Hi, sorry about the wait, it takes me a bit of time to write in english and I'm really busy with school ! I hope you will like this new chapter (which is the second part of the previous one)

The room was quiet. The only sound coming from it was the small sips of Mrs Weasley's hot tea she had prepared for everyone. Hermione and Ginny were closed to tears, and Sirius was fixing the wooden table, unable to move his eyes from the breadcrumb next to Mcgonagall's cup. Mr Weasley broke the silence :

« Did Dumbledore know you had stayed ? » he asked

« Well.. Yes. We can't hide anything from Dumbledore. I did not tell him of course, I didn't want him to prevent me from coming back.. He let me see Harry that same night, then, he asked me if I was planning to come everyday. I was really embarrassed » McGonagall started to blush, the same way she certainly had blushed at that time. « He told me I should stop doing this, and let Harry grow up and find his own place in this family. I immediately agreed, and apologized for my behavior, but deep down, I didn't want to give up my excursions… »

She cleared her throat and swallowed a sip of her tea.

« Dumbledore has always been very close to me, and he knows me better than everyone else. He knows my intentions, and he knew I wanted to check on Potter as much as I could. So he asked me some information about what I had seen, and after I told him everything, he suggested me to go to number 4 Privet Drive once a year. Not more, and not less. He looked concerned by Harry's welfare too you know.. »

« What happened when you came back to them that night ? » Lupin asked, looking at McGonagall, then at his best friend who didn't look capable of making any sound for the moment.

She seemed to hesitate for a few seconds, as she checked her watch, frowning, but she finally put her mug down and continued the story :

A day had passed. It was now November 1st 1981, and the autumn leaves covered the cold, narrow streets of Privet Drive. It was 11 pm but it didn't prevent several children from playing outside, as the holidays had started nearly a week ago. Hogwarts students were also on holiday, which allowed Professor McGonagall to be here in this muggle neighborhood, two days in a row. She knew exactly where to go, as she had already took this path the previous day, before Dumbledore, Hagrid and Harry had joined her. She turned left, crossed the street and headed back to the same window-sill, behind the rose bush. The living room was dark and empty. She listened carefully, when a baby's cry started to spread across the house. She managed to jump on the waste container, and then from the garage roof to the window-sill directly above the one where she had been sitting 15 seconds earlier. This new window gave her the view on a dimly lit room, where two cots had been placed on each side, as far away as possible.

« I told you not to put him in the same room as Dudley » a manly voice roared from the room next door. « It will wake him up. » He didn't seem to want to call Harry as a human being, and had definitely chosen to mention him with the word « it ».

« It's easier for me.. I can't take care of two babies in two different rooms.. »

Petunia's voice was trembling and feeble, as the consequence of a long and exhausting day. Indeed, Minerva could see Harry through to the dim light coming from the corridor. He looked as much exhausted as his aunt, crying and screaming at the top of his lungs. The other baby, at the other side of the room, didn't seem bothered at all. He was deeply asleep, his small fist in his mouth, the other holding tightly his teddybear.

« He is already lucky we bought him a bed » groaned the large man.

But by the look of the two cots, it seemed like the new bed had been given to Dudley, leaving to Harry an older and smaller one. Petunia turned on the light and tiptoed through the room to Harry's bed. She took him and started to rock him, but it didn't help him to calm down.

He maybe had had a nightmare, or maybe his scar was hurting ? Maybe it was panic attacks, or he could be re-living the night where You-Know-Who killed his parents and tried to cast the same spell on him ? Maybe he was constantly remembering his mother scream ? All this questions were turning into Minerva's head, but she could not know the answer, neither could Petunia. The blond woman finally leaved the room, before her own son began to weep too. McGonagall discretely opened the window, just enough to slip into the room. She glanced at the blond-haired baby before she jumped to the floor and leaved the bedroom. « Lucky you. ».

She carefully followed the tall woman holding Harry, who was still crying hard tears, which thankfully covered the cat's steps. Petunia did not entered her bedroom. She didn't want to bother her husband, or maybe she was too tired to support his complaints about Harry's presence in his house. She headed for the stairs, covered with light brown carpet and went down to the living room. Minerva sat on a step where she had a good view of them between the stairs ramp. She was also listening attentively if there was any footsteps coming from upstairs… She didn't want to come face to face with that large and insolent man called Vernon.

Petunia had sat on the same chair as the day before, and was trying to calm the baby, but in vain. Harry was crying over and over, he looked like he was out of breath, but couldn't stop shrieking. He undoubtedly wanted to be in his own mother's embrace, instead of these unknown, bony arms. Everything about Petunia was unfamiliar for him. He had never seen his aunt before, they had never met, he had never heard her voice, never felt her hugs, never seen her smile during his first year of existence. She maybe was Lily's sister, but she was nothing like her. They undeniably didn't share anything in common, nor the eyes, nor the smile, nor the hair, nor the way they used to comfort their own baby. Harry did not feel the usual warmth coming from this chest, he did not recognize the fabric of this nightdress, the perfume of this neck, the sound of this voice.

« Please calm down.. please » she kept rocking him but she sounded hopeless and exhausted.

After five long minutes of struggles, she eventually started to hum a very soft and pleasant melody, like a lullaby that Minerva didn't know (certainly a muggle one)… And to both women amazement, it worked. Harry had calmed down, and was listening to her voice with his big teary green eyes gazing at her, as if he had recognized the melody and was enjoying it. Petunia looked down at him, and their eyes met for a minute. Minerva was quite sure she had seen a slight smile on the woman's face as she was staring into Harry's eyes, but she quickly shook her head and decided to avoid the baby's gaze, not only because it reminded her of her sister's eyes, but also because she couldn't allow herself to feel sympathetic to Harry, while her husband was profoundly upset and angry about this family situation.

« Why did you do that to me Lily.. » she murmured, clenched teeth and glazed eyes. « My life was doing great, I got rid of your world, I had managed to move on, create my own family, live a normal, enjoyable life.. why, why is it always about you, about your life, your family, why did you have to … »

She couldn't pronounce the word « Die », not when it came for her own sister. Harry was completely silent now, he still had little hiccups and was slightly sobbing, but the big cry and panic attack were finally over. Petunia got up and moved towards the stairs, Minerva swiftly hid under the sideboard and watched the two pastel blue slippers passing in front of her and finally fading from view. The cat waited for the footsteps to completely vanish, before reappearing and climbing the steps two at the times. When she reached the baby's bedroom, Petunia had already placed Harry on his bed and had joined Vernon in the room next door. She could hear the latter groaning something about Harry crying too much, Duddley being a way better boy, something about the orphanage (again) and something about being tired, angry, blablabla. Minerva sighed and jumped on the furniture against the wall, right under the window. She opened it and turned to Harry. He was not sleeping. He was in fact sat in the middle of his mattress, his hands outstretched towards her, intrigued by the presence of a cat on his window. She carefully checked that the door was closed and no one was behind it, before she slipped between the crib bars and sat next to him. He seemed really excited to be with a cat, his little hands were constantly opening and closing, as he was trying to grab her fur. She knew the Potters had had a cat, a ginger one, adopted by Lily right after she had left Hogwarts. Nobody knew what had happened to this cat after the attack, maybe it had escaped, maybe it had died under the ruins.. In any cases, having a cat, ginger or not, alongside him, seemed to comfort him and assuage his anxiety. He finally manage to touch her ears and started to giggle. She drew nearer and purred (something she usually never did, especially with children), but making Harry a little bit happier, even if it was for a brief moment, was her priority. She laid down next to him, and he immediately imitated her, falling backwards, his thumb in his mouth. His breathing was calmer and more relaxed, and his eyes were progressively closing as the time was passing. She waited for him to fall asleep and silently got up. It was time to go, she could not stay the all night with him, the clock on the wall pointed to half past two, and she already should had left an hour ago. When she reached the window for the second time, a funny noise coming from the other bed made her turn around. A rather plump baby, with blond hair and two big milk teeth was watching her, he was standing, firmly gripping the bars of his cot. He didn't look very pleased by the scene, certainly a bit jealous of Harry, since he would have liked to have the cat with him too. Minerva eyed him with great disgust, before vanishing from the house, then from the neighbourhood.

From now on, she would had to wait one year before seing the boy again. One year before she could check on his welfare within this weird muggle household. He would then be two years old.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was quite difficult for me to correct my own English mistakes but I tried my best.. I hope it won't bother you! I would love to be corrected by a native English speaker before posting my chapters but I don't know any, except for my English teacher and I will certainly not make him correct my Harry Potter fanfictions lmao.

In my story, I don't really see Petunia as a bad person. I mean not now.. She was really jealous of Lily but she certainly loved her. I could not see her mistreating a baby, especially Lily's one. I know that she was the one who wanted to send him to an orphanage according to the books (the 5th one), but not in my version ;) I won't mean she will be nice with Harry, I'm trying to be very close to JK Rowling's storyline, don't worry! It's only the beginning of Harry's journey…