At number 4 Privet Drive, Vernon Dursley sat on his couch. His large legs resting on the ottoman in front of him and his work clothes had been changed for a pair of comfy grey pajamas. While normally he would be very happy to unwind after a long day selling drills, watching whatever was on the telly, today he couldn't quite get the same amount of joy over berating the female newscaster on her much too showy outfit, surely not fit for television! On the morning of November 1st, the muggle had no inkling that the day was going to be anything out of the ordinary. And for the large part, it wasn't. The large, burly man had gone about his day much like the days before him, waking up next to his wife Petunia and heading to Grunnings in the hope of overshadowing all his co-workers in the monthly sales data report.

However, it was a multitude of different, strange occurrences that prevented him from enjoying his day, these mostly concerning small groups of oddly dressed people on the streets of London.

"Oh don't worry, dear muggle! Wonderful day today, isn't it?" One of the unusually dressed men had cried when Vernon accidentally bumped into him during his lunch break. The man wore a long, pointy hat that almost fell right off his head and onto the pavement when Vernon's rotund belly made contact with his back. The man had simply skipped off after his remark, not even giving Vernon the time to mutter any variation of an insincere apology, some bizarre happiness annoyingly obvious in his demeanor despite the mishap.

"It's such a shame what happened though. To the Potters…" He heard another whisper on his way back to his office afterwards. The voice carried out from some woman standing in a small group to her equally odd acquaintances, all of them dressed in long robes. That one in particular had given him pause, remembering his dear wife Petunia's sister. Hadn't she married a Potter?

"Petunia, dear," he said carefully, remembering his experiences earlier in the day. He glanced over to his wife on the other side of the couch, keeping in mind how much she hated it whenever her sister was brought up.

"Yes, Vernon?" She replied, eyes remaining glued to the television in front of them. Petunia's face was relaxed, basking in the few hours of peace they had together that evening. Vernon figured he could risk mentioning the sister, taking his wife's good mood into account.

"That sister of yours, she married a man named Potter, didn't she?" Vernon asked hesitantly. Petunia's head shot up, immediate suspicion and annoyance replacing the peace on her thin face.

"Yes, what of it?" She spat, and Vernon cringed at her tone.

"Ah, nothing, my love. It's nothing." He drew back, not wishing to antagonise her. He knew how much she truly despised her sister. He approved of it greatly, in fact. Nobody should have to be associated with freaks and undesirables. Occasionally, the couple would even receive mail from her sister, which Petunia made a great show of throwing straight into the trash every time. And it was just as well, Vernon had mused to himself. Who knows what kind of nonsense that woman could be getting up to?

It was only a coincidence , he thought. Potter was a common enough name. Those people, in those queer robes… it must have been some religious day he didn't know about.

Yes, he reassured himself, turning back to the television. That was it. Some strange foreign holiday. Maybe those people in the city were immigrants, or from some fringe religion. They must have been.

Shortly after the couple exchanged words, the news segment moved on to describe an abnormal rise in the number of owl sightings all over the country. After, it discussed a frankly inexplicable light show in Kent. The weirdness of the day continued to pile up, and Mr Dursley was glad it was almost over so that he could start the next day anew. Still, the man had stray thoughts about it all as he attempted to go to sleep in the house's master bedroom.

Something is wrong. He thought to himself as he moved from his left side to his right in his bed. Something freakish .

No sooner had he produced the last thought had a large banging sounded at the front door. Both occupants of the dark room shot up in bed, eyes wide open and fearful.

"What is that?" Petunia gasped, turning on a lamp and flinching behind her husband as he stumbled to the bedroom door like a startled elephant.

"Who knocks at this hour?" Vernon exclaimed, voice loud and angry, eyeing the alarm clock. It's small hand fell to the right of twelve.

"Go see who it is!" His wife pleaded, hiding behind his large figure as he opened the door to peer into the hallway. A baby's scream erupted in the bedroom next to them, Dudley also waking up from the noise. Vernon marched quickly back to the bed in the master bedroom, bending his body down with a breathless grunt to fetch an item from underneath. As he advanced down the stairs, shotgun in hand, Petunia ran into the second bedroom, simpering placations directed at the fussing babe.

The banging had not ceased the entire time Vernon plodded down the staircase. "WHO'S THERE?" He shouted as he reached the front door. As abruptly as the noises had begun, they ceased, the sound of only a stiff silence filling up the house.

"WHO'S KNOCKING AT ONE IN THE BLOODY MORNING?" Vernon shouted. "I have a gun! Don't think you can test me!" He raised the weapon with a shaky hand towards the door.

For a few seconds, there was silence. Then, only a soft click sounded as one of the door locks rotated, untouched. Vernon stood, shaken and confused, as the second lock on the door opened as well, almost as if a spirit had come forth to do so.

With no more resistance, the door swung open, a whoosh of air hitting the scared muggle in the face as the wood banged up against the inside wall. Outside stood a single man, with long, greasy black hair and a face schooled into a severe expression. Most horrifying to Vernon about his appearance was the man's attire, a long, swooping black robe with sleeves that almost covered his hands.

"Apologies for the late hour, Dursley." He said. As he spoke, Vernon's face tightened and he instinctively pulled the head of the gun towards the stranger's apathetic face.

"Leave at once, sir! Or I shall be forced to shoot!" He hollered, not even caring about what the neighbours might think about all the commotion.

"Don't point that thing at me, muggle ." The man sneered. With a swift movement from his hand, the gun had been pulled from Vernon's sweaty palms. The muggle gasped and spluttered as it clanged to the floor. Vernon realised for the first time that the man was holding a strange, long stick in his hand, peeking out from underneath his sleeve.

"My name is Severus Snape." The stranger said simply. "Is your wife also here? Her sister…" the man hesitated, swallowing, "wants to see her most urgently."

"Of course Lily Potter needs to see her most urgently!" Vernon spat as his eyes moved frantically between the harsh man and the gun on the floor, tempted to pick it back up again despite the obvious danger. The thudding of feet bounding down the staircase echoed through the house, and Petunia Dursley emerged beside him, a whining toddler balanced on her hip.

"You. " She hissed, holding Dudley firmly with one hand and pointing the other sharply at the mysterious man. "What are you doing here?" The man, Snape, scoffed at Petunia's words.

"Petunia." He said, his face joyless and grim. "There has been a… terrible incident with your sister and her family, and I have been sent to collect you. Lily Potter has requested you by name." The man finished, eyes boring into the couple in a way that unnerved Vernon greatly.

For a moment, the three simply stood at the entrance to the house, Petunia Dursley staring unblinkingly up at the stange, sallow-faced man, and Vernon utterly stumped over what to do about this new development. Eventually she stood aside to let the man in, scowling all the while. Vernon froze in shock as the man marched straight into their living room, closing the front door behind him.

"What would the neighbours think if they woke up to this?" Petunia muttered to Vernon softly as she noticed his outraged look. While Vernon could agree that the neighbourhood scandal would be damn near mortifying , he did not approve of such a monster being let into the house! Vernon glanced down once again at the shotgun on the floor, but did not reach down to pick it up as he observed his wife's own growing sour expression.

"I… know him." She said hesitantly. "He was a poor boy that grew up in the house next to us. He won't harm us." With that, she followed Severus Snape into the living room. Dumbfounded, Vernon could only follow with a final regretful look towards the gun.

Well… if Petunia thinks… he thought, trailing off as he put one step in front of the other, adrenaline slowly seeping out of his body. Maybe I'll trust her for this one, for now…

Severus Snape went to sit stiffly on a floral armchair when he entered the room, the overhead light turning on untouched at another wave of the stick he carried.

"I'll have none of that at my house, thank you." Petunia snapped as the couple followed him. Dudley started squirming in her arms, clearly cross with being awoken at the late hour if his high pitched squeals were to mean anything. Petunia took a few moments to quieten him back down again, his eyes growing droopy in her arms as she took a seat on the sofa. Vernon sat shakily down next to her, still feeling a healthy dose of fear of the stranger in their house, moreso with his lack of weaponry on top. His wife had told him about her sister's… freakish lifestyle, and he had even met the woman and Mr Potter briefly. But this was his first time ever witnessing the ungodly witchcraft with his own eyes.

"What could be so urgent that you must come here in the middle of the night?" Petunia demanded.

"Lily Potter has been unconscious since Halloween night, and awoke some hours ago." Snape said. Petunia's eyes widened in response shortly before her expression shifted to one of smugness.

"Some stupid magic trick finally gone wrong, huh?" She huffed in amusement. "That woman always thought she was so talented and perfect, ever since we were children. Hope that takes her down a peg." The housewife even laughed a little under her breath, seemingly uncaring of her sister's predicament. Snape glowered at her.

"The Potter family was attacked in their home by a powerful wizard, the likes of which only seen once a generation." Snape continued, the sneer on his face at Petunia's words never leaving it. "Both James Potter and one of their sons, Harry Potter, was killed."

Petunia froze and an unreadable expression, even for Vernon, crossed her face. She seemed to have nothing to say this time.

"While we do not know exactly what happened." Snape continued. "We know that, somehow, the dark lord was vanquished that night. Lily Potter was found injured, but alive, in their home, and Robert Potter survived in a very lucky show of accidental magic in the nursery. The entire top floor of the house was destroyed."

The man shot up from the armchair. "There is a car outside that will take you to where Lily and her surviving son are located. It is close by. She has requested your presence, Mrs Dursley ." He repeated once more, the emphasis appearing to contain some hidden meaning, before leaving the room.

For several moments, Vernon and Petunia sat still, not moving a muscle as they both processed his words separately. While Vernon knew of his wife's deep hatred for her younger sister, the shock on her face was obvious. No biting remarks or sneers, no 'she deserved it's or 'that's what she get's came from her anymore. Vernon went to open his mouth, but Petunia shushed him loudly before beginning to speak.

Ten minutes later, the small family emerged from the living room. Dudley was still asleep in Petunia's arms, dozing happily with his mouth slightly open. Severus Snape stood in the entryway, back stiff and face expressionless as he watched them approach him. Vernon slowed down as they grew closer, hands rising defensively to his chest as if he was some wild animal that could attack at any time.

"We're going in the car." Petunia said dismissively as she swung the front door open, still in her pyjamas as she strolled down the footpath leading to an impressive, black BMW. Inside, a lone driver sat in the front seat. Vernon wondered whether or not he was another freak as he sat his body down onto the smooth leather seats. The car sped off immediately, and Vernon was infinitely grateful Severus Snape hadn't joined them.

"You don't suppose the freak will rob us?" He asked his wife worriedly as the car left Privet Drive. "You said he was poor."

"No." Petunia said, voice quiet. "No, I think it'll be fine." The couple exchanged no more words.

The car ride didn't take more than a half an hour. Still, it was long enough for Vernon, yawning the whole way and thinking mostly of having to get up for work the next morning. He had grumbled endlessly about all the reasons they shouldn't have gotten in the car. But the bloody woman hadn't listened to one of them!. He was extremely unwilling to leave his gun behind, but had no choice after the dangerous glares both the man andPetunia had thrown him on his way out the door. And there was no way he'd leave his wife to the freaks, alone!

Vernon looked at the black night sky through the car window, a thin waxing crescent moon the only light in the gaping darkness above. He hoped that the visit would be brief, so they could finally move on as a family and never see that wretched sister ever again. He wished privately to himself that she had died, too. But alas, Petunia had insisted despite how much she had claimed to hate her.

After a few neighbourhoods went past, the driver stopped the vehicle next to a crisp, freshly mowed lawn. Looking outside, Vernon saw a neighbourhood much like their own, if not a bit fancier (though he would never openly admit this). Dim street lights dotted the footpath and classy residences filled up the street, each identical to their neighbours. Outside the house closest to the car stood a single woman. She approached them as they ventured out onto the completely benign-looking street around them.

"Hello," she greeted. "My name is Emmeline Vance. I'm a friend of Lily's. Come this way." She began walking to the house in front of them, the only one in the street still with several lights on at that time of night. Vernon hesitantly followed at his wife's lead, not quite knowing what to expect. It certainly wasn't a normal house in a normal street like this. He wouldn't have expected these freaks to stay in such a clean, even nice , place. Maybe some bizarre, monstrous house atop a hill, or a treehouse in a forest where they could jump around like fairies and practice all their hippie magical spells. Besides, hadn't that man said she'd been attacked? Who wouldn't have had her in a hospital!

These people really are something else.

The family entered, Dudley awakening again and beginning to fidget as the woman opened the front door (Vernon wished he had demanded they wait until morning, at least then they could've gotten a sitter for the poor tyke). The place had sparse furnishings, opening up onto a sizable empty sitting room and a staircase directly in front of them.

"Just go up the stairs." Vance said, before closing the door to the house behind them. The pair, having no other option, trudged up the wooden staircase. As Vernon reached the top he found himself in yet another sitting room, but this one was smaller and a bit more homey. It was also occupied. On a plush armchair one old man sat alone, with a strange long cap on his head that Vernon had come to associate with these people, and a beard so long he could've tucked it into a belt. The dwelling seemed completely silent, save for Dudley, who had started to whimper, no doubt frustrated and sleepy.

Vernon couldn't help but continue to stare at the old man. Most uncommon was the man's choice of attire, a bright purple coat with little star patterns etched into it, covering every inch of the ridiculous cloth. Vernon was overwhelmingly reminded of a nightgown, thinking about how the man that banged on their door and the woman that led them inside at least had made less obnoxious colour choices. He wanted to say something as he remembered Severus Snape, maybe let this old man know just how much Vernon liked to be woken up by such a commotion . They would probably be the talk of the neighbourhood for weeks! However, he remembered the conversation they'd had before Petunia walked out of their house, and stayed his lips for now.

"Hello, Mr and Mrs Dursley." The man greeted as he noticed them, standing up. He pointed to a hallway that ran down the middle of the floor. "You will find Lily Potter in the first door to the right. Apologies for barging in on the three of you up so late. Mrs Potter was most beside herself upon awakening, and Severus was quite insistent."

At those words, the man quirked his lip a bit, but the smile did not reach his eyes. Not even close.

"D-Dumbledore?" Petunia stuttered, completely ignoring the fussing babe in her arms. Vernon looked back and forth between the man and his wife, feeling utterly out of his depth. Petunia knew this man, as well as Snape. How many freaks had she consorted with, and never told him about? Vernon felt more than a little betrayed.

"Take Dudders for me." Petunia only said, passing their son into his hands before walking down the hallway without another word.

Vernon stood with his son in the seemingly normal house, with only yet another strange subscriber to his sister-in-laws secret society for company. The man approached him quietly, almost appearing to glide over towards the muggle in a way that had Vernon edging back a few steps, face contorting in displeasure and shock.

"Do not approach me, stranger!" Vernon furiously whispered at him, in fear of alerting anyone else potentially hiding in the other rooms of the house. Dudley started wailing in his arms. He awkwardly tried to rock him, not use to being alone with his son in such circumstances. Fat globs of tears and snot trailed down the toddler's cheeks.

"Is it alright if I hold him?" Dumbledore asked, arms reaching out. "I daresay young children are often quite taken to me. I suspect it's the beard." A soft noise came from the hallway and Vernon looked to see that the first door on the right had been left slightly ajar.

Very hesitantly, he let the old man take Dudley, who instantly stopped fussing. The little boy still made faint sniveling noises as Dumbledore started rocking him back and forth. Looking a bit more perked up than he had been before, the old man walked back to the armchair. Vernon turned his vision again to the door, walking over to the hallway and placing a meaty hand on the doorknob.

"This can't be happening, Petunia!" A woman sobbed from inside. Vernon froze in place, his hand quickly going back to his side. While he couldn't see the occupants of the bedroom, he heard the sounds of bedsheets moving and a woman's soft cries. He took a step back, resting his back against the wall next to the door, glancing back at the old man on the armchair nervously. He seemingly wasn't paying Vernon any attention, eyes only on a drowsy Dudley.

"I know, I know." His wife's voice filtered through the doorway. "It's okay, I'm here."

"What they're saying… it can't be…" Lily Potter choked out, bedsheets ruffling more as she cried.

"It's okay, Lily." Petunia's voice said again. "You're going to be alright." There was a brief pause where Vernon heard nothing but a woman quietly sobbing into something. A pillow, maybe, or Petunia herself.

"That Dark Lord you've been hiding from…" Petunia continued hesitantly. "He's gone now, right? That's what that Snape boy said. That means the world is safe now, right?"

Dark Lord? Was that what that Snape man had called him? Vernon wasn't sure.

"I don't care about that! God, I just want to go back to the way it was! When… when James was… oh my god and Harry …" The woman made an outraged, desperate noise, almost animalistic in her sorrow. Vernon stood, transfixed.

"A-Are you sure he's not just, unconscious somewhere? Moony! If the house really is so… you need to look for him! "

"I'm so sorry, Lily." A third voice, a man, spoke. "There were no remains… but Dumbledore-"

"FUCK DUMBLEDORE!" The woman shouted. Vernon looked again towards the old man holding Dudley in the sitting room. His face was expressionless as he watched the babe. Man must be half deaf to not have caught that , Vernon thought.

"...The fiendfyre." The man stuttered, voice low. "Merlin, they say it was a miracle Rob survived at all."

"Oh, my baby boy." Lily Potter said, voice high and shaky. Mr Dursley had never been in the same room with someone that seemed so beside themselves with grief, and he was infinitely glad he hadn't been subjected to such.

"Lily, I'm sorry, but you need to listen to what we're saying to you." The man said. A bed creaked. "The wizarding world... it's gone nuts. Everyone thinks that you did it. That you… defeated You-Know-Who."

"I told Dumbledore a thousand times, I didn't kill him." Lily hiccuped. "He hit me with some s-spell. It was so fast. All I could do was tell James to take the boys and r-run… I thought I was dead…"

"You wrote that this man was after you in particular, I remember. Maybe it was only James he was after?" Petunia said. Vernon's eyes widened from where he stood. She wrote. She wrote to Petunia. And Petunia read-

"Dumbledore told me something when you were asleep." The man whispered, breaking Vernon's chain of had to strain his ears to hear the next words. "He said that he thinks Rob did it. I don't understand. How could Rob have…"

Everyone in the room went deathly silent. For several seconds, Vernon heard not a single noise.

"My baby." Was all Lily Potter said, at first. Then, "Moony. Give me my baby."

At the sound of some more shuffling, followed by footsteps, Vernon jumped away from the wall like he'd been shocked. A young, shaggy-looking man opened the door by the time Vernon had made it halfway back to the sitting room. His eyes, red and puffy, made contact with Vernon for only a brief second before he made his way into another room. He emerged a few minutes later with a sleeping toddler around Dudley's age in his arms before making his way back. He closed the door completely shut behind him, and Vernon knew he would likely no longer be able to effectively eavesdrop.

"It's not very polite to do that, you know." The old man from the sitting room, Dumbledore, piped up. Vernon grumbled, his offhand assumptions about the man's senility being thrown out the window. He plodded back to the sitting room and sat himself down onto an armchair. There, the muggle thought for a time, eyes travelling back and forth between the hallway, and the old man.

Vernon watched him suspiciously as he held onto Dudley, suddenly wondering why he had even given the freak permission to hold his son in the first place. He took the man's attire in once more, now worried that he had another of those god awful magic sticks hidden away somewhere, too. He stared at his sleeping son, completely relaxed into those freakish purple robes.

Why has Petunia forced us to come here? He asked himself, angrily. Now his son was sleeping on a wizard man's lap! This was not supposed to be happening!

Although his wife had won over his sympathies in coming here to see what her wretched sister wanted, Vernon was beyond unnerved by the strange conversation he had overheard. Spells? A Dark Lord? He knew Petunia's sister was a freak, but he didn't realise it was this bad. This abnormal. And now he had let one of them hold his son, like it was nothing! Like he could be trusted! And Petunia had read the letters she swore she had thrown away!

Making up his mind, Vernon launched himself from the armchair, marching up to the old man.

"Give me my son back." He ordered, voice cold and biting. "I demand you take us home at once!"

"Of course, Mr Dursley." Dumbledore stood instantly, height towering over Vernon (making him ever more outraged) as he handed the toddler back. "Will we be fetching Mrs Dursley?"

"No!" He barked. "Take us home, or I will… call the police!" Just because Petunia wants to talk to this crazy sister doesn't mean Dudders and I need to!

Not long after, the man departed in a black SUV back towards Number 4, Privet Drive, only a screaming babe in arms. And with that, the first crack in the Dursley marriage had been made.

First of all, thanks for clicking on my story! I've got this crossposted on ao3, so if you see it there under hava_hp, don't be alarmed. For some reason when I uploaded the first several chapters of this story, the website put random spaces in before/after random italicised words. I've scanned the first block of chapters I uploaded and got all the ones I could find, but several are bound to have slipped through. Sorry! I'll be posting updates here and on ao3 at the same time so don't worry about having to shift to that website if you don't wish to.