The first thing that Harry noticed about the house was how clean it was. Not just the dusting and vacuuming, but all the extra junk had been removed. Ugly furniture, except for Vernons chair, had been replaced by better quality items that looked like they were made in the last couple of years rather than a decade ago. The second thing he noticed was that they had redecorated his room. Unlike in the past, when that meant locking his school supplies away, they had added it to the décor around the house. A Gryffindor banner hung on the back of the door and a few of the pictures from his album were now nicely framed and placed around the room. Not only that, but he saw a few new pictures as well. Photos of Lily growing up were added not only to his room, but to the hallway as well.
Harry felt that same punch in his chest. A large lump formed in his throat. Tears clouded his vision.
"Do you like it?" Petunia stared at him with an expectant, nervous look in her eyes.
Harry couldn't speak. He nodded as tears began to stream down his face. Petunia wrapped him in a tight hug. She kissed the top of his head.
"We have so many years to make up." She whispered. "So many years."
Harry looked up at the sound of Vernon clearing his throat. The man had red puffy eyes and was dabbing them with a handkerchief.
"Sorry." He smiled at them. "I didn't mean to startle you. These blasted allergies just snuck up on me."
"I know something that will help." Harry untangled from his aunt and pulled Vernon into a hug.
"Nope." Vernon managed to croak out. "Just getting worse. I think I need to lie down."
Harry nodded. He wiped his own tears as he looked over at Dudley. His cousin shook his head.
"I'm just made of sterner stuff." Dudley puffed out his chest.
Harry patted him on the shoulder. Dudley practically yanked Harry off his feet, pulling him into a hug. His cousin began to cry the loudest of all.
"Blasted allergies." Dudley managed to say. "Dad had the right idea. Need to lie down."
"Of course." Harry cleared his throat, trying to get the lump to leave. "Allergies are horrible this time of the year."
Petunia watched her son hurry up the stairs. She sighed. "The Dursley men have always had strong..." She smiled. "Allergies. It's good to see Vernon acting like himself again."
"Are you going to be okay with me living with Sirius?" Harry asked.
Petunia took a deep breath. "It will be an adjustment, but yes. He needs you as much as you need him."
"I'll make sure you're protected." Harry said firmly. "I'll add more protections and wards before I leave. It would be a good idea to put some on your car as well. Maybe craft you some personal charms too."
"That's for another day." Petunia beamed at him. "Get settled in your room and we'll figure out what to do for dinner. Vernon's doctor wasn't happy."
"It looked like he had lost some weight." Harry nodded.
Petunia nodded. "We have started taking walks around the neighborhood each night. Unfortunately, we've had to adjust our diets some."
Harry winced. He could remember the summer of half-melon lunches and soggy salad dinners.
"Nothing too drastic." Petunia chuckled. "Less red meat, more greens, and one glass of wine at dinner."
"Thank Merlin." Harry sighed. "I didn't want to have to sneak out to get good food."
"Harry James Potter." Petunia tried to sound stern but compared to her old voice it was laughable. "Are you implying that I am a bad cook?"
"Of course not." Harry laughed. "I'm sure that whatever you cook would feed the garden quite nicely."
"Such cheek." She pursed her lips at him. "I was going to take it easy on you." An evil look crossed her face. "How was your year? Any girls we should know about? Is it time to have the talk about the birds and the bees? I don't think Vernon is up for it, so I'll have to. You see, when a man and a woman-"
"Nope." Harry plugged his ears. "Not happening."
He tried to escape up the stairs, but his aunt followed right behind. Petunia cackled with glee. A shiver ran up his spine. Bellatrix Lestrange's laugh had nothing on Petunia.
"I give, I give." Harry turned on his aunt.
Petunia smiled triumphantly. The expression on her face softened.
"Did you have a good year?" She asked.
"Yes, actually." Harry nodded. "No one tried to kill me, I'm doing great in all my classes, and I was able to sneak onto the quidditch field every other day."
"You stayed out of trouble?" She pressed.
"Trouble usually finds me." Harry sighed and shook his head. "Yes, no trouble this year. I spent a good portion of my time in the library."
"That's wonderful." Petunia said. "Any girls?"
"I thought that session of torture was over." Harry groaned.
"That was pestering." Petunia corrected. "This is sincere curiosity."
"How can I say no to that?" Harry sighed. "No. No girls. I kept to myself this year. It was nice not being the center of attention."
Petunia scrunched up her brow as she looked at him. "Why would you be the center of attention?"
"I'm something of a celebrity in the Magical World." Harry explained.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but why?" She asked.
Harry closed his eyes. "The night my parents were killed, Voldemort tried to kill me too."
Petunia gasped.
"There is a spell, it cannot be blocked by magical shields and kills almost one hundred percent of the time." Harry pointed to the faded scar on his head. "Except it didn't work on me. When he cast it at me, it bounced back and hit him instead. Due to that, I'm the Boy Who Lived. No one considers that I'm famous for the night my parents were killed."
Petunia wrapped him in her arms.
"On top of that." Harry continued. "Someone decided to write a series of books about my life. Grandiose tales about me living in a castle, slaying monsters, and basically being the modern Merlin."
"We need to get you a solicitor." Petunia grumbled.
"I'll get it settled once things have settled with Sirius." Harry squeezed her and then let her go. "His treatment by the Ministry caused a backlash from the public and they've had to go through years of legal history to check for any other miscarriages of justice."
"You certainly live an exciting life." Petunia shook her head. "Let's hope the next few weeks here are simple enough to recover."
"I hope so." Harry took a breath and let it out. "It's been a long day. Did you want to get some take-away?"
Dobby popped in next to them. "No. Harry Potter sir and families be eating the dinner Dobby made." He crossed his arms. "Dobby heard Tuna. Healthy, tasty food. No take-away."
"Tuna?" His aunt looked at the elf.
"Pe-Tuna." Dobby pointed at her.
"Pe-toon-ya." She enunciated.
"Pet-Tuna." Dobby nodded. "Healthy, tasty dinner be ready soon."
"You've created a monster." Harry chuckled.