Spring was in the air. That normally meant a lot of work in the garden. Harry didn't mind it, though. He kind of liked dealing with the plants, taking care of them and making them look their best. Dudley was usually leaving him alone at such times, unwilling to risk the mud and getting on his mother's nerves. Although she normally pampered him to no end, soiling her floor was still unforgivable even for him.
Harry found some of the spring flowers fascinating. He could caress their petals and make them open or close at will. His aunt came to check on him and saw him playing with those flowers. "What were you doing?" she asked.
"It looks like these flowers are sensitive to touch," he explained. "If I caress the outer side of the petals, they open up; if I caress the inner side – they close."
She looked at him, her eyes unreadable again. "I don't think it's the flowers. Here, let me try."
Harry showed her where he touched and how. As close as she tried to mimic his actions, the flowers wouldn't budge. Only when Harry touched them, they moved as if by command.
"Try to wish them open or closed, without touching at all," Petunia suggested.
It didn't work that way. Harry tried touching just the stem. That seemed to do the trick, as the flowers responded to his will immediately.
Petunia's eyes were wet now. "Lily also used to play with flowers," she said. "Now, after you master this, try to learn to summon things to you. Don't do it where anybody can see you, but try to make things come to you at will. I believe this can be a worthwhile effort."
She dried her eyes and walked back to the house, making sure to wipe her shoes clean before stepping in.
That evening, after he was sent to bed, he overheard his aunt talking with his uncle.
"Some of the neighbours are starting to gossip that we may be unfit for this neighbourhood," she told Vernon.
"Why so?" he wondered. Harry was sure he was also frowning.
"Well, they see Dudley dressed in fine clothes, yet the other child that we raise is dressed in rags. They assume we can't afford to buy good clothes for him too."
"That's preposterous! I can afford whatever I wish to! I just don't want to pay for that freak!"
"Vernon, he's a child, not a freak. Had the situation been reversed, you know my sister wouldn't have let Dudley feel any less loved than Harry."
"Your sister was also a freak, and that's why she died! You can't force me to accept and love him!"
"No, I can't, but I also know you don't like to sleep on the couch, do you, dear?"
Vernon sounded different now. "Of course not, Pet. It's just..."
"I don't want the neighbours to think any less of us because you can't tolerate some special talents people may have! I'm going to buy him a full wardrobe. It may not be as expensive as Dudley's but it should look nice and clean nevertheless."
"Sure, Pet. Whatever you say. Shall we retire to bed now?"
Harry could almost hear his aunt smile triumphantly. "Of course, dear. You did have a difficult day at work."
Aunt Petunia took him shopping the next weekend, when Dudley and his father were busy watching some football game on television. She only took him to the nearest mall, but that was good enough. They returned home with just a few packages, but each was crammed with clothes of all kinds, as well as some shoes and enough underwear for Harry to feel comfortable. Dudley eyed him suspiciously but said nothing. Harry knew it was Vernon's task to make his son accept the change and make sure he wouldn't destroy Harry's new wardrobe.
Harry still used his old clothes when working in the garden. He was used to flushing all kinds of animals out of their hiding while doing so. Most common were mice and rats, but he also met some squirrels, a cat, and a few others. This time, when he cut a dead branch near the bottom of the hedge he heard a hiss before he even saw anything.
"$Why do you make my den vulnerable? I can't hatch my eggs that way.$"
Harry was surprised. He had never known snakes to speak, yet he tried to answer, "$I'm sorry. I had to remove dead branches to make room for new, healthier ones. I didn't know you were hiding in there.$"
"$Now I'll have to dig somewhere else and have to move the eggs to safety.$"
"$Maybe I can help? I could plant some flowers just here, to make your den unnoticeable.$"
"$If you do that, I'll thank you, young wizard. I'll even let one of my hatchlings become your familiar, if you want one.$"
"$What's a familiar?$"
"$It is like a magical pet, friend and helper. If you bond with a young snake it may become almost a part of you, giving you additional powers and abilities.$"
"$That's interesting, but I should start working if I want you and your eggs to stay safe.$"
Harry planted a new rose bush there. It made the snake's den invisible to most predators, better than the old branch, and the thorns could give additional protection. His work done, He didn't dwell on the conversation with the snake. Don't all animals talk in children stories? Then why should this be any different in real life?
\/\/\/
Even with his fitter body, Harry was still small, especially in comparison to Dudley. His new clothes also made him look smaller than before, as they didn't balloon out on him. Dudley and his gang still tried to catch Harry and beat him, but as their efforts gave them no results for too long, they started looking for easier targets. Harry didn't like them bullying other children although he was really grateful for not having them chase him the whole time. He still tried to prevent them from harassing smaller children. His practice since early autumn was finally giving fruits. Whenever Dudley or one of his gang tried to beat a smaller child, things would happen. It was nothing grand, like the time Harry found himself on the roof. No, it was just daily annoying occurrences, like one's trousers falling just when trying to frighten another child, or one's shoes getting unlaced, tripping him down. Nobody could trace such events to Harry, and he was glad he could help others without endangering himself.
\/\/\/
It was during Easter vacation that Harry found the courage to ask his aunt about his parents. Vernon had taken Dudley to visit Aunt Marge. Petunia decided not to go, stating that she had a headache. It was evident even to Vernon that his wife and his sister didn't go well together, so he didn't insist.
Petunia was sitting in the kitchen, holding a cup of tea, as usual, when Harry joined her. Despite his initial reluctance, he found that when the others weren't near, his aunt was quite nice to talk to.
"Aunt Petunia, can you tell me a bit about my parents?" he asked timidly.
She looked at him for a moment. "Make yourself a cup of tea and bring some biscuits. I'll see what I can tell."
He didn't know what to expect. He already knew that his uncle's rants about "those no-use drunken freaks" had nothing to do with the truth. He had even heard his aunt refer to his mother as "Lady". He knew his mother was a talented witch and assumed that his father must have been a wizard, at least judging by Vernon's rants. There was not much else he could say he knew.
"Well, your mother was my younger sister, as you probably know. She was two years younger. I loved her very much when we were small girls. I knew she had some very special talents, but it didn't bother me. Some are talented singers, other are painters, musicians, sculptors or have other kinds of talent. I've always been the one who keeps everything tidy and well organized. My mother sang beautifully, although it was just a hobby and my dad was great with handy works around the house. For Lily to have a different talent was not such a big deal, at first."
She sipped from her tea, as if trying to let her memories settle.
"Then there was that Snape boy who started filling her head with stories of witches and wizards. He was the first to tell her she was a real witch, just as he was a wizard. I didn't like him. He came from the low-end neighbourhood and never looked clean."
She sighed once.
"Then she got her school letter. You see, magical children are invited to attend a school fit for their talents. I didn't want to let her go from me. I asked to go there too." She smiled sadly. "My request was rejected politely. I had no magic in me, so I couldn't attend. I couldn't even see the school, as you already know."
She sighed again. "Then we started coming apart. I stayed at home, with my parents and all my old acquaintances, while she went to that boarding school, met new friends, learned new things, had new experiences, all of which I was denied. It made me bitter and angry, as jealousy often does. It made me resent Lily, although I still loved her dearly. It made me eventually choose 'Mr. Normal' as my life mate."
Harry could feel her disappointment, although he wasn't able to understand if she was disappointed with Vernon or with herself.
"Lily married only a few months later. Her boyfriend was everything Vernon isn't. He was classy. He was charming. He always knew how to give a compliment, especially to women. And he was rich. I still don't know how rich he was and what happened to all his property. All I know is that he loved Lily with his whole heart and soul, and that made him perfect in my eyes. Here, I'll show you some pictures."
She went to the study and brought back two old albums. Harry could see his mother as a small girl, growing up into a stunningly beautiful young woman, marrying a man who looked very handsome. Harry couldn't fail to notice that he looked a lot like his father.
"Yes, you look like your father, yet you have your mother's eyes," Petunia affirmed.
It was getting late. Vernon was due to come any minute back home. Smiling sadly, Petunia took her albums back to their place, while Harry started working on dinner. It wouldn't do to let Vernon wait for his meal.
\/\/\/
Harry was growing fast now. Ever since his aunt changed, or maybe it was due to him trying to better control his magic, he was getting more to eat. It was nowhere near the quantities Dudley was eating, but was quite enough for Harry. His aunt usually insisted that he ate before the others, giving him only meagre portions when Vernon was present. He wasn't tall for his age, only about average. He still looked slim, as his muscles were of the wiry type, not of the bulky one.
Harry's confidence was also improving. With his physical and magical powers, he could protect himself nicely, and protect others as well. At one time he let one of Dudley's friends take hold of him, only to easily escape, leaving his opponent screaming with pain, which the bully thought only others should feel.
At the library, he no longer searched for books, at least while others weren't around. He was just thinking of the book he wanted and it would come into his hand. Wishing it to go back to its place was usually enough for the book to float back to the place it had come from.
Yet what made him feel best was his aunt. Although she had never said that she loved him, or even that she cared for him, she acted as if she did, as long as the rest of the family wasn't there. It also did wonders to his self-esteem.