Blood Ties

Chapter 1 Petunia's Plea

The room was silent, save for the fervent scratching of quill against parchment and the occasional turn of the page of a spellbook. Harry's brow furrowed in concentration, his jaw set, the tip of his tongue peeking out from between his lips. His fingers were covered in ink from doing his homework, and as he took a moment to stretch, the bones in his neck and back cracked in protest.

From her cage, Hedwig hooted softly, her golden eyes gazing intently at Harry and seeming to implore him to pay some attention to her.

"Hedwig, if I don't finish my homework now while Uncle Vernon and Dudley are out, I'm never going to finish it. You know that we're going to Ron's tomorrow and I never get any work done while I'm there," Taking a short break from his homework, he went over to Hedwig's cage and stroked her lovingly while she nipped him affectionately.

Sighing audibly, he returned to his bed and looked with distaste at the untidy pile of spellbooks, parchment and quills which adorned his bed. He was working on the essay for his least favorite teacher, Professor Snape. He had put it off all summer and now he was stuck doing it at the last moment. With resignation, he settled himself amongst the clutter and delved back into the essay with renewed fervor, intent on completing it before he went to the Burrow the next day.

He had been working for no more than fifteen minutes when the silence was again broken by the shrill sound of a phone ringing. Trying very hard not to scream out loud, Harry fought the urge to bang his head against the wall. He supposed that he should be used to the phone by now, since he lived with muggles and that was the way they communicated, but it seemed to him that it rang at the most inopportune times.

"And they complain about owls hooting when I get post from friends," He said, looking at Hedwig, who hooted in reply, "That blasted phone is as annoying, or more annoying, than a owl hooting any day."

The phone rang only two times and then was silent. Downstairs he could hear the muffled voice of his aunt talking, and once again the previous sounds of schoolwork returned. He knew that no one would be calling for him...they had done that once in his earlier years at Hogwarts and Uncle Vernon had put an immediate stop to it.

He had completed his essay at last when he heard footsteps coming down the hall to his room. He hadn't heard a car pull up into the driveway, so he knew that it was only his aunt. There was no need to hide his schoolbooks and homework, but he did stack everything neatly and readied it for his trunk.

A barely audible knock came at the door, and he thought he heard the sound of soft sobbing. A concerned look crossed his face as he stood and opened the door, and the sight that met his eyes caused all kinds of mixed emotions.

Petunia's eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks wet with tears. She shook visibly and was having trouble keeping herself upright.

His arm around her waist, supporting her weight with his body, Harry helped her over to his bed. When he was sure that she wasn't going to lose consciousness, he got her a cup of water from the bathroom. Placing it in her hand, along wihthe sat down next to her and waited until she was ready.

Petunia, filled with gratitude for Harry's kindness, lifted her shaking hand holding the cup to her lips and sipped the water, spilling a good portion of it onto her dress.

The obviously diminished mental state of his aunt worried Harry, he had never seen her like this before. He was wondering if he should call the medics or something of that sort when he heard her clear her throat.

Her sad eyes upon Harry, Petunia dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief and took a long, shuddering breath, "Harry, your Uncle Vernon and Dudley were in an accident. Dudley was very badly injured, and your uncle..." Sobs concluded the sentence, revealing the fate of Vernon.

Laying a comforting hand upon his aunt's shoulder, Harry didn't know what to say. There had never been any love lost between his uncle and him, and though he felt a bit of sorrow over the passing of another human being, it was no more than he would feel for a stranger.

Regaining her composure to some extent, Petunia looked at Harry imploringly, her eyes reminding him of a puppy dog begging for food, "Harry, I need to ask you something. You have the right to refuse this, but I need to ask," Petunia's deep breath was audible in the quiet room, "Dudley needs to have surgery and a blood transfusion very badly. Would you be willing to come to the hospital with me and see if you are a match?"

Harry's mind and heart were filled with many conflicting emotions. Flashes of the cruel things that Dudley had done to him over the years went through his memory. He pictured his cousin laying in a hospital bed, possibly dying. The look on the face of his aunt was more than he could bear. He knew that, even though Dudley had mistreated him over and over again in the past that, he had to do what he could for him.

Before speaking a word, he put his arms around her in a strong embrace, "Aunt Petunia, I will come with you and see if I can help Dudley."

Tears of relief and gratitude flowed down Petunia's face as she hugged her nephew back, he had given her the answer that she had barely hoped for, "All right, we need to get to the hospital so we'll take the tube and hopefully we can get there in time."

Harry had been on the tube only a couple of times before, since they never wanted to take him anywhere. He looked over at his aunt sitting beside him, and saw the pain on her face. She had just lost her husband and now may lose her son if they didn't get there in time.

"Aunt Petunia?" Harry said, looking over at his aunt and wondering how he would respond to what he said next.

"Yes, Harry?" She said, blotting her eyes with her handkerchief.

"I...I just hope I can help him, that's all," Harry said, amending what he was about to say. He was about to tell his aunt that it was possible that if he gave Dudley his blood that he might pass his powers on to him through it, but he had a feeling that it really wouldn't be an issue at this point in time.

When they finally arrived at the hospital, they took some blood from Harry and found that it was indeed a match for Dudley. They took a pint of blood from Harry and wheeled Dudley off to surgery.

The hours passed like days, until the doctor came out and told them that Dudley was going to make it. Petunia sobs of happiness and relief were heard throughout the halls of the hospital.

Harry wondered what exactly this would change, if anything, about his relationship with Dudley. Would his cousin be grateful? Would he stop bullying him? As it was, Harry had no idea what was in store...