Chapter 14. Making a Move.
Petunia had risen almost an hour before the alarm clock went off, unable to sleep any longer, and she was waiting nervously in the living room.
Harry had also gotten up, accustomed to being an early riser, and began preparing breakfast.
"Aunt Petunia, shall I prepare something for Dudley too?"
"No need, he can make it for himself."
"I don't mind, it takes me just as much time to make breakfast for him, too."
"You can make it for him if you want, but if he doesn't thank you, don't make it for him next time."
"All right." said Harry cheerfully.
Dudley came down the stairs sleepily.
"Is there anything for breakfast?" he asked, remembering that the day before he'd had to fix it for himself.
"Harry's cooking, but you'd better thank him or he won't do it again."
"All right." he said with a pout.
He sat down at the kitchen table and Harry set a plate of food in front of him. "Thank you, Harry." said Dudley reluctantly. Petunia walked over to them and said. "Since Harry has made breakfast, it's Dudley's turn to pick up."
Dudley went to protest, but remembering what had happened the previous time, decided against it.
There was a knock at the door and Petunia was startled. She went to open it immediately.
"Good morning Severus. Good morning Poppy."
"You remembered this time."
"Yes, though I wouldn't rule out calling you Madam Pomfrey a few more times."
"Are you sure you'd prefer Poppy to go with you?" asked Snape.
"Yes, she's more than capable of helping me if I need it, but she doesn't look as sinister and menacing as you do, no offense. I don't want Vernon to think I'm hiding behind you."
Poppy was chuckling. Snape said impassively, "Don't let appearances fool you. She may be even more dangerous than I am."
"Come on, Severus, don't talk like that or people might think you're capable of making a joke." said Poppy. "Let's go to Severus' house and from there we'll use the Floo network to get to Mrs. Figgs' house."
"Are you sure we won't need a van?"
"Of course not, I'll downsize whatever you have to take with you and we'll put it in this bag." she said waving a leather bag. "There'll be plenty of room."
Petunia shrugged and walked over to the couch to grab her bag. At that moment Dudley walked into the living room and stared at her.
"Is there something you want to tell me, Dudley?" Petunia asked calmly.
"I was wondering if you could bring me something."
"I've already told you what I'm going to bring you, and the big TV is your father's."
"It's not that, but it's also something big."
Petunia tried not to get upset, but it was hard after the discussion they'd had the day before, when Dudley had made a list of what he wanted to bring from the other house. "Tell me what you want."
"The bike."
Petunia hadn't expected that. "You've only used it the day your aunt gave it to you."
"It's just that Harry and the others go out riding around, and I borrowed one the other day, but mine is better."
"I don't know if we can bring it." said Petunia looking at Poppy.
"What's a bike?" Poppy asked.
"A Muggle vehicle, with wheels that are powered by pedals. It's about the length of a broom, though it's taller." Snape explained.
"Of course we can bring it, I think it's an excellent idea." the smiling witch said . "That's what I say, exercise is good for children."
"Alright, we'll bring it to you." Petunia said smiling.
"Good!" Dudley replied.
From the kitchen doorway Harry made a small gesture of triumph. "Then you can come with us every time."
Dudley walked back into the kitchen. "Can you help me pick up?" he asked Harry.
"Okay." the other said.
Petunia sighed. "It's Dudley's turn, but he always takes advantage of Harry's kindness."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't leave all the work to him." Snape said.
The two women headed to Snape's house to use his fireplace. Poppy led Petunia by the hand, because Muggles couldn't use the Floo network without a chaperone.
Mrs. Figgs was waiting for them in her house, which was full of stacked boxes.
"Good morning." she greeted them.
"I see you've almost got everything ready." Poppy commented .
"Yes, tomorrow I hope to be able to finish." she confirmed.
"Mrs. Figgs, have you seen Vernon these days?"
"Yes, I'm afraid he's thrown your clothes in the trash." Mrs. Figgs replied.
"That was to be expected. He's always taken it badly when he's been taken against." Petunia said calmly. "Actually we've come mainly for the children's things. I'd rather buy my own clothes and dispense with Vernon's opinion this time."
Poppy nodded. "Well, here we go."
Petunia drew herself up a little. "Yeah, waiting isn't going to make it any easier."
Both women headed for number 4 with purposeful strides. Petunia knocked on the door and after a while Vernon opened it.
"I'm not buying anything." he said gruffly before even looking at who it was.
"I'm not coming to sell anything, but to take Dudley and Harry's things."
"You're not taking anything from this house." he said advancing towards her menacingly.
Petunia backed up a step, but Madam Pomfrey did the opposite. She drew her wand and pointed it between Vernon's eyes. This time it was he who backed away.
"You heard my friend. We're going in and we're going to take your son's and nephew's toys, clothes, books and personal belongings, and Petunia's personal belongings as well." she said crisply.
Petunia pushed past Vernon to go inside, and headed for Dudley's room. Poppy entered after her, still pointing her wand at Vernon, and when he turned to follow her with his eyes, she took the opportunity to close the door with a flick of her wrist. She went up the stairs to catch up with Petunia.
"Here you go." Poppy said enlarging some boxes and offering them to her.
"Thank you." Petunia replied placing the boxes on the bed. Both women went about folding the clothes and putting them away, then they started on the toys and books. Before long they had finished and Poppy reduced the boxes to put them in the bag.
"Let's go to the cupboard." Petunia said .
They went down the stairs and Petunia opened the cupboard door. Inside were just a few old toys, along with some drawings and crafts from school. Petunia decided to take everything, because she didn't know what might be valuable to Harry. She glanced sideways at Poppy, embarrassed.
"What matters is that Harry is fine now." the other woman said.
Before she left she wanted to lift the mattress to see if there was anything underneath. As she reached for the pillow she noticed something harder. She looked inside the pillowcase and pulled out a sort of mouse-eared bonnet, which was folded neatly.
"It's the costume I made Harry for the school function."
"Yes, he told us about that function. Something about some mice that turned into horses. He told it with great enthusiasm."
"It's true, he loved it. And it's just a few pieces of fabric sewn into an old headband, but making it was fun. I got together with the other mothers, because there were four children who would be the mice, to make the costumes so they would be similar. It was my idea that the fabric could be turned around to look like a horse's head. One of the mothers provided the fabric and the sewing machine. When we finished I was asked if I wanted to continue helping with the school functions, but Vernon said I had to take care of my family and didn't have time for that nonsense."
"Now no one will tell you what to do with your time." Poppy said .
Petunia walked over to the living room. Vernon looked at her angrily. "Are you two done yet?"
"No, I'm going upstairs to get my mother's jewelry. You can have this in return." she said holding out her hand. Vernon didn't do as well as approach and Petunia set a gold and diamond ring on the coffee table.
"Fine with me, that ring was my mother's, and you don't deserve it."
"Well there you have it. I don't want anything of yours." Petunia said coolly.
The jewelry box was locked, but that was no problem for Poppy. Petunia looked around and picked up a few more items, like some photo albums.
"Maybe Vernon would like to have these pictures too." she said thoughtfully.
"No problem." Poppy said duplicating the albums.
They went back down to the living room. "All that's left is to go to the garage. Dudley wants his bike."
"He hasn't used it since Marge gave it to him." Vernon sneered .
"He might use it now."
"Take it, but don't even think of coming back."
"Certainly not, I don't intend to set foot in this house again. It looks like a pigsty now," Petunia said looking around and taking note of the bags and containers of prepared food, and the dirty clothes strewn about the room. "You can tell the mess doesn't bother you so much when you don't have two slaves to go cleaning up after you."
Petunia was about to leave, but first decided to say goodbye. "If you contact me, make it about some important Dudley related matter, everything else you can consult with my lawyer."
Vernon just snorted.
She opened the door and gave way to Poppy, just before she closed it she turned to him one last time. "Goodbye, Vernon." and without waiting for a reply she closed behind her.
The garage was open, so they took the bicycle they had gone to get, Poppy shrunk it and they put it in the bag with the other things. Then they went back to Mrs. Figgs' house.
"That was quick." the old lady commented.
"Fortunately." Petunia replied with a sigh of relief. Then she looked at Poppy. "Let's go home."
As they got into the house Petunia saw Snape reading in one of the armchairs. She looked up and gave them a slight wave.
"Have they been good?"
"I've had to tell Dudley to work with a little more enthusiasm, because he does everything too slowly so Harry gets tired of waiting and ends up doing it for him."
"Yes, it's not the first time he's done it."
"Nor will it be the last." Poppy said.
"They've been reading for an hour and I've let them out to play with the other kids. I've told them to be back at 1 o'clock for lunch, and that if they're late they won't be able to go out this afternoon."
Petunia nodded. "Agreed."
Snape stood up and turned to Poppy. "Do you want to go back to Hogwarts already?"
"I have to enlarge what we brought from Mr. Dursley's. Petunia, if you like I'll come with you and we'll drop the boxes off in the appropriate rooms."
"I thank you, Poppy."
"I'm going home. You can come and use the fireplace whenever you like, I'm going to be home for the rest of the day." Snape informed.
"Thanks, I don't think we'll be long with this."
After taking the bike out of the bag and enlarging it in the back yard, they both went upstairs and busied themselves with the boxes. A while later Poppy said goodbye.
"I've been told by Severus that he'll bring you an owl so you can communicate with us. If you need anything at all send me a letter. In any case I'll be back in a couple of weeks to check on the children and have tea with you."
"I thank you for all you have done for me. I assure you I will take good care of Harry."
"I'm sure you will. Keep an eye on Dudley, too. He may not have ever been starved or beaten, but I've always felt that allowing a child to always get his own way, eat whatever he wants whenever he wants, think he has the right to abuse others, and not learn to value what he has is also a form of abuse."
Petunia nodded. "I think you're right. I'll keep an eye out for both of you."
"Best of luck." Poppy said sincerely.