Chapter Text
It was a perfectly ordinary day.
He woke in the dark, with only a sliver of light from under the cupboard door to illuminate the cramped space.
The fast click click click of his aunt's shoes;
One, two, three…
“Get up!” Aunt Petunia shrieked, knocking on the cupboard door.
Harry let out a weary sigh. He felt around for his glasses and slipped them on. He got up- well, he tried at atleast; there wasn't much space to move around.
He slipped out of the cupboard door silently, letting out a small surprised ‘huh!’ when he almost collided with his aunt. She seized him by the collar, bending down slightly to do so, and pointed a long finger at him.
“Listen here, boy,” she hissed. “Today is my sweet Duddy’s birthday-”
Oh my luck.
“-so I need everything to be perfect. You'll go and make him breakfast as usual. Don't you dare ruin his special day.” She emphasized the last part with a little shake.
“Yes, Aunt Petunia.”
She let him go. As Harry was running to the kitchen, Petunia yelled after him;
“Don't burn the bacon!”
———–
Harry was listening to Dudley complain about his presents, barely restraining himself from grabbing the hot,greasy pan and slapping his cousin with it.
Because thirty-seven presents aren't enough.
“And while we're out we'll get you two more presents, how's that sound sweetheart?” Aunt Petunia cooed, comforting Dudley.
He seemed to think real hard for a moment, before slowly saying; “So then I'll have thirty..thirty….”
“Thirty-nine.” Petunia said with a slightly dubious tone; she seemed to finally question her son's cognitive abilities, Harry remarked.
Dudley remained completely clueless all the while.
Harry grabbed the pan after turning off the heat and scooped the eggs and bacon into plates- none of which were for him, ofcourse. He didn't get to eat until told so.
Uncle Vernon walked into the kitchen at that moment. He seemed vaguely angry, and Harry worried about what was to happen. Nothing good, for sure.
Aunt Petunia looked at him, and Vernon sighed as if a great tragedy had befallen upon them.
“Mrs.Figg fell and broke her leg yesterday. She can't take him,” he said gruffly, jerking his head towards Harry.
Really, he ought to be sorry for the old lady; she had been nice enough, and well meaning. But he could dredge up nothing but relief now that he didn't have to visit that cursed house for another year or so.
Petunia,though, didn't seem to share his sentiment.
“Well, can't your sister Marge take him?” She spoke flippantly, as if he was nothing more than an inconvenience.
Vernon shook his head. “She's off to a holiday in Majorca.”
While the conversation was happening, Harry was momentarily forgotten. He grabbed Dudley’s half-eaten toast off his plate and quickly shoved it into his mouth.
The adults continued to argue, Dudley looked on with his mouth agape- he probably didn't possess the brainpower needed to understand what was going on- and Harry reveled in his small victory.
Cutting through the tense arguments like a knife, the doorbell rang. After a momentary pause, things happened all at once; aunt Petunia cursed and ran to the door, heels clacking. Uncle Vernon straightened out his newspaper with a huff, Dudley jumped up, knocking over some of his presents, and Harry? He smiled, just a little.
Well then.
He would be tagging along, it seemed.
———–
Harry was having the best morning he'd had in a long time.
After arriving to the zoo, Dudley and Piers were too busy gawking at the animals to bother him. He finally found some peace; he got to walk around and look at all the pretty birds and animals on display without having to look over his shoulder.
After lunch- an actual lunch!- they headed to the reptile house.
The room was dark and full of people. Hushed whispering buzzed all around him like the steady humming of a spring day.
The only light came from the displays themselves; tall, thick glass enclosures with dead tree trunks, sticks, and fauna. He could see various kinds of snakes, lizards and tortoises all around. One snake seemed to lunge at the glass in front of him, making a small boy cry out and run to his mom.
Harry snorted at the sight and turned to look around for the others. He spotted Dudley running towards a rather large glass case- a true feat for him- and knock against the glass incessantly.
Curiosity spiked in him.
He followed Dudley slowly, wincing at how loud his cousin was being. His eyes flew to the little sign on the side of the glass, which said in small, compact letters; boa constrictor.
He looked back at the snake. It was ginormous; if it got out, Harry had no doubts that it could eat him whole.
The boa looked unimpressed with Dudley’s yelling; it didn't move an inch, and Harry swore it was looking straight at Dudley all the while.
Finally, his cousin seemed to give up on making the snake move, and he moved on to his next unfortunate victim.
Harry took the snake in for a moment. It was brown in colour, with darker brown and black markings and it had red eyes which seemed far too tired for any animal.
He frowned, sympathy flooding through him. He felt he could relate to the snake; far too often, he also felt trapped in his own home,in his cupboard. Like he was some specimen to look and point fingers at.
“Sorry for that.”
He bit his lip,uncertain of why he was even talking to a snake in the first place.
“You must get that a lot. People like him coming to gawk at you.”
The snake seemed to perk up at that, coming to life. Its beady red eyes looked straight at him as it slithered closer, close enough to press its nose against the glass infront of his face.
“Yes, that… is common here. With all of us.”
Harry blinked. Surely it didn't just…
“I'm sorry to hear that.”He said awkwardly.
The snake waved its tail, as if saying, no need to worry.
“I haven't seen anyone willing to speak to me.” It remarked.
“Really?”
The boa nodded.
“I think you have a lot of interesting things to say, if anyone's willing to sit and listen.”
The boa looked at him for a moment, calculating.
“Strange boy,” it murmured.
Harry smiled a little awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.
“Nevermind me. Do you have a-”
But he didn't get to finish. He was suddenly flung aside- by Dudley, he assumed- who was speaking excitedly about something.
He hit the floor hard, and pain shot through his elbow. The next moment, screams filled the air. He frantically righted the glasses on his face and scrambled back.
To his dismay, he came face to face with the boa constrictor- how had it even escaped?!- which was looking straight at him.
Scales brushed against his arm.
“Goodbye, strange boy.”
He watched the scene unfold detached from his body; The glass he had been pressing against had completely vanished. There were no shards anywhere. Dudley and Piers were on the ground a few feet away from him, screaming. The boa constrictor was rapidly slithering away, hissing at anyone that dared approach it.
Harry could see that some of its body was draped over the two boys beside him- hence the screaming. He could also hear two sets of footsteps he knew all too well.
Petunia ran to her son and kneeled beside him, cradling his sobbing form to her chest.
Harry was wrenched upright and spun around dizzyingly quickly to come face to face with a red-faced, angry Vernon.
He was screwed.