ended up protecting her house? She didn’t know magic.
He set a smile on his face as he heard the door unlock.
Aunt Petunia plastered on a fake smile, not knowing who was at the door. Seeing a strange boy and Harry, her smile twitched, briefly showing a frown.
Her voice stayed neutral, void of all emotions as she said, “Good evening. Who are you?”
Alex kept up his smile as he replied, “I’m Alexander Taylor, Aster’s son.”
She froze, so he continued slowly, “She was your older sister.”
“Was?”
She was quick to notice details, Alex thought.
“She passed away several years ago. She was sick. I live with a family friend now.”
Petunia nodded, absentmindedly. She seemed lost in thought.
“May I come in, Aunt Petunia?”
“I-Of course. Please,” she murmured stepping back. “I was just about to make dinner. Harry can show you to a seat.”
Her prior distaste and anger drained out of her as she shuffled her way to the kitchen.
Alex nodded, stepping inside, and Harry quickly followed.
Harry pointed shyly at the cupboard then turned around to look at Alex. He mouthed the words, “My stuff is in there.”
Alex nodded, quietly whispering, “Pack your things quietly.”
Harry smiled and carefully opened the door.
Alex looked inside, and saw a small ‘bed.’ He sucked in a breath and looked towards the kitchen.
He sleeps in the cupboard. No, he lives in a cupboard, Alex thought angrily.
He turned around, staring at the wall across from Harry’s “room”. He didn’t want Harry to see him angry.
His cousin barely made a noise as he packed all of his things in a small book bag.
After he calmed down, Alex turned around and held up a hand, motioning to keep his bag in the cupboard.
Harry did a thumbs up and closed the door.
Alex stepped forward, and whispered, “I’m going to convince them now, so we can leave tonight. Is that okay with you?”
Harry nodded. The boy was serious, noticing his older cousin’s face.
Alex stepped back, attempting a slight smile, and asked at a normal volume.
“It was fun hanging out with you today, Harry.”
Harry looked at the kitchen, then back to Alex with a look of understanding.
“Oh, it was no problem. Here, I’ll take you to the guest seat.”
Alex’s head tilted slightly as he asked, “There’s a guest seat?”
Harry nodded as he pointed towards a seat.
“Yeah, Aunt Marge shows up every year with her dog.”
The two cousins chatted quietly with Harry standing and Alex sitting down at the kitchen table.
When Alex pointed at a nearby seat, Harry shook his head, looking briefly at Aunt Petunia. Just after Harry looked back down, she briefly glanced towards them to interrupt what Alex was going to say.
“Harry, go set up the dishes.”
“Yes, Aunt Petunia.”
The food was nearly ready, and Alex could hear the sound of a car pulling up the driveway.
As Harry finished setting the dishes, the main door opened with a tired Uncle Vernon appearing in view. The man hadn’t yet seen Alex.
Aunt Petunia quickly fixed that with an introduction.
“Vernon, we have a guest here. My nephew, Alexander, is here. He’s Aster’s son.”
“Ah, I didn’t —”
There were some hushed whispers as the two went back and forth in conversation.
Alex’s other cousin Dudley ran past his parents, running to the kitchen table with a smile on his face.
He looked confused as he saw Alex.
“Who are you?” the boy asked curiously.
“Call me Alexander. I believe you’re Dudley, right?”
He nodded, opening his mouth to ask another question.
“I’m your cousin. Your mom had an older sister named Aster. I’m her son.”
“Oh, where is she?”
Alex nodded for a moment, thinking.
“She got sick when I was young and passed away.”
“Oh—I’m sorry.”
Alex could tell the kid was thinking about it and getting sad.
He shook his head, smiling before he reassured his young cousin, “Thank you. It happened a while ago though so I’malright.”
Dudley nodded briefly, looking at his parents who finished their conversation.
Vernon put on a strained smile. It wasn’t menacing, but it was obvious that the man was curious about why Alex was there.
“Good evening, Uncle Vernon. Is it alright if I stay for dinner?”
“Of course, you can. I hope you have a place to stay for the night?”
The thinly veiled statement failed to act as a question. Alex smiled through the rude implication.
“I do. I’ll be leaving soon after dinner.”
Vernon nodded. His smile grew more genuine, even more so as Petunia brought out dinner.
Harry stepped back. He held his plate above the trash can in the kitchen. His cousin carefully looked around, then looked at Alex. It was a look that said, Do you see this?
Alex faintly nodded, then focused his attention on the Dursleys.
Dudley, after being the first to fill up his plate, asked a question to Alex.
“What grade are you in?”
“I’m sixteen, so Year 12.”
“Whoa, so you’re done with school!”
Alex could tell from his parents’ expressions that they were going to have the boy continue past the mandatory years and go to college.
“I’m going into…vocational training. So, you’re right. I’m done with school.”
The boy’s eyes widened. Everyone could tell the boy was excited by this realization. He could be done with school early!
Alex added, “However, I’m sure your parents want you to go to college, so you’ll have to continue your studies for a while.”
The boy’s face fell. He stared at his plate and stopped talking. Slowly, he began to eat and pick at his food.
Alex glanced at Harry’s empty plate. His cousin’s face was neutral as if this usually happened.
He turned back to the conversation Uncle Vernon was having about the importance of college for job security.
Alex nodded along, smiling and growing serious when it called for it.
By the end of one of the most boring dinners Alex had ever experienced, he got what he wanted. An invitation to discuss more about other “important” topics in the living room.
He accepted and kept up polite conversation until Dudley and Harry left the room to go to bed.
His cousin looked worried, but when the Dursleys weren’t looking, Alex winked at him.
Eventually, Alex stirred the conversation towards the topic of family.
Dursley went to the kitchen to grab a drink after his long discussion on the importance of drills in the global economy.
Alex turned towards Aunt Petunia, who was fighting sleep.
“How was my mom when she was younger?”
Petunia’s eyes grew misty for a moment as she began, “She was very nice. Kind. She always helped me when I was having trouble with school, or if some boy in class was teasing me.”
She stayed quiet. A shade of a smile flickered on her face before it disappeared. Aunt Petunia cleared her throat, and continued, “She was also very independent. It’s why she left. Always an explorer.”
Her voice hinted at disgust for “explorers,” but not quite disgust for Aster. Her eyes hardened.
“She always had her head in the clouds…for good or bad.”
His smile disappeared for a moment, but she wasn’t looking.
Alex brought a weak smile to his lips, as she looked at him sadly.
He nodded politely, hoping for her to continue.
From his brief time at Privet Drive, he already knew a couple things about the Dursleys. Firstly, they were biased against imagination, creativity, and several other characteristics his mother had. Even when she was sick, his mother would tell the best stories. She told stories of a band of adventurers fighting hordes and hordes of goblins, ghouls, and evil bandits. He later realized she was telling her own stories, of when she was an adventurer with his dad.
Petunia looked at photos of her son Dudley as neither of them spoke.
“When did you last hear from my mom?”
“I never did,” whispered Petunia. “As soon as she turned eighteen, she left to go to university.”
Petunia looked briefly at another photo — a wedding photo of her and Vernon — before continuing.
“She fell in love with someone after that. That’s all I knew.”
She sighed.
“We never really talked about her once she left. My parents loved her, but Aster was a free-spirit. I don’t know if they ever sent letters to each other.”
Alex nodded again. He was glad to know more about his mom.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Aunt Petunia.”
She bowed her head.
“Thank you. I’m sorry for yours.”
Vernon had come back from the kitchen but quickly shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He was secure when discussing drills, not emotional family talk.
“Harry and I were talking today, but I never managed to figure out what happened to my other aunt.”
He paused for a moment before he asked, “May I ask when she passed away?”
Petunia looked away as Vernon replied, “Five years ago. Around Hallow’s Eve.”
Alex opened his mouth to ask another question, but Vernon added, “They passed in a car accident.”
He looked at both of them carefully as Petunia looked towards Vernon as he said it.
“A car accident?”
“Yes,” Petunia insisted. “In an unfortunate car accident.”
She looked at him, but her eyes gave it away. She could only look at him for a moment before looking away towards her husband.
“You’ve told Harry how they passed, right?”
They both nodded.
“I heard another story though — about how they died.”
Petunia looked nervously at Vernon, as Alex continued looking at his aunt.
“Some oddball evil wizard killed them.”
At the word “wizard,” Vernon stood up. His face grew red.
“Never say that word in this house!”
Alex continued, still calmly sitting down.
“It was an unusual story, but most people in Godric’s Hollow told me this.”
Petunia looked shocked, and scared, while Vernon grew even more upset.
“How dare you! Y-you believe strangers over us” blustered his uncle.
His eyes widely moved around. The man was trying to convince him to not push the point further.
“I believe you’ve said these things to protect your family. I’m not trying to scare anyone. I’m trying to understand.”
Vernon’s face was still red, but he sat back down. In angry whispers, he lashed out, “This is beyond you. At the end of the week, you can leave. We can’t! Don’t involve yourself in this mess!”
Alex leaned forward, towards his uncle. His smile was long gone, as he spoke, “I’m family. Harry is my family. I have a feeling whatever you’re hiding. Whatever you’re scared about is something I can handle.”
He held up his hand, and grinned, “You don’t know my life, Vernon. I promise you whatever oddball you’re scared of is nothing to what I’ve seen and had to deal with.”
Alex dropped his grin and maintained his hard stare. He added, “Harry has magic, but doesn’t know it exists. You know magic exists, but you both don’t have it.”
He looked away, calming down, before he forcefully deadpanned, “Why is this the case?”
Vernon would never admit his fear of the boy, but his face had grown pale. Petunia mustered enough courage to answer.
“We think if he doesn’t know it exists, maybe it will never show. He wouldn’t be able to use it. H-he could become normal.”
Alex didn’t move his body instead he turned his head, raising an eyebrow.
“Do you think Aunt Lily could stamp out her magic if she was just more normal?”
He let the question hang, but he continued, “Magic doesn’t go away, especially not his. He turned his teacher’s hair bright blue last year. His magic is already there.”
Vernon muttered, “Stop saying that word.”
He whipped his head back to the man.
“If I said magic a thousand times, what would that change? Your fears aren’t just the words. It’s something else, so what is it? Did a person try to attack you? Attack Harry?”
Vernon looked away, grumpily.
Petunia responded, “No. People have known who he was, but no one has tried to hurt us. He was brought here by wizards, friends of my sister and her husband. They gave us a letter.”
He ignored the scorn in her voice when she said “wizard.”
“Did they cast something on the house? Do they watch over this house?”
She nodded.
“They said that my sister used her magic to protect Harry. By keeping him, we are safe.”
Alex leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes as he sighed. Throughout dinner, he continued, thinking about the runes.
“What if I told you that you were being misled?”
Petunia looked concerned, while Vernon was suspicious.
“There is a spell surrounding the house, yes. However, there’s a time limit on the spell in two important ways. First, the spell will end on Harry’s 18th birthday. Second, Harry only needs to visit this house for a couple days a year for the spell to renew.”
Vernon leaned forward again, a devious grin was growing on his face.
“And it would continue to protect our home, even when the boy isn’t here.”
“You’re correct,” Alex smiled grimly as the implication sunk in. “I could take care of him since he is my family by blood, then for a day or so stay here while you’re on vacation. We won’t have to meet if we don’t want to.”
His grin unnerved Alex, as the man looked towards the hallway.
“Uncle Vernon, would you like to tell Harry the news?”
“I’d be glad to.”
The man stood up and walked into the hallway.
Alex stood up soon afterwards, walking towards his aunt.
“Could you give me the name of one of the wizards who talked to you?”
Petunia gave him an odd look.
“But, you’re a wizard. How could you—”
“I could be familiar with magic, without being a wizard. Now, could you give me a name, Aunt Petunia?”
“Dumbledore. Albus Dumbledore. He was the Head of the Order of the Phoenix, and is Headmaster of Hogwarts.”
Before he could turn towards the hallway, Petunia reached out and grabbed him by the arm.
“He’ll be safe with you? You're sure?”
“I am. If you ever want to see him or me, let me know. I’ll be sending letters to this house to plan the days Harry and I visit.”
Petunia looked at him for a while, before letting go.
Alex headed into the hallway to see Harry standing at the edge of the doorway with all of his things in one hand. He was grinning from ear to ear.
“Uncle Vernon is grabbing some papers he thinks you’ll need for me, but then he said we can leave.”
Alex nodded.
The sluggish, tired man was quick on his feet as they heard footsteps, rushing around upstairs. Minutes later, Vernon handed Alex an array of loose legal papers — medical, legal, and other things related to his cousin.
Vernon smirked as if he just won the lottery and turned to head back upstairs.
Harry was equally thrilled, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.
Alex reached out to hold his hand and to grab his small book bag from his cousin.
It was near midnight by the time they stepped out of the Dursley’s well-manicured front lawn.
The two held hands as they walked past white-fenced houses towards the park.
Alex thought with a grin, either the taxi was going to make an appearance, or Harry was going to experience some real magic.