[1] New Beginnings: Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, and the Philosopher's Stone

7: eavesdropping and thievery

Percy placed his ear against the door to Mr. and Mrs. Dursley's bedroom. He had to strain to hear the lowered voices of the two adults coming from inside the room.

"-more letters!" Uncle Vernon was saying.

"Dear, I'm sure that once they don't get a reply they'll stop trying," Aunt Petunia tried to calm her husband.

"Petunia, do you not understand? This means we have two of your sister's kind living in our house!"

"Vernon, I know! I know! I understand that you don't like the idea, but-"

"No! I will not stand for this! If any more of these things come with the post, we're leaving!"

"Vernon, is that really necessary?"

"Yes, it is very necessary, Petunia. You should know this."

Percy heard loud footsteps coming closer to the door and he quickly backed away. He shoved Harry back towards their shared room and in less than a second the door was firmly closed behind them. "What did you hear?" Harry asked.

"Something about leaving if there are any more letters - it wasn't much."

Harry sighed, disappointed. "Oh." After a few moments of silence, he asked, "Do you think that we won't get anything for supper now?"

Percy laughed halfheartedly. "Yeah, I don't think we'll be getting supper for a while, based on how angry your uncle was when he saw the letters."

Harry sighed again. "Good point...you know what?"

"What?"

"They can make their own breakfast today. Let's see if they like burnt bacon."

Percy gave an actual laugh this time. "You do realize that we're going to have to do even more chores now, right?"

"Yeah, I know. But who cares?"

****

The rest of the day for the two boys was made up of staying up in their room, only leaving in order to eat lunch or go to the bathroom, talking and joking around, and generally just doing nothing and relaxing. Surprisingly, the Dursleys didn't make the boys do any extra chores, or any chores at all for that matter. Overall, it was a very nice and happy day for them. As predicted, they didn't get anything for supper, so they went to bed hungry again.

The next morning, Percy woke up to silence. He was, once again, the first to be up, though normally he would be able to hear one or two of the Dursleys moving around in their rooms down the hall. They were all sleeping in. It was Sunday. Everyone slept in on Sunday, even Harry, who was almost always up right on time. Deciding to make the most of his temporary solitude, Percy slowly slid out of bed and, still in his pajamas, crept over to the door and slowly opened it, praying that the hinges wouldn't creak. They didn't. He continued on down the stairs and into the kitchen, over to the refrigerator. He was going to get food for himself and Harry - he didn't want to go to bed hungry anymore. He opened the fridge and his eyes went wide.

There was still cake from Dudley's birthday. Percy couldn't believe it. Dudley always ate all the cake on the day he gets it! Percy slowly slid the cake's box from the fridge and set it on the counter, closing the fridge door as he went. He opened the box and looked at the cake suspiciously, eyes narrowed, still not fully trusting it. He leaned forward and smelled the cake. Seemed fine, if a bit stale. He took a finger and dipped it in the icing, then tasted it. Tasted fine, definitely a bit stale...it was still delicious and he wasn't dead, so it must have been fine.

He shrugged, closed the cake box, and opened the fridge for any more food. He found a six-pack of Mountain Dew soda and a couple of Mars bars. He took the soda, the candy, and the cake back upstairs with him, all the while trying to be as quiet as possible. When he got back to his shared room with Harry, the other boy was just starting to stir. He set the food down on the floor and closed the door. Then he plopped down on the ground and started to eat Dudley's cake with his fingers.

Harry finally peaked his head over the edge of his bed, still bleary-eyed from sleep. "What're you eating?" he asked, his words slurred.

"Dudley's leftover cake. You want some?" Percy looked up at the other boy expectantly.

Harry took a moment to consider, then eventually said, "Yeah, alright." He got out of bed and slowly moved over to Percy, then plopped down beside him. He wearily looked at the cake then reached forward to take some frosting. He tasted it, then reached forward to take some more.

"Good, right?" Percy asked him.

Harry nodded enthusiastically. Whenever it was someone's birthday, they never got to partake in the celebration. Not that they would want to with the Dursleys, but it would have been nice to get some cake once in a while. It was even worse when it was Percy's or Harry's birthday. They were barely even acknowledged. Harry did get an old pair of socks the one time that his birthday was remembered, but that was the biggest thing they had ever done for either of the two boys.

After finishing the cake - there was barely a quarter left in the first place - the two boys moved on to the Mountain Dew and the Mars Bars. Harry took a can of soda and a Mars bar, but Percy only took the soda. "What are we going to do with the extra?" he asked.

"Er, we could put it in the secret stash place thingy," Harry answered him uncertainly.

Percy nodded. "Sure." There was a loose floorboard at the foot of Percy's bed. They put all of their stolen food in there, not that they ever really had any stolen food. But when they did, they put it under the loose floorboard. "You done?" Percy asked Harry after a few minutes. He had finished his soda a while ago.

"Yeah."

"Then help me." Somehow, the two boys managed to lift the floorboard up - it was rather heavy - and slide the rest of the Mountain Dew and Mars Bars under it without making too much noise. And just in time too, because they were able to hear movement coming from the other rooms. The Dursleys were waking up. Percy shoved Harry over to his bed then went to his own. "Hurry up!" he hissed. They quickly got under the covers and pretended to sleep.

A few moments later, the door to their room opened. "Up! Get up! You didn't have to do anything yesterday, but no laziness will be tolerated today!" It was Uncle Vernon. Oh, how Percy hated that man.

"We're getting up." Percy made his voice seem all groggy as if he had just woken up and started to sluggishly get out of bed.

Apparently, he was convincing enough. Uncle Vernon slammed the door with a final, "Hurry up!"

About a half hour later, Percy was going down the stairs with Harry right behind him. They got to the kitchen and started making breakfast. This time, it was eggs and hash browns. Once it was done, they carried the food over to the table, where the Dursleys were already sitting.

Uncle Vernon started to speak. "You know what I like about Sundays, boy?" He looked at Percy to answer.

"There's no post on Sundays?"

"Right you are, Harry!"

Percy elbowed Harry in the ribs. "I was going to say that," he said under his breath. Harry only smirked.

About halfway through breakfast, Percy glanced out the window, then did a doubletake. There were owls everywhere! Owls were on top of the Dursleys' car, the mailbox, they were even perched on the fence! Against his better judgment, he decided he would ignore the owls for the time being. A few minutes later, the rumbling started. A huge rumbling, swishing noise had completely surrounded the house. Even the walls were shaking. The rumbling grew louder and louder.

"What the hell is that noise!" Uncle Vernon yelled. Everyone had their hands covering their ears. The rumbling grew even louder, then everything erupted into chaos.

****

I feel accomplished - this chapter is longer than usual.

As usual, comment any mistakes you find.

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