Advent's Calendar 2023 - Fate's Fairy Tale
by teddylonglong

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.

Warnings: Completely AU! Partly OOC, time travel, soul bonds

After dinner, Charlus and Dorea ushered the Evans family into the Parlour along with James and Harry, trusting the elves and the rest of the children to entertain the other guests for a little while. Dorea was the first to speak.

"Thank you so much for joining us here over the weekend," she greeted the Evans, warmly. "We are very happy to get to know you, and we wish to introduce someone to you." Turning to Lily, she asked, "Did you already tell your parents and your sister about Harry?"

Lily nodded. "Yes, I told my parents after a conversation with Harry at the beginning of our second year, but not my sister."

"The resemblance is uncanny," Rose Evans spoke up, "Harry looks like a copy of James with my daughter's eyes. We're very happy to get to know James and Harry."

"Will someone please explain to me what this is about?" Petunia spoke up, sounding as grumpy as Harry knew her.

"Let me explain." Charlus smiled at the teenager. "We have things in the magical world that might sound strange to you. But what happened to Harry and his friends is even unheard of in our world."

Harry observed how Petunia rolled her eyes in obvious annoyance; however, she remained quiet.

"Harry and his friends lived in the future. They were sent back in time by Fate to save several lives, among them those of your parents and your sister."

Petunia's eyes narrowed, however, her expression turned to disbelief, when Charlus continued. "Harry here is in fact James' and Lily's son."

"It is really true," Rose Evans said in apparent delight, as she rose from her chair and stepped over to Harry to pull him into a bear's hug.

"Petunia," Harry addressed the girl, who was just only two years older than himself in this time, "I know that you think that we're all freaks, but I'd really like you to try getting used to the magical world. There are so many good things in it, and you are kind of privileged to know about them."

"What things?" Petunia asked, eyeing him in apparent disdain.

Harry inwardly grinned, recalling that Petunia had been really good at painting, although she rarely made use of her talent, 'probably because Vernon did not like it.'

"You are the only of all of us whom I've known in the future," he began to explain, "and I know that you're extremely good at painting. Is that right?"

"I love to paint," Petunia admitted, curiosity showing up in her expression.

"If you paint, for example, a scenery of the seaside and ask any of us witches or wizards, we can cast a charm at your painting that makes the waves in the sea move. Or if you, as another example, draw a picture of Father Christmas handing Lily a Christmas present, we can cast a charm, so that he really hands her the gift in your painting. Do you understand what I mean?" he asked, recalling how he had gotten into big trouble, when the Dursleys saw that exact painting on the wall of his primary school.

"Yes, but who would be willing to cast magic on my paintings? Lily is away at Hogwarts most of the year, and I wouldn't be able to show my work to anyone, as they'd all think that I was a freak as well."

"Any of us would be willing to charm your paintings," Dorea said, smiling at the girl. "In fact, it would be a pleasure for me."

The conversation then turned to the possibility of setting up a fireplace at the Evans house, and Harry noticed that Petunia seemed deep in thought.

'It would be absolutely amazing if I managed to make her like the magical world,' he thought, somehow feeling excited at the idea.

HP

When Harry and Ginny went downstairs on time for breakfast the following morning, they stopped dead in their tracks upon hearing Petunia's voice from around the corner. Harry quickly cast invisibility and silencing charms around themselves, before they slowly approached the corridor.

Petunia was standing in front of the painting of a landscape. It was a magical painting and displayed a scenery of the seaside, just like Harry had explained it to her on the previous evening. Edgar Bones was standing next to her and inefficiently tried to explain how to make a painting move.

Chuckling, Harry and Ginny continued towards the dining room. Only when they were out of the hearing range, Harry cancelled the charms and turned to his wife, grinning broadly. "That's already a huge progress in comparison to our former time. Maybe we'll manage to get her to at least acknowledge the magical world if not appreciate it."

They became distracted upon entering the dining room, where a huge birthday cake and a table full with presents were waiting for Harry. Before he knew what happened, he was pulled into hugs by his grandmothers and each of his female friends.

During the remainder of the morning, Harry unobtrusively observed Petunia and caught her in conversations with Edgar and also Severus a couple of times.

'A huge progress,' he thought to himself, feeling extremely accomplished. When he opened his presents just before lunch, he noticed that a 10 Galleons voucher from Scrivenshaft's was among them.

"Granny," he addressed Dorea, "may I quickly go to Scrivenshaft's to buy some magical paint for Petunia?"

Dorea nodded. "Let's go together and take Petunia with us. Don't tell anyone else. We'll be back before lunch, and no one will be the wiser."

'True,' Harry thought in amusement. 'Otherwise, they'd all want to join us, and it would take the rest of the day.'

To his surprise, Petunia readily agreed to accompany them and allowed Dorea to take her through the Floo network. Harry went ahead and readied himself for a very much disturbed Petunia to arrive. However, it went better than he had wished to hope, and while she easily accepted to hold on to his arm to stabilise herself after the experience, she did not complain. When they walked through the alley, she even looked left and right with apparent interest.

Knowing that the girl had no money to buy anything in the magical world, Dorea handed her a small pouch filled with 10 Galleons in addition to the voucher that Harry had.

Petunia looked at colour changing ink and other items in obvious curiosity and delight that reminded Harry of Ronald Weasley in a sweetshop. In the end, they decided to buy a starter kit of magical colours. According to the shop owner, even muggles were able to use it, as the magic was embedded into the paint. By the time they returned to Potter manor, Petunia seemed happier than Harry could recall having seen her ever before.

The afternoon was spent playing Quidditch in the park of the manor, and Harry thought that this birthday even topped the one of the previous year. 'This is my best birthday ever,' he thought to his wife.

HP

It was almost midnight, when Harry and Ginny returned to their room after a most enjoyable evening with their friends and family. Fortunately, his grandparents had finally accepted that they were a married couple and able to share a room, even if they pointed out that they did not wish to become great grandparents any time soon. Just when they reached the floor, where their room was situated, they heard someone shout "Harry."

Turning around, Harry saw Petunia rush up the stairs. She held out what seemed to be a rolled-up parchment to him. "Happy birthday, Harry, and thank you so much for everything."

"You're welcome," Harry replied in surprise, as he unrolled the parchment. It was a painting of a beach and the sea similar to the one on the ground floor. Soft waves were gently touching the beach, and a small family of dolphins was playing in front of the horizon.

"This is beautiful," he gushed. "Thank you so very much. This is my very best birthday present."

"Edgar charmed it for me," Petunia explained, blushing slightly. "He's really nice."

"That he is," Harry and Ginny confirmed as in one, smiling at the muggle.

tbc tomorrow...

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