Vernon Dursley couldn't recall exactly when he realized the Love Potion no longer worked. He just knew, now, that it didn't work. It seemed to start sometime after the baby was born, but Vernon wasn't sure exactly when or how it had happened. There was no mistaking it though, Petunia didn't love him anymore.

Petunia was, however, afraid of him. In some ways, that was much more satisfying. The sobs of self hatred and unworthiness that used to escape her lips when he corrected her behavior had been replaced with screams of real fear and pain. Yes, that was much more satisfying.

Of course, she'd become much better at avoiding being corrected since the change. Before Dudley, Petunia seemed almost blind to the mistakes she made—the poor clothing choices, the time spent gossiping with neighbors that should have been devoted to him, the boring meals she prepared—she always seemed surprised to find she had done wrong.

No, the new Petunia was at least a bit smarter about things. She still needed to improve her cooking and Vernon had spared no effort in getting her to see that, but she had stopped wasting time with the neighbors and had realized that the clothes she had were enough, it was not right for her to go out and buy a new outfit every few months. Style wasn't important anymore. She was his wife and as long as he was happy with her clothes, she should be.

The birth of young Dudley had brought the need to correct many of Petunia's ideas. First, she had gotten it into her head that she would use a diaper service. As though Vernon was going to pay somebody else to wash diapers when her parents had given them a perfectly good washing machine. Then, she had taken to staying in the house all day, spying on the neighbors but rarely venturing out to do more than a bit of shopping. Vernon wasn't stupid. He knew what people would think of that. It had taken a bit of convincing, but at least Petunia seemed to have a friend now. Vernon had never met this "Yvonne" person she mentioned but he didn't care. As long as Petunia was getting out a bit and being seen, he wouldn't be worrying about his reputation in the neighborhood. Once or twice, he'd even allowed Petunia to go out and spend a weekend day with Yvonne—and the baby of course, wanting to spend time with her friend was fine, but only if she kept up her child care duties. Vernon felt it was very big of him to not insist Petunia only see Yvonne when he was at work. Petunia was lucky he wasn't a more controlling husband. His father would never have let his mother even leave the house without him on a weekend. Yes, Petunia was quite lucky indeed.

Now that Dudley was getting older, learning to walk and talk, Vernon thought it was time to remind Petunia of her place in the house. No Dursley man, however young, would be criticized or belittled by a woman. If the boy needed discipline, then Vernon would provide the discipline. Petunia's job was to see to his happiness, nothing more. If she kept the boy happy, then all would be well in the house. If Dudley were unhappy, well, a mother should share her son's feelings then, shouldn't she?

The next day was Halloween. Stupid day. Vernon was glad the English were sensible folk and didn't go parading about in costumes like those silly Americans he saw on the telly.

But, this wasn't an ordinary Halloween, and much to Vernon's distress, it did seem the good solid Englishmen were, indeed parading about in costumes. One of the most outlandish of them had said the name "Harry Potter". Vernon had heard that name. Yes, he was quite sure that Petunia's sister was named Potter now and he thought that she'd recently had a baby she named Harry. How Petunia got information about her sister was a mystery to Vernon, but she seemed to get it.

Shortly after they'd gotten married, Vernon had taken to inquiring about Petunia's sister. He wanted to make sure there was no danger of her coming to their house and ruining everything. Every few weeks he'd ask if Petunia'd heard from her. As the answer was always no, there had been no reason for Vernon to take any action. Then one day Petunia had not said "No, of course not." She had said "She sent a wedding invitation." Vernon had frozen in his tracks. But, this was when the Potion was still working and Vernon need not have worried. Petunia explained that her sister was marrying someone called James Potter and had dared to invite them to what would certainly be an unnatural ceremony of some sort. Petunia hadn't even bothered to reply, she'd simply thrown the offending invitation down the disposal.

Alas, things had certainly changed. Earlier this year he'd asked about Petunia's sister and had received the startling news that Lily Potter had given birth to a baby. Vernon was quite sure Petunia had said the name was "Harry". It was a bit difficult to recall exactly what was said in that conversation because Vernon was understandably upset that his wife was encouraging any contact at all with her unnatural relative. As her husband, it had been his job to show her the mistake she had made so she would never repeat it. Ever. Vernon took quite a bit of pride in the fact that since that unfortunate episode, when he inquired about Petunia's sister, the response was a fearful shake of the head and whimpered "No, of course not."

Yet, Vernon wasn't one hundred percent sure the child's name was Harry. Perhaps the outlandishly dressed man was talking about someone else entirely. Vernon made up his mind to forget the whole thing when the man on the television news started discussing all sorts of bizarre occurrences. Flocks of owls, showers of fireworks. It was, to say the least, unnatural.

Vernon decided he'd better confirm the one bit of information he was unsure of.

"Er -- Petunia, dear -- you haven't heard from your sister

lately, have you?"

This wasn't how he usually phrased his question and he knew she would be concerned about the difference.

As he had expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry.

"No," she said sharply. "Why?"

"Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls... shooting

stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."

"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley.

"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you

know... her crowd."

Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips.

"Their son -- he'd be about Dudley's age now, wouldn't he?"

"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.

"What's his name again? Howard, isn't it?"

"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."

"Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley. "Yes, I quite agree."

Damn. Well, there it was. Vernon had a moment's regret at having caused Petunia such discomfort. They routinely pretended Petunia didn't have a sister and any discussions about her were confined to one question with a one word answer. Petunia was likely afraid there would be repercussions for this extended exchange. The new Petunia might be smarter than the old Petunia, but she still wasn't smart. Vernon had no reason to punish Petunia for this, she had given very appropriate answers to his questions. When would the woman learn that he was not an unreasonable man, he simply insisted on things being done his way?

Well, he would just hope that nothing more came of all this foolishness.