Mending Fences
A/N - So I wrote this because I feel that after all that went down things changed a lot between the Dursleys. I think the War had an effect on them just as it did on Harry. I also don't see the Dursleys as the bad guys, I mean I hate the way they treated Harry but at the same time they were afraid and there was so many bitter feelings there. I think that Petunia must have cared for him for even taking him in, I don't think its all because of Dumbledores threat so yeah this is a story about what happens between them all after the War.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing!
Harry took a deep breath as he looked at the house in front of him. He stood in the middle of the street dressed in a new set of jeans that actually fit him without a belt and a t-shirt that wasn't three sizes too big. Number 4 Privet Drive had been the place that had brought him so much misery but in the scheme of things Harry had endured worse things than his years with his Aunt, Uncle and cousin.
Seeing the memories in the pensieve put a lot into perspective for Harry and he now understood a lot about his Aunt that he hadn't before. She hadn't understood why her sister could go to a special school and she couldn't. It all made sense, Aunt Petunia had been the ordinary one which explained why she had been determined to be so ordinary her whole life. She got married and had a baby and was the perfect wife, she did what an ordinary person would do. All of a sudden though she had been landed with Harry who was completely extraordinary and it must have been like watching Lily be special all over again.
It had been a long time since he'd seen the house. After the War the first thing had been the funerals, he'd attended too many, Remus and Tonks, Freds, Colins, Severus'. Once the dead had been buried and the immediate excitement of it had passed Harry felt it safe to come out of the hole he had made for himself at Grimmauld place, alone there with Kreacher for a month he wallowed in self pity for all the people he and his friends had lost.
When Harry had pulled himself out of this phase he got his act together, he gave interviews for the daily prophet, and he happily gave Luna's Father an interview for the Quibbler. Harry even let the Wizard Slughorn had once introduced him too write a book about him but he insisted that all prophets made from the book be split between St. Mungo's and the clean up for the mess the War had caused.
Harry didn't want people to think he was some kind of saint but he had helped out with it all, rebuilding houses that had been destroyed, helping to re-open businesses that had been closed down, and helping to find homes for children who had been orphaned. He felt that part of the mess was his fault and helping clean it up made him feel better.
It had now been almost a year since the end of the War and Harry was currently training to be an Auror alongside Ron, Ginny and oddly enough Draco Malfoy who was still a snarky git but no longer an evil bastard. Something had made Harry decide to come here today and he wasn't entirely sure why.
It had been a standard 'mission', after training for 6 months they got their 2nd mission although they were merely back-up for fully trained Aurors. The Aurors had gotten a tip that an ex-death eater was lurking around the Riddle House and sure enough a few hours later they found it had been set on fire.
When Harry, Ron, Ginny and Malfoy arrived on the scene it had been to find a weeping man on his knees in the garden as the blaze burned around them. A few of the Aurors had immediately started to put the fire out. Sensing something different Harry had dropped to his knees next to the man who explained that he wanted to destroy anything that reminded people of what his master had done, he said that he hoped if he destroyed it all and cut it all off it would be out of his mind but sobbing he told Harry that it didn't make any difference and then he came quietly when they arrested him.
Later that day they'd all gone home to Grimmauld place, with the exception of Malfoy who lived in his own manor. For the moment Ron and Hermione were staying with he and Ginny in Grimmauld place until they could afford to buy a place of their own. Ron was catching up on some paperwork and Ginny and Hermione had gone off to the drawing room together leaving Harry alone with his thoughts. He'd realised that by pretending the Dursleys had never existed and cutting them off wasn't going to make any difference, he'd still occasionally wonder how they were or what they were doing, if they wanted to talk to him at all.
Eventually Harry had realised he needed some sort of closure so he'd had an uneasy night of sleep and arose early the next morning, he hoped they'd be in as it was Saturday and he apparated to the woods nearby and walked slowly around the familiar neighbourhood.
Now here he was, staring at this door, unsure whether or not he should do this or not. Closing his eyes briefly and taking another deep breath Harry walked up the garden path and rang the doorbell. He heard movement in the house and heard Petunia shout, "Answer the door Dudley!"
Dudley was still living at home? He realised with a start. Dudley ought to be the same age as Harry now as Harry had just turned 20 the day before. It had been two years since he had been to this place, he was sure Dudley would be long gone.
Harry was dragged away from his thoughts when the door opened revealing…was that Dudley? Harry's jaw dropped as he stared at the man in front of him.
"D…Dudley?" Harry stuttered as if unsure whether or not this person in front of him was really his cousin. When Harry had left Privet Drive Dudley had been small and fat with blonde hair that stuck to his head and a very pink face. The Dudley that stood before him was tall and no longer fat, he was very toned and large in that respect but it seemed he'd replaced all his fat with muscle. Dudley's hair was a darker dirtier blonde and was messier rather than slicked down. His face was no longer round; it was longer now due to the weight loss. If it hadn't been for the eyes Harry would not have recognised his cousin.
"Harry." Dudley said quietly, it appeared he was quite as surprised to see Harry as Harry was to see him. Harry of course hadn't changed much in two years; he was taller and still skinny although he'd gotten a little more muscles than when he had been a teenager. His messy black hair and round glasses hadn't changed at all. The only different thing about his face was the stubble on his chin really.
For a moment Harry and Dudley just looked at each other without saying a word. Harry eventually broke the silence, "You, uh, you've lost all your fat."
"What?" Said Dudley looking dumbstruck, "Oh yeah, wrestling." He said as if this was a valid explanation.
Harry nodded and was about to find a way to ask if he could come in when Petunia's voice called, "Who is it Dudley?"
Dudley didn't reply, looking at Harry with a slight frown and a moment later Petunia appeared in the doorway, her eyes widening the moment she saw Harry standing there. She looked at him for a moment, just as Dudley had then she spoke, "Where are your manners Dudley? You don't just leave people standing on the doorstep."
It seemed Harry wasn't the only one surprised by this welcoming, Dudley looked extremely confused but he moved aside and Harry walked past him, feeling Dudley's look on the back of his head as he followed his Aunt into a living room with only one piece of furniture.
"Sorry for the mess Harry." Petunia said, looking like a whole new person because she was smiling, something Harry rarely saw.
The living room definitely was a mess, the couch remained but everywhere else cardboard boxes where piled high, small boxes, medium sized boxes and huge boxes.
"Wow, you're leaving?" Harry asked as he sunk down onto the sofa.
Petunia nodded, glancing at Dudley, "Vernon and I divorced."
"Oh." Harry said, unsure how to respond to that, "Sorry, about that."
Petunia didn't seem very upset as she sat down next to Harry on the lone sofa, "I feel more alive than I have in years." She admitted, and although this change was extremely strange he was glad she had let him in the house.
"Dudley's just here to help me with the packing and moving, he lives in London with his girlfriend." Petunia said, smiling proudly at Dudley, Harry was glad she had a real reason to be proud of him now and he smiled too.
"I just wanted to come back now that the War is over and everything is back to normal in my world." Harry explained to Petunia, and Dudley who was now sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of them, something he would never have managed too do before with all of his fat.
"I know we were never close but you two are the closest thing to a family I have." Harry added, a little surprised to see tears in Petunia's eyes.
"We never treated you like a son like Albus asked us too." Petunia said in a small voice, "I was so afraid of what Vernon would do if I showed any sort of compassion to you." She said, her voice a little shaky.
"We didn't know about it Harry, we were away most of the year at school, but my Dad hit my Mum." Dudley said, his voice not shaky and quiet but bold and angry.
Harry wasn't sure why this upset him but it did, it sent a rush of anger through him, "What?" He exclaimed and Petunia looked down, clearly ashamed of this.
"Vernon was violent, Harry you of all people knew that." Petunia said and Harry nodded, still not sure why she had put up with that, Vernon had never been a good Husband, from a distance Harry had seen that.
"Where is he anyway?" Harry asked and again Dudley and his Mother exchanged a look before Dudley answered, "We don't know, we haven't seen him for two years." He told his cousin, "He left our safe house that your Order people gave us three days after we got there."
Harry's jaw dropped, "What? But he's probably dead if he left the Orders safety!"
Dudley shook his head, "He called us to tell us he was alive and sent the divorce papers, we haven't heard from him since."
"Bastard." Harry muttered under his breath, he turned to his Aunt, he wasn't sure how she would react to this but he felt the need to tell her, "Aunt Petunia I know why you hated me, and why you pretended to hate my Mother. In our world we have devices called pensieves in which you can view someone else's memories. After he died I saw Snapes memories and I saw a lot of scenes from you and Lily's childhood."
"He's dead?" Petunia asked, her eyes wide once more. Harry nodded, he had not been under the impression that Petunia had liked Snape, but all the same she seemed bothered by this, "He was killed by Voldemort, just like my parents."
Petunia shook her head, as if to shake a horrible memory out of it, "I remember the night it happened." She said softly, "It was Dudley's first Halloween and he was dressed up in a pumpkin costume. I was feeding him his supper when the owl came through the window."
Harry put a comforting hand on his Aunts shoulder as he noticed she was shaking. He thought he owed it to her to let her know but now he wasn't sure if she wanted too.
"How did you do it Harry?" Dudley asked quietly and Harry knew exactly what his cousin meant. He took a breath, composing his answer. "His soul had been torn into 7 pieces and each piece was hidden in an object so I destroyed them all but the 7th piece of his soul was inside me, on the night he tried to kill me he accidentally split his soul so I let him kill me."
Dudleys face was very pale, and Aunt Petunia's hand was shaking worse than ever underneath Harry's, "But…But how can you have died? You're here right now." Dudley said in a shaky voice.
Harry nodded, "When he killed me he killed the part of his soul living inside me and somehow, I'm still not entirely sure how I came back and then I finished him off for good."
There was silence for a good moment as they both seemed to think this through, only the sound of their breathing and a distant lawnmower could be heard. Eventually Petunia broke the silence, "I'd like to try and start over." She said softly.
Harry had come to this place with the same idea in mind but was admittedly surprised that Petunia had suggested it first. All the same he agreed with a nod and a smile, "I'd like that very much."
Harry was surprised when Petunia hugged him, it was the first time in his life that she ever had, but he hugged her back, hoping this new start was what they all needed, he had definitely gotten the closure he had needed anyway.
Dudley stood and crossed the room, he smiled at Harry, "I'm sorry for all the bullying." He said.
Harry stood up, smiling back at his cousin, "I'm equally sorry for all the magical taunting and bullying." He said.
For a moment they looked at each other in amusement before both holding out their hands and shaking them. This of course set Petunia off and she burst into tears, she headed for the kitchens to wipe her face muttering about how sweet her boys were. Boys, plural.
Harry and Dudley dropped hands, wondering where he was with his cousin now he said, "So, you and your girlfriend should come for a meal at my place, I'm engaged now."
Dudley looked a little hesitant, "Will you pretend to be-" He began to say but Harry chuckled, "Normal." He finished Dudley's sentence. His cousin looked a little sheepish as he nodded.
"Don't worry we will be, its against our laws anyway to go around telling random muggles about us being magical. If you marry her you can tell her." Harry said, jokingly to his cousin, who actually laughed.
"Right, then yes, dinner sometimes sounds nice." Dudley said, and from the kitchen Petunia began a fresh bout of sobbing.
"So, how do you feel about owls?" Harry asked Dudley whose eyes narrowed at the question. Harry elaborated, "Its just that Ginny and I live in a house that is enchanted so that muggles can't see it which would present a muggle postman with a problem so to keep in touch I'd need to owl you."
Dudley seemed to mull this over for a moment, "Don't you have an iphone?"
Harry shook his head, Dudley tried again., "A blackberry?"
Again Harry shook his head, Dudley was looking doubtful as he attempted, "A Nokia, Samsung, HTC?"
Harry shook his head three mores times before finally giving Dudley a defining answer, "Muggle technology doesn't work in our world, there is too much interference from our wands and the magical items in our houses."
"Right." Dudley said, looking thoughtful again as he crossed out all the ways he would communicate with someone and finally realised that the only way was indeed by owl post, "Well I suppose one a week would be alright." He said slowly, "They're subtle, aren't they?"
Harry chuckled again, "Very subtle." He assured Dudley.
Dudley looked a little less apprehensive now and Petunia finally resurfaced looking a little puffy eyed, "You'll need to bring your fiancé round when I'm in the new house." She said kindly to Harry, "I'd like to meet her."
Harry smiled broadly at this, "I think she'd like to meet you too, we'll do that."
Petunia gave him a genuine smile and Harry announced apologetically that he had to go as he was working that afternoon, but he hugged them both and agreed on an owl a week correspondence back and forth with both his cousin and his Aunt before he left Privet Drive for the last time feeling the happiest he had ever felt walking out of that door.
He finally had his closure. It would take time but they were going to mend the fences Uncle Vernon had broken. After all, they were his family.
The End =)