Petunia wept as she read the letter again. It wasn't fair! Why couldn't she have magic? It just didn't make any sense! Magic runs in families, but sometimes random people have magic? But those random people's sibling didn't have magic?

Why does Lily always get everything? Everything she wants, everything Petunia wants, and then Petunia's left with all the leftovers.

The two siblings had always been close, but Petunia couldn't ever help but envy her sister, because Lily had everything. She was more creative, more intelligent (how in the world did Lily forget to study and ace tests when Petunia studied all week and barely passed?), and as Petunia hit puberty, she knew she'd never compare to the green eyed, red haired princess, not with her long neck and bland features. And now Lily was a witch.

Ever since Petunia had found out, she'd been writing to the headmaster of the school, wanting to know if she could come. Couldn't she learn magic? Why not? Then why was Lily born with magic, but not her? Each time she'd been refuted, but this time it was final: she wasn't born with magic, she just wasn't lucky enough to be born with it. And this upset Petunia more than anything else.

Petunia sniffed, wiping her eyes. And then everything was calm. She felt numb, hollow, and for a moment she noted that it was a feeling that would disturb most people, but it let her think clearly. There were two primary ways she could go about this now. One, she stops liking her sister, pretends she doesn't like magic, and insults her sister as much as possible, eventually becoming a miserable old harpy who nobody likes, thus making her own situation worse and making Lily seem like even more of a perfect angel.

Or two, she dedicates herself to becoming the best person she can be, disregarding magic, being successful- the best sort of revenge she could have, outdoing her sister and still keeping their friendship. It would be so easy to go down path number one. Instant gratification, Petunia thought. But ultimately I'll just be unhappy, unaccomplished, and then I really will have nothing. The second option will make me happy. I may even be noticed as something other than Lily's sister. But it'll take so long, years. It will require patience, diligence.

At that moment a coin was tossed, and winds and magnets made it seem certain that it would land on heads. Two old men gambled that it would. Instead, it landed on tails.

And everything changed.


Over the next several years, Petunia put as much effort into being better as humanly possible. She forgot what friendship was, too busy studying, preparing for the future, and petty as it was, trying to be prettier.

By the time she was sixteen, she was known as the beautiful ice queen who rebuffed anyone who failed to prove themselves- that is, almost everyone. She was tall, and had some well-toned muscles, her blond hair was perfect in waves, and her eyes drew people in, freezing them all. She was the top student in everything. She only had one friend, Annelie Hansen. The two girls were inseparable, the only person Petunia would spend time with, and be friendly and open towards. She even knew about magic.

When Petunia was seventeen, she met a boy. His name was Vernon Dursley, and she was rather ambivalent about him. He was smart, she'd give him that. He was second in his classes, right behind her. And he wasn't terrible to look at, no worse than the other boys his age, blond haired, and extremely tall. He had quite the muscles, too, but a bit of pudge that could become rather unattractive if left to grow. He also had a rather murderous temper, her complete opposite. They worked together several times in class and found that they liked each other quite a bit.

"If you like me so much," Vernon said. "Why won't you go out with me?" He was more than slightly peeved. He liked her, she liked him, but refused to date him? Even once? He would never understand women!

"The only thing I don't like about you can't be ignored," she stated bluntly.

"And what I that?"

"A drill company. That's your career plan. You don't even like business," she said coldly. "You're just doing this for your father, who you don't even like. That's your plan. Get married, get a job you don't like, have one kid to boast about, and then die miserably, leaving behind a reputation as a boring moron. If that's what you actually wanted, fine, I could get past you're rather pathetic attitudes, but I'm not wasting my time on a loser who just does whatever his father tells him to."

Vernon was flabbergasted. Was it really that obvious that he didn't want to go into that job? In truth, he'd always wanted to be a police officer, never mind what he may be paid, never mind any danger. He'd always looked up to them.

"What if I don't do what my father wants?" he asked. Petunia looked at him appraisingly, and then she gave a stiff nod.

"Then you may be worth my time."


Vernon Dursley did as he said he would, and never looked over to the drill company again, opting to become a police officer as he'd always dreamed of being. Petunia surprised him, announcing that she planned on going to medical school, and becoming a pathologist.

"I'll go on and become a coroner," she said. She was quickly gaining renown as the best student, a prodigy. Petunia and Vernon got married not long after graduation, and a couple years later they attended that of Lily's. Vernon knew about the two sisters, how Petunia had often envied her younger sister when they were younger.

"She was always better than me," Petunia had explained. "Smarter, prettier…and she's a witch." She had explained magic to Vernon, and how she had wanted to be a witch too, but wasn't.

Vernon reminded her about all the good things, how she was going to be a successful coroner, and be happy by her own doing. And Vernon didn't think Lily was that pretty, anyways. He much preferred his wife's icy blue eyes to any others in the world. After the wedding, he started talking to James, Lily's new husband.

"I'm going to be an auror," James said excitedly. "I'm already in the academy, and my parents were aurors too!"

"Excuse me," Vernon said politely. "But I don't know what an auror is."

"Oh, of course!" James said, ruffling his hair, embarrassed. "Muggles don't have aurors. Lily told me that the police are the Muggle equivalent." Vernon brightened.

"Really? Well, then! I'm a police officer!" A grin on his face, he and James began chatting away, becoming friends over mutual interest in maintaining law and protecting the populace. James tried to introduce Vernon to his best friend, Sirius, but ultimately Sirius' cocky nature grated Vernon a little too much.

Petunia and Vernon left the wedding feeling much closer to the Potters than they'd expected, Petunia even cracking a smile for her sister.


Over the next two years, the Dursleys prospered and their name gained quite the reputation over their neighborhood as the helpful couple who contributed to the world as much as two people as young as they could.

Vernon worked as a police officer, and quickly rose in respect. Everyone was waiting to see him promoted.

Then something strange happened. An entire family was murdered, or so everyone figured they were. But there was no cause of death. No injuries at all on their bodies, but they were all in perfect health. And perfectly healthy people don't just drop dead. But no investigators could find anything, and so they were forced to drop the case. It was with a heavy heart, grieving the unknown family that Vernon came home to Petunia after the case was closed. He told Petunia about it, how strange it was, how these people seemed to have just died without any cause. Petunia felt a tugging feeling in her mind, and she remembered how her sister had mentioned that not all magic is good, remembered her brother-in-law who was the wizard's equivalent of a police officer.

Sharing her suspicions with Vernon, she contacted her sister, telling her about the peculiar deaths of this family. Within a day Lily and James were in their living room.

"James, watch your mouth," Lily said, after James let out a rather unpleasant string of words after Vernon handed them a photograph of the victims.

"Sorry, Lily, but…I know this guy. He works in the Ministry. I talk to him, sometimes."

"I'm sorry," Vernon said. "But do you know how this was done? We can't arrest anyone if we can't even figure out how they were killed." James shook his head.

"It was the killing curse," he said. "But you don't need to worry about this now, it's my job to find who did it."

"James," Lily interrupted, "You don't think this has anything to do with…" James sighed with frustration.

"What doesn't have to do with Voldemort these days?"

"Voldemort?" Petunia interjected. "Who's Voldemort?"

"A bad wizard," Lily said, "Really bad, bad as can be."

"He think everyone who isn't a pureblooded wizard is trash, basically. Goes around killing Muggleborns, and Muggles, and anyone who doesn't join his side in the war he started."

"Unfortunately," Lily said, "Strange, unsolved, brutal murders are practically becoming everyday news with that madman around." The Dursleys felt stones in their stomachs.

"What can we do to help?" Vernon asked dutifully.

"You can stay here, and forget this ever happened," James said. "This is a wizard's problem, you don't need to worry about it."

"Don't need to- are you mad? This guy's going around killing everyone and we shouldn't worry about it?"

"Vernon's right," Petunia put in, calmer than her husband. "This Voldemort is killing Muggles, Muggleborns, and people who refuse to join him? Then the four of us are all three. And really, if he wins this war against you wizards, he clearly won't care about your 'Statute of Secrecy.' Then he'll start coming after Muggles in the open, and won't it be our problem, then?"


The Dursleys let it go for then, hoping that the wizarding world would be able to win the war before it became open. But Petunia had a sense of dread in her that refused to relent. She feared for her sister.

It wasn't too long after this that she found that she was pregnant. Vernon was overjoyed as well, and he may well have gone a little overboard when he was decorating the new nursery.

"Dudley," Petunia repeated blankly. Vernon nodded enthusiastically. Petunia raised her eyebrow. "Who the bloody hell names their poor kid Dudley? Dudley Dursley? Did someone come into our house and spike your coffee, or have you lost your wits on your own accord?"

Vernon blushed. "Dudley Dursley, Dudley Dursley," he muttered. "It does sound like a joke," he admitted. "But it was my grandfather's name and I'd like to name my son after him." Petunia sighed. It sounded stupid, but if it meant something to her husband, it was hard to deny it.

"Alright," she consented. "But we're giving him a middle name, one that he can fall back on just in case, okay?" So it was that several months later Dudley Iagan Dursley was born.


Less than a year later Lily gave birth to one Harry James Potter. And then the Potters dropped off the face of the earth. Vernon and Petunia were very concerned, Lily and James were now almost impossible to contact, and on the occasion that they did respond, the letters were often less than four sentences long. Petunia figured that they were in hiding, and from what else than Voldemort. The time had come that he was after the Potters, and the Dursleys feared there was nothing they could do about it.

Soon the contact stopped completely.


Mr. and Mrs. Dursley were proud to say that they weren't normal, thank you very much. And they were quite involved in strange and mysterious things, no matter the fact that they had to hide the strangest of all.

Mr. Dursley was a police officer. He was a tall, muscular man who put many professional boxers to shame. His other noteworthy feature was his large mustache, which people tended to stare at when talking to him. Mr. Dursley always noticed, and was rather amused by the reaction. Mrs. Dursley was also tall, attractively thin, with a pronounced long neck. The young couple had one son named Dudley, and with them raising him, he was a fine young boy.

The Dursleys were also keeping a secret- a secret named Potter. Their in-laws were, in fact, a witch and a wizard, and the Dursleys were sworn to never tell anyone about magic. The Potters also had a young son, named Harry, and the Dursleys would love to have their boys play with each other, but they had only ever seen the boy once, and they hadn't even seen Lily and James since then.

On the first day of November, they went about their business as usual, but Mr. Dursley couldn't help but notice a few peculiar things. Like the cat reading a map, a bunch of people walking around in cloaks (which, he recalled, was the normal fashion for wizards) and a swarm of owls in broad daylight. Dursley wasn't an idiot. He knew something was going on with those wizards, but what he didn't know.

At lunch time, he decided to treat himself to a bun from the bakery. There were several wizards there, too, and Vernon had a hard time refraining from reminding them about their Statute of Secrecy.

"The Potters, that's right, that's what I heard-"

"-Yes, their son, Harry-"

Vernon stopped, shocked. The Potters, Harry? What did they have to do with this? He considered what to do, then decided to go ask the wizards.

"Excuse me," he said to them. For a moment the wizards looked fearful. "James and Lily Potter are my in-laws and my friends. What happened exactly?" One of the wizards looked sad for a moment.

"Well, sir, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named went after them…and he killed them."

"What?" Vernon stammered. Dead? Lily and James? Grief overtook him as he recalled all the times they spent together. And Petunia! How was he to tell her?

"But their son," the other wizard continued. "He survived! He survived the killing curse, and it killed You Know Who!" Vernon gasped at this news.

"Then he's okay? Where is he now?" The wizard shrugged.

"Nobody knows."

When Vernon went home, he had Petunia put Dudley in his nursery before telling her what had transpired. For the first time he could remember, his strong, composed wife cried in his arms, mourning her younger sister.


In the morning Petunia found Harry Potter on their doorstep. Her first thought was to take the boy in, feeding him, and then introducing him to Dudley, who giggled and tried to grab his cousin's nose. Vernon read the letter that had been left, and then ranted about this Dumbledore who figured it was okay to leave an infant outside overnight. But they took Harry in happily, swearing to protect the boy. They wouldn't let what happened to his parents happen to him. And if it was possible that Voldemort was still out there (and Petunia was certain he was, because monsters never just disappear), then he'd be in for an unpleasant surprise when he dared look at these Muggles.

A coin had been tossed many years ago, and then everything changed.

So here's the first chapter! I hope everyone likes it. I know the Dursleys aren't the best read in the world, but this was pretty necessary. And hopefully these different Dursleys are a little more likable than the canon ones. Anyways, please review, and if you do, let me know if you think i ought to change the name of this fic.