Writed for The Golden Snitch, the Twelve Days of Christmas competition - day one
Tawaret, Uagadou
Words - 266
Mr and Mrs Dursley were getting older. They had moved back into Number Four Privet drive after Dudley had moved out. The cupboard in which Harry had lived in for years was sealed over, but that house still brought back bad memories of how Petunia had treated the child. Dudley's second bedroom was no longer filled with toys, but instead, heart rate monitors, loud beeping and oxygen tanks, along with a coma induced Uncle Vernon.
It was Christmas morning in the Dursley house. The presents were under the tree, waiting until Dudley came to celebrate Christmas with his family. His daughter had gone off to Hogwarts too. That had changed so much in Petunia's view of the school. Now she regretted how she treated Harry.
Now she was sitting in front of the Christmas tree, staring into the crackling artificial fire, tears streaming down her face. She took her greying hair into her face. 'Dudley and the kids will be here soon,' she thought, 'I need to calm down.'
Slowly, she composed herself, until her hair was tied back and her eyes like normal. Once again, she counted the number of presents for each of Dudley's kids. Thirty-six each. She smiled.
The doorbell rang. She pushed herself up off the floor, checked her appearance in the mirror by the door, listened for the consistent beeping of her husband's monitor, then opened the door.
It was Harry, with Ginny and all three of his kids too. She reached out with her arms for him. He hugged her back.
"Harry," she whispered.
"Yes?" He whispered back.
"I'm sorry."