A/N: Thank you for the reviews, follows and favs. I was actually surprised with them, and how quickly someone came across with this story.

2 - New Directions

The three of them spent a few weeks in the hospital not only due to the physical injuries but also for the mental ones. At first Petunia and her boys were put into different wards, the pediatric ward was on a different floor, but even with visits from her the kids always became restless and it hindered their recovery. Petunia was also affected by the visiting since she actually did those against the doctor's orders to stay put, lest she opened the deeper cuts on her back. So Petunia had been transferred to the boys' room. They tried their hardest to not think about it. Tried to only think about being safe, recovering.

Somehow none of their bones was broken. A couple fractured ones between Petunia and Harry since they caught the worst blows, but nothing that wouldn't heal. Most likely there would be scars, though they could be hidden under their clothes the reminders were still there. Reminders of what happened, and of what could have happened.

When all three received a clear bill of health and were deemed well enough to go home it was already July. On the way home there wasn't much talk between them, but Petunia always had her eyes alert and her close presence seemed to do good for the boys. Her thoughts on what would the state of the house be as well as on her children's welfare and how to better it.

Upon reaching the house's doorstep Petunia steeled herself for what was to come, but nothing prepared her for the onslaught of memories flooding her and the children's mind once they reached the living room and could clearly see the kitchen and a pool of dried blood beside the remains of a bloodied broken chair. Everything was still there, all the proof of a reality worse them nightmares. Not that the kids couldn't dream up something worse, Petunia was about to have even more trouble.

As she clutched the trembling boys in a hug to stop them from prolonging the sight, she thought of sending them to rest a bit in their rooms only to remember Harry's room. Stiffened and almost paralysed in place she glanced at the cupboard, Harry's room, and another reality slapped her in the face. How could she treat a child that way? How could she let Vernon treat the boy that way? He was her nephew, her blood, her family, her last link to her sister. When had she turned into such a thing that she began to hate a child that had done nothing but obey and love her? Why? Why not even a room? As each and every thought crossed her mind she tightened her hold on her nephew noticing how thin he was. Not thin, scrawny. Why? How, why did she let it get to this point? "I'm sorry." She said beginning to tear up, her throat constricting like a lump in there wouldn't let her say anything more.

"Mum...?" Dudley was confused. And even more than him, Harry was too. He couldn't even phantom why his aunt would apologise to him. At least he thought it was meant to him as she was looking him right in the eye with something that wasn't quite pity, regret?

Any lump be damned, Petunia had to put some of this out. "Sorry, Harry. The way I-we treated you was not right. I should never have let you work so much." She was in tears and hiccuping a little. A hand brushing gently at Harry's hair and face while the other drew soothing circles on Dudley's back.

"I-It's okay, aunt Petunia. It's not your fault." Harry definitely didn't know how to react to that so he blurted the first thing that came to mind. Never before in his short life had the boy been apologised to, and tears? And that gentle touch he craved so much growing up? He couldn't stop himself from leaning into the touch, it was already too late when he became aware of what he was doing. He could only steel himself and prepare for the blow.

Getting up Petunia placed a kiss on the top of her nephew's head and then one on her son's head. "Now boys you both go to your rooms and rest a bit. Harry, the guest room is now yours so take your things there. I'll call you two when dinner's ready. Now, off with you." she shooed them with an even more pained heart at remembering Harry's things.

While Petunia worked to put the house to some degree of normality thinking how good it was that they had a quick early lunch on the way home so she actually had some time to clean up the mess a little, two boys had to deal with a few hours to themselves and their thoughts.

Harry stood in the middle of the guest room still not knowing what to do. Aunt Petunia told him this was his room now, but this was too big. Why would anyone need so much space? Well, Dudley had two bedrooms, one solely for toys, and it didn't seem enough... But this was much bigger than his cupboard. He even brought his makeshift cot up, but there was already a bed there. Where to put it then? Looking around he put it in a corner away from the other things in the room lest he broke anything and his luck streak finished and sat down.

Luck... That seemed to sum the day and the last few weeks. All the hug and gentle touches from Aunt Petunia were highly addictive, he couldn't help but want more. He knew one shouldn't be greedy, then again what was he supposed to do? He was becoming a bad person just like his good for nothing parents. He was taking advantage of his aunt when she was blaming herself for everything. It's not her fault... It's his fault, right? Always harry's fault... But those hugs...

The boy fell asleep dreaming about hugs and a better life where he made his aunt proud of him. Meanwhile, another boy had a bit more difficult time with his alone moments...

If one paid enough attention, it was possible to hear the telltale of a crying Dudley. So much had happened, he didn't even know what exactly. First, his father freaked out and was so crazed he beat him and his mother beside beating his cousin. Dad never acted like that. He said he was fixing him, but there was nothing wrong with him. He was the same Dudley as always, his mum said so too. Why didn't his dad believe them? They never lied to dad before... Well, he did, but it was just putting the blame of something on the freak. There's nothing wrong with that, right?

Mum said everything would be okay, but he watched a lot of telly. He knew that when the police took someone away they wouldn't come back. The police took his father away and dad always said that the police were always right and only good for nothing people like Harry's parents were taken by them, so why did they take his dad away? Dad was just angry. It's not like he always acted that way... Well, there was this one time he saw him hit Harry really hard and throw him in his cupboard. But that's not wrong, right?

He even dreamed once that it was him being thrown in the cupboard by his father; that night his mum even slept in the same bed as him in the hospital. It was a tough month. Being in the same room with Harry at night was really hard, his cousin had even more nightmares than he did; he never screamed, though, but Dudley was a smart child and he knew the silent whimpering was from nightmares. Mum and the doctors were worried about pain, but Dudley knew better: Harry was just trying to get mum's attention.

Maybe his cousin did some freak stuff with father. Father would never be tricked by his cousin. Dudley had to protect mum from his cousin, he couldn't let the same thing that happened to father happen to mum. What would Dudley do without his mum? He had to make her see it was his cousin's fault.

Petunia was almost finished with dinner, only the meatballs needed a few more minutes in the boiling sauce and the simple pasta she prepared for dinner would be ready. When she went outside to throw away the living room rug and the broken things from the kitchen she noticed an owl perched near the trash bin. Now that she thought about it there was one like that on that fateful day, the one she sent Dudley's Hogwarts letter away with, this one should be for her nephew. Of course Harry was a wizard. That much she always knew, that's why it was such a surprise to know her own son was one as well. She went through the accumulated mail, found the letter, signed it and dispatched it away with the owl. The last thing she needed now was even more attention from the neighbours than she already had. On her way back inside she called the boys down for dinner and then went to set the table and turn off the stove.

Dudley arrived first in the kitchen as always. "Mum. Can't we send Harry away?"

"Sweetie?" Petunia blinked owlishly at her son and nephew, who had just arrived at the kitchen. Both couldn't understand where that came from, though Harry was not surprised since he actually asked himself the same at least a thousand times before.

"Mum, he did something I'm sure. F-Father would never do what he did, right?"

"I-I did nothing, Aunt Petunia. I swear, please." Harry knew that if he wasn't taken in by the Dursley's he would be at an orphanage and Uncle Vernon did tell him those places were bad.

Petunia sighed. Better do it at once lest her son turned out like Vernon. "I know Harry. If anyone is to blame, that's me." Both boys were shaking their heads vigorously at that. "Now, sit down boys. I'll try and explain a bit of I know. Maybe that will help." She helped the boys serve themselves. Harry was still fidgeting a bit being sat at the table with the family, one more thing for her to work on.

"Before anything I want you both to know that magic is real." She held a hand up to stop them from saying anything. "Yes, it is true. Magic exists and you both are wizards. You have magic, just like your mother Harry. My sister Lily was a witch, she had magic. One day she received a letter, just like the one each of you did, inviting her to study at Hogwarts. That's a school where they teach... magic."

"But I didn't receive any letter." Harry protested. Petunia handed each their respective letter proving that indeed he had.

"Yours arrived either today or when we were away, dear." Harry sat up straighter at the endearment and Dudley was confused.

"But f-father said-" He started already half believing his mum.

"Vernon knew about magic too. He, much like myself, wanted to ignore it and treat it like some kind of freakishness. I admit I was a bit jealous of Lily, she had magic and I didn't. It was hard for a young me to understand that. My- Our parents were so proud to have a witch in the family and Lily was always their perfect daughter..." At the look on Harry's face that she couldn't for the life of her understand she stopped that line of thought. "Sorry. I was ranting."

Harry shook his head, he could understand that feeling too well. Dudley though wanted to hear a bit more about magic. "But how do we do magic? Why does everyone think it's not real?"

Petunia thought a bit about how to answer that and took out and served the ice cream they bought on the way home before doing so. "I don't really know how you can do magic, sweetie. I remember that Lily had to use this wood stick, she swished and flicked and did a few other strange movements with it and things happened. There was also this cauldron where she put things inside and said she was making potions. She said it was a bit like cooking, she made this foul tasting potion once for dad's pain and he said it worked." At the mention of cooking Harry perched up and Dudley scrunched his face.

"There was this place where she had to go to buy her school things. You had to enter this really shabby place and the wall opened up to a street with magic stores. I think the most strange was that they took the train for school at King's Cross Station. You had to go through a wall to get to the platform." she said remembering that she was actually fascinated with everything magical once.

"But, mum, weren't Harry's parents good for nothing drunks?" Dudley asked actually innocently.

At that, Harry looked pensive. "He's right, Aunt Petunia. Uncle Vernon said-"

Sighing she interrupted the boys before Vernon's words destroyed everything again. "That was a lie. Vernon, and I, didn't want to talk about magic. Lily met your father at Hogwarts, dear. Your father was a wizard too. I don't know how your parents actually died, Harry. The only thing I heard from Lily was that there was some kind of war going on at the time. By the time you were born I wasn't talking to her anymore. I'm sorry."

The boys nodded and Harry went to help put the dishes in the sink. Petunia told them to go up, brush their teeth and go to bed. Dudley did as told right away while Harry looked from the sink to his aunt with a questioning look. "Go, dear. I'll wash the dishes." She told the boy and he went away still looking back a few times.

Dudley had a lot to think and dream about this night and was asleep as soon as he hit the pillow, he didn't even notice his mother entering the room to give him his goodnight kiss and tuck him in. Harry was almost asleep when he saw the door opening. "Aunt Petunia?"

"Not asleep yet, dear?" The boy nodded from the cot and she sighed sitting on the bed and motioning for the boy to do so as well. When he did she went to tuck him in and give him his goodnight kiss. "This bed, and everything in this room, is yours, dear. Now is too late to put anything away so we'll wait 'till tomorrow to throw that cot away, but we will throw it away. Understood?" At the boy's nod, she kissed him again and went her way for a well deserved night of sleep.

Harry put his hand over the place his aunt had kissed him at and smiled thinking about the talk from dinner before falling asleep. 'Maybe being a wizard isn't so bad. I even get goodnight kisses, two at that.'