═𝐃𝐔𝐃𝐋𝐄𝐘'𝐒 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘═

"ᵂᵉˡˡ ⁱᵗ'ˢ ʸᵒᵘʳ ᶠᵃᵘˡᵗ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᴵ'ᵐ ˡⁱᵏᵉ ᵗʰᵃᵗ. ᴵᶠ ʸᵒᵘ ʷᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵇᵉ ⁿⁱᶜᵉʳ ᵗᵒ ᵐᵉ ᴵ ʷᵒᵘˡᵈⁿ'ᵗ ᵈᵒ ˢᵘᶜʰ ᵃ ᵗʰⁱⁿᵍ."

ᵃᶜᵗ ᵒⁿᵉ ˣ ᵇᵒʳⁿ ᵗᵒ ᵈⁱᵉ

ʷʰⁱᵗᵉ ᶠᵉʳʳᵃʳⁱ - ᶠʳᵃⁿᵏ ᵒᶜᵉᵃⁿ

°•°•°☽°•°•°

╰┈➤ Front doors of the bricked house opened slowly, trying not to wake anyone up. The person who opened the doors was a small girl with brunette hair. When she walked inside the small corridor she was met with an older woman knocking on the wooden doors under the stairs. Meaning it was already time for Harry to wake up.

The older woman turned her head towards the front doors and had an angry look on her face. After seeing that woman had an apron on herself and the cook - Maliah Potter knew she was late. Waiting for something the little girl stood frozen after closing the doors.

"You young lady are in trouble! How dare you not make the breakfast for Dudley! It's his birthday today. Not to mention you sneaked out tonight! You are nothing but trouble! Just wait for Vernon when you get inside the kitchen."

With that the woman disappeared into the kitchen. The brunette closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was time for her to get caught, but there was hope inside her that maybe sleeping in the garage gave her privilege not to be seen. The girl opened her eyes after hearing loud noise coming from the stairs.

A boy their age was jumping on the stairs, which caused the dirt to fall onto Harry. The boy then ran down the stairs, ignoring the girl and closed the stairdoors in Harry's face. That would be their cousin - Dudley Dursley. A nightmare to both Potters. That boy didn't know any manners, yet was still treated like an angel from his parents.

Maliah slowly approached Harry's "room" and opened the old white painted doors. It revealed a young boy with round glasses who was sitting on his bed. He had a messy brown hair and an scar on his forehead. One that Milah didn't have. Just then he was holding onto the back of his head, after he hit it when Dudley closed his doors. Letting the boy out, Maliah moved to the side.

"Morning, Harry." She gave him a warm smile. Knowing she still has her brother and that they'll live through this hell together. Dudley's birthdays were an extra bad days for them. If something goes bad on that day, Harry and Maliah would take the blame. No matter who was in the wrong.

"Morning, Maliah. I heard you overslept?" He returned the smile and fixed his oversized robes. These were Dudley's old clothes, since he got bigger and didn't fit in them anymore.

"Couldn't care less, but the screaming in the morning will be bad." Sighing they opened the doors that led to the kitchen and the living room. Inside an older man with mustache was sitting at the table looking at his wife and son. They were in a hugging position now.

"Cook breakfast. And try not to burn anything." The older woman, once again made an angry face. This time talking to Harry. Who immediately went in front of the stove and started cooking whatever was in there.

"Yes, aunt Petunia."

"I want everything to be perfect for my Dudley's special day!" Dudley walked in front of Petunia with his eyes closed. Probably to look at the enourmous amount of presents sitting in the living room. Almost running over Maliah. Seeing her uncle Vernon stood up from his seat.

This made the girl move to the kitchen where Harry was. Scared he would hit her. There was no doubt of him doing it. After all they all hated her and didn't care what will happen. It's her fault anyway. The man pointed his dirty finger from the jam and had a newspaper on the other hand.

"You will not sneak out in the night anymore, you hear me! After all we've done for you and gave you where to sleep, you disrespect us like that. Shame on you! I see everything and if you and your brother ruin this day for Dudley there won't be eating for a week and no leaving your rooms! You hear me?"

"Well it's your fault that I'm like that. If you would be nicer to me I wouldn't do such a thing." Everyone's eyes were now on Maliah and how she stood up to herself. It wasn't a surprise, but she never blamed them for anything. That part was sitting in her brain. Dudley's selfishness and greediness saved her from bruises.

"How many are there?" Uncle Vernon turned his head towards his son. The boy pointed towards his presents, making the older man immediately walk up to the dining room. Maliah made eye conntact with Harry who had a scared expresion on his face. While he put the salami on the plates.

"36. Counted them myself." Sitting down at the table uncle Vernon put his finger up in the air, making a point. The look on Dudley's face was undescribable. He's eyebrows where raised and teeth clanched together. Maliah slowly approached Harry and put her hands on the kitchen counter. Her feet were faintly heard on the tiles.

"36!? But last year I had 37!"

"But some are bigger than last year's." Uncle Vernon gestured with his hands. Knowing this was a big mistake and not wanting his son to be stressed. "I don't care how big they are!" His mother immediately jumped in to help and started comforting him. Making uncle Vernon sip on his coffee and start reading the newspaper he's been holding for half an hour now.

"And I'm the disrespectful one." Maliah whispered to Harry.

✷

╰┈➤ From the smell inside the reptile house Maliah scrunched her nose. This was her least favorite part of the zoo. Dursley's and them were now standing in front of a big snake habitat. Vernon was reading something - not bothering to look at anything. Petunia was watching how Dudley impatiently stared at the poor snake. While Harry loosely hang his hands over the fence.

"Make it move." To which uncle Vernon annoyingly tapped on the window - Dudley following. The brunette girl looked up from her nails and put her hair behind her ears. "It'll break, stop it." To which they moved on and Harry stayed behind.

"So imma go and just look at the fish. Wanna come with me?" Harry turned his attention towards Maliah. He shook his head no.

"I'll stay here." The girl shrugged and walked away from her brother. It was darker inside where all the aquariums were, but you could still hear people from outside. There was only one person with her inside - on the other side. Stopping at a fish tank filled with transparent fishes. Maliah put her hands on the stoned edges and studied their moves. Admiring the way she could see their bones. After a while the girl looked at their description and started to read it.

Animals always took an interest for her. She loved learning how they live and what they do. Also she found them pretty and overall better than the humans - at least the ones she knew. Reading about them Maliah heard Dudley's screams how the snake moved, so she slowly made her way outside. Wanting to see if they'll go home after he saw the snake move. The brunette was kind of bored already.

Suddenly she's met with Dudley falling into the snakes habitat and straight in the water. The girl froze and watched as the big snake made its way out and stopped in front of laying Harry - nodding it's head. Maliah frowned and looked up to, once again, see the glass appeared. Their cousin now being fully stuck in there. Their aunt and uncle immediately came and started screaming for help and in fear.

Harry was still laying down, smiling. While Maliah tried to hold back her laughter, knowing they'll get in trouble. Just in that moment uncle Vernon looked at them with an angry face.

"Well, at least he got what he deserved."

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𝐍𝐨𝐞𝐦𝐢'𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠....!

I'm always sceptic about my first chapters tbh 😭

Hope you'll like this story and keep supporting it, also comments are my favorite part so pls write your thoughts or anything

Anyways that's all,
love ꨄ

ᵖᵘᵇˡⁱˢʰᵉᵈ: ¹⁴ᵗʰ ᵒᶠ ʲᵃⁿᵘᵃʳʸ ²⁰²⁵
ʷᵒʳᵈ ᶜᵒᵘⁿᵗ: ¹⁴⁰⁰