Aunt Marge

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AN: First chapter of book #2 of "The Other Aunt!" If you haven't read book one, read that first!

Harry sighed sadly as he read his leather-bound book, "A History of Magic" by Bathilda Bagshot. He hated this. He hated the Dursleys. But, most of all, he missed his aunt. He missed her so much, his heart ached. With her he got to laugh and learn new things about magic and his parents. At the very least, she'd be able to her with his homework and give him actual clothes and things. That was more than he could say about his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.

At least, this summer was better than last year's. Whatever Anna had said to them, worked like a charm. They didn't take away meals, lock him in the cupboard or threaten/use any physical harm. He was still basically a servant and an outcast to them. Most of the time, they ignored him unless they needed him to take out the trash or make breakfast. Whenever they insulted them they would always glance around like his aunt would jump out from behind a corner and blast them with her wand.

He wrote to her as much as possible. Usually the letters got to and from the the house safely. Sometimes, though, Dudley would try to shoot pebbles at it with his slingshot, but he was a terrible shot and, thankfully, was never able to hit Hedwig or Avalon. Finally, the snobbish boy hit his father's car window and it was taken away and replaced with a Nerf gun, so anything he shoots would not be broken. He used Harry for target practice but Harry was fast and the few times he got hit didn't even hurt anyways. The bullets were made of foam after all. He'd told his aunt most of this in his letters. She told him to tell her the second they went too far and she would come get him, ministry be damned.

He had given the the phone number for the landline to Ron....that turned out to be a mistake. Ron was his best friend, but he had forgotten that he wasn't as well versed at muggle technology. He had shouted into the speaker on the phone and angered his uncle quite a lot. On the bright side, the entire Weasley family had won a contest and got to go on a trip to Egypt. Ron told him in the letter he had sent for Harry's birthday. Hermione had sent one too, along with a broomstick servicing kit for a present. He wasn't surprised when his Aunt Anna had sent him something too.

It had actually arrived in the mail, not by owl. Dudley had snatched it away the second he saw the package in Harry's hands after the boy had checked the mail, proclaiming that no one would send a freak a gift so large. Harry had shouted that his Anna had sent it and everyone in the room went silent. Dudley shoved the box roughly in his cousin's arms and Petunia had shouted at him to bring it upstairs.

They were completely frightened of her and Harry couldn't help but love it.

In the box there had been soft, blue a hooded cloak. It was just the right size and wasn't long enough to trip him when he walked. He folded it with a smile and put it with a couple of his books he had snuck from his cupboard. Along with the birthday letters, he got his Hogwarts letter in the mail. He couldn't wait for Anna to burst through the door one day in a few weeks and take him to Diagon Alley and then to Hogwarts with her and Remus.

He wished that was how things had gone.

The next morning, they were all sitting at breakfast, listening to the new report on some loose criminal they called "Black" when Uncle Vernon had announced that Aunt Marge was coming to visit. Harry had nearly choked on his food.

Aunt Marge was the most awful and vile woman Harry had ever met. She was the complete opposite of Anna. Anna was sweet and kind and protective. Marge was cruel, hateful, and malicious. But he would have to be good to get his permission slip to Hogsmeade signed. He had no idea if his teachers would accept a signature from Anna, considering she wasn't his official guardian.

When the large woman waddled into the house, he became much less than a piece of furniture. He was insulted as if he were nothing more than a common household object with no brain and she thrust her suit case into his stomach. She was absolutely awful to him but he could take the insults and hate and disrespect towards him. He had prepared for that.

But it hadn't even occurred to him that the woman might start talking about his family.

He had begun to ignore the woman's snarky remarks when she said something that sparked true anger inside of him. "If there's something wrong with the bitch, then there'll be something wrong with the pup-" Her wine glass exploded. He couldn't have controlled it even if he wanted to. He saw red. His mum was wonderful and he knew it.

Marge had simply said something about her having a strong grip and brushed off the incident. Harry had thought that would be the end of it.

Like he would ever be that lucky.

Later on, Marge came back onto the topic, saying his mum was a bad egg and his dad was an unemployed drunk. He was about to start shouting that it was all lies when she said something that really drove him over the edge, ""And what about your other sister, Petunia? What's her name? Ava? Amy? Anne? She was always a terribly strange girl, wasn't she? Absolutely wretched. I remember when we all lived in that one neighborhood. She always hung around that shady fellow in the black clothes. She caused trouble wherever she went. She got in with the wrong crowd, I think. That Potter boy and their friends. A bunch of rotten apples, they were. She's always been such a freak, and a stupid one. I'd bet my life's savings that she's in jail right now. Maybe one day she'll go too far and they'll do us all a mercy and give her the electric chair."

The hag cackled and Vernon smiled pleasantly with his son. Petunia looked a little uncomfortable. She hated her sister, but she wouldn't go that far. Harry, though? Harry was furious.

At first, nothing really happened but then...the table began to shake. Suddenly, all of Petunia's good china exploded and Marge began to swell.

The young wizard wizard gaped, not having meant to do it on purpose. He sprinted up stairs, knowing what would happen next. He grabbed his stuffed and ran. And there was only one thought on his mind.

"I have to find Anna."

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