Severus Snape hesitated for a long time on the doorstep to Number 4 Privet Drive, possibly the most overtly normal-muggle house he had ever seen. It had been a year since Lily's death. A long, sickening, bloodsoaked year in which his own espionage activities had finally paid off in the arrests of five Death Eaters and the deaths of six as they resisted arrest... Eleven men and women he would have once called friends. Friends he betrayed for the sake of another dead friend. The difference of course was that Lily's friendship had been genuine, once. Such was war. Screwing up his courage, Severus finally raised his hand to knock on the door. The sound of little feet pounding towards him on the other side of the door gave him palpitations.

The door swung open, revealing a chubby three-year-old who looked almost nothing like the Potter infant Severus recalled. This must be the cousin, he realized. Petunia's muggle son.

"Dudders!" Petunia called from down the hall with a tone of loving exasperation. "I told you to wait for me! Who is it, sweetie?"

"Dunno, Mum! It's a man!" The child hollered.

"You don't know?" Petunia suddenly sounded worried. She cared for and was overprotective of her child... just as Lily had been. Severus felt a shiver of guilt threatening his careful composure. Then Petunia walked through the kitchen door into the foyer, holding Harry Potter on her hip, clearly still half-way through getting him dressed for the day as the toddler wore his baggy shirt around his neck only. She was holding his face against her neck, hiding the scar Severus knew was there on his forehead. Petunia froze when she saw him, eyes wide. The instant her contented mother's smile left, she looked just as she did the last time he saw her as a teenager: drawn, suspicious, and angry. "Severus?!"

Severus' mouth was dry. He licked his lips and bobbed his head. "Hello, Petunia."

"Wh- what are you doing here?" She grabbed her own son's collar and pulled him behind her.

"I..." He looked down. "Icametoapologize," he said in a rush. He looked back up at her. Now her expression was Lily's: mixed skepticism and curiosity. He hastily looked away from her and found himself looking face-to-face with Harry instead, who had turned to look at him now that Petunia had let his head go. Severus had never been this close to the boy, only seen him in pictures except for that last horrible night in the darkened house. He had never seen his eyes before. His face was his father's, but his eyes were Lily's. Suddenly, he found himself crying, and not subtly either. No, his shoulders shook, and his breath quickly turned to sobbing gasps.

"Severus, control yourself," Petunia hissed. "The neighbors will see you and talk..." Severus registered what she said, and recognized the wisdom of the words. He was here in uncomfortable muggle clothing for a reason, afterall. But he couldn't control himself. "Honestly... get in here." She stepped aside, grabbed his arm, and pulled him in, shutting the door behind him. She pointed to the left. "Go wait in the living room. I'll join you in a moment." Severus did as he was told, squinting through his tears to find a couch to sit on. He tried to take deep, calming breaths, but it didn't work very well. Distantly, he heard Petunia talking to the children, her voice high and falsely cheerful. "Dudders, I want you to go up to your room and play, okay sweetums?"

"But who is-"

"I have to talk to him about boring, adult things, sweetie. You don't need to listen to that nonsense. Go play with the new blocks your Auntie Marge got you. You can build a tower and show it to Mummy later, okay?"

"Okay!" the child enthused. He thundered up the steps moments later.

"Harry," Petunia sighed. "You wait in the cupboard." In the cupboard? Was poor Petunia was trying to hide the boy from him? The thought was both depressing and ridiculous, but then what choice would the muggle woman have? She was relying entirely on the spells Dumbledore had placed on her, her nephew, and her home, and yet here was a wizard on her doorstep despite her caution. Severus did not know how much detail she had been given about the war and about the arrangement to protect Harry through her familial ties, but she clearly knew enough to recognize the danger her family could be in if the wrong people knew about them. These thoughts were finally sufficient to pull Severus out of his self-centered grief to control his tears somewhat. He wasn't here for himself. He was here for Lily. He pulled out a handkerchief, wiped his face, and blew his nose. By the time Petunia reappeared with two cups of tea, he was even breathing normally again, although he still dabbed at his eyes.

"Thank you," he said as she silently offered him a cuppa. They both sat and sipped tea for a moment, not looking at each other. Severus eventually sighed and set his tea down on the low table between them. "I'm sorry."

Petunia snorted. "For what? For dragging my sister into your insane world or for showing up on my doorstep after all this time and breaking down?"

"For getting Lily murdered," Severus said softly. "I'm the reason her family was targeted in the wizarding war." Petunia's eyes widened with righteous fury. He cringed a little. "It was not my intent," he assured her quickly. "But it was still my fault, in part."

Petunia frowned and shifted. She sighed as well, breath hissing out between her teeth. "I know you wouldn't try to hurt her intentionally, Severus. Even after your infamous breakup."

"Pardon?"

"When you two stopped being friends. When you were sixteen."

"She told you about that?"

"Of course she did. You were her best friend for so many years..." She glared at him again. "I never liked you, but that Potter boy was worse."

It was Severus' turn to snort. "He was."

"So, why are you here? And why now?"

Severus shrugged. "It's safer now. All of the Dark Lord's followers have been captured, killed, or otherwise dealt with at last. It has been long enough, no one will be watching my movements."

"Oh, thank God," Petunia said.

"I would not endanger you, or the boy, or your other family through carelessness. Never again," Severus assured her. "As I said, I came here to apologize. To you, and to him."

"He's not even three, Severus, and he doesn't know what happened," Petunia said crossly.

"He doesn't? Well, I suppose he is rather young. No reason to traumatize him yet."

"And he's never going to know," Petunia said firmly.

"What?" Severus asked, confused.

"He thinks his parents died in a car crash, and that's all he will ever know. He's not going to Hogwarts. He's not going to be a wizard. He's going to be normal."

Severus stared at her, incredulous. "Petunia, that's..." insane. "We already know he's a wizard. He has to go to school when the time comes."

She shook her head. "He's my nephew. My husband and I have talked about this. We'll put a stop to his magic if and when it manifests."

Severus couldn't help it. He rolled his eyes. "That's impossible."

"I'll be the judge of that."

"No, Petunia, listen to me. That has been tried before, and it is not only impossible, it is dangerous. Magical children cannot control their magic. There will be accidents, like Lily had, like I had. If you try to suppress them, the worst thing that could happen is not that you fail. The worst thing that will happen is that he tries not to be magical, and then the magic within him will turn dark and violent. Children affected this way are called Obscurials. They never reach adulthood, and they usually end up injuring or even killing multiple other people around them before they die."

Now Petunia was the one on the verge of tears. She set her own teacup down with a rattle. "I don't want this," she whispered. "I just want a normal life, especially after what ha-happened to L-l-lily, and M-m-m-mum."

Severus closed his eyes against another round of tears. Lily's father had died years ago, but her and Petunia's mother had been murdered by more of the Dark Lord's followers bare months after Lily herself. They had been after Harry, of course. It was bad luck someone tracked down Lily's childhood home and that Mrs. Iris Evans still lived there. Severus had been visiting his own mother at the time, saw the Dark Mark, and intercepted Elyan Pyrites while he was reading Iris' address book for clues where to look next. The man had just identified Petunia as Lily's older muggle sister and practically crowed in victory. Severus won the ensuing duel. Alastor Moody took the credit for the dead man to keep Severus' cover. "I know," he said quietly. "When I heard Dumbledore had sent the boy here, I knew this would be hard for you, that you would resent it, and that you were being very brave to accept him." He opened his eyes. "That's why I'm here. I came for Lily, which means for her son but also for you. Even though we were never friends, even though the two of you had your differences, Lily cared for you. I don't want you to be alone in this."

"I...thank you, Severus." She fidgeted slightly. "But what does that mean? I definitely don't want even more wizardry in my house."

Severus smiled. "No, I understand. I don't really know what I mean, I think. I would like to be a resource for you, a link to the wizarding world you may call on as-needed. But I won't be moving into the neighborhood or anything like that. I won't impose myself."

"Thank God." Severus snorted. Petunia smiled weakly. "I-I think I will need to think about this more. If what you say about accidental magic is true, then... I must speak more to Vernon about it. My husband. Anything you can do to help us avoid accidents would be much appreciated, I'm sure." She hesitated. "Is it safe to let him out of the house now? We've been keeping him hidden for the whole year, but it's hard. He doesn't understand, and my Dudley doesn't either. He only knows Harry isn't allowed outside, and that we all pretend Harry doesn't exist when we go out to the store, and he thinks it's funny..."

"You can let him outside," Severus said quickly. It had never occurred to him, nor he was sure to Dumbledore, that Petunia would be quite so paranoid, but he supposed it made sense in retrospect. Dumbledore should have updated her long before this, he realized. Poor Petunia and her husband would be going mad with uncertainty; that was no environment for two young children. He should know, from his own troubled childhood. "It was Dumbledore's intention for you to be able to raise him as a normal nephew, not some great secret. You don't have to worry about keeping him out of sight anymore. There are no wizarding families living in Little or even Greater Whinging, and we have taken steps to conceal your whereabouts from any wizards or witches who might have known Lily had a sister. No one on our side knows he is with you except for Albus Dumbledore, myself, the need-to-know officials in the Ministry of Magic, and a few other of Lily's and J- Potter's most trusted friends, and even fewer have access to your address." Severus himself only knew Petunia's address because of the duel with Pyrites.

Petunia fell back in her chair. For the first time, she smiled. "That is a relief." She raised her eyebrows. "You really didn't like James Potter, did you?"

Severus grimaced. "No, I hated him. He was a bully at school. He was the main reason for the fallout between me and Lily. It rankles me no end their son looks so much like him, in fact. But I'm willing to put that aside for Lily's sake."

Petunia gave a short laugh. "You would. You were smitten with her, and I sense that hasn't really changed." Severus winced and blushed. Fortunately, she politely ignored his discomfort. "Are we really safe, Severus?"

He nodded again.

"You're sure?"

"The war is over, has been for months. The zealots on the other side are all gone. Any who sympathized with the Dark Lord who remain free are too afraid of the law to come after Harry."

She smiled again, wider. "I can't tell you how grateful I am that you came here to tell me that. This year has been a nightmare."

"Harry still needs your protection," he warned her. "Bringing him back into our world too soon could stir up hidden passions again. But here, he's completely safe, as are all of you. If you want, I can ask Dumbledore to contact you as well to verify what I've told you."

She shook her head. "No, thank you. I remember when Dumbledore came to the house when Lily got her letter. He could never blend in this neighborhood as you can." Severus chuckled, imagining it. She was right. "Do you want to meet him? Harry, I mean." she asked.

"Er, yes, please."

She nodded, got up from her chair, and walked back out to the hall. He heard her murmuring to Harry but this time could not really make out the words, as her son (Dudley, was it?) seemed to be jumping around in the room above him. She returned shortly, leading Harry by the hand. Severus studied him and realized what Petunia had meant about the whole family pretending Harry didn't exist. The clothes he was wearing were clearly his cousin's cast-offs, and they did not fit him at all. He wondered uneasily if the child even had a proper bed to sleep in or instead had some kind of makeshift sleeping area in a closet somewhere so the family could hide his existence if needed.

"Harry, this is Severus Snape," Petunia said quietly. "He's your, ah..."

"Half-uncle," Severus supplied. Lily had told him her father had been married and divorced before meeting her mother, and Mark Evans had died five years ago, so it was a safe enough cover. Merlin knew he had aged more than he should with the stress of the war, not to mention the amount of dark magic he had had to use to survive it. He could pass as Petunia's older half-brother if he must.

Petunia's lips thinned, but she smiled and nodded as Harry looked up to her. "That's right. You mother was close with him when we were younger. You can go say hi." Harry let go of Petunia and cautiously toddled up to him, staring up at him with those wide, green eyes. Now Severus could see the curse scar on his forehead. It was the shape of a lightning bolt. "Hi Uncle Seffawuh," he said, his child's tongue struggling with the unfamiliar name. He stuck out his tiny hand.

Severus smiled. At least he was a polite little boy. He took the hand and shook it gently. "Nice to meet you, Harry. You can call me Uncle Sev," he said. "Your mum always called me Sev."

Harry grinned. "Uncle Sev," he repeated.

Steeling himself, Severus reached further and picked little Harry up to set him on his knee. "I loved your mum very much, Harry, and I want to get to know you and be friends with you too, okay?"

"Okay," Harry said, nodding.

Severus had never interacted with such a young child before, not as an adult, so he was unsure what to do or say next. "Have you been a good boy for your Aunt Petunia?" he asked. Harry nodded dutifully. Severus glanced up at Petunia to find her biting her lip to keep from laughing at him.

"Your Uncle Sev doesn't have too many other kiddos to talk to, Harry, so you and Dudley might have to teach him how to play later. He was always very serious," Petunia said. "Why don't we take a little walk to the park and get ice creams? You get to come too, Harry, since Uncle Sev is here."

"Really?!" Harry asked, his eyes lighting up. Petunia nodded. "I get go outside?" Petunia grinned and nodded again. "Yay!" He suddenly hugged Severus. "You come all time, Uncle Sev?" he gushed.

"You'll see me again."

"Go get your socks on while I get Dudders and find you some shoes," Petunia said.

"Okay!" Harry slipped off Severus' lap and ran from the room as fast as his short and poorly coordinated legs could carry him.

"I've got some of Dudley's old trainers I was saving for Harry, but I don't know how well they'll fit," Petunia murmured to Severus. "Could you... resize them?"

"Of course," Severus said.

Petunia nodded tightly. She left him, and moments later he again heard her talking to Harry in the hall. "Harry, take these to Uncle Sev. He'll help you get them on." Then, "Dudley! Mummy's coming upstairs!"

Harry reappeared with a pair of scuffed shoes. He was grinning at Severus triumphantly. He tripped on his too-long pants and fell to his knees, dropping the shoes as he did. Severus leapt up immediately and then knelt beside Harry before the child had a chance to attempt to right himself. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yep," Harry said. He grabbed a shoe and held it up to Severus. "Help, pwease?"

"I'll help," Severus agreed. Harry wriggled around on the floor until he was sitting on his bottom with his feet in front of him. His socks had holes, Severus noticed. He took out his wand and waved it at the socks. "Reparo." Then the pants, and the shirt. "Reducio." Now they fit much better.

"Cool! Daddy do that!" Harry enthused.

Severus touched a finger to his lips. "You mustn't tell anyone, Harry. This is our secret."

"Okay!" the boy whispered loudly.

Severus turned to the shoes. The fit wasn't bad, actually. Only one size too large. Still, "Reducio." Now the fit was perfect. He smiled at Harry, picked him up, and set him on his feet. "Well, you're getting to be a big boy, with your own shoes and everything. Ready to face the world?"

"Yeah!"


Petunia was humming to herself in the kitchen while she cooked dinner. She was watching Dudley and Harry through the window as they played in the fenced-in back yard, enjoying her rare time to herself without one or both of the boys underfoot. She and Severus had taught them the basic concept of football after lunch before Severus had left, and the game proved exciting enough that both the cousins had put aside their usual animosity to keep playing together for the past few hours. Dudley had even taken a break to proudly show Harry all his other toys and favorite activities in the yard, which Petunia found quite touching. She turned down the heat on the stove as soon as she heard the front door open and close, the noise punctuated by Vernon's unmistakable sigh of contentment to be home for the day. She hastened to meet him in the hall, threw her arms around him and kissed his cheek happily. Surprised, he held her for a moment and kissed her hair. "You had a good day, dear?" he inquired.

"I did. I had a visitor, who brought us good news."

"Oh?"

Petunia nodded. "It was... well, it was one of them, actually, someone I knew growing up. He says we're safe, Vernon! No one's looking for Harry any more!"

Vernon's eyes widened, and he hugged her tightly. She warmed to feel he still had a lot of muscle under the increasing paunch he had been developing from stress-eating for the past year. "Petunia, that's wonderful."

"I know."

"So... what now?"

She snuggled against him and smiled. "Well, for one, he and Dudley are currently playing football outside in the back yard. Together."

"You think that's alright for Dudders?" Vernon said nervously. He was such a wonderfully normal man, one of the reasons Petunia had fallen in love with him in the first place. He had been unnerved by the existence of the occult from the moment Petunia had told him about Lily, but he had stuck by Petunia despite her odd family, for which she was very grateful. His discomfort with it had only gotten worse in the past year, naturally.

Petunia nodded. "I turned out alright growing up with Lily, didn't I?"

He kissed her lips this time. "You did. I suppose it will be better for everyone if those boys can tolerate each other." And if Vernon could tolerate Harry without constant anxiety about Dudley and Petunia. Vernon did not have to love Harry, and Petunia doubted he ever would. But she knew he would try to respect their nephew for her sake, if she asked him to. And as for herself, well, she would try to love Harry, a little, she decided. Enough to show him affection, not just worry about him.

"Less headaches for me, that's for sure," Petunia admitted. "We'll talk more later, once the boys are asleep. Things will change, now, they must." She straightened up and smiled up at her husband. "Now, you go watch them play while I finish dinner. It's so cute."

Vernon smiled, mustache rippling. "I will."

Author's note: been on an HP fanfic binge, mostly Sirius-Harry, but this is what came out of it. It seemed to me Snape actually had the best chance of getting through to Petunia in the early years, simply because she already knows him and he knows how to behave like a muggle. They can bond over their mixed feelings for Harry/Harry's parents... Even though it's clear from Chapter 1 that the Dursleys were unpleasant Incredibly Normal People even before Harry came into their lives, I think it's reasonable to suppose the later extremes were still stress and anxiety related at heart. It would have been terrifying for the Dursleys to take Harry in if they knew anything about what they were signing up for, and really confusing for Dudley since he was only two. He would pretty much have to hate Harry simply because he wouldn't understand what about his cousin had put his parents so much on edge. And the pattern of neglect (castoffs only, sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs, leaving him out of family outings) all start as paranoid caution... which hopefully with this little bit of reassurance will no longer be perpetuated. As an aside, the fates of the Evans parents is never spelled out as far as I know, so that bit of extra tragedy you can blame me for.

I'm not sure if this will continue as a fuzzy family fic or stay a oneshot, so reviews are very welcome inspiration if you'd like this to continue.