The Bonds of Blood
By: EvelynRose
Chapter One:
"Blood Is Thicker Than Water"
"Family…Whatever yeh say, blood's important…"
-Rebus Hagrid; page 564, Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter stared dejectedly out of his bedroom window, gazing, uninterested, at the perfectly kept lawns of Privet Drive. To the other inhabitants of Privet Drive, in Little Whinging, he was just a mentally disturbed incurable criminal. But to the residents of Number 4, he was a 'dangerous' wizard. That's right; Harry Potter was a wizard, and a good one at that. Though most recently, he had suffered the loss of his godfather, the person closest to a parent he'd ever known. He was very well aware that his Aunt Petunia had received several owls, telling of his end of term exploits, which probably accounted for his relatives' distant behavior towards him as of late.
The warning they had been given by several Order members, had apparently sunk in, because his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin barely said two words to him. His uncle would check with him, making sure that he was writing to the Order every three days, and his aunt would occasionally order him to do something like cook breakfast, or clean the kitchen, but other than that, they said nothing, not a word about anything that had happened. Dudley had not been allowed out after dark, for a number of weeks, which made for some interesting conversations. Dudley constantly blamed Harry for not being able to hang out with his friends, often saying that it was his fault that wizards wanted to attack them. Harry usually ignored these accusations, but inside, he knew that Dudley was right. It was his fault that Voldemort and his cronies wanted to kill him and the Dursley's.
Harry spent his days doing homework, and looking at his old photo album. He flipped through the pages, smiling faintly at a picture of his parents twirling around in the village of Hogsmead. He turned the page and found a picture of Ron, Hermione, himself, and Ginny. It had been taken at Grimmauld Place, last Christmas. As he continued to flip through the pages of the leather bound book, an idea struck him. He wondered vaguely whether or not his aunt had any pictures of his mother, or any of her things? Harry remembered the old Dursley rule, 'don't ask questions,' wondered if that still applied to him. He didn't think so, and resolved that he'd ask his aunt after supper.
Later that night, as Harry was helping Petunia wash the dishes, he decided to ask her about his mother.
"Aunt Petunia?"
"Yes Harry, what do you want?" she said, with only a hint of contempt in her voice.
"I was wondering, if…if you had any pictures of mum, o-or any of her old things maybe?" He asked nervously.
"Why would you ask such a thing?" Petunia replied, sounding a bit funny, almost as if, she were repressing a sound of sadness.
"I-I was just wondering, I-if you don't then that's ok…I mean, I-I have a few pictures of my mum a-and dad, I just wondered if you had any," Harry replied, regretting asking in the first place.
"N-No, it's alright. I-I'm glad that you asked." Petunia turned the faucet off and dried her hands on her apron as she sat down at the kitchen table. "I know you think I hated your mother, and you've good reason. I've never once so much as told you what she looked like, or who she was. That wasn't right of me. I never hated Lily, no, never. We were actually quite close. But when she got her letter, it made me feel worthless, like I didn't matter because Lily was a witch. I resented that she got the magic and I didn't. After a little while though, I came to terms with the fact that Lily was a witch and I wasn't, and we became friends again. But, then something happened." She stopped for a breath, surveying Harry through her narrow, violet eyes.
"Aunt Petunia, if you don't want to talk about it, that's ok, I'll just go back to my room and-"
"You stay where you are, you spend far to much time cooped up in that little room, stay for awhile, I think I need to talk about it." She smiled at him, something she rarely ever did.
"The summer after her fifth year, Lily came home from Hogwarts telling us about this evil wizard that had grouped together a band of followers, and was trying to rid the world of all impurities."
"Voldemort," Harry whispered.
"Yes, Voldemort. She was telling us all about him and how he wanted to kill all muggle-borns and 'muggle loving' wizards, such as herself. She assured mum and dad over and over that she would be fine, and that we were in no immediate danger. Eventually their worries subsided. Shortly thereafter, I met Vernon. Turns out, he had a brother that was a wizard. He hated him for it. I think Vernon was the reason I began to hate everything magic. His brother was killed by Voldemort two years before you were born."
"Uncle Vernon had a brother that was a wizard?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"Yes believe it or not," Petunia replied. She was really loosening up in her nephew's presence, all because of an innocent question. "I began to resent Lily even more as the years wore on. The magical war that we were at the edge of was no help, at all. Just after your mothers seventh year, our parents, your grandparents, were killed by Voldemort. That was what really drove me over the edge, to begin hate my sister. Our parents were dead because of HER. All because of her and her stupid powers! I began to distance myself from her, from not answering her owls, to not ever seeing her. The first time I saw Lily again, was at your parents wedding. Everyone was so happy; it was like the bright spot in all the bad."
"So after your parents were killed by Death Eaters, you began hating mum?" Harry said unsurely.
"Yes, that's about right. I remember how nice everybody was to me, not because I was Lily's sister, or just because I was a muggle, but because I was me. People, wizards, whom I'd sworn to hate, liked me for me, and seemed to enjoy talking to me. I knew a bit about the wizarding world, so I was able to join in conversations and the like, I didn't feel like an outsider at all. It was the first time I'd seen my baby sister in two years, and we weren't fighting, or-or avoiding each other, we were nice to each other, pleasant. I knew we'd probably never be as close as we used to, but it was a start. I was back in her good graces, and I was happy. But then it came time for my wedding. Vernon and I were married a few months after your parents, and I'd made the decision, without asking Vernon, to invite my newfound wizard friends. Your father was what worried your mother and I most; Lily would have to keep him on a short leash around all the muggles, lest he slip up. She was under the impression that he was planning some sort of gag, or prank, as he was, after all, a marauder, as she had so often told me."
"So what happened next?" Harry asked eagerly, his aunt's story was quite interesting, and he was almost certain that it would end with his parents' death, and a trip up to the dusty attic.
"The whole thing went over like a lead balloon, naturally. What with ten wizards around dozens of non-magical folk who knew nothing, what else could happen? Of course, none of the guests remember, but Voldemort had somehow found out that several prominent members of the Order of the Phoenix were at a church in Surrey. So he planned an attack that the Order found out about too late, far too late. No one was killed, thanks to some quick thinking. After the slight 'disturbance' was cleared up, and memories modified, the wedding went off without a hitch. Though after that little 'fiasco,' Vernon made me swear to never have contact with anyone from the wizarding world ever again. So, stupidly, I obliged. I loved him and thought that whatever he said was right," she stopped to dab her eyes.
Harry gave a snort of hidden laughter. "Sounds like you've been in two minds since the beginning," he pointed out.
"Well, I have been. Three years later, on November first, I went to fetch the milk, and there you were, wrapped in a blue blanket, with a letter explaining everything. I knew Dumbledore, and understood what the letter meant. It said that the spell that Lily had left upon you would be strongest, were you living with her closest blood relative, me. The moment I read of Lily and James' deaths, I swore to never have anything to do with magic again. Ever. But I then realized that I'd have to face it all again, once you turned eleven. I didn't want to, so Vernon and I concocted that cock and bull story about the car crash. It was the best thing for all concerned, I assured myself. Occasionally, I'd find myself itching to tell you the truth, but I could never bring myself to do it. Vernon didn't want us to keep you, but I told him we had to. It was the only thing I could do for my sister, the sister that I'd never fully forgiven, but that had, for some reason, trusted me with her only son. I could never let Lily down, not after all the times she'd been there for me. It just hurts so much that I couldn't be there for her in return!" Petunia sobbed into the hem of her apron. Harry just let her cry. She obviously hadn't confronted the past in a long time, and she needed a good long cry.
"T-Thank you for telling me the truth Aunt Petunia," Harry whispered to his tearful aunt.
"Don't thank me Harry. I was just telling you something I should have told you the first time you'd asked why you had no parents." Petunia dried her eyes and looked up at him. His eyes were a bright emerald green, just like Lily's. "Come on, I'll take you up to the attic and show you some things I've been keeping all this time."
Petunia stood up and beckoned her nephew to follow her up the stairs, towards the attic.
A/N