Disclaimer: I not own Harry Potter, much as I wish I could take credit for it, I can't.

Author's Note: Yes, short, I know. This chapter takes place after the first chapter and explains what Petunia did last chapter.

Reviewer Response:

tvnerdgirl: I made this one short just for you! ;-)

Siriusgrl: I like the image of Sirius squawking :-)

catchme: yes, she is a cow

lily evans: that part was the most fun to write of the whole chapter

iniysa: here's more!

It was a lovely morning in early November and Petunia Dursley was happily scrubbing her kitchen. Her husband was out visiting with their 1 ½ year old son, so when there was a loud noise from the direction of the front door, Petunia stopped in alarm. Vernon should not be back yet, and he would have called out a greeting if he had returned for some reason, so whoever had made that noise did not belong. She edged along the counter, paused to pull a heavy rolling pin from a drawer, then continued edging towards the back door. She was still two feet from it when the door from the hallway to the kitchen swung open.

Two men in robes like the ones her sister had worn when she went to that dratted freak school stood there. One was short and looked vaguely familiar; the other was tall and scowled at her.

"Are you sure this is the right house?" the taller one demanded. "She doesn't look at all like Lily."

"I'm sure!" the other one said quickly. "Lily had a picture of her."

Petunia edged a little further along the counter, seething. She had told and told Lily that she didn't want her kind coming around here. She did not associate with freaks, even if that included her own sister. She would have objected, but the taller wizard was scowling at her and she had just a little too much experience with annoyed wizards to put voice to her annoyance.

"You had better be right Peter," the taller wizard informed him; Peter winced as the other turned his attention fully to Petunia. "Where is Lily Potter?" he demanded.

"I have no idea where she is and I don't care," Petunia snapped. She recognized the little one now, she had seen him at Lily's wedding two and a half years ago. She hadn't wanted to go, but her parents had insisted. If he was Lily's friend, he ought to know how the sisters felt about one another.

The wizard laughed coldly. "Her husband dies, her house is destroyed, and you expect us to believe that she didn't come to her only living relative?"

"No, she didn't," Petunia replied. Petunia edged a little further along to counter. She was surprised but not particularly upset to hear that her brother-in-law was dead. In fact, she was rather happy to hear it; maybe with her wizard husband gone, Lily would come to her senses and stop being a freak and things could be like they were before the letter arrived.

The wizard's face darkened with anger. "You think you can lie to me?" he demanded, raising his wand.

Petunia didn't even have time to dodge before the wizard shouted "Crucio" and she was enveloped in pain so complete nothing else mattered. When it finally stopped, she was curled on the gleaming tiles of her kitchen, er face wet with tears.

"Where is Lily Potter?" the wizard demanded again.

"I don't know!" Petunia sobbed, terror replacing anger.

"Crucio!" Petunia wasn't even aware that she was screaming.

This time when the spell lifted, Petunia tasted blood. She had bitten her lip.

"I can continue this all day muggle," the wizard informed her coldly, standing over her.

"I don't know where she is!" Petunia wailed.

The wand came up again and Petunia curled into a ball in dread anticipation. But the wizard was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and a masculine voice calling for Petunia. She herself did not recognize the voice, but the wizards apparently did for the tall one's eyes lit up with vicious expectation and after ordering Peter to continue with Petunia, hurried from the kitchen.

Petunia did not bother trying to get away as Peter came to stand over her, a sickening light in his eyes. "I've seen my master do this, it'll be much faster than Mason's way. Lellimensa!"

Images that did not belong to Petunia's memories flooded through her mind before she blacked out.

When Petunia came to she was in her own bed. She could hear two people shouting at one another in the next room and dimly recognized the voices as belonging to her husband and sister. Grimacing, she sat up and tried to get out of bed.

"That may not be a good idea," a gentle voice said from the doorway. Petunia looked around and saw a man in deep blue robes and a long white beard standing there. He came into the room and sat down in a chair next to the bed, placing a bowl of something steaming on her night stand. Petunia sniffed in automatic curiosity and realized it was chicken soup. "I am very glad you are awake, we were beginning to worry that Peter had done serious damage with his spell."

The man's eyes were gentle and his face sympathetic, but as he was obviously a wizard, Petunia disregarded this in favour of mistrust. "Who are you?" she demanded. Like Peter he looked vaguely familiar; probably he had been at Lily's wedding as well, there was no where else a normal person like Petunia could have seen a wizard affterall.

"I am Albus Dumbledore." He leaned forward slightly. "I realize you likely do not wish to talk about this, but we do need to know what spell Peter was trying to cast. The more we know about what he was trying, the better our chances of undoing it."

Fury and fear warred within Petunia, but fear of what that dratted little wizard might have done to her and having to put up with anything magical won over. "He said..." she paused, trying to remember. She was annoyed but her inability. She prided herself of being able to repeat exactly anything anyone said, especially when they would have preferred her to forget. Of course, they were usually using real words and she was not usually being tortured. "Lellimensa...I think," she said finally.

Dumbledore nodded, a grave look coming into his eyes.

"Petunia! Darling!" a voice cried. Vernon Dursley hurried into the room. "Are you all right?" he asked anxiously. Lily followed him into the room, clearly just as worried as Vernon.

Petunia nodded and Vernon turned to glare at Lily. "Why were those wizards here?" he demanded in a snarl. "You know perfectly well you are not welcome here! Get out!"

Lily's lips pressed into a line thin enough to rival even Petunia. "I am well aware of your...opinions," she said coolly. "But I am not leaving until I am sure Peter didn't do anything permanent or serious."

"What did he do?" Petunia demanded shakily. Vernon hugged her.

"He was attempting Leglimens, what muggles call mind-reading. Instead, he has formed a magical connection between the two of you that did not dissolve as it normally would. We cannot be sure yet what form the connection will take." Dumbledore explained.

Petunia made a whimpering sound. She had to choose between putting up with whatever Peter had done, or letting wizards stick around to find out? Life was not fair.

Ultimately, Petunia decided that letting Dumbledore stay and try to undo whatever Peter had done was the lesser of the two evils. Three weeks later, she was told that the connection would manifest in dreams. The best he could do was ensure that the dreams would occur only when she was asleep.