Change of Heart

The still hot summer days passed utterly slowly on Privet Drive. Every day was exactly the same as the last. Nearly every person was the same as the last. All spying on one another, trying to get the un-existing title of "Best All-around Family." In the front yard of house number four, lay a boy around the age of sixteen. His brilliant green eyes were closed in a drowsy silence. The boy's jet black hair was messy and stuck up in the back. His skinny body was clothed in over-sized shorts and t-shirt. The boy didn't seem to fit in with his everyone-is-exactly-the-same neighborhood. For he seemed to be the only one outside, besides a few gardeners and a jogger. Yet the one detail that mostly separated this boy from the rest of Privet Drive, was the unusual scar the shape of a lightning bolt across his high forehead. This boy, in case you did not already know, went by the name of Harry James Potter.

The sun beat down on him unusually hard, so he stood himself up and went inside. There Harry found his fat, red-faced Uncle Vernon laying aimlessly on the perfectly stuffed couch, watching television. His bony, horse-faced Aunt Petunia was making several sandwiches for her son's lunch. Her son, Dudley Dursley, was the spitting image of his father, literally. He spit when he got mad, quite like his father. He had his father's rounded stomach and beady eyes. And his parent's attitude. Harry tried to quietly make it upstairs, but he was stopped by a rather squeaky voice.

"Finished your chores?" hissed Aunt Petunia.

"Yes," murmured Harry, his mind elsewhere.

"Cleaned your room?"

"Yes."

"Where are you going?"

"Upstairs."

"And do what?"

Harry sighed loudly. "Pretend I don't exist."

Aunt Petunia snickered. "Good, and I'm not calling you for lunch, you ate enough for breakfast. With that she quickly went back to the sandwiches. Harry frowned deeply. He had eaten a whole five pancakes for breakfast, which he had made. He usually only got some toast, so this was quite an improvement. He sighed and dragged himself up to his room. He locked the door and pulled out some books under the loose floorboard. He grabbed one and collapsed on his bed. Harry found it hard to keep his eyes open. Finally, he dropped his book and fell into a restless nap.

Harry awoke to the sound of a loud truck moving about outside his house. He yawned and very slowly got out of his bed. Harry dragged himself to the window and glanced outside. A large, moving van was pulling into the house next to number four. Harry scrunched up his face in concentration and tried to see the family of five struggle to get out of the car behind the van. He saw who he assumed was the mother get out of the drivers seat while who he assumed was her husband burst out of the passenger seat. The mother had short, curly brown hair that bounced very slightly when she walked. Her almond shape brown eyes darted to her husband, whose sleeked back blond hair reminded him of Draco Malfoy. The man's blue eyes seemed to smile at his wife, while he helped the four children out of the car. The first person to emerge from the back of the car was a lanky boy around seventeen. He had piercing blue eyes and messy blond hair. He seemed to be the spitting image of his father, in Harry's point of view. The boy quickly walked to the moving van and insisted to help the movers get their furniture into the house. The next child to emerge from the van was a boy around the age of eight. His short brown hair and quiet brown eyes framed his slightly tan face. The boy looked around the street and smiled as he walked inside the house. The last person to arrive out of the car was a girl around fifteen. Her curly blond hair and sharp, dark eyes glanced warily around the yard. The girl took one last glance around and walked inside. Harry couldn't help feeling that the girl reminded him very much of someone.

Harry quickly grabbed his book and stuffed it under the loose floorboard. Then he quietly left his room. When he got downstairs, he saw that his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley were all dressed in clean clothes and Dudley was holding a large, lime, gelatin mold. Aunt Petunia shot a nasty glance at him.

"We're going to meet the new neighbors, stay here," she hissed.

"Okay," muttered Harry. He walked out the back door and lay in his favorite spot under a shady oak tree. He couldn't help but wonder if the new family was "his lot", as Uncle Vernon referred to witches and wizards.

"Probably not," he thought. It was nearly four in the afternoon, almost time for Dudley's favorite television program. Harry snickered to himself, wondering if Dudley knew. He couldn't sit still, so he went back upstairs, got on some more appropriate clothes, tried to comb his hair down, and decided to drop in on the new neighbors and the Dursleys.

He walked swiftly next door, yet hesitated to knock. But then a small voice inside of him said 'I'm only here a few months a year, so why not?' He knocked slowly on the door, and almost immediately it opened. The boy Harry had seen before, the eight-year-old, had opened it.

"Who are you?" he asked curtly.

"Um... My name is Harry, I'm with them." He pointed to the Dursleys, who were chatting with the mother, father, and the seventeen-year-old brother on the leather couch. The eight-year-old nodded, let him in, and went back to his room. Harry slowly made his way to the couch, hoping that the Dursleys hadn't heard him. But a few seconds after he had come in, Petunia turned around. Her forced smile turned into a bony frown.

"What are you doing?" she hissed. Harry opened his mouth to answer, but thankfully the mother spoke.

"Who is he?" she asked, in her somewhat thick voice. "Is he your son?" Petunia looked horrified, and shook her head violently.

"N-no!" she exclaimed. "Of course not! He's-" Uncle Vernon finished her sentence.

"He's our nephew, and Dudley's cousin," he said rather loudly. Harry snickered. If he was Uncle Vernon's nephew, then wasn't it obvious he was Dudley's cousin?

"Oh," said the father slowly. "Then w-why does he live with you?" He tried to make the question sound as nice as possible. Harry felt his cheeks redden slightly.

"His parents-erm," began Uncle Vernon. "Died in a car crash, very horrible indeed." The mother and father nodded slowly. Harry felt an angry lurch in his stomach. The mother held her hand out kindly to Harry.

"My name is Rosette Belle, and this is my husband, Michael," she said sweetly, gesturing to the man sitting next to her. "And you would be?" Harry shook her hand politely.

"Harry Potter," he replied. "Pleasure to meet you." The boy leaning on the couch nodded.

"I'm Joseph Belle," he said in a deep voice. "My brother, Todd, the one that opened the door, is in his room, and my sister, Maddy is-" He was cut off by a furious shrieking of "If you don't keep your damn snakes where they belong I will personally serve them to you boiled on silver platter!" The angry voice was followed by an even angrier "MOM!" Mrs. Belle sighed, excused herself, and began to go upstairs. But before she reach the banister, the girl Harry had seen before, Maddy, was flinging herself down the stairs in a towel, with another fluffy white towel spun around her head.

"Mom! Todd put snakes in my room again!" she shrieked. It took less than five seconds for her to realize that her family had guests over. Her eyes went from each person in the den, and landed on Harry. Her eyes filled with terror and embarrassment. "Ahhh!" She held the towel on her head in place and sprinted back up the stairs. Harry glanced at Dudley, whose face was twisted into a pleased smile. Harry shuddered and continued listening to the Belle's and the Dursleys's conversation.

"And that's our daughter, Madison," sighed Mr. Belle. Todd came tumbling down the stairs, laughing silently. Mrs. Belle gave him a very stern look.

"What did you do to her?" she asked flatly. Todd's face grew a look of pure innocence.

"What do you mean?" he squeaked. "Me? Put snakes in Maddy's bed?"

"Who said they were in her bed?" asked Mr. Belle. Todd sighed and walked back up to his room.

"I'm still learning!" he yelled down the stairs. Petunia and Vernon's faces were tight. They had never seen a family like this before, with mischievous children and happy faces, but Vernon plastered a smile on his face.

"These two used to be the same way," he said. Harry and Dudley exchanged a look of disgust.

"Yea right," thought Harry. "Me and Dudley were the best of friends." Several minutes later, Madison walked slowly down the staircase, dressed in dark denim shorts and a palepink t-shirt. She blushed when she saw her parents' guests and stood by the leather couch her parents were perched on. Mrs. Belle smiled thoughtfully.

"Dudley, Harry, this is our daughter Madison," she smiled. Madison scowled.

"Maddy," she corrected her mother.

"Hi," said Harry quietly. He was more interested in what Dudley was going to croak.

"Hi," he said in what he thought was shy.

"Hello," she said, frowning. Harry felt somewhat insulted. It's not like he was exactly good looking, but he wasn't Dudley-ugly. The Dursleys and Belles continued their conversation, while the three of them exchanged glances and slowly slipped away from the couches and into the front yard. Madison stretched and sat cross-legged on the grass. Harry and Dudley followed.

"So, how old are you two?" she asked, not exactly curious.

"Sixteen," replied Dudley.

"Fifteen," said Harry. "Turning sixteen next week. And you would be?"

"Fifteen," she said. "Turning sixteen in August." Harry nodded.

"Where did you move from?" he asked.

"London," she replied. "I went to Beaux-" She cast a horrified glance at Harry and Dudley, but Harry pulled out his wand (Dudley jumped) and assured her that he was a wizard. "And the fat one?" Dudley looked furious.

"He's a Muggle," Harry replied, secretly ecstatic that a family of wizards and witches had moved in across the street.

"Ah," Madison replied. The three of them sat through an awkward silence until they saw the Dursleys making their way outside.

"And yes, we'd love to make plans for dinner!" exclaimed Petunia in her falsely sweet voice. "Bye bye now!" They walked over to Dudley and Harry. Uncle Vernon patted Dudley on the back and Harry cast a pleading glance at Maddy, who seemed quite confused. The four of them walked back to number four, Harry speeding up to his room. Uncle Vernon grabbed him by his collar and brought him back down.

"What was that about?" he bellowed. Harry shrugged.

"I thought that I had the right to meet our new neighbors," he sneered. "I definitely could have made it much worse though." Uncle Vernon furiously kicked Harry in the left leg and let him hobble up to his room. He limped into his room and slammed the door shut, collapsing onto his bed. He thought about going back to Hogwarts, seeing Ron and Hermione again, wondering about their new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and lastly, wondering about Maddy.

Harry awoke the next day to sunlight streaming through his window. He glanced through it and stared quickly at Maddy's house. Harry thought he saw someone stir in the front window, but it quickly ceased, and Harry was left dumbfounded. He quickly dressed, brushed his teeth, and dragged himself downstairs for breakfast. Aunt Petunia was working on toast and eggs over the stove, while Uncle Vernon and Dudley sat at the table quietly discussing the latest news. They looked up silently when Harry arrived, but turned their head backs to the paper. Harry sat down comfortably and waited for his breakfast, swinging his legs cheerfully.

"Help with this, Potter," sneered Petunia, gesturing to the plates of bacon, eggs, and toast. He got up and grabbed some of the dishes, handing them out around the table. Harry then sat down at the table and hungrily took some bacon. Petunia glared at him and Harry pushed some of his plates back to the middle of the table. But he had still managed to eat a few pieces of bacon. Harry then strode out of the kitchen, when he was then grunted at by Uncle Vernon, "Lawn." Harry understood this grunting, and knew that he had to mow the lawn. His mood became sourer as he continued with his chores.

Two hours later, after everything was cleaned, mowed, and washed, Harry lay in the front yard, free of shade. He heard a door close, and looked up at his own house, nothing had happened. So he glanced next door to see Joseph striding toward him. Harry sat up, wondering what was going on. Surprisingly, Joseph said nothing and sat down next to Harry. He craned his head toward Harry.

"So," he began awkwardly. "Are you, the Harry Potter?" He blushed at his own question.

"Erm-yea, I guess," Harry replied.

"Oh," said Joseph. "So...um...do you like your house here?"

"No," Harry replied instantly. "Well, the house is....um...nice, but the people living in it suck." Joseph raised an eyebrow.

"Not me, you idiot!" said Harry. Joseph's raised eyebrow went back down.

"Well, do you play Quidditch?" he asked.

"Yea, do you?" Harry questioned. Joseph nodded, and a smile spread across his face.

"Maybe...if we ask really nicely....Mum can bewitch our backyard so we can play Quidditch without the Muggles seeing us!" Harry's face enlightened.

"You think she'll let us?" he asked excitedly.

"Definitely!" he grinned. Without any more speaking, they both sprung up and sprinted to the Belle house. The boys burst through the door and began searching for Mrs. Belle. Harry turned the corner a little too quickly and ran into Maddy. She fell over, clutching her forehead. Harry did the exact thing. Joseph burst out laughing.

"Smart!" he cackled, holding his side. Maddy glared at Harry and strode off past him.

"What's her problem?" asked Harry without realizing it.

"I don't know," replied Joseph, whose laughing had subsided. "She usually doesn't get mad at those things, did you do anything to piss her off?" Harry shook his head violently. Joseph shrugged and pulled out his wand.

"I'm going to get in so much trouble for this," he muttered. "Accio Mrs. Belle!" Nearly two seconds later, Mrs. Belle came flying down the hallway.

"What do you want?" she yelled. "And it better be good mister! Oh, hello Harold." Joseph sighed.

"His name's Harry, Mum," he said.

"Oh, Harry then," she smiled. "Now, Joseph, what do you want?"

"Can you bewitch the backyard so we can play Quidditch?" he asked. Mrs. Belle's eyes became soft, and she nodded. Harry smiled and sprinted back to number four, grabbed his broom, and ran through the back door back inside the Belle's house. Joseph ran into his room and grabbed his Nimbus 2000.

"Maddy, Todd, get your brooms!" bellowed Joseph. "We're playing Quidditch!" A thunder of footsteps flew up the stairs and into two separate rooms. And a few seconds later, a red-faced Todd and a panting Maddy appeared in the hallway. They stared at one another for a moment, but then, as if planned, they all pounded down the stairs and into the backyard. Mrs. Belle was outside with her wand.

"Just finished," she smiled. Harry instantly hopped on his boom and kicked off the ground. He was followed by Todd, Joseph, and Maddy.