Encounters - Secrets Shared
Mannd
Do not own Gundam Wing or Harry Potter
Petunia Dursley opened her eyes and stared around her bedroom, it was quiet, and would be for the next month while Vernon and Dudley were taking a 'man's outing to L1. She rolled over on the bed and looked at the spot where her husband usually laid and wondered if she would even miss him. She thought she would enjoy the silence at night, as the first time in a long time, she could sleep without his snores, but she found she was missing the noise. She closed her eyes again and willed herself to sleep.
The next time Petunia opened her eyes the sun was streaming through, where the heavy blinds that covered the windows, didn't quite block out. She sat up and, after quickly slipping on her favorite blue robe and slippers started down the stairs, to make breakfast. She paused outside of Dudley's room and smiled at the mop of black hair sticking out from under the sheets. 'I'll let him sleep a little longer, he was very excited last night.'
Her smiled turned into a grin as she remembered Harry's incredulous look, "I can sleep in Dudley's bed?" He asked, wanting to make sure that he had heard correctly.
"Unless you don't want to…" Petunia said giving Harry a small smirk, "we will change the sheets and stuff before they come back so that no one knows. Just don't break any of his toys…"
Harry blinked again, grinned, then gave Petunia a quick hug around the middle, took the sheets that she had been holding and raced up the stairs to change Dudley's linens and see what toys he wanted to play with first.
She opened the cabinet doors and looked at the shelves grimacing to herself, then closed them and opened the refrigerator door. She wrinkled her nose; she did not want to cook this morning. Sighing she put on the kettle and started the makings for a pot of tea.
Harry looked rather blurry eyed as he came down the stairs half an hour later. Yawning he mumbled a good morning and sat at the table trying to blink himself awake, "how would you like chocolate chip pancakes?" Petunia asked as she took a sip of her tea.
"We don't have any chocolate chips, you used them all in the last batch of cookies you made for Dudley to take on the shuttle," Harry reminded her.
She smiled and picked up the set of keys on the kitchen table and shook them, "The Pancake House?" She asked. Harry gave a whoop of delight and raced out of the kitchen to get his shoes on. Petunia chuckled as she took her teacup to the sink and rinsed it out, then set it aside for a thorough washing later. She sighed, the new medicines that her doctor was giving her were working, she didn't have to sterilize everything now as soon as someone was done with it.
Harry sat down at the kitchen table and looked at his aunt. She didn't even know that he had come into the kitchen, her face sad, her eyes far away. Harry pushed the cup of tea that he poured closer to his aunt's elbow, "Aunt Petunia?" he said softly.
Petunia gave a small start and blinked hard to come back to the reality around her. Harry pushed the cup closer and she automatically picked it up and took a careful sip of the hot liquid. She gave her nephew a small smile then turned to look back out at the garden, he had gotten her tea just right, "Thank you Harry."
Harry noticed her hands trembling as she took another sip of the tea, "Aunt Petunia," she turned to look at him, "what's wrong?"
Petunia tilted her head slightly, "would you come with me somewhere Harry?" she asked, "it's not a very nice clean place like here, but…" she bit her lip, "I… I want to, I need to go."
"Of course," Harry said then standing up, he got his shoes on and gave his aunt her purse and car keys.
The drive was silent; Harry looked out the window as the car sped by cities that he had never heard of before. It had been 3 hours since they left Privet Drive. He glanced at his aunt, and was surprised to see a tear streak down her face. She clicked the turn signal on and carefully crossed the highway lanes to the exit. Harry caught the sign, Spinner's End. Petunia moved with ease around the streets of the old city, and Harry realized that she knew exactly where she was going. She pulled up across the street from a tired looking row house put the car in park and sat looking at it for a few moments before speaking, "this is where your mom and I grew up." She glanced over at Harry as he unfastened his seatbelt and moved closer to the window. "See the window on the second floor with the blue curtains?" Harry gave a small nod, "that was our room."
She stared at the old house for a few more minutes before putting the car back in gear and driving slowly away. "Your mom's best friend lived in that house right there," she pointed out a house a few blocks away, "he went to school with your mom, and they were best friends for years." Harry blinked as he took in the house, "I wonder if he is still there…" Petunia mused as she turned down another street. This time she pulled into a church parking lot and slowly put the car in park, staring up at the dark stained glass windows of the old church. She turned off the car and nodding to Harry who grabbed a small bag that she had packed as they both got out. Instead of going to the church, Harry was surprised when she went to a high stonewall next to it and unlatched a rusted gate. He caught his breath as he realized they were in a small and very old cemetery.
Petunia walked quickly through the headstones towards the back. She paused for a moment then turned down a side row and knelt in front of a grave, "This was my Great Uncle John," she said brushing way the leaves that covered the small tombstone, "he died of lung cancer while your mother and I were in primary school, he use to work at the old mill." She pointed to another stone, "That was Great Aunt Catherine," Petunia gave a small laugh, "she wanted to be buried with the remains of all her dead cats." She shook her head with a smile, "she was the neighborhood cat lady."
Petunia took Harry to several other headstones talking about families and friends she knew, Harry eagerly listened completely fascinated. She grew quiet as she came to the one stone that she had come to see and knelt down in front of it, again brushing off the leaves that had gathered around it, "I should have brought flowers." She mumbled as she gently touched the names on the stone. Richard and Rose Evans died August 6, 1980, loving parents, best friends. "Hi Mummy, Hi Daddy." She said and Harry understood why Petunia was so sad today. Today was the tenth anniversary of his grandparents' death.
Harry sat next to her and leaned his head on her shoulder, and she moved off her legs and sat cross-legged on the dry grass in front the stones, "tell me about them," Harry pleaded. For the next several hours she did, barely pausing as Harry handed her a bottle of water out of the bag. When the sun began to set, she became quiet again, "did they get to see me before they died?" Harry asked.
Petunia brushed gentle fingers across Harry's forehead, brushing his messy locks out of his eyes, "Yes," she said, "Lily brought you to the house two weeks after you were born. Mom held you for hours staring at you, Daddy had to blink back tears a few times." She smiled again a little mischievously, "even when you peed on him while he was changing your diapers."
Harry turned bright red causing Petunia to laugh at his embarrassment, she grew silent again, then said softly, "I held you too," she looked pensively at the names on the stone, "I told Vernon that mom had asked me to visit, and he took Dudley for the day and went to see Marge. You were so tiny."
"Where are my mom and dad buried," Harry asked after a few more moments of silence.
Petunia looked away, and Harry saw a tear streak down her cheek before she brushed it away, "I don't know Harry, I was never told." She sighed softly, blinking as she realized how dark it was getting, "come on Harry, lets get something to eat and head home."
Harry came in from mowing the lawn wiping the sweat from his brow and grinned in delight at the fresh pitcher of lemonade. He poured himself a glass glad that the grass had been cut before noon; it was going to be hot today. Petunia came into the kitchen with a heavy wooden box in her arms.
"Harry can you get the box at the top of the stairs please?" She said and Harry skirted around her and ran up the stairs. A file cardboard box had the word Albums written on the side. He put the box on the table and Petunia drew it to her and pulled off the lid and pulled out several picture albums. Harry and Petunia spent the next several hours paging though the hundreds of pictures in them.
Harry touched a picture of his parents that she had given him. In it was Petunia who was smiling sitting beside his grandparents with him in his grandmother's arms. Petunia was packing the albums away; she would have Harry put the box away before Vernon got back. "We will look at this box tomorrow," she said patting it sadly, and Harry nodded, before going to his cupboard and taking a few moments to study the small enclosure, pushed a thumbtack on the stair tread overhead and slipped the picture under it to keep it in place. He would be able to see it when he laid down on the bed and his parents and grandparents would watch over him while he slept. He looked over at the drawings that he had made of the pilots. He had received a letter from Duo yesterday; he was having them mailed to Mrs. Figg's house. Now that the war was over, Duo was working with a girl named Hilde on L2, but he was thinking about joining Preventers soon.
Harry was very excited the next morning and raced quickly through his chores. Petunia also moved quickly through her own set of morning chores, looking forward to showing Harry the treasures in the wooden box. Lunch was a quick affair and Harry eagerly sat next to Petunia on the couch as she took a small key from a necklace that she always wore around her neck and unlocked the box. Petunia took a deep breath and slowly let it out as she rubbed light fingers over the carved lid of the box. "Remember I told you about your mom's school?" Harry gave a small nod and she opened the box. "This came for her the summer she turned 11."
He took the envelope reverently and with shaking fingers drew out the heavy parchment. His lips moved silently over the words, "Hogwarts? Wizardry and Witchcraft?" he looked at his aunt confused, "I don't understand."
Petunia gave him a smile, "your mother was a witch," he jerked a little wondering at the insult and she gave a low laugh, "not a witch of personality but a witch with magic." Harry mouthed the word 'magic' before looking back at the letter, "she went to Hogwarts to learn all kinds of things from tickling charms to potions made with pickled Frogs and Eyes of Newts."
Harry blinked as he looked back at the letter than pulled the second page out and read the list and saw Lily's neat check marks by each item to show that she had purchased them. "Where do you get all this?"
"It is some place in London," Petunia said, twisting her lips a bit as she tried to remember where, "I can't remember exactly where, but I went with your mother her first year." Harry blinked at the happiness and glow that she had, "it was…" she searched for a word and finally settled on "totally radical." Harry mouthed the word 'totally radical' in shock; he never expected those words to come out of his aunt's mouth.
She gave a small laugh and handed Harry a stack of letters tied with a white ribbon, "even though I wasn't really talking to her she wrote me every two weeks like clockwork." She stopped him when he went to untie the ribbon and took the stack from him and handed him several thin books, motioning to others in the box. "Your mother's journals." She said simply. "I would get her a new one every year for Christmas."
She took the books back and handed him a large white envelope, "you will love these," she said.
Harry looked longingly at the books and letters but dutifully opened the envelope, pulled out its contents and gasped. They were pictures, but not just still black and white and colored ones but moving ones. The people were laughing or waving at the camera. In others he could see birds flying around a large castle, "What is this?" He asked touching the photo.
"That is Hogwarts," she said simply.
Harry spent the next week pouring over the letters, journals and pictures. Vernon and Dudley were due home in a few days and all of these treasures would have to go back up to the attic for fear that the Dursley men would destroy them.
He watched sadly as his aunt put the treasures in the box and locked it again with the key. Then staring into Harry's eyes holding the necklace for a few seconds before putting it around Harry's neck. "Lily gave this and the box to me, no one but you can take this necklace off and no one but you will know it's there, and this box is made so that no matter what is thrown at it, it can't be destroyed so if Dudley" she paused looking pensive then sighed, "or Vernon find it, they can't damage it." Harry helped her carry the two boxes up into the crawlspace and Petunia showed him where she had hidden them behind a loose wallboard.
Harry and Petunia worked frantically to get Dudley's room back to its normal disaster of toys cluttering the floor. They put fresh sheets on the bed, Harry whipped down the computer and game box to remove his fingerprints and smudge marks he might have accidentally left behind. For supper that night they had pizza and finished the last of the ice cream that Petunia had bought just for Harry. They had talked about what to do when Harry got his Hogwarts letter and how they were going to act around Vernon when the time came.
Harry sighed as he heard the car pull in the driveway and smiling at his aunt closed the cupboard door behind him. Petunia smiled at her nephew and realized with a start that except for that first night, she hadn't missed Vernon at all. She pasted on a smile as the door opened and welcomed her son and husband home.
Thanks again to my wonderful Beta! Without them the story wouldn't be quite as smooth. Also, please continue sending me pranks that WuFei and Harry can play on Duo during his first Christmas break. I've had some wonderful suggestions so far, keep them coming.
Comments and Criticisms Welcomed!
Edit 02 '11
