A/N: This is written for the Harry Up for Adoption challenge. This is a multi- chaptered story so there will be more. Anyway, on with the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own HP at all. :'(
After carefully laying baby Harry down, Albus Dumbledore put a few protection spells on the young boy. As soon as he finished his spell work, he put up blood wards that surrounded the Dursley's home.
Dumbledore knew that if they ever found out that their "normal" home had magical protection, they would move out straight away, not that it would help.
Albus sighed as he put down the letter that he had written earlier that day.
He had loved the tiny boy that was now on the door- step as if he was his own grandson. It hurt him more than anything, yes even fighting with his ex- best friend, to do this to little Harry, but he had no choice. Harry had no other living relatives and, therefore, the blood wards would never work.
He stroked Harry's head for a second, then stood up and walked back to Professor McGonagall and Hagrid. They too were sad to see the little boy off with his muggle relatives.
Later that evening, Professor Dumbledore prayed for Harry's safety and he kept telling himself that the Dursley's would treat him as one of their own. How very wrong he was.
Xx
It was a busy night at DMLE, busier than usual. Madam Amelia bones had her aurors working over time, catching stray death eaters.
It might've been her imagination, but the defeated dark lord's followers seemed to be popping up everywhere. Though their master was gone, they were still killing. One of the aurors, Kingsley Shacklebolt, had owled her saying that they had found a family of muggles just lying there, dead.
Amelia sighed.
It didn't seem that there would be a break until next, next week. The minister had decided that he wanted all the rounded up death eaters to have their trials one after the other.
Amelia put her head in her hands.
Five minutes later, she received an owl from her old friend and mentor, Minerva McGonagall, saying that Dumbledore had placed one Harry Potter in the care of his muggle relatives.
Amelia positively growled at that.
While she might not have been that close to Lily while at Hogwarts, she had heard a couple of times when Lily was sobbing over how her older sister and her boyfriend kept calling her a freak. Surely, Dumbledore hadn't placed Harry with those muggles? But, as she continued to read Minerva's letter, it became apparent that he had.
She basically had given Amelia a run down of what had happened. In the end, Minerva had asked Amelia to keep an eye on him, so if they were abusing him at all, she could step in and press charges against them. Amelia immediately agreed and quickly wrote a reply. Just as she sent the owl off, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in" Amelia said and in came the head auror, Rufus Scrimegeour, himself.
"The aurors have caught most of the death eaters," the auror told her, "here is the list. I would like you to pick out the dates for the trials, as you are head of DMLE." He smiled at her and left the room, shutting the door behind him. Amelia glanced at Minerva's letter sitting beside her hand. She cast it aside, deciding that she'll think about it later.
Xx
Minerva sighed.
She had tried; she really did, to stop Albus from leaving Harry at the Dursley's. She had watched them all day.
She had watched their wretched son throw his food at the wall. Any normal parent would've scolded their child if they did that, but, apparently, the two elder Dursley's thought their son was absolutely amazing and that everyone needed to bow down to him.
After watching them until they had finished their breakfast, which was when she stalked off and found a map of the street. Minerva had been wondering why anyone would need a map of such a simple street, when she had heard a car go past. Panicking, she pushed the map off the edge of the wall she was on. She turned her attention back to the car that had gone past, and realized, with a start, that it was Vernon Dursley, on his way to work.
Unable to make Dumbledore reconsider his choice of home for the boy saviour, she wrote a letter to the head of DMLE, Amelia Bones, describing what had taken place that day and evening. Minerva hoped that Amelia would understand, and watch over Harry.
Twenty minutes later, the owl that had taken her letter to Amelia arrived back again, this time carrying a letter that was addressed to Minerva in Amelia's no- nonsense hand- writing.
Hopefully, Minerva took the letter carefully from the owl, gave it an owl- treat and sent it back to the owlery.
As the owl vanished from her line of vision, Minerva turned her attention back to the letter on her desk. Shaking slightly, she opened it slowly. She took out the sheet of paper that had Amelia's neat scrawl.
Minerva read silently.
Dear Minerva,
I would like to thank you for the letter you sent me. It has helped me a lot and I must say that I agree with you. I normally do agree with Dumbledore's decisions but this was very foolish of him. I heard from Lily that her sister, Petunia I do believe was her name, does not like magic at all. I'd also like to thank you for providing me with the current residence of little Harry. I shall find a house around there when turns three or four, which is probably, after hearing what Lily had told me about Vernon, when the abuse will start. You also mentioned that Petunia and Vernon have a son as well. I find myself doubting that he will be a caring person after what I heard from you. Thank you for informing me of this and I will be looking into it.
Yours truly,
Madam Bones
Minerva sighed quietly in relief.
Amelia shared her view and would look after Harry, just in case. Minerva was a strict and no- nonsense woman, and quickly put the letter in her draw and tidied her desk.
She then asked her house- elf, Chilly, to make her a cup of tea. Chilly bowed to her mistress, smiled at her and apparated away.
Minerva smiled and took out a picture of Harry, James and Lily. She didn't even realise that she was crying, until she felt a tear rolling down her cheek.
Minerva heard a small pop and knew that Chilly was back with her tea.
"Thank- you Chilly" she said to the small elf "do you think you could get me some Honeyduke's chocolate?"
"Yes, mistress. Enjoy your tea, mistress." Chilly bowed once again and apparated away to find her mistress the Honeyduke's chocolate she wished for.
Minerva drank her tea silently, lost in her thoughts.
She thought about the two graduated students. They were dead. She didn't think that she would ever believe it, but little Harry was alive.
Minerva smiled at the thought.
Like Dumbledore, she often thought of the boy as her own grandson. He also seemed to be a both mixture of his mother and father, inheriting his mother's kindness and his dad's cheek, both of which Minerva had come to love in Lily and James.
She then heard another soft pop and there stood Chilly.
"Here is your chocolate you asked for, mistress. Will there be anything else, miss?" She enquired.
Minerva shook her head.
"No, that will be all for now, Chilly. Could you take my cup and saucer?"
Chilly nodded and took away the cup and saucer, from which Minerva had just finished with. With another pop, Chilly was gone.
Minerva sighed and unwrapped the chocolate. She broke off a piece and bit into it. It was sweet, as usual.
As she ate, her mind kept going back to Harry. She still couldn't believe that he was alive, it was a miracle.
She hoped and prayed to the wizarding god that he would be alright at the Dursley's house.
Xx
Petunia Dursley liked to be normal. Anyone who knew her could say that much.
She had a wonderful husband, who, despite being a drunk sometimes, still worried about her, which, she thought, was nice of him. She had a beautiful baby boy who was just simply perfect, according to Petunia.
To the Dursley's, the only problem for their family was Petunia's sister's family. Vernon thought they were all drunks and freaks and Petunia, apparently, thought that they were abnormal. That's what people who knew the Dursley's secret always said.
The part about Vernon was true; he would say it all the time, but what people said about Petunia was only part truth. Although she did think that witches and wizards were horribly abnormal, that was not the reason she hated them.
When Lily got her letter to Hogwarts, Petunia saw red and told her she was a freak. Soon after, however, Petunia felt horribly guilty after seeing Lily's hurt face. She decided to continue being mean, as an act, when a man by the name of Albus Dumbledore told her that she couldn't go to Hogwarts with Lily.
She never told Lily that she was so very sorry for calling her a freak, nor that it was all an act.
Petunia loved her sister very much, despite not showing it. So imagine her shock when she opened up the front door, to put out the milk bottles, and found a baby boy lying there with a letter clutched tightly in his hand.
Her first thought was who would leave a young child on a doorstep. A thought at the back of her mind thought of Lily's son, Harry.
Petunia mentally shook her head.
Lily loved Harry equal to as much as Petunia loved little Dudley. She and her husband wouldn't just leave him on a doorstep.
But when the little boy opened his eyes, Petunia couldn't help herself.
She screamed.
The boy had Lily's eyes and her husband James' hair.
Her scream caused two things to happen. The first was she attracted a lot of attention from the neighbours around the home. The second was Vernon rushing down the stairs, quietly so he wouldn't wake up Dudley, to see what had happened.
"Pet, dearest, are you okay?" he asked once he had reached Petunia. Petunia thought of saying: Oh no I've just found our nephew on our door- step, but other than that, I've never been better, but she knew that would trigger a horrible reaction from her short- tempered husband. So, she said instead, "let's go inside and I'll tell you." And with that, she picked up Harry and brought him inside, shutting the front door behind her.
She told Vernon about how she had gotten up to put out the milk bottles and had found him on the door- step. She told him how, when he opened his eyes, they were exactly the same shade as her sister's.
When she had finished talking, she looked at Vernon. His face was going a darker shade of purple every second.
Petunia looked away and looked at the clock on the peach- coloured wall. It was ten o' clock in the morning.
She sighed and started to open up the letter that had come with Harry. As she unfolded it, she heard Vernon speak in a deathly- calm voice. "How dare those... ugh... freaks... leave us their freaky offspring?"
Inwardly sighing, Petunia said "this letter came was left with the boy." She then jerked her head in Harry's direction. Petunia took out the piece of paper and began to read it to Vernon.
Dear Mr and Mrs. Dursley
Last night your in- laws, Lily and James Potter, were brutally murded by the dark lord, Voldemort. Their son, Harry, survived the attack and I place him into your care. We believe that the Potter's good friend and secret keeper of their house, Sirius Black, was the one who betrayed them to the dark lord. A secret keeper is a person who guards the secret setting of a place under the fidelus charm. A fidelus charm is a charm that makes a specific house or place invisible to anyone but the secret keeper. We also believe that Black has been a spy for Voldemort's side of the war, but this is not information that you really need to know. All I ask of you is to raise Harry as your own son and to not give him away. It is of utmost importance that he lives with you.
Yours truly
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
It took all of Petunia's self- control to not growl at that man's name. He was the one who took Lily away from her and now she was dead.
Vernon mistook her scrunched up face and said "I know. I can't believe that the freaks would dump the boy on us, an innocent family." Petunia nearly rolled her eyes at how oblivious Vernon was.
Just as she was about to reply, a cry was heard from upstairs.
Petunia sighed and got up to go upstairs with Vernon following her.
Dudley was screaming by the time she and Vernon had gotten there, but when he saw his mama, he stopped. Petunia smiled at the chubby little baby and turned to Vernon. "Let's go back down stairs" she said quietly. He nodded and they both left Dudley's room.
Once they were down stairs and back in the front room, Petunia said "we're keeping him." She said it with such force that even Vernon had stopped his dreadful ranting.
"But why should we, Pet. I mean, he's just another no good freak."
"That doesn't mean he's not family." Petunia glared at him.
Eventually, Vernon nodded, even if it was a small one.
"I'll go get Dudder's old crib." She said and she turned and left towards the back door.
When she was down there, she unlocked the silver door- knob and turned it so that she was able to open it.
When the door was wide enough, Petunia looked in.
It was rather light in there due to parts of the roof allowing the sun to shine through.
Her eyes looked around for a bit and finally found her son's old crib. It might have been broken in some areas, but Vernon probably wouldn't allow her to buy Harry a new one.
As she dusted the old crib off, she made a mental note to clean out the garage. She lifted the crib and walked out the door, putting down the crib for a few seconds in order to close the door. Once she was back inside her home, Petunia set up the crib and went to get baby Harry from the front room. She lifted him, careful for he had gone back to sleep, and took him back to Dudley's old crib. She put him in stared down at him. She couldn't help but think that he looked rather cute when he slept. Petunia stroked his midnight black hair and went back to the living room, not realising that she was crying.
End A/N: Yeah, quite long, I know. But I hope you liked it. Remember to review (I don't mind constructive criticism), favourite and PM me. Bye!
Steph :D