Chapter 18: In the Evening
Draco leaned over the edge of the bed and watched Harry curiously. "Stop it," he groaned, watching a stack of papers fly about the room. You're making me dizzy…He added, before falling backwards on the bed and passing out.
Harry looked over to him and sighed, but figured there was no real use in waking him. The injuries did not seem to be life threatening, but he only hoped the Order members would sense the magic before his condition worsened. The sun began to sink below the horizon and pale orange and purple light spilled into Harry's open window. He stood up to close the shades as Draco stirred beneath the heat of the setting sun, and gasped aloud when he looked outside the window. Dudley was coming inside after his water war with his friends, who had finally called it quits and gone home. Shit, he thought desperately to himself, knowing that the first thing Dudley would do when he got in was call for his mother and father. Sure enough, he heard the front door slam and his cousin's voice echoing throughout the house.
"Mum!" He screeched. "Dad!"
Harry winced and slipped over to his door, shutting it firmly and quietly, hoping he could avoid being noticed for awhile longer. Vernon was still lying inert on the floor, and that was exactly where Harry wished to leave him. Aunt Petunia…he thought with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He opened the door again and heard her close the sliding screen door leading out into the garden as she came inside.
"Yes, Duddykins?" She asked sweetly as he continued to whine. "What's the matter?"
"I'm hungry, when are we eating?"
"Soon, Dudders, very soon."
"How about now?" he persisted.
Petunia's gaze snapped up, hawk like, to where the smallest bedroom would have been had there not been a floor separating the kitchen from the upstairs. "Potter!" She called unceremoniously. "Get your lazy ass down here and cook some food."
Harry gritted his teeth. He was hesitant to leave Draco and Vernon alone in a room, especially since they were both unconscious and would be for an undeterminable amount of time.
"Where is your father?" Petunia asked Dudley, peering into the living room. Dudley shrugged and plopped down in his chair at the table, picking up a fork and thumping it against the table while frowning at the empty space before him. "Potter!" Petunia shrieked. "Now!"
Harry left his bedroom door open, hoping he would be able to hear any movement from within and he descended the stairs at a speed he never thought possible. Cook as fast as possible and then go back upstairs, he thought to himself, pulling down pots and pans haphazardly from the cupboards.
"Just make something simple," Petunia growled. "We need to save some space for this evening's tea with the Pierce family." Harry froze, he had forgotten about the neighbors coming over for tea. "Dudders, what would you like?" Dudley thought about it for a minute or two and Harry ground his teeth in frustration, his hand poised to open the refrigerator. His aunt watched her son in what seemed to be fascinated adoration of his critical thinking skills.
"Grilled cheese," Dudley finally decided with a grin. "Four, please." Harry picked up the loaf of bread, pulled out multiple slices, and buttered them quickly, slapping them down on a pan and laying the slices of cheese on top. Petunia frowned in a rather horse-like fashion and looked outside into the backyard for Vernon. A vein in Harry's neck began to pulse and his hands shook as he finished preparing Dudley's meal.
"Would you like anything, Aunt?" He asked politely, inching towards the door.
"No," she said distractedly. "I'm going to find Vernon first. I'd hate for him to miss meeting our guests. They should be here soon..." She walked outside to peek over the fence to see how close the neighbors were to arriving. Harry darted upstairs, relieved to see Vernon still unconscious on the floor and Draco sitting up with a confused look on his face. He sank against the door, heart pounding. He didn't know how long he could keep up the act before his aunt found his uncle on the bedroom floor. Then there would be some explaining to do, and it would be even worse if Vernon woke up.
There was a sharp intake of breath from behind him and Harry turned around with a start, hand on his wand. Dudley was standing before the doorway, pointing a quivering finger towards his father's motionless body. "H-he-he-he's d-dead!" the boy gasped out.
"No, no, wait," Harry said, stepping forward to convince his cousin. But Dudley jumped back with a blood curdling scream for his mother.
"MUM! He's going to kill us all!" The fat boy yelled hysterically down the stairs. Within seconds, Petunia was at the door of Harry's bedroom, wrapping her son in her arms protectively. She peered in the bedroom as Harry hastened to deny the fact that Vernon was dead. She screamed and ran to her husband, abandoning Dudley in the doorway to be murdered by Harry.
"Wait, you don't understand-" the Gryffindor began, looking to Draco for some form of support. The blonde boy had passed out again. Petunia turned to Harry with a malicious sneer on her lips.
"I understand perfectly," she snarled, reaching up for Harry's neck with her long clawed fingers. "You thought you could live under our roof, and then kill us off one by one!" She shrieked, lunging suddenly at Harry and strangling him furiously. His glasses were knocked askew in the struggle and Dudley plucked the wand from Harry's fingers.
"Get 'im, mum!"
Harry's vision swam after a minute or so. His heartbeat was in his ears. I'm dying, he thought incredulously. Survived attacks by Voldemort only to be strangled by my Muggle aunt…who is so much stronger than I ever gave her credit for…
######################################################
"Get your hands off my Godson." These words were emphasized by seven wands directed point blank at Petunia's head. The woman dropped Harry's unconscious form to the floor with a gasp and a powerful stunner from Moody eliminated that problem temporarily. Lupin, Sirius, Moody, Arthur Weasley, Snape, Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt stepped inside the smallest bedroom in number four Privet Drive and surveyed the damage with open mouths.
Wow, I'm still alive and writing. This one isn't very long, but they are out of the Dursley's. More on that next chapter. Cookies for all of my faithful reviewers, both old and new. I appreciate the feedback from every single one of you.