2 Unexpected

When Severus Severus apparated to Privet Drive, he was disgusted by the Muggle-ness of the place. Every gingerbread house was identical, down to perfectly manicured lawns. Even the automobiles in the driveways seemed to match. He forced himself to ignore those sentiments. This trip was a difficult enough business without that distraction.

He hadn't bothered to dress like a muggle, but he had used a notice-me-not charm until he was actually on the doorstep. Once there, his attire would be to his advantage. Black wizards robe and a black cloak were not typically seen in the Dursley residence; he would be willing to bet. Severus knocked loudly, sneer at the ready. This should be fun.

"Boy! Get the door!"

That had to be the muggle Petunia had married. Severus waited. After a moment, the door was opened by a scrawny facsimile of James Potter. The boy looked so much like his father that Severus felt tempted to curse him on the spot, except for the fact that he seemed too small to be eleven years old. It would seem that there were reasons for this visit after all.

"Can I help you, Sir? Potter asked politely and too timidly for Severus's liking. James Potter had never said a timid word in his life.

"I am here to speak to your guardians," Severus told the boy, recovering himself.

"Yes, Sir. Uncle Vernon, there is someone here to speak to you." Severus heard Potter say from inside the house.

"Tell him to go away, Boy. We don't want any," Dursley snapped.

Severus was getting more and more annoyed the longer this went on. For one thing, neither Potter nor Dursley were acting appropriately. Potter was polite but subservient. Dursley was just plain rude. His tone of voice did not indicate temporary annoyance. This was clearly the way he usually treated his nephew. Enough was enough.

Pushing the door in, Severus entered a hallway that led to a sitting room full of garish furniture where a huge muggle, obviously Dursley, was beached in front of a muggle television. Seeing Severus in his house, he began sputtering and trying to get up. Potter stood against the wall as if trying to be invisible. Severus windlessly turned off the television. No one noticed.

"Who are you? What is the meaning of this? Get out of my house! I am calling the police!" Dursley yelled, his face turning various shades from red to purple as he did so.

"What is it, Vernon?

That could only be Petunia herself. Her husband's shouting had brought her running from what must have been the kitchen because she was wearing an apron and drying her hands as she came in. She hadn't gotten any better looking with age. While her husband was overly fat, she was as thin as a rail and horse-faced. When she saw Severus, she stopped dead in her tracks and narrowed her eyes into an expression of disgusted fury. Then, inexplicably, she turned to Potter.

"Boy! What is he doing here?" Petunia demanded.

"What?" Potter was genuinely confused by everything that happened. He removed himself from the wall to glare at his aunt. "I have no idea! He just came to the door!"

"You let him in!" Petunia shrieked, reaching out to grab him by the ear.

"I did not!" Potter defended himself, trying to pull away from her grasp.

"Freak!" Petunia continued, "It's not bad enough your mother has to go off and get herself blown up and leave us to deal with you, but then you have to go and be just like her!"

Starting out loud and getting louder, by the time Petunia got to the last three words, she was hysterical. She had let go of Potter, fortunately, but now he was staring at her as if she had grown two heads. Severus was watching the entire thing as if it were a slow-motion potions lab explosion, and he was helpless to stop it.

"What do you mean blown up?" Potter demanded incredulously. "You said my parents died in a car crash!"

That was it for Severus. He could tell that Petunia and Potter were both in hysterics, and Dursley was not far behind. However, he seemed to not know what to say to his wife or what to do about his nephew. The last piece of information made Severus just as angry as the rest of them, though, even though he had plenty of experience trying to control his temper.

"A car crash?" Severus demanded incredulously. "You told the child his parents died in a car crash?"

Petunia stared at him, blinking as if she was seeing him for the first time. "We had to tell him something." She responded coldly. "We were certainly not going to tell him the truth."

"Certainly not!" Dursley had found his voice. "We swore when we took him in we were going to put an end to this nonsense."

"Nonsense?" Severus half-turned to look at the man, who had found his feet but seemed to be trying to decide if he should approach Severus. "And what nonsense would that be, Dursley?"

"You know," Dursley sputtered, "All that funny business! Freaky stuff. The boy is just like them. It's not going to happen, you know. He's not going to that place. I'll not have it."

"Hogwarts?" Severus inquired evenly.

"Do not! Do not mention that unnaturalness in my house! I'll not have it!" Dursley snapped.

"Oh really, Dursley? You are going to stop the boy from going to Hogwarts? How exactly did you intend to do that? By stopping him from opening the letter?" Severus sneered.

"What is Hogwarts?" Harry demanded. "What does the letter say? What are you all talking about? What happened to my parents?"

Severus was tempted to reprimand the boy for interrupting when the adults were talking. Still, at this point, his guardians were more annoying. Besides, the boy had a right to know the information that was being kept from him. Severus reached into his cloak pocket, retrieved Harry's Hogwarts letter, and handed it to the boy.

"No!" Dursley shouted. "He is not going."

"Regardless of whether or not you think he is going, the letters are not going to stop until he opens one and reads it, Dursley. Even an idiot muggle like you should have figured that out by now. Do you want the letters to stop or not?" Severus asked.

Defeated, Dursley glared at Severus. He looked at his wife and then at the boy. "Fine. He can open it. But he is not going!"

Harry looked at the letter as if it were an enshrined artifact. Severus was tempted to deride Harry but acknowledged that the boy had been likely trying to get at his letters for days. He also had not been told he was a wizard. Severus suddenly felt hopelessly inadequate. He never thought he would be the one to tell Harry Potter that.

Slowly, the boy opened the letter and read it silently. The three adults waited, no one saying a word. All eyes were on Potter. Finally, the boy looked at each one in turn, finally settling on Severus. Deep, emerald green eyes that were piercing pools of soul. Harry Potter might have looked like his father, but he had his mother's eyes.

"Is this a joke?" Potter asked.

Whatever Severus had been expecting, it wasn't that. He stared at the boy, painfully aware that his eyes must be bulging out of his face. The boy could not possibly think that his aunt and uncle had a sense of humor. He had lived with them since he was a year and a half old, after all. Severus had spent ten minutes with them and knew that.

"Surely you know better, Potter," Severus spat.

"Right," Potter acknowledged. He seemed resigned.

"Potter?" Severus asked, trying to understand the boy's despondent attitude.

"It's a mistake, Sir. First of all, if magic really existed," Potter was cut off with ejaculations of disgust and horror from both his aunt and uncle at that word, "I could not possibly be a wizard. I am just Harry. There is nothing at all special about me. Surely you can see that."

By the time Potter finished, Severus was thinking that the joke was being played on him instead. The boy seemed so downtrodden and sure of his mediocrity. He didn't notice the contradiction in his statement when he questioned magic's existence. Yet, his aunt and uncle had such a violent reaction to it.

"Right, Potter. And I'm a Death Eater," Severus grumbled, mostly to himself. "I am not going to argue this with you. Or you." The last part he directed to Dursley and Petunia. "I have delivered the letter. That was my task. However, there seems to be a problem here. A discussion between me and your aunt and uncle is required. A private discussion." Severus put enough emphasis and menace on the word that he hoped Potter's guardians got a healthy dose of fear from it. "I suggest you go find a friend to visit for an hour or two."

Dursley looked ready to object, but Potter beat him to it. "I can't, Sir."

"Excuse me?" Severus was not used to being questioned by children, and he let his displeasure be known in the tone of his response. The child mumbled a reply, and he snapped. "Speak up!

"I don't have any," Potter admitted. "Dudley beats up anyone who tries to be my friend."

"Who?"

"My cousin, Sir."

"Your cousin?" Severus demanded. Potter nodded. "Well, go somewhere then!"

With a glance at his aunt and uncle, but not really asking for permission, Potter fled out to the back garden, taking his letter with him. Severus glared at Dursley and Petunia for a few moments, trying to decide on the best course of action. He had not come with a specific plan.

"Very well. Let's begin. Both of you have a seat," Severus indicated the sofa in front of him.

"Now see here," Dursley said with a glare. "This is my house, man. Who are you to order us around? What makes you think we will listen?"

Severus withdrew his wand, which had surprisingly not yet made an appearance. "If you are smart, Dursley, you will listen before I make this much more unpleasant."

At the sight of the wand, they both reacted in a way that seemed entirely out of proportion. Severus's tone had been matter of fact. He had not raised his voice. Yet the wand made Petunia shriek and Vernon turn purple again. It did get results, though. They both moved to the sofa and sat.

"Very good," Severus told them. "Now, let's begin with the obvious. Why did you prevent Potter from opening his letter? You never told him about his parents? His heritage?"

"I told you!" Dursley was already shouting. This did not bode well for him keeping all of his extremities. "He is not going!"

Severus ignored him and turned to Petunia, who had her lips pursed as if she had just sucked a particularly sour grapefruit. He gave her a pointed look.

"How does an eleven-year-old not know he is a wizard?" Severus asked her.

She responded with a dramatic sigh.

"I knew, once my sister met you, that you would be her downfall," she told him simply.

Severus gaped at her. Of all of the things he expected her to say, that was not on the list. She was blaming him for her sister's death. The fact that she was right was no matter. There was no way she could know that.

"Do you think you can prevent your nephew from being a wizard by keeping him from going to Hogwarts?" he demanded incredulously.

"Do not speak of that nonsense in my house!" Dursley spat.

"Let's get one thing straight, Dursley," Severus reared on the man. There had been enough playing nice with these two. "I am in charge now, not you. I will have no more derogatory comments about magic, wizards, or Potter's parents. We are going to have a civilized conversation about this. If you cannot abide by those terms, we can always have an uncivilized one."

He let the threat hang in the air for a moment, making sure they understood what he was telling them. After all, these had to be two of the thickest human beings he had the displeasure of interacting with. He was almost beginning to feel pity for Potter.

"Now, I will ask you again. Is that why you kept the letter from Potter? To prevent him from going to Hogwarts?" Severus demanded.

Even though Petunia flinched when he said the word "Hogwarts," after a moment, she nodded.

"Thank you," Severus told her. "That was not hard, now was it?" He did not wait for an answer. "Now, surely you must realize that Potter is a wizard, and you are not, in fact, going to be able to prevent him from going there."

This got no reaction. The Dursleys might as well have been toddlers pretending that he couldn't see them because they weren't looking at him. Dursley was looking at the television, which was off, and Petunia was staring at the floor. This went on for several minutes until Severus put an end to it.

"You have heard of the Dark Lord?" Severus snapped. He thought he saw a slight reaction in Petunia, so he threw caution to the wind and added. "Lord Voldemort?" He clenched his teeth and pressed his fingers to the (thankfully faded) Dark Mark. Even now, he avoided the name.

That got a reaction. Petunia's head snapped up, and she narrowed her eyes at Severus. She looked like she was about to speak, but instead, she just looked to Dursley, who hadn't moved his eyes from the television. If Severus didn't know better, he would think the man was imperiused.

"So, you have," Severus confirmed. "You know, I am sure, that wizards have ways of cheating death. Unfortunately, the Halloween night that saw the monster vanquished was not the end of him. That's right, Petunia. He is weakened, not dead. He has ways of returning. When he returns, he will be looking for your nephew. Do you want to leave him unable to defend himself?"

"Why should he need to?" Dursley scoffed, looking at Severus for the first time. "He was able to smoke that nutter as a baby. Didn't have any magic tricks then!"

"Are you daft, man?" Severus snarled. It was all he could do not to hex the man. That was the most idiotic drivel he had heard in a long time. "First of all, I will not bother to explain the complicated magic that allowed Potter to survive the Killing Curse as an infant to a mere Muggle such as yourself, especially since you just had to audacity to use the word "magic tricks" to me. He also did not "smoke" anyone, as I just explained."

Dursley just glared at him.

"You might want to keep in mind that if Potter is not safe, you are also not safe," Severus informed them.

"Then he should not be here either!" Petunia grumped.

"Excuse me?" Severus asked her.

"We never asked for him or even agreed to take him! We woke up one morning to find a baby with the milk bottles," Petunia was all but shrieking again. "That old man left us nothing but a baby and a note. A note!"

That old fool. Severus wouldn't put it past him. He wanted to use Lily's sacrifice, and he didn't trust Petunia to take the baby willingly, so he tricked her. He had to get her to bring the baby in, so he just left it on her doorstep. Anyone would take in a baby left alone on a doorstep on a cold November morning. It was a manipulative and cruel thing to do to everyone involved.

"Well," Severus didn't trust himself to respond. "That is beside the point. He is your nephew, and he has no other kin."

"So what? If he is so bloody important, why couldn't one of your kind take him?" Dursley asked.

That was another complicated bit of magic. Severus had assumed that the explanation had been in the letter. He looked at Petunia. She was looking off to the side, her head rested on her hand. She did know, then.

"It was necessary to keep him safe from followers of the Dark Lord," Severus said simply. "It does not appear, however, that you have taken very good care of him.

He expected indignant sputtering at this accusation. Instead, all he got was a defiant stare from Dursley and more avoidance from Petunia. They didn't even bother to deny it.

"Tell me, Petunia, why is Potter so skinny and short? Why are his clothes three sizes too big and full of holes? How often do you beat the boy, Dursley?" Severus demanded.

"I have never laid a hand on the boy!" Dursley insisted in a way that made it evident to Severus that he was lying.

Petunia didn't answer any of the questions addressed to her. Severus stood up and began fingering his wand as if it were a baton and he was a conductor of a symphony. The only question was which one to start with.

"Do you know what a Death Eater is, Petunia?" Severus asked conversationally.

No reaction.

"We have not seen each other since we were children. I believe you stopped seeing Lily off to Hogwarts after you had a falling out? Such a shame. You may not know, then, that she and I had a falling out as well in our fifth year. Do you know what it was about? I will tell you. It was because she felt that I was taking too much of a fancy to dark magic. She thought I had fallen in with a bad crowd. We had an argument, and I called her a name. After that, there was nothing to prevent me from that crowd. I joined them. You might wonder why I am telling you this. You see, I have been a spy for some years. I am a double agent, actually," Severus stopped here because his monologue was starting to get results. Even Dursley appeared to be listening with a sort of sick dread, and Petunia was turning pale.

"So?" Petunia spat.

"You might want to answer my questions with less resistance, Petunia. I am an interrogator. It's part of my job. I have been an interrogator for both sides. Do you understand what I am telling you?" Severus snarled, stepping closer and practically in her face.

She made a sound that was close to a squeak. Even Dursley seemed to be losing his bravado. Severus decided he almost had them where he wanted them.

"There are three basic methods at my disposal," Severus began educationally. "Veritaserum is a potion that requires the drinker to tell the total truth. There is also a curse that does that. It is one of the three Unforgivable Curses, but that is no matter. That has never stopped me before." Severus sneered at this part to give it extra believability. "Next, of course, there is legilimacy. This is a type of mind magic where I enter your mind and help myself to your memories and thoughts. You muggles often call it "mind-reading," but I assure you it is much more sophisticated than that. Also very painful." As was often the case with Muggles, this description caused more concern than the drug. "And finally, there is pain itself. Since I am a Death Eater, I have a wide repertoire of spells at my disposal for that, including several that I invented myself. So, which will it be?" Severus looked at them expectantly.

There was nothing for several long minutes, which was to be expected. They were in shock, after all. The two muggles were terrified of magic, and here they had a wizard in front of them describing in detail how he planned to torture them with it. Severus would be enjoying it, except for the fact that he didn't exactly have unlimited time and resources here.

Leaving the muggles on the sofa, he magically locked the front door and then went into the kitchen to see what Potter was up to. He saw the boy was just sitting on a lawn chair, looking at his letter. He magically locked to back door to prevent Potter from coming in to interrupt him and then returned to find the muggles having a frantic whispered conversation.

"Ahh, excellent," Severus told them dryly. "Have you come to a decision then?"

"No!" Dursley screeched. It was really quite undignified coming from the whale of a man. "We don't want … any of those whats-its!"

"That, unfortunately, is not up to you, Dursley," Severus responded, barely hiding his annoyance. "We are pressed for time, and you seem unable to tell me on your own. I am a busy man, and you are uncooperative."

"All right!" Petunia spat out.

"All right what?" Severus asked her.

"We will answer your questions. Just don't use any …"

Since she seemed unable to complete the sentence, apparently remembering at the last minute that Severus had forbidden derogatory comments about magic. Severus smirked at her. He doubted they would get through his questions without some kind of incentive.

"Where is your son?" he began.

"Dudley?" she squeaked. She hadn't been expecting that. "Leave him alone! This has nothing to do with him!"

"I beg to differ. Potter mentioned that your son beats up children that try to befriend him. Does he also physically assault your nephew?" Severus asked her pointedly.

There was no response to that. Apparently, while Petunia had been prepared to answer his questions, she had not expected her son to enter the conversation. She was trapped now.

"Very well," Severus told her. He zapped her with a mild stinging hex.

She shrieked as if he had used cruciatus on her, lolling over on the sofa.

"What have you done!" Dursley jumped to his feet and then turned to his wife. "Stop that! Stop that at once, I say!"

"I will, once you answer the question," Severus responded, pleased he had a response, though it had been such a mild hex. That was a pity.

"Yes! Are you happy? Yes. He does, occasionally. They are boys; naturally, they roughhouse," Dursley snapped.

"You are lying," Severus told him calmy. He stung Petunia again. It was no more potent than the last one, but this time she fainted.

"What are you doing to my wife?" Dursley demanded. He grabbed her and shook her, trying to get her to come to.

"She will be fine, as long as you answer my next question truthfully," Severus said. She had probably fainted from fright, but he was never going to tell this oaf that. "Does your nephew roughhouse with your son?" He scoffed the question with the contempt he clearly felt for the lie.

Dursley knew he had been had. "No," he licked his lips. "He likes it, though! He likes to run! It's a game they play."

"Did you seriously just try to tell me that your nephew enjoys being beat up on by your son?" Severus demanded. "Perhaps we should see how you like it? Pugnus ictus."

Severus then stood back, crossing his arms and watching his handiwork as the hex made it feel like Dursley was being punched repeatedly. By the time it had gone on for about five minutes, and the man was writhing on the floor, Severus lazily ended the spell before the man would be useless to him. One of them was already unconscious.

"Finite Incantatum," Severus sighed. He was going to have to give the man a moment to catch his breath.

Leaving Dursley writhing in pain, Severus walked over to Petunia. "Enverate."

"What did you do to me?" She demanded.

"Never mind that," he told her lazily. "Let's continue. Your husband needs a break."

She looked down and squealed, "Vernon!"

"Yes, yes," Severus sighed. "Why is your nephew so thin?"

Petunia glared at him. She slid off the sofa and cradled her husband's head in her hands in a surprisingly loving gesture. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing he didn't deserve. Answer my question."

He could tell she was about to lie. He decided to head her off. "If you lie, I will hex you before the words are even out of your mouth."

She made the grapefruit face again, clearly wondering how he knew what she was going to say. "We never asked to take the boy in. Why should he take food out of my son's mouth?"

Walking over to the mantel, Severus held up a Dursley family portrait. He noted that it only had three people in it. Potter was nowhere to be found. He was nowhere in any of the pictures in the room. He pointed to the overweight boy in the picture. "This is your son? He looks like eating his food as well as Potter's hasn't done him a bit of good."

Pursing her lips, Petunia had no response to that. She frowned. When she still did not speak after another minute, Severus decided to ask another question.

"This is a nice dwelling for a muggle residence. You and your husband have proper attire. It is tailored to fit correctly and not ripped or stained. Your shoes are the correct size. In the dozens of pictures in this house, your son is similarly clothed. Why is Potter the exception? He alone has clothing three sizes too big, shoes that don't fit, and clothing with rips and stains." Severus could barely contain his ire in this question. It was too similar to how he had grown up. He had never expected the son of the wealthy Potters to grow up the way he had.

"We didn't ask for him," Petunia responded weakly.

Severus growled. He didn't feel that a stinging hex was appropriate. Instead, he pointed his wand at her feet and murmured, "Furnunculus."

Petunia gasped and then screeched. She pulled her shoes and then her stockings off to find her feet were covered in boils. Then she turned a surprised and decidedly deadly glare at Severus.

"I am sure that Potter has blisters on his feet," Severus told her with a shrug.

"Get rid of them!" she hissed.

"Why should I? Have you ever lifted a finger to help your nephew?" he asked her.

"Why do you care? You lot left him here. No one has even checked on him. No one asked about him," she informed him snidely.

"As I understand it," Severus sneered, "that was part of your agreement with Dumbledore. He was under the assumption that you would care for the boy since you are kin. You are Lily's sister, after all. Lily was a kind, loving woman. Dumbledore is far too trusting some of the time."

"We were to raise him as we saw fit!" Dursley coughed from his place on the floor.

"Ahh, ready to join us, Dursley?" Severus asked. "Good." He levitated the man back to the sofa over his loud protestations, which were just a bonus to Severus. "Let's talk about how you raised the boy, shall we? I am assuming that by "raised," you mean you raised your hand to him?"

"I told you …"

"Now, now, Dursley," Severus warned, "lying to me is not a good idea. Just ask your wife."

Petunia scurried up onto the sofa next to her husband. "We discipline the boy, that's all. Every parent does. I am sure you do if you have your own children."

Severus snarled at her, "There is a difference between discipline and abuse."

"What makes you think we abuse the boy?" Dursley demanded.

"I am a professor at Hogwarts. I am very good at spotting it," Severus informed them. He thought he noticed a reaction from each of them. "Shall I tell you? The boy is timid. He stays just out of reach. Petunia grabs at him. You let your son beat up on him. You do not allow him friends. Neither of you calls him by his name. He is too pale and thin. His clothes and shoes are ill-fitting and in poor repair. He is not in any family photographs. I have not even seen his room yet. Shall we take care of that next?"

The Dursleys could not even hide their reaction to that question. Asking to see Harry's room got an immediate response. Petunia's eyes widened, and Dursley gritted his teeth. Severus had purposely left this question for last.

"Why is Potter's letter addressed to The Cupboard under the Stairs?"