SNAKE

2 | letters

Even though things calmed down a little bit after de zoo incident as the days went by, uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia treated the twins worse than before. The twins had even more chores, most of them ridiculous and/or unnecessary, like having to clean to perfection every single shoe Petunia, Vernon and Dudley owned, even if they were already clean, or having to rearrange the whole kitchen three times only for them to rearrange it back as it was in the beginning because it wasn't to aunt Petunia's liking.

One day, as Cora was helping aunt Petunia cook breakfast, Harry went to grab the mail. He sorted through the letters and saw two that got his attention. They were addressed to him and his sister.

MR. H. POTTER.
The Cupboard under the Stairs
4, Privet Drive,
Little Whining,
SURREY

MS. C. POTTER.
The Cupboard under the Stairs
4, Privet Drive,
Little Whining,
SURREY

He entered the kitchen and handed the letters to uncle Vernon, keeping the ones that had his and her sister's names. Dudley noticed Harry had two letters and was about to open one of them so he stood up quickly and took both letters from Harry.

"Look, look! Harry's got two letters!", Dudley said loudly with his infuriating voice. Ugh, here we go again, Cora thought and looked up from behind uncle Vernon with curiosity.

"Hey! Give it back, it's mine! And there's one for Cora, too!", Harry argued. This got Cora's attention as she tried to catch a glimpse at the letters, but was pushed by aunt Petunia towards Harry.

Uncle Vernon chuckled and said while still chuckling, "Oh no, who'd be writing to you?" As he looked at both letters, front and back, the smile on his face vanished and he glanced worriedly at his wife. He knows something. He knows who the letters are from, thought Cora. Aunt Petunia then took the letters and got rid of them with the excuse that they didn't deserve to receive any letters.

~

Over the next few days, the same two letters kept arriving. It was as if whoever was sending knew that the twins didn't get to read them.

Uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia didn't let Harry and Cora out of the cupboard unless it was to do chores. The twins didn't understand their relatives' strange behavior and Cora knew there was something going on that they didn't want them to know about.

In the cupboard, Harry was sort of playing with a small horse figure while Cora was laying down on the bed thinking and trying to figure out why it was so important for their aunt and uncle that they didn't receive those letters. They suddenly heard a drilling sound and slightly opened their door to look at uncle Vernon putting up wood to cover the letter box in the door as he said, "No more mail through this letter box."

Harry closed the door again while glaring at their uncle and Cora sat on the bed rolling her eyes. "He has officially lost it", she told her brother. "Agreed."

~

Vernon was leaving the house for work in a good mood, kissing his wife goodbye. That changed as soon as he and Petunia saw the owls sitting on top of their car and even more letters on their doorstep.

Every night of the week, the twins watched as their uncle threw one letter after another into the fireplace, burning them all and smirking at them while doing so. Cora didn't know how long it would take for her to read her letter, but she was determined to find a way to do it. She did know she wanted to kick her uncle in the face.

~

Sunday finally came. No one was happier than Vernon. He looked giddy and a bit crazy. They all sat in the living room, Cora serving the tea and Harry serving everyone cookies.