It was in the early days of March when Ethan Webb finally woke up from the viscous attack perpetrated against him by three fellow students. When word had broken that three students had been expelled from Hogwarts (the first students to be expelled in over fifty years) and their wands snapped, there had been a twenty-four hour period where Harry had been legitimately concerned that the castle was going to devolve into an all-out war between the Slytherins and the rest of the castle. All of the work that Minerva had done to ensure that there was a sense of comradery was being thrown away with every ambush and multi-student duel.
But just when things looked as if they were going to fall apart, Ethan woke up and a thing happened that Harry never would have suspected when he first met the young man.
He started talking to everyone about not blaming the other Slytherins for the actions of their classmates. Anytime someone within earshot of Ethan would start talking about how much they hated Slytherins, Ethan would be there to remind them that the entire House didn't attack him, just three students.
At the same time, Elizabeth had been explaining to her classmates what the reputation of Slytherin House and the actions of their classmates had done for that reputation. While there were some Slytherins that definitely still wished to support a hardline stance on blood purity, most of them, having witnessed what Hermione Granger could do, understood that there was no sense in their stance.
Finally, on the first of March, Elizabeth marched into the Great Hall and kissed Ethan in front of the entire population of the Great Hall, publicly declaring their relationship. Harry prepared for the worst but as Elizabeth walked back to the Slytherin table, he noticed that more than half the school seemed to be cheering for the two star-crossed lovers. While there were certainly those on both sides that openly rejected the idea of celebrating their relationship, the fact remained that there were Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Slytherins that were celebrating a relationship between a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin, something that would have been insane to consider even a few months earlier.
While things were certainly not perfect, relationships did seem to improve, bolstered by Elizabeth and Ethan's awareness campaign.
"Imagine if they had never gotten those detentions." Harry muttered to himself one day.
As the snow that had surrounded the castle began to melt due to the unusually warm weather of early March, the students of Hogwarts filed out of the castle, strolling down the hill to the hamlet of Hogsmeade. For most of the early part of that Saturday, Harry and Ginny had spent time with Hermione, Luna and Parvati, wandering the town and commenting on the town's constant improvement following the attack on the town just before Christmas.
They had just finished lunch at the Three Broomsticks and were walking down the main street when Ginny noticed something off in the distance, a massive poster that stood over twenty feet high on the side of the old Zonko's building. The poster's size made it easy to notice, even at a distance, but it was the subject of the poster that had obviously attracted Ginny's attention.
Standing at nearly fifteen feet tall, George Weasley towered over the town, smiling and waving at everyone who passed by before imploring them to stop by. When this giant version of George saw Ginny approaching him, he waved excitedly and beckoned them over to him.
Harry and Ginny stopped at the bottom of the poster where they could read in giant letters: WEASLEY'S WIZARDING WHEEZES: HOGSMEADE, COMING SUMMER 1999. As they read the sign, the massive version of George pointed at the words repeatedly before pulling out his wand and flicking it at the words so that they suddenly started flying around the poster, changing colors rapidly as they soared around the two-dimensional page.
"George is expanding!" Ginny said excitedly.
"That's so wonderful!" Hermione replied.
For a moment, Harry was overwhelmed with joy at the thought that George had remained successful after Fred's death. So successful, in fact, that he was expanding to Hogsmeade. But then Harry thought about what that would mean for his own future.
"Oh, Merlin." Harry grumbled.
"What?" Ginny asked.
"Do you realize how easy it's going to be for students to get their stuff now?" Harry asked. "It's going to be a nightmare. We're going to have kids throwing up and bleeding profusely every day of the week."
"Well, their products are still banned." Hermione pointed out.
"When has that ever stopped anyone?" Parvati replied before turning to Harry. "Good luck. Glad I won't be here!"
Parvati laughed madly as Hermione and Luna looked at Harry with sympathy. He could just imagine it now, the Hospital Wing full of students bleeding out their ears, their eyes swollen shut and their feet the size of serving platters. It would be a nightmare and one that Harry was partially in charge of preventing.
As Harry thought about the horrors of his future, he was brought back into the present by an elbow to his ribs, a gentle nudge from Ginny, who was looking at him pointedly. Immediately, Harry got her meaning.
"Hey guys, we're going to head off." Harry said as Ginny wrapped her arms around his right arm. "With the amount of work we've both been doing-"
"Say no more." Hermione said, throwing her hands in the air. "We'll leave you two alone."
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Parvati said as she grabbed Luna by the arm who pulled her away. Luna turned and waved wildly over her shoulder at the two of them as they disappeared around the corner. Once they were alone, Ginny pulled Harry down the street, leading them to walk down some of the side streets of the small town, places where most of the students didn't go.
It was a rare piece of quiet time between the two of them, the kind of time that Harry had come to cherish over the last few weeks. The conversation between the two of them was easy and relaxed, much like it had been for years since Ginny had figured out how to talk to Harry. They discussed the Gryffindor Quidditch team, which had been an unstoppable force of nature of much of the year, even without Harry as Seeker, largely due to the fact that the team of Chasers that Ginny had recruited were unstoppable.
In their most recent game, they had literally forced the Hufflepuff team to quit the match after four hours without either team catching the Snitch. The score at the time of the forfeit? 830-120, the largest margin of victory for a Hogwarts match that had ended before the Snitch had been caught. Needless to say, it was going to be almost impossible for them to lose the Cup at this point, which would require Ravenclaw to beat Gryffindor by two hundred and thirty points and then have Hufflepuff beat Slytherin by two hundred and eighty points.
Considering the fact that Ravenclaw wasn't very good, it seemed unlikely, and with two players quitting the Hufflepuff team immediately after their demoralizing loss to Gryffindor, it seemed as if the Quidditch Cup was Gryffindor's to lose. Although Ginny was doing her best to remain focused, he could tell that she was excited about the prospect of winning the Cup, especially as team captain. There were already rumors that there had been scouts from the Quidditch League present at their last match and if Ginny's performance (where she had single-handedly outscored Hufflepuff on her own) had any sort of impact, Harry was expecting to see even more scouts at their final match of the year.
Eventually, the conversation turned away from Quidditch as they wandered towards the outskirts of town. Ginny babbled on about some of her extended family, who apparently had been very interested in to hear about her renewed relationship with Harry, having heard about it from a rather excited letter from Molly. Harry thought about that for a moment. He didn't have anyone else to tell, really. Everyone that needed to know was at Hogwarts or related to Ginny. The only family he had left was the Dursleys and they certainly didn't care.
Harry must have made some sort of face when he thought about the Dursleys because Ginny stopped walking.
"What is it?" she asked, clearly concerned.
"Nothing." Harry said. "I was just thinking that the only people I could really tell about our relationship is the Dursleys."
"Well, you and I both know that they won't care about that."
"Or anything related to me." Harry said, which caused a sour look to cross Ginny's face. "What?"
Ginny hesitated, clearly not wanting to ruin a good day for them. "I just...I can't get over what the Dursleys did to you. They took this brave, caring, wonderful boy and they locked him in a closet."
"It's strange." said Harry. "It feels like that was another life."
"But it wasn't." Ginny fired back. "That's what makes it so incredible. They way they treated you, you should be a monster. But you aren't. Merlin, I hate those Muggles."
"Not a great thing for someone to potentially overhear." Harry chuckled.
"You know what I mean." Ginny said pointedly. "I don't hate all Muggles, just those."
"Listen, I understand." Harry replied. "Although, I have to admit, now that we've been talking about them, I am kind of curious how they're doing."
"Why?"
"I dunno." Harry admitted. "Morbid curiosity? The last I saw them, they were hightailing it away from Privet Drive. I wonder if they ever came back."
Suddenly, Ginny had a devilish look in her eye as she scanned back and forth down the street.
"Ginny?" Harry said nervously. "Ginny, what are you thinking?"
"This."
Ginny reached out and grabbed Harry. Before he knew what was happening, Harry was being sucked from his place in Hogsmeade, landing just across the street from 4 Privet Drive. Immediately, Harry waved his wand and cast matching Disillusionment Charms on them, vanishing them from view.
"What the hell are you doing, Ginny?" Harry said. "We're not supposed to leave school."
"We'll be back before anyone notices we're gone." Ginny replied, waving off Harry's concern. "Plus, it's not like you or I need the Auror's protection anymore. Hell, we're better than most of them are anyway."
"Yeah but what happens when thirty Death Eaters show up?" Harry asked. "We're good but we aren't that good."
"If that happens, we run." Ginny replied firmly. "Do you honestly think they're watching this place?"
"They could be." Harry reminded her. "They know I have family here."
"But you hate them."
"I don't hate them." Harry replied.
"You don't?" Ginny said. "Because you should."
"I don't hate them. But I don't know what I feel towards them."
"Well, let's find out."
Ginny turned and marched across the street, cancelling the Disillusionment Charm on her so that she suddenly appeared in the middle of the street. Harry did the same and followed her to the front door. There was a look in Ginny's eyes that made Harry uncomfortable for some reason.
4 Privet Drive looked the same as it had always looked. Every garden in the front of the house was perfect with each clump of dirt exactly where it belonged. The grass, cut every other day by Petunia, was the exact two inches in length that Uncle Vernon preferred. Harry looked at the windows, which looked like they had been cleaned within the last hour, perfectly clear with no streaks in sight.
Ginny knocked on the door loudly. Considering it was the middle of the afternoon on Saturday, Harry knew exactly what the Dursleys would be doing. Petunia would be in the middle of cooking dinner while Vernon pretended to read the paper while watching football on the tele. Dudley was the wildcard. He could have been out with his friends. If not, he was likely playing video games in his room.
Harry stood just behind Ginny, his heart pounding as he heard movement behind the door. Suddenly, Harry felt as if this was an incredibly terrible idea, a sentiment he echoed to Ginny, who rejected that notion.
"We're just visiting." Ginny said, a hard look in her eyes.
Just at that moment, the door flew open with Aunt Petunia standing on the other side of the doorframe. All three of them stood in silence, Harry and Petunia staring at each other with Ginny smirking wildly between them. When it became clear that neither Harry or Petunia could speak, Ginny stepped up.
"Petunia, invite us inside would you?"
Ginny's words seemed to snap Petunia out of her trance.
"Excuse me?" Petunia said, her voice squeaking out like a mouse that had just been trampled on.
"Invite us in." Ginny said, her words clearly a demand this time.
Petunia froze for a moment before she recognized the tone in Ginny's voice.
"Oh...of course, of course." Petunia said, sweat running down her face. "Come in."
Petunia stepped aside, allowing Harry and Ginny to step into his former home.
It's where I lived, Harry thought to himself, it was never my home. They walked through the foyer and into the main living room, the same one where Dumbledore had chided his aunt and uncle just three years earlier. Vernon was seated in his chair as expected. However, he was sleeping, his snores echoing loudly through the house as his mustache fluttered up and down like a leaf in the wind.
"Vernon?" Petunia whispered, her eyes never leaving Harry. "Vernon?"
Vernon slowly came back to life, smacking his lips together as he woke up.
"Petunia?" Vernon asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Is it time for dinner?"
"No." Petunia said, her eyes flicking back to Harry and Ginny. "We have guests."
If Harry hadn't been so nervous to see his relatives once more, he might have found the following scene funny. Vernon, his eyes following Petunia's, looked at Harry, taking a moment to comprehend what he was really seeing. As understanding crossed his features, his skin turned a shade of purple that Harry had never seen before. If Harry hadn't known any better, he would have thought that Vernon was trying to turn himself into a grape.
For a moment, Vernon simply stared at Harry, rage simmering just below the surface. Finally, Vernon, his feet still propped into the air by the recliner, tried to get up out of the chair. Unfortunately, he forgot to put the footrest back down and so when he went to stand, he tripped over the footrest and tumbled head over heels, his feet crashing through the front of the tele, shattering it. As he struggled to get his walrus-like form off the floor, he reached back next to his chair, grabbing something that Harry couldn't see.
Thankfully, Ginny had. When Vernon stood, a small revolver in his hand which he leveled at Harry, Ginny flicked her wand at the gun, turning it to dust in Vernon's hand. Immediately, Vernon lowered his shoulder as if he was going to charge Harry. Instead, Ginny stepped in his way, her wand just inches away from the spot directly between Vernon's eyes.
"Sit down, Vernon." Ginny said. He had never heard her sound more threatening to anyone in his entire life. While Vernon clearly did not want to listen to the redhead, he also understood just what the wand in her hand could do. So, his eyes never leaving Ginny, he sat back down in his chair, bringing the footrest back down so that he could have his feet flat on the floor. It was clear that he was preparing himself to run, which Harry thought might have been the stupidest idea he had ever considered.
Just as Vernon sat, there was a brief flick of motion to their left.
"Harry?"
Harry turned to see his cousin, now even slimmer than the last time that Harry had seen him, standing in the kitchen, a rather confused look on his face.
"Hi, Dudley."
"What are you doing here?"
"You know that's a good question." Harry said pointedly in Ginny's direction. "What are we doing here, Ginny?"
"We're going to have a talk." Ginny said calmly as she stowed her wand. "If everyone would please have a seat."
"We don't have to do a word you say." Vernon growled. "You wouldn't dare use...you know what on me."
"I would absolutely use magic on you." Ginny countered. "In fact, if Harry wasn't here, I probably would have cursed all three of you. Now, sit."
Immediately, Dudley and Petunia obeyed Ginny's command, taking a seat on the couch opposite Harry and Ginny with Vernon in his chair between them. Once they were all seated, all eyes fell on Ginny.
"Thank you." Ginny said with a feigned kindness. "Now, I imagine you're wondering what we're doing here."
"I'm wondering what we're doing here." Harry muttered as Vernon added, "You're damn right I am."
"Well, I'm here to tell you what your nephew has been up to since he last left your home."
"And why would we care about that?" Vernon barked, his skin an ugly mix of red and purple, his eyes bulging so intensely that Harry worried they would pop out of their sockets.
Ginny breathed deeply through her nostrils, clearly trying not to outright curse Vernon. Instead, she withdrew her wand once more and simply set it on her lap, a tacit threat that Vernon understood instantly.
"You should care, Vernon, because without your nephew, we would likely all be dead." Ginny said firmly. "Harry spent the year after he left your house on a quest to destroy Lord Voldemort. During that time, he broke into the Ministry of Magic and the wizard's bank, only two of the most secure places in the world. He fought dark wizards and destroyed a series of relics that were keeping Lord Voldemort alive."
Ginny stood and began to pace around the room, her voice growing more strained as she spoke.
"Lord Voldemort was the most dangerous threat that we had ever faced and Harry defeated him."
"He's dead?" Petunia suddenly asked. "The one who-"
"The one who killed my mother and father? Yes." Harry replied coldly. "Yes, he's dead."
Petunia's reaction was strange. It almost looked as if she were relieved as she heard this news, sighing deeply and relaxing into her chair.
"Did you kill him?" Dudley asked.
"In a way." Harry said, refusing to give them more than that.
"What's more important was that Harry has lost more than anyone else in this war. He lost his mother and father, his godfather and his mentor, and several other friends in the final battle. But he still fought on. In the end, he sacrificed himself so that everyone else could live."
"Sacrificed himself?" Vernon scoffed. "If you sacrificed yourself, how are you here?"
"Magic." Harry said simply, admittedly enjoying the effect that word had on Vernon, who shuddered violently each time he heard it.
"He did all of this, despite the fact that he grew up with monsters like you." Ginny said, growling with fury towards Petunia and Vernon. "Do you understand how rare someone like Harry is? Harry, whose whole life was one tragedy after another, didn't become a tyrant or a monster. He overthrew the tyrant. He killed the monster. He has accomplished more in his seventeen years of life than you could ever dream and he did it despite you."
It was in this moment that Harry realized that they might have been there for Ginny's sake as much as his own. This was clearly something that she had been grappling with for some time. Ginny, of course, had only known happiness and love as a child. If Harry was the most important person in her life who she wasn't related to, then the fact that Vernon and Petunia had neglected and abused Harry for years would have weighed heavily on her. Harry's mention of his aunt and uncle had just given her the opportunity that she had been looking for.
"How could you?" Ginny asked, her words aimed directly at Petunia. "He was your sister's son. How could you have been so jealous of her abilities that you would choose to torture her son for ten years?"
"Jealous?" Petunia replied nervously. "I was not jea-"
"I know that you sent letters to Hogwarts." Harry said suddenly. "I know that you begged Dumbledore to allow you to come to school."
Those words had an interesting effect on each of the Dursleys. While Dudley appeared to be quite shocked by this news, Vernon looked apoplectic, as if he was ready to murder Petunia on the spot for even considering the idea of wanting something abnormal. But it was Petunia's response that Harry noticed most of all, a single tear streaming down her face as she was plunged back into the days before her dreams of becoming a witch like her sister had been squashed.
"How do you know that?" Petunia choked out.
"Severus Snape." Harry said, letting the name speak for him. The look of surprise on her face was truly a sight to behold, all of her features stretched the very edge of credulity.
"How do you know him?"
"He was a professor at my school and he worked to help destroy Voldemort." Harry replied, giving her the most basic version of the convoluted tale. "He showed me a series of his memories, memories of his youth. Memories with you in them."
"You saw?" Petunia sputtered. "You saw...me?"
Harry nodded, causing Petunia to sink back into the couch, sobbing.
"You allowed the jealousy you felt for your sister to poison your mind." Ginny said. "And you took that out on a child."
When Petunia's sobs intensified, Vernon turned to Harry, murder in his eyes once more.
"We should have given you away when we had the chance!" Vernon roared suddenly, standing from his chair. "You've been nothing but trouble since the day you arrived."
Ginny whipped her wand towards Vernon, which threw him back to his chair.
"Stand up again and I will tie you to the chair." Ginny threatened. "Now, Harry didn't want to come here. I did. I wanted you to know that your nephew saved the world despite the horrors that you put him through. You didn't help him, you certainly didn't make him more determined to defeat the Dark Lord. You just proved to him that there are some people in the world who aren't worth saving."
Ginny paused, staring boldly at Vernon, as if she were daring him to attempt anything. When she saw that Vernon had been appropriately cowed, she glared at Petunia as she walked out of the room, leaving Harry alone with his relatives. Harry sat there for a moment, waiting for Petunia to say anything. When he realized, however, that she wasn't going to say anything, he stood.
"I am glad that the Order's protection worked. Even after everything you did to me, I never wanted you to die because of me." Harry said before he turned to walk out of the room. However, before he could do that, Vernon stood from his chair, his wide frame blocking Harry's exit, and for just the briefest moments, Harry hoped that he was going to say that he had learned his lesson and realized just how terrible he had been to Harry. But, Harry knew that it was too good to be true when he saw the hatred burning in his eyes.
"Get out of my house." Vernon whispered, his entire body shaking with anger. "If I ever see you again, I'll kill you and then you can join your filthy parents where you belong."
Harry felt something, something that he had buried for years, snap deep inside of him. While Harry had done a good job of controlling himself so far, considering he had been brought to the Dursleys unexpectedly, this comment pushed him over the edge. But rather than draw his wand, Harry engaged in a more primal form of combat.
He balled his hand into a fist, drew it back and struck Vernon in the jaw. Vernon, caught off guard by Harry's assault, flopped backwards over the chair behind him, ending up once more upside down on the other side of the chair. As Harry, a rare rage coming over him, grabbed the recliner between them, nearly tossing it out of the way, he felt a pair of large arms come from around him as Petunia tried to step in front of him.
"You don't want to do that." Harry heard Dudley whisper into his ear. "I know that you're angry but you don't want to do that."
But the fire that Harry had kept buried, the resentment and anger he had kept hidden for years, burned brighter, causing Harry's wand to go off even though it was in his pocket, red sparks firing out of his pocket and bouncing all over the room. Blinded, Dudley let go of Harry, who stepped forward after drawing his wand.
When the others in the room regained their sight, they saw Harry, wand aimed directly at Vernon's forehead, the chair Vernon had been sitting in thrown (likely by Harry's wand) at least thirty feet across the room. Harry, looking down his wand at Vernon, knew that Dudley was right. He knew that he didn't want to kill anyone, even someone as despicable and pathetic as Vernon Dursley.
"I'm sorry, Harry."
Harry turned to see Dudley standing there, tears in his eyes. He could only imagine what Dudley saw: his cousin moments away from murdering his father. At least, that's what Harry assumed it looked like.
"I'm sorry." he repeated. "I know that Mum and Dad will never say it. But I'm sorry that we treated you the way we did. You were a kid and your Mum and Dad had been murdered and we treated you like you were a monster."
Harry didn't know what to say. So he said nothing.
"You're pretty powerful among your people, aren't you?"
"Yes." Harry said.
"If you had asked your friends to stop protecting us, would they?"
"It's certainly possible."
"But you never asked. You never asked them to stop protecting us."
"No, I didn't." Harry said as he stowed his wand. "They're still protecting you to this day as far as I know and they'll continue to do so as long as I don't ever see him again."
Harry looked back where Vernon had remained on the floor, a murderous look on his face.
"You don't deserve my protection but as long as you live with Petunia and Dudley, you'll be under my protection." Harry said. "If you ever leave them, I will order them not to protect you."
"I don't need your protection, boy."
"There are people that know you are my uncle. People that hate me and want me dead." Harry countered. "They'll come after you, thinking that since you are my uncle, I'll care if they kill you. But I won't. You are likely the only person on the entire planet whose death would actually make me happy."
Harry turned away from Vernon, looking back at the other two in the room.
"If you need to contact me, don't."
Harry gave Vernon one last look, the last time he would ever see his uncle, and then walked out of the room and then out of the front door, where Ginny was waiting for him.
"Why did we do this?" Harry asked.
"Because you needed the closure and because I wanted them to know that you had survived. I wanted them to know that you had made it through the war, despite what they did to you." Ginny replied. "They aren't your family, Harry. You might be related but they were never your family. The fact that your uncle treated you the way he did just now and your aunt still stands next to him proves that."
Speaking of his aunt, Harry and Ginny were getting ready to return to Hogsmeade when Petunia came out the door, clearly looking for Harry. Harry looked at Ginny meaningfully. Quickly, she got his meaning and Apparated back to Hogsmeade, leaving Harry alone with his aunt, who was approaching quickly.
"Yes?" Harry asked.
Petunia stopped several feet short of Harry. She looked at him, her eyes locking with his. He knew that she recognized the shade of green in his eyes and knew that it reminded her of her sister.
"You were right." Petunia said softly.
"About what?" said Harry.
"I was jealous of Lily. She was better than I was in every way. She was smarter, more attractive, more sociable. And then, of course, she developed magic."
Tears streamed down Petunia's face as she spoke. It was clear to Harry that she had avoided talking about these times with Lily, the good times, for years, likely to avoid incurring Vernon's wrath.
"I knew nothing about the magical world and yet I knew that she was different, better. Magic came as easy as breathing to her. Then, she found someone so unlike her and they were so happy and I hated her for that. She had everything that I ever wanted and it was so goddamn easy for her. When I saw you on the front step, the morning that he dropped you off here, I could only see all of the things about my sister that I had wanted to have but never could. I hated you for it, despite the fact that you were a baby. I hated that my stupid sister had gotten herself killed and that I had been saddled with a second infant. I hated that you looked exactly like her husband and that you had her eyes.
Petunia's eyes, which had long avoided Harry's, finally rose to meet his.
"I'm sorry. I know that I don't deserve your forgiveness and that it's too late to fix what I've done. But I am sorry."
Harry was frozen in place, unable to do anything for a moment, as he looked at this aunt, who had just come out of her house to apologize to Harry. Based on the look on her face, she was clearly expecting Harry, who she knew was a good person, to forgive her.
Instead, Harry laughed.
"You really are something." Harry said. "You know my mother had to deal with the fact that she lived in a different world, a world away from her family. She had to deal with the fact that her only sister was a jealous pig and that she lived in the midst of a civil war among her people. You think she had everything? In our world, people born to Muggle parents are treated like second class citizens. The only people who should have loved her unconditionally were her parents and her sister and she couldn't even rely on you for that."
"She wasn't even given a chance to live a real life. She graduated from school and was instantly thrust into a war. Then, she gave birth to the person prophesied to kill the darkest wizard of their age, forcing them to go into hiding. You know what happened next, right? Oh, that's right, she was murdered."
Harry stepped towards Petunia so that he was only inches away from her. He didn't want to shout but he had more to say.
"You can take your apology and shove it." Harry growled. "You are pathetic. Dudley treated me like garbage for years but he has you and that walrus for parents so no one should have expected him to turn out well. Vernon was a Muggle and a fucking despicable human being to begin with so, again, if he didn't treat his nephew, the son of a witch and a wizard well, who could blame him? But you? You are my aunt by blood. You are my mother's sister. When given the choice to show an orphan a loving home or to torture him for the first decade of his life, you chose the latter."
Petunia tried to defend herself. "It was Vernon." she sputtered.
"It was you. I was your nephew. You had a choice to make and you made it. You chose that cow and in turn, you doomed me to ten years of living in a closet! My mother still loved you on the day she died. But you took her memory and you spat on it. What makes you think that I would ever forgive you for something like that? We are the product of our choices. Someone once told me that there would be a time when we had to choose between what was right and what was easy. On the day that you found me on your doorstep, you chose easy."
"Know that my mother is looking down you and all she sees is disappointment."
Harry turned away from his Aunt Petunia and Number Four Privet Drive for the last time, leaving his aunt sobbing on the pavement of the sidewalk, contemplating what she had done.