Petunia Dursley

11 November 1981

4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey

Petunia Dursley stumbled downstairs still half asleep. Normally she was bright and chipper in the mornings and eagerly prepared a hearty breakfast to send Vernon off to work. This last week however had left her exhausted, even more than when her sweet Dudley was breaking his first tooth. Last Wednesday she had received the shock of her life when going to retrieve the milk in the morning she had found her young nephew, Harry Potter, abandoned on her doorstep. The accompanying letter had only compounded her state when she learned that not only had her sister been murdered, but that the same man was after her nephew and now her own family was likely in danger. The familiar signature did little to alleviate her concern. Albus Dumbledore had never done her any favors and all out stating that he would only protect her family from magical murderers if she took in her nephew did not generate the kindest of feelings.

Petunia had many hard feelings towards the magical world. As a child, being excluded and steadily left behind by her sister had hurt deeply, especially as her parents continually fawned over Lily in the brief times she was home. Petunia herself had done her best to be the perfect daughter, doing well in school and dutifully doing chores at home every day, but praise had been scarce for what her parents saw as a matter of course. Lily obviously never did chores or any of the house work, she was only home for holidays and then was the center of all parental attention. It was hard not to resent her sister when every time she was home it was to praise of how well she was doing or how beautiful she had grown, and never mind that Petunia had worked just as hard (if not harder with no magical help), what did Lily want to do for the holiday. With age she had come to understand that they were just glad to see their daughter and tended to spoil her a bit since she was away so much, but as a child it had been painful to live through.

The exclusivity of the magical world also irked her; never mind attending Hogwarts, she wasn't even permitted to visit and even righting a letter to the Headmaster was too much. That poisonous neighborhood boy, Snape, did not help her opinion as by his attitude she and any other non-magicals were little more than animals. She was so happy when her sister told her she had finally dropped the repulsive little toad. She had hoped that she and her sister could reconnect as adults, especially as she need not be gone 10 months out of the year at school, but that wish had been in vain too. After graduation she was gone more than ever, and once their parents were gone Lily did not see the need to keep in touch. Her sister had seemed to adopt many magical prejudices over her school days. Not even noticing when she despaired over the 'muggle' conditions at home and dismissing her family's views and opinions as trivial or uninformed. Lily's husband had been the worst at that. The arrogant condescension of the prick James Potter towards her own wonderful Vernon still made her burn with anger years later. The spoiled boy had clearly never had to work for anything in his life, casually bragging of his own inherited wealth and dismissing Vernon's own hard earned gains. Of course what had magic or that Potter boy brought her sister except an early grave, leaving her to pick up the pieces and care for their abandoned child.

Harry, it turned out, was an exceptionally difficult child. Since he had woken up that first morning, the boy had not stopped screaming and sobbing. That first day, the plaintive cries for his mother had stirred Petunia's own tears and she too wept for her dead sister. She could understand the little boy's pain. While they no longer spoke, and indeed had strongly resented each other the last few years, Petunia could still grieve for her and all the missed opportunities that magic had stolen from their lives. The second day did not see any lessening of Harry's cries, indeed they seemed to increase. Petunia would have taken him to the doctor if Dumbledore's letter had not assured her of Harry's perfect health and the need to keep him out of sight until the risk died down. She understood Harry's sobs for his parents, but it did not make it any easier to endure the noise. Inevitably, Harry's cries set off her own sweet tempered Dudley and Petunia would face the rest of the day with her ears practically bleeding from the screams of two toddlers. Vernon's tolerance was lower than her own and although he had an escape for several hours each day, returning from a hard day's work every evening to a house filled with constant screams was rapidly evaporating any pity or goodwill he felt towards their nephew.

After several days of the constant wailing, Petunia was at her wit's end. No one in the house was sleeping, constantly awakened by the noise. Vernon's temper was fraying noticeably and Dudley was beginning to look ill from exhaustion. In desperation, Petunia finally moved Harry in Dudley's old cot into the cupboard under the stairs. It was still convenient for her to check on the boy throughout the day and the thick door kept in much of the sound. The added distance to Dudley's room upstairs muffled the noise enough that her own boy was finally sleeping through the evenings and naptimes improving Dudley's look and disposition. Vernon again got some rest, but Petunia was always a light sleeper and even when she dropped off the crying would quickly wake her again. After a week of this, she had started to truly resent the brat and her enmity towards his mother was freshly stirred with every scream. While she knew she could never abandon the boy, everyday it was becoming harder to truly care for the child as his continual crying steadily eroded her natural motherly concern. Despairingly, Petunia thought that if this continued much longer not only would she be worn to the bone, but she would eventually come to hate her sister's child.

Thinking of Harry, the kitchen was unusually quiet this morning. Her morning cup of tea finally roused Petunia's senses enough to notice that Harry was not screaming for once. Walking quickly to the cupboard under the stairs, she found the cot empty. Panic briefly flared before she spotted a note written on the thick paper she recalled Lily using for her school work. It seemed that the magicals were as careless of 'muggles' when picking up the boy as when dropping him off. Well, it was best for him to be raised there as his magical nature would only bring pain and destruction to her family, like Lily had done to her. She wondered if she would ever see her nephew again, the last remnant of her own family, and sadly realized she felt only relief at him being gone.