14th June 1968
Dear diary,
Did you know that my grandpa had 2 names? Neither did I. Apparently he was born with one and made to forget it. So someone gave him a new one when they found him. Grandma Ami helped him remember his first name when they met. I hope someone will help me remember if I ever don't remember my name. Grandpa said he published lots of books using his new name, but I they weren't for children so he wouldn't tell his new name until I finish school. Just a few more weeks.
Petunia woke feeling absolutely wrung out, her friend and probably more was gone and she'd killed her. She wanted her back so badly that she was imagining that they were holding her. She sobbed quietly into her pillow, her magic so curled up inside her it was suffocating. She realised that if she didn't let it go it would probably kill her soon, but she'd rather be dead than alone. The faint whispered breath that carried the words "Merry Christmas" to her ear didn't reach her. Neither did the soft shaking afterwards. When she was turned over she opened her eyes to see who was interrupting, and her mouth to chase them off with the most vile invectives she could think of when she saw the face of an angel. Then the angel spoke.
"It's me, Karen, you didn't fail I'm back."
Then she broke, she didn't care if this was the afterlife or not, Karen was here. She clutched onto her as if she might vanish into vapour in an instant.
"I don't care if we're dead, I love you and I'm never going to let you go again."
"I love you too. Just, let me in, I don't want to survive that only to see you die. "
With an effort she uncurled her magic and it reached on its own and pulled Karen into her binding her more thoroughly than Ceeley was bound.
"It is you, it really is you."
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Amelia watched as a nervous team of Obliviators and Aurors assembled in the bullpen under the direction of Delores Umbridge, the Ministers hatchet woman. The whole thing stinks of making a statement, as if this wasn't a political move the petty tyrant could have just taken a couple of people to abscond with the person in question while they were away from Petunia. She hoped that the note she'd managed to send yesterday before they were sworn to secrecy for the duration of the operation had helped. She stifled a laugh as the thought that if they'd succeeded at what they threatened, then the wards might object.
"Moody!"
"Yes Bones?" A scarred Auror stumped over, his wooden leg loud against the background of the preparations, his false eye spinning seemingly randomly.
"You know what's going on. I need you to go as an observer, to make sure all our laws and treaties are upheld. I suggest you make your own way there."
He gave her a knowing look, "I'll grab the evidence camera then."
As he stumped off to do that she turned back to listen to Umbridge's plans. She made a note to give Robards a commendation later as he suggested that they split up and some of them go in from the outside. She laughed humorously as all the Obliviators and Aurors that had been there before the wards were covered last time volunteered to be in the second group. The rest of them crowded around a floor plan of the house, as they worked out where to portkey into and who would go where.
Alastor Moody appeared with a soft pop at the end of Privet drive, well away from any wards that might be around #4. He was already disillusioned and wearing an invisibility cloak. His eye scanned for threats automatically, once he was happy that he was alone he straightened up from his ready pose and put his wand away. He'd not been here before, but he'd heard about it from the obliviation squad that were the first responders to the accidental magic discharge a couple of months ago. He stopped to look in awe at the wards swirling around the property, magic occasionally arcing off into the air. It looked like they were non-arithmancy based magic, and if they were they'd belong to a very exclusive club, the only other site in Britain being the underlying wards at Hogwarts. He shook his head at the thought that Umbridge was going to try to breach these wards with a portkey, he wouldn't want to try to breach these without a team of curse breakers and a month.
He settled in to wait for the team to finish planning and spent the time trying to find anything identifiable in the wards. A short time later a large ripple spread out along the surface of the wards as something bounced off. A series of pops appeared around the outside of the wards as the Aurors that apparated in did so very well and had notice-me-not charms up and covering the area only a few seconds after that. A few minutes later the crack of a portkey arriving revealed a dishevelled breach team. An irate Umbridge straightened her dress and then marched up the street, warrant in hand, before turning around confused. She got halfway back to the team before she remembered why they were then and turned around again. This time she apparated away, and a couple of minutes later came back, pure rage plastered across her face, her wand grasped in a white-knuckled grip. She marched up the street again and was blasted back to the group, she landed in a crumpled heap mercifully unconscious. The Aurors on her team just stared at her then at the house they were supposed to serve the warrant at.
Alastor chose that moment to uncloak himself after putting the camera away.
"Robards"
"Yes Sir!"
"Take the warrant, and walk unthreateningly to the house, ring the doorbell, and inquire politely whether a non-magical by that name lives at this address. Do nothing that the wards might find threatening or could be perceived as intending to harm the occupants. Do you understand me?"
"Yes Sir!"
Robards did so and a few minutes later a young overweight boy answered the door. A couple of minutes later he could see a couple of women answer the door and talk to Robards before the door closed and he returned to the group.
"Karen Allen does live there, but they claim that the only non-magical there is Dudley Dursley, who is exempted by nature of the fact that he's Harry Potters cousin. I've asked them to pop by St Mungo's for a check-up so that we can verify that the warrant was issued erroneously. I also informed them that there is a complaints process if they wish to raise a complaint to the issuing department.
Sir, can I speak frankly?"
"Go ahead."
"Mrs Dursley gives me the willies sir. When I said I had a warrant for Karen I suddenly felt like I was a small and particularly loathsome bug that she was going to squash if I gave her any reason to."
"Very well, return to the ballpen and treat this like any other failed warrant to one of the noble houses. If they query it, remind them that the black town house is in muggle London somewhere, and we don't actually know where their other properties are; and that the Potters are one of those Noble houses, even if they don't have a Regent or head at the moment."
With that he watched everyone apparate away before leaving himself.
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Petunia reflected that Christmas day had started off well and then taken a running jump off a cliff and just kept going. She was just comforting her son while Karen was talking to Harry off to one side as talking through Dudley's memories had unearthed a lot of stuff that he'd been dealing with. Meanwhile Ginny had been an unwilling witness to just how broken their family was, and she was alternating between staring at Harry's new, old base form and thinking. She thanked whatever deity was out their for Ceeley again, as she had no idea what they'd do without her.
A flash of red made her look over to where Karen was comforting Harry, who had just switched to a girl. The sight of her holding Harry in her lap as she cried made the words "I love you" slip out without her realising it. Karen looked over and mouthed "I love you too." And she fair melted, Christ she was supposed to be an adult not a hormonal teenager with their first girlfriend. Though Karen was certainly that. Ginny's mouth dropping open as she stared at Harry caused her to start laughing uncontrollably, which disturbed Dudley who looked over at Harry with another jaw dropped expression and the mood lifted from where it was to a typical Christmas when Marge was around.
"Come on everyone, it's Christmas, Yule."
"Saturnalia" Karen inserts
"Hanukkah or whatever holiday you celebrate, and Ceeley has done an absolutely wonderful job with the dinner if my nose isn't lying.
"Let's have some food and then we can open presents and see if Star Wars is on TV."
As everyone else started to get up for dinner, Petunia stopped Ginny "Ginny."
"Yes Aunt Petunia."
"I'm sorry that this has all happened on Christmas Day, it should be a day when everyone can just be happy for once in the year."
"It's still better than Aunt Muriel's would be." Ginny mumbled.
She gives Ginny a quick hug before pushing her into the dining room gently, "Go on, sit opposite Harry so that you can gawk at her until she manages to pull herself back into the body we're all familiar with."
Ginny trips in embarrassment at being caught doing that earlier.
"If you want to talk about it later, you know where to find me."
Christmas dinner wasn't quite a happy affair, but at least they weren't sitting in silence, Ceeley included reluctantly. Petunia could see Ginny's Hero worship shifting over the dinner from a young girls infatuation with her prince charming to seeing someone to aspire to be like. She'd have to talk to Karen later, but she didn't think either of those were particularly healthy when applied to Harry.
After presents and a long talk about what had happened last night and this morning, as well as Harry's situation. A promise to teach both Dudley and Ginny to meditate.
The rest of the holiday passed quietly with a trip to St Mungo's to prove that Karen was magical, a trip to Regent street to see the lights, trip to south-end-on-sea to see the fairy garden and amusement park.
The new year brought the return of the Weasleys and Grangers and their home seemed to sprout a new member in the way of Hermione or lost a member as Harry went to visit.
Karen spoke to Mrs Weasley about Dudley and she readily agreed to tutor him during the day for a few Galleons a week, in return they'd tutor Ginny in the things that Molly was weak in. Which then meant registering both of them in two systems just in case inspectors turned up while Ginny was with them so that she at least had a paper trail. That was when they made the acquaintance of a young man that worked for the government and became their caseworker and seemed to be able to magically get all the right paperwork in the right places at the right times to make everything go smoothly.
All too soon the family was on the platform waving Harry and Hermione off on the train to school, and Petunia had absolutely no idea where two weeks had disappeared to.