Harry Potter and the Girl Next Door

Chapter 1- The New Neighbors

"Are you up yet Harry?" asked Mrs. Dursley. Instead of hearing words like she'd expected, all she heard was a low groan, so she banged on the door. "I said get up!" This time she heard feet walking to the bedroom door. Harry appeared in the doorway, looking very disgruntled and sleepy indeed.

"What?" he asked angrily.

"Don't you dare use that nasty tone of yours, boy, I won't hear it," she replied. "And what do you mean, 'what'? I swear I've told you nearly a hundred times now! Mrs. Figg finally moved, and we've been invited to the new homeowner's housewarming party."

Harry's mind was going now, so he was definitely awake. 'Mrs. Figg moved? But, why didn't she tell me? Oh, I bet she went to the Order's new headquarters...' His thoughts were soon interrupted by Aunt Petunia.

"Well goodness! Stop fiddling around! It's already 11:00! And when you're done getting ready, come straight downstairs and help me carry the food out to the car," she said hurriedly.

Harry sighed and closed his door, glancing around to see what he might wear. He decided on black slacks, a green dress shirt (he had grown quite fond of the color ever since Tonks said that it brought out his eyes, not that they needed much bringing out), and a black tie. He hurried down to the kitchen, still fumbling with his tie.

Dudley was sitting at the table, apparently still hungry because he was reaching for a chocolate chip cookie before his Aunt slapped his hand away and said, "Uh-uh-uh Dudley, those are for the party."

"But I'm still hungry," he whined.

Mrs. Dursley was so preoccupied with making the other desserts that she just replied, "Oh, all right. Just one."

Harry rolled his eyes. Did that pig always have to get his way?

"Tuck in your shirt!" barked Uncle Vernon as he sat down at the table. "And tie your tie!"

"I... don't know how," he said honestly.

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" scoffed Aunt Petunia as she walked across the room to tie it for him. As soon as she had finished, she turned around to find Dudley stuffing several cookies into his mouth at the same time. "Duddykins, I told you those were for the party." She huffed right over to him and snatched the unfinished cookie from his fist, then grabbed his ear with her other hand and tried to pry him away from the cookie plate. "Why I never... I would've expected this from Harry, but not from you!" she babbled, tugging his ear harder.

He reached out his arm and tried to grab another one. "But can't I have just one more?" he whined pathetically.

"That's my boy!" beamed Uncle Vernon form the other side of the kitchen. "Always wants the better end of the deal."

"Vernon!" Aunt Petunia chided, giving him a "death glare". "Don't encourage him."

"Uh... I mean... that'll be enough," he quickly stated, changing his opinion awfully fast.

"So, I can't eat cookies, and gets to come with us? Not fair!" Dudley backfired.

"Don't you talk to me like that, you know very well why he has to go," Vernon boomed. The Dursleys had decided early on that it would be best to let the new neighbors meet Harry first and decided for themselves that he was weird, rather than he show up unaccounted for and blow up some random guest of theirs in attempt to scare them away from the neighborhood. "Now go on to the car," he ordered.

"And you too," Aunt Petunia added, talking to Harry. "And take this with you while you're at it," shoving a bowl of cookies and a pan of brownies into his arms.

He sat in the car for five minutes (next to Dudley, who was greedily still trying to snag some cookies) waiting to leave. He figured the new neighbors must really be something if he got to go. Come to think of it, hadn't Uncle Vernon said something about one of them being an accountant, and he planned to get them to work for him? 'Well, something like that,' Harry thought, watching Aunt Petunia daintily carry a pudding pie to the car while Uncle Vernon locked the house. 'Poor, poor people. I wonder what it's like not knowing the Dursleys... they would've been better of not to,' he thought to himself, staring out of the window as they pulled out of the driveway.