Chapter 1: The Prologue

The unrelenting screaming of her nephew was driving Petunia Dursley to drink. Really, there was a half-empty bottle of wine sitting on her kitchen table with a glass filled to the brim of white wine. But even several glasses of wine at one-thirty in the afternoon did not help Petunia forget about the crying of the newest inhabitant in her house.

Taking a large gulp, or two, Petunia stood up and went into her living room. Sitting on the ground was her little sweetums, Dudley. His chubby little hand was holding an ice teething toy that was currently covered in drool. Although he was teething, Petunia's little angel hardly made a fuss and for this, Petunia was thankful. Sitting next to Dudley was Petunia's nephew, Harry. The dark-haired, green-eyed baby would not stop crying. Petunia had tried everything and anything that she could think of to quiet the boy, but nothing would work. Majority of the time, Harry was weepy and would cry out nonsensical words, but sometimes, like this afternoon, Harry would try to scream to see if the entire neighborhood could hear him.

"Mama!" cried Harry. Immediately, Petunia's stomach plummeted and tied up in knots. Without hesitation, she scooped up her nephew and began to attempt to rock him to sleep while humming. Harry's little hands flailed in the air and his crying continued. This was not who he wanted to pick him up. This was not the song he wanted to hear.

"Please, Harry, please be quiet," Petunia begged. Unsurprisingly, this did not work. Petunia attempted to shush Harry for several more minutes until giving up. She placed her nephew back on the ground where he continued to cry. It was a heartbreaking sight to see the eighteen-month-old sit there and cry with big, fat tears streamed down his red cheeks. Dudley was not fazed by his screaming cousin and continued to chew on his cold toy and watch the television program.

Harry had been living with the Dursleys for three months. In this time, there was rarely a quiet moment at 4 Privet Drive with Harry crying for his mama and dada every day. Since the arrival of Harry, Petunia's husband, Vernon, seemed to be leaving the house earlier for work and returning later each day. She suspected so Vernon did not have to listen to his nephew. And Petunia could hardly blame him.

Petunia had not been on speaking terms with her sister, Lily, before she had gotten herself killed. It came to a great surprise when Petunia and Vernon woke up on November 1st to see a baby boy sleeping on their porch with only a letter for an explanation. It was Petunia's nephew, Harry Potter, whom the Dursleys had never met.

Lily sent letters to Petunia over several months before she was killed. These contained information about finding out she was pregnant, her pregnancy journey, and giving birth to Harry. Petunia never responded to any of these letters because she did not want anything to do with her freakish sister, but Lily continued to send the letters anyway. Petunia had continually received letters from Lily for several months after Harry was born, but they eventually stopped all together. It was quite strange, but didn't Petunia question it at first. It seemed as if Lily finally got the message and stopped sending letters.

When Harry was found on the Dursleys porch with a letter explaining that Lily and her husband, James, had been in hiding from a guy named Lord Voldything, or something to that degree, Petunia understood that Lily only stopped once they were forced into hiding. After finishing reading the letter, Petunia broke down into tears and hugged her nephew for the first time in her life. Harry was the only part of Lily that still remained alive and Petunia vowed that she would try to make up for the years she spent at odds with Lily. However, it seemed like it was impossible to make up for those years, as Harry would never stop crying.

A shriek outside, that sounded like an angry cat, snapped Petunia out of her thoughts. Sighing, Petunia tried to think of something different to do that would make Harry stop. With a snap decision, Petunia decided that she would take Harry to see a doctor at a hospital. Hopefully, they would be able to do something for the crying boy. It didn't seem healthy that a little boy would cry for so long.

Petunia began to grab the keys and bundle the boys up in winter clothes. It was the end of January and there was a light dusting of snow on the ground. The last thing Petunia needed was a sick little boy in the house. After a second thought, Petunia decided to call a cab to take them to the hospital. It didn't seem wise to drive to a hospital after drinking several glasses of wine and Petunia figured she would hardly be able to concentrate on driving with a screaming Harry.

As the cab pulled up to the front of the house, Petunia grabbed her purse and picked up Harry. Dudley held onto his mother's hand and they slowly walked outside to the cab.

And then, it was quiet.

Petunia's ears were ringing from Harry's crying, but it was completely quiet on Privet Drive. Petunia moved her head to look at Harry sitting on her hip as his last tears dripped down his face. There were no whimpers. No shudders. No tears.

In fact, Harry was smiling. His small arms reached up and his fists were opening, as if to reach for something. Petunia was completely bemused. Sitting on the end of the curb next to the cab was a black and white tabby cat. Or, probably a kitten, as it was still pretty small. Harry began to try to wiggle out of Petunia's arms, wanting to be put on the ground. Petunia, still in a quite bit amount of shock, released her nephew onto the ground.

Harry plunked himself onto the ground and shrieked in delight. His arms opened up and giggled. Then, the cat flew straight into his arms. As if a magician took his magic wand and cast a spell on the cat to be moved through the air into Harry's arms.

The cab driver, who had opened the door for Petunia, fainted at the sight of a cat flying through the air. His body crumbled to the ground next to open door of the cab.

"Mama. Dada." Harry giggled as he wrapped his arms around the cat. He squeezed his eyes tight and sighed, "Mama. Dada." It seemed as if the boy had finally found his peace.

With that, Harry and the cat disappeared into the thin air.

Petunia screamed. Then fainted.