Edit: I corrected the Mrs Weasley mistake, no idea what my brain did there. Thanks for letting me know. However, it would still be nice if you guys could do what I asked for in the first place.
Dear readers, thank you so much for your feedback! I cannot say how much it means to me.
Now, that I've published the last chapter, I suddenly remembered some things which I maybe should have included. I didn't exactly write down how McGonagall left. There was a cut to fifteen minutes later which means that she could have said a lot of things to Petunia before leaving. I hereby declare a few things canon.
Firstly, McGonagall raged a bit more about how the Dursleys could let Harry sleep in a cupboard and that she would come and fuck shit up if the next letter still would have to be addressed to the cupboard under the stairs. Obviously, she didn't literally say "fuck shit up" but I'll leave the conversation to your imagination.
And secondly, a point that was brought up in a review by Meester Lee (thank you for that), Minerva would probably have offered Petunia her condolences because she's just a very polite person, even if Lily at this point already had been dead for 10 years. So let's say she did offer her condolences and Petunia answered something along the lines of "Served her right" or something like that and pretended like she didn't care.
Lastly, this has nothing to do with the plot but with the format of the story. Someone wrote that they find bold dialogue somewhat distracting, so I've changed it and the dialogues in this chapter are not bold. I would like to know your opinion if you prefer it with bold or wihtout bold formatting. The majority wins, I guess. Thanks for your attention, now have fun and don't forget to review! ;)
Dudley sat down on the ground and Harry decided to do the same, sitting down opposite his cousin. They were now in the first boy's bedroom in which there was actually space to walk around and sit down. In his other room, the one that was filled to the brim with toys, you could hardly even see the floor. "You have to tell me everything!" Dudley's expression was curious but Harry didn't know what he meant and just looked at him squinting. When the other boy noticed that he obviously had no idea what he was talking about, he spoke again. "What did you talk about when you were alone?"
"Oh." Of course, he had been alone with the professor for a while before the three Dursleys had arrived. "Not much, really. She told me that my parents went to Hogwarts, too. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon never mentioned it which makes me kind of mad." At this remark, he looked at his cousin whose expression didn't change one bit. Maybe he could understand that he was mad at them or maybe he just ignored what he had just heard. "She said she was only coming here because of you. Because you are muggle-born. She just assumed that I already knew everything that was going to happen. So, if you hadn't gotten a letter, she wouldn't have come here in the first place…" Harry stopped talking at his own words, imagining how helpless he would have felt without the teacher's visit.
Dudley shifted slightly and urged him to go on. "Well, when I said I had no idea what she was talking about, she started explaining. But she just told me what she told us all." He tried to remember desparately what had happened during the short period of time during which they both had been alone. And then he suddenly remembered how she had multiplied the eggs. "Oh! Yes! The coolest thing happened!" Dudley leaned forwards, eager to know more. "I made us some tea and eggs but there weren't many eggs left, so she took out her wand and swung it through the air a bit. And then the eggs started to multiply until there was enough for the two of us!" Mouth already open, Dudley's eyes widened; it looked like they might pop out of his had any moment.
"Get out!" The other boy had subconsciously come closer to Harry, who was also leaning forward. He had never felt so connected with his idiot cousin. Maybe their relationship would change somehow. Harry didn't dare to hope for his cousin's change for the better. At least he wouldn't change for the worse since that was hardy possible.
"It was the best thing I've ever seen!" He nodded furiously, as if to try and get his cousin to believe him. "And she said we will be able to do that one day, too!" One of his hands scratched the back of his head, slightly ruffling through his hair. "I am so excited for this!" Harry got up abruptly and started toward the door. "I can't just sit here. I'll ask if I can go outside, I hope they'll let me go. Talk to you later." Before Dudley could say anything at all, he was out the door.
At the same time, Mrs Dursley entered the living room where her husband was waiting for her. She had been scrubbing the kitchen table and chair where this insolent woman had dared to take a seat for the past twnty minutes. Only now, that she was satisfied the spots were remarkably clean, did she go to talk to her husband.
When she entered, Vernon didn't look away from the telly. Some sports programme was on, Petunia didn't know and didn't care what exactly it was he was watching. "Vernon?" He grunted in response, still not turning to her. "We should give Harry Dudley's second room." At first, there was no reaction from her husband. After a few seconds, however, he seemed to comprehend and turned towards her, his face showing signs of confused rage.
"And why would we do that?! This ungrateful brat was put down on our doorstep and ever since then we have shared everything with him! Why in the name of sanity should we take Dudley's room from him and give it to this… this…" While he struggled to find an appropriate word to use for describing his nephew, Petunia sat down on the couch next to her husband and put a hand on his leg. He looked at his wife, uncertain what she was trying to do.
"Oh, Vernon. I don't like it either but we have to face the fact that he is growing up. Soon, he will be too tall to sleep under the stairs." She stroked his leg affectionately. He wasn't sure how to tell him what this professor person had said to her. "Dudley doesn't really use his other room, anyway. All the broken toys can go to the bin and the rest we can put in boxes. He won't miss them, he hardly plays with any of it." She smiled at him gently, not wanting him to get angrier than he already was. His facial expression noticeably softened. "We'll store the things he rarely uses in the attic. He won't like it at first but it is necessary. Harry won't stay little forever." She shifted slightly, enabling herself to lean into him a tad. "Also, the professor said she would make our life hell if the next letter for him has to be addressed to the cupboard under the stairs again." The last sentence, Petunia spoke too fast and too quiet for anyone to properly understand, yet Vernon somehow managed.
"This rotten woman! How dare she threaten us?! The boy is under our care and we do with him as we see fit!" Petunia hardly dared to look at her husband but when she did, his face was as red as a brick wall. His eyes were bulging, she thought that the capillaries might burst at any second. His vein was prominent, too. "We will not give him our son's room because she says so! What will she do against it? Nothing! It's all idle talk!" Vernon was breathing heavily, spit flying when he spoke. Petunia raised her hand shushing him. No matter how much she loved him, he still scared her sometimes when he acted like this, even if his rage wasn't directed at her.
"Believe me, darling, I know what these people can do. We do definitely not want to mess with them. Let's just give the stupid boy Dudley's second room. He won't be using it for long, anyway. Term starts in a month." This seemed to calm him a bit. "Don't be mad." She got up and took his hand in hers, wanting him to follow. "Let's get this over with. I think they're both upstairs. Better tell them now. The sooner, the better. Maybe Dudders won't be sulking for so long." She smiled again, trying to calm Vernon down further.
"Fine." He got up suddenly which almost cost Petunia her balance. One hand still in hers she opened the door to the living room. "You go first." Sometimes it almost seemed like he could read her mind. She had been about to ask if he wanted to go upstairs first but she would do so, too. And gladly.
Letting go of her husband's hand, they both walked towards the staircase when they heard a door close upstairs, followed by steps. Petunia had climbed two steps when she saw the face of her nephew who arrived at the top of the stairs, apparently wanting to go downstairs. "Oh, Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, I was wondering if you'd let me go outside for a while. Petunia raised a hand to silence him while climbing the staircase. Her husband was close behind her.
"No. You will not go outside, you will go to Dudley's room. We need to talk."