Harry Potter: The Boy who was Loved

Chapter 1: The First Year

Chapter 1: The First Year

We all know the story of Harry Potter, the boy who lived. We all know that his Aunt and Uncle and cousin hated his very existence. Well what if there was a time when they loved him? What if there was a time when he was accepted by his extended family? Well this is the story of Harry's first years with the Dorsey's a time before they turned on him.

Privet Drive was a quiet street where no nonsense occurred...well that is until the morning Harry arrived on the stoop of house #4. Harry slept soundly as the sun began to shine through the clouds overhead. One of his tiny hands clutched at an envelope nestled into his blankets. His other hand was clenched into a tight fist resting on his cheek, just below a rather odd looking scar, it was shaped strangely like a lightening bolt.

Inside the house the Dursley family was just waking up. Mrs. Dursley hurried into her son Dudley's nursery where she began to fuss over her pride and joy. She picked up the chunky one-year old blonde headed boy and began to kiss his round rosy cheeks. She quickly dressed him in a green and white striped romper and put on a pair of white sneakers on his chubby little feet.

She went down the stairs carrying the fussy boy. She struggled to hang onto his flailing body as she tried to stuff him into his high chair. She finally succeeded and handed him a wooden spoon to bang on his high chair tray as she tried to make her husband his breakfast and go about the morning chores. First she opened the fridge pulled out the eggs, the bacon and the almost empty milk jug and placed all three on the counter. She turned briefly seeing Dudley chattering away to the wooden spoon, it made her smile. She turned on the stove and placed a skillet over the flame. She cracked 2 eggs into the skillet and began to scramble them, once those had finished she began to fry up the bacon. She placed both on a plate on the table at her husband's usual spot. She then poured him a cup of coffee and placed it beside the plate. She turned and pulled out a box of Dudley's favorite cereal and poured some out onto the high chair tabletop. After making sure that he was contentedly eating the cereal she grabbed the empty milk bottle and headed towards the front door.

She stopped momentarily to receive a peck on the cheek from Mr. Dursley. "Honey, your breakfast is on the table with your coffee, I am bringing you the morning paper after I put out the milk bottles" She said as she opened the front door. "aarrkgh!" she screamed as she nearly tripped over the baby bundled in the blankets. Mr. Dursley came running from the kitchen with egg still dangling from his fat chin. He stopped cold when he saw his wife holding the baby from the stoop in her arms. "What...who...who is that?" He stammered as she held up the letter with the emerald green writing on it. "It'...Lilly...she...she's dead...this is her son. Harry..." She said as she began to un-swaddle the infant. He was much smaller than Dudley and he was beginning to stir awake. She carried him into the hallway and stared dumbfounded at her husband. As she carried the infant into the kitchen she looked down at him and he smiled up at her with nothing but love in his eyes. This made her smile because even though she loved Dudley more than anything he never looked at her the way Harry did in that moment.

"Petunia, we...we cant keep this thing...he doesn't belong here..." Mr. Dursley said with disgust towards the boy. "Vernon, he is only a child he may not be like my sister and her husband..." She said hugging the boy so tightly that he began to squirm. Despite her outward hatred for her sister she secretly loved and envied her sister. "Vernon, he is still only a child. If ...and I highly stress if he does become like their kind then we can deal with it until then he could be a normal child...we did always say we wanted two boys" She said hugging the boy again. Mr. Dursley looked at his wife hugging the "child" and let out a heavy sigh. "The moment...the very moment..." She silenced her husband by raising her hand, this was something she never did she never stood up to her husband. "Yes...yes...but he may not be like them." She said gently kissing the boy on the top of the head. "Petunia I mean it the moment he...it does something weird it goes to the orphanage." He said sitting back down to the kitchen table and picking up his coffee. "Vernon give him a chance he is only a child" She said sitting in her seat bouncing the little boy on her lap as she began to spoon feed Dudley his cereal now that he had become rather grumpy at not being able to do it himself. She alternated feeding the boys Harry would get a bite then Dudley and so on and so forth. Mr. Dursley left a few minutes later kissing his wife and son on the way out the door.

The next two months were rather trying for the Dursleys more specifically Dudley Dursley. He was not used to sharing his mother with anyone other than his father and he was beginning to understand that he was no longer the favorite. His mother would let him cry himself to sleep while rocking little harry and humming to him. This began to make Dudley dislike Harry even at one years old Dudley recognized that his mother loved Harry more. Mrs. Dursley found herself growing rather fond of her nephew at an alarming rate. Perhaps it was because Harry rarely cried and was more willing to be held than Dudley, or maybe it was because of the look of love Harry always gave her when she was in the room. He would sit still and listen to the stories while Dudley would throw a tantrum at having to sit still. Even Mr. Dursley was beginning to accept Harry as nothing out of the ordinary had happened since his unexpected arrival at their quiet house.

One evening almost 6 months after Harry arrived at #4 Privet drive, Mr. Dursley was sitting in his favorite armchair by the fireplace reading the days paper. He peered over the top of the paper and looked at the boys who sat playing with a pile of wood blocks in the corner. He smiled at how normal and ordinary their lives were. He watched as Harry picked up a black stuffed dog that had obviously been loved too much by how worn out it was. Harry stood for a moment before toddling over to Mr. Dursley, and he stood silently staring at Mr. Dursley for several minutes. "Yes?" Mr. Dursley asked accidentally startling the little boy who fell over at the sudden sound. Mr. Dursley chuckled as he folded the paper and set it down. He watched as Harry stood back up "Up?" Harry asked quietly. Mr. Dursley leaned down and picked up the small boy and set him on his lap. He looked at Dudley who was large for his 17 months of age and looked back at Harry who was quite small for his 16-month-old age. He picked up the paper once again and resumed reading the days events. Harry sat quietly on his lap watching Dudley. What neither of the adult Dursleys knew was that when no one was looking Dudley would pinch, poke, and hit Harry. Since Harry was much smaller than Dudley he chose not to fight back.