Harry Potter and the Hostages of Voldemort

Takes place during Deathly Hallows, complies more to books. AU on a passage in Chapter 3, dialogue/words may not match

Wondering the Same Thing

July 1997

Harry and Vernon's eyes met and in that moment they were both wondering the same thing. Would Harry rescue the Dursleys if Voldemort tried to use them to lure him into a trap?

Vernon knew as well as Harry did how he'd treated his nephew the past sixteen years, and while he still thought that his and Petunia's actions were justified, he understood that Harry would not agree. He'd never taken an interest to ask Harry more about his world, preferring to stay as connected to reality and sanity as possible. Yet now he wondered just how much he had to fear this Lord Voldything. Were he, Petunia, and Dudley really in that much danger?

1982

"Mama!" two year old Dudley Dursley squeaked from his high chair, having finished his fourth bottle of milk.

Petunia was in the process of cleaning a plate over the sink, made dirty by Dudley's soup, yet she rushed over to her son with a new bottle, squirting it into his greedy little mouth.

Dudley, satisfied, licked his lips.

"Bless you, Diddykins," Petunia whispered.

A slightly smaller boy in the chair next to Dudley said, "Mama!", looking to Petunia expectantly.

Petunia glanced over at little Harry, who's lightning bolt shaped scar burned bright on his young forehead.

"No, I'm not your mother," Petunia said to the baby, harsh in tone.

Harry looked back at her in confusion. "Mama?"

"Your mother's dead," Petunia stared flatly, "and your father."

Harry stared at her, expressionless. Then his eyes crunched up and he began to wail.

"Mama! Dada! I want Mama and Dada!"

"They're dead, and that's that!" Petunia snapped at him. She picked him up under his armpits and hoisted the crying Harry out of his chair. She carried him out of the kitchen towards the staircase.

Holding Harry by one arm, Petunia opened the door to the cupboard under the stairs and placed the sobbing boy inside.

"No Mama," she whispered, and shut the door.

As Harry's screams echoed throughout Number Four, Privet Drive, Petunia took a long moment to compose herself before returning to Dudley.

March 1998

The trio crouched down around the old radio in their bewitched tent, Ron waving his wand at it.

"Come on, you stupid bloody," he mumbled.

"Here, let me try," Hermione offered, raising her own wand. She waved it at the radio.

Harry heard static at first, then a very familiar voice.

"We've spotted several Death Eaters in the Muggle community of Little Whinging, Surrey," reported their old friend Remus Lupin, codenamed Romulus, "Their motives remain unclear for now, expect to continue their recreational terrorization of Muggles."

"Harry, isn't that where your aunt and uncle live?" Hermione asked, turning to him suddenly.

"I...yeah," he replied. He knew it was no coincidence, while the Death Eaters were nowhere near discovering their current location, they knew who he lived with during the summer holidays, and thought they could extort him that way. "They won't be there now though, Dedalus Diggle and Hestia Jones took them into hiding. I don't know where they are now."

I don't think you're a waste of space, Dudley had said last July before departing. Harry hadn't thought much about the Dursleys since they'd begun the quest to find the Horcruxes, yet he now remembered the pleasant surprise of hearing that from his cousin.

"Reckon they think you'll be there?" Ron said as Lee Jordan began talking about Hogwarts. "How thick can they get?"

At that moment, Harry felt an all too familiar pain up on his forehead. Grunting, he put his hand over his scar.

"Your scar hurts?" Hermione said in alarm, "Is he nearby?"

Harry closed his eyes, trying to will the ache away. The scene shifted and he was not with Ron and Hermione in the tent. He saw a cottage far away, up in the mountains.

"Ah, my good chap, I most thoroughly enjoyed our little outing," Dedalus Diggle was saying to Dudley as they hiked back up the hill to the cabin, each carrying a hunting rifle, "I've come to enjoy your Muggle ways."

On the porch, Petunia was silently knitting while Vernon was shut up in their bedroom. He'd hardly shown his face to Dedalus or Hestia since they'd arrived, having mixed feelings about their presence.

"Good day, Dudders?" Petunia asked him as they approached.

"Yeah, I was just showing Mr. Diggle how to shoot," Dudley replied, more somber than he'd have been a few years ago.

"That's a good boy," Petunia said, careful now not to call him by one of his childhood nicknames.

Suddenly, Hestia appeared on the lawn, looking panic stricken.

"I don't know how, but they've discovered us," she panted, "We'll have to move quickly."

Petunia stood immediately and rushed into the house. "Vernon! It's time to go!"

Her obese husband came huffing out onto the porch.

"What's the problem?"

By this time, several black columns of smoke were popping out of the trees, and while the Dursleys did not see what was going on, the two Order of the Phoenix members knew the danger all too well.

"Oh, Vernon," Petunia gasped, grasping her husband's arm. She was panting in fear, while Vernon raised his fists.

"We've dealt with that lot before," he growled, "they won't do anything expect try to grow our tongues or add a pig tail."

Dedalus and Hestia, both of whom now had their wands at the ready, turned to glare at Vernon.

"I'm not scared, Mom," Dudley assured her, patting his gun.

The smoky columns stopped in front of the lawn and several masked figures in black approached.

"Stupefy!" Hestia yelled, aiming her wand at the nearest Death Eater.

The Death Eater swatted aside her spell and yelled, "Avada Kedavra!"

Hestia cried out as a jet of green light came right at her and hit her in the chest. She crumbled lifeless to the grass.

"No!" Dedalus cried out, firing all the hexes he could at the Death Eaters. Dudley pulled the trigger of his gun at the same time.

The villainous invaders were able to deflect Dudley's shots with their wands, and Dudley flinched as the gun disintegrated in front of him.

"Avada Kedavra!" a female voice cried out, and Dedalus was dead too.

The Dursleys backed up against the porch, all three unable to hide their fear. A tall Death Eater approached them slowly, removing his mask.

"Greetings, Muggles," Yaxley said with false courtesy, "Hope you don't mind our little visit."