"There, there. Everything will be alright. You'll see." Vernon assured her. "Perhaps we will sell this house. It's a bit cramped anyway, isn't it? And the neighborhood has certainly gone downhill the past few years. It might be nice to get away from all this freakishness." As he talked Petunia continued to cry, but she did answer his words with small nods of agreement. Harry watched and was a little bit surprised by both of them and their behavior. His aunt and uncle were showing affection, even love for each other and that almost never happened in this house. It made him wonder how his life would be different if either of them had ever really cared about him, but he knew the time when that was a possibility had long passed. In a way, his uncle was right to blame him for the situation. They would still be blissfully unaware of what was happening if it weren't for him, but as muggles they would still be in danger from the threat that Voldemort posed. Especially if he was successful in creating a world where he ruled. Shaking his head at the thoughts, Harry decided to just leave the room and let them have their moment together.
...
In the days that followed Harry spent much of his time listening to the radio, hoping to hear more information on what was going on and dreading to be told of another attack. So far, however, Voldemort had not struck again. The commentators argued about what it all meant, but it was clear that they were just frightened about what would happen next. The Ministry of Magic, now under the leadership of Amelia Bones, announced that they were increasing funding to the Aurors effective immediately so that they could hire and train new recruits to help in the war effort. Unfortunately some people were still reluctant to admit that they were in a war at all and insisted that now that the Dark Lord had his followers back he might just leave them alone. Harry, of course, knew this was rubbish.
For the most part the week was uneventful. The Dursley's seemed even more annoyed than ever by his presence but clearly wanted him gone more than they wanted to fight with him. That suited Harry just fine and he was happy to avoid them as much as possible, He often thought how happy he was that he did not have to stay much longer at the house.
Finally Harry's last day at #4 Privet Drive came. He woke early that morning and gathered his things, making sure not to leave anything he wanted behind because he knew he would never return to the house. By the time he began hauling his trunk down the stairs it was only a little past 7:00 AM, meaning that Vernon should have already left for work but everyone else should be asleep. Harry was therefore quite surprised to see his aunt sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of coffee.
"Sit down, Harry. Please." Petunia said when she saw Harry moving his trunk towards the front door. Harry frowned at her for a moment, unsure of what she wanted, but finally decided to humor her and sit down.
"I should be out of here in a few hours, Aunt Petunia." Harry said, thinking that might be what she wanted to know. Petunia merely nodded and took another sip of her coffee.
"You don't like us very much, do you?" Petunia asked after a few moments. Harry started to say something, but Petunia waved her hand as if to silence him. "I suppose we've never given you a reason to, maybe I owe you an apology for that. We never wanted you, Harry, but that's no secret. It's also no excuse for what we put you through."
"Why are you saying this to me?" Harry asked. "Why now? Is it just to make yourself feel better?"
"Because I feel guilty!" Petunia said, raising her voice for the first time. "Because I know that if something had happened to Vernon and I and your parents had to take Dudley in they would have raised him as their own son, magical or not."
"That's probably the nicest thing I've ever heard you say about my parents." Harry replied sarcastically.
"I… No, you're right. It probably was." Petunia agreed. "Another thing I hope you'll be able to forgive me for."
"I don't know that I'll ever be able to forgive you, Aunt Petunia. Or the rest of your family" Harry answered honestly. "But I am trying to save your lives, isn't that enough?"
"Just promise me we'll be safe." Petunia pleaded with him.
"I can't do that." Harry replied. "I wish I could, but I just can't. It might be safer for you if I don't even know where you're going, to be honest. I'll try and send you some way to contact me, if you really need to. Once I can use magic again I can charm something to be able to alert me if you're in danger."
"You would do that for us?" Petunia asked uncertainly.
"I suppose so." Harry answered just as uncertainly. "Hopefully this war will be over soon, and then we won't have to think about each other anymore."
"Will it be over soon?"
"Maybe. I know how to end it, and if the prophecy is right I'm the only one who can." Harry explained, not bothering to tell her the details of what he meant. "But it could be years until we finally bring Voldemort down. There's no way to tell." Petunia nodded and sipped at her cooling coffee again. Harry thought that she looked a little calmer now than she did at the start of their conversation, but the terror was still there just under the surface. Harry knew he had done all he could, and was willing to do, for them. If they listened to his advice they would probably survive, if they didn't they would likely die. There really wasn't anymore to it than that. "I'm going to wait outside. Goodbye, Aunt Petunia."
....
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