A\N: This is an edited version that has been uploaded on June 6th, 2016.
Chapter One: The Dursley's
The summer of 1994 was truly turning out terribly for Harry Potter.
The third week back from Hogwarts came without much fanfare. The morning began simply enough; Harry woke when Uncle Vernon came stumping down the stairs, almost seeming to shake them. Harry quickly headed downstairs and into the kitchen to prepare breakfast, yawning all the while.
That is when things took a rather grim turn.
"Do you see the rubbish they are spouting in the paper here?" Vernon almost yelled, his face turning the classic red and purple, the newspaper shaking in his hands. "They should make shure ta haf all tha facks..."
Confused, Harry looked up from the eggs and bacon on the stove, back at his uncle, and noticed that something was very wrong. The right side of Vernon's face seemed to be drooping, as his right arm hung uselessly, while his left tried to move it. He tried to stand, but almost immediately fell back down into his seat, which seemed to groan at the sudden change in weight. "Whash goin' on?" Vernon said, as Petunia came into the kitchen to see him fall out of his chair and pass out. Time froze for an instant, before Petunia moved faster than Harry had ever seen her move.
She bolted for the phone, quickly dialing 999. Ten minutes later, the telltale sounds of an ambulance could be heard. Emergency services quickly entered the house, moving immediately to the kitchen, where Vernon was loaded onto a stretcher and hustled out to the ambulance.
"Mum, what's going on?" Dudley asked, roused by the sound of the ambulance.
"Your father is in a spot of medical trouble. He's had a stroke." One of the paramedics said as they left.
Moving with a speed that seemed unbelievable for his bulk, Dudley dressed. "We need to go see him."
Petunia agreed with him, and within five minutes, their car was quickly pulling out of the driveway before speeding away at an almost breakneck pace.
Harry stood frozen by the stove. Vernon had a stroke? He had always seemed rather obese, but for this to happen...seemed completely unreal.
He waited at the house for several hours. His aunt and cousin did not return until well into the night. The front door opened and Dudley immediately went up the stairs, judging from the groaning coming from them. Petunia came into the kitchen and sat down at the table, her face pale and drawn.
"He's dead."
Harry was at a loss for words. He felt a small amount of happiness on the inside, knowing that the man, who had made his life a living hell for thirteen years, was dead. However, the look of depression upon his aunt's face gave him pause enough to feel the slightest hint of sorrow. The man wasn't much, but he had been her husband. "I'm sorry." He said quietly, hoping that Petunia would hear him. Harry went over to the stove and quietly made his aunt some tea. "I know that it won't help, but at least have some." He told her, setting a cup with some in front of her, which she seemed to hold onto out of a sheer need for comfort.
As Harry turned to leave, Petunia said, "Harry, please stay, I want to tell you some things, more specifically about my behavior over the past thirteen years." The next few hours were filled with Petunia explaining their actions. She told him of how she and Lily had been close when they were younger, as Petunia was only a year and a half older than Lily; how strange things had begun to happen around Lily when she turned three. She could summon toys to herself, make them float around, or change their colors. She didn't know what was happening at the time. She then explained their meeting with a boy named 'Severus', and how Lily learned the truth of her abilities.
That name rattled around in Harry's head. He knew that name, but from where?
She told him of the letter that Lily had received from Hogwarts in the summer of 1971. Someone named Professor McGonagall had come to them and explained that Lily was able to perform magic. She even demonstrated her ability to transform into a cat and back again. Naturally, this made her mother and father still more proud of Lily. Even though they were close as sisters could be, they still had a sibling rivalry. Especially since her mother and father seemed to dote on Lily as if she could do no wrong. Angered by this new development, Petunia wrote in an attempt to get accepted to Hogwarts as well. Needless to say, this did not work in the slightest. She was told, kindly but firmly, that she possessed no magical talent and was therefore ineligible to attend.
Five years, Lily went to the magical school and, through it all, Petunia's jealousy grew. She then confronted Lily in the summer of '76. The sister's shrieking match that followed was enough to scare their parents from interfering. The sisters avoided each other for the rest of the summer. Then, Petunia met Vernon while at a university. They began dating and by the fall of '77, they were engaged. In a last attempt to reconcile with Lily, Petunia invited her and James to meet Vernon, on the pretext that they would behave themselves around him. However, shortly after the dinner began, the entire "behaving-themselves" idea went out the window as Vernon tried to brag about the expensive car that he had been able to buy and how much money he had. James got drawn into the argument, talking of the vast fortune that his family had. Vernon then insulted his manner of dress and it slowly devolved from there. After about a quarter of an hour, Lily just escorted James out, sick of the man her sister was engaged to and just overall annoyed with the evening. Petunia and Vernon got married in the spring of 1979, and in June of 1980, gave birth to Dudley.
Then Harry had been dropped on their doorstep with a note.
"Can I see this note?" Harry cut across her. Petunia looked up, as if he had shocked her by talking.
"Yes, just give me a moment."
She quickly returned, carrying a yellowing piece of parchment. Harry opened it and began reading.
Dear Mister and Missus Vernon Dursley,
This is Harry James Potter, the son of your sister.
James and Lily were recently killed by Lord
Voldemort and he needs a place to call his home.
This house has been given blood wards to protect
you from him and his followers. So long as he
remains here, you will be safe. You will also be
properly compensated for his upbringing.
Sincerely,
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
Dumbledore?! Dumbledore had left him in this hellhole for almost ten years, before sending anyone to check up on him and make sure he was being treated properly. And he had set up these "blood wards" and forced Harry to return here every summer. What in the nine pits of Hell...?
'But', Harry thought, "Dumbledore must have had a very good reason outside of these for doing it. Imagine if I had grown up among all that fame, I could have turned out like Malfoy.' He shuddered at the thought before turning to his aunt.
"What does he mean, 'You will also be properly compensated'?" Harry asked angrily, as he saw Petunia bow her head, almost in shame.
"Every year around the end of June, we would get a large check in the mail. At first, I was able to get it and put it into a savings account, using only some of the money to pay for your primary education, while the rest was used by myself. Then Vernon found out about them and used them to fuel the lifestyle that led to...well..." She said, unable to finish.
"Can you finish your story?" Harry gently asked her. Nodding, she resumed where she left off, telling him of how he was raised as a child. She told Harry of the year he turned five and of how Vernon had changed after finding out about the checks. Combined with Harry performing some accidental magic to get toys from Dudley, Vernon's dislike had grown into a deep-seated resentment. Ever since, he had become harsher on Harry, hitting him, and forcing him to do labor. Petunia had tried to step in a couple times, but was beaten by him when she did.
Harry closed his eyes as she mentioned it. He hadn't considered how hard it might be on her to raise him, while taking abuse from the extremities of Vernon's rage. He knew the rest of the story from there. "I'm assuming that you are telling me this because you want to make it up to me." Harry said not waiting for an answer. "I have been able to forgive quickly and move on in the past, but this is something I will need to really work at. I can't forgive everything that happened overnight."
She nodded, "I understand." She said simply, before moving to leave the kitchen. She stopped at the hallway and looked back, "I don't expect your forgiveness. I just wanted you to at least hear my story."
She then left for her bedroom, to lie in bed and mourn the man that Mr. Dursley had used to be. Harry stayed up, cleaning the cup and pot he had used before going to bed. Lying on his back, he looked up at the ceiling. Dumbledore had left him here? Why? Why hadn't he been given to Sirius or Remus? These questions, and similar ones, swirled in his brain until he drifted off to sleep.
*'*_ _*'*
Dudley stayed to himself for the next month. It quickly turned into one of the most peaceful months Harry had ever had at Number Four Privet Drive. He would wake up in the morning, and prepare breakfast out of pure reflex, before heading outside to do work in the yard or just be outside. He didn't have quite the green thumb that Neville did, but he understood why his friend enjoyed it so much. Aunt Petunia prepared meals for him in the evening and he was able to have his school belongings, and he could complete his homework, as opposed to rushing to finish it on the Hogwarts Express. With Hermione's help, of course.
Toward the end of that month long bliss, Aunt Petunia stopped Harry before he could head outside.
"We need to talk to Dudley."
"What about?" Harry asked defensively.
"About Vernon's death. You've seen it. He hasn't left his room much, let alone the house, in well over a month." She appeared hollow on the inside, for she hadn't eaten much either.
"I will try, but I make no promises." Harry said, his teeth slightly on edge at the thought of trying to communicate with Dudley. Petunia went up to fetch Dudley and they both came back down.
"Why's he here?" Dudley asked, seeing Harry in the room and obviously feeling very unwilling to talk in front of his cousin.
"I'm not here by choice either." Harry growled.
"He is part of the family." Petunia stated.
"No, he isn't." Dudley said, wiping his nose on the cuff of his sleeve. "He doesn't know what this is like. How it feels to lose a close family member."
"The hell I don't!" Harry yelled back, jumping to his feet, his anger rising. "I've lost my whole family! My parents were murdered right in front of me when I was one! And my godfather," Both Dursleys flinched at the mention of the man who was apparently a mass murderer, "was incarcerated by one of his oldest friends!" His tone became more of a scoff. "Yeah, I know nothing about losing family members."
Both boys were eye to eye with each other, Harry trembling with barely controlled rage. Dudley eventually backed down and, more surprisingly, said, "I'm sorry." to Harry, before collapsing into the armchair that used to be Uncle Vernon's.
In that moment, Harry took the time to look at Dudley, to really see him. He had become thinner, the fat eating itself to sustain his broad frame. He had always seemed haughty and full of himself, but now...
"You wanted his approval, didn't you?" Harry asked, suddenly understanding what the hulking boy had wanted for as long as he could remember. Dudley looked back at him, his eyes speaking for him.
"I won't try to dissuade you, but your father made terrible decisions during his life. I know you know that he beat me, but he also made other terrible decisions. Don't make those same choices. Follow his drive in his work, not his temper. His protectiveness, not his jealousy." And with that, Harry left and shut himself in his room. "Well, one can only bullshit for so long..." he sighed, deciding to take a nap, before tackling Flitwick's Charms essay.
*'*_ _*'*
A couple weeks later, Harry was checking the mail, when he came across a letter that stuck out like a sore thumb. It was an envelope covered almost entirely in postage stamps. Seeing as it was addressed to him, Harry opened it.
Hey Harry,
So it's been a little over two months. How are you
holding up? Those Muggles treating you any
better? Well, the main reason that I'm writing is
because Dad was able to score tickets to the
Quidditch World Cup. It'll be Ireland versus
Bulgaria. We got tickets for the whole family but
Mum isn't interested, and Perce said that he'll be
busy at work. He works with the Department for
International Magical Cooperation or something
now. Hermione's already said she wanted to attend
and she is here. If you wanna join us, Dad'll be
there to pick you up on Saturday. If not, he's still
gonna pick you up.
Ron
P.S. I hope we put enough stamps on there.
Harry grinned at the letter, before heading off to alert his aunt. The funny thing was that the Saturday that Ron mentioned was the next day.
So, at noon the next day, Harry was ready to leave. He had explained to Aunt Petunia who the Weasleys were, and she had agreed that he should spend time with his friends. The knock on the front door got his attention. Opening it, he was greeted with a handshake from the Weasley patriarch. "Having a good summer, Harry?" He asked.
"You could say that..." Harry answered evasively. Ignoring it, Mr. Weasley stepped in as Petunia stepped into the hallway.
"You must be Mr. Weasley." She said, delicately extending her hand, which Mr. Weasley proceeded to vigorously shake.
"You are aware that I'm taking Harry away for the remainder of the summer, correct?" He asked, looking around at some of the items in the house.
"Of course.", Petunia said, subtly wiping her hands off.
"Good. Then we'll be off. Lovely to meet you."
"Wait." Puzzled, Harry looked around to see Dudley standing at the stairs. "I overheard a bit of your discussion with Mum yesterday." He explained to Harry, before turning to Mr. Weasley.
"You're interested in our technology?"
"Of course!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed, looking like a child in a candy store with money to spend, "I find that you all are rather ingenious, figuring out how to do things without magic."
"I can explain some of it to you.' Dudley offered, impressing Harry and exciting Mr. Weasley further.
"I would appreciate that." He eventually replied.
The next two hours were spent in the garage, where Dudley attempted to explain how a car engine worked. Mr. Weasley was very excited about it all and even Harry was surprised. When had Dudley developed such an interest in cars?
But as Mr. Weasley checked his watch, he gave a start. "Merlin's beard! Molly's going to kill me." He said, "Come on, Harry. Thank you for the explanation, er..." He said, trailing off as he realized he didn't know the boy's name.
"Dudley." Dudley said, extending his hand, which Mr. Weasley shook. Then, he turned on the spot with Harry and his luggage, and they both vanished with a somewhat quiet crack.
A/N: WHOOOOOO, new story now. It's not very good, but I hope that you all enjoy it. Please leave comments, good or bad or indifferent. I love them all. Until next time, this is YoungWriter20, signing off!
