(minor rewording for hopefully better flow of text in some parts of this chapter, 21st February, 2016)

Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: As mentioned in the first chapter, this story originated on another website; I've been able to update with this installment relatively quickly (as with the previous chapter, some delay occurred to expand the text in places), since the material, at least as far as the story goes, was in essence already written. However, once all the 'ready written' material is posted (estimated at the initial time of this post to be two further installments' worth after this one, one of them very short), updates will get somewhat haphazard in timing since I have a number of other calls upon what 'writing time' I have. As a reminder, this story assumes a version of the magical world in which 'betrothal arrangements' have some legal and social standing in the UK, as of the late twentieth century, and that one night in late 1979 James Potter entangled his (then unborn) son, Harry, in one (with one Daphne Greengrass). With a Wizarding War otherwise ongoing, as in canon, Voldemort nonetheless went after the Potter family, much as in canon, only to be 'defeated' by a bouncing Killing Curse due to maternal sacrificial protection on the night Hallowe'en, 1981. Although some of the circumstances surrounding that attack differed from canon, with both his parents dead, Harry, as in canon, was nevertheless placed with the Dursleys, and had had an experience much as in canon, up until the opening of this story in the first chapter, when a knock came one evening in October, 1986, upon the door of number four Privet Drive. (Meanwhile, some characters in wizarding Britain, were having very different experiences from those of their canon counterparts, in the wake of Lord Voldemort's fateful attack on the Potters...)

Further Note: This chapter is from Vernon Dursley's perspective and, following on several hours after the end of the previous chapter, takes place on the evening of 22nd April, 1987, at number 4 Privet Drive. This story is rated 'T'.

"I must say, you seem to have some particularly fine rose bushes in your front garden." the bizarrely dressed wizard who had unexpectedly turned up on the doorstep five minutes earlier at eight p.m. broke the silence that had followed the departure of Petunia 'to go and get the boys ready for bed'.

Underneath a brown steeple hat and a travelling cloak that for some reason failed to draw glances from any passers-by, the caller was dressed in orange, yellow, and pink robes, which were to some extent reminiscent of the shades of an evening's sunset. He had a long white beard, a moustache to go with it, and a pair of half-moon glasses perched on the end of his nose. He had introduced himself to Petunia and Vernon as 'Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore', and gained himself an exceptionally hostile response, in the doing so, from Petunia.

Then the boys had turned up, curious as to what was going on on the doorstep. Petunia had allowed the boys and the caller no more than a couple of moments to stare at one another before she had turned and hustled the boys away with an unquestionable command of 'bedtime!', leaving Vernon to handle the interloper.

From the careful remark that he had just made to Vernon about gardening, it was apparent that the caller was interested in having a conversation, in despite of Petunia's reaction to him.

"Yes, well, it's a team effort." Vernon said, a bit relieved that the awkward silence had been broken. "I had been intending to write to you, so in one sense it's quite fortunate you turning up like this." Another hesitation, whilst the two men, either side of the doorstep, listened to the sounds emerging from further into the house, then: "Well, now they're upstairs and out of the way, would you like to come in?"

"What would you like?" Vernon asked, busying himself at the drinks cabinet, whilst the wizard settled himself into an armchair and let his curious gaze wander around the room.

Never mind the unexpected caller's likely supernatural powers – from what Vernon had heard about him at Gringotts today, and from Petunia, before, Albus Dumbledore was some sort of highly important bigwig, and it was thus probably prudent for Vernon Dursley to make at least some show of social accommodation on a first meeting such as this.

Thus drinks – alcoholic – in the sitting room.

"Mead if you have any. Otherwise anything sweet would be acceptable." the wizard replied.

"Hmm. I think we have some cassis somewhere." Vernon said, rummaging through various bottles.

"Ah. A rarified version of blackcurrant cordial. I must confess that I have heard of it, but never actually tried any. That will be quite acceptable." the wizard said.

Vernon poured out a small port-glass of cassis for his guest, for himself a tumbler of whisky, and turned around to find that the wizard was looking with an expression of mild curiosity at one of the family photographs ranged around the sitting room. It was one of the few photographs to feature Harry and had been taken at Christmas, with Harry having a slightly bemused expression on his face at his being included in the festivities this time around, in the midst of unwrapping whatever it was that the Greengrasses had sent at the last minute by special delivery.

"Ah, thank-you." the wizard took his eyes from the photo to accept the glass from Vernon.

Vernon collected his own tumbler and settled himself into a chair, which he then moved slightly to more conveniently face the wizard.

The wizard sipped from the glass cautiously and frowned:

"Interesting. Perhaps I should procure a bottle for a wizard I have the pleasure to work with who goes by the name of Horace." he said. "I believe he would enjoy it, quite considerably. But anyway, you had something which you wished to discuss with me, Mr. Dursley?"

"You first." Vernon said. "Clearly you must have something you consider important on your own mind, to come to visit like this out of the blue."

"Ah, well: It has come to my attention that earlier today you acquired an owl from Diagon Alley, whilst in the company of two boys." the wizard's piercing blue eyes turned on Vernon, his expression inscrutable.

"And so?" Vernon returned. "Witches and wizards get owls all the time I gather, and the man in the shop said that you didn't need any kind of special licence to own or buy one. I checked that most thoroughly at the time. If there was supposed to be some piece of paperwork involved, or close family members of witches and wizards aren't allowed to own owls and the man in the shop neglected to mention that, then I was sold it under false pretences…"

"No Mr. Dursley. There is no kind of legal difficulty with the purchase of the owl." Albus Dumbledore said. "The problem is that you were in Diagon Alley in the first place – with Harry Potter."

Vernon blinked.

"You'll have to expand on that a bit, I'm afraid." he said. "It's a bit tricky to get into the place without someone a bit unusual around, and I'd be a total idiot to send a six year old in with a list of things to do but otherwise completely on his own."

"I left Harry Potter on your doorstep five and a bit years ago, Mr. Dursley, because I wanted him to be safe. I wanted him raised well away from the magical world, and the people in it, some of the latter of whom might be thought to hold grudges and to have long memories regarding Harry. One of the last things that I wanted to hear was that young Mr. Potter had been gallivanting around Diagon Alley, in the company of two muggles, even if one of said muggles, Mr. Dursley, was yourself. Fortunately, the only identification of Mr. Potter I have heard of thus far was one made after-the-event by a contact of mine, who kept their mouth shut, other than to promptly notify me. You all arrived back here safely – but the Wizarding World is not a safe place for Mr. Potter to be in public, right now."

"I see." Vernon said. "You could have mentioned it in that letter which you left with the boy, back in eighty-one. Here is your dear nephew who has been suddenly orphaned by an attack by a dark and evil wizard. Take him in, bring him up, and by the way, don't let him anywhere near the 'magical world'. That last bit would have been definitely useful if that was what you actually wanted."

"I must confess that at the time, I thought it something quite unnecessary to add. I did not believe that you would turn out to be quite so informed on some of the ins and outs of our world, nor would show such initiative so soon before Harry became due to attend his parents' school."

"Right." said Vernon after a pause during which both men sipped their respective drinks. "Well, since you've made that clear now, it will be quite tricky to get my nephew into a 'proper' boarding school with only a few years' notice, but I should be able to pull some strings and get him into Smeltings with his cousin. Obviously, this 'Hogwash' place his parents went to will be quite out of the question…"

"Hogwarts." Albus Dumbledore interrupted. "And it is quite out of the question that Harry will not attend it. His parents both did, they made arrangements for him to have a place, they paid for his school fees…"

"No, no, no." Vernon took a turn at interrupting. "From what you've said, it is quite out of the question that my nephew attend Hogwarts. You can refund to him whatever of the fees you feel it legally and ethically necessary to refund, but you have clearly stated that it is not safe for my nephew to be 'out' anywhere 'public' in what you call 'the magical world', and to my mind 'public' and 'magical world' includes the 'Hogwarts' boarding school. My wife heard things from her sister about Hogwarts: endlessly ongoing feuds and fighting in the corridors between rival gangs or groups of students for weeks on end; violent contact sports that involve players practically trying to kill one another with flying metal balls; and every year at least one teacher sacked, seriously injured, or outright killed. If Diagon Alley is too hazardous for my nephew, then Hogwarts is nothing short of a death-trap, with opportunities aplenty for those who don't like him to settle grudges or outright try to arrange his demise."

The two men stared at one another.

"Let me be quite clear, Mr. Dursley. Harry will have to some day face up to his various enemies – he will not be able to stay safe and hidden forever – and at Hogwarts, he will have the opportunity to learn whilst being protected more-than-adequately by the staff."

"And let me be clear: You sent him away from what you call the 'magical world' apparently in the belief that it was possible for him to be hidden indefinitely from his enemies, by staying with us – so he quite obviously doesn't have to ever face anyone if he doesn't want to, or not unless there's something important that you're not telling me?"

The staring match continued, and after half a minute, the wizard broke off.

"Perhaps I have overstated the dangers, waiting for Harry, Mr. Dursley. If you wish to make an excursion to Diagon Alley in the future, please write to let me know, and I shall arrange in advance a bodyguard or protection detail of some sort, to ensure safety from what perils might otherwise present themselves. You not unjustly place the emphasis, given some of the things which I have said, on me to demonstrate that Harry can be kept safe in public, although I would be pleased if you would keep such visits to a minimum."

"Fair enough. Since you seem to believe that any danger is only 'public', I take it that private visits to the Greengrasses do not require armed wizards trailing along five paces behind?"

"All wizards are by definition armed, Mr. Dursley, but… the Greengrasses? I… Ah. Of course: that would be the betrothal arrangement with their eldest daughter? James mentioned something about one once or twice; I must confess that initially I had doubts about it, and indeed hoped that the Greengrasses would forget about it, or find some mutually profitable 'out' from it, but these days it seems less and less something about which I should be concerning myself. Since I have heard nothing of late of especial note regarding the family, but you clearly have at least a passing familiarity with the arrangement's existence, I take it that you and they have already been in discreet contact. So long as the Greengrasses remain discreet in any actions which place Harry in the Wizarding World, any interactions which involve them would to my mind be 'safe' for Harry. Was that, by any chance, what you wished to seek my opinion on?"

"No. It never crossed my mind that they wouldn't be 'safe', since they returned him intact, back in October, from Daphne's birthday celebration. What I did want to inquire with you about was that the goblins in Gringotts today said something about you having the key to a vault that belongs to my nephew, and it seems to me that he ought to have it as soon as possible. What's in his vault is not doing him any good sitting where it is. The goblins are very good at keeping valuable property safe, but their bank doesn't operate any kind of interest-for-long-term-customers policy, and indeed they actually charge a peppercorn rent for vault maintenance. Whenever whatever rent the boy's parents may have paid in advance runs out, he'll be losing money, if anything, if it's sitting there doing nothing."

"Nevertheless, I am afraid, Mr. Dursley, that Harry's mother was very much a prudent woman, and she would disapprove of her son having access to what amounts to his inheritance at so young an age. He might run wild and blow it on ill-advised things such as sweet-shops, or a broomstick manufacturing company, or a North Sea oil-rig."

"And the boy's father?" Vernon queried, ignoring the insinuation that a North Sea oil-rig might not be a prudent investment and instead focussing on the weakness he sensed in the wizard's lack of reference to him.

"Ahh. James was considerably less careful of money, at least when it came to himself and his friends." the wizard admitted. "However, I believe that he would have stood by Lily's wishes with regard to financial prudence," and here the wizard winced, and qualified himself, "except possibly with regard to buying presents for friends."

"Right." Vernon said. "So, on that basis?..."

"If Harry wishes to buy a friend a present for Christmas, for a birthday, or for some extraordinary celebratory occasion, he may write to me, and if I consider the idea reasonable, I shall allow a withdrawal." the wizard sighed. "Otherwise, I will insist upon retaining the key to Harry's vault until at least his eleventh birthday, when his requirement to purchase his first wand and the various equipment, books and other accoutrements necessary to attend a magical school come due and for which he should have the freedom to spend his own money." His tone hardened. "As you may or may not have heard, Mr. Dursley, I am Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and I will not be seen to behave recklessly with regard to the finances of a minor who happens to be an orphan, the heir of a very old and respected family, and also, incidentally, the boy who defeated Lord Voldemort."

"Hmmph. Wish there were more around in high office as anxious as you to be seen to be 'doing things properly'." Vernon said, figuring that for now trying to push for more on this front might be unproductive and that mollification was called for. "That seems all in good sense, and wraps up the main reason I wanted to speak with you." Time to move the topic on now, and try to finish things on a less confrontational note: "While you're here, however, I don't suppose you could take the time to give me your version of what exactly happened to my nephew's parents and with this 'Voldemort' fellow? That letter you left back in '81 didn't say much about it. I've acquired a number of books today, but haven't had time yet to do more than glance at them, although your name does seem to crop up quite often in events."

"Alas, in the denouement of what happened to James and Lily, my involvement was mostly peripheral." the wizard said. "And there are some things which – even half a dozen years on – I do not fully understand myself, and others which for reasons of security or to avoid confusing you with difficult technical matters of magic I shall brush over, but in general outline, I shall certainly unfold to you how I believe that things stood. By the by, Mr. Dursley: you may want to refill your glass, as some of the matters which I am about to recount are not for the hearing of the faint of heart…"

"…And that, Mr. Dursley, is how Harry came to be left upon your doorstep, one chilly November night." the wizard wound down, twenty minutes later. Albus Dumbledore had undoubtedly been holding back on a good many things, Vernon didn't doubt, but he also loved the opportunity to talk at length to an audience, especially when it came to outlining in depth by what means he had deduced or surmised particular elements of a chain of events.

And by the climax of the tale which the wizard had just told, almost all of those involved at the very heart of the business seemed to have finished up some combination of dead, mad, or permanent hospital-cases.

"It sounds nasty." Vernon had during the telling in fact experienced several fleeting moments of pity for his nephew. "And definitely not the thing to be bothering my wife or my nephew with the details of for some years, at the least. If this 'Death Eater' lot, even in a losing cause, were halfway as dangerous as you make out, I can understand your concerns about safety now, much more, and I hope that Hogwarts security is at least halfway up to what you've promised. Because otherwise…"

He trailed off and shook his head.

"This talk of old events, has put me in mind of one thing, Mr. Dursley: I should like to beg a favour of you." Albus Dumbledore said, shifting his tone now from that of a lecturer to that of a supplicant. "As I had indicated, one of James and Lily's friends, Remus Lupin, came out of the end of the war relatively intact, and although he has to date refrained – at my request – from having any kind of communication other than to send Christmas and birthday cards to his godson, Harry, I believe that he would appreciate a greater degree of contact. He is, as I have said, a werewolf, although as such he only 'loses himself' during nights of the full moon period, and is at no hazard of transmitting his condition or descending into madness during the hours between sunrise and sunset of any given day. And during the war, he performed many brave and invaluable acts for 'our side', to the benefit of his friends and to his own very great credit. Nonetheless, there is a good deal of paranoia and undue superstition in magical society about werewolves, and as one who has not tried to conceal from officialdom his affliction, Remus has received little reward or recognition over the years since for what he did during the war. It would mean a great deal to him, and be a great service to me, if you would be so gracious as to allow him access to Harry."

Vernon suspected that Albus might be exaggerating the 'brave and loyal soldier, unjustly spurned by the society he served' bit, but the appeal was very well made, and the notion of Albus Dumbledore owing the Dursleys a favour (although anything involving a certain Gringotts vault key would probably not be covered) had its attractions…

"I'll have to consult with Petunia about it, but if he wants to, she'll probably allow Mr. Lupin to write, as long as the letters stay on subjects relatively 'magic free'. And non-magical Christmas and birthday presents, if he wants to send any, would probably be acceptable."

"Thank you, Mr. Dursley. Remus will be truly touched by this gesture, should your good lady approve of it." Albus said, with every sign of sincerity.

It was dark outside by the time that Albus Dumbledore departed from number four, Privet Drive.

"By the by, Mr Dursley:" Albus nodded at the lights of the residence, across the street, of the slightly dotty 'cat lady', Mrs. Figg. "She is no witch, but your neighbour of across the road is a lady of my slight acquaintance, and should you have urgent need to contact me by a means more immediate than an owl, she should be able to assist. And with that I shall bid you adieu…"

Vernon stared after the departing wizard, and then at his neighbour's house, doing mental arithmetic, that included what he could remember of for how long Mrs. Figg had been a 'neighbour'.

She must have been around since about the time that Harry had arrived in the Dursley household – which was interesting in terms of what it told Vernon about a number of things which Albus Dumbledore had not outright said.

Author Notes:

As indicated in the Author Notes of previous chapters, in this universe Mrs. Figg lives in Privet Drive, and noticed the return, earlier in the day, of Harry, Vernon, and Dudley, with an owl and various other bags and parcels. It looked to here to be clearly an owl of the sort used to send messages in the magical world, so she immediately got in touch with Albus Dumbledore about this, since it clearly indicated contact with witches/wizards. (Back in October the previous year, Mrs. Figg missed spotting Mr. Greengrass' taking/bringing back Harry for Daphne's birthday, and all communication between 4 Privet Drive and St. George's Hill since then has occurred by means of Royal Mail, so this was the first 'contact with witches/wizards' she'd had to report.) Albus (given that Mrs. Figg reported that they'd clearly been out for the day by car) deduced that they had most likely shopped at Diagon Alley in London, and rushed down there to check if there had been any trouble or whether there were any reports circulating of 'sightings' of Harry Potter. He identified several shops at which they had called but at none of which Harry had been recognised, trusted to goblin discretion at Gringotts, if Harry had been identified there, and much relieved, headed up to Privet Drive to give Vernon and Petunia a 'what ever were you thinking of?' ticking off...

During the initial pleasantries on the doorstep of number four, Albus Dumbledore is assumed to have said sufficient things to 'prove' that he actually is Albus Dumbledore (possibly including mentioning that Petunia had written to him when she was a girl).

Albus' reference to a wizard named 'Horace' is to Horace Slughorn, who at the date (in-universe) of this chapter is Head of Slytherin at Hogwarts.

Over the years, Albus is assumed to have carried out some basic research on Vernon and his work. I imagine that with Grunnings being a 'drill' firm in the UK in the 1980's amongst their activities/products might be supplies to North Sea oil-rigs - hence the 'dig' that Albus takes at Vernon about North Sea oil-rigs at one point. (Vernon of course got an earlier sneaky dig of his own in by referring to Hogwarts as 'Hogwash'.)

I am aware that post-canon J.K. Rowling has said something to the effect that Hogwarts does not charge fees, but that the school is paid for by the Ministry. I just don't see the canon Ministry of Magic as being sufficiently well resourced to do this, and am taking a line that fees are charged except maybe for poorly off muggle-borns (which would explain some magical families 'home-schooling', and be one further reason for pure-bloods/half-bloods to resent muggle-borns). It's an artistic liberty on my part, and not intended (at the time of writing of these notes, in February, 2016) to be plot-critical.

As noted in the previous chapter, Gringotts is assumed in this universe not to pay 'interest' for money stored with them. They do however often charge a small 'storage' fee.

Vernon Dursley, as of this chapter, is blithely unaware that engaging in a staring contest with a legilimency-capable wizard is not the most prudent of options. In this chapter, Albus kept any legilimency light, and restricted to solely a search for any surface memories about the visit earlier in the day to Diagon Alley, which was his most immediate concern.

Albus isn't stupid. From evidence such as Harry only appearing in recent family photos, he devises a theory, very rapidly, that there has been some change of circumstances in how the Dursleys view/interact with Harry. Once the Greengrasses are mentioned he makes an 'informed guess' that for some reason the betrothal arrangement (which must have been mentioned once or twice around the Order of the Phoenix, during the war) is in some way connected to the change in attitude of the Dursleys.

Remus Lupin, not Sirius Black, is Harry's godfather in this universe. As indicated in the chapter one notes, Lily insisted rather firmly on Sirius not being allowed anywhere near 'godfather' duties, due to Sirius' part, as she viewed it, in James getting Harry into a betrothment. When Albus left Harry with the Dursleys, back in November 1981, he was aware from gossip around the Order of the Phoenix that Petunia hadn't got on terribly well with the close friends of Lily's husband, so he specifically asked Remus to refrain from contacting the Dursleys/Harry. Remus only agreed on condition that Albus do his best to keep his eye on Harry, to see that everything was alright, to which Albus assented - hence Mrs. Figg actually being in Privet Drive in this universe, rather than a couple of streets away, as in canon.

Next update will be very brief, consisting of some Remus/Harry correspondence; after that should come a longer installment regarding Dudley's (1987) birthday celebrations.

And as a teaser, regarding the casualty list for late October/early November, 1981:

Lily & James Potter - dead

Lord Voldemort - 'dead' (or at least believed dead, by most; in fact, skulking somewhere or other, in spirit form, as in canon)

Peter Pettigrew - dead

Sirius Black - long-term coma case, St. Mungo's, to the delight of his family

Alice Longbottom - long-term cruciatus curse damage case, St. Mungo's, to the distress of her family

Severus Snape - dead, but that hasn't stopped his ghost being landed with a teaching job, anyway; head of house duties assumed to be beyond him, however