"Harry," Amelia said, "Susan, there's something important that we need to tell you."

Harry who was standing in front of his parents and Susan who was sitting on the sofa perpendicular to the fireplace merely looked at them.

Sirius explained, "I know you're probably not going to like this one bit, and I don't like it anymore than you do, but this is something which you need to know."

Harry asked, "What is it?"

Amelia started by asking, "Do you remember your Aunt Petunia?"

Harry was silent for a while before saying, "I remember she was mean to me, and Uncle Vernon was even worse. They were so mean to me until you came and got me, but I don't remember much."

Amelia asked, "Do you remember she and Vernon were sent to prison?"

Harry and Susan nodded and Susan said, "Yes."

Sirius explained, "The thing is, she was sentenced for six years, but she got released a year early because she was behaving well in prison. Anyway, the main thing is, when she was in prison, she had a lot of time to think, and she realized how horrible she was to you and feels terrible for what she did to you."

Harry was shocked at this and didn't know what to think.

He asked, "Is she actually sorry?"

Amelia says, "She is, although just her apology can't reverse what she did. She herself admits that, and she says she wants to meet you."

Harry didn't know what to say. On one hand, Aunt Petunia was actually sorry for what she had done to him and wanted to see him, probably to say how sorry she was. On the other hand, she had always been mean to him until his adoptive mother had taken him away from that horrible place, their house. She, Uncle Vernon and his cousin Dudley had all been cruel to him, and it had taken him quite a long time to heal. The last time he had had a nightmare about the Dursleys was when he was nine years old, in which Petunia was saying cruel things to him and Vernon was pointing a gun at him. Luckily, Sirius and Amelia had immediately rushed over to him when he had woken up crying because of that nightmare.

It was still a surprising fact that he even referred to them as 'Aunt' and 'Uncle', given how badly they had treated him.

Overall, he didn't really know if he wanted to see his aunt again or not.

He slowly said, "I don't really know. I mean, she was pretty mean to me, but she says she's sorry now. What do you think Mum?"

Amelia replied, "As far as I'm concerned, I don't want you or Susan having anything to do with her, but you are a big boy now, and more importantly, this is your aunt, your Mama's sister. And Sirius and I feel you should have the right to decide."

Susan said, "I don't think you should accept this Harry, at least not now. I still remember being very upset when we saw your memories in court."

Sirius said, "On a personal note, I totally agree with Susan. Still, I think you should have a say in this and see what you want to do."

Harry asked, "What if I don't want to see her or forgive her?"

Amelia said, "No one will blame you Harry."

Harry then asked, "Apart from what she did to me, if Mama were still alive, would she have forgiven her?"

Amelia replied, "I'm sure she would not forgive her for what she did to you, unless perhaps you choose to, but apart from that, if let's say, Mama and Dada were still alive, you had never been with Petunia, and then she came and wanted to reconcile with Mama, then I suppose she would have been willing to forgive her."

Harry thought for a while and said, "I don't think I'm ready to decide yet. I don't know what to do."

Amelia stood up, and moving over to her son, she said, "Bunny, you don't have to decide right now. I suggest you take some time to think about this. Let us know when you're ready, and if you're still feeling confused even after thinking about it for a while, don't hesitate to tell me."

Harry hugged her and said, "I love you Mummy."

Amelia hugged him back saying, "I love you too Baby." and kissed him on his forehead.

Harry then walked upstairs to his bedroom and proceeded to lie on his bed.

He was shell shocked and confused.

He had no idea what to do.

Truth be told, a part of him wanted nothing to do with Aunt Petunia, after all that she had done to him. But another part wanted to at least see her. After all, she was still his Aunt, his Mama's sister. And surely, the fact that she felt terrible for what she had done to him had to count, right?

Plus, it wasn't like things like this had not happened before.

Looking back, he recalled his first time interacting with Uncle Severus. He had been incredibly mean to him, had said bad things about his Dada, had told him Mama had died because of him, and that he would be sent back to the Dursleys. Of course, his Mum had flown into a rage and had given the man hell before chasing him out of the house.

But then a few days later, he had come back and had apologized, saying that while he and Dada had not been very good friends, what he had said was wrong.

Harry had forgiven him and accepted him as an Uncle and a well wisher.

And if he could forgive Uncle Severus, perhaps he could forgive his Aunt Petunia.

But then, Severus had only been mean to him on one occasion.

Aunt Petunia had ill-treated him for two and a half whole years.

But still…

That did not mean he had to hold a grudge against her like she had held against his Mama and against him.

After all, his Mama would never want him to become someone like her, unwilling to see past, forgive and forget, and move on.

Even as such thoughts raced through his mind, he felt his chest warming up, and he knew what he had to do.

A little while later, he was back in the living room with his parents and sister.

He said, "I've thought about it and I'm ready to decide."

Sirius asked, "What is your decision?"

Harry replied, "I want to see her, I want to know exactly why she did what she did. And more importantly, I'm only doing it because Mama would not have wanted me to become someone like her, holding on to grudges and hatred, and if she really is sorry, then maybe I should at least see her. No matter what she did, she is still my Aunt, and if she wants to bring Dudley over, that's still alright, but I cannot say the same for Uncle Vernon. He was the worst among them, and I just don't think I can forgive him or forget what he did."

To say that Amelia and Sirius were surprised was an understatement.

Susan, who was standing nearby was shocked, and she asked, "Harry, are you sure about this?"

Harry turned to her and said, "I am, Susie."

Susan walked over to Harry and said, "No matter what, I am coming with you. She had better not be trying to trick us, or she'll regret it. I'm not going to let you go alone."

Harry held her hand and said, "Thanks Susan. Actually, Mum, Dad, I wanted to say, I don't want to do this without you being there. I'd feel better if both of you were there."

Sirius walked over to Harry and holding his shoulder he said, "Of course we will Pup, we're not going to just leave you with her and walk off. I'll be surprised if she really is sincere about what she said. But Harry, I have to say this, I'm proud of you."

Amelia walked over to Harry and hugged him saying, "You have a large heart just like your Mama. I doubt I could ever be as forgiving as you."

Susan added, "I agree."

Harry asked, "So, when does she want to meet me?"

Sirius replied, "We'll just have to respond to her letter and see."

A week later…

Harry, Susan and their parents were all seated on one side of a table at a cafe where they had agreed to meet with Petunia. Harry was a little nervous, as was Susan. The parents were clearly doing their best to look calm and cool.

Finally, a woman entered the cafe, asked a waiter something, and was directed to their table.

The nervousness in Harry's and Susan's chests grew as they recognized her.

It was Aunt Petunia.

But then, everyone at the table noticed something different about her.

Her face was no longer looking happy, contemptuous or arrogant or cruel, but was rather looking haunted.

They noticed that she too seemed to be nervous given the slow manner in which she was approaching their table.

Finally, she reached their table and looked at all of them, but hesitated to say anything or sit.

Finally, she looked at Harry and said in a voice which carried guilt, "Hello Harry."

Harry was quite surprised as he had never heard his Aunt ever speak in such a manner to him.

He collected himself and said, "Hello Aunt Petunia."

Petunia looked at the group as if asking permission to sit down, and Amelia said, "Do sit down please."

Petunia slowly sat down and looked down at the table, unsure of what to say.

After some moments of silence, she said, "I don't know how to start, but I must say, you really have grown up, and you look way better than you would have had you still lived with me."

Sirius was tempted to say something, but he kept quiet.

At least Petunia seemed to be behaving sincerely.

Harry looked at her and asked, "Aunt Petunia, if you don't mind me asking, how is Dudley?"

Petunia responded, "Dudley was living with his Aunt Marge while Vernon and I were in prison. She took some rather strict action with him, and gave him the discipline that I should have given him. Now, he's turned out to be a good boy. He doesn't bully other children or beat them anymore, and academically, he's been just alright. Marge still has official custody of him, although she allows him to see Vernon and I from time to time."

Sirius asked, "Speaking of which, you posted your last name as Evans on the letter. What happened? Did you, you know…"

Petunia replied, "After I was released from prison, I couldn't bear to talk to anyone, mostly because of what I did to Harry. I even told Vernon what I felt. Unfortunately, he didn't agree to say the least. He still insists that the blame lies entirely on Harry. Marge too except she admits Dudley was spoiled by us and had to be disciplined. Vernon and I had a couple of fights over it, and eventually, we became more and more distant. At one point, he got so angry to the point that he hit me. He screamed at Dudley and hit him on the head when he tried to defend me. Fortunately, Marge stopped Vernon from doing anything worse. Vernon is evil, and now he's on the verge of becoming deranged. I just couldn't take it anymore at that point, and so we got divorced."

Amelia commented, "And to think you actually married him all those years ago. It really is a shame that it took you so long to realize what kind of a monster he was, not to mention, what you let him and your jealousy turn you into! Look what it did to you!"

The shame in Petunia's eyes was quite evident even as she looked down and said, "I have no excuse. It took me a long time to realize that I was just being jealous of Lily and that her parents never neglected me. Actually, I never went to boarding school unlike Lily, which meant I got a lot of attention from my parents at home, but I let myself fall. I never tried to reason within myself. And I never took my parents' advice into consideration when Vernon proposed to me. I brushed it off saying they were jealous of me for having a 'wonderful man unlike James Potter'. Of course, James was terrible to me a couple of times, but given how I had always acted towards Lily, I can only say that I deserved it."

Sirius said, "If there's anything I love about James, it's that he always wanted to protect all those he cared about. After he started dating Lily, he often told me he was so angry with the way you treated her. And he saw you say cruel things a couple of times. At Mr. and Mrs. Evans' funerals, Vernon was cruel to her and you did nothing about it. It's no wonder he was so terrible to you. Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that Harry has his mother's forgiveness, we wouldn't even have agreed to this meeting here."

Harry placed a hand on Sirius's arm, and Sirius looked at him and saw the plea in Harry's eyes to stop.

Harry turned to Petunia and said in a voice that was gentle, yet carried sadness, "Aunt Petunia, I need to ask you something. That's the reason I wanted to see you. Why were you so mean to me? Why did you call me names and let Uncle Vernon and Dudley beat me? Why did you hate me? Why did you hate my Mama Lily?"

Petunia's eyes were filled with tears at the gentleness of Harry's tone and she broke down.

Amelia placed an arm around his shoulders even as Susan held his hand tightly and said, "Harry, it's alright. I'm here."

It took a few minutes for Petunia to stop sobbing and wiping her face with a napkin, she explained, "The thing is, actually, in the beginning, I was fascinated by magic. I saw your Mama do things that one normally couldn't do. Making flowers bloom faster. She used to do that and give those flowers to me. I wanted to do these things too, but I couldn't, because I was not magical. I became extremely jealous of her, and to make myself not feel bad, I started convincing myself that magic was abnormal. I started shouting at her and calling her names such as freak, and all the while, Lily still loved me. When it was time for Lily to go to Hogwarts, I wrote a letter to the principal asking if he could take me in, and he politely explained that it was not possible because I didn't have magic in me."

After taking a moment to blow her nose, she continued, "I started pushing Lily away from me even more, and shortly after she started her seventh year in Hogwarts, I met Vernon. He was so nice to me that I thought he was the perfect man for me. I believed that my parents were neglecting me, but the truth is, they never ever did, unlike how I neglected you. They told me Vernon couldn't be trusted, but I refused to listen to them and married him."

She went on, "Then, when you showed up on my doorstep, I was horrified. That night, you didn't just lose a mother in Godric's Hollow, I lost a sister. I couldn't give you up, and so I took you in, despite Vernon's insistence that I shouldn't. At first, things seemed fine, I mean, you were a cute baby that I couldn't not want to cuddle with, and initially, I did love you like my own. But then one or two days later, something happened. You and Dudley were sitting on the bed in one of his bedrooms, and Dudley had snatched a toy from you. You were crying and you stretched your hands out and it suddenly came flying into your arms."

After a pause, she continued, "And it was then that everything changed. Seeing that burst of magic made me remember all about my life before marriage, and all my jealousy, anger, and hatred towards Lily for being magical when I wasn't, all came back, a reminder of something I could never have. All my love for you vanished, and I regarded you with contempt. It was then that I decided that you would sleep in the cupboard under the stairs, and that you did not deserve to enjoy what Dudley got. It was when we started treating you badly. Now when I think of it, I feel haunted, I can't even live a moment without pain. You are the only one that keeps me going. No apology of mine can ever reverse what I did to you, but I still wish to say that I am sorry for everything I did to you. I want to make it up to you in some way or the other, but I don't know how."

It was a lot for Harry, his parents and sister to hear.

Of course, he had already known that Aunt Petunia had been jealous of his Mama for being magical, but hearing it from her own mouth was like a shock to him.

Yet, there was one thing that was good. He knew what had happened, why his Aunt had been so mean to him.

After a minute, he slowly spoke, "Are you really sorry?"
Aunt Petunia replied, "I really am sorry. I have no right to ask this of you, but can you please forgive your Aunt for what she did? Please forgive me for what I did to you, please, please forgive me."

She broke down once again.

Harry himself was not feeling very strong at the moment. Tears were coming to his eyes, but he did not want to cry now.

After a minute, when Petunia had stopped sobbing, Harry said slowly, "I don't know if I can forgive you. Not just yet. At least you were not as bad as Uncle Vernon. I don't think I can ever forgive him. Maybe you and Dudley, but not him."

Petunia slowly said, "I understand. I don't expect you to forgive him. I only hope that someday, you will forgive me; Dudley too. I hope that someday you will forgive me."

She then said, "I only have one last request to you. Please, don't ever be like me."

Harry wanted to cry, but he did not.

He was still holding back.

Petunia then turned to Amelia and Sirius and said, "I think it's best I leave now."

Sirius said, "I think so too."

Amelia added, "Me too."

Petunia stood up and said, "Good luck to all of you." before tearfully grabbing her purse and walking out of the cafe as fast as her legs would permit, given her state right now.

It was after Petunia exited the area that Harry stopped holding back and broke down in tears. Susan, Amelia and Sirius all hugged him and did their best to comfort Harry who had buried himself into Amelia's bosom.

A waiter came by and said, "I'm so sorry for the delay. Would you like anything else? Is anything the matter?"

Sirius turned to him and said, "No thanks, we're good. Just bring the bill."

With that, he turned to Harry and hugged him, even as poor Harry sobbed on.