The very next day it was Harry's turn to begin the process of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Harry had felt inspired by Amy to forgive Dudley and Petunia.
Harry had been quite impressed by how he had seen Amy interacting with her parents after she had forgiven them and Amy's advice to him rang through his ears in his mind.
Harry thought about how Amy had said that she had felt a huge burden lift off of her after she had forgiven her parents and that for her forgiving her parents had been freeing to her. Harry realized that Amy had gained peace of mind by in essence letting go of the past and looking to the future. He was sure now that he would feel the same way once he had forgiven Dudley and Petunia.
Amy had also mentioned that Dudley and Petunia had not been acting of their own free will and Harry fully understood how much Dumbledore had been pulling the strings.
The question was where Harry would meet them.
Abbott Manor was out of the question. Heather was never going to grant any muggle access to it no matter what. Skyward School of Practical Sorcery was out for the same reason of the need for anti muggle security. And Dudley's school was out because of the big and mean boys who would bully Harry and use him as a punching bag if he turned up there.
Ultimately, arrangements were made for Harry to meet up with Dudley and Petunia at Number Four Privet Drive at one in the afternoon.
Ameila would take Harry to Number Four Privet Drive by Side Along Apparition.
When they arrived smack dab in the middle of the Dursley's living room, Dudley and Petunia rose from the sofa to greet them.
"Hello, Madam Bones," said Dudley kindly, "You did tell us you would be seeing us again."
"You also told us that you believed that Harry would forgive us sometime during Christmas Vacation, " remembered Petunia, "You also predicted that Harry would be inspired to forgive by seeing a friend engage in forgiveness."
"Wow, Amelia," piped up Harry, "It is in fact true that Amy forgiving her parents has inspired me to forgive Dudley and Petunia."
"So," said Dudley, hardly daring to believe it, "You really are going to forgive us?"
"Amy encouraged me to seriously consider that neither of you were acting of your own free will when you treated me like horseshit," explained Harry, "And that's a point that absolutely cannot be ignored. What transpired in this house while I was growing up is all Dumbledore's fault."
"Do you feel comfortable in our presence?" Petunia asked Harry.
"My current feelings towards you are cordial," replied Harry, "But I'm not in a hurry to develop a close relationship with either of you."
"That's totally understandable," nodded Petunia, "Years of being treated like horseshit doesn't fade so easily."
"it sounds to me," said Dudley slowly, "That Harry wants to let us know that he has forgiven us because he knows we were bewitched to act the way we did and that understands that what took place during his childhood wasn't actually our fault. It seems to me that he also wants to permanently part ways with us after giving us that acknowledgement."
"I am willing to give the two of you an opportunity to be a part of my life," said Harry calmly, "But there are some limits, and we have to take it slowly."
"What are those limits?" inquired Petunia, already suspecting the first answer.
"I will never be able to live with you two," said Harry clearly, "I have too much remaining underlying hurt about what happened when I did live with you for that to ever be possible again. Furthermore, I could never give up the family I have now with Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Amelia, and Heather."
"I suspected as much," said Petunia with a tone of complete understanding.
"Harry?" piped up Dudley, "You mentioned your friend Amy forgiving her parents. What did they do to her that required them to be forgiven?'
"I don't think I should answer that," said Harry honestly, "I might be able to in the future. But I don't think it would be appropriate for me to divulge that information without Amy's permission and I haven't asked her for that permission. It's possible you may meet her in the future. Either way, I won't share that information unless and until I know I have Amy's permission to do so. Telling you deeply personal information about Amy's life without her permission would be an invasion of her privacy and a betrayal of my friendship with her. It's ultimately going to be her decision whether to share that story, not mine. Period."
"Good for you, Harry," said Ameila approvingly, "Personally, I think Amy would be okay with the story being told but you are quite right to recognize that you don't have the right to make that choice for her."
"If I told the story without Amy's permission, I would be stealing her agency and true friends don't steal their friend's agency," said Harry firmly.
Petunia agreed with Harry taking this stance, but also decided to test him.
"Harry," coaxed Petunia, "If you tell the story of what happened between Amy and her parents, she wouldn't need to know that you had told us. Even if she doesn't want us to know the story, as long as you keep your mouth shut when you go home and don't tell Amy that you've told us the story, she needn't know that we know. She can't get upset by what she doesn't know."
"NO!" shouted Harry very angrily, "TELLING YOU TWO THE STORY WITHOUT AMY KNOWING I'VE TOLD YOU THE STORY WOULD BE GOSSIPPING BEHIND HER BAND! TRUE FRIENDS DON'T GO BEHIND EACH OTHER'S BACKS AND ESPECIALLY NOT FOR THE PURPOSE OF GOSSIP!"
"Good for you, Harry," said Petunia proudly, "You are quite right not to share your friends' story without her permission. I coaxed you to test you and you passed the test. You are a loyal and dependable friend and a boy of high character."
"So," interjected Dudley, "Harry, we understand that you can't and won't live with us. But what kind of relationship could you have with us if any?'
"In the beginning," said Harry softly, "I think I only want to meet up with the two of you about once every two months. I am willing to keep in touch with both of you via letter writing in the interim. It's going to be a while before I'm ready for more face to face contact. I am hoping that I begin to feel a little more comfortable with the two of you at each successive face to face meeting. Time will tell if that actually happens. if it does, we can eventually increase the frequency of our meetings."
"Will Madam Bones always be with you?" wondered Dudley.
"Her job may prohibit that in some cases," answered Harry, "if that is the case then either Sirius, Remus, or Heather will accompany me here. As of now I don't want to be in the company of either of you without at least one other person present. When I am comfortable enough to meet you two alone, that's the point at which we can begin to meet up in person more often."
"To what extent have you forgiven us as of this nanosecond?" Dudley grilled Harry.
"Sixty percent," responded Harry honestly, "Hopefully that number will come up with each face to face meeting we have. I am neither optimistic nor pessimistic about the prospects of that happening. At this nanosecond, I'm taking a see how it goes approach."
"It sounds to me," piped up Petunia, "That you are going to give a fair shot at trying to build somewhat of a relationship with us but are not yet sure if you will be able to do so."
"That's a very apt description of how I'm feeling right now," confirmed Harry, "I know you two are innocent victims of Dumbledore being a Manipulative Old Bastard, but I don't think I've fully comes to terms with or even fully processed everything that has happened. "
"Personally," said Dudley hopefully, "I think that us keeping in touch via letter writing is a great way for us to build a relationship while keeping our meetings to a minimum early on. I actually suspect that you are becoming more comfortable with us from a distance may allow you to develop more comfort with us at an earlier time than you anticipate, and that this earlier development of comfort will allow the more frequent in person meetings to commence earlier than you suspect."
"It's possible that could happen," said Harry uncertainly, "I just don't know."
"You have forgiven your aunt and cousin but are still trying to figure out what kind of relationship you might be able to develop with them," observed Amelia.
"Right in one," said Harry matter of factly, "I will say that I am feeling a bit of relief and release right now as a result of making the inital decision to forgive Dudley and Petunia.
"That's a good sign for you to build up a relationship with them going forward," observed Amelia.
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