A/N: All I can say is thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate them, because they are great for inspiration, and for telling me what areas to focus on. Now, taking into account what has been requested to see…. On with the story! I hope it is to your satisfaction. I'm sorry it's so much later than the others, but it's also a bit longer, so that counts for something, right? It actually got so long I ended up cutting it in half, so hopefully chapter 5 comes out faster than this one.

Chapter 4

As it turns out, the boys had rather fortuitous timing on their innocent act, because Vernon had stood up at that moment. Mind you, it was partially for emphasis, as he was being a bit demonstratively supportive of Petunia's condition that any magical items had to be opened and stored at Lupin's flat. This condition was something Peter easily agreed to, but at Vernon's heart, he was a rather dramatic man. That was why he enjoyed yelling at his inferiors so much. One of the reasons anyway, a possible secondary reason was that it was stress relieving and simply fun.

However, the reason it was so well timed was that, given Vernon's girth, he made quite a bit of noise getting up. Just enough, in fact, to Petunia's rather sharp ears from picking up on the sound of their whispering or their door squeaking closed.

Once Vernon had sat back down, Peter glanced up towards the ceiling, then back to his hosts.

"Would you prefer Harry to have his 'normal' presents now or later? I know it isn't technically his birthday yet, but…." He trailed off and shrugged.

"Traditionally, one does not open birthday presents until their actual birthday," Vernon pointed out, in the manner one would use when dealing with someone particularly dim-witted.

Peter, however, just kept a small smile on his face.

"I only thought you might appreciate having the packages out of your way, and that you might be busy on his actual birthday. That and I really would like to spend time with him while I'm here, without being too awkward if that's alright."

Vernon and Petunia exchanged looks at this.

"Your sister Marge is supposed to be coming to visit in a few days," Petunia began slowly. "Perhaps, after last time, it might be best for Harry to have some normal toys to play with at Mrs. Figgs. I know neither of the boys is particularly fond of going there, but Lupin already tried and failed to get time off work during the day."

Vernon huffed at the reminder, his bushy mustache convulsing slightly, before he conceded to his wife.

"From what Duddykins tells us of that woman, she went spare a long time ago. I wouldn't wish that on the boy – certainly not on the lad's birthday. Alright then, Pet."

Peter beamed at this.

"Excellent, as I only brought the nonmagical presents with me and it would have been a shame to carry them all the way back to my flat."

Petunia smirked slightly at this, apparently appreciating the trace of humor.

"Shall I go get the boys then?" The woman queried, but paused when she saw Peter tilt his head slightly, angling to listen to the sounds of laughter coming from upstairs.

"Actually, I'd like to do the honors. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to tell which room they're in," Peter offered with a bit of amusement, brightening further when Petunia nodded her approval.

"Excellent, we'll be down in a jiff."

With an oddly cheery smile for someone with such a rat like expression (it would take a little while to get used to that), Peter headed upstairs, knocking on the young boys' door before letting it push open. Upon surveying the scene, he smiled again.

"Out vanquishing foes?"

Harry, who had been in the middle of launching another attack against Dudley's pieces, paused and stared up at the strange man with an expression of incredulity. Barely noticing the knight that had slipped halfway between his cousin's fingers, Dudley turned to the man at the door. His eyes fell upon the man's hook, which disturbed him to no end, but managed to pull up enough bluster to shoot back.

"We could vanquish you too, you know."

This announcement made, he turned back to Harry and quietly muttered, "Whatever vanquished means."

"No idea… sounds like it's fun to do though," was his conspirator's reply.

"Ah, but I am sure your heraldic color is superior to mine own. It is no wonder you would succeed," Peter said cryptically. "Your parents sent me up here to bring you down to the living room."

"Alright," Harry said reluctantly, speaking for his cousin as well as they started to sweep their toy figures up to put them away.

"Who are you anyway?" Dudley asked slowly. "And how do you know Harry?"

Pettigrew raised an eyebrow at this. "What makes you think I know Harry?"

"We aren't stupid you know," Harry accused, eyes narrowing slightly – an effect that was ruined given he was not quite four. "You said you hadn't spoken to Uncle Vernon since the day I was left here. And if you knew Dudley, we would have seen you before."

"And if you didn't know one of us, Mum and Dad would never have let you up here!" Dudley finished triumphantly.

The stranger appeared pleased at their reasoning and nodded his agreement at this.

"True enough. Suffice it to say, Harry, that I was a friend of your father's. Due to a certain event I haven't been around very much," he gestured slightly with his hooked hand, "but I hope that will change."

"Alright, let's go downstairs and see what Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon want."

With that, Harry led the way out of the room, slowing only to let his cousin beat him to the stairs. Dudley always did like thundering down them as fast as he could, a source of endless amusement for both of them.

Finally, all three were back in the living room. Two young faces turned immediately to their guardians, open and full of curiousity.

"You wanted to see us?"

"Harry, I'd like to introduce you to Peter Pettigrew," Vernon said gruffly. "He helped us get in contact with Remus Lupin when you were first left with us. Also the one who told us about your parents' death."

Harry's eyes widened slightly at this, not having realized that when the man said he was friends with his dad – that he meant that close.

"Oh, and… why's he here?"

Right at that moment, Dudley poked his cousin, "Look!"

Harry's eyes widened still further as he followed Dudley's pointing.

"I've… I've got presents? But it's not my birthday yet!"

It was his aunt who answered this.

"Yes, well, given the fact Vernon's sister Marge is coming to visit a few days before your birthday…"

Harry frowned at this, remembering how his other 'aunt' had insisted on having a family birthday with her precious Ickle Duddykins – and her reference of placing the proper fear of God into 'that runt' when she left last Christmas. Then she hadn't even had the decency to plan it closer to Dudley's birthday. No, it had to be a few days before his. Mean old woman probably did it on purpose, Harry thought.

Of course, then he realized his aunt was starting to speak again.

"Anyway, we thought you could go to Mrs. Figg's house that day. I know you and Dudley don't enjoy it incredibly much, but I won't have her yelling at you just because she refuses to admit she is sloshed. No, out of sight, out of mind is better in this case."

"Point is boy," Vernon interjected, "Pettigrew here brought some gifts from him and your parents' friends. Back-ordered presents almost, and we figured we'd let you open them now so you could bring some when you went over."

"Really? Oh, thank you, thank you so much!"

Harry was bouncing about so excitedly, it wasn't really clear whom he was thanking at this point. On the other hand, it was at least clear he was effusively grateful – not a bad thing in the least when someone is doing you a favor.

After Harry (and Dudley, who silently decided to chip in, since watching presents get unwrapped wasn't that much fun) had spent a few minutes frantically unwrapping all of the gifts, both boys were properly stunned at what lay before them. It wasn't that there was an overly large amount so much as the diversity.

Harry had received gifts varying from Lincoln Logs, puzzles, a take along tool kit with several plastic tools of different colors and sizes, a xylophone, a combination chess and checkers set, a pair of walkie talkies, a few Tonka trucks, and a red train set (complete with track) with a gold number 7 embossed on the front. He also had some plastic swords and fake pistols and dummy arrows and bows, along with a few matchbox cars, and of all things – an abacus.

From Harry's and Dudley's point of view, the chess and checkers weren't quite as interesting as the weapons and tools. The xylophone was also only passingly interesting at the moment, but they would have to tinker with it to find out. The abacus – not that they knew what it was – was just confusing.

It only took a few moments more for Dudley to get a decidedly mulish expression. Vernon squinted slightly, he and Petunia recognizing the signs, but surprisingly Harry spoke first.

"Is all this really just for me?" There was a puzzled look on his face. "That doesn't really seem fair, Dudley always shares stuff with me. Hey, Dud, you want the train? You're better with the electric stuff than I am."

Immediately, Dudley's expression switched to one of surprise mixed with greed.

"You mean it?"

"Yeah, as long as you'll let me try sometimes. But I mean, I share your stuff already, and I don't mind you sharing mine. But if that's left with me, the poor thing will never get going. 'sides, consider it a late birthday present."

That, and Harry had noticed that after Vernon had seen him reading about trains to Dudley, he started to get more of what he liked – books to read. Perhaps, if he gave Dudley an actual train, things would look up for him as well. Besides, he'd rather just watch the train than make it move. He'd let Dudley explain the 'how' of it after.

Both parents relaxed as the two began divvying up the presents on who had the most priority (something they had already done with Dudley's toys to an extent). Harry got most of them, as Dudley was convinced if Harry had more toys of his own, that his would be borrowed less, but they both got a walkie, and Harry graciously gave his cousin one of his Tonka dump trucks and they agreed to share the Matchbox cars equally (as well as the xylophone and the weird string beaded thing).

When all of this was sorted, the boys were eventually sent up to their room – after Harry and Dudley extracted a promise from Vernon to teach them about the tools they had. They ended up staying out of bed a half hour later than originally intended, given just how much there was to put away.

Peter, meanwhile, had occupied himself by throwing away the wrapping paper and tape while this was all happening. He entered the foyer just as Petunia walked back down the stairs, muttering something about bedrooms as she did so. Vernon, at this point, was belatedly reading the evening edition of the paper, but stopped when he saw his wife.

"Thank you for letting me come by and give Harry some of his gifts," Peter spoke quietly. "I left the magical ones at Remus' place."

Vernon and Petunia only winced slightly at the term 'magic', for the most part at least.

"I'm glad he got some, to tell you the truth," Petunia said a bit primly. "You told us he was a hero, but if such utter silence is how people in your world treat heroes, then I'm glad I'm not part of it. And why would they send normal stuff anyway?"

"First, do you mind if I sit down?" At their acceptance, he chose the place he had when speaking with them earlier that night.

"The normal gifts were purchased by Remus, a few other close friends to James and Lily, and me. They were not told where Harry was living; only that I was going by and I offered to carry any presents. Basically, these specific gifts were not from fans. He almost had another one, for Lily's sake I got in contact with Snivellus... erm, Severus." Peter actually looked ashamed of himself. "That was something Sirius and James called him, it sort of became habit. Didn't hear his real name often enough to remember it, but what we did to him… it wasn't right."

He cleared his throat slightly, and then continued. "Anyway, Snape first wanted nothing to do with him, until I brought Lily up, and then he muttered something about a chemistry set. But I told him he was a little young for that. So he got an abacus instead. Still rather useless to him at the moment, but at least he can't hurt himself as badly with it."

Petunia winced slightly at this, suddenly the abacus held much more worth than before.

"As to why you haven't heard anything from his fans – well, for one, they know he is young and so there wasn't much call to mail him for autographs or anything until recently. Secondly, for most owls to deliver a letter, they need to have some idea of where to go. Now, other owls can find you anyhow, it all depends on their intelligence, but for the most part – even for those smarter owls, they need to have met you. Which… pretty much none of the Wizarding World has. There were quite a few letters and such I found at Godric's Hollow – the Potter's last known residence. That's how I found the fan mail. Chucked the letters into a storage bin, put the flowers on Lily and James' grave, and I brought all the gifts with something worthwhile in them to Remus'."

"I guess that makes sense," Petunia said slowly, processing all the information.

"If you don't mind me asking though," Peter said tentatively, "How do you two like Remus? I caught that you get along well enough to let Harrikins and Dudley visit occasionally, but not the whole story."

"Didn't quite like him at first," Vernon answered honestly enough. "Still, he was polite and helpful. Pet had to convince me to give him a shot when he called and said he had found some things for Harry, but I'm glad she did now."

Petunia nodded firmly. "Yes, apparently he convinced your mother to lend us a perfectly good crib she had in storage. She'd bought it on the hopes that you and… Emmeline I think the name was? Can't recall – either way, she had hopes for grandchildren, but Remus convinced her this was a more immediate cause. He also found some teething rings soaked in some sort of… "

"Numbing potion?" Peter asked incredulously, beyond stunned that she had even considered using it.

"That's it. I didn't want anything to do with it at first, but poor Duddlykins, he just had the most awful teething stage. Nothing could calm him down. I told Vernon I'd try it once since no other method was working, and he quieted down in moments. Used them on both of the boys.

"Anyway, those potions of yours are just adding ingredients and such in the right way. Just a fancier version of chemistry, really, we think. So some ingredients have to be picked by one of your kind or what have you, it wasn't like it was going to do anything other than numb the area. Like a topical anesthesiac, I told Vernon. Only we didn't have to get the expensive normal version."

"Did… did he find anything else?" Peter asked slowly, wishing he had thought to check himself.

"Not much survived Halloween. There were some partially burned blocks he repainted and gave us, and he found Harry's birth certificate and a few books on parenting – one which mentions dealing with accidental magic – that was rather helpful. He said some had been borrowed from the Weasels or some family, but he gave us the other two. They'd been in a safe downstairs and survived in tact."

After Petunia finished speaking, Vernon added the few that Petunia had missed.

"Of course, he also found some freakish bubble mower. The thing was – I think the term Lupin used was charmed – so that when you pushed it, it would pick up dirt or grass or whatever and turn it into multicolored bubbles that float over the room and outside. We told him he had to keep all the unnatural stuff at his place."

"He did find some pictures too, though, Pet. That was good of him. Boy's gonna want to know what his other family looked like eventually. We've got a few of Lily and Pet's parents, but it's good he has both sides."

"I'm glad then," was all a stunned Peter Pettigrew could get out.

The three spent some more time talking, and eventually it was agreed that Peter would stay over for the night in the guest room so they could make the trip to Remus' together. Petunia checked on the boys one last time before slowly, all the lights on Number 4 Privet Drive clicked out.

The next morning, two approximately four year old boys woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. After washing their face, hands, and teeth they tumbled down the stairs, still in their pajamas.

Both were rather surprised to see the man from last night (who had said his name was Peter but looked more like Hook) setting the table while Petunia cooked breakfast.

Uncle Vernon chose just that moment to walk in the kitchen – a tall glass of orange juice in one hand and the newspaper in another.

"Morning Pet." Kissing her cheek absentmindedly as always, he nodded to the others.

"And how did you sleep, Dudley?"

"Pretty good. Dreamt about trains."

"Excited I see," Vernon chuckled slightly. "Harry, that was very good of you to give your cousin a gift, particularly one of the nicer ones."

Harry shrugged bashfully at the praise, not used to hearing it from his uncle.

"Did you sleep well, Uncle Vernon?"

"I did, I did. And you?"

"Umn, not so great. There was a funny green light like my eyes and this awful high pitched laughter. Til Dudley started snoring. Drowned it right out."

While his cousin loudly demanded that he take back the accusation, Vernon's mustache twitched ever so slightly. The man wasn't quite sure why he had enquired after Harry this morning. Possibly, he was just in an overly good mood after last night. The look of delight in both boys faces at the tools, and their obvious interest made him hope that his son might follow in his footsteps successfully.

It also didn't hurt of course that Harry and Dudley had been growing closer and closer ever since Harry took on the role of Dudley's storyteller. The boy had even helped encourage Dudders to read. And while Vernon thought the concept of education just for the sake of learning was a bit of namby pamby nonsense, he could not and did not deny that education itself, especially in the basics, was necessary.

Just so long as Harry didn't seem inclined to push his Dudders into a sissy boy, reading books and hiding away from society, he could care less really.

That didn't make the boys dreams any less disturbing. He had mentioned it to Lupin once, who had gotten a thoughtful look on his face before whispering that he might actually remember the night his parents were killed.

Now, Vernon did not like magic. He was alright with skirting around it when it was beneficial to him or his family, but the principle itself still made him uneasy. Harry was magical, and so in another set of circumstances, he would have feared the boy and all but hated him for it. As it was, he felt almost sorry for the boy, having to relive such a horrifying experience at night. At least it was vague enough that the boy didn't have the screaming fits he did when they first got him.

Deciding to avert the subject, he vanished back behind his paper as his wife served breakfast. Eventually, the atmosphere went back to its previous easy nature, with Dudley and Harry chatting amongst themselves and a few pointed stares at Peter. Their guest wasn't too bothered with it, and even seemed to expect it, so Vernon and Petunia let this slide.

In fact, it was not until Harry was assisting Petunia clean up the dishes and Dudley had brought in the mail that Vernon spoke again.

"Do you reckon we should go ahead and call Lupin, Pet?"

"Are we going somewhere, Dad?" Dudley asked confused, after he saw his mom agree and start to dial. "Usually, Harry doesn't go see him unless something odd happens or we're going on a trip for something… oh wait, you two aren't shopping for his presents now are you?"

In young Dudley Dursley's mind at the moment, presents were everything.

"No, popkin," Petunia smiled down at her son. "There are simply some… special presents for Harry there, and Mr. Pettigrew here would like to see him."

"Oh…" Dudley's face turned downcast. "Harry, can I have some of these too?"

Harry's looked a little panicked. His aunt and uncle had made it very clear before one visit, that anything that happened at Mr. Lupin's wasn't to involve Dudley, or at least as little as possible. Dudley did come along as well occasionally, but he always shared the less strange items then.

"Erm… if your mum and dad say it's okay, I'm sure we can work out something," Harry compromised.

Petunia sighed, seeing the hopeful look in her son's eyes.

"We'll go and see."

With a cheer, the two boys raced upstairs to their bedroom to get changed. While the adults occupied themselves with something no doubt boring, Harry and Dudley kept a running chatter going as soon as they hit their bedroom.

"What do you think of Mr. Pettigrew, Harry? I mean, he's s'posed to be a friend of your dad's, like Mr. Lupin."

Harry shrugged slightly, not that it was clear given that he was shedding a shirt at the time.

"I dunno. I just hope he isn't like Mrs. Figg. He did seem a bit loopy with that color nonsense last night, but maybe that's something he just thought knights would say."

"Well, I hope he's like Mr. Lupin. He's pretty cool for a bookworm."

Harry laughed at this. "You just say that 'cause he shares his chocolate with you."

"I do not!" Dudley denied, "The chocolate is just one reason he is cool."

Unknown to the two boys, what the adults had actually been discussing was what sort of unnatural gifts the boy had received. When it came to Harry, they accepted the fact that being exposed to magic was helpful to his control, and did not give any detrimental effect to his life or theirs. However, what with Dudley wanting to share now, they were concerned.

Vernon and Petunia relaxed considerably when they were told that for the most part it was candy and books. And while the books were either about or from the point of view of wizards and witches, as books, it also followed they could be considered fiction by Dudley, and were therefore acceptable. The candy, while eccentric, wouldn't do anything other than shock. Peter wasn't positive as to the others, but he assured the worried parents that if anything, it was passive magic and he was sure that exposure wouldn't affect any of them, especially if it was only one time.

With these reassurances, the five bustled into the Dursley's car and a traffic-filled but not too horribly long ride later, pulled up outside of the residence of one Remus Lupin.

The sandy haired man now looked much happier than the day he first learned the Dursleys had Harry. He had greatly enjoyed being able to spend time with 'Prongslet' and was grateful that the Dursleys let him be part of the boy's life.

In point of fact, Remus treasured the days he was able to spend with Harry enough that he had never got around to telling Dumbledore that he was allowed to see the boy. After the Headmaster had warned them all away, he wasn't too keen on testing whether it was just a sense of politeness that arose from the order. He had told one Minerva McGonagall, but only after she had assured him that she would keep the secret. In truth, he had only told his Head of House to resolve her worries about the boy's placement. Remus wasn't sure if the woman had trusted him or not, but he had at least tried.

He had been somewhat surprised when Petunia asked if they could all come over, but pleasantly so. Now, as he watched the family all tumble out of the vehicle, he received another shock. Also welcome but even more incredible to his mind. To say that emotions welled up at the sight of his lost friend would be an egregious understatement, Remus was ecstatic, curious as to what had happened, saddened at the thought it was a run in with a man who was supposed to have been their friend that caused it, and excited to catch up with his fellow Marauder, not to mention watch Prongslet with his presents.

The members of the Dursley household (including Harry) all went inside to give the two friends time to reunite. In this interim, Petunia reminded them to be on their best behavior, since this wasn't their home. While the cousins were not totally keen on this, her incorporation later in her speech of not 'bouncing off the walls' assured them she was only talking about wild behavior, not their usual teasing and horseplay.

Once Remus and Pettigrew came inside, both boys gave their host their full attention, something Remus noted with a chuckle.

"Excited about your presents, Harry?"

The young raven haired boy smiled toothily, nodding rapidly as he did so.

"I'm sure you are. Come over here and see, then."

With that, Remus sat down on a rocking chair and motioned to the collection of gifts. Some – no doubt the fan sent – were already open of their wrappings. There were piles of chocolate frogs, sugar quills, and Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans all inside a standard pewter cauldron (that Harry thought was a strange, but great Halloween prop). There were also some wrapped presents that, when opened turned out to be books, including The Tales of Beedle the Bard and The Adventures of Marvin Miggs: The Mad Muggle.

Dudley soon joined Harry in the perusal of the gifts. They were slightly unnerved by the jumping frogs as they both opened their first pack, but when it stilled and didn't start moving again upon being poked, they tried it – to Petunia and Vernon's initial disgruntlement – pronounced it good enough, but the cards seemed more interesting. There was also one other gift – a small pocket mirror that Harry thought must have come from an idiot. He looked to Mr. Lupin, and upon being assured that it had not come from him, was relieved that at least the people he spent time with didn't think he was so girly as to want a mirror of all things.

"You know, that scowl does nothing for your complexion."

Harry yelped, dropping the mirror when it started to actually speak. Before Petunia or Vernon could say anything though, Harry had looked to his cousin and pleaded for him to 'shut the demented recorded mirror up'. Something Dudley was only too happy to do, by marching it to the bathroom and smashing it in the tub of course. Good thing Remus was a wizard, or he might've had to worry about glass in his drain. As it was, well, no one was hurt, and the adult Dursleys were calmed that both their son and the nephew they were raising had been disturbed as they and worked together to take action.

Well, Dudley had taken the action, but that just made them prouder of their son. It was good enough that Harry had recognized that it needed to be destroyed. The boy was magical inherently; there was only so much you could hope from him.

After all the drama had died down, Harry found himself recounting the gifts he had opened the night before for Mr. Lupin. It was not that he intended to brag; merely that Mr. Lupin had always encouraged him and was quite nice and friendly. It was this man who had pushed him to want to learn the reading lessons his aunt had given him.

Harry had been sent over after another strange incident he couldn't explain, and, like always, he was asked what had happened. When he told Mr. Lupin that he had only wanted to be able to sleep but that Dudley's poking him and demanding Harry do something interesting with him since he couldn't watch the telly, but somehow the television had fixed itself temporarily – oddly dying right before they called the mechanic to cancel the trip… well, Harry was given the most marvelous suggestion. To learn to read because books, if you found the right subject, could be marvelously entertaining for both the reader and the audience, and please his Aunt Petunia at the same time. Not that his aunt and uncle had been very upset about the television situation. His uncle at least had commented off hand that it might be more impressive if it were fixed the normal way, but that he thought the fact the telly didn't explode was a good thing. He considered it a small favor, to use his phrasing exactly.

Harry also much preferred Mr. Lupin to Mrs. Figg. Mr. Lupin would tell him sometimes about what his parents were like, what they looked like, who their friends were. He knew that Mr. Lupin wasn't telling him everything. There was something big that his aunt and uncle were keeping from him too, and he was pretty sure it was the same secret. Whenever Harry asked though, he was told that he was too young, and they would tell him more when he was old enough. Harry hoped that four was old enough, maybe five at the oldest. Whatever it was, it seemed incredibly important, and Harry was an extremely curious little boy at heart.

Mr. Lupin also didn't have strange cats that acted like they understood English and stared at him as if they were watching his every move. He had been particularly unnerved one visit by a tabby cat with markings that almost looked like spectacles around its eyes. Whenever Dudley tried to start a game – be it trying to pin Harry or a poke war or even 'I punch you, you punch me', the strange cat had all but growled. It was the oddest thing. It wasn't until Harry had frustratedly told Dudley that they'd have to wait to play something interesting when they were at home that the cat had stopped. And if Harry didn't know better, he would say the feline had looked confused! Whatever the reason, the rest of the stay the cat had just sat still as a statue and stared at him. Pretty uncomfortable, all things considered, and Harry was very glad when his aunt and uncle came to pick them up.

It took some doing, but after quite a bit of wheedling, begging, and even a bit of almost crying on Dudley's part, they were actually allowed to bring the 'unnatural' stuff home, just as long as it stayed in their room. Both Harry and Dudley were elated at this news and they quickly agreed on how to split the candy. Unsurprisingly, after trying a few jelly beans, they gave the remaining unopened boxes to their caregivers.

As the boys were thus occupied, Remus approached Petunia and Vernon, murmuring quietly, "Marge let it go by any miracle?"

Petunia sniffed quietly at this. "As nice as that would be, no. If I didn't know she wasn't a very religious woman, I would fear her trying to exorcise the poor boy."

Vernon's mustache trembled as he began to speak as softly as he could – which wasn't very, but at least it didn't draw the boys' attention.

"Great woman my sister, but when she sets her mind to something, it's set. There's not much to be done to divert her. For a few days, it was almost like she thought it was a dream, and then we started hearing about it from her on the phone or in the mail, whenever she contacted us really."

His wife nodded in agreement, adding conspiratorily, "We've put her off this far saying it was something to discuss in person. Family matters that shouldn't be aired or explained in some interceptable way, you know, but we're going to have to come up with something."

"Do you have any idea what? Telekinesis, perhaps?"

"Tele what?"

"Supposedly there are nonmagicals who claim to be able to move things with their minds. The scientific term for this manifestation is telekinesis. There's quite a bit of skepticism surrounding it, but perhaps if you leave it vague and just as a possibility you suspect but haven't proven for now, it will give her the answer she wants and allow you some peace."

Petunia and Vernon looked to each other, both processing what Remus had suggested.

"Perhaps," Petunia said finally. "We'll hear her theories first, but it would be nice to not have to fret so much about that boy. For the most part, he's pliant enough, and he keeps Dudley busy and even happy, so I don't have anything against him, but…."

"Just say it, Pet. We have better things to do than worry about some mess caused because of an accident a three year old made. Not that we'd ever told him to do otherwise, but he knows better now, and at least it was Marge. She might grumble to us about it, but she wouldn't go spreading it around."

Small favors indeed.

The Dursley family stayed a little while longer before giving their regards to Remus or Mr. Lupin and heading back to the homestead. Peter remained in order to catch up with his remaining best friend. While the car ride was a bit of a silent one, it was also entertaining as each member found themselves inexorably drawn to try the Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and found that, indeed, they meant every flavour.