A.N: Goodnight. The chapter is being posted very late, because I forgot that I had translated it and I thought I still had to translate it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.

Posted on: 11/19/2023

Petunia woke up as she always did, before the birds sang in trees. The sun was radiant, but the gloom was still blue in the air between the gaps in the blinds, the light more golden than it actually is. She stretched, stretching her long, thin arms above her head, cracking her vertebrae. She got up slowly, putting on her slippers and dragging her feet to the suite's bathroom.

She came out already dressed in a blue skirt that fell to her knees and an ice-white shirt with long sleeves and printed with flowers. Her hair, tied at night with a scarf, was styled in a tacky way and a necklace of acrylic pearls adorned her neck. The slippers were replaced by dark brown slippers, which made no noise when walking.

She left the room in silence, closing the door slowly so as not to disturb Vernon. She didn't even move in bed, but she didn't want to risk disturbing her husband's sleep. She went downstairs and went straight to the kitchen to fix the family's breakfast: bacon, eggs, toast, some sausages and some oatmeal. Vernon could complain, but the cereal would do him a lot of good – and the recommendation from the doctor he went to for the routine checkups required by Grunnings only reinforced her point. Honestly, he wasn't this slow before. Petunia could still dream of getting him into rugby school with Dudley when he was older.

She cleaned the kitchen table with a damp cloth and placed the dishes for herself and her husband, arranging Dudley's high chair and Harry's chair. She placed the bowl of toast and the plates with bacon and sausage in the middle of the table, the eggs being placed aside on her and Vernon's plates. The oatmeal was right in front of Vernon's plate, so he wouldn't try to move it to the side – again. She returned to the stove and boiled some milk, making porridge for Lily's son, filling a bottle with it.

Everything organized, she went up to the second floor again and went to Dudley's room, where the boy slept next to Harry in the same crib. Dudley was spread out across the crib, while Harry was calmly stretched out under the blanket and sleeping peacefully. He, however, opened his eyes as soon as Petunia leaned over the crib, startling the woman.

"Boy!" She hissed. "Don't do that!"

The boy responded by raising his fists and rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands. Petunia snorted and turned to Dudley, touching him gently.

"Dudley, darling, wake up," she whispered softly, careful not to scare the boy. "Come on, it's time for coffee…"

Dudley grumbled in his sleep, turning to his side without even making any attempt to wake up. Petunia smiled affectionately at the boy, pushing him lightly again. Harry, already wide awake, sat on the bed and leaned towards Dudley, pushing him with a little more force than his aunt. The other baby just grumbled again, finally waking up and turning to face Harry, annoyed.

"Buh!" Harry mumbled to him. Dudley kept his face sullen, sitting on the bed as well.

"Bah!" he retorted, pushing Harry back. Harry let out a laugh, flopping back onto the bed. Petunia blinked at their interaction. Deciding not to question it, she picked up Dudley first and took him to the changing table near the window, cleaning him with a wet wipe and changing his diaper. She did the same thing with Harry, and then picked up the two boys and went down the stairs with them in her arms.

Dudley was drowsy, but he was still petulant and did not willingly accept being placed in his baby seat. Harry was placed in a chair and adjusted himself, resting his little hands on the seat and pushing himself further into the middle of it, turning around and facing the tablecloth. He himself leaned over and took the bottle, sitting down and starting to drink it calmly. He was so visibly intelligent that it scared Petunia a little whenever she watched the boy. It was also a terrible reality check, as Dudley tried to drop his things in protest at being trapped in a chair that was increasingly narrow for his size.

Almost half an hour after Petunia had fed and cleaned the babies, Vernon appeared, wearing stretchy polyester pants and a shirt with a sweater over it, and his gray slippers. Petunia felt like pursing her lips at her husband's clothes, but restrained herself as it was Sunday.

"Good morning, dear" Vernon greeted her, approaching and kissing Petunia on the cheek.

"Good morning, dear" Petunia replied, holding Harry so he wouldn't try to go up and greet Vernon. "The coffee is already on the table. I'm going to take the boys back to their room so they can get some more sleep."

Vernon gave a grunt of understanding, not awake enough to use many words. He plopped down on a chair and yawned, pouring a cup of coffee. Petunia picked up Harry (who was getting too awake for her liking) and Dudley, who was yawning like his father in his baby seat. She went up the stairs and went to the room shared between the babies, placing them in the single crib and covering Dudley, who agreed to be put to sleep. Harry just stared at her, but then looked down at Dudley and lay down too, covering himself with the shared blanket. Petunia smiled tenderly at them both.

When she returned, Válter was already more awake, listening to the newspaper while drinking coffee. Petunia went to the sink to clean up the babies' things. When she finished, she took off her apron and hung it on a hanger behind the kitchen door.

"Dear, I'm going to the market" she warned, looking at her husband's back. He grunted into his coffee cup, still drinking. "I will be back in an hour. Keep an eye on the boys."

"Yes, honey" Vernon replied, placing the cup on the table.

"And eat your porridge."

Vernon grunted something like a groan, which brought a smile from Petunia. She took the car keys hanging on a hanger next to the door and picked up her purse from the table in the hallway, leaving the house. She was surprised to see a truck parked on the street in front of the neighboring house.

The truck was large, with an orange sticker glued to the trunk saying "HermExpress®" in stylized cursive and with a wing superscript on the last s. Three men were coming and going from inside the trunk, carrying some furniture into the house quickly, wanting to finish the job early. Petunia couldn't help but look at the porters out of the corner of her eyes, getting into the car and taking it out of the garage and out onto the street. She drove for only a few meters before stopping, with Samantha Polkiss, her next-door neighbor and one of the ladies from the local Book Club, waving at her.

"Good morning Petunia" Mrs. Polkiss greeted, leaning down to be at Petunia's eye level.

"Good morning Samantha. Do you know what happened? The Greysons didn't say they were going to move" Petunia commented, looking at her friend.

"They're going to London" Samantha said, evidently interested. "They exchanged houses with Adrien's aunt."

"But at such short notice?" Petunia asked, her own interest evident. "Did something happen?"

"Peter said Adrien lost his job" Samantha confided, quietly, as if telling a secret. "The supervisor called him last week in front of everyone, and he returned completely silently to the table."

Adrien Greyson and Peter Polkiss Sr. work together at a paper company in London. Peter was responsible for finances while Adrien was responsible for personnel management. Always the first to be in line for dismissal, Petunia commented in her own mind half vixenish and half relieved that this wasn't Vernon's situation.

"Are you going to the market now?" Samantha asked.

"Oh yes. I put the boys to bed, but Vernon is home to watch them while I go shopping."

"How is little Dudley?" Samantha smiled. "He is getting strong like his father."

"He's fine, fortunately" Petunia smiled. "And Pete? It's been a while since I've seen him. Are you eating right?"

Samantha sighed, shaking her head.

"He's so skinny" the woman lamented, taking off her gloves. "He barely eats anything I offer, just porridge. He won't grow up like that."

Petunia smiled sympathetically, thinking what she would be like in her friend's place with Dudley. It went over her head that this was more or less the situation she was going through with Harry, deluding herself with the idea that it was okay because the boy didn't complain.

Tesco was fifteen minutes from Privet Drive in Nork , close to the border with Epsom . There was everything Petunia needed, so it was a simple matter of time before she returned with everything she needed for the week in the trunk of the car, taking jars of baby food for the boys to eat as an extra. There was never a lot of traffic, but it was even clearer on Sunday.

Vernon was sleeping, sitting on the kitchen chair, holding the jornal. He was obviously trying to make it seem like he was awake to listen to the boys, which made Petunia grant him a little forgiveness. She would still make him pay for it, no doubt, by adding salad and removing half the meat at future dinners. The boys were making noise upstairs, so Vernon was saved from receiving part of his punishment at that moment.

Dudley was turning from side to side, making a noise from his mouth that could neither be called a scream nor a cry. Harry was banging his head weakly against the crib railing.

"Boys!" Petunia called, looking at them in shock. The two babies stopped what they were doing and looked at her, with a look that said they didn't do anything. "What are you doing?"

They just widened their eyes innocently, having no idea what she meant. Petunia got exasperated, picking them both up from the crib and separating them from each other, looking between them again. She decided that bathing them was the priority of the moment, and so she did. Dudley's outfit was greenish cotton pajamas, while Harry's was an old blue pajamas that no longer fit Dudley. She took them downstairs, leaving them where she could see to make sure they didn't do anything obtuse again. Blessed are the socket protectors, one less problem for her to worry about.

There were no weekends with children, Petunia had realized in the first few months with Dudley, but it was remembered with Harry's presence. The boy was a battery distributed throughout the human form, and he fit in very well with the battery that Dudley was too. She was sure she saw them mutinous, planning something, having been suspiciously quiet for over five minutes as they played in the room. Vernon was very distracted by his newspapers, putting them down just to look at the boys every now and then. Petunia was going to cut all the meat from his dinner.

When the sun was finally about to set, Petunia began to prepare dinner so that she, Vernon and the boys could eat when it was 18:30. She was taking the vegetables out of the fridge when the doorbell rang, making her get up.

"Petunia!"

"I'm going!" If Vernon wasn't really watching the boys now he would hear another answer.

Petunia placed the vegetables in the sink and dried her hands on her apron, going to answer the door. She came across a tall woman, even for her, with brown hair matted with gray. Her eyes were a perfect shade of hazel, warm, accompanied by a smile that screamed friendliness.

"Good evening" the woman greeted her. Her voice was melodious.

"Good evening" Petunia greeted, coming out of her stupor. "How can I help you?"

"I'm the new neighbor across the street" the woman said, as if it were obvious. "My name is Juno. I came to greet you!" She lifted a plate of pie that it was at the perfect gratined point.

"Ah," Petunia replied intelligently. "Ah, ma'am, there was no need!" She for some reason was compelled to refuse, with a sudden feeling of being embarrassed.

"It's okay, darling" Juno smiled brightly, which made Petunia think she was seeing her own mother. "Can I come in, dear? The pie is heavy."

"Oh, yes, yes" Petunia moved aside, apoplectic at having been in the woman's path. Juno gave a smaller smile and entered the house, reflexively lowering her head so as not to touch the doorframe.

"Where can I leave the plate?"

"Oh, this way!"

Petunia led the woman through the kitchen, relieved that she wasn't looking around, afraid of what she might think. Vernon and the boys were there, and each one of them stopped to see the new woman who appeared with his wife/mom/aunt.

"Good evening" Juno greeted, smiling at everyone. "I'm Juno, the new neighbor across the street. I came to greet you" she lifted the plate in her hands, letting the smell of meat pie spread. Vernon instantly thought highly of her.

"Good evening, ma'am" Vernon rose from his chair, respectfully. Dudley was mesmerized looking at the plate of pie, the smell of which convinced him to abandon his daily soup. Harry just rose like Vernon, greeting Juno.

"Here, you can put it on the counter" Petunia pointed out quickly.

Juno calmly took a cloth that was aside and spread it on the counter, placing the plate on top of it.

"It's chicken pie" She explained, turning to the couple. "I made it in the afternoon, so it's very fresh."

"Thank you very much" Petunia thanked him again. Vernon joined her.

"OK," Juno smiled. "I thought it would be a good way to start in the neighborhood. My daughter-in-law came with me to help me tidy up the house, but she already went home. My son works in London, so she had to leave early to be able to get home on time. My doctor said I needed to go to a more peaceful area, so my nephew was very kind to let me stay at his house. I hope I can stay in the neighborhood for a while."

"It will be a pleasure to have you as a neighbor, Mrs. Greyson" Vernon said with all his heart, holding a knife, ready to cut the pie.

"For sure" Petunia agreed with her husband instantly. "You are welcome to visit us if you have any questions about the neighborhood. I lived in Cokeworth, in Cambridgeshire, so I had some difficulties settling in to Surrey too." She admitted it easily, to her own surprise, but she couldn't find any reason not to be honest with the woman.

"I really appreciate your kindness" Juno had a bright smile. "I think I better go now. I still have a few things to tidy up at home before bed. My soap opera will not watch itself."

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F.N: Fun Fact: Little Whinging is next to Epsom, in the northern part of the Banstead territory.

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