Chapter Text
Petunia’s shriek woke them and half the neighborhood the next morning. Arrdyn was surprised to find himself on the doorstep while Petunia read a letter. He had always assumed that the Dursleys were exaggerating when they had claimed that he’d been left on their doorstep. He could not believe that Dumbledore would leave two toddlers alone on a doorstep on a chilly November night. They could have awoken and wandered off or suffered from Hypothermia, or been taken by a passerby. He’d left them with nothing but a letter to explain their presence. The callousness of telling someone that their family was dead and that they’d been given guardianship of two infants in an impersonal letter was appalling. Their resentment was almost justifiable. Well, as justifiable as criminal neglect could be. Especially if the person in question didn’t know Vernon or Petunia’s abhorrence of the extraordinary and need for social standing and acceptance.
Their possessions were raided. The hand carved crib that had been shrunken down was thrown away along with their nutrient potions. Most of their toys were given to Dudley to replace the ones of his own that he’d broken. While Uncle Vernon was at work, Aunt Petunia cleaned out the cupboard under the stairs. Everything was swept out and the harsh chemicals were either moved elsewhere or onto a higher shelf they couldn’t reach. Uncle Vernon lugged a twin mattress into the house when he got home from work. His face red and grunting from the exertion, he hauled it into the cupboard. Aunt Petunia quickly put some old sheets and a musty quilt on it. A pillow was placed on each end and Moony and Padfoot, the only toys they were allowed, were throw half-hazard on top. The two blankets that had been packed in their diaper bag were folded and placed on the lowest shelf.
Harry and Arrdyn had cried most of the day from hunger until their aunt had smacked them both. Faces still red and sore the twins were given their supper, the first meal they’d been allowed that day, and locked into the cupboard for the night. They were left in near complete darkness with nothing to comfort them but each other and the two canine stuffed animals.
The next several months were miserable for the twins. Arrdyn continued to watch Harry, unable to remember how he had initially reacted to being orphaned and foisted off on the Dursleys. Eventually Harry stopped crying for their mother, father, and godfathers. By the time their second birthday rolled around the harsh treatment had become normal for them. Potty training a year later was a nightmare Arrdyn was glad he hadn’t remembered before and wished he could forget this time around. Petunia didn’t trust them with many chores but there were a few she had them do. They often had to pick up dirty laundry and Dudley’s toys, or, when they were tall enough to wrestle with the broom, sweep. Arrdyn sent Harry off to play or tackle some easier task when he could. Mopping though, they did together.
Arrdyn carefully measured out the proper amount of cleaner. He knew that the concentrated chemical would burn if it got on his skin so he always insisted that he did it. Arrdyn often gave such commands and warnings, remembering how things were in his previous life. Harry had quickly learned that his brother’s orders were always for their benefit and so obeyed his twin unquestioningly. Working together the brothers carefully removed the dining chairs. Simultaneously they wrung out two wash clothes that had been dunked in the bucket of soapy water. Harry shot Arrdyn a grin before using the momentum of a running start to slide across the floor on the washcloth.
They raced each other across the floor and played around a bit before wiping up the areas they’d missed and cleaning the corners. After putting away their supplies they sat on the back step and ate leftover steamed broccoli from the night before. They were allowed to eat any leftovers for lunch the next day. Due to Dudley’s appetite this was usually whatever obligatory vegetable had been made in the name of a well-balanced meal. Since Dudley only ever ate one serving of said vegetables they tended to be all that was left.
Arrdyn carefully doled out the nutrient rich vegetable, making sure that his brother got a slightly larger portion. Harry looked at his brother with adoration for a moment before gently bumping their shoulders. The other gave him a fond smile as he handed him his plate.
“I love mopping day.” The first born said smiling. As he did so he could imagine the weariness in his younger but wiser brother’s eyes fading just the smallest amount in the light of his smile.
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By the time the twins and Dudley were old enough to attend Primary School, Dudley had become pretty much set in his ways as a bully and the twins as the neighborhood’s pariahs. They had learned how to do most of the housework, though they weren’t trusted to do it very often. Aunt Petunia had begun to teach them the simplest aspects of cooking, which she detested, and they were expected to assist her in making whatever meal they hoped to eat.
Unfortunately, it was East Whinging Primary School’s policy that siblings not be in the same class as each other. As there were only two classes for each grade this meant that one or the other of them would be stuck, alone, with Dudley. Without Dudley to threaten them with bodily harm Arrdyn found most of his classmates friendly. Harry, on the other hand, came home with a black eye. His wrist was severely sprained the next day at lunch. Arrdyn, after examining the wrist, quickly pulled his brother into the nearest restroom and forced Harry to trade clothes with him. With only a few hitches where Harry nearly forgot to answer to “Arrdyn” the boys found it was easy to trade places and pretend to be the other. After a year it was nearly second nature, not that anyone paid them enough mind to tell the difference between them. Their first bit of accidental magic was a bump in their new equilibrium though.
Arrdyn and Harry eyed the two revolting sweaters Uncle Vernon’s Aunt Matilda had given Dudley for Christmas. Apparently being “big-boned” ran in Uncle Vernon’s Mother’s family. His father’s sister, who did not know this, didn’t think she needed to buy her great-nephew extra-large clothing. There was simply no way to fit Dudley’s girth in either sweater. One was the hideous brown with orange puffballs Arrdyn remembered from his first life. The other was a nearly puke green with yellow waves across the front. They were probably warm, which almost made Arrdyn willing to wear them, but the look on Harry’s face said he’d rather freeze.
Aunt Petunia told them to raise their arms, which they did obediently, if reluctantly. The brown one was shoved over Harry’s arms and stuck there. With each of Aunt Petunia’s tugs on the offending knitting Arrdyn could see it shrink. Soon Harry’s elbows were knocking together, unable to move because of the restricting material. With a huff Aunt Petunia yanked the very small sweater off his head. Arrdyn glanced at the green thing on the table behind her hoping she’d assume it had shrunk in the wash too. Chilly January weather or not, he didn’t want to wear the ugly thing. Aunt Petunia picked the other sweater up and frowned. It was now the same size as the other. She held it up to Arrdyn but it very obviously wouldn’t fit him.
Arrdyn was glad that they weren’t punished for the sweaters, and Aunt Matilda must have realized her error when she received the picture of a falsely cheery Dudley holding one of the sweaters. Next year she sent Dudley a jump rope and a football which caused Harry and Arrdyn to laugh later that night in the privacy of their cupboard. None of the Dursleys got the hint. Arrdyn ran interference for all subsequent magical hiccups. Life went smoothly until they met their first witch.
Arrdyn tightened his grip on his brother’s hand as the pair of them weaved through the holiday crowds at the grocery store. The twins were rarely allowed anywhere but school and Privet Drive. It had been decided that this was an emergency though. The Dursleys were entertaining some influential guests for New Years and Aunt Petunia had run out of olives to garnish one of her hors d’oeuvres. They had an hour and a half to run two miles to the store get the olives and run back. Arrdyn clutched the five pound note they’d found in the laundry earlier that week and he hoped they would be able to buy one of the shops pre-made sandwiches for their holiday dinner. When they got back they were to hide in their cupboard making no sound and pretending they didn’t exist. Harry stuck close to his brother, the basket with their sandwich already in it clutched in his free hand.
“Merlin, it’s been a long time since I’ve been to a muggle grocery store.” The woman next to them murmured to herself as she scanned the shelves for what she wanted. Arrdyn froze where he was reaching up for a jar of olives. Sensing his brother’s discomfort Harry shuffled even closer, catching the witch’s attention. Noticing one of the boys next to her reaching for a jar just out of his reach she smiled at them without really looking and grabbed the jar they needed. She got a better look when she bent down to hand the olives to them. Her eyes widened in surprise.
“You-You’re the Twins! The Boys-who-lived!” She breathed. “I can’t believe my eyes! Our saviors in little Whinging! I-“ Arrdyn cut her off with a hurried thanks, tugging the jar out of her slack grip and running down the aisle. He pulled a confused Harry along behind him. Though they spotted the witch peering over the crowd looking for them they managed to make it back to the Dursley’s without getting cornered by a member of the magical community.
Arrdyn dreamed of the night he fled Privet Drive shortly before his 17th birthday. His heart sunk at the sight of spell light flashing through the clouds and just as he saw green light zip towards them, towards Hedwig defenseless in her cage, small hands shook him awake. Harry’s face was cast in a soft green-yellow glow from the fireflies they had smuggled into their cupboard. Harry’s, or possibly his own, magic kept the little jar full of living specimens every night even during the winter months. Arrdyn avoided contemplating how it worked and simply appreciated having the light on hand for times like this one.
“Are you okay?” Harry asked, smoothing his brother’s hair ad straightening their blankets.
“Yeah,” Arrdyn answered, his voice shaky with emotion. “Just a nightmare.”
“Of what?” His alter-twin-brother asked.
“A memory.”
“Of the laugh? And the green light?” Harry asked snuggling into the warmth of his brother’s side. Arrdyn looked at his twin in surprise. With so many other memories to haunt him; he had forgotten about that old night terror. He contemplated his answer before deciding to trust his alter with something like the truth.
“They used to say that sometimes, when an old soul gets too big, it will be reborn as twins. Usually a soul’s memories are erased—I imagine at least—but I still remember who we were, before. Who we used to be.” Arrdyn explained. Harry’s eyes got really big.
“Really?! Were we brilliant? Rich? Did we have a big family? Famous?” Harry asked excited before he frowned, an adorable little moue on his lips. “We were a boy right? ‘cause girls are gross.” Arrdyn chuckled.
“I don’t know if we were famous enough to get into a history book—” Which, Arrdyn consoled himself, wasn’t strictly a lie. He didn’t know who or what they had been in a previous life or if reincarnation was even real. He wrapped his arms around his brother, which both conserved space on their single twin mattress and kept them warm. Their blankets had gotten rather threadbare over the years and didn’t keep the chill out very well anymore. “But we had an active role in a war.”
“Cool!” Harry whispered, imagining valiant deeds. Arrdyn shook his head.
“No. So many people died. We lost a lot of people that we love. I’ll tell you what is cool though,” Arrdyn consoled. “We used to be a wizard.” Harry frowned.
“But, Uncle Vernon says there’s no such thing as magic.” Arrdyn snorted.
“Don’t ever repeat this—neither of us would like the result—but Uncle Vernon is a small minded lout, Aunt Petunia a vindictive rumormonger, and Dudley a brainless brute. I remember the night that mum and dad died and it wasn’t in a car crash.” Harry sat up.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?!” He demanded, hurt. Arrdyn tried to reign in his anger: anger at the Dursleys for their abuse, anger at Dumbledore for abandoning them here, and anger at everyone else for being blind to their suffering. When he had his emotions back under control he sighed.
“I’m sorry. At first you were too young and then I thought you might be happier not knowing how much they lie to us. I have a lot of secrets, Harry. Eventually I will tell them to you. But it won’t be now, or all at once.” He petted his brother’s hair and coaxed him to lie back down. The other continued to frown at him and Arrdyn decided that distracting him from his hurt was the best tactic. “Mum and Dad had magic and so do we.” He told him.
“Nuh uh!” Harry exclaimed, eager for it to be true but too disbelieving of anything good that might happen in their lives.
“How else would you explain those sweaters shrinking last year? Or just before break when you turned your teacher’s wig that ugly blue? We use magic all the time.”
Harry giggled at the memory. That year they had been stuck between a rock and a hard place when it came to classes. With Dudley in one class and an embittered half-crazed teacher for the other, swapping places didn’t provide much of a reprieve. One day, after she had assigned an obscene amount of homework, and while she was whining about how teaching brats was ruining her chances at marrying well—especially when none of them were worth her time or would succeed at anything—Harry had gotten fed up with the put downs. Her wig, which was both obviously fake and outdated in style, changed into a gaudy blue to match her hideous eye make-up. The class had cracked up laughing, and she had run out in tears. Their last week before break had been spent with a substitute teacher.
“Harry,” Arrdyn said seriously “we can’t let anyone know. That we’re wizards or that I remember our past life. We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves.” Harry frowned in thought.
“The woman from the grocery store.” He said looking to his brother. “She was a wizard too. How’d she recognize us? Why’d she call us that? Saviors?” Arrdyn sighed, feeling tired down to his soul.
“She was a witch, yes. She called us the Boys-Who-Lived. The Wizarding World is small and we performed a miracle by surviving when it was supposed to be impossible. A very evil man had been terrorizing the Wizarding World and he set his sights on destroying our family. We survived his attack and he hasn’t been seen since.”
He took a fortifying breath. He had been terrorized by the public after Voldemort’s final defeat. He hadn’t been able to go shopping without getting mobbed and assaulted. Even now, large crowds made him jumpy and claustrophobic.
“The public is fickle–easily swayed. As high as their pedestal raises us we’ll fall just as hard if we do something they don’t approve of. So let’s be careful who we trust and avoid bringing attention to ourselves, okay?” Harry nodded, his brother had never led him astray, and the two brothers allowed themselves to fall back asleep.
Slowly Harry began to grasp the use of his magic, and less and less incidents of accidental magic were actual accidents. Together the boys began to learn how to wield their magic without focusing it through a wand. It made their lives easier without attracting the notice of any muggles or the Dursleys. Most of Arrdyn’s efforts were towards disguising them from the witches and wizards who swarmed Surrey after the twins had been spotted in the area of Little Whinging. Arrdyn was surprised at how much control Harry had but then he remembered the things Tom Riddle had done at the orphanage before Dumbledore had extended an invitation to Hogwarts to him.
Every night Harry asked Arrdyn to tell him a story about their parents or their past life. Arrdyn refused to talk about their life before this one and instead “made up” stories about adventures they might have at Hogwarts. He talked about their life with their parents and added in the occasional anecdote about a famous witch or wizard. One night when he was telling Harry an exaggerated tale of his and Hermione’s jaunt in time he realized that some of the details of his life were slipping away from him. He knew that he needed to write down what he remembered about Sirius’ case, and the Resurrection Ritual, and Voldemort’s Horcruxes. The problem was how to do so without Harry being able to accidentally read it.
Eventually he decided to encode his memories in a choppy Latin. In the back of a notebook that hadn’t been completely filled with notes the previous school year he carefully wrote down every detail he could. It took him a month to steal enough time alone to write it all out. Afterward, he tucked it away under their mattress to wait until he needed it.
Life was uneventful until the fall before they started Hogwarts. They were so unlucky as to have all of Dudley’s gang in the same class together. They were a terror to anyone who sat near them and would poke and pinch any Potter brother they could, whenever they could. Arrdyn’s arms had been littered with bruises after the first week. Lunch and recess was even worse as by that time they had scared everyone away from the brothers and could agree on a course of action(deciding what torture they wanted to inflict that particular day was as close to planning as they got) before class let out.
One day the twins were being chased by Dudley’s mob when they rounded a corner and, in the few moments they were out of sight, attempted to jump behind the nearby trashcans. Both of them found themselves sitting on one of the school’s kitchen chimneys. Arrdyn had quickly pulled his brother down and mostly out of sight behind their perch. There was a niche where the new atrium didn’t meet the corner of the kitchens. Dudley’s gang had already glanced into it and moved on leaving it unoccupied and out of anyone’s view. They crab walked along the steep pitch of the roof and soon sat with their legs dangling off the edge of the roof.
“Okay,” Arrdyn whispered reassuringly to his brother. “We’re going to jump down from the roof here. Use your magic to cushion you. It’ll be like jumping off the swings, okay?” His brother nodded nervously and Arrdyn screwed up his Gryffindor courage and jumped.
The ground gave, like when they’d sneaked into the guest room and jumped on the bed, and Arrdyn found himself bouncing a bit, but this time his feet landed on firm earth. He looked up to his brother who seemed a bit reassured at his safe landing. Arrdyn watched as Harry lifted off the roof and gently floated down through the air, shirt rippling in slow motion. Neither said anything about their little misadventure but from then on took refuge in trees and nearly any other high place they thought they could get away with.
Time passed oddly for Arrdyn who found that his days moved slowly but somehow seemed much shorter when he looked back on them. He and Harry lived day by day but their weeks blurred together. Until one morning when he woke up and realized that it was Dudley’s 11th birthday.
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“Get up! The bacon’s on the stove already and you’re not to let it burn!” Aunt Petunia screeched, jarring Arrdyn out of a fitful slumber. He carefully extracted himself from Harry. Even at ten years old they still shared the same twin sized mattress from when they had first joined the Dursley household, though now they barely fit. The two brothers piled together in the cupboard under the stairs like puppies. Arrdyn always woke to find their limbs tangled together.
He gently shook his brother’s shoulder and pulled him up into a sitting position. After reclaiming two pairs of mismatched socks from the spiders he shoved one pair into his sleepy brother’s feet and the other onto his own. He dashed to the stove, purposely leaving the cupboard door open and his brother blinking bewilderedly in the morning light.
Arrdyn barely made it to the stove in time to flip the bacon before it burned. He ignored the overburdened dining table. Harry followed to help with breakfast, pausing to assess Dudley’s haul this year.
“What does he want a racing bike for? Harry Hunting is the only exercise he isn’t allergic to.” Harry grumbled as he pulled out another pan to begin frying tomatoes in.
“Dunno.” His brother answered, “Maybe he’ll leave his old computer in the second bedroom now that he has a new one. It’d make it easier to sneak onto.” Arrdyn replied under his breath as he plated the bacon and began on the breakfast sausage. Harry hummed in agreement as he swapped out the toast in the toaster for two new pieces of bread. The twins worked as an efficient and well-practiced team to make breakfast for the small army that was comprised solely of Vernon and Dudley Dursley. Petunia daintily ate a fruit salad Arrdyn had whipped together for her while Harry cooked the potatoes.
While the twins set the table Dudley slowly counted his presents. His face fell when he counted the last one (a second television, Arrdyn thought).
“36.” He said looking up at his parents. “That’s two less than last year.’’ Arrdyn was amazed that he had the brain capacity to remember how many presents he’d received the year before, let alone been able to subtract the two amounts to determine he’d been shorted. Then, of course, when it came to material possessions and bullying Dudley was well motivated to be at his cleverest. Aunt Petunia was quick to reassure her precious Diddydums.
“Darling, you haven’t counted Auntie Marge’s present see, it’s here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy.”
“Alright, 37 then.” Dudley responded petulantly, going red in the face. Harry, who—like Arrdyn—could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, began to wolf down his bacon due to the very real threat of the blond flipping the table. Arrdyn felt no compunction about lifting his plate and moving out of the way all together. The twins must not have been the only ones to sense trouble because she quickly amended her earlier statement.
“And we’ll buy you two more presents while we’re out today. How’s that popkin? Two more presents. Is that all right?” Dudley thought for a moment. Arrdyn decided that he’d probably used all of his week’s allotment of mental acuity earlier in the argument, because it seemed like hard work.
“So I’ll have…thirty…thirty…”
“39, sweetums.” Aunt Petunia said encouragingly. Dudley frowned in thought another moment.
“Oh,” he said sitting heavily and reaching for the first parcel. “Alright then.” Uncle Vernon chuckled.
“Little Tyke wants his money’s worth, just like his father. ‘Atta boy Dudley!” He said ruffling his son’s hair.
At that moment the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia left her little idyllic scene of family happiness to answer it. The twins and Uncle Vernon continued eating and watched Dudley tear through his 37 presents, stuffing his face between each gift. He had started to unwrap a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia returned.
“Bad news Vernon,” she said causing everyone at the table to look up at her. “Mrs. Figg broke her leg. She can’t take them.” She jerked her head in the twins’ direction. Arrdyn could see the hope blossoming in Harry’s eyes.
Dudley, on the other hand, allowed his mouth to drop open in horror. Every year the elder Dursleys took him and a friend somewhere special—the movies, an amusement park, this year the zoo—for his birthday. Every year the twins were left with Mrs. Figg on Magnolia Crescent. To the neighborhood she was an eccentric old maid with too many cats. Knowing that she was actually a squib, sent by Dumbledore to watch over them, allowed Arrdyn to see that she was simply at a loss on how to interact with them. This did not change the fact that she tended to show them the album of every cat she ever owned in an attempt to distract them from the fact that they’d been left behind. Harry hated the cabbage-smelling sitting room and being assaulted by a dozen furry bodies while listening to the not-so-daring tales of Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws, and Tufty.
“Now what?” Aunt Petunia asked her husband, glaring furiously at the two brothers—particularly Arrdyn—as if they’d planned this. Harry knew he should feel bad that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, she’d only ever been nice to them, but consoled himself with the knowledge that it’d be a year before he had to learn the adventures of Snuggly who had been hit by a car a month ago.
Arrdyn was pondering if there were any jobs they could do for her for a bit of money. They often did odd jobs in the neighborhood, like raking leaves, shoveling walkways, and weeding. Once they’d even painted an entire fence. It had bought Harry a new pair of trainers he’d needed. The twins scrimped and saved the money they earned, supplementing it with spare change they found in the laundry and couch cushions, and used it to buy things they needed. Items like belts to hold up Dudley’s hand-me-down pants, blank notebooks for school, and shoes that didn’t have holes in them.
“We could phone Marge.” Uncle Vernon suggested.
“Don’t be silly Vernon, she hates them.” Arrdyn and Harry didn’t care for Uncle Vernon’s sister, also known as “Aunt” Marge, either so the feeling was mutual. The Dursleys often talked about them with derision, as if they weren’t there. Like slugs, disgusting and incapable of understanding them.
“What about what’s-her-name, your friend—Yvonne?” Vernon asked.
“On Vacation in Majorca.” snapped Aunt Petunia.
“You could leave us here.” Harry offered hopefully before Arrdyn could make an abortive motion. He knew his brother was hoping to watch what he wanted on television and try out Dudley’s computer. Aunt Petunia looked as if she’d swallowed a lemon.
“And come back to find the house in ruins?!” She shrieked.
“We wouldn’t blow up the house.” Harry argued petulantly but they were ignoring him again.
“I suppose we could bring them with us to the zoo.” Aunt Petunia suggested slowly. “…and leave them in the car…”
“The car’s new; I’ll not leave them alone in it.” Vernon stated.
Dudley began to cry. In truth they were only crocodile tears. He had learned that if he screwed his face up and wailed that his mother would give him anything he wanted.
“Dinky Diddydums don’t cry! Mummy won’t let them ruin your special day!” She cried flinging her arms around his shoulders, his neck being the narrowest part of him and one of the only places she could reach around his girth. She shot them a familiar look that told them she begrudged them their existence.
“I…d-don’t want… them to c-come!” Dudley said between huge fake sobs. “They ruin everything!” He wailed before shooting them a nasty look under his mother’s arms. This was interrupted by the doorbell.
“Good lord they’re here!” Aunt Petunia cried, straightening up and tugging her dress into order. A moment later Piers Polkiss, Dudley’s rat-faced best friend, walked in with his mother. Piers was the kind of boy to hold people’s arms behind their back while Dudley hit them. Dudley immediately stopped pretending to cry.
Half an hour later Harry was nearly bouncing with excitement in the seat in between Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. Arrdyn sat squished in the back with Dudley and Piers on either side, both of them leaning forcefully into him with every turn. The twins had, with a glance, decided which seat was least desirable and who would get it. Being the protective brother he was, Arrdyn volunteered to suffer the vindictive elbows and pokes. Aunt Petunia had been unable to think of any alternatives to bringing them along. Before they left Uncle Vernon had pulled both of them aside.
“I’m warning you.” He said his large purple face so close he had to turn his head so his beady eyes could glare at both of them. “Any funny business—any at all—and you’ll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas.” Harry had opened his mouth to protest but quickly closed it and nodded obediently when his brother nudged him with an elbow in warning. Uncle Vernon wouldn’t have believed him anyway, no one ever did. Arrdyn smoothed over their accidental magic but the Dursleys were just as apt to blame them when they’d done nothing. Whatever incidences Arrdyn hadn’t been able to keep out of the Dursleys notice had incited Uncle Vernon’s ridiculous and unfair punishments.
But today nothing was going to go wrong, Harry was determined and Arrdyn remembered his own trip to the zoo so his felt forearmed. It was worth being with Dudley and Piers to be going somewhere that wasn’t their cupboard, school, or Mrs. Figg’s.
As they drove, Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: Harry, people at work, Arrdyn, the Council, Harry, the bank, foreigners, and the twins were just a few of his favorite topics. Today it was motorcycles.
“…roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums!” he complained as a motorcycle overtook them.
“I had a dream about a motorcycle.” Harry piped up. “It was flying!” He added, forgetting who he was talking to. Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front of them. He turned to Harry, mustache bristling and face murderous.
“MOTORCYCLES DON’T FLY!” He shouted.
“I know, it was just a dream.” Harry apologized, cowed. He had forgotten the rule: ‘Don’t mention anything acting as it shouldn’t’. Anything that might be magic was taboo. It was second only to the rule: ‘Don’t ask questions.’ Dudley and Piers sniggered.
It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with families. To try and cheer his brother up, Arrdyn dragged his feet at the ice cream stand so that the lady had time to ask what they wanted before Aunt Petunia could hurry them away. Both agreed that the cheap lemon ice pop they’d gotten was pretty good while they watched a gorilla lazily scratch its bum. Just out of earshot of their family, Harry pointed out that if it’d been wearing a wig it could have passed as a dead ringer for Dudley. Arrdyn said that if they needed a stand-in a pig in a wig would suit better.
It ended up being one of the best mornings they could remember. Though they made sure they never lost the Dursleys, they also hung back, apart from them. Partially this was to please Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, who didn’t like to be seen with them, and partially this was so that Dudley ad Piers wouldn’t fall back on other methods of entertainment as they got increasingly bored with the animals by lunchtime.
Harry got to eat at a restaurant for the first time at lunch and the twins got to finish one of Dudley’s Knicker-bocker Glories when he pitched a fit that it didn’t have enough ice cream on it. Uncle Vernon had demanded that the waiter replace the dessert. The poor employee was bullied into giving Dudley two extra scoops, just to be sure there was plenty.
After lunch they went to the Reptile House. Arrdyn kept a firm grip on his brother’s hand, determined that this time they would get to finish the school year somewhere other than their cupboard. Arrdyn kept them behind the other two boys. Harry curiously watched the snakes and lizards slither and crawl over the sticks and stones in their little terrariums. Piers and Dudley raced around to look at all the poisonous cobras and man-eating pythons. Dudley whined at his father to make a Brazilian Boa Constrictor—the largest creature in the building—move, but it was sleeping and uninterested.
“That one could wrap around Uncle Vernon’s car twice.” Harry whispered in awe. He smiled as he admired the thick glistening coils. Arrdyn tugged him away from the case when he spotted a zookeeper with another, smaller, python around his shoulders exit a nearby side door.
“Can we touch it?” Arrdyn asked him as he and his brother gave the man eager looks. The man—his name tag read ‘Jon’—smiled at their enthusiasm and told them that if they were gentle they could hold it. They both giggled as the snake’s weight settled over their shoulders. The snake was long enough that with them standing close together it could drape across the back of both their necks.
“It’s so smooth! Not slimy!” Harry said, gently stroking its tail. The snake’s scales rasped together where the head slid along its back to taste the air near Harry’s ear, having looped back around Arrdyn’s neck. At around that time Dudley came up to them demanding to hold it. The zookeeper told him that he could have his turn in a minute. Dudley didn’t care to wait. Aunt Petunia, terrified at the thought of her precious baby having a giant snake wrapped around his throat, tried to dissuade him from even going near it. He ignored her and tried to yank the creature from his hated cousins. Arrdyn choked as the sake recoiled in pain, tightening around his throat.
“Stop!” Harry hissed to it in alarm at his brother’s pain. Thankfully no one seemed to think anything of it except the snake who hissed back in surprise. Arrdyn was the only one who saw Harry’s surprise at the snake’s apology. Jon the zookeeper was too busy extracting the poor creature’s tail from Dudley’s fat fingers.
“This is a living creature and you need to respect that!” Jon admonished the blond as he carefully took the snake back from the twins.
“Give it to me.” Dudley demanded shoving Harry into Arrdyn and making another grab for the animal. It pulled its tail out of the way just in time and the zookeeper scowled at him.
“No. You obviously don’t respect others and would only hurt it.” Uncle Vernon, having noticed the commotion, lumbered up to the group.
“If my son wants to hold a snake then let him hold the snake!” He demanded. The zookeeper told him ‘No’ and Vernon’s face darkened in anger. “Who are you to tell me ‘No’? This is ridiculous. Let my son hold the ruddy snake!” Jon the zookeeper scowled some more and handed the creature to a woman in a zookeeper’s uniform. She had quickly come over at the first sign of trouble. Wordlessly she took the snake into the back. Jon stepped in front of Dudley who had made to follow.
“The health and safety of our animals and guests is more important than the whims of a spoilt brat.” He announced with his arms crossed. Aunt Petunia seemed more and more uncomfortable with the attention they were drawing and tried to convince her husband that they should just leave. It was too late for that, however, because whether it was truth or not the zookeeper had just insulted his son and he couldn’t stand for that.
“Excuse me?!” Vernon roared. “My son is not a spoilt brat. You’re nothing but an overpaid Hippy!” While the zookeeper and Uncle Vernon argued, Dudley turned on the twins. His face was twisted in anger as he punched Arrdyn, who was closer, in the chest knocking the wind out of him. Arrdyn crumpled inward with a silent exhale as all the air left his lungs. A new zookeeper grabbed the downed boy by his shoulders and supported him while he tried to catch his breath.
“This is all your fault!” Dudley accused the twins. “It’s my birthday! I should have been the first to hold the snake!” The two brothers ignored him used to unfairly taking the blame. Dudley swung his fist at Harry but the zookeeper helping his brother managed to pull both of them out of the way by their shirt collars. He called for Security on his Walkie-Talkie.
“Everyone calm down!” He shouted. Jon, the zookeeper who had first brought out the snake began to argue but was quieted with a look.
“No! I want that-…that Hoodlum to apologize for insulting my son! And I want my son to get to hold a snake! We’re paying customers and I want him to get the full experience!” Vernon demanded. The other man frowned at him.
“Sir, your son just assaulted another child. We cannot, in good conscience, allow him to be within reach of any of our animals.” Uncle Vernon made a dismissive gesture, causing the man to frown even more. “I’m the head of the Reptile House. I promise you that you shall receive an apology from my employee, but after that I’m afraid you will have to leave.” He gave Jon a pointed look and with gritted teeth he apologized to both Dudley and Uncle Vernon. The Department head dismissed him and knelt down by Arrdyn.
“My name is Erik. Are you okay? Where are your parents?” Arrdyn was still having trouble taking full breaths so Harry answered for him.
“He’ll be okay in another minute. Our parents are dead. We’re here with our aunt and uncle.” He said with a nod to the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon was beginning to look murderous again. Arrdyn and Harry didn’t know how but Erik managed to look even unhappier at this knowledge. He stood and faced Uncle Vernon.
“Sir,” He said. “I would like your contact information and then I’d like you to leave.”
“I already told you. I’m not leaving until my son gets to hold a snake, and I’ll not give you my information. You don’t need it.” Uncle Vernon insisted.
“We can’t leave! We haven’t gotten to the birds yet!” Dudley whined to his father. Two men, one tall and skinny the other short and stout, dressed as security guards walked up to their group. The lady zookeeper from before was herding the other patrons away from them. Erik gave the older Dursleys a hard look.
“You are going to give us your name and contact information and then these gentlemen will escort you to your car.” He told them. Before either of them could protest he continued. “If you don’t cooperate we’ll call the police.” Aunt Petunia gasped, horrified at the thought of what the neighbors would say about the police getting involved in this little ‘tussle’. “We might not be the only ones calling either. Twenty people just witnessed you being dismissive about your son assaulting your nephews, which may indicate where he’s learning such churlish behavior from. Watching you perhaps?”
“You dare--!” Uncle Vernon spluttered.
“I would take great pleasure in watching Child Protective Services peel back your careful veneer of normality. If you doubt me, test me.” Erik informed them. Speechlessly the Dursleys, Piers, Arrdyn and Harry were led to the Security office where an incident report was filed. The guards then walked them all the way out to their car and watched them drive off.
“You were totally in the right Mr. Dursley.” Piers announced on the way back. “Dudley should have been able to hold that snake. And Harry hissed at it like he could talk to it. How freaky is that. You guys shouldn’t have gotten in trouble. The Potter Boys are weird and deserve what they get.” Uncle Vernon’s hands tightened on the steering wheel but he said nothing.
When they got to Privet Drive he told Dudley and Piers to wait in the car while he straightened out the twins. When he, Aunt Petunia and the brothers were inside he said,
“Go—cupboard—Stay—No meals.” They heard him slide the bolt of the lock home and whisper something to Aunt Petunia before the front door slammed shut.
“What do you think will happen to us?” Harry asked his brother some time later. Aunt Petunia had removed their light bulb when they had been let out to use the restroom so they were laying together in the near dark with nothing but their fireflies to illuminate the walls of their prison.
“I don’t know.” Arrdyn honestly answered, before he began to describe Hogwarts to distract his brother from their uncertain future.