Author's Note: Thanks for sticking it out. I am hoping updates will be a bit more frequent now!

Ch. 7: Vernon and Petunia

"Albus Dumbledore has no legal authority over the child."

Severus considered this statement. It both surprised him and didn't. It certainly made things simpler.

Severus had approached the challenge of removing Harry Potter from the clutches of his muggle relatives with the deliberation that he approached most activities. It was important, and not an action to be taken in haste. There could be no mistakes made that would jeopardize either his position or Harry's. He was taking too many risks already.

He had begun his process by gathering information, just as any good spy would. After plying Minera with Scotch, he now had the full story of the night when Harry was left on the Dursley's doorstep with a letter explaining that his parents were dead. Once he got her started, it hadn't taken much for McGonagall's conscience to spill the rest. Severus had known she was never completely comfortable with the turn of events. Now that he had the details, he couldn't blame her. Who would be? Severus had often been accused of being cold-hearted, but even he had never left a baby on a doorstep in October without even ringing the doorbell.

His next step had been to investigate the legal conditions of the guardianship. For this, Severus had turned to his Order of the Phoenix connections. Most of them had little love for an ex-Death Eater, despite Severus's use to them during the war as a double agent. Kingsley Shacklebolt was one of the few that Severus respected implicitly. Fortunately, Shacklebolt had both sense and intuition. Apparently, he was no more comfortable with young Potter's situation than Severus or Minerva. He had therefore been willing to use his position as an auror to do a little digging.

"The muggles have guardianship then?" Severus asked.

Kingsley nodded. "They never adopted him. I always got the impression the guardianship was rather forced."

Severus was feeling better about the state of affairs. Something about Kingsley's regal demeanor and cool confidence made the plan more manageable. A man like this on his side would go far. There were other order members that would back him up. The Weasleys were staunch Dumbledore supporters, but they also had a brood of children. Then there was Remus Lupin, who had to also be protective of Harry. If he played this right, he could gather enough allies that even if Dumbledore opposed him, he could fight it.

"What do I have to do?" Severus finally asked.

Kingsley produced a roll of parchment. "Guardianship transfer," he explained, "Petunia and Vernon have to sign this. Have them both sign it to be certain. If I were you, I would register the adoption as soon as you can. However, knowing Albus as I do, he will get wind of this before you can do that. The guardian transfer will still be valid though. It will give you time to get Dumbledore on your side."

Severus nodded, but did not speak. He looked down at the parchment.

"Eventually, he will see things your way," Kingsley pointed out.

"I believe so," Severus agreed, "Albus often approaches things from the long view, without considering the ramifications in the short term. I think that leaving Harry with those muggles has accomplished its purpose. I can protect him as well as those blood wards can."

Kingsley seemed to consider this. "Regardless of your position when He returns, Severus, Potter is the most important factor. You will still be doing the Order a great service."

"I can't protect him there," Severus pointed out.

"Let me know what else you need. I will support you, and I know others will too. You are not alone in this."

Severus gave a curt nod before turning with a whirl of robes.

Approaching the house, Severus had a thought that had not really occurred to him the first time he had been there. He had been brooding more on his Death Eater days since that time, and the wards that protected No. Four Privet Drive. He was not entirely sure what Dumbeldore had done to ward the house. It was a secret even within the Order. He did know that Death Eaters should not be able to enter. In his heart, Severus had not been a Death Eater since the day he had come crawling to Dumbledore, but he still bore the Mark. Nonetheless, he had gotten easily past the wards.

Now, Severus was worried that this had been a fluke. If necessary, he could lure them out of the house. That would not be ideal, however. He wanted to do this on his own terms, from a position of strength. He did not want to be seen walking back and forth on the suburban muggle street, so he had disillusioned himself first and done some reconnaissance to test the wards. He was able to walk right up to the house, then up the walk, and then up to the front door, without a problem. This convinced Severus that the wards simply did not recognize him as a Death Eater, which, in fact, was the truth—at this time.

He could have barged in on them. Observation told him that all four inhabitants of the house were home. However, Severus wanted a healthy balance of cooperation and fear. To that end, he returned himself to visibility and rang the doorbell. He had opted for conservative muggle attire in the form of a charcoal suit and overcoat. He didn't want to antagonize them with wizard's robes and a cloak. Well he remembered Petunia Dursley from his childhood. He knew the way she felt about wizards had not changed by the way she treated her sister's son.

The door was answered by Potter himself. As usual, his clothes were too big, his glasses were scratched and held together with tape, and there was a bruise on his face that Severus first mistook for dirt. The boy said absolutely nothing, but his eyes seemed to look into Severus's very soul—vivid emerald green eyes. It took all of the composure of years of spying not to be done in by seeing those eyes, alive again after all of these years.

"I am here to see your aunt and uncle," Severus told the boy.

The boy nodded and opened the door for Severus to enter. He got the impression that this was not normal protocol, but that the boy sensed something anyway and seemed disposed to allow Severus leeway or just didn't care. Severus began to hope that the boy had not been left insensible by the Dursleys treatment of him. Lily, and even James, had both been quite intelligent. With time, he might snap out of it.

Severus followed the boy down the hall through the kitchen door. Vernon stood, confused and frustrated immediately. This worried Severus a bit. From this standpoint it was not the best situation. Dursley immediately targeted Potter.

"Boy! What is the meaning of this? You bring this," Dursley seemed unsure where to go with his sentence, eying Severus up and down as if unsure how dangerous he was, since he was currently impersonating a muggle traveling salesman, "… this man in here?"

"Please, Mr. Dursley, if I might interject," Severus decided to take charge of the conversation here. Potter was pinned against the wall between his uncle and aunt, and his cousin was sitting at the table with an impossibly large bowl of ice cream, paying hardly any attention to the scene. "Your nephew let me in because I requested to speak with you."

"Well, he bloody well shouldn't have!" Dursley objected.

"Be that as it may, I believe I have something of great import to all parties, if you would listen to what I have to say. It will be worth your while." Severus intentionally phrased this with the ambiguity of a bribe, though he meant no such thing. He would let Dursley's greed do the rest.

It worked. Dursley appeared interested for the first time, or at least not ready to throw Severus from the house. "Well, you heard me boy, make us some tea!" Dursley sent a cuff in Potter's general direction, though he had never at any point said any such thing.

Potter went off to the task. Severus eyed the boy with the ice cream warily, and sat himself at the other end of the table. There were two other plates on the table. In the interest of expediency, or to hide this fact, Petunia grabbed them and took them to the kitchen. Severus did not miss the implication as she raked him with her beady eyes. The first thing he would have to do when he took the boy away from here was get him a decent meal.

"Well," Dursley demanded, "what of it then? What do you want?"

Although he had rehearsed several versions of this conversation, Severus also knew when to improvise. The situation definitely called for it. There seemed to be no point for refinement or tact. These people would only recognize a bludger to the head. Once both Potter and Petunia were back in the room, Severus prepared to play beater.

After Potter had severed the three adults with tea and retreated to the corner to warily survey the scene, Severus began. He was pleased to see that Potter was clearly not only alert but seemed to have the measure of everyone in the room. He was by no means beaten down by these people. Clearly the muggles had not been able to stamp out Lily's fire.

"I am here about the boy."

That got the reaction expected. Vernon sputtered, Petunia goggled, Dudley looked up, and Potter … eyed Severus with a critical eye. He alone seemed to know which boy Severus was talking about.

"Dudley?" Vernon demanded.

"Potter," Severus clarified.

"Why?" Petunia screeched. Severus had no desire to be charitable, and it was a screech, pure and simple.

"Surely you know," Severus countered.

He waited for that to get a response. Vernon was shouting nonsense about how the boy was a freak and Petunia was asking what he could possibly want with him. Dudley looked afraid now, and for the first time seemed to have forgotten about his ice cream. Harry was calming walking around the side of the table, ignoring his relatives, to stand in front of Severus. He no longer looked quite as small.

"Why me? What do you want with me?" Harry asked in a small but clear voice.

"I knew your mother," Severus told him, "and I do not think she would want you here. I think she would want you to be with your own people."

"There is no way …" Vernon began, but somehow little Harry Potter cut him off.

"Who are my people?" Harry asked.

"Magical folk. Witches and wizards are your people, Harry," Severus told him evenly.

Harry nodded. "I am a wizard?"

"Yes."

"I don't think so," Harry assured Severus.

"I told you," Vernon butted in again, "that boy is not going anywhere with you."

"Why not?" Severus asked, setting aside Harry's question to address Vernon's for a moment. "Obviously the two of you do not want to engage with the magical world. The boy does not know he is a wizard. I would even venture to guess that he does not know much about his heritage or his parents. Since you have kept this from him, for reasons I cannot personally fathom, why would you not want to rid of the burden of him now? I can take him off your hands. You never have to see him again."

Vernon seemed to be battling the two sides of this proposition. On the one hand, he did not want Harry to be a wizard. However, he had to understand that there really wasn't any way he could prevent it. On the other hand, he was being offered the chance to never interact with Harry or the magical world again. To his narrow, prejudiced mind, it must have seemed like quite a dilemma.

"No!" Petunia said firmly. "Dumbledore said we have to keep him. We don't have a choice."

"Do you think I would be here if Dumbledore did not know about it?" Severus asked her. It was a bluff he hoped she did not call. He could see she seemed to be thinking it over. "He will be going to Hogwarts when he is eleven at any rate."

"He will not!"

Severus turned back to Vernon. These people were trying his patience, but then he had known they would. He tried to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "Even you have to know that there is absolutely no way you can prevent that, Dursley. He is Harry Potter!"

"What are you all talking about!" Harry demanded. Ahh, so he did have Lily's temper.

Reaching into the pocket of his overcoat, which he had charmed to accommodate larger, Severus removed the guardianship papers and a muggle writing device. They might have to put up with parchment for Ministry of Magic paperwork, but there was no need to add insult to injury by also making them use quills. He wanted cooperation, in the end. He placed the paper in the middle of the table and let it speak for itself.

"As I am sure you know, I am a wizard. Petunia, you know who I am. You have known me a long time. Whatever you think of me, you know I cared for Lily. You know that I will take care of her son. You should also know that upon her death, I vowed to protect her son. I have recently come to believe that such a vow will be infinitely easier to fulfil if he is in my custody." Severus allowed those words to fill the room, with what he said and what he left unsaid. He had included just enough gravity and subtle threat in his tone to let them imagine how much he knew about how they treated their nephew.

Five minutes later, Severus left No. Five Privet Drive with the signatures and holding Harry Potter's hand.