By: CNJ
PG-13
3: New Beginnings
Harry:
"Harry..." Marge salts her bangers and mash a little more as we eat that evening. "Part of the reason, I never stood up for you all those years ago was that Vernon had me cowed too." I nod and continue eating. "I tried not to show it, but when I was growing up, Vernon bullied me often, just the way I suspected Dudley bullied you."
"Oh, Marge, I'm so sorry," I sip my cup of tea and wait for her to go on.
"Vernon would do things like trip me, threaten me and he also teased me in front of classmates at school." Marge continues. "Mother and Dad never believed me when I tried to tell them; they'd say it was normal sibling rivalry. They rarely held Vernon accountable for his actions. He also bullied others in school and when notes came home about his bullying, Dad would brush it off and say that he didn't want a nicey-nancy son."
"That's what Vernon would say about Dudley when notes were sent home," I say, remembering how Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia sought excuse after excuse for Dudley's rotten behavior. "It's exactly what my uncle used to say...Dudley bullied others in school. I'd try to stand up for them, but Dudley would turn on me and since he was so much bigger, I always wound up flat on my arse with a split lip or bruised cheek. Usually my glasses were broken. Do you remember how I had that thick tape around the nose of my glasses? That was Dudley."
"I guessed that was it," Marge nods. "I was too cowardly to say anything when Vernon humiliated you and trashed your parents. I could see it hurt you and you tried to put on a front of bravado, but I could see your pain. If only I hadn't been so weak and stood up to your uncle."
"Y-you couldn't control his behavior," I say, reaching out to touch her hand. "He would have turned on you and maybe kicked you out and never let you see your nephew again."
"The truth is, by the time you and Dudley were pre-teens, I was finding Dudley repulsive too," Marge confesses. "Of course, I wasn't brave enough to confront them on that. Petunia barely tolerated me as it was. I must admit, I used to find your parents and you a bit strange, but recently, I've read up on wizardry and witchcraft and see that many good things are accomplished by them. I know now they're humans struggling to make their way in this world."
"Oh, Marge, I'm so proud of you..." I say, my breath catching. It was so good of her to find out more about what she'd been ignorant about before!
"Harry...can you ever forgive me for being so cruel to you all these years...especially the disgraceful way I trashed your parents in front you...and even when you weren't around?" Marge looks at me, really looks at me for the first time in my life, perhaps.
"Yes, of course," I say and we hold hands for a long minute.
"I deserved to get blown up that day back when you were around thirteen," Marge smiles ruefully. We both laugh softly as I remember that dreadful day when I was thirteen and getting ready to start my third year.
Marge, Vernon, and Petunia had been in the kitchen raking my parents over the coals. Marge kept adding insult and after insult while heaping flattery on Dudley. I'd gotten so angry, I'd inadvertently used magic to expand her and float her to the ceiling.
I swallow, then say, "Back then, you didn't know better...neither did I. But now both of us do and I'm willing to start again, carve a new path with us. Are you?"
"Yes, dear..." Marge nods, her eyes moist. "Harry, Harry, you are so forgiving and gentle. So many others wouldn't have been so forgiving. Now I know what I fool I was and what I jewel I was missing out on. Do you suppose your great-aunt Miranda will mind me being a part of your life?"
"I'm sure she won't," I reassure her as we finish eating. Aunt Miranda really doesn't know much about Marge, just that she was Vernon's sister, but I've never told Miranda about how Marge used to be. "I think she'll be happy to see you. Oh, Marge, it's so wonderful to have you as part of my family."
"Me too," Marge agrees. "I'm sorry to say that Petunia and Vernon were never much of a family to me and neither is Dudley." The waiter comes by then and we order a chocolate mouse to split between us and more hot tea.
"How is Dudley managing?" I ask.
"Too well," Marge shakes her head. "He hasn't shed a tear or shown any sorrow...nothing. Now he's been talking about how he can get his hands on his uncle's money."
"God..." I never fail to be flabbergasted at Dudley's attitude. "I also mean...how's he doing...in life in general? Is he working...did he ever finish school...?"
"Barely working," Marge tells me as the mousse comes and we dig in. "Only at my insistence did he get a part-time job at a radio store, but I suspect he's on the verge of losing it. He's been staying at my flat, but I'm ready to move him out. He never did finish secondary school once he got out of the detention center. He tried to sneak friends over, potheads, I suspect, but I put my foot down on that. They ring often, though and I don't know whether to take their messages or not. Most of them are into drugs and smoking."
"How awful...I'm so sorry, Aunt Marge," I say. I'd heard that Dudley smokes and has used drugs, which I suspect started in high school. I remember when I still lived there, at around the summer after my fourth year at Hogwarts, I'd hear Dudley stumble in drunk or high and lay fearfully quiet, hoping he wouldn't barge into my room. "You know...since Dudley is legally an adult, you can go to court to have him evicted."
"So, where would he go...?"
"I know it's hard, but I think that's the only way he'll learn to make a living," I say with more confidence than I actually feel. "You say he has friends, even if some of them are into dope, right?" Marge nods.
"Let him stay with some of them," I tell her. "There's always social services and they can help him as well. He has to struggle some, Marge. As we both know, the world isn't an easy place and the only way to survive it is to be strong and resourceful."
Marge nods, seeming deep in thought. "And if he has a tantrum, just tell him that he's an adult and is too old to be mooching off you or throwing tantrums." I add.
I do remember leafing through a book in the library recently, a wonderful book about raising responsible resourceful kids by an American author and it had some very good tips. It will be a long time before I have a child of my own, but I do hope I can use the pointers from that book when the time comes.
I promised myself long ago that no child of mine would be a spoiled wreck like Dudley. The world is not as easy place and I know now that Vernon and Petunia did their son a grave injustice by making him think that it is.
I smile ruefully as I sip my tea and remember how Dudley had five million PlayStations and in some of his tantrums, he'd throw them out the window. They were very expensive, maybe around two hundred muggle pounds and Petunia would rush out to replace it.
"What a fine young man you've turned out to be," Marge smiles at me. "So, you're graduating from college in another month. Good for you. You are courageous to rise above the treatment you endured with my brother and sister-in-law."
We talk more and I tell her a bit about college and the orchestra I'll be part of when I graduate. I even tell her a bit about my Hogwarts years. She tells me about what else has been going on in her life.
"I think it was the Hogwarts teachers and my friends there who helped me pull through until I got to live with Aunt Miranda." I finish my tea.
It's getting late, so Marge and I stand up, hug, then head back to our respective places, exchanging numbers and e-mails. I then head upstairs after one last hug and a promise to keep in touch, then I head upstairs to bed. I write my aunt Miranda, my Hogwarts friends, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Luna, then to Trevor, updating them on what's happened.
For a long time after I lie down and turn out the lamp, I think of the patterns in my family...Vernon bullying Marge...Petunia browbeating my mum....Dudley cowing me. Dudley obviously learned his behavior from his mum and dad.
Now Marge had chosen to stop the cycle. Mum sure had the cycle stopped by the time she was fourteen and Petunia eloped with Vernon. I certainly knew enough never to repeat Dudley's behavior.
It is an interesting pattern,
but I'm glad the cycle has been finally broken for good. I, along
with Marge, am ready for a new beginning.
Storyline Copyright 2003 by CNJ