J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Chapter 2 – Widow and Orphans

Petunia would not dare ever admit it to anybody but she was secretly relieved when Vernon had been killed. She had only married him because she had no one else and because her freak sister had gotten herself engaged to one of her kind and she wanted to best her at one thing. Since both her parents were sick and would probably die soon, she wanted to be settled so she had married Vernon Dursley.

She also made sure he was heavily insured and that the house and the inheritance she received from her parents were all in her name. Her parents' lawyer had seen to everything so Vernon couldn't get his hands on "Petunia's money" and it was a condition of the Evans' Will that everything was in Petunia's name and Vernon had to sign several documents swearing to abide by the terms and conditions of the Will or else Petunia wouldn't get the money.

She knew that he would be a moneymaker no matter what it took and since appearances were everything to him, they wouldn't lack for material possessions and status. It had helped that at the start of their third year of marriage her sister had died and although they were cursed by having to raise her spawn, at least they were getting paid and paid very well for doing it.

She would have the last laugh on her sister as her sister, for all her beauty, talent, connections and the gift of magic, Lily was dead and Petunia was alive and had her spawn in her power. She didn't mind it when the Old Freak had told them how he wanted the boy to be raised. She had ended up hating her sister but she had had her reasons. However, once she had witnessed Vernon's glee and "enthusiasm" in "raising" the boy, she began to not only feel guilty but afraid.

She was afraid that he would go too far and kill the boy and then what would happen to them and to her Dudley? She always knew Vernon had a temper and probably had a mean streak but because of his need to keep up appearances she thought (or hoped) he wouldn't be the type of man to hurt or take out his frustrations on his family.

When he had a bad day at work he would come home angry and spit out his resentment and drink too much for her liking, but so far he hadn't hurt her. Usually he got too drunk to do anything worse than fall asleep on the couch after spewing out obscenities and threats of what he was going to do at work. She discovered quite early in their marriage that he took his frustrations out on his secretary or others of the office staff like the people in the mailroom and he liked to brag how badly he treated them.

He adored Dudley and was planning on molding the boy to be a clone of himself, so she hoped he would never abuse Dudley. That only left her. He had never hit her but there had been a few times that she thought he wanted to but didn't. Instead he would have rough sex and hurt her that way, if only because he could and as his wife she had to obey him and "satisfy his needs" any way he wanted.

Then Harry had come and Vernon was given free rein to satisfy his baser nature. That was when she started to fear not only for her nephew but also to wonder what would happen if he died, was taken away from them or when he went to that school and left her alone with Vernon who would have no other outlet for his anger.

But now he was dead. Perhaps Lily was looking down - or up(?) - from wherever it was she ended up in the afterlife and was giving Petunia a chance for a different life, a safer life for not only Petunia but for Harry.

After much soul-searching Petunia made a decision. The boys were only five so there was time to change how Dudley was being raised. She had never truly approved with Vernon's methods of raising their son as she feared he would grow up to be just as bad if not worse as Vernon.

Dudley had naturally been shocked and confused when his Father had died. Petunia had tried to explain things to Dudley saying that changes would be made especially in their living standards. Like most five year olds he didn't understand money so she told him that he would still have toys and clothes and good food to eat but not as much as before.

She then took him to counseling hoping that experts could convince him that it wasn't bad to not have everything he wanted immediately. That did help convince him and as long as he did have some "good stuff" he was happy.

However, they had to stop calling the Freak, Freak or boy or the other naughty names that his Father had called him. No, they "had to keep up appearances" so the Freak was now called Harry and he would have the use of the smallest bedroom just in case "the inspectors came to snoop" because if they found out they were treating Harry poorly, then they might take Dudders away from his Mummy. That put fear in Dudley's little black heart so he was on his good behavior.

So Harry left the cupboard under the stairs for the smallest bedroom. Petunia had been forced to buy Harry a decent bedroom set although it was second hand and not as nice as Dudley's or the other bedrooms. He had a cheap mattress and the bedding was cheap but at least he had a pillow, blankets and in the winter a cheap quilt. It was much better than the cupboard and Harry was very happy and grateful to have it.

Harry still didn't have toys except those that Dudley didn't want or broke, but at least he had them. Harry wore second hand thrift shop clothes, but at least they were not Dudley's so he was spared much humiliation. At least they were clean and Harry took care of them so he was not wearing rags.

Harry still had his chores to do, but not as many as before or what Vernon had planned for him to do. Harry just had enough chores for his age and although he had started "helping" Petunia with the cooking, it was just simple things. Eventually he would learn more cooking and baking because he showed a talent for it and like it especially now when he got to eat what he cooked.

Harry was getting three meals a day but wasn't allowed to have snacks as they were for Dudley. Petunia stressed that they didn't have as much money as before and she could not get a job until they were both older because she had to take care of them. Therefore, as long as Dudley had his crisps, sweets, Coke and other treats, he didn't know or mind that he was now eating a lot healthier than if Vernon was alive. To get his goodies Dudley first had to eat his vegetables and drink milk at least for breakfast as well as having juice. It also filled him up so he didn't eat as much of his goodies as he would have if Vernon had lived.

Harry was allowed to have fruit for his treats and the occasional piece of cake or pie if only to finish it so Petunia could wash the cake plate or pie pan. Therefore, Harry got to eat healthy and regularly and his growth was not stunted by lack of food let alone good food.

Since he wasn't being physically abused he didn't have to draw on his magic to heal and although he would eventually need glasses it wasn't until he was nearly ten years old that he had to go to an optometrist and have an eye exam. He actually received a decent pair of glasses which flattered his features. He had bad hair and a frustrated Petunia made him wear a very short, but not ugly, hairstyle as she had her pride and would not allow her nephew to shame them by looking like a hoodlum

He did get enough rest despite doing chores while Dudley watched TV. He was also expected to do well at school and to help Dudley with his schoolwork. Dudley was not the brightest bulb in the lamp to begin with and he was basically lazy and was easily distracted. Petunia had to make him do his homework and helped him with his school projects. Harry was on his own but he was smart and liked to learn and more often than not helped Petunia help Dudley.

Harry was a bit shy but so was Dudley. Dudley had his own set of friends but Petunia did not think very highly of them. She made them leave Harry alone as "he was family and although you don't have to hang around with him, you shouldn't hurt him as…well he is family" so Harry had a much better social life than if Vernon had lived.

Harry was good at school and it could be said that he was a bit of a nerd, but at least he was a nice, polite, caring child and the teachers liked him. Harry was good at running so that was his sport. Dudley tried football but he just wasn't coordinated and it was suggested by the school counselors that he take up swimming. Harry also swam but he was nice (and smart) enough to not excel at it so Dudley could have "his sport" and there would be pride (and peace) in the family.

When both boys were 9, Petunia let them have lessons in martial arts. Harry was still better but he hid his talent to let Dudley shine because if Dudley didn't like the lessons because Harry was better than him, well then the lessons would stop for both of them.

Dudley was spoiled but not as bad as he would have been had Vernon lived. He didn't become a bully but he was still socially awkward. There were times when Harry was his only real friend even though they didn't hang out at school unless they had too.

Petunia still kept a spotless house and had the best garden on the block but the garden was mostly due to Harry's work. He did help with the housework on occasion because someone had to know how to do it for the times that Petunia was sick or had personal business to take care of.

Between money that they received from the government for both Dudley and Harry, Vernon's insurance money and stock and pension benefits they paid the bills and Petunia didn't have to work for a while. They didn't entertain other than throwing Dudley a birthday party so they didn't spend a lot of money on non-necessities. At times Petunia did dip into the money she got for Harry when house or car repairs were needed. She had to put some of it in the bank and thus it was taxed but she told her accountant that it was money she inherited from her parents which Vernon had "invested" and she had just found out about it.

The accountant was not fooled but very suspicious when Petunia showed up at his office one day with £50,000 in cash. She pretended not to know where it came from saying only she thought Vernon had hidden it from the government for some reason and she had just found it when she had been cleaning out the attic.

Tax was taken out and an account started. She had to do this because there was no way she could explain how she have gotten the money to send Dudley to school next year. She was not sending him to Vernon's alma mater Smeltings as she had been doing research on public schools and Smeltings was not the type of school she wanted for her son. Vernon bragged it had made him the man he was so Smeltings was definitely out.

Instead Petunia found a small but in her opinion much better school for Dudley. He did enjoy his swimming and liked boats and his martial arts so there was a school which was geared towards boys with an interest in the military and specialized in boys who were orphans or rather did not have a father figure. It would give him discipline and, best of all, it was cheaper than Smeltings as this school had been founded in the last thirty years so Petunia thought "it would try harder" and at this school Dudley might actually learn things which would be beneficial for him.

When the boys were nine, Petunia started working part time at the local mall in a family clothing shop. She got a discount so that also helped as Dudley was hard on his clothes. He wasn't as fat as he would have been if Vernon lived, but he was just that type of boy that was always ripping things, getting caught on nails, fences, etc. and he did drip foods and drink on his shirts which always stained, like spaghetti sauce, grape soda, anything chocolate and grass stains that wouldn't come out no matter how hard she scrubbed or pre-treated.

Harry would still get the occasional second hand clothes (like a winter coat or jacket) but mostly he received new but cheap clothes. He took care of them and outgrew them before they got too shabby so he was happy. Being a typical boy, he really didn't care what he wore as long as the other kids didn't make fun of him.

All in all Petunia, Dudley and especially Harry had a much better life in every aspect than they would have had if Vernon had lived. Dudley was only a little spoiled and Harry, while not showered with tons of affection, was at least not abused and definitely didn't feel worthless or freakish.

Since his life wasn't in constant danger, he wasn't constantly starved or beaten or even bullied any more than the average nerdy child was, he did not have to use his magic in defense. He did do the occasional accidental magic such as "wishing" that Dudley's rotten friend Piers would fall down in that mud puddle because he was picking on those little kids.

There was also a very mean girl who was very cruel and had made her friends help her make fun of this one girl because the girl was suffering from cancer and had lost her hair due to her treatments. They taunted the girl and told her she was ugly and then had verbally attacked the girl's friend who was yelling at them for being mean to her friend. The mean girls just laughed especially the instigator.

There was nothing that Harry could do except also tell them they were mean and to quote "there but for the grace of God go I" but they just made fun of him and the mean girl had lied to a teacher and said Harry had called them nasty names so Harry got punished.

Aunt Petunia had yelled at him for getting in trouble and wouldn't let him go to the library for two weeks. That night Harry laid in bed thinking about the unfairness of life and "wishing" that mean girl would know what it was like to have the same problem as the girl with the cancer. Fortunately for the mean girl Harry had only wished her hair would fall out and not that she'd get sick. Her hair did fall out the next day during a very hard math test and the mean girl had screamed herself hoarse and missed two weeks of school due to the trauma she suffered.

There was this other time when their teacher was being very unfair to several children with Harry being one of them. Harry was in danger of losing his normally even temper and "wished" the teacher would be embarrassed like she was embarrassing her students. The next thing anyone knew, her hair had turned blue and the class broke out laughing.

Naturally Harry had no idea that he was responsible for any of these things happening. The one order Petunia had obeyed was not to tell Harry anything about his parents and the fact that he was a wizard. She only told him that she and her sister, Lily were estranged because of some of the things Lily had done to hurt Petunia, like not bothering to attend her own parents' funeral.

Petunia said she had never liked James Potter as he was an arrogant braggart who lived only to play cruel practical jokes on people that "weren't funny" and he had hung out with a wild bunch of hoodlums at the boarding school which Lily attended because she had won a scholarship.

"Your Mother hated James Potter until their last year when she found out he was from a wealthy family and she set her cap for him. I don't think he had a job because he bragged he didn't have to work. He insulted me the times that I met him and Lily just laughed because he wasn't funny and if she had been any kind of a decent sister she would have made him stop because he was very hurtful to me. His mean friends also laughed and they…did things to me and even our parents – like planting poison ivy in our yard – and they called it pranks when it was just mean."

Harry had felt ashamed when Petunia told him things about his parents and he stopped asking questions. They had been mean and insulted Vernon also which was why he had treated Harry so badly before he died. Vernon had been furious when one of these "friends" had dropped Harry off on their DOORSTEP late one night with only a short note saying, "James and Lily died, you get Harry" and then never checked up on him.

So Harry never asked anything else after a while. Petunia did show Harry a few photographs when they were young children and what their parents looked like, did for a living, etc. "I don't know where your parents are buried as no one told me and I have no way of contacting any of them. I don't know how they died exactly but I think it was in a car crash as apparently that was how you got that scar."

For the most part Petunia had told Harry the truth as she didn't know where the Potters were buried or how they died only that they had been killed. With the exception of the meeting Vernon had had with Dumbledore and demanding money to raise Harry especially in the way Dumbledore wanted, there had been no contact from any of the freaks except for the money appearing on the kitchen table the first of every month.

If Harry hadn't healed himself of his injuries in the early years Petunia wouldn't have thought he had magic as he had done none of the things Lily had done starting at the age of seven and then after meeting that nasty Snape boy.

However, when Harry turned 11 she had no doubt that a letter would arrive and off he would go. Until then, they all got along fine and he wasn't any trouble at all and thought he was going off to Stonewall High while Dudley went off to the Wellington School.

Maybe they would be lucky and he wouldn't get the letter and he could have a normal life. But Harry's "wishful thinking" was the only wishes in the Dursley household that came true.