CW: divorce, lawyers, counseling, self-harm(via cleaning)
:SEVENTEEN:
The next few weeks were, in a word, tumultuous. Harry adjusted the best, having already been dreaming about living with Remus full-time since that first visit. He also didn't have any possessions in the Dursley's home that he cared about, so he settled in right away. Dudley, on the other hand, was a tornado of tantrums.
Too young to really understand, all he really cared about were the mass amount of toys and trinkets that Petunia had not brought over. They had already decided not to return to that house until Petunia had decided how she wanted to proceed. Remus tried to carefully navigate the balance between overstepping and helping Petunia with her son, but it was very difficult.
Eventually though, Dudley settled into the routine Remus had maintained with himself and Harry. Watching them work in harmony with each other and seeing their relationship, Dudley found himself copying their behaviors. And, with each time Remus praised his good behavior and didn't tolerate the bad behavior, Dudley started to learn how to be part of this strange new home.
Petunia had undoubtedly gone through the worst of it. Remus tried to help as best he could, but her compulsions to clean had reached an all time high. His home had never looked so incredibly clean, but it came at a high cost to Petunia's body and mind. She was terrified to go to Gringotts, or anywhere Vernon might see her, or anywhere her old neighbors might try to talk to her. Which meant she was completely isolated from the outside world.
Finally, Remus couldn't stand it anymore. He sent the boys outside to play on the swings, then went into the kitchen where Petunia was meticulously cleaning the toaster oven.
"Petunia," Remus said firmly. "We need to talk about this."
Petunia stopped cleaning immediately, standing stock still. "Talk about what?"
"Your life, Petunia." Remus took a seat at the kitchen table. "Come sit down, please."
Very slowly, Petunia came to the table and sat down. Remus frowned as he caught sight of Petunia's hands, rubbed raw from all the cleaning and burned from the products she used.
"I understand you're hurting, and I've tried to give you space," Remus began. "But I don't think it's helping you anymore."
"I don't know what you mean." Petunia murmured petulantly. "I'm fine."
"Petunia, your hands!" Remus lost his patience. "If anyone knows what it's like to feel self-hatred, it's me, but this isn't going to work. Not only because it's hurting you, but because you have a son who needs you!"
Petunia's face snapped up to Remus', eyes blazing. "How dare you!"
But Remus wasn't finished. "We are leaving this house, Petunia! I've called a lawyer, I've called a counselor, and you are going to at least meet both of them!"
Petunia glowered at him, and for a few moments he thought she was going to refuse to go. But then she stood up and went to put on her shoes.
"Will you call Mrs. Walters?" She asked stiffly. "Someone needs to watch the boys."
Remus, startled by this change of events, went to call her.
"They'll be here in five minutes." Remus told Petunia as he passed to go into the back garden. "I'm going to let the kids know now."
She nodded, hands folded in her lap as she sat on the couch.
Harry shrieked with excitement when Remus told him Natalie was coming over, while Dudley blushed adorably. Remus gave them both hugs, told them to be good for Mrs. Walters, and then went back into the living room to wait. He felt bad for being so hard on Petunia, but at least it seemed to have worked.
Remus drove them first to the lawyer's office, where Petunia insisted Remus go in with her. They explained the process for divorce and how custody of Dudley would work if Petunia went through with it. It didn't look very good without her working or in her own home, but because Remus was there and Petunia said she had money saved up they thought it might work out where she'd get full custody. They scheduled a follow-up appointment and left with a stack of paperwork to fill out.
"Alright," Remus said once they were back in the car. "Do you want to go to the counselor or Gringotts next?"
Petunia shuddered. "I didn't like Gringotts, Remus. Everybody stared at us and those...things were really scary."
"Goblins, Petunia." Remus had been doing that the last few days - giving her the proper word for magical things. "And I'll be there the whole time - it'll be easy."
Although, Remus thought to himself as they entered the bank, it would definitely be for the best if they didn't have to go down into the vaults. He didn't think Petunia would appreciate those magical carts. So instead, he asked the goblini at the front desk if it were possible for him to switch the wizarding gold for muggle money without them going down there.
And luck was on his side, or rather a particularly friendly goblin, because he acquiesced to this arrangement after taking a small blood sample from Petunia to confirm her connection to the Potter vault. Remus had explained the rate of currency to Petunia, but she simply gawked at the numbers the goblin handed her when she asked how much was in Harry's vault. It was the only one she had access to, as she was Harry's guardian, but it was enough for several lifetimes.
She held her tongue all the way back to the car, but then raged against Dumbledore all the way home.
"I cannot believe he didn't even think to mention this!" She waved the paper with the finances on it. "What if we didn't have the means to care for Harry? There's no way he was following us long enough to know our circumstances before he just dropped Harry off in the middle of the night!"
"I understand your frustrations," Remus said calmly as they pulled into the parking lot. "But there may have been a very good reason why Dumbledore did things the way he did."
She did not believe him, and continued to murmur under her breath all the way into the counselor's office.
Remus sat back in the driver's seat to wait for her, relaxing for the first time in ages. He loved having Harry around full time, and he really didn't mind having Dudley or Petunia around either. He was just so tired though. And the full moon was coming up again, which he really ought to explain to Petunia soon. He just didn't want to jeopardize her progress with his problems.
By the time she got back in the car though, Remus had a plan.
"How was it?" He asked her gently as they drove home.
"It was...not terrible." Petunia admitted. "She gave me paperwork and explained things in a way that made sense."
Remus nodded, but he was beaming inside. He'd spent ages researching counselors in the area, choosing one far enough away that she'd never run into anyone she knew, but also one who seemed to share her values.
"So," Remus began. "The full moon is coming up soon and I'll need to leave for a couple days."
Petunia looked startled, but Remus continued before she could panic.
"I'll have Mrs. Walters come by with Natalie so you're not alone in the house." He assured her. "And I haven't seen Mr. Dursley or his car once so far, have you?"
Petunia shook her head, but kept biting her lip. "We should probably move, once the divorce is done."
"So, you've decided you want to go through with a divorce?" Remus asked, though he was pleased.
Petunia nodded. "It's the right thing to do for all of us. But I think we should look at places with two flats, so that you and Harry can do your…" She waved her hand as if that would explain what she meant.
"Magic?" Remus acknowledged, bemused.
She grimaced, but nodded. They had pulled back up to the house by now. As Remus began taking off his seatbelt, Petunia caught his attention.
"Thank you, by the way." She said quietly, holding the paperwork in her hands. "For not using magic around us like I asked. And for today too - it really helped."
"Certainly." Remus said awkwardly. "Now let's go have some lunch."
And that was that. Renewed with a new sense of purpose, Petunia raced through all of the paperwork and had it finished before the end of the afternoon. She had also scanned through the paper looking at various flats - she wanted a duplex so that Harry could stay with Remus while they all had some personal space. Cost was no longer an issue, so she felt incredibly confident as she circled a few options.
Life was moving forward, and this time Petunia felt ready to meet it.
Notes:
I really know very little about divorce or about currency. But now that I've wrecked my original plot, these are practical things we've got to get sorted out before we can rescue Sirius. Because as much as I think Petunia can become a better person and grow, I do not think her and Sirius could possibly live together without killing each other. And I think I've found a very clever way for Lily's charm to cover the building and also allow Harry to be with Remus and Sirius.
Fun fact: There was a huge spike in divorce rates in the early 1980's.
Happy Reading!