Chapter 55: Last Will and Testament of Petunia Dursley
Harry was sitting on his bed in tower when he felt a bit of heat on his arm. He knew what that meant. The Order Of the Phoenix had what's called a phoenix mark. It was similar to the dark mark in that it was a tattoo but would only heat up, never burn or cause pain when Albus summoned the Order. He told Ron that he had to go, and he quickly went to the common room fireplace to go to Grimmauld Place.
"Harry, are you sure you can use the Floo powder?" Ron asked. "You remember what happened last time..."
"Yeah, well, I have been practicing since my trip to the alternative universe," Harry said. "I have to go Ron. Tell Hermione I'll be back later and we can work on the transfiguration essay."
He took in the serious faces of the assembled people as he stepped out of the fireplace. Mrs. Figg sat at the head of the table with a box and parchment in front of her.
"Mrs. Figg?" Harry asked.
"Harry, come sit next to me," said Mrs. Figg.
Harry took the seat to her left. Mrs. Figg looked at Albus, and Albus called the meeting to order.
"I'm truly sorry to interrupt anything you were doing before this, but I obtained the will of Vernon and Petunia Dursley. I felt you all should be present," said Albus.
Mrs. Figg cleared her throat. "I'm only going to read the part pertaining to Harry," she said briskly. "To our nephew, Harry James Potter, we leave the blanket he arrived with and a photo album from his parents. I, Petunia Dursley, leave a note to my nephew, explaining my feelings."
Mrs. Figg first handed Harry a faded blanket, which he took, feeling tears gathering in his eyes. She then passed him the photo album. As he flipped through the pages, the tears ran down his face. There were pictures of his mum and dad holding him, of Sirius and Remus playing with him, and of his dad attempting to cheer up a screaming baby by tossing teddy bears at him. The teddy bears zoomed away as the howling child flailed his arms.
"But why did she keep these things?" Harry asked. "I thought she hated me!"
Mrs. Figg handed him a piece of paper. It read:
Harry,
I know I've never been that fond of you, and not very nice to you, and I let your Uncle Vernon do whatever he wanted to you, and I didn't help with that, but I do want you to know that I love you. Lily and I used to get along, but after she got accepted to Hogwarts, I wanted to go, and I couldn't. I was jealous Harry. From that day on, I hated even the mention of magic. I'm sorry I wasn't a very good motherly figure to you Harry, but I hope that you'll understand that it was just because jealously was getting in the way of me loving you like a son.
I do not know if Uncle Vernon loves, or even likes you, but just know that I do, and if I could go back and change things, I would.
Aunt Petunia
By now, Harry was sobbing, catching everyone's attention. "Harry, what's wrong?" Albus asked, coming up behind his ward to offer comfort to the distraught teen.
Harry handed him the letter, and Albus smiled at him. "It seems, my dear boy, she did love you," he said quietly.
Harry nodded, not knowing what to say. The meeting went on around him for an hour or so longer but Harry was not aware of the proceedings. Harry made it back to gryffindor tower in a daze. His friends grabbed him as soon as he exited the floo, and pulled him over to a couch in the corner of the common room. Harry explained that his aunt left items for him in her Will.
"Are you kidding me?" Ron asked. "She LOVED you?"
"Yeah," Harry said
"Jealousy?" Ron asked. "What does that mean?"
"Ronald Weasley! Are you sixteen or six?" said Hermione. "Oh for Merlin's sake! It means an unhappy or angry feeling of wanting to have what someone else has!"
"Oh," Ron said, ears tinged pink. "Well then, if she wanted to be that way, then fine!"
"I think it makes sense," said Hermione.
"Me too," Harry said. "And at least I know that she loved me deep down."
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