Tales to Tell
A/N: Thanks to everyone for continuing to read my little project here. Here is the chapter with the full explanation of the change in Petunia and Dudley. From my twisted mind, to my keyboard, to you. Hope you all enjoy.
Warning: This chapter does contain a bit of domestic violence. If you find something of that nature offensive, please skip this chapter.
A/N: Ms. Rowling owns it all, I just play here.
Petunia took a deep breath and looked at everyone around the table. How was she going to get everyone to understand what had happened? She had turned into such a monster where her nephew was concerned, would they all continue to hate her after her tale was told?
Her eyes fell on Harry. The poor boy had said so little since he had returned from school. Albus had told her what happened at the Department of Mysteries and the events that had transpired afterwards. She had wept when she heard about Sirius dying. She would never admit it to anyone, but as a young girl she had quite the crush on the bad boy Sirius was at the time. She had to figure out a way to make up for so many things with Harry. She only hoped that he would find it in his heart to forgive her. The only way that would happen though was for him to know the truth, all of it.
“This all started so very many years ago. About a year after Lily got her letter from Hogwarts. I was so excited. I thought I would be next, that it was my turn to join her at this amazing school. But my letter never came. I was upset, naturally, but I went on with my regular schooling. I saw Lily when she came home on holidays. Believe it or not Harry, your mother and I were very close as children. We stayed close, until Vernon that is.”
Harry’s head jerked up at the sound of his Aunt actually speaking his mother’s name. She had only addressed his mother as “Her” for as long as he could remember.
Dudley’s eyes rested on his mother. He knew how hard the next part was going to be for her, she had told him all of this last September. He wondered how everyone else at the table would take what was to come. Would they still think him and his mother evil?
“I had been receiving letters from Lily from her school for years, so I knew all about James and the relentless pursuit he waged on Lily from the first time he saw her. She brought him home to meet the family during the Christmas Holidays of their final year of school. I had hoped to find someone that would be that devoted to me one day,” she said blushing. “I met Vernon the year before I graduated from school. He was not the best looking guy in my year, but after falling so short in the beauty department compared to Lily, I thought he was the best I could do. I’ve already told Dudley all this, so it is no shock to him Molly.”
Molly blushed. She had been caught. The mother in her just could not be quelled when Petunia was so openly bashing Dudley’s father right in front of the boy. She turned her attention back to Petunia as she continued her story.
“When Vernon and I became engaged, I talked to Lily and my parents. We all decided it would be best to tell Vernon about Lily and James. We had him over for a Sunday dinner and broke the news to him. He seemed to take it well at first, after the initial shock and disbelief wore off. In fact, it was not until halfway through my pregnancy that his prejudice began to show through. Lily and I were so excited. We were going to raise our children together to be the best of friends.”
Petunia’s eyes began to tear up as she looked at her nephew who had a look of disbelief on his face. The only ones in the room that did not look shocked were Dudley and Remus Lupin. Dudley had heard the story so many months before. Petunia remembered Remus Lupin and knew that Lily had probably told him what transpired when the two women stopped speaking to each other, or at least the part she knew.
Petunia knew the next part of her story was not going to be easy, it was horrid the first time she spoke it aloud to Dudley. She took a deep breath and continued, “It started with Vernon making snide remarks about the ‘un-naturalness of it all’ whenever I would mention Lily and James. The remarks became more frequent and more cutting as time went by. One day I was upset that Vernon had out right interfered when I was scheduled to go visit Lily. We were both pregnant and due about the same time. When I protested Vernon’s obstruction of my visit, he…h..h..he hit me,” she wiped the tear that was working it’s way slowly down her cheek. She found she could not look up at the cluster of people listening so intently to her. Her shame was a bitter taste in her mouth, shame that she had been so weak against her husband.
“I was in shock after that. Any time I would mention Lily’s name after that, he would hit me again. Oh never in places that anyone would see, that would be unseemly. I began to cancel engagements with Lily. She became suspicious of course, but I could not tell her what was going on. Her suspicions and my wariness drove a wedge between us, and one day finally lead to a massive row. We argued for over an hour. I knew I could not tell her what was going on, so I used Vernon’s words against her. I told her that she was a freak, and the life that she had chosen was unnatural. I told her that I wanted nothing else to do with her or her family.” The tears were falling unchecked now. Petunia could not have stopped them if she had wanted to. She looked at her nephew, still with the look of disbelief and shock on his face. She knew all he had been through and hated to burden him with this now, but he had to know. She also knew the he would never begin to trust her until he knew the truth, and that meant all of the truth. It did not matter how much it pained her to tell it in front of all of these virtual strangers.
Molly wiped at her own tears that were slipping down her cheeks. She chanced a glance at her children, Ginny was crying as badly as she was. Ron was looking confused and still shooting dirty looks at Dudley. She looked over at Harry, and wondered how he was taking all of this. She knew that he was still hurting from the death of Sirius, and now to have this dumped on him so soon, she worried about him so. She took out her wand and conjured a few handkerchiefs in the center of the table. It looked like she was not the only one who was going to need something to wipe her tears.
Unbeknownst to anyone else in the house, Albus Dumbledore had used the floo network to come to headquarters. When he heard Petunia speaking, he had to admit he was a bit shocked. Despite their conversations and letters over the past few years, he had not expected this. He knew she wanted to tell Harry the entire situation, but to stand there and recite it to a room of virtual strangers; she was stronger than he had given her credit for.
He walked softly to the doorway of the dining room and barely cracked the door. He smiled as he saw the kerchiefs appear on the table, knowing Molly had conjured them. He stayed in the shadows and listened as more of the story was told.
Everyone was looking at Petunia, waiting for her to go on. She knew she had to go on or she would never be able to finish. She took what seemed to be her thousandth deep breath of the evening and continued.
“At first it was so hard to stay away from my sister. It became easier with time. One day late in my pregnancy, I regressed. I was scared. I wanted to talk to my sister. I had written a note and was attaching it to the leg of the owl that Lily had given me for my birthday when Vernon walked in. He threw a fit of epic proportions. He reached into the broom closet and pulled out a pistol. Before I could even let go of the owl to let it fly away to safety, he shot it. He kept screaming that I was not to have anything to do with Lily anymore, with any of my family. He even pointed the gun at me. I was so terrified that it sent me into labor.” She chanced a look at her nephew. The look of horror and anger had crossed his face was almost identical to the look that Dudley had when he heard the story.
“After that episode, I knew it was safer for me and for Dudley if I just went along with Vernon. Lily sent me a birth announcement for Harry. I kept it hidden from Vernon. Everything was semi peaceful for a little over a year. Then came that fateful morning. We found you on our doorstep Harry. I was so deeply wounded by your parents’ death. Vernon was just livid that you were coming to live with us. I knew I had to put aside my inner agony. I had two little boys to raise. As time went on, Vernon’s words echoed in my head over and over. It was easier to believe what he was saying than fight it and take the punishments. I let him treat you absolutely terribly Harry, and after a while I began to believe that agreeing with Vernon was the only way I could keep Dudley and myself safe. I poured all of my time and attention into Dudley. After a while, I almost started believing the rubbish that Vernon had spouted so often. It became like a mantra, almost as if I had been brain-washed.”
She knew she had to finish her story; she had made it this far after all. She took a deep breath and continued. “When Mr. Dumbledore told me what happened before the end of school, and everything else that has happened over the past few years, I knew I had to make a change. I started standing up to Vernon. He only tried to hit me once, and Dudley let him know that behavior was not going to continue. Well tonight, he told me that he could no longer tolerate this in his household. He was throwing all three of us out. Harry for what he perceived as his abnormality, and Dudley and me for supporting him. Vernon gave us two weeks to get out. I guess that is what caused all the mess earlier this evening.”
Petunia stepped closer to Harry, grabbed his hands and got down on her knees in front of him.
“My dear boy, your mother told me of the prophecy before your birth. Over the years I put it off as so much rubbish, even after I saw your scar. I know I was horrible to you, we all were. I only hope you can find it in your heart to forgive Dudley and me. I should not have been so weak. I should have stood up to him years ago. Please forgive an old woman for her failings,” she openly wept as she was pleading with her nephew for his forgiveness.
Harry did not know what to do. He was in complete shock. Sirius had just died a little over a week ago, and now all this new information about his Aunt. Oh my, she had spoken of the prophecy. He was not ready to divulge that little bit of information to everyone yet. What was he going to do? He thought of his parents, and the way they would handle the situation.
Albus watched the display of emotions across Harry’s face. He too, like everyone else in the room, seemed to be holding his breath. No one knew exactly how Harry was going to react.
He pulled his Aunt to her feet and looked her straight in the eye. His eyes were so much like her Lily’s, it almost seemed the words were coming from him and Lily’s spirit simultaneously.
“You took me in. You didn’t have to. Knowing what danger you were putting yourself and your family in, you still took me in. The past cannot be changed. We can’t get back the years that were wasted with Uncle Vernon’s hatred over-shadowing us, but we can move forward and away from that shadow. Trust will take time. But I am willing to work on that if you are,” Harry said with a steady voice. He leaned forward and pulled Petunia into the first hug he could remember ever sharing with her.
Dudley stepped forward, almost shyly. He was not going to be as eloquent as his mother had been, but still he said, “When Mum told me all of this last year, after you had been taken away to wherever you went last year, it made me realize what a spoiled rotten prat I have been. Can you find it in you to forgive my stupidity? I should have known the difference between right and wrong.”
Harry said not a word. He looked at Dudley with his head tilted to the side and slowly reached out his right hand. The two teenagers, trying to look adult and proper shook hands, and with that, started anew.
There was not a dry eye in the room. Even Mad-Eye Moody’s eyes were suspiciously bright. Molly decided to put aside her anger and offered Petunia one of the kerchiefs from the pile in the middle of the table.
Albus Dumbledore stepped slowly out of the shadows. He didn’t know exactly what to expect from Harry. When he had seen him just nine days ago, Harry had destroyed almost everything in his office. He met Harry’s eyes with a mixture of dread and hopefulness. Harry nodded slowly in Dumbledore’s direction, acknowledging that his headmaster had heard everything, and that it was time to move on. When had the boy become such a man? thought Dumbledore. Yes, trust would take time, and they would work at it.
A/N I apologize if this chapter seemed boring or too long, but I had to explain the change at least in Petunia. More to come soon! And for those waiting for some shipping action, it’s coming, just be patient.
This is a fictional story, but abuse is far too real for a lot of people in the world. If you, or someone you know is being abused, there are ways to find help, ways to escape. For years, after I got out of my own situation that resembled this, I volunteered at a shelter.