The Time of Destiny

Abraxan

Story Summary:
Complete. Sequel to "The Refiner's Fire." Harry's Seventh Year, complete with adventure, training, snogging, hospital visits, etc. Watch for ficlets to be added from time to time to fill in missing scenes in the epilogue. Canon-based through OotP. HP/GW, RW/HG, RL/NT

Chapter 02

Chapter Summary:
Remus’s change of plans takes a huge burden off of Harry. Tonks has a little talk with Petunia and Dudley. The Weasleys have a party, where there are some intriguing revelations.
Posted:
07/11/2005
Hits:
9,136
Author's Note:
Before you guys start yelling at me, my Brit-picker tells me “Rumania” is the proper spelling in England and Europe, although it’s “Romania” here in the USA, and some Brits spell it that way as well. So that’s the way it’s spelled in both “Refiner’s” and “Destiny.” I checked online and the Victoria Cross is the top military award in the UK, and was recently awarded for the first time in 23 years, hence the reference below. Many thanks to my wonderful Brit-picker, Kelpie, and my beta readers, Starfox, Blakevich, Iris and Asad!


Chapter 2 - The Life and Times of Harry Potter

"Harry? Are you all right?" Remus asked as he crossed the boy's room and sat next to him on his bed. Harry lay on his side, curled in a tight ball of misery, a mixture of rage and anguish plain on his face. Remus put his hand on his godson's shoulder and felt the tension there.

"Hell of a day, eh?" he commented, hoping to get Harry to open up a little. The boy didn't respond. "You know, if a book were written about how to do everything wrong in personal relationships, and in rearing children in particular, I think the Dursleys would be the main subject. They've pretty much done it all now, haven't they?"

Harry lay still, lost in his own world of pain. He could hear Remus speaking, but the words weren't making sense to him. All he could think was, She's blaming me. And she's right. He had that heart attack because he was angry with me.

"Sometimes I think your head is transparent," Remus commented with an odd smile.

That got Harry's attention. "Huh?" He turned onto his back and looked at his godfather, his eyes sad, but curious, as well.

"You're blaming yourself, aren't you? She blamed you and you accepted the blame, although you know in your heart you didn't do anything wrong."

"I made him angry."

"No, you didn't. He was angry because Ron and Ginny showed up on his doorstep. But he had no right to be angry about that. He got angry because he's a petty, small-minded, mean, heartless, selfish, bigoted, prejudiced, rotten old sod. That's why."

A small smile tickled the corner of Harry's mouth. "I've never heard you talk that way about anyone."

"I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. The werewolf in me would love to just rip Vernon Dursley to shreds - and in some ways, that isn't such a bad idea," he said with a soft chuckle, "but I fight that part of my nature all the time. I try to be considerate of other people in the hopes that the kindness will be returned. And in truth, it's my nature to be kind, just as it's yours and was your parents'. The Dursleys don't seem to have that gene in their makeup. I'm sorry you've had to suffer with them for so long. You won't go through this alone any longer. I'm staying with you the entire time you have to be here."

Harry's eyes lit up. "You are? I thought you had to leave after the party on Saturday, or a few days later if I still wasn't well. But I'm so much better, I thought. . . ." His voice trailed off.

"Plans can be changed, you know." He smiled at his godson, who looked as if he'd just had a massive burden lifted from his shoulders.

The boy sat up, studying his godfather's eyes closely. "You don't have to do this. It's awful here, but I'm used to it. I'll be all right."

"I'm staying. If they're this bad when I'm here, I can't imagine how they behave when they aren't being observed by strangers." Remus shook his head. He'd never met such horrible people who weren't Death Eaters, small-minded people who shunned werewolves and other people who were "different" somehow, or some other type of evil wizard.

"Still. . .there's no reason for you to . . ."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Remus interrupted with a smile.

At this, Harry's eyes flew open wide in shock. "No! No, I just. . .I didn't. . ."

"You didn't want me to 'suffer' along with you? Or you didn't want me to see how bad it really can be?"

"Something like that," Harry admitted, dropping his eyes in shame.

Remus put a gentle hand under the boy's chin, lifting it so they were eye to eye again. "You have nothing to be embarrassed about. You have done nothing wrong. I'm so proud of you, in every way. Now stop giving me a hard time about trying to help you, OK?" He smiled warmly, watching the transformation as Harry went from shame to disbelief to acceptance.

"Thank you, Remus," he said humbly. "I can't believe you're willing to put yourself through this, but thank you so much."

"I love you, Harry. I'll do whatever I have to, to take care of you," the man said simply. He reached out and squeezed the boy's shoulder. "We'll be all right, and it will be over before you know it. And then we'll have a great holiday at Grimmauld Place. And we might be able to squeeze in that trip to Rumania if all goes well."

The boy gulped hard, trying to control his emotions. His heart felt full to bursting with gratitude to this wonderful man who willingly set aside so much of his own life to be there for Harry. He fell into Remus's arms, hugging him tightly. They held each other for a long time, Remus rubbing the boy's back, Harry clinging to his godfather, his lifeline to sanity in this insane place, at first desperately, then finally relaxing. "I can't tell you how much you mean to me. My dad chose his friends well," he said, sitting back at last and smiling at the older man. "Well, except for Wormtail," he amended with a chuckle.

"Yes, except for him," Remus said with a smile. "Now, young man, do you want something to eat? Or do you want to rest?"

"I could eat," he said with a grin. "I gave all my food to Ron at the cinema."

"I thought that was quite a nice gesture, and a good bribe as well," Remus teased. "It was a fun afternoon, wasn't it?" He stood up to let Harry get out of bed.

"Yeah," the boy agreed, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and shoving his feet into his trainers. "With any luck at all, Aunt Petunia and Dudley will have cleared out of the kitchen and we can eat in peace."

"We can only hope," Remus replied, clapping the boy on the shoulder as Harry strode past him and opened the door with a grand flourish, inviting his godfather to precede him.

Remus was glad to see Harry looking more cheerful as they descended the stairs. They poked each other playfully as they walked down the hall to the kitchen, chuckling softly as they teased each other in a gentle mock battle. Outside the kitchen door, Harry paused and took a deep breath before walking into the room, bracing himself in case the Dursleys were still there. As they entered, they heard Tonks speaking.

"You and Dudders, here, and I are going to have a little talk. It will take a while. I'm going to point out the error of your ways, and tell you the truth about your nephew."

Harry stood staring at the tableau before him. Aunt Petunia was in a silent fury, apparently too frightened of Tonks to speak her mind. Dudley sat there with his mouth hanging open, his eyes darting here and there as if looking for an escape route. Tonks was glorious, not the funny, klutzy young woman Harry was used to, but an Auror in complete control of her powers. Her eyes were filled with both rage and reason as she stood across the table from Petunia, authority in every inch of her willowy frame.

When she saw Petunia's eyes slide away from her, Tonks turned around and grinned at them. "And here's the man of the hour now. Harry Potter, this is your life!"

"Huh?" the boy said nervously, his eyes wide and confused.

"Never mind. It was an old TV show my dad told me about. When he'd outline all the things I'd done right or wrong during the day, he'd say 'this is your life!'" She smiled at the memory.

"What are you doing?" Harry said, trying to make sense of the scene before him and the things he'd just heard.

"Straightening things out here," she said cockily. "Trust me, mate, all will be well once I'm done."

Harry and Remus glanced at each other uncertainly. As they looked back at her, two owls flew through the window, dropping letters in front of Tonks, and then flying back out of the window.

"Ah-HA!" said Petunia triumphantly, slapping her hand against the table, then shaking her finger furiously at Tonks as she continued. "You're in for it now! They know what you've done to Dudley and that you're threatening me, and they're going to punish you for it!"

"I don't think so," Tonks replied impudently. "Let's see. This one's from the Ministry." She hummed to herself contentedly as she read the parchment, then looked at Remus with twinkling eyes. "They want me to stay here to keep an eye on things so Harry isn't treated unjustly anymore." She waved the parchment in front of Petunia's face. "It's signed by Minister Bones herself!"

Harry's face lit up. "That's brilliant!" He grew thoughtful, then continued, "But Remus is here. You don't have to go to so much trouble for me."

"I asked for this assignment, Harry," Tonks said seriously. "I realized there was a need for a Ministry presence here when I saw your reception at the train station. I went straight to Minister Bones about it, and she's had us watching the house ever since. She thinks a great deal of you, as you know, and she wants to be certain that you're not only safe, but happy. She said she might assign me here if things got too sticky."

He grinned. "Thanks!"

"My pleasure," she replied, patting him on the shoulder. She opened the second letter. "This one's from Dumbledore, telling me the same thing. Orders from the Order. Cool!" She grinned wickedly at Remus, and then turned brightly to Petunia. "There will be one more for dinner."

"What?" The woman had that "deer caught in headlights" look, wide-eyed and frozen in fear.

"Get used to me. I'm going to be here a while."

"And I'm staying with Harry however long he has to stay here," Remus said firmly.

"WHAT?" Petunia blanched as realization hit her. Suddenly, along with her nephew, who was now allowed to do as much magic as he wanted, she had not one, but two adult wizards in her house for however long that infernal boy had to stay!

"We won't be in your way, and we won't impose on your hospitality any more than necessary," Remus assured her. "But we will ensure that Harry is well treated, and that he's given the chance to heal properly from this injury. He will not be abused, yelled at, or blamed for things he is not to blame for. If I hear any of you referring to him in any derogatory way, or treating him with anything less than the utmost respect and kindness. . . ." He left the thought dangling in the air, allowing the Dursleys to put whatever creative spin on it they wanted.

"In the meantime," he continued, "we came downstairs because Harry is hungry."

"That woman from next door brought a casserole," Tonks offered. "It's in the oven. I'm a bit peckish myself. Let's eat! We can talk over dinner." She poked her head into the fridge. "I see stuff for a salad here, Remus. Why don't you work on that while I talk to Harry for a sec? I think the Dursleys have had a tough day and we should do the cooking." She grinned up at him. "Or at least you should. You know how hopeless I am in the kitchen!" They laughed together, sharing the joke. They'd been going out since they'd discovered their interest in each other after the battle in France during Hogwarts' Easter break. Never once had Tonks managed to cook a meal without some mishap or other, whereas Remus was a good cook who enjoyed creating tasty meals. They'd long since worked out the proper division of labour - Remus would cook, Tonks would set the table and provide various forms of amusement, from silly commentary to teasing or tickling Remus or nibbling his ear to distract him from his meal preparations. Their eyes met for a moment, exchanging a look of amusement as they remembered their many memorable meals together.

As Remus washed the lettuce to start making salad, Tonks pulled Harry out of the room. "I want you to do something for me," she began. "You won't want to do it once I tell you what it is, but please, just cooperate with me. It's important."

"What is it?" he said uneasily.

"I want you to get your medals out and put them on. All of them. The actual medals, not just the ribbons. And wear them to dinner." She studied his face. His eyes were wide with surprise and a stubborn expression was beginning to show. "Before you get upset, think about it. I can tell them whatever I want, but you have proof. Those medals. Use them."

"No!" he said, pulling away from her. "I don't like that kind of thing."

"What kind of thing?" she asked, honestly curious.

"Showing off. Going on and on about 'famous Harry Potter.' That kind of thing." His face was distraught.

She put a calming hand on his arm. "Think of it as a weapon, Harry. Sometimes you need to use that kind of thing to get what you want, or need. You have powerful tools in your arsenal. Use them. Trust me. It might make life better for you here."

"Why do you care about how my life is here?" He was still very uncomfortable with her idea.

"Because I care about you. You're my friend. You're Remus's godson, and I care about him. And most important of all, you saved my life. Please allow me to return the favour, at least in part," she said earnestly. "Trust me, Harry. If this doesn't work, I'll do a Memory Charm on them and they won't remember what happened here tonight. All right?"

He stood thinking for a few moments. "You'll Memory Charm them to make them forget?"

She raised her right hand. "I promise. Witch's Honour."

He nodded slowly. "All right, then. I'll get them. I hope your plan works, but if it doesn't. . ."

"Memory Charm, no problem," she assured him. "Oh, do you have your Omnioculars here?"

"Yes."

"And they still have the battle recorded on them, right?"

"Yes."

"Bring them down too," she said seriously. "We're going to give them an education they won't forget - unless, of course, I have to Memory Charm them," she added with an impertinent grin. "Don't forget to dress properly."

Harry looked at her doubtfully for another moment, then nodded and disappeared up the stairs.

In the kitchen, Remus had the salad made and was slicing some bread. He glanced at Dudley. "Would you please set the table?"

Dudley flinched away from him, and then sneered at the man. "No!"

"Sorry?" Remus responded mildly.

"I said no! You can't make me!" the boy said, crossing his arms over his huge belly and sticking his lower lip out in a massive pout worthy of a four-year-old.

"In a well-balanced household, everyone helps with the chores. Your mother isn't your slave. Neither is Harry. Tonks and I certainly aren't here to serve your whims. We're happy to help out with whatever work needs to be done, but you will help too, or you won't eat."

"You can't do that! Mummy, tell him he can't do that!" he wailed.

"You can't order my son around like that in our home," Petunia began.

"I'm merely looking for good manners in your son, but he apparently doesn't have any. Get up, Dudley. Set the table." When the boy stubbornly refused to move, Remus Vanished the chair he was sitting on. Dudley fell to the floor with a loud thud and a grunt of pain. "Up," Remus repeated pleasantly. The boy reluctantly got to his feet and started getting the dishes needed for the meal. Petunia was trembling with fury, her nostrils white and pinched, her mouth a thin line as she forced herself to not react to what was going on.

As she helped Remus set out the food, Tonks pulled the curtains closed as well as doing a spell to make the windows opaque to outside viewers, and preventing any sound from being heard outside the house. "Now we have privacy," she said with satisfaction. "We don't need that nosy neighbour peeping or listening in!"

A short time later, the table was set, if quite sloppily, and everything was ready. Harry came in just as Tonks was pouring wine for the adults. He looked magnificent in his dress robes with his medals glinting on his chest, the Order of Merlin medallion, hanging from its beautiful ribbon around his neck, gleaming brilliantly in the kitchen light.

"What the heck are you dressed up for?" his cousin sneered.

"Dudley?" Tonks said sweetly. "Shut up or I'll close your mouth for you. I'll be doing most of the talking tonight. We don't need to hear anything you have to say." She glanced up at Harry. "What would you like to drink, sweetie?"

"I feel a need for pumpkin juice, wearing my robes," he joked nervously. "Water's fine, thanks." He sat down and placed his Omnioculars on the table next to his plate.

"Pumpkin juice?" Dudley said, a disgusted look on his face.

"Dudley. Silencio. Don't say you weren't warned," Tonks said, ignoring his horrified reaction to being silenced. She chuckled. "Oh yeah. You can't say you weren't warned, now, can you?" Her wry comment made Remus smile and surprised Harry into a snort of laughter despite his nervous state. "Harry, dear, would you like some wine, as well?"

Harry was shocked. Nobody had ever offered to let him have wine with dinner, as if he were an adult. He noticed she hadn't offered Dudley any. "Um. . .yeah, sure!" he said, an uneasy smile on his face. Tonks poured him a glass of wine, and set a glass of water beside it.

"If it's too strong for you, we can water it a bit. I don't suppose you're used to drinking wine," she said with a smile.

"No. Butterbeer's the strongest thing I've had," he admitted.

"Then remember to sip the wine, don't just drink it down, and be sure you eat," she advised.

"OK," he said, sitting up a bit straighter and feeling he might manage this evening's "presentation" after all, if Tonks was going to be this solicitous.

Since his return to the dining room, Petunia had stared at Harry, taking in the sight of the tall, broad-shouldered young man in his elegant dress robes, gazing at each of his medals in turn with wide eyes, then looking at her nephew's face as if she'd never seen him before. She'd shuddered when Dudley was silenced, but didn't comment, nor did she say anything until Tonks sat down and started serving the food. Petunia studied the Omnioculars lying beside Harry's plate nervously. "What's that?"

"That, Mrs. Dursley, is part of my presentation for the evening," Tonks said breezily. "We'll be studying the life and times of one Harry Potter, educating you about the genuinely world-famous hero who lives quietly in your smallest bedroom for a tiny part of the year. Once I'm done, I expect a complete change in attitude from both of you, or there will be consequences."

"Consequences?" Petunia gulped.

"You heard me," Tonks warned sternly. She looked at Remus and Harry and grinned. "Let's eat!" She served everyone, giving Harry a huge portion and Dudley a small, but fair, portion. Dudley looked offended, gazing imploringly at his mother, but she was staring fixedly at the Omnioculars, as if they would jump up and bite her.

As everyone tucked in to their food, Tonks began speaking. "I'm going to start at the very beginning, because I want to be sure Dudley knows the truth about everything, not the lies you've made up," she said, looking significantly at Petunia. "I suspect he's never heard the real story of how his cousin came to live here.

"Once upon a time, a wonderful couple named James and Lily Potter had a beautiful baby boy named Harry. They were murdered by the most evil wizard of the age, Lord Voldemort, when Harry was just fifteen months old. Voldemort tried to kill Harry, as well, but something about that sweet baby just stopped him. He sent a Killing Curse at Harry, something no one else has ever survived, but it didn't kill that precious little boy. It just gave him that scar on his forehead. Somehow, Voldemort's power was destroyed by baby Harry and the evil bastard lost his body. For years, he possessed animals or people to stay alive." She went on, telling them about Harry saving the Philosopher's Stone, about him conquering the basilisk and Tom Riddle's revived memory to save Ginny Weasley's life, about him clearing the names of Sirius Black and Hagrid, and his exploits in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, after which he battled Voldemort himself.

Dudley's face went from resentful and inattentive to reluctantly interested as Tonks' story went on. Every so often he would glance at his cousin, who was sitting with his eyes downcast most of the time, his body tense and still, or at his mother, whose expression changed from fury to resentment to shock to denial and back to fury again at various points in the story.

Petunia gasped and said, "No!" when Tonks told about James and Lily's ghosts coming out of Voldemort's wand and helping Harry escape. "That's not possible!"

"I said I would be telling you the truth, and that's exactly what I'm doing. Don't argue with me," Tonks warned. Petunia closed her mouth, her eyes huge. As Tonks continued watching her, the older woman dropped her eyes and went back to picking at her food.

Tonks told them about Harry and his friends forming Dumbledore's Army, and about the battle in the Ministry of Magic, trying to keep that part brief because she could see how it pained both Harry and Remus to remember Sirius's death.

"That was just before Harry returned here last summer. You might remember hearing news reports about mysterious deaths all over the country, and strange signs in the sky. Those incidents were Voldemort's followers, the Death Eaters, doing what they consider 'fun,' torturing and killing Muggles. That's what happened to Harry's friends, the Ashers." She watched Petunia and Dudley for their reactions. Both flashed startled eyes at her. "Yes, that's right. Voldemort had new followers he was training, and he turned them loose on lots of innocent families, many of them right here in Surrey. Voldemort himself was with them when they attacked the Ashers."

She glanced at Harry. He'd gone very still, staring at nothing, his eyes tortured as he remembered that night. "I'm sorry, Harry, but they need to know. It's part of the story." He glanced at her briefly, his agonized heart in his eyes, but said nothing. He'd been at least picking at his food. Now he sat completely still, his eyes unfocused, his hands in his lap, his head and shoulders bowed as if expecting a blow.

"Harry became ill after they died, in part because of his grief. He very nearly died. Once he returned to school, he was attacked repeatedly. There was a plot to kill him by putting various students and even one staff member under the Imperius Curse - that means they have to do what they're commanded to do by the wizard who cast it, even if they don't want to. Only a few wizards can fight off the Imperius Curse - Harry's one of them. He was in the hospital wing a great deal last term because of all these attacks, but none of them succeeded, as you can see. He continued training the D.A. and came up with the idea of making his friend Ron Weasley the general, since he's a chess master and good at strategies, and using battle plans such as Muggle military units do. He made his girlfriend, Ginny Weasley, head of the Healer Squad, as she's studying to be a healer. Hermione Granger, his other close friend, was given the job of head researcher and assistant to the general, as well as being second-in-command. You'll see how effective these plans Harry created were when you look in the Omnioculars." She stopped to take a sip of wine and eat another bite of dinner, letting what she'd said so far sink in.

She turned to Harry. "You need to eat, luv."

"I, um, I'm not hungry."

"Yes, you are. Try small bites, OK? You need to eat something. I'm sorry this is so hard on you," she said, patting his arm comfortingly.

"She's right, Harry. Do try to eat something," Remus urged him.

Harry glanced up, looking from his godfather to Tonks and back again, then nodded, sighed, and forced himself to start eating again.

"That's better," Tonks said approvingly. "Now I'll get back to my story. Where was I?" she asked Remus.

"France is next, I think."

"Oh, right! Thanks. On a trip to Rumania a few months ago, where he and Ron were taking a hippogriff - a hippogriff is half horse and half eagle," she explained when Petunia and Dudley looked up in confusion at the word. "Think of it as a horse with a funny head and talons on its front feet and eagle's wings. And yes, they're real. Anyway, while they were taking this hippogriff to Rumania to become part of the breeding program there, the boys were attacked. Ron and the hippogriff were both wounded. Harry took care of them while waiting for help to arrive. We got there and found Ron doing fairly well, but Harry was in the middle of a battle with Voldemort himself, as well as many of his followers, on top of a cliff. Remus, Arthur Weasley, Mad-eye Moody and I joined the battle, as did Ginny Weasley, and later Ron fought as well, despite his injuries. Voldemort threw Ginny off a cliff twice during the battle, and Harry saved her both times. He had to jump off a one-hundred-foot cliff to rescue her the second time, but he did it and both of them came back to fight again. He saved my life during that battle, killing the two Death Eaters who had me down and defenceless.

"On our way back home from delivering the hippogriff to Rumania, Harry was seriously injured when we were attacked again." Tonks didn't know if the Dursleys knew about Harry's scar pains or not, but she wasn't going to reveal that secret to them if she could help it. Calling the cause of his injury an "attack" was close enough to the truth and wouldn't lead to any uncomfortable questions - she hoped. "While he was recovering, there was a diplomatic nightmare because of that battle, when the French Ministry of Magic protested about British wizards fighting on their soil. Dumbledore and Harry went to a meeting and straightened everyone out, preventing all kinds of diplomatic problems between our countries.

"During the last Quidditch game of the year, Harry caught the Snitch - winning the Quidditch Cup in the process - but the Snitch was a Portkey that took him to Voldemort. There was quite a battle between Voldemort, the Death Eaters and Harry before Harry was able to get away long enough to send a message for help. Remus, Professor Dumbledore, Arthur and Molly Weasley, several other adults and I joined the D.A. members in battling the Death Eaters. We lost several good people in that battle, and some students died as well. In the midst of this battle, Harry and Voldemort were duelling madly. Harry managed to block spells from hitting some of the D.A. members at times, while fighting for his life himself." She stopped speaking, gazing at Harry with something approaching awe in her eyes. "It was incredible. I've never seen anyone fight as brilliantly as he did, or as desperately, and yet he was still trying to protect other people at the same time." She rubbed her eyes impatiently, took another sip of wine and sat quietly for a few moments.

Petunia spoke up. "Wait. You. . .you said. . .you said he killed people?" she said in horror, looking from Tonks to Harry. When her eyes settled on her nephew, she looked as if she were about to vomit. "He killed. . .?"

Tonks slammed her fist on the table, making the silver and glasses jump. "WE. ARE. AT. WAR! What part of that do you not understand? In a kill or be killed situation, what the bloody hell would you do? Of course he's killed! And it hurts him every time he does it. This boy has a wonderful soul, a gentle spirit, but the heart of a warrior. Yes, he will kill when he has to - and then he grieves for the families of those he's killed, children who've become orphans like him because both of their stupid parents with bollocks for brains made the incredibly bad choice to join Voldemort." She stopped speaking, her chest heaving with emotion, and glanced at Harry. He sat motionless, his elegant dress robes bedecked in beautiful medals but his face bereft, his eyes hollow and pain-filled.

"Harry, I'm so sorry. I'd hoped to avoid that topic altogether. But if we're going to tell the truth, it has to be the whole truth. Do you agree?"

He raised heartbroken eyes to her. "Are you sure this is the right thing to do?"

"I think it's a worthwhile effort, yes," she replied.

He looked at his godfather. "And you? Is it worth all this, do you think?"

Remus nodded and said, "Yes, I think it's worth a try. I'm sorry it's so hard on you."

"How about a Cheering Charm later?" Harry said with a feeble attempt at a smile.

"You're on," Remus replied, patting his godson on the arm.

Dudley was bouncing in his seat, trying frantically to speak.

"Oh, all right, then. But if you annoy me again. . ." Tonks warned him as she removed the Silencing Charm.

"Thank you!" Dudley gasped. "OK. Let me get this straight," he said, his round face contorted as he tried to get his mind around a fact he just couldn't accept. "Harry - this Harry right here - he's killed people. Right?" Tonks nodded. "I don't believe it. How could he? I don't get it." He looked thoroughly confused. "And if it's true, why isn't he in jail?"

Tonks tried her best to be patient with him. "Ducks, I know you're a bit thick about some things, so I'll say this slowly. Harry is a soldier in what you might consider our army. He actually created the army you'll see fighting in the Omnioculars. He's our main weapon in the war against the bad guys. He's the most powerful wizard alive other than Dumbledore and Voldemort, and he's still quite young. When he is fully trained and comes into his powers completely, he'll outshine both of them, I suspect." She looked at Harry fondly, who was gazing fixedly at the table, trying to tune out her voice. "And he simply hates to hear that kind of thing. Sorry, Harry."

He didn't react, and she left him alone.

"Dudley, you will see proof of what I'm saying in these Omnioculars. There's something like a film inside that was made of the battle. You'll see Harry in the centre of most of the pictures, since his girlfriend was holding this set of Omnioculars. You'll see what I'm saying is true." The room was silent for a few moments.

When Tonks began speaking again, she leaned earnestly toward the Dursleys, trying to drill into them the importance of what they were hearing. "Harry nearly died from his injuries in this battle with Voldemort. The whip lashes you'll see in the Omnioculars cut him to the bone - you could see his ribs showing in many of his wounds. He lost a tremendous amount of blood, and had a lot of internal damage as well. But despite these horrible injuries, he got out of his own hospital bed and used the healing powers you saw him use on your husband today to save one boy's life, and tried to save another's, but poor Seamus was too badly injured for Harry to help him."

She glanced at Harry and saw unshed tears glittering in his lashes. "I'm sorry, Harry. I know how painful this is for you." He just sat up straighter, taking a deep but shaky breath, and nodded at her to go on.

Tonks decided not to go into many more details, since it was so distressing for the young man. "As a result of all these things, Harry was given these medals." She got up and moved to stand beside him. She rubbed his back comfortingly for a moment before going on. As she spoke, she indicated each medal in turn. "This one is for the battle in France I mentioned. This one honours him for being injured in that battle. This one is for the Battle of Little Hangleton - which he has on these Omnioculars and we'll show you in a little bit. This medal is for his injuries in that battle. This pretty one is the Golden Star with Mystic Cluster. It's given for extreme valour, and has only been given once before in the past hundred years. This one is the Golden Wand Award for his coming up with the idea to use battle strategies and organizing the students into an actual army that performed brilliantly in battle. This large medal around his neck is the Order of Merlin, First Class. I can't touch it without his permission. It's spelled to repel anyone but its owner, except when it's being presented, or when the owner has given permission for someone else to touch it. That's what keeps people like you, Dudley, from stealing it." She grinned cheekily at the boy, who'd been eyeing the medal avidly. "Yes, it's pure gold, quite heavy, and extremely valuable. It's only worn for ceremonial occasions, which is why Harry is wearing his dress robes, so he can wear it properly. But the important thing for you to know about the Order of Merlin is that it's the highest award given in our world. It's the equivalent of the Victoria Cross in your world, but it's given even more rarely than the Victoria Cross. Maybe that will help you understand what an honour this is. The First Class medal has never before been given to anyone under the age of fifty. Harry is the youngest recipient in our recorded history, which goes back thousands of years."

She put her hand on Harry's shoulder, patting him fondly, then gazed steadily at Petunia. "This is the young man who lives in your home for only a short time each year. He's a hero, not a trouble-maker. He's an honourable young man, not a hooligan. He's so famous, many books were written about him before he ever got to Hogwarts, and more have been written since then. I'm sure many are being created as a result of these battles and his receiving these medals. He's in our history books, over and over, as well being featured in many books wizards read in other nations. He deserves your gratitude for protecting you all these years, not the misery you've given him his entire life. Think about that while you watch this."

She looked at Harry. "Are they set on the battle?" she asked, indicating the Omnioculars. He nodded wordlessly. She picked them up and operated the dials, scanning to find the scene she wanted. "All right. Mrs. Dursley, watch this. Dudley, you'll have a turn in a moment."

"No," Petunia said in a quavering voice.

"I. Insist," Tonks growled through clenched teeth, glaring into the other woman's eyes while fingering her wand. She held out the Omnioculars, shaking them under the older woman's nose until Petunia finally put a trembling hand on them. "Be careful with them."

Petunia finally took the binoculars-like instrument in both hands and held it up to her eyes, her hands trembling so hard, the eyepieces were bouncing around in front of her face.

"Hang on," Remus said, then put a Levelling Charm on the Omnioculars which held them perfectly still no matter how hard her hands were trembling. "Better?"

Petunia gulped, glanced at him and then nodded ever so slightly.

"Look through the eyepieces," Tonks instructed. "Ready?" She touched a button, and the recorded battle began to play out before Petunia Dursley's astonished eyes.


The scene she saw in the Omnioculars was mid-battle. Harry was fighting Voldemort, their spells being cast so quickly, they created a rainbow of light arcing between them. Each man ducked and rolled, dodging or blocking the spells as much as possible. Both were bloodied but still fighting furiously. Occasionally, Harry would shoot a spell off to one side, blocking a spell from hitting one of his allies. Suddenly, Voldemort's wand spouted whip-like lashes, which slashed Harry's back and side to the bone. Petunia screamed and dropped the Omnioculars, which Tonks caught deftly.

"The whip, right?" she asked. Petunia nodded wordlessly. "Horrible, isn't it?" Petunia nodded again. Tonks held out the Omnioculars. "Watch the rest of it." Several minutes passed as Petunia sat looking into the instrument, trembling so hard it seemed she would drop them again at any moment. She gasped from time to time, but held on to the Omnioculars, totally involved with what she was watching.

The others in the room could hear Ginny screaming, "HARRY! NOOOO! NOOOOOOO!" from the instrument in Petunia's hands.

Harry shuddered at the sound, remembering flying in front of Ginny as a phoenix and taking the Killing Curse that had been aimed at her.

Petunia lowered the instrument slowly, her eyes wide in shock. "Where did he go?"

"Who?" Tonks asked kindly, taking the Omnioculars from her quivering hands.

"Him," she said, lifting her chin toward her nephew. "Where did he go?" She looked up at Tonks, then glanced nervously at Harry for a moment before dropping her eyes.

"Did you see the two birds attack Voldemort?"

"Yes. It was horrible."

"It was necessary. They pecked out his eyes. One of those birds was Harry. He's an Animagus. One of his forms is a phoenix. This information is not something you can share with anyone, but to be completely honest with you, I have to tell you that. He was also the bird who flew in front of Ginny and took the Killing Curse for her. That's why his scar is different now. He's survived two Killing Curses. Ginny would have died if it had hit her. Harry is the only person who's ever lived through it. No one is quite sure why he can do that."

"Dumbledore. . ." Harry began, then quieted.

"What is it, Harry?" Remus asked gently.

He looked at his godfather, keeping his gaze on him as he replied. "Dumbledore thinks my mother's love protects me. She died trying to save me. He says her protection is in my blood and in my skin. That's why I have to live with Aunt Petunia part of the year, since she's my mum's sister. And that's why Professor Quirrel couldn't bear my touch. He died from me just touching him."

"A man died from you touching him?" Dudley said with a shudder.

"Yes. That was my first year at Hogwarts," Harry replied quietly.

"You killed someone when you were eleven years old?" Dudley said in horror, thinking of all the times he'd provoked or even attacked his cousin, both before and after Harry was eleven.

"I didn't mean to," Harry said with a shrug. "He was possessed by Voldemort at the time, or he might not have died. I didn't know it would kill him for me to touch him. It just . . . happened."

The room was quiet for a few moments. Petunia's nervous voice broke the silence. "He. . .how can he be a bird? Is that what you said?" she said, bewildered.

"He can change into an animal's form, with that animal's abilities, so if he's a bird, for instance, he can fly. The Animagus transformation is extremely difficult. It's very rare for wizards to manage it. There were only seven Animagi registered in the last century. Harry's father and his godfather Sirius were both unregistered Animagi, and now Harry is an Animagus himself." Tonks looked at the boy, admiration in her eyes. "He's such a talented wizard, simply amazing. If I can get you to appreciate him even in part. . . ." She took a deep breath, studying the Dursleys' faces. "I see you don't believe me." She turned to Harry. "Would you mind?"

"Mind what?" He seemed to be numb. All these memories being brought up were so painful to him. He kept pushing them away, trying to stay calm.

"Would you show us one of your Animagus forms?" Tonks asked.

He looked at Tonks uneasily for a long time before answering reluctantly, "Which one?"

"The phoenix," she prompted.

He glanced at his godfather, who nodded. "'K," he said reluctantly. He sat quietly, glancing up at his aunt when she shrieked as his black hair quickly changed into scarlet feathers which soon covered his body. His body shape changed as the feathers spread, and in a moment, a phoenix sat where Harry had been.

Petunia sat panting, trembling hands at her mouth, her eyes popping in shock. Dudley was utterly still, as if he thought moving might make matters worse somehow.

Remus handed Petunia a glass of brandy. "I know it's a lot to take in," he said kindly.

She downed the brandy in one gulp and stared at the bird, which had hopped up onto the table and spread its wings as if stretching. "H-h-h-harry?" she whispered. The bird walked across the table, carefully lifting its long golden tail to avoid dragging it in any dishes. It had brilliant green eyes and a slight zigzag shape above its right eye, a lighter colour in the red of its feathers.

"See the mark on his forehead? It looks like his scar. That's his identifying mark, although the green eyes are also an identifying mark, since real phoenixes have black eyes," Tonks pointed out.

The bird backed away from Petunia and spread its wings, lifting into flight, soaring around the room before landing in Harry's chair and becoming a tall young man with black hair and round glasses again.

"That's some trick," Dudley said in awe. "How'd you do that?"

"Magic," Harry snapped.

"That . . . that stuff in these glasses. . .that film. . .it's not real. It can't be. It would have been on the news," Petunia said, trying to make sense of things.

"Harry? We've gone this far with it. Would you mind showing her your scars?" Tonks asked gently. "Please don't be angry with me."

He gazed at her in shock. He felt as if he were a side-show freak, being displayed for his relatives' entertainment.

Remus sensed his godson's emotion. "I'm sorry, Harry. If you don't want to, you don't have to."

"Can you give me any good reason why I should?" the boy asked, his voice breaking, his face greatly distressed.

"It's even more proof than your medals or the Omnioculars, something that may be more understandable to them," Tonks said reasonably. "I'm sorry I didn't think of it before. I should have talked it over with you first."

"Yes, you should have!" he snapped, leaping to his feet so quickly that his chair fell over. The air began to hum, the vibrations of Harry's anger making the china rattle in the china closet.

"I'm sorry," Tonks said, backing down immediately. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"What's happening?" Petunia said nervously as she glanced at her china closet. "Why are the dishes rattling? And you," she added, looking at Tonks, "are you. . .afraid. . .of him?"

"No, of course I'm not afraid of him," Tonks snapped back, "but I do have the greatest respect for him, and I've upset him. I didn't mean to do that." She turned to Harry. "You know how I bumble around. I had what I thought was a great idea and just blurted it out. I didn't mean to hurt you, Harry," she said sincerely. "Please forgive me."

He stood still for several moments, his back stiff, his face stony. Finally, he took several slow, deep breaths and rolled his shoulders, forcing himself to relax. When he did this, both Tonks and Remus relaxed as well, and the dishes stopped rattling, all of which Petunia noticed right away.

"You ARE afraid of him!" she said triumphantly. "Why are you trying to sell us this load of rubbish about how wonderful he is when you're scared of him?"

Remus and Tonks looked at each other uneasily.

Harry gazed steadily at his aunt. "Because I'm dangerous when I'm angry, and they know it."

Remus started to say something, but Harry cut him off. "When I get angry, Aunt Petunia, things happen that I have no control over. Remember Aunt Marge inflating? Remember the door blowing off the cupboard last summer? Those are mild compared to what happens if I lose my temper now that my magic's been refined and I'm so powerful that I scare myself!" He said all this in a bitter tone of voice, snarling as he spoke. "You want proof? Here's proof." He stood and yanked off his robes, tearing the shirt he wore under them as he tried to remove it as well. He Vanished the shirt in disgust then turned around, showing them his chest, left arm, back and side, which were laced with a network of wide, angry red scars. "There. Happy?" The Order of Merlin medal lay on his bare skin, sparkling beautifully in the light as his heaving chest moved it. He pulled his robes back on and summoned his chair, dropping into it like a stone.

Petunia's eyes and mouth were wide with shock. She had to swallow back the bile that threatened to overwhelm her, the sight of those horrible, livid scars on his body sickened her so. After what seemed hours, she managed to control her nausea and find her voice. "What. . .what happened to you?" she asked tremulously. Dudley's mouth still hung open stupidly, after his initial shout of surprise.

"You saw the whip lashes come out of Voldemort's wand," Harry snarled. "That was real. That's what happened. He ripped me to the bone." He slid his hand self-consciously down his side. He hadn't had time to get over being so horribly scarred. The addition to his forehead scar wasn't that obvious, now that the swelling and redness had disappeared. But these on his arm, side and back were large, thick and ugly. He hadn't looked at his bare back in a mirror since just after he'd started getting well. That single glance was enough, and he'd never looked again. He knew Ginny, Ron and Hermione would never comment on the scars, and that Ginny loved him enough to look past them. But he would never be able to go swimming again without being stared at, he'd never be able to work shirtless on a hot day, or even wear a t-shirt that bared a lot of skin. To be totally protected from people's stares, he'd need to wear long sleeves the rest of his life to cover the ugly scars on his arm. He couldn't bear the thought of using the Quidditch Changing Room showers with his team mates anymore. The scarring was that bad. He didn't think he'd ever want to see more than just his face, where the scars had finally faded away a bit, in a mirror again, unless his body was fully covered. Now he sat with his arms crossed protectively across his chest, his robes unfastened but wrapped around him, his Order of Merlin still lying on his bare chest, glittering as it caught the light.

The others in the room were silent for a long time. Tonks was shocked at how bad the scars still looked. She hadn't seen them since he'd gotten well. She'd assumed they were mere lines of discolouration on his body, like his old curse scar on his forehead had been before its recent addition. When she could find her voice, she murmured, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you to do that."

He shrugged, still resentful.

"What did the healer say about them?" she prompted.

"The whip removed chunks of flesh, so it was difficult to join the skin cleanly to close the wounds. They're healing as well as can be expected," he answered shortly. "They'll stop being red after a while. He didn't know if the swelling will ever go down or not."

Tonks reached over and rubbed his arm comfortingly, tears in her eyes. "I'm an awful person, Harry. I should never have. . . . I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me? How dreadful of me."

Harry snatched his arm away, turning angry, hurt eyes on her. "Yes, it was dreadful. This is your only chance to do this kind of thing. I won't tolerate it again. Now finish what you started." He locked his eyes on the tablecloth in front of him, his face hard and closed, his body tense.

Remus and Tonks could see him fighting to control his temper. They remained silent for a while, giving him time to cool off. As the silence grew long, Tonks decided it was time to finish what she'd started, just as Harry had said.

"Mrs. Dursley, Dudley, we've presented evidence that should help you understand who Harry is in reality," she began. "He's not the boy you've always thought he was. He's not a freak. He's not stupid. He's not a criminal. He deserves the tremendous respect he's earned from those who know him and those who don't, as well. I could have put a spell on you to make you treat him well, but I respected your intelligence enough to present proof to you. Now what are you going to do with it?"

"What do you mean?" Petunia asked warily.

"Are you going to treat him better?"

"I. . .well. . .um. . . ."

"You do know I have killed people," Harry sneered. "What makes you think I won't kill you if you annoy me enough?" He stopped, fighting down the anger rising within him again. "Have you managed to work out yet why I haven't killed you after some of the things you lot have done to me? I could have, you know, many times, but I didn't. I think what Tonks is trying to do here is to get you to leave me alone so I won't lose my temper and do something all of us will regret. You should think about that." He quieted again, remembering how Molly Weasley had been seriously injured the previous summer when Harry's raging emotions broke every piece of glass in the Grimmauld Place house.


Everyone was silent. Finally, Petunia asked in a querulous voice, "Why. . .um, why haven't you. . .um. . ."

"I have tried to keep the peace here. You are my mother's only living relative. I think my mum would want me to treat you well. I've done my best to do what I think my parents would want, not that it's done me any good," he snarled.

Remus sighed heavily. "All right. I think it's time to reach a conclusion here and let Harry get some rest."

"Yeah," the boy agreed irritably.

"Fine," Tonks said. "Mrs. Dursley, do you agree to treat Harry as kindly as you treat your own son? To give him proper portions of food, not miserly ones? To speak to him in a pleasant way? To be reasonable in all your dealings with him? And to not tell any lies about him, nor to tell any Muggles anything you've learned here tonight?" She waited for a response. "Mrs. Dursley, what I'm asking isn't difficult. Act like a decent human being toward Harry in every way and you'll get along just fine. Can you do that?"

Petunia glanced from Tonks, to Remus, to Harry, her eyes studying his bowed head. He was refusing to look at anyone.

Harry felt her eyes on him and looked up, gazing back into her eyes. His eyes held no hope, nothing but wariness and weariness. As they looked at each other, Petunia's face changed a bit.

"Would you show me your scar?" she said quietly.

"Which one? I have loads now," he snapped.

"That one," she said, pointing to his forehead. He obliged by pushing back his fringe. The scar had an extra zigzag, was thicker than before, and was still a bit red since it was so new. "Did it hurt?"

"What?" he asked, dropping his fringe and looking at her in confusion.

"The Killing Curse."

"Hurt like hell. It felt as if every nerve ending in my body was on fire, vibrating from electrical shocks, and freezing cold at the same time."

Remus and Tonks looked at him in surprise. No one had ever thought to ask him what the Killing Curse felt like.

"Why?" Harry wanted to know.

"Why did you save that girl?" she asked.

"I saw the spell coming at her," he answered simply.

"Did you know it wouldn't kill you?"

"No. I didn't think about that. I just wanted to save her life," he snapped.

"You did it because she's your girlfriend and you care about her, didn't you?" she said, trying to figure something out.

"I love her, yes, but I would have done it for other people if I could have managed it," he replied with a shrug.

"Are you thinking he only saves those he loves?" Tonks asked Petunia curiously. She nodded. "Do you think he loves your husband after the way he's treated Harry all his life?"

Petunia stared at Tonks and shook her head slowly. She looked at Harry again. "Why did you save Vernon?"

"Because it was the right thing to do."

Petunia was silent for a long moment, then very quietly said, "Thank you."

Harry looked up at her, startled, then just nodded.

"Dudley?" Tonks began. "Remember all those things I asked your mother about? I want you to get along nicely with Harry. You won't tell lies about him. You won't tell anyone anything about the wizarding world or that Harry's a wizard or can do magic, or that magic is real. You won't mistreat him in any way. If you do, that jelly thing Ginny did to you will seem pleasant. Do we understand each other?" The boy nodded dumbly.

"Mrs. Dursley, there's a party at the Weasleys' this weekend," Remus commented quietly. "They've invited you to it already, but you turned them down. I'm sure if you wanted to come, you'd be welcome. And if you did come, you'd see how Harry is respected and loved. You'd meet a lot of marvellous people who would be kind to you despite the way you've treated him all his life. The Weasleys are wonderful people. I think you might like them if you gave them a chance."

Harry was looking at Remus with a horrified expression on his face. "Not the party, Remus!" he begged.

"We need to make the gesture," his godfather replied. "It's the proper thing to do." He turned back to Petunia. "Would you like to come?"

"Vernon needs me," she replied stiffly. She glanced from face to face again, and swallowed hard. "But . . .um. . .thank you for the invitation."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief, but Tonks said, "I think it would be good for you to come to the party, Mrs. Dursley. If your husband doesn't need you for a few hours that afternoon, you really should join us." It sounded a bit like an order.

Petunia got the message and nodded, but wouldn't give in completely. "If Vernon doesn't need us, I'll think about it."

"Mum, no! We're not going to a party full of freaks like that, are we?" Dudley burst out.

"Dudley? What did I tell you?" Tonks warned pleasantly.

All of the colour drained instantly from Dudley's face. "Oh. Um. . .sorry?" he said, trying to put on a charming smile and failing spectacularly.

"That's better," Tonks replied serenely. "You may go to bed now, Dudley. But I've spelled the telephone and computer so you can't share any news at all about Harry. If you try, whatever you're saying or typing will turn into gobbledygook, and then only goblins will be able to understand it." She smiled sweetly at him. "And I have it on good authority that they have tremendous respect for Harry Potter." Dudley sat there with his mouth hanging open and his eyes bugged out as Tonks added, "Good night, ducks." She Banished his chair from the table so it hit the wall near the doorway with a thud. He took his cue from that and leapt to his feet, racing up the stairs as fast as he could go.

"I'm tired. May I be excused?" Harry asked Tonks.

"Of course! Thank you, Harry. Again, I'm so sorry. . ."

He cut her off. "If it works, it might - I said 'might'- be worth it. If not. . .I would probably appreciate a Memory Charm too."

"But in the meantime, I owe you a Cheering Charm," Remus reminded him. With a few waves of his wand, the spell was cast and a now-smiling Harry bounded up the stairs, in much better spirits than he'd been a moment before.

"How did you. . .what happened to him?" Petunia asked nervously.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked kindly.

"He seemed . . . happy, all of a sudden."

"That was a Cheering Charm. You heard the two of us talking about it. It cheers you up for a while. By the time it wears off, he'll be fast asleep and won't need it anymore."

Petunia sat there staring at him in amazement. "That kind of thing actually works?"

"Like magic!" Tonks responded cheekily. "Remus, how about helping me with the dishes? You know how clumsy I am." The two of them went to work cleaning up after the meal, leaving Petunia sitting at the table pondering all the things she'd learned that evening.

* * * * *

The day after the presentation, Tonks, who was staying in the spare room in the Dursley house now that the Ministry and Order both wanted Harry to have a twenty-four hour Auror guard, knocked gently on Harry's door.

"Who is it?" Harry called warily.

"It's me," Tonks said brightly. "May I come in? Are you decent? Better yet, are you indecent? Or how about Remus? Is he indecent?" She giggled at her own silliness.

Harry chuckled. "We're both quite boringly decent. Come on in." He was sitting on his bed, a book in his lap, his ink and quill on the bedside table, rolls of parchment and other books spread all over the bed. Remus was sitting at Harry's desk, equally surrounded by books and parchment. The small bed he'd conjured for himself was tucked tightly against the wall.

"What's up?" Harry said as she came in and plonked herself down on the edge of his bed, a grin on her face and a twinkle in her eye.

"I had an idea," she began.


Harry groaned. "I think I had enough of your ideas last night."

"You'll like this one!" she said. "You need to learn to drive. It's a great skill for Aurors to have. Your aunt took a taxi to the hospital for some reason."

"I imagine Uncle Vernon blew up about how much it cost to park there," Harry told her, and then he grinned. "I bet she won't tell him how much it costs to take a taxi."

"Yeah, whatever. So I was thinking. Why don't we take your uncle's car and teach you to drive? I'll fix it up with your aunt - she can even come along if she wants."

"That'll be the day," he snorted, picturing Petunia's pinched face as she watched him learn to parallel park. "I couldn't do it if she was looking, you know."

"I'll take care of everything. You need to learn, and this is the perfect opportunity. I'm here with nothing to do but guard you, and I'm bored! I'll bet you'd like to get out a bit more than you have been, too. I think it would be fun to teach you how to drive," she said with a saucy grin. "How's your head?"

"I had a slight headache, but it's gone. It seems to bother me most when I first get up in the morning. So it's a lot better than it was," he replied.


Remus was watching all this with a bemused expression. "So Harry's going to take a driver's test and all that? Does he have to take classes to get a license? And do you really think the Dursleys would put him on their insurance?"

"Not a problem," Tonks said dismissively. "All you need to do is learn how to drive, and the way you fly, it will be easy for you. I'll take care of the rest. OK?"

Harry grinned. "If you can make all that happen, it would be really cool. I'd love to learn to drive! Yeah, OK!"

A short time later, Tonks, Harry and Remus were driving away in the Dursleys' car. She'd left a note for Petunia that they'd needed to run an errand and would be back soon. "No point worrying her unnecessarily," she reasoned.

"But. . ." Harry protested.

"Hush! I have everything under control!" she declared.

He snorted with laughter. At least he wasn't to blame for whatever happened. And if Aunt Petunia did try to blame him, Tonks would Memory Charm her and get him out of it, he was certain. He sat back and enjoyed the ride, smiling at the thought of taking the wheel himself in a few moments.


They arrived at a closed supermarket with a large, empty car park. "Right, then. We'll do it here," Tonks said. She opened the boot of the car and, under its shelter in case any Muggles were watching, waved her wand, conjuring up several traffic cones, which she set out to mark parking spaces and as set of roads and junctions. "I'll show you what I want you to do, then you do it," she instructed.


The lesson went by very quickly. Harry knocked over a few cones at first, and the car lurched forward and bumped hard to a stop as he learned how much pressure to put on the pedals and when, but overall, he was doing very well. Parking was difficult for him at first. During the first few tries, he knocked over nearly all the cones and almost ran over Remus, who was standing outside the car trying to help Harry judge the distance to the cones. Numerous tries later, parallel parking was no longer a challenge. When he finally got it right, Harry whooped with laugher as Tonks not only cheered, but did a cartwheel in the parking lot.

"Very good, Harry!" Tonks said, leaning into his window as she straightened her clothes after her enthusiastic display.

"I didn't know you could do cartwheels," Harry said, laughing. "You're always going on about how clumsy you are!"

"When I was little," Tonks said with a smile, "I saw a gymnastics competition on the telly at my Muggle grandparents' house. The things they did! Cartwheels, flips, walking on that beam, throwing themselves between those two poles with complete abandon - it looked like great fun! I decided then and there that I was going to be a gymnast when I grew up! But I've never been very good at it, and I never got any lessons in it either. I worked so hard at it for a while, walking along the tops of fences and trying to do flips and so on, but cartwheels are the only skill I mastered."

Harry chuckled at her reply.

She crooked her finger at him. When he leaned toward her, she put her lips by his ear and whispered, "That's our secret, OK? I don't want to blow my image!"

He nodded, a huge grin on his face.

In her normal voice, she said, "That's about all you need to know to get started. We'll drive in traffic a bit later. Hang on, you'll need a licence." She got into the back seat and opened her rucksack, digging around in it looking for something. "Drat it all, I know it's in here somewhere." Finally, she came up with what she was looking for. "Ah-HA! Here it is!" She waved a small pink plastic card around, quite pleased with herself. She held the card up at Harry's eye level, showing him one plain face of it. "Smile, Harry!" she said, and a moment later, a Muggle photo of Harry was on the plastic card. She handed him a bit of Muggle paper and a ballpoint pen. "I need your signature," she said. He signed his name and she looked it over approvingly. With a wave of her wand, all the information required of a driver's licence, including Harry's signature, was on the card along with his photo. She pulled out the required plastic wallet and green A4 paper, copying the proper information onto the green paper, assembled the entire thing and said, "Ta-da!" as she handed it to him.


Remus finished putting the cones back in the boot, Vanishing them once they were all stowed out of Muggle eyesight, and climbed into the backseat with Tonks.

"What is this? Fake I.D.?" Harry said, holding the licence in both hands and looking from it to Tonks curiously. "Nice photo, though," he admitted. "Wish my fringe covered my scar better."

"Hang on, then. Comb your hair. Check the mirror, make sure you like it. I'll redo the picture." She took the licence from him and waited until he was happy with his appearance, then she held the licence up at his eye level and redid the photo. "There, how's that?"

"Brilliant! That's the best fake I.D. I've ever seen," Harry complimented her.

She leaned in and replied in a stage whisper, "It's not a fake."

He looked up in surprise. "Huh?"

"Aurors need all kinds of I.D., passports, and so on, in a variety of identities for when we do undercover work. This licence is just as real as your aunt's. It has been duly registered with all the proper authorities. When I put the spell on the plastic card that made it into a licence, every necessary task and registration was performed as well, including getting you the proper insurance. This is a real driver's licence, mate. Now, let's go and drive in some traffic!" she said cheerfully.

"But. . .but. . .," he stuttered. "How can you do that? Is it legal?"

"Perfectly legal, except for the minor problem that you aren't an Auror yourself. This is an 'Auror's Only' type of privilege, BUT. . ."she paused dramatically, "the Minister hinted that I should use my best judgment on how much to tell you about the programme. She's determined you're going to be an Auror, since you said that's what you want to do. I'm here to help you along a bit! And besides, a boy your age simply ought to know how to drive!"

A couple of hours later, Harry pulled into the Dursleys' driveway and turned off the ignition, a huge grin on his face. He had proven to be a very good driver, not rattled by traffic, careful at junctions. His Quidditch training had come in good stead, since he already knew how to be aware of dangers in his surroundings. He was very pleased with himself, and with Tonks. "That was great! Thanks, Tonks!"

"No problem, Harry. We can't have Aurors who can't drive! Well, we do, but it's loads easier if you know how to handle all kinds of transportation, and since you grew up in the Muggle world, and I've spent a lot of time there, as well, we have the advantage of being used to traffic. You should see how some of these blokes mangle the Ministry's cars when they're first learning!"

"I'm proud of you, Harry," Remus said as they walked toward the door. "I don't think I could have conquered driving as quickly as you did, particularly that parking bit!" Harry beamed in response.

Somehow, Harry's driving lesson remained a secret from the Dursleys, which pleased him greatly.

* * * * *

The few days between Tonks' "presentation" and the party sped by. Petunia and Dudley spent as much time as possible at the hospital with Vernon, but when they were at home, they were distantly polite, which seemed to be all the good manners they could muster most of the time. Tonks watched Harry's reactions carefully. He, too, was distantly polite, and quite wary, as well. It was obvious he didn't trust them to be able to keep up the façade of civility very long.

On Saturday morning, Tonks asked Petunia, "How's Mr. Dursley doing?"

"As well as can be expected," Petunia replied stiffly.

"You didn't stay as long yesterday," Remus noted. "Is he not up to visitors?"

Petunia seemed to be battling with herself, not really wanting to answer, but remembering her promise to be civil. "He's sedated, so he didn't know we were there. I saw no point in staying very long."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Remus said kindly. "Is he in much pain?"

"I don't think so. They've sedated him because he keeps flying into a rage. They're afraid he's going to undo the work the surgeons did on him. They've asked us to stay away for several days to give him more time to recover," she said quietly.

"I'm sorry, Aunt Petunia," Harry said sincerely. He could see the toll this entire experience had taken on his aunt. She had always been a thin woman, but with this stress, she was hardly eating at all. She sat twisting her hands nervously most of the time. Harry might hate his relatives, but his kind nature also made him sympathetic to her suffering in spite of himself.

Petunia looked at him nervously, her mouth a thin white line. In truth, what Vernon was raging about was Harry. She couldn't get him distracted no matter what she said. He was simply furious, saying Harry had caused his heart attack, Harry was at fault for him missing so much work, Harry this, Harry that. . .it was an endless angry litany unless he was sedated. Petunia had seen Harry working to save Vernon. Whatever her husband thought about him, the boy had done his best to save his uncle's life. That fact was causing Petunia problems, as was all she'd learned from Tonks a few evenings ago. Petunia found she had a great deal to think about these days.

"Well, then," Tonks said brightly to Petunia, "if you can't visit him anyway, you're free today! Are you coming to the party with us?"

The older woman's eyes widened in shock. She wanted to say no, oh, how she wanted to say no! But Tonks's story about Harry had piqued her curiosity. The boy does have all those medals, she mused. All the wizards we've seen him with treat him with respect and seem to have real affection for him. Maybe there is something there. . .no! Vernon would be so angry if we went! But then again. . . . Ever the nosy person, Petunia was sorely tempted in spite of herself.

"Mrs. Dursley, if you stay at home, you'll brood about your husband's illness, I know you will," Remus said gently. "At least a party is a distraction. But we won't force you. It's your choice."

Petunia looked from Remus to Harry to Tonks, then back to Harry again. "Well?" she said hesitantly.

"Well what?" Harry replied uncertainly.

"Do you want us to come?"

"Not Dudley. He'd be likely to be turned into a Brussels sprout before he'd been there five minutes," Harry said seriously.

"Brussels. . .?" Dudley said, shocked. "No, Mummy, I don't want to go! You shouldn't either! Those people are danger. . ." he trailed off, seeing three pairs of wizard eyes drilling into him.

"Dudley can stay at home. He's spelled so that he can't say or do anything to endanger us. He's free to go visit his little friends or whatever he wants to do," Tonks said easily. She glanced at the boy. "Remember - there are consequences if you say the wrong thing." She laughed as he grabbed his crotch and ran from the room. Harry and Remus chuckled at the sight.

"If you don't enjoy yourself, we'll bring you home early," Remus offered. "Harry's well enough to Apparate back when he's ready to return."

Harry chuckled, then quipped, "See you in September, then, Remus."

Remus grinned at him. "You don't have to stay here much longer, Harry. You have to admit it's been going pretty well lately, right?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, it's an improvement. So how are we getting to the party?"

"If your aunt comes with us, we'll drive. If she doesn't, we'll Apparate or floo," Tonks replied.

"Do you know how to get there the Muggle way?" Harry asked in surprise.

"That's what maps are for, m'boy! Even wizards use them at times!" she teased. "I have directions. No problem."

"Ron said we're going to play Quidditch this afternoon. I can't wait! I miss flying," Harry said excitedly.

"Flying? Quidditch?" Petunia said hesitantly.

"It's our sport. Like soccer on broomsticks?" Harry replied, trying to be patient with her. "I've already got my broom in my pocket," he told Remus happily.

"How can you. . .?" Petunia asked, intrigued in spite of herself.

He pulled out a small bundle from his pocket, unwrapping a soft cloth to reveal a perfect miniature racing broom. "This is my Firebolt, but with a Shrinking Charm on it. You've seen how it normally looks. This makes it easier to take it with me if we Apparate or floo there."

"Floo?" she asked.

"Traveling by fireplaces. That's why the Weasleys were in the chimney here a couple of years ago," he explained. "They'd tried to get here by the Floo Network, but you had the fireplace blocked up."

"Our fireplace is still blocked up, so you can't travel by what-you-call-it," she pointed out.

"Floo Network," Harry replied. "And yes, we can. There are lots of places where you can get on the Floo Network. You just have to know where to go." He studied his aunt's face. Somewhere in there was the blood of his mother. Somewhere in there was someone who had known his mother her entire life. If she only would, she could tell him so much about his mother, his grandparents, maybe even a bit about his dad. Would she ever give him a chance to know about his family? She was behaving a good deal better since Tonks's presentation. Should he take a chance with her? He swallowed hard. "Do. . .do you want to go with us?"

Petunia studied her nephew's face. Her sister's eyes looked out of that face. For many years, she'd hated her sister. Perfect Lily, beautiful Lily, talented Lily, and then WITCH Lily! She'd hated it when Lily went off to that wizard school and left her, Petunia, behind. She'd hated the way her parents fawned over Lily, astounded that a magical person had appeared in the family. She hated the way Lily could do so many amazing things that she could never, in her wildest dreams, do. As a result, she'd spent all of Harry's life rejecting him harshly, not wanting to admit there was any kinship there at all . . . but those were her sister's eyes, especially now that he was nearly a grown man. He often showed expressions just like Lily's, and his look of reproach was hers to a "T." So was his temper.

Harry would be leaving forever in a short time. Guilt about how she'd treated him had nagged at Petunia from time to time all of his life, but Vernon was so adamant in his rejection of the magical world, she'd gone along with him happily in whatever he wanted to do to her hapless nephew. She studied the boy's face. He'd grown into a handsome young man, despite that horrible scar and the other scars on his face which had faded considerably in the few days he'd been home. If she was honest with herself, which she rarely was, he was nearly everything she'd hoped Dudley would be, but wasn't, despite her best efforts. If she allowed herself to think fairly, she realized Harry had always been well-mannered and sweet when he wasn't provoked, just like her sister. He was a hard worker, if a bit grumpy about it at times. He was quiet and reserved most of the time. How had he turned out so well? Why hadn't Dudley turned out as well as her nephew? She chided herself for judging her son harshly, wringing her hands again as guilt washed over her.

Since Vernon had been in hospital, Petunia had had a great deal of time to think about her life, to think about what might face her on Judgement Day - oh yes, she believed she'd be judged someday, and every time she looked at Harry, a twinge of guilt reared its ugly head. She'd give a lot to assuage the guilty feelings, or get rid of them altogether. She sighed. I have a chance to at least try to improve things here, she thought, fighting to quell the rebellious voice in the back of her head that reminded her Vernon would most assuredly NOT approve of what she was thinking.

"All right. I'll come with you," she said at last. If she'd expected whoops of joy from Harry, she would have been disappointed, but then again, she hadn't expected them at all.

Harry tried to mask his shocked expression when Petunia agreed to go with them. "Um. OK. I think you'll like the Weasleys once you get to know them." He kept his fingers tightly crossed behind his back as he said this.

Some time later, Harry, Remus, Tonks and Petunia were bowling down the motorway on their way to Ottery St. Catchpole and the Weasleys. Harry was driving, much to Petunia's astonishment, and doing it quite well. She asked no questions despite Harry's raised eyebrows at her when he slid into the driver's seat. Petunia was determined to stay quiet and just observe things today, to try to stay out of trouble so these wizards wouldn't hex her somehow.

Harry and Remus were in the front seat. Tonks had taken charge of the seating arrangements, saying the "men needed the room for their long legs." Now she sat in the back, giving Harry suggestions on his driving from time to time, and giving him directions as needed to get them to their destination. She was also keeping an eye on Petunia, ready to intervene if the woman tried to give the boy any trouble. Harry and Remus laughed and talked for a long time. Neither had seen this part of the country from a car before, only from broomsticks.


Tonks sat back and watched the two of them enjoying each other's company. She studied Remus's profile as he turned to speak to Harry. C'mon, Tonks, old girl, tell me what you really think, she mused. A warm smile spread over her face. I think he's fine. Pretty darned close to perfect.

As they pulled in to the Weasleys' drive, Petunia gasped.

"Oh, it's a Muggle-Repelling Charm, Aunt Petunia," Harry said quickly, realizing what she was seeing. "Hang on, you'll see what it really looks like in a sec." He did the Revealing Charm and heard another gasp from his aunt. He looked at The Burrow, trying to see it the way he thought his aunt would and realized it simply wasn't a perfect little boxy house from Surrey. He sighed, hoping she would behave herself and not embarrass him in front of his friends or hurt anyone's feelings.

"Did the Weasleys get another car?" Remus asked when he saw the fairly new sedan parked in the shade by the drive.

"Not that I know of," Harry mused. He wondered who else had driven out to the party. He supposed they'd soon find out.

When he parked and got out of the car, he saw a dainty body hurtling toward him, long red hair streaming behind her.

"Harry! Harry, you're here! HARRY!" Ginny called, laughing with delight.


Harry ran to her and wrapped his arms around her, her momentum making them spin around before he could slow her enough to plant a warm kiss on her upturned mouth. "I've missed you so much!" he murmured as he hugged her.

They were soon surrounded by redheads as several of Ginny's brothers surrounded them. Greetings were exchanged with much back-pounding, hand-shaking and laughter among the friends. They quieted when they saw Petunia emerge from the car.

"Hello, Mrs. Dursley," George said politely. "Did you bring Dudley with you?" He smiled as he ducked down to peep in the backseat.

"Um. . .no. Dudley had other plans today," Petunia said nervously, glancing from one twin to the other as they put on totally innocent faces, acting merely politely interested. These were the ones who'd given her Dudders that sweet that made his tongue swell up so much. She would be careful to watch what she ate and drank around these people.

Molly arrived and hugged Harry warmly, then turned to Petunia. "I'm so glad you were able to join us. I'm Molly Weasley, and these are my children. That's Bill over there, Percy, Charlie, Fred - no, wait, that's George. Sorry, dear! This one's Fred, and this is Ginny." She turned to smile at Harry. "Charlie came home for the party, isn't that lovely? He was so happy to hear the news about you and Ginny." Harry nodded and grinned at the young man as Molly continued. "Ron's in the house with Hermione and her parents. They'll be right out."

"Oh, is that the Grangers' car, then?" Harry asked.

"Yes."

"Great!" Harry said, glad Hermione's parents were able to attend the party.

Arthur extended his hand to shake Petunia's. "I'm so glad you could join us."

Petunia nodded mutely to the sea of redheads surrounding her, ignoring Arthur's outstretched hand.

"How is your husband?" Arthur asked kindly, withdrawing his hand but still trying to do the right thing.

"As well as can be expected," Petunia said nervously, then clamped her lips shut as if she might catch some awful wizarding germ if her mouth was open more than a second at a time.

Harry heard someone calling his name from the direction of the house. He turned and saw Hermione and Ron running to meet him, the Grangers trailing behind them, looking bemused.

"Harry! Hi! How are you?" Hermione said, hugging him as soon as she reached him.

"How you doing, mate?" Ron said, punching him gently in the shoulder.

"I'm great. Good to see you. Hermione, I'm glad you could come! When are you leaving for your holiday?" Harry said, grinning at his friends. It seemed like a lot more than six days since they'd all been together.

"We leave on Monday. I'm glad we could come too!" she said.

"Hello, Mr. Granger, Mrs. Granger," Harry said politely. "It's nice to see you again. This is my aunt, Petunia Dursley. You remember my godfather, Remus Lupin?" They nodded. "And this is Tonks." The Grangers shook hands and exchanged greetings all around.

As the adults chatted, Hermione linked arms with both Harry and Ron, and Harry put his arm around Ginny. The four friends wandered off to catch up on each other's news from the last few days.

Soon tables all over the garden were simply groaning with food. Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione ate until they thought they'd burst. Molly had gone out of her way to make everything they all loved. Ginny had made a list of Harry's favourite foods for her mum, and she'd gone to extra trouble to make fresh treacle tart as well as steak and kidney pie for him.

"Having fun, Mrs. Dursley?" Arthur asked politely. "You don't have any food. Molly's worked on this meal for days. Please try something."

"Thank you," Petunia said shortly. "I'm not hungry just now."

"Everything is just lovely, Mrs. Weasley," Mrs. Granger said. "Thank you so much for inviting us."

"Yes, it's marvellous," Mr. Granger added. Both of them had noticed Petunia's air of disapproval. They couldn't understand it, but they had heard enough about the horrible Dursleys from Hermione to avoid saying anything to her that might set her off.

"Try some of these, Mrs. Dursley," Tonks suggested, holding a platter of devilled eggs in front of the woman as she stuffed an egg into her own mouth. "They're wonderful!" she enthused after she'd managed to swallow.

Petunia daintily took a devilled egg and put it on her plate, cutting it into tiny bits with her fork, then taking a great deal of time eating it. Finally, she began to relax as she watched the happy people around her laughing and enjoying each other's company. The scene was no different than any company picnic she'd been to, except for the odd look of the house and Arthur and Molly's clothing, and the use of pumpkin juice as the beverage for most of them. There was even a Muggle couple here, much to her amazement. Tonks had told her the Grangers were dentists, but Petunia hadn't managed to find anything to converse with them about, despite them being the only Muggles around. The young adults and teenagers were all dressed as Muggles, so they looked like any other young people except for those odd green leather boots on the man with the fang earring and ponytail. Bill? She thought that was his name.

Molly saw Petunia looking at Bill's boots as he walked over to the serving table to pick up another jug of pumpkin juice. "Do you like his boots? They're dragon hide, quite expensive, but nothing's as durable as real dragon hide."

Petunia actually flinched at the word "dragon." "Dr. . .dragon hide?"

"Oh, yes. Charlie works with dragons in Rumania. He got Bill those boots on a wonderful discount. Lovely, aren't they?" Molly enthused.

Petunia turned her full gaze on Molly. "Dragons. Dragons?"

"Didn't Harry tell you about them? He fought a Hungarian Horntail as part of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. I tell you, that boy is a magnificent flier. I've never seen anything like it, and our Charlie was known as a great flier when he was at Hogwarts. Ron and Ginny and the twins are quite good, but Harry? He's amazing."

Petunia's eyes were wide, but she remained quiet, just nodding as she let the information sink in. Something Tonks had said about the Tri-Wizard Tournament fit in with what Molly was saying. If Petunia approached all this information slowly and carefully, she might manage to make sense of it eventually - or else she'd just accept the fact that she'd gone mad and was hallucinating.

Harry did his best to stay away from his aunt all afternoon, but his curiosity got the better of him from time to time. When he glanced her way, he saw her sitting nervously, her eyes wide, her hands often twisting in her lap. She would respond when spoken to, but only in monosyllables. Molly Weasley tried repeatedly to engage her in conversation, and to get her to eat something, but nothing they did seemed to help.

Harry, Ginny, Ron, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, Remus and Arthur all wanted to play Quidditch. Percy sat working at the picnic table, saying he didn't have time to play Quidditch because he had an important report to finish. The breach between him and his family was still there, so nobody minded his not joining their play. They were all astonished he'd even shown up, but considering the party was for Harry and the Ministry thought Harry was golden just now, the ever-ambitious Percy's joining them did make a certain kind of sense. Hermione led a cheering squad of herself, her parents, Tonks and Molly.

Petunia sat there speechless as the men and girl zoomed overhead on broomsticks. One of those twins was doing the commentary. None of it made sense to her.

"And it's Potter playing both Chaser and Seeker again for the Weasley-Potter team, since they're shorthanded. Mum!" Fred called down, "are you sure you don't want to play? Tonks? Want to join us? Hermione? We could use one more!"

"No thanks," Molly said with a laugh. "My Quidditch days are long behind me."

"I'm quite frankly dangerous on a broom if I'm not just travelling somewhere," Tonks said with a cheeky grin. "If you think I'm clumsy on the ground, you really don't want to see me trying to do aerobatics on a broom!"

"And I'm not that fond of flying," Hermione replied, then smiled sweetly at Ron, "unless Ron's doing the flying and I'm just a passenger." She laughed as Ron's ears turned pink, but he grinned at her and blew her a kiss.

"Anytime you want, sweetie," he called, determinedly ignoring the fact that her parents were sitting right beside her as well as the teasing hoots of his twin brothers.

"Right! Then it's Harry, Ginny, Fred and Remus against Bill, Ron, Charlie, George, and Dad, then? The balls are away and we're off!" Fred said.

Remus was playing Keeper, Fred was Beater, Ginny was Chaser and Harry was both Chaser and Seeker. On the Weasley team, Ron was Keeper, George was Beater, Bill and Arthur were Chasers and Charlie was Seeker. The unevenness of the teams didn't seem to bother anyone.

As she watched the action above her, Petunia gradually let go of her disapproval enough to be amazed at the fact that all these people were riding broomsticks and doing it amazingly well. Harry was, by far, the best flier out there, as whichever twin was commentating said repeatedly. It was obvious, even to her inexperienced eye. He zoomed past everyone at breakneck speed, looping some, hovering upside down for a moment over that girlfriend of his just long enough to kiss her, then racing off with a laugh after that big red ball. He snagged it as one of the Weasley men tried to pass it to another. Petunia couldn't keep straight which team any of them were on, except that she knew that that Lupin man who was staying with them was on Harry's team, as was Harry's girlfriend. Flying on broomsticks. What a strange thing to do. But when it was done really well, as was true of most of the people playing, it was almost. . .thrilling, almost beautiful. Lupin seemed a bit out of practice. He lumbered along on his broom, not doing aerobatics like the young people. The Weasleys' father wasn't very quick either, but she heard one of the twins teasing him about how ancient his broom was. The two older men's brooms looked quite shabby and beaten up compared to Harry's and his girlfriend's. Even that boy who her nephew said was his best friend, Ron, had a nice-looking broom like Harry's. Those brooms seemed well-polished and the ends were neat, as opposed to some of the others being flown at the moment.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Molly asked Petunia. "Quidditch is such an exciting game, even when they're just playing for fun. You should see them in a real game, though. Ron plays Keeper, and Harry's Seeker, and they're both just brilliant. I expect they'll be scouted by a professional team when they finish Hogwarts. Ginny plays Chaser on their House team, but she wants to be a healer, not play Quidditch professionally. I think the boys would love to play Quidditch after they finish school, though." Molly smiled up at her family, pride in her eyes, then glanced back at the other woman. "Isn't it fun?" she said, encouraging Petunia to join in the conversation. She hadn't had much success in getting the other woman engaged in friendly conversation, but she wasn't going to give up.

Sensing Molly's determination to have an answer, Petunia nodded. "Yes. I had no idea they went so fast."

"Oh, you should see them when they really go at it! Tell you what, I'll ask Harry, Ginny and Ron to race when they're done playing. They're all on Firebolts. Harry gave Ginny her broom after she had a fall this past school term and he had to catch her. He wanted her on the safest broom possible, bless him. She's so thrilled with it. Ron bought his with some of the money the Ministry gave him with one of his awards." She sat smiling up at her daughter as the girl soared above them, squealing with glee as she nabbed the Quaffle from one of her older brothers. "They're international quality racing brooms, those Firebolts. They can go up to 150 miles per hour! That's how Harry was able to save her when she fell. Ron told us he saw her fall before Harry saw her. Harry was after the Snitch and far above her AND at the other end of the pitch. Ron raced to save her, but his Cleansweep 7 is no match for a Firebolt. That's one of the reasons he bought a Firebolt as soon as he had enough money."

"Your daughter fell off a broom?" Petunia asked, finally understanding what Molly was talking about.

"A wicked boy at school cast a spell at Harry that should have made him fall, but Harry was going so fast, he shot right past the spell and didn't see it. Ginny just flew into the path of it before she could stop and it made her broom stop flying." She shuddered, remembering the horror she'd felt when she'd heard about the fall. "She fell over fifty feet. Harry saved her life . . .again." Tears were in her eyes, as she thought of all the times Harry had saved her daughter's life.

"Again?"

"Oh, yes. He saved her from a basilisk her first year at Hogwart's, and then. . ."

"A basilisk?" Petunia was intrigued despite herself. "What's that?"

"A nasty great snake - this one was probably fifty feet long. Their fangs are poisonous, but the worst thing is, their eyes can kill you if you look at them. If you just see a reflection of their eyes, you're petrified. Nasty things, basilisks. Harry killed it, but it bit him and he would've died if it hadn't been for Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes."

After a moment's thought, Petunia mused, "Harry says that great red bird of his is a phoenix." She bit her lip before she said anything else, remembering the warnings she'd been given about mentioning anything she'd learned about Harry. She didn't know if Molly knew Harry was an Animagus who could become a phoenix. To be safe, Petunia decided, she would just have to act as if she didn't know anything about such matters.

"Oh, yes, Merlin's a phoenix as well - I forgot you've seen one in person," Molly said cheerfully. "That's a rare privilege, that is. Not many wizards have seen real phoenixes, and Muggles - well, I imagine it's even more rare for a Muggle to see them."

"It looks like a red parrot to me," Petunia commented. "Nothing special, just big."

"That's a glamour Harry put on Merlin to carry him through the train station. If you look in Harry's room, you'll probably see Merlin as a phoenix now."

"Oh, I don't open his door at all," Petunia said with a shudder.

Molly laughed. "I don't blame you. Teenagers certainly can trash a room, can't they? I have to admit that Harry is a bit neater than any of my boys, well, except for Percy, of course. Nobody's as much of a fanatic about tidiness as Percy. But when Harry stays with us, his part of Ron's room is always much tidier than Ron's side."

As they watched the Quidditch game above them, Molly told Petunia more stories about Harry's adventures, each one more amazing than the next. Tonks had covered much of the same ground, but with Harry right there, she'd been careful to keep her stories simple. Molly felt no such restraint, and praised Harry to the skies, telling his aunt all the adventures she'd heard about from her children and elsewhere.

After a while, the game was over, with Harry's team victorious due to his beating Charlie to the Snitch. The Weasleys, Harry and Remus formed a milling, laughing mob above the women on the ground, talking about tactics that did and didn't work, pounding each other on the back in congratulations for a game well played.

Molly asked Ron, Ginny and Harry to race to show off the speed of their brooms and they complied quite willingly. The Weasleys and Grangers cheered mightily as the three fliers zoomed three times around the pitch. Harry started showing off and was very nearly beaten by Ron, but managed to pull off a win by the tip of his broom.

Just after they landed, Harry felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up, giving him warning of impending danger. He shivered with a sudden chill as his eyes searched for the threat he knew was coming. "DEMENTORS!" he cried suddenly, pointing off in the distance. Amid a volley of angry voices, the group raced toward the advancing Dementors. Hermione and Tonks ran to join the battle. Molly herded Petunia and the Grangers toward the house.

"Not to worry, dears. They all have excellent Patronuses thanks to Harry's teaching them how. Remus taught Harry how to do a corporeal Patronus when the boy was just thirteen, did you know that, Petunia?" she said conversationally as she steered them toward the house.

The Grangers, having heard about Dementors from Hermione, understood the danger. They raced ahead and ran inside, running to the window to see what was happening. Petunia stopped and looked behind her just as she and Molly reached the house. She couldn't see what the wizards were fighting, but silvery shapes were emerging from their wands. Harry's was, by far, the largest. His stag rampaged around, tossing its antlers as if it was attacking and throwing things in the air. It lowered its head and charged over and over, with Harry running along behind it sending it off in different directions after each encounter.

Suddenly, Petunia shuddered with cold and screamed. She felt clammy hands on her somewhere. She heard Molly's voice as if at a distance.

"Arthur! Arthur, they're here at the house!" Molly cursed herself for never mastering the Patronus charm as she tried to think of a way to protect Harry's aunt. "ARTHUR!"

Arthur looked at his wife in horror. "HARRY! The house! My Patronus isn't as strong as yours!" Arthur's Patronus, a dog, ran toward the house, but wasn't nearly as fast or strong as Harry's stag. It would never get there in time.

Harry turned back toward the house and yelled, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A huge stag emerged from his wand and raced toward the house with gigantic strides. Harry ran behind it as fast as he could. He could see a Dementor already had its hands on his aunt. "GO! GO! GO!" he cried, urging his Patronus to greater speed. Other Dementors were gliding around the house. Harry cried "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" again and sent another stag to clear out the rest of the Dementors. His first stag had reached its target and tossed the Dementor away from Petunia just as the monster lowered its face to Kiss her. Harry gasped in horror as his aunt collapsed at the stag's feet.

Arthur's Patronus finally reached the house and chased after the departing Dementors, nipping at the trailing ends of their robes.


Harry fell to his knees beside his aunt. "Aunt Petunia! Aunt Petunia, are you all right?" When she didn't respond, he looked up at Molly. "It didn't actually Kiss her, did it? I thought I got to her in time!"

"I don't think it Kissed her, Harry. Maybe she's just in shock," Molly said, her face creased with worry as she knelt next to the fallen woman.

"D'you have any chocolate?" Harry said as he bent over his aunt.


Remus ran up and knelt at his godson's side. "Here, take this," he said, pushing a bar of Honeydukes best into Harry's outstretched hand.

Harry broke off a piece of chocolate and forced it between Petunia's tightly closed lips. "Eat this, it will help. It's just chocolate, it won't hurt you. How are you feeling?"

Petunia was breathing shallowly, her face ghostly pale, her eyes still wide with fright. As the chocolate melted in her mouth, warmth spread through her and she finally blinked, then looked straight at Harry. She sat up with a start, leaning shakily against the wall of the house.

"James?" she murmured hesitantly. She reached out and cupped Harry's face in both hands, her eyes flying over his features. "James? James!"

Harry's brow furrowed in confusion. "I'm not James. I'm Harry. James was my dad."

Petunia gathered her legs under her and knelt in front of him, running her fingers through his hair with one hand, stroking his cheek with the other. "James! Oh, I thought I'd never be happy again, and yet, here you are! James, you saved my life!"

Harry tried to get out of her grasp without hurting her, but she held on. "Aunt Petunia, it's me, Harry!"

"You were amazing out there," she murmured tenderly. She gazed at him, her eyes soft and misty, a gentle smile on her lips. She suddenly looked twenty years younger. "Your hair is so silky. I've always wanted to get my hands in it." She laced the fingers of both hands in his hair now, smoothing it away from his face, relishing the soft thick mass of it. "When you were fighting just now, you were marvellous. You were beautiful, as if your face was lit from within, just gorgeous. You were so strong, so brave - I thought there would be magic sparks coming out of your hair, you were showing such power. You were brilliant. I've never had the chance to see you show so much power before. James, I. . ."

"I'M NOT JAMES! I'M HARRY!" he cried in horror, leaning away from her.

She held on, bending toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck, her cheek next to his. "Thank you for saving me," she murmured against his ear. "Do you care for me at all, James? Do you? You must, to have fought for me."

She kissed his cheek and temple repeatedly, then pulled back, looking at him with an expression Harry knew meant he was about to be kissed on the mouth. He pulled back sharply. "I'm HARRY! What's wrong with you?" He stood up on shaky legs, staring down at her in horror. She had unnerved him. She was talking as if she was in love with his father. That couldn't be. . .could it? Did his mum know? Did his dad?

The peculiar glaze in Petunia's eyes cleared and she said, "Well, of course you're Harry!" She got to her feet and looked around her. "What happened?"

"Don't you remember? A Dementor was going to Kiss you, and my Patronus chased it away. Then you called me James," Harry said, desperately confused. "You acted as if. . .it seemed. . .you cared for him."


The Weasleys, Grangers, Remus, Tonks and Hermione stood in shocked silence around Harry and Petunia. Remus had passed chocolate around and they all chewed quietly, staring at the bizarre scene before them.

"Me? Care for James?" She tittered, her hand fluttering nervously in front of her face. "James?" She looked uncertainly at Harry, then sat down hard on the steps into the house.

Harry squatted in front of her. "Aunt Petunia. Talk to me," he said seriously.

She stared at him as if she didn't know him for a moment, then her eyes cleared again. "James," she sighed, her voice barely above a whisper. "What a lovely man, what a kind man. He was so sweet to me. Nobody that handsome had ever been so dear, so considerate to me. Lily," she spat suddenly, her thin, horsy face twisted in disgust. "She was the pretty one. She was the talented one. She was the witch, so of course she'd bring a handsome, charming young man home. My parents were so taken with him, and so proud of her. Beautiful Lily could do no wrong in their eyes! They loved James as soon as they met him. Lily always got everything she wanted in life. Things were always easy for her. When I met James, I knew he was everything I'd ever hoped for in a man. I loved him so." Tears began to trickle down her face, her shoulders sagged and she covered her face with her hands, her body trembling. After a moment, she scrubbed at her eyes, then dropped her hands between her knees and continued speaking. "When James and Lily married and moved away, I decided I'd show my parents. I married a corporate executive who'd take good care of me, not drag me around on adventures the way James was doing with Lily, from what we heard. When we had Dudley, I thought my parents would be so excited. They liked him well enough, I suppose, but they never did take to Vernon. Then Lily had you, and all I heard was 'Harry this' and 'Harry that.' It was enough to drive one mad."

Petunia looked up at him, studying his face seriously. "It was my parents who died in the car crash, not yours. They died when you and Dudley were only a few months old." She dropped her eyes and was silent for a few moments.

Everyone held their breath, not wanting to break whatever spell had finally opened up Petunia's heart so she could tell Harry the truth about his parents and his life with the Dursleys.

Petunia studied her hands for a few more moments before speaking again. Her face began to change back into the Petunia Harry knew as she said, "Then Lily and James," her voice dripped with disgust again, "went and got themselves blown up, if you please, and we got landed with you."

She looked up at Harry, her face hard and resentful, but as she gazed at him, her eyes softened again. "You should have been my baby. You looked so much like James. You were such a beautiful baby." Her voice hardened as she continued, "But you weren't my baby. James was gone. I couldn't forgive him for ignoring me and marrying Lily. I couldn't forgive him for getting himself blown up."

Harry stood up and backed away from her, unnerved and disgusted by what she was telling him, but still wanting to hear it in spite of all of that.

She got to her feet, moving to stand right in front of Harry, putting her hands on his face again. She ignored his flinch as she touched him. "What a sweet little boy you were. But I'd spent years poisoning Vernon's mind about the wizarding world because of my being so jealous of Lily. Beautiful Lily. Talented Lily. Fortunate Lily. And here I was, saddled with her son. James's son. . . ." She stroked his cheek gently as fat tears rolled down her cheeks, then smoothed his fringe back off his forehead, exposing his scar. The sight of his scar seemed to bring her to her senses. "Oh! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have. . ." She dropped her hands and took a hesitant step back from him.

"Shouldn't have what?" Harry asked softly, determined to control his anger and revulsion long enough to get the rest of the story out of her. "Tell me the rest."

"The rest?" She seemed confused again.

"Why did you treat me so badly? I've never had a hug from you in my life, until just now when you thought I was my dad! You've never kissed me before." His temper was rising despite his best efforts to keep it down. "My whole life, I thought I must smell bad or something, because nobody would touch me, nobody would hug me, nobody even wanted to sit next to me. My birthday was just another day to you, not anything special like Dudley's or yours or Uncle Vernon's. Christmas wasn't any better. All of you hated me and I never knew what I'd done to make you hate me. I tried so hard to please you!" Unshed tears sparkled in Harry's black lashes. He would not cry, he would not cry! "I thought something was horribly wrong with me, but I could never figure out what - until I learned I was a wizard. Then things started to make sense, but you still treated me dreadfully. Why?"

"I don't know," she admitted with a hopeless shrug. "At first, it was because I was so . . . so hurt, so angry with James that he'd died so young and left me with hopeless dreams and his son that wasn't my son. And then you started doing odd things that frightened Vernon. He didn't grow up with any wizards around him, so he didn't understand, but I did." Her temper was rising. "I knew you were a wizard. I was livid that the whole cycle was starting again, with you smarter, more handsome, more talented, better mannered and sweeter spirited than my own son, and a wizard to boot!" She was so enraged, she spat the last words out venomously. Her sudden flash of anger dissolved just as quickly into an air of mortification. She covered her mouth with her hands, a horrified look on her face as she realized what she'd said. In a few moments, her shoulders sagged, her face haggard with grief and shame. "I'm . . . I'm sorry, Harry. None of it was your fault. I'm so sorry." She glanced up at him nervously, tears streaming down her face. "Can you forgive me?" She reached out a trembling hand toward his arm.

Harry flinched away from her, his face angry and confused. "Do you think it's that easy? You can say you're sorry and I can simply forgive sixteen years of hell? You kept me locked in a tiny dark cupboard full of dust and spiders! Everything I owned was Dudley's broken or outgrown cast-offs, nothing that fit me, nothing new, nothing nice, not ever, not one damned thing, ever! You told lies about me, humiliated me in so many ways, made me feel worthless and horrible and always in the wrong no matter how hard I tried to do what you wanted! All I wanted was for someone to love me, or at least accept me as a decent human being, and all I ever got was rejection, hatred, disgust. . . . And now you want me to forgive you?" He backed away from her, turned and ran toward the woods over the hill.

Everyone stood still, looking from Harry's rapidly retreating back to Petunia, who stood shaking where he'd left her. Ginny took off after Harry, Ron and Hermione close behind her.

"You. . .you. . .how could you!" Molly exclaimed after a few moments of stunned silence on everyone's part. "That dear boy did nothing to deserve the treatment you've given him, and now you tell him you treated him that way because you were lusting after his father? How dare you! You absolute cow!" She whipped out her wand and pointed it at Petunia. "No. Calling you a cow insults cows everywhere," she growled, and turned Petunia into a pile of steaming cow pats.

"Molly!" Arthur cried, wrapping his arms around his fuming wife before she did anything else. "That's enough. Calm down. This isn't helping Harry." He glared around at his family. The twins, Bill and Charlie had recovered from their surprise and were now doubled up in laughter.

Percy looked aghast. "Oh dear," he muttered, "this won't do, it won't do at all. The paperwork involved. . .tsk, tsk, it will take forever to get this straightened out at the Ministry."

"It's not the Ministry's problem," Arthur assured him. "We'll take care of it ourselves."

"You will leave her exactly like that," Molly snarled. "She earned it. Let her enjoy it for a while."

"Yeah, Dad, let her enjoy it for a while," Fred said, barely containing his giggles.

"I think some nice posies would help," George said, conjuring a bunch of petunias which were now growing in the cow pat. "Petunias for Petunia. Fitting, what?" He and Fred held onto each other as their laughter overwhelmed them.

"Is she in any pain?" Mrs. Granger asked, her eyes wide and a bit frightened.

"No," Arthur assured her. "She's in no pain."

"Good riddance," Mrs. Granger said in disgust. "Well done, Molly! I wish I could do that kind of thing. That hag deserved that and worse! That poor, dear boy!"

"Go, Mrs. Granger!" Fred chortled.

"Now we know where Hermione gets her stroppiness," George added approvingly. "Well done!"

Mrs. Granger beamed under their praise. Mr. Granger just scratched his head and looked bemused.

Tonks and Remus looked at each other uncertainly, smiles playing around their mouths. The sight of the steaming cow pats before them tickled their senses of humour greatly, but they felt responsible for Petunia in a way, as well. "What should we do?" Tonks asked Remus quietly.

"I think the Weasleys are right. Let her stew for a while," Remus said, fighting the grin that kept trying to break through his control. He got out his wand. "I'll put a fence around her so nobody steps in it. She's probably aware enough of her situation that she'll remember it when she's herself again. And I think she should remember it. Maybe it will make Harry's life a bit easier, or even make her a better person." With a wave of his wand, a low garden fence appeared around the small bed of petunias and the pile that was their flowerbed.

"You're such a dreamer, Remus," Tonks said sweetly. "That's one of the things I love about you.

"A dreamer? Me?" he replied lightly, but his heart lifted at her words.

"Yes, you! Thinking this experience will change that nasty woman. You're a dreamer! But dreams do come true sometimes. Maybe this one will," Tonks said, gazing up at him with sparkling eyes.

"What else do you love about me?" he teased as he wrapped his arm around her and led her away.

"Oh, loads of things. You're strong, but gentle, sweet, sensitive, caring, a great kisser. . . ." She had to stop because he was demonstrating his kissing prowess at that moment, which caused the Weasley twins to hoot triumphantly.

"Tonks and Lupin sitting in a tree. . ." Fred and George began.

"BOYS!" Molly snarled, effectively quieting them.