A Different Sister (Editing)

The Vanishing Glass

The Dursleys, Piers, Harry and Emma were packed into the Dursleys' car. How they managed to fit in, Harry had no idea. Dudley already took up half of the back seats. Dudley was talking to Piers, Emma was staring out of the window at passing cars and people and Harry was listening to Uncle Vernon, mainly because he had nothing to do. The radio was playing a song by a rather awful rock band and it hurt his ears to listen to it.

While he drove, Uncle Vernon liked to complain about things. People at work, people from other companies, Harry, Emma, neighbours, Harry, Emma, the bank, Harry and Emma were a few of his favourite subjects. This morning, it was motorbikes. He switched off the radio and started rambling.

"Driving like hooligans, they're mad, people these days," Uncle Vernon barked as a motorbike overtook them without giving a signal.

"I had a dream about a motorbike last night," Harry said suddenly, remembering his weird dream. "It was flying."

Emma turned to him, eyes wide. "Hey, me too!" They looked at each other excitedly.

"What are the odds of two people having the same dream?" Harry exclaimed.

"I don't know," Emma shrugged nonchalantly, but her eyes were shining. "Zero, probably. Anyway, how did your dream go? Mine went like this - "

Emma was cut short when Uncle Vernon slammed his foot on the brake. Their backsides left the seats and their heads slammed into Uncle Vernon's seat. He turned around to face them, face red. "MOTORBIKES DON'T FLY! AND TWO PEOPLE DON'T HAVE THE SAME DREAM!"

"Maybe they do if they're twins! And maybe motorbikes DO fly! AND MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T SHOUT AT PEOPLE 'CAUSE IT'S RUDE!!" Emma yelled back into Uncle Vernon's face.

The Dursleys were always furious when Harry or Emma mentioned something abnormal or strange. It was as if they might get dangerous ideas, or like it would really happen. Once, Emma mentioned something about an old man with silver hair and a very long beard, who she said was wearing a purple cloak. The old man had bowed to Harry and given Emma a twinkling smile. Aunt Petunia had gasped and Uncle Vernon had given her a week in her basement and Harry a week in his cupboard, just for good measure.

Uncle Vernon raised his hand to slap Emma's face. Harry tensed, preparing to throw himself in front of his sister when the blow came. That was when Dudley whispered something to his dad. Uncle Vernon's hand slowly came down to rest at his side and his face slowly lost its shade of scarlet. He smiled at the twins, gave Piers a horribly forced smile, and continued driving.

They soon arrived at the zoo. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were forced to buy Harry and Emma the cheapest ice-cream on the menu when the lady saw them lagging behind, looking longingly at the sundaes in Dudley and Piers' hands. They saw lots of exotic animals. Harry kept his eyes wide open, trying to memorise every detail of the zoo and its animals, because this may as well be the first and last time he was ever going to the zoo. Emma went straight to the notice board containing the animals' facts before actually looking at the animal itself. Dudley noticed and kept trying to siddy up to her while she was reading. She pushed him away in disgust, mumbling something about how she'd have to wash her hands later. Piers kept knocking on the glasses separating the animals from them. Harry could've sworn they looked annoyed. Emma whispered comments to Harry as they walked.

"Look at that gorilla. Do you know who it looks like? Imagine Dudley. Compare his face to the gorilla. Slap a blonde wig on it. They're practically identical!" 

Harry laughed aloud and did just as she said. Everyone looked over and saw a young boy rolling on the ground laughing his head off.

The Dursleys, Piers, Harry and Emma entered the reptile house last. Dudley and Piers quickly found the biggest snake in the house and stared open mouthed at it. It was a huge boa, but it was fast asleep. Dudley pressed his pig nose against the glass and watched the bronze coils.

"Make it move," he whined to his father. Uncle Vernon rapped his knuckles against the glass. The snake didn't move.

"This is boring," Dudley groaned before moving to the next snake. Harry and Emma stayed at the boa exhibit. Suddenly, the snake opened its eyes. They were very hypnotizing. Huge, reptilian brown eyes stared at them through the glass. Very very slowly, it raised its head until it was eye level with Harry and Emma.

It winked.

Harry looked at Emma with an 'Are you seeing this?' look. She looked back with a 'Yep' look. They winked back at the snake.

The snake looked at Uncle Vernon and gave them them a look that said quite plainly: "I get that all the time."

"Yeah, I know," Harry whispered. "It must be really annoying." The snake nodded vigorously.

"You understand us?" Emma asked. The snake nodded again. Emma shifted her eyes to Uncle Vernon.

"You must really want to swallow them up, don't you?" she asked again. The snake threw back its head as if laughing, then nodded again.

"Where do you come from?" Harry questioned. The snake jabbed its tail at the notice next to his tank. It said:" Boa constrictor, Brazil."

"Was it nice there?" Emma questioned. The snake jabbed its tail at the sign again. They read the next line. It said:" This specimen was bred in the zoo."

"So you've never been to Brazil?" The snake shook its head sadly.

There was a shout. "DUDLEY! MR DURSLEY! COME HERE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT THIS SNAKE IS DOING!" Harry and Emma were shoved to the floor by Dudley as he came thundering towards Piers. Emma glared at the two boys, her eyes blazing with fury. She was about to get up and throttle them when suddenly, the glass Dudley and Piers were leaning on disappeared. They screamed and fell back. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia grabbed the two boys quickly and cowered against the wall. The snake uncoiled itself and slithered towards the door. Harry and Emma could've sworn they heard the snake hiss "Thanksssss, amigosssss."

The people in the reptile house were running all around in sheer terror, while all the twins could do was sit on the floor and replay what had happened in their minds and try to make sense of it all. The zoo attendant was rushing around, calming everyone down, while Aunt Petunia began to tell a highly exaggerated version of what had happened to the manager. Dudley swore that the snake had tried to gobble it up. "That would've been nice," Emma mumbled to Harry. He laughed aloud. Dudley looked over.

"Mum!" he yelled. "It was Harry! Harry opened the glass and set the snake on me! He wants me dead!" Emma was about to yell out something insulting when Harry clamped her mouth shut. He didn't need her to sprinkle oil on the already hot fire. Uncle Vernon glared at them and his face turned purple.

On the way back from the zoo, Uncle Vernon didn't speak, but they could see that his face could be mistaken for an aubergine (or brinjal or eggplant, whatever you call it). As soon as Piers was out the door, Uncle Vernon rounded on them.

"Go - cupboard - basement - stay - no meals - ," was all he could say before he collapsed on a chair and Aunt Petunia rushed to get him a large brandy.

A/N

This was a little short guys, so sorry. My eyes are literally closing while I'm writing this. Please for vote and comment!

Lots of love,

Owly♡