Location — 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey
Date — November 2, 1981
Vernon's POV
Anger coursing in his veins was the only sensation in his body. A child was left at his doorstep with just a letter in the cradle.
He gazed at Petunia, who was sitting on the sofa in the drawing room. He knew her body language quite well. She still had that letter in her hands.
The hands that were shaking now because of the letter that gave her the information that her 'freak' sister and brother-in-law were now dead.
His anger began to ease at the thought of Potters. They were not that bad. Yes, James Potter pranked him the first time they met, and yes, he didn't like that chap, but, still he didn't wish death on him.
Then, his sister-in-law, Lily Potter, a sweet girl that Petunia was jealous of.
There was still some love left between the two sisters, beyond the envy that Petunia felt for Lily.
But, everything went to hell the night Mr. and Mrs. Evans died, … 'Murdered', his brain supplied.
'Freaks' murdered both Evanses, and Petunia, blamed the Potters, rightly so.
He wouldn't admit it now in front of Petunia, but he was afraid of this magic business from the very first day he came to know about it.
'Freaks' moving their sticks in the air and doing all that crazy business that didn't have a scientific explanation, he wouldn't even go close to it with a ten-foot pole.
And, look at this Dumbledore, or whoever he is, didn't have the basic decency to give the news of Potter's death to Petunia directly. Instead, the chap left the child at his doorstep in the middle of November's cold night. It was not ignorance, it was plain evil.
He took a deep breath. He couldn't afford to lose his temper at this time. Petunia needed him, and as much as he disliked it, the child did too. He was way better than that 'Head freak'.
He was a simple guy with a simple managerial post at Grunings. He wasn't earning too much, but just enough for them to live their lives satisfactorily. But, if they had to take care of this child, things would turn messy for him.
But tonight, he can only support his wife as she grieved for her sister. He will talk about the situation tomorrow.
Petunia's POV
'Apologies for giving you this news' ... she couldn't breathe ... 'your sister and your brother-in-law' ... it is not the truth ... 'died heroically' ... she felt like she was drowning.
Her sister, Lily Evans, is dead now. The sister whom she envied, the sister with whom she played, the sister that she fought with after their parents died, and the same sister who came after Dudley's birth to weave 'magical nonsense' around the house to protect her family — is dead now.
The letter crumpled in her hands as she nearly went into shock. She felt Vernon's body wrapping around her as he grounded her. Vernon was the only person who was preventing her from completely breaking down. The silence of her house felt like a hole that was trying to swallow her whole.
But the soft babbling of a child, brought her out of that deep hole. She looked up from the nook of Vernon's neck and saw the child … no, Harry trying to stand in his crib, gazing at her as if he could understand her.
She wiped her tears as she left Vernon on the sofa and approached her nephew. As she reached the small wooden crib, Harry reached out to her to pick him up.
She picked him up and found herself looking into his eyes… his green eyes…her green eyes.
The eyes that she thought she wouldn't be able to see ever again.
The eyes that tried to convey love to her but she rebuffed them every time.
Her eyes started to get watery as she started to remember those dark memories that overturned her life. The fragments of her past that she wanted to forget now hung over her head once more, with Harry being in her house.
FLASHBACK BEGINS
The darkened sky was filled with rumbling clouds and thunder flashing across every few moments. Petunia was sitting with her parents at the dinner table when someone knocked at the door. She was about to stand up, but her father beat her to it.
Just as the door was opened, a sickly green light flared into the room, and her father dropped to the floor of her house.
She froze as she saw three men callously enter the house and kick away her father's body. Her mother screamed and said something that she was unable to understand as her eyes were still on her father's body.
Another green flash took away her attention and her eyes again widened as she saw her mother slumped on the table.
She came back to her senses as she tried to run away, but a flash of white light slammed into her body and she felt her entire body go stiff.
The men came closer to her and she finally got to get a look at their mask-covered faces.
Her breath hitched as one of them spoke, "Well, well... I like her sister more. I will make sure that mudblood is taught her place soon. But firstly, let's start with you."
The other masked man came near her ears and whispered, "This wouldn't have happened if your sister had known her place."
She tried to scrunch her eyes but couldn't. The men had a lewd smile on their faces but before they could move further, a flash of purple light threw one of them into the house wall with a sickening crunch of broken bones.
Before the other two could scream and move their sticks into the air, another two jets of light came from two different directions and smashed into them with the same result as before.
She finally saw two men entering her house, one with a grizzled face, which caused her panic to rise once again, but he was followed by a face that caused her to calm down, the face of her brother-in-law, James.
FLASHBACK ENDS
She took a deep breath and pushed the memories away.
After that incident, she blamed Lily and her 'freak' world for their parent's death, causing a massive fight between them. They stopped talking to each other.
It wasn't until Dudley's birth that she felt an emptiness in her heart. She wrote a letter to Lily and told her about Dudley.
The next day, Lily was at her doorstep, holding her son in her arms. Both sisters reunited, but there were still wounds that were not healed completely.
But, Lily did some 'freakish' thing in the air and then told her that she had put wards around Petunia's house.
Then, she left, promising her that she would come back later. A promise that she was unable to keep.
Her contemplation of the past was broken by the soft snores of Harry in her arms. She looked at the poor thing and she felt a kinship with the child that she met for only one day.
After all, they both are orphans, losing both parents in the same night.
She wanted to keep Harry with her, the last piece of her sister, but she couldn't.
Both she and Vernon knew the condition of their home. They didn't have enough money to take care of two children at the same time.
And financial conditions put aside, her fear of the 'freakish' world wouldn't allow her to keep Harry here. She didn't wish to fail Harry by not protecting him either.
She thought and thought and finally came to a decision that she didn't know, would change the very future of the world.