The snow fell softly on Privet drive; for most of the neighborhood, there was only excitement that Christmas was only a few weeks away, but for number four, this was not the case, and whereas before, this home seemed to copy all the houses surrounding it, now it appeared as though it had no place in the rest of the neighborhood.
Vernon Dursley scowled as he sat in the chair in front of his house; in his hand was a cricket bat that he was gently smacking into the palm of his other hand as a neighbor who was walking her dog stopped to stare at him for a moment, Vernon glared daggers at her until she quickly made her way down the street.
As she disappeared from view, Vernon let out a breath of contempt for what his life had become in the past few months since the trial with those freaks who had ruined his life; since the trial, his checks from work had been reduced by almost half, and when he had complained as to why they were so small, he had been informed that the money was supposedly "owed for unpaid back taxes," but he knew the truth, it was those freaks who were stealing his hard earned money as recompense for his supposed "crime."
Vernon sneered at the word; he hadn't committed any crime as far as he was concerned; those freaks were the ones who had dropped that little bastard onto his doorstep and never given the boy a second thought. Vernon had simply tried to correct the boy when he let his unnaturalness show.
Ever since the trial, Vernon's life had become a living hell; that was the only way to adequately describe it; before that farce of a trial, Vernon had been proud of how normal his life was; his lawn and hedges were always kept in perfect order, and his home was always clean and bright.
His home now was an entirely different story than what it had been before; now, his hedges looked like they belonged in the jungle rather than a neighborhood, as they grew into the most unconquerable of shapes that refused to be tamed no matter how many times Vernon attacked them with his sheers.
His lawn was, if possible, almost as bad; dark yellow splotches covered his once green and beautiful lawn, and no matter how much Vernon watered it or how many hours he would spend on his knees trying to repair the damage, it made no difference, much to his anger.
The house was worse, by far, and it was the reason that Vernon was outside at the moment; it was a nightmare in there; the bathroom had a constant smell as though someone had died, despite how much air freshener Vernon and his wife sprayed into it, it had gotten so bad that the Dursleys had simply decided to keep the window open inside it at all times and to wear a mask when they had to use it.
The rest of the house wasn't much better; the kitchen constantly had specks of dirt in it despite Petunia's attempt to clean it; Vernon remembered with a grimace how his wife had spent six hours scrubbing every corner of the kitchen, only to come down the following day to see several spots of dirt and dust that were not there the previous day, Petunia had collapsed at the sight and spent the rest of the day in bed with a bottle of wine.
All the furniture in the living room had seemingly turned lumpy overnight, and no matter what position the Dursleys sat in, they never were able to get comfortable; the faucets dripped endlessly, despite Vernon hiring a plumber three times to try and fix them until at last Vernon had just given up.
As Vernon went down the list of everything that was suddenly wrong with his home, he began to grow red in the face; the lights constantly flickered no matter how many times they changed the bulbs, and the stairs would occasionally grow slippery, leading Vernon to more than once fall down them and almost break his neck.
The carpet felt slimy and gross constantly, despite the numerous times Petunia would vacuum it; nails that had held up pictures of his family seemed to suddenly lose their strength, and the photos would always smash to the ground moments after Vernon would hammer them back into place.
It seemed as though a new problem would arise every day, and Vernon was at his wit's end; he'd already sent Dudley to stay with his sister Marge until he could get things under control here; at first, she had been stunned to learn that magic was real, but soon had made up her mind that it was evil and satanic and that her brother had done the right thing in trying to beat it out of the boy.
On the other hand, Vernon's lawyer was a different story; before the Aurors had obliviated him, Mr. Drexel had leveled such invectives on him that Vernon had actually been thankful when the man's mind was wiped.
Today, however, Vernon had his mind on only one thing, those beastly little monsters that had destroyed Petunia's rose garden; Vernon had already killed four of them, but they seemed to multiply like rabbits, and he was determined to kill them all!
Suddenly, Vernon yelled out in pain and anger as a stabbing pain appeared in his ankle; looking down, Vernon saw that one of the monsters had snuck up on him while he was lost in thought and had sunk its teeth into Vernon's calf.
Vernon rose to his feet with a roar of hatred and rage and swung his cricket bat at the gnome (as Petunia had called them), which promptly jumped out of the way just in time for Vernon to connect with his own leg; Vernon screamed in agony as he fell to the ground, holding his leg as the gnome squealed with laughter at the sight, Vernon snarled as he quickly jumped back to his feet and grabbed the cricket bat.
The gnome quickly sped towards the nearest hedge with Vernon trying desperately to catch it before it got away; a moment later, the gnome dove into the bush, and Vernon began to attack it in earnest, swearing obscenities as he swung the bat for all it was worth into the hedge. At the same time, a group watched, mystified at their once normal neighbor who seemed to have lost his mind.
XXXX
Harry was trying desperately to pay attention to the day's lesson that Molly was giving him; his literacy had come a long way since he had first arrived, but Molly still wanted him to do his daily lessons so as to not fall behind.
Today, Molly had Harry read to her from a book about household pests; Harry didn't understand half of it. Molly cared about whether or not he could read the words, which he was currently finding very difficult.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" Molly asked after Harry tried for the third time to pronounce a particularly difficult word, "You're usually much better at your lessons,"
"I'm sorry, mummy," Harry replied, making Molly smile, "It's just hard to concentrate today,"
"Because the Tonks' are coming?" Molly asked shrewdly, making Harry nod.
"What if they don't like me?" Harry asked softly, making Molly frown slightly; for months now, Harry had been so excited to meet someone with the same powers as him, but now that the day was here, he seemed afraid, and Molly felt herself tear up,
"Now, why would you think something like that?" Molly asked gently as she placed her hand over Harry's.
Harry shrugged as he stared at the book in front of him, and Molly gently placed her hand under his chin and raised his head until he was looking into her eyes,
"Harry, there's no need to be afraid; I promise they will absolutely love you, just like the rest of us do, okay?"
"Okay, mummy," Harry replied with a smile which Molly returned,
"Now, let's finish today's lesson, and then you can go join the others; I think they're having a snowball fight,"
Harry's eye's widened at the words, and he quickly began reading where he left off as Molly watched with a warm smile.
XXXX
Several hours later, Molly was setting the table for dinner when the fireplace suddenly glowed with green fire, and three people walked out of it, two adults with light brown hair and a teenager with bright pink hair.
Harry had been sitting on the floor coloring with Ron and Ginny when the three strangers suddenly appeared, and the children quickly jumped to their feet before darting behind the couch.
"Andromeda! Ted! How good to see you both!" Molly said warmly as she placed down a plate and approached the group, "And this must be little Nymphadora; how are you, dear?"
"I'm alright," the girl responded, her hair turning slightly red, "But please don't call me Nymphadora; I prefer Dora or Tonks,"
Molly smiled at the girl before nodding that she understood, before motioning for the children to come out from behind the couch; as Harry did so, his gaze was fixed on the teenager who was making her hair quickly change color, to Harry's delight.
"Hello," Harry said shyly as he approached the group, "I'm Harry Weasley,"
"Wotcher Harry," Dora said with a wink before turning her hair bright lime green and making the children giggle,
"You look so much like your father," Andromeda said softly, "Except for your eyes, those are Lily's."
"You knew my mummy and daddy?" Harry asked as he turned to stare at Andromeda,
"Yes, I knew them well," Andromeda replied sadly, "I know they'd be happy to see you finally with a family that cares about you; I just wish it had been sooner,"
"That's quite enough of that," Molly said, trying to quickly change the subject, "Jaya and I have spent all day making us a wonderful dinner, and I won't see it spoiled with such talk!"
"Who's Jaya?" Andromeda asked as Molly led everyone to the table; a moment later, Andromeda's question was answered as the little elf appeared carrying a platter upon which sat a large, cooked goose that Jaya carefully placed on the table.
"Hello, missus Andromeda, it has been a long time since Jaya saw you," the elf squeaked out; Andromeda paled slightly as she remembered the little elf who had belonged to her friend so long ago,
"It is good to see you again, Jaya," Andromeda said, at last, her voice thick with emotion, "This is my husband Ted and my daughter Dora,"
"Hello there, Jaya," Ted said in a warm voice,
"Hey there," Dora said with a grin.
"Hello, mister Ted, missus Dora," Jaya squeaked happily, "Dinner is almost ready!"
"Why don't you go outside and play?" Molly said warmly to her children, "I'll call you when it's time to eat."
"Okay," Ron said happily, "Let's go build a snowman!"
"Jackets first!" Molly called sternly,
"Would you like to come too?" Harry asked Dora shyly,
"I'd love to! Lead the way!" Dora chirped, making Harry grin as she took his hand, and the two went up the stairs to get Harry's coat.
"He's an adorable boy," Andromeda said as she looked at the stairs, "Hard to believe what he's been through,"
"He's come a long way," Molly replied softly, "He was in much worse shape when he first arrived,"
"I can only imagine," Ted said sadly, "It's a travesty of justice that those muggles only got a fine after what they did."
Molly nodded angrily and was about to say more when the children came barreling down the stairs, all dressed in thick jackets and pants and laughing warmly at Harry and Dora, who were sporting matching blue hair and green freckles; a moment later and they all ran outside into the snow.
"I think you may have lost Harry," Ted said with a laugh as they walked to the window and watched the children,
"What do you mean?" Molly asked with a smile,
"He means that Dora has just claimed the boy for herself," Andromeda laughed as they watched her daughter put Harry on her shoulders and begin to run around, her hair turning bright orange, much to Harry's delight, "She always did want a little brother."
"Well, if she wants a war with Ginny, she's more than welcome to try and claim the boy," Molly said with a grin as she turned back to help Jaya make dinner.
XXXX
Several hours later, Harry was hugging Dora goodbye; it had been a truly wonderful evening, and Harry was sad to see her go, they had built a snowman before the twins came and knocked it down, which resulted in a furious snowball fight with the twins, Bill, and Charlie on one side and, Dora, Ron, Ginny, and Harry on the other, Percy had not participated as he was "too busy with schoolwork."
Afterward, they had all sat down to a beautiful meal that left them all stuffed and slightly sleepy; that was quickly remedied by Fred and George, who decided that an impromptu firework display was needed and promptly lit the house up with their secret supply for several minutes while everyone tried to hide for fear of being hit by one, Molly had immediately given both a stern talking to and sent them to their rooms without dessert, which the twins found to be an appalling miscarriage of justice.
After dessert, which consisted of the best chocolate cake that Harry had ever tasted, Dora and Harry went up to Harry's room so the two could talk about his abilities, among other things; unfortunately, the time eventually came to leave, and Dora gave Harry a big hug as her parents thanked Molly for a wonderful evening,
"You'll come back to visit again, right?" Harry asked softly when Dora had let him go,
"Of course, I will!" Dora proclaimed happily, "Someone needs to teach you how to do things like this after all!" Dora immediately turned her mouth into a duck's beak. Then, she began quacking, making the children burst into laughter and even bringing a giggle from Molly and Arthur.
"Besides, I've always wanted a little brother, and I think you will fit the bill nicely," Dora added, making Harry gasp before his hair turned bright pink and a smile crept over his face,
"Harry doesn't need any more siblings," Ginny growled, "He has enough, and I'm the only sister he needs!"
"I'll fight you for him," Dora joked with a wink,
"You'll lose," Ginny said with a grin,
"Oh, I like you!" Dora said happily before taking Ginny into a fierce hug, making the room laugh.
"You're always welcome here," Molly said warmly to the Tonks' as they prepared to leave,
"Thank you for a wonderful evening, Molly," Andromeda chirped as the two shared a quick hug, "We'll be sure to come by again soon,"
"See you soon, Harry!" Dora said happily as Ted threw some Floo powder into the fireplace; a moment later, the three were gone.
XXXX
A week later, Harry celebrated his first Christmas, and it was a memory he was determined to preserve forever; never before had he received presents or woken to find he had a stocking full of goodies waiting for him. Harry burst into tears upon seeing the gifts with his name on them. He had to be held for several minutes by Molly. She understood the reason perfectly, as did the rest of the family.
Molly had given Harry a sweater, bright green to match his eyes with a large red H sewn onto the front, which Harry had happily put on as soon as he opened it, and the presents only got better from there.
Percy's present was a book that one of his muggle classmates had recommended, titled "The Chronicles of Narnia;" Fred and George's present to Harry was another box of fireworks, which was again promptly confiscated by Molly.
Ron and Ginny had conspired together and given Harry a toy snitch, which Harry loved and spent a good deal of time chasing around the house; Bill and Charlie had likewise conspired together and bought Harry his own toy broomstick; Harry had been so happy that he had given both of them a long fierce hug and softly cried into their shoulders.
Harry's best present came from Molly and Arthur. They had gone to Diagon Alley the previous day and bought Harry his own wizard chess set, which Harry looked at with wide eyes as the pieces moved around on the board.
"Thank you, mummy and daddy," Harry said happily as he took them both in a hug; Arthur wiped his eyes at the comment. Molly looked like she was about to cry when Harry released them and began a chess game with Ron.
Though Harry lost every game he played against all his brothers that day, he wasn't disappointed or upset; this was the best day of his life, and he was, for the first time that he could remember, truly happy.