Aunt Petunia
Written proudly by: Henry Rettop
A/N: Hope you like this interesting look into Harry's near future. Harry's in his 7th year and Voldemort is in absolute power. Muggles are now slowly noticing his rise.
Petunia sighed and stared out of the window. Vernon was at work, Dudley was at school and that wretched boy Harry was at school too. Petunia was home alone and had nothing better to do than look out the window. What was that Mrs. Harrison from next door doing to her cat!? Oh this didn't look good. Petunia ran and got her pair of gold-plated binoculars. She dantily held them up to her eyes. Oh dear, it seemed Mrs. Harrison was shoving her cat into the oven! Petunia let out a shriek and called the police.
The police showed up and went to investigate poor old Mrs. Harrison. It turned out that Mrs. Harrision was just putting her fur shawl in the oven for a specific cleaning process. Petunia felt quite ashamed. She should have known better. Oh well, it was a good rumor to pass around. Petunia picked up the phone to call her old friend, Mrs. McLaugherty. Then, she remembered. Mrs. McLaugherty was dead. The authorities had kept quiet about why she died but Petunia knew it had something to do with the likes of her sister.
Later that afternoon, when Vernon was back from work and they were both sitting silently in the parlor and staring at each other, a loud crack came from outside. Petunia hurried to her favourite window. There, in plain daylight and the middle of the street was a bright green cloaked man. Or was it a man? He-it had a pale, skinny, sinister face. His body was too slim for an adult male, but his face was too mature for a child. Under the repulsive cloak, he was wearing a silk black robe. There was a group of five simalarily dressed men behind him. At his side was a woman, scantily clad, but still in the same fashion as the men. Her curly black hair fell lightly on her cloaked shoulders as she put down her hood.
Petunia gasped as they pulled out those long pointy sticks that her nephew played with. "What's going on there?" Vernon asked as he hobbled to the window. "Oh, who are they?!" he asked taking a few steps back.
The leader pointed his wand right at their house and nodded to the others. Petunia ran upstairs with a shriek as the leader motioned for the woman to come up to the door. "Uh, I'll get the door..." Vernon called after her.
Petunia spied on her husband from the top of the stairs. Vernon let the woman inside.
"Sylvia's the name," The woman had a voice as thick as molasses. Her lips were painted green, as were her big green eyes. And if you looked hard enough, her cheeks were a pale green too. She held out her hand.
As Vernon bent down to kiss it, Sylvia clutched his head to her breast. "I need to talk to you about something important." she whispered in his ear. Petunia didn't feel right about this whole thing.
As Sylvia let go of Vernon's head, Petunia felt disgusted to see a disappointed face on her husband. Vernon led Sylvia into the parlor.
Ten minutes later, Petunia saw Vernon lead Sylvia out of the house and Petunia came back downstairs. She saw Vernon trying to wipe something off of his cheek. It looked green.
"Oh, hello Petunia!" he exclaimed, looking as if he had forgotton she existed on this earth.
"What did Sylvia want?" snapped Petunia.
"She wanted us to help her and her posse and betray that wretched boy Harry and help them kill him!" Vernon replied.
"Why would we want to do that?" Petunia asked.
"Because she threatened to kill us if we didn't agree." Vernon said. "So what do you say?" he asked. "She said we had a day to decide. She'll be back tomorrow, at the same time."
Petunia gasped. She hated Harry, but certainly didn't want to... kill him! What should she do?
Petunia swallowed hard. Her face was hot, yet cold at the same time. This was her chance to seek the vengeance she always wanted on her sister. To kill the one stain on her perfectly normal life. Petunia opened her mouth to speak. Her answer was stuck somewhere between her brain and her throat. It suddenly became clear to her. She loved Harry! Even through that mask of hatred she had put on, she loved him dearly! "No." Petunia said firmly, grasping her hands at her sides in fists. "I will not betray my nephew.
Vernon stood up, almost knocking the chair over. "What!!?" he bellowed.
"If you want to mix with them, go right ahead." Petunia said calmly.
Vernon approached Petunia, shoving her along until he had cornered her next to the door. "I will ask you kindly one more time, wife. Are you in!?" Vernon's voice shook.
Petunia snaked her hand around the door handle and swung the door open, kicking Vernon out. She slammed the door shut and her trembling fingers fumbled as she locked and bolted shut the door. She could hear Vernon pounding against it.
Oh how awful this must look to the neighbors. Petunia thought to herself. She shook the thought off.
Petunia ran to her room. Now where was that number. When that boy—Harry—was dropped off, in the note from that old man was a number she could call if anything at all went wrong. She found the old, crumpled parchment in her last drawer, under a stack of advertisement magazines.
Petunia grabbed the paper and ran downstairs. She could still hear Vernon pounding on the door and swearing like a mad warthog. "Shut up!" she snapped, through Vernon's yelling. "You're acting childish!"
Petunia ran to the phone. She picked it up and dialed the number, her fingers still trembling. She saw her pale reflection in the oven door. She still wasn't sure at all of what she was doing. Any minute now, she could go and let Vernon inside and join in the ranks of Harry-killers. The phone rang for a while. Oh come on, someone answer it before I change my mind! Petunia raged in her mind, drumming her fingers on the polished counter impatiently.
Finally, a gentle voice appeared at the other end. "Hello?
A/A (Author's afterthought): Hope you enjoyed this first chapter... believe me, it gets much better as the story proceeds... Review!