As they entered the hallway Lupin quietly told Harry which bedroom Aunt Petunia was staying in. He went to go up the stairs and stopped. What was he going to say to her? How could he possibly comfort a woman who had always hated him? How was he supposed to make things better when her husband and child had just died?

"Do you want us to come with you Harry?" asked Hermione. Ron looked at Harry and smiled to let him know that he was there for him, even though the idea of going into that room probably made him uncomfortable. Harry shook his head and gave them both a slight smile that was gone very quickly. He headed up the stairs with his heart hammering in his chest.

He knocked on the door and waited for a reply. When he'd waited for a minute he decided to go in anyway. He opened the door and could see Aunt Petunia lying on the bed with her back to him in an awful black dress. She was crying silently and Harry had the urge to leave. Instead he walked into the room and quietly closed the door. She turned around and looked at him, her eyes full of hatred.

"YOU!" she screeched. She jumped of the bed and began to lunge towards him. He knew he could stop her, he knew that he could have made her stay still in one area, but he let her advance towards him and let her slap him hard across the face. He felt it was the least he deserved. "IT'S YOUR FAULT THEY MURDERED VERNON! IT'S YOUR FAULT THEY MURDERED MY DUDDERS…" With that she crumpled to the floor and began to cry and shake uncontrollably. Harry got down on his knees and went to put his arms around her, but she leapt away from him, disgust written all over her face.

"GET AWAY FROM ME MURDERER!" she shouted and scrambled to the corner of the room, rocking backwards and forwards. Harry was silent for a while until it looked like most of her crying, for now, was over with.

"Petunia," he said softly "You're right. If I hadn't been living at your house for all those years then they would never have killed Vernon and Dudley. But I can't change that. My mum and dad died and left me with you. I can't change that either. Voldemort killed my parents, then he tried to kill me. He still wants me dead and won't stop until I am."

"WELL LET HIM KILL YOU THEN!" She screeched and grabbed a vase off of the bedside table and threw it at him "IT WILL SAVE ANYONE ELSE DYING FOR YOU!" Harry felt like he had been punched in the heart with that comment. He moved to the bed and sat on it heavily. The tears that he had been fighting for so long now began streaming down his face.

"Don't you see?" said Harry desperately "I'm the only one who can stop him. If he kills me this will never end. Everyone will live the rest of their lives in fear because of him. There's no telling how many innocent people will die. I'm sorry that they died…"

"SORRY?" shouted Aunt Petunia "YOU'RE NOT SORRY THEY DIED! DON'T LIE TO ME YOU NASTY LITTLE BOY!"

"I didn't say that I liked them," said Harry, now with anger in his voice "But I am sorry that they are dead. The only person I want to see dead is Voldemort. Now I'm sorry that they died, and if I could have prevented it then I would have. I can't control what some mad wizard does, I can't control who he decides to kill and when. But I can control what I do, and I'm going to kill him. For my parents, for my Godfather, for Dumbledore, for Vernon and Dudley, for every single person that has suffered in this world because of him. I'll make him pay." He stood up to leave but Aunt Petunia moved quickly and stood in front of the door. Her eyes were blood shot from crying and her face was pale and tired.

"You'll kill him Harry?" she asked quietly "You'll kill him for Vernon…Dudley…and my Lily?" Harry nodded his head and found fresh tears at the mention of her speaking of his mother like that. Petunia began to cry freshly and they finally hugged, for the first time in seventeen years.

Harry was sitting in Lupin's kitchen sometime after with a hot cup of tea in his hands and blood shot eyes.

"How did they find them?" Harry asked Lupin. Lupin looked solemnly into his own cup of tea before answering.

"It's hardly been a secret where you've been staying over the summer's Harry. But last year we tried to make it that way, we knew things were getting very dangerous for you. Do you remember that house on the end of Magnolia Crescent? There was an old man who lived there…"

"The old man who was with the death eaters," Harry said numbly. Lupin nodded gravely and sipped at his tea. "So he found out which house I stayed at during the summers and called the death eaters to raid it? Why did he wait so long?"

"We think he only just started working for Voldemort's side," Lupin said. Harry nodded again and fell into a thoughtful and depressing silence. Hermione watched Harry and felt her heart breaking. Was he ever going to get a break from all this death and destruction? Harry decided that he wanted to leave shortly after that, and they readied themselves to take a portkey back to Cambridge. As they were gathering their coats together Hermione nudged Harry quickly. Harry looked up as she indicated towards the door. There was Aunt Petunia, standing with her arms folded protectively around herself. They looked at each other for a long time before she finally crossed the room and stood in front of Harry.

"I…I wanted to leave here and stay with some of Vernon's relatives, but I doubt that would be safe. I don't know how long I'll be able to stay here for, but…I wouldn't mind if you came to see me now and again." she said quietly, almost as if she were deathly embarrassed to be saying this.

"You're welcome as long as you want to be here Petunia," Lupin said and smiled at her. She gave him a small smile in return then looked back at Harry. To Hermione and Ron's surprise he moved forward and put his arms around his aunt again. She quickly kissed the top of his head then walked out of the room. She paused once to say -

"Stay safe Harry, and kill him for all of us won't you?" then she was gone.

Harry was lying in his bed unable to sleep when he heard the door open quietly. He smiled as he saw Hermione's silhouette coming towards him in the dark. She moved the covers aside and crawled into bed with him. She moved over and put her arms around him, holding him tight.

"You were very brave today Harry," she whispered "I'm so proud of you for going and facing Petunia like that. I'm even more proud that you hugged her like that and made her feel better. After the way she's treated you the last seventeen years she didn't deserve it. But you made her feel better anyway. That's what makes you such a great and noble person Harry Potter." Harry pulled her tighter and moved his head so that he could kiss her gently.

"Thank you," he said softly "for making me feel like I'm something to be proud of and something worthwhile."

They spent the night holding and comforting each other. Harry told her how he had felt when he learnt that the Dursley's had died. How he had felt that it was his fault. Hermione explained how he could not possibly be at fault, and even though he had been saying these things to himself all night his heart felt lighter at hearing her say it. They fell into a contented sleep, and when Harry awoke the next morning he felt refreshed and had a new sense of determination. He had to find those Horcruxes, he had to destroy Voldemort and he had to train harder than he had ever done in his life.