Drifting

Chapter 2: Petunia's Story and Draco's Discovery

"Story time! Yippee!"~Every little kids' favorite words.

Harry began to stir sometime later to the sound of new voices.

"Is he okay?" asked one.

"He'll be fine, just a nasty bump on the head. He'll be able to sleep it off."

Harry recognized the second voice as Mrs. Weasley's.

"Phew. Okay well, goodnight."

Harry opened his eyes.

"Say good-bye to everyone for me," he said quietly.

Immediately, three pairs of eyes looked at him. One was Mrs. Weasley's. The second was his Aunt's. The third was Ginny's.

"Oh Harry! We've been so worried!" Ginny said.

Harry bit his lip.

"Why?" he asked, "I'm always fine. Think of all the injuries I've had in the past. I've re-grown a whole arm's worth of bones in one night!"

This caused Ginny to laugh. Harry smiled. He looked around and realized he was back at Number 4 Privet Drive. Ginny was sitting on the couch next to him.

Mrs. Weasley's head was in the fire. Harry hadn't even noticed she'd stepped back in.

"Come on now dear, we shouldn't keep Harry up."

"Okay, mum. 'Bye Harry!"

"G'night Gin."

Ginny laughed once more at being called her pet name and she too stepped through the fire with a little wave. Then the flames disappeared and Harry was alone with Aunt Petunia.

"I suppose you should go up to bed. I'll tell you the story while Vernon's at work tomorrow."

Harry nodded. He dragged his head off the pillow and stood up. He trudged up the stairs and into his room. Harry fell into bed and didn't wake for another twelve hours.

~*~

Harry rolled over sleepily. He didn't want to get up. His head was resting peacefully on the pillow the pain was almost bearable. Reluctantly, he snapped his eyes open and looked at the clock. 11:15 A.M., it read.

His aunt walked in carrying a small tray.

"Morning," she greeted. "Nice to see you finally woke up."

"Hmm," Harry replied, yawning.

"If you want to sleep, the story can wait..."

"NO! I mean no. I don't want to go back to sleep. This always happens when I wake up," Harry said hastily.

"Okay," Petunia said, handing him a sandwich. "So you want to know everything don't you?"

Harry took a bite of his sandwich. It was ham and cheese. He nodded.

"Let's see. I was thirteen when Lily received her Hogwarts letter. You know, we weren't Muggle-born like everyone thought we were. We were half-bloods. Our mom was a pureblooded witch. Our dad was a Muggle-born wizard. They knew Lily was going to be accepted to Hogwarts because I had been too. Everyone was so happy when Lily got her letter. There was a huge party and everything.

"Now, I know you think that I'm a Squib now don't you? Well let me tell you! I was first in my class all my years at Hogwarts! I graduated with plenty of NEWTS to become an Auror, even though, as you see, I didn't. I was sorted into Gryffindor, just like your mum. I bet now you're wondering where Sirius fits into this?"

Harry nodded.

"Since the moment I laid eyes on him, I knew I loved him and I always would. I loved them all really, Sirius, James, Lily, and Remus. I never liked Pettigrew, the little traitor. Always saw him as below the rest of us. Anyway, Lily would try to stay as far away from the Marauders -that's what they nicknamed themselves. I think you know that- I didn't know why she did that because I thought they were so cool.

"I was into gossip and mischief making as you might have guessed by now. James liked me for my 'spunk' and welcomed me into their little group. Though I was never that close with them, it was still great. We plotted ways to get at my sister. Since I knew her best, I was always included in this because I knew what bothered her most. I didn't know Remus was a werewolf until my sixth year though.

"That was around the time my dad and Sirius were learning to become Anamagi."

Harry smiled at this even though his lip quivered at the same time.

"Yes and then three years later your parents finally got together. No one knows for sure how it happened. One minute they were yelling their heads off at each other. The next thing we saw was them kissing. It was quite a shock for all of us! I mean we all knew James loved Lily but everyone thought she hated him. D'you know what I mean?"

"Yeah. My friends Ron and Hermione are like that. It's so obvious Ron likes Hermione and she likes him back but they're always bickering and getting into rows. It's enough to drive anyone crazy. I think they're afraid that I'll hate them if they get together. We've been the trio every since Ron and I saved Hermione from a mountain troll during Halloween of our first year. I swear if those two don't get together soon, I'll have to do something BAD!"

They both laughed.

"Yes, exactly like that. Now onto Sirius and I. One day, out of the blue, he just asked me to Hogsmead. I accepted, naturally. It was one of the best days of my life. Everything went perfectly. That night, Lily and I were talking about dating, double dating even. It was just great. I was living my dream and I thought nothing could go wrong.

"Well things could. Voldemort made his move and Dumbledore chose the wrong thing to do. He picked the wrong path so to speak, and gave the Dark Lord the right to power. Dark times loomed ahead. Dark times."

Harry reached for another sandwich. He was finding this very interesting.

"Sirius and I grew closer. He and James spent the summer with Lily and I. The next two years passed pretty uneventful. Well nothing major for us at least. Voldemort was gaining power every day but there was nothing we could do about it. Lily and James were going to get married. So on and so forth...

"Then Sirius said that he had heard from Dumbledore that Voldemort was planning to attack him. He had to go into hiding. Dumbledore had said they would use me to get to him. I had to get out of the wizarding world. So I did. I packed what I could and I left, hoping to come back.

"I tried to live as normal a Muggle life as I could. I got married to Vernon even though I still loved Sirius with all my heart. I got pregnant a little before Lily did. I had Dudley; she had you. Then, in a letter, she said that Sirius was safe and hoped that I was well. James said the same. Lily said that she had to go into hiding. She said Voldemort was after you. Something about a prophecy?"

Harry's face paled slightly at the mention of the prophecy. Petunia made a mental note to ask Harry about his first five years at Hogwarts after she was done with her tale. She hoped it would be interesting.

"Anyway. I had no idea what had happened that night until I woke up the next morning and saw you on my doorstep. I screamed. I knew Lily and James had died. I knew I could never return to the wizarding world."

Petunia sighed.

"I never got to say good-bye to them."

"Neither did I," said Harry.

"But you were there when Sirius died!"

"I never got the chance."

There was a long and awkward silence.

"So tell me about your first five years at Hogwarts."

Harry laughed. "There's so much to say!"

He launched into a full account of what had happened in the last five years.

"Well let's see. I met Ron on the train going to Hogwarts, there was this girl, Hermione Granger who we ran into and we both thought she was a bossy know-it-all and that we could never be friends with her. We each prayed that we wouldn't be in the same house as her. Who ever knew we'd turn out to be the dream team..."

Petunia listened raptly. This turned out to be much more exciting than her story. It was no wonder that Harry had somehow gotten James's talent as a Seeker. She was quite good at Quidditch herself, Chaser for Gryffindor in her day. Petunia figured she'd tell her Quidditch stories another day.

"And then in my third year I found out that Sirius was out to get me, or at least that's what everyone thought. I blew up Aunt Marge, oh yeah, you were there," Harry chuckled softly. "You know I ran away and I ended up on the Knight Bus. Have you ever heard of that?"

Petunia nodded and Harry continued filling her in on what she had missed.

"Then in my fifth year there was that whole thing with the Order of the Phoenix. They kept everything from me..."

Petunia was shocked when she learned of how Umbridge had had Harry serve his detentions. Tears welled up in her eyes when she heard the account of what had led to Sirius's death.

"Dumbledore finally told me what the damn prophecy was about. Said it was wrong to keep it from me all these years but I was too fragile to handle it and yet he still tells me that I'm stronger than most wizards he knows. So basically the prophecy says..."

When Harry was done, he looked into his aunt's eyes. It felt so good to finally tell her what he had been hiding all this time. Petunia sensed this and smiled. It was one of the few smiles ever given to Harry by his family.

"But why were you so nasty to me all these years if you really cared?" Harry asked quietly, as if he was afraid Petunia would start screaming at him.

"It was all part of the act. Vernon never knew I was a witch and he still doesn't. If I wasn't mean to you, he would have figured out something was wrong and questioned me. No one can know about my past, you cannot tell a soul. To everyone but you and Dumbledore I am a plain and simple Muggle. My past was destroyed with the death of your parents."

"So you still have to be mean to me?" Harry asked.

Petunia ruffled Harry's hair, screwing it up more then it already was, and left.

She called back over her shoulder, "all these years I thought it was your fault that Lily was dead. I always stayed mad at you for killing my only sister. Now that I know the truth, I'll try to be a little nicer."

"Wait!" Harry called desperately. "You're lying! I know you are!" He stood up and walked to the door, leaning against the frame. "You couldn't have gone that long without cracking about your past. Someone or something made you forget."

He inherited Lily's wits too, Petunia thought. She sighed heavily. "So you want the truth?"

"I think I deserve to know," Harry replied shortly.

"Dumbledore memory charmed me when I left the wizarding world. He tricked me into thinking that I was a Muggle by wiping my memory of my part in the wizarding world. I only knew that my sister was a witch. That's where the Muggle-born witch story originated from.

"I started to break through the charm last year after the Howler came in the summer. More of my memory came back to me. I knew that you'd need to know the past about your family soon. When I found out that Sirius had died, I knew that it was all the more reason to tell you sooner as opposed to later."

Harry nodded slowly, taking his time to let the information soak in. Petunia stared at him, waiting for a response.

"The one thing I've always wanted was the truth," he said quietly.

"If the truth's what you want, Harry, that's what I'll give you from here on out," Petunia replied, as she swept down the stairs and out of sight.

~*~

Draco Malfoy sat alone on the stoop outside of his new home. He was happy. He hated Malfoy Manor, he hated his father, he was happy he was gone. Now he wouldn't have to join the Dark Lord.

His mother was a different story. She had been tricked into loving Lucius by illegal love potions. Narcissa had always hated him even though she was forced to love him, but now that he was gone and the potion had worn off, she hated him more than ever. She wouldn't have anything to do with what was his; the Manor and her past life with him. Draco agreed with his mother's reasoning. He was becoming ashamed of what his father had done.

Their new home was a nice house at the end of Magnolia Crescent in Little Whinging. Of course, Draco had no idea Harry lived around the corner. He liked the house. It was medium sized with nice neighbors. Draco had never wanted a big manor, just a regular house. Now that he had it, he had accomplished one dream. As for the rest of them...that's another story for another time.

The movers had finished moving their belongings about five hours ago. Draco had unpacked and gone outside. He watched a little nine-year-old running away from a gang of fat kids. They looked about his age. He watched from the sidelines as the poor kid tripped and the gang began to beat him up. Then, a raven-haired boy rounded the corner and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Dudley! Stop beating up the neighbors!"

At once Draco recognized the boy. No, he thought, Potter can't live here! He's my enemy! But wait, I was forced to be against him. Now I can be on his side. Be his friend...but that's crazy! Who'd want to be Potter's friend anyway? Maybe if you were a Muggle or a Muggle-lover, but me, a pureblood? I'm still better than Potter!

The gang stopped and looked up.

"Go!" the fattest boy, Dudley, yelled.

The rest of the gang departed. The little boy was trapped under Dudley still. Harry began to advance, resting his hand near the waistband of his pants.

"Get out of here kid," he said.

Dudley got off and the kid scampered away. Harry stood in front of Dudley. Then he pulled out what looked to the untrained eye like a stick. The onlooker knew better.

"Put that away!" Dudley hissed.

"Stop beating up kids, I'll stop bringing out my wand," Harry replied calmly. "If you don't, I'll hex you."

"T-they'll kick you out!"

Draco laughed at the fat boy being so scared of a wand.

"I don't care."

Draco's laugh died in his throat. Harry loved Hogwarts, everyone knew that. All of a sudden he didn't care if he got expelled? No. Something wasn't right.

"F-fine! I'm telling dad you had your wand out!" Dudley stuttered.

"Whatever, just get out of here."

Dudley scampered off. Harry knew he would be in a lot of trouble with a certain Vernon Dursley once he got home. Better get it over with now, he thought, and left.

Nobody noticed Draco stand up and follow Harry.

~*~

"HOW DARE YOU TAKE YOUR WAND OUT IN PUBLIC! WHO KNOWS WHO COULD HAVE SEEN YOU!" Vernon roared.

"Nobody saw me," Harry replied calmly.

Harry hated being at the receiving end of his Uncle's rants but most unfortunately, he usually was. There was one good thing that came out of these arguments. Harry had learned self-control. He stayed as calm as possible, knowing full well what would happen if his emotions got the better of him.

"THEY COULD HAVE! THEY COULD HAVE FOUND OUT ABOUT YOUR ABNORMALITY!"

"They didn't though," Harry countered. "So as long as no one knows, why don't you give it a rest already?"

"TO YOUR ROOM NOW!" Vernon shouted.

"Fine!" Harry yelled back.

He stormed up the stairs and slammed his door. Silently fuming, he ripped the sheets off his bed. He was going to make a chain and escape. It was a perfect plan. Flawless. He could go and kill himself and end this miserable life.

Oh wait; he couldn't do that. He had to stay alive. He was the Boy-Who-Lived. He was the Boy-Who-Had-To-Defeat-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named-AKA-The-Dark-Lord-AKA-Lord-Voldemort-AKA-You-Know-Who-AKA-Tom-Riddle.

Stupid street.

Stupid house.

Stupid neighbors.

Stupid neighborhood.

Stupid school.

Stupid people in the stupid school.

Stupid animals that live outside away from the stupid people in the stupid school.

Stupid aliens who live away from the stupid animals and stupid people and stupid schools of Earth.

Stupid dark wizards for killing my parents.

Stupid Dumbledore for thinking he can solve everything.

Stupid reasons he gives for not telling me before why I was destined to kill Voldemort.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Damn you prophecy for ruining my life.

The phone rang. Harry ignored it. He heard someone's footsteps. His door swung open.

"Phone for you. It's Hermione," said his Aunt. "Don't let Vernon know that you're talking," she added in an undertone.

"Tell her I'm not home, tell her I'm sick. Tell her anything..."

"Could you please give the phone to Harry, Mrs. Dursley?" Hermione asked sweetly from the other end.

Aunt Petunia held out the phone and Harry reluctantly took it.

"Hey."

"Hello, Harry."

There was a long pause in which Harry sank down into his pillows and pulled the covers over his head.

"Harry? What's going on?"

"Oh sorry. Nothing. Stopped my cousin from beating up a nine-year-old."

"I see. Now how does that make you feel?" Hermione inquired.

"Uhhhhh..."

"It's a joke. You don't have to answer," Hermione laughed.

"Good. I'm feeling pretty rotten anyway," Harry sighed. "I really miss him 'Mione."

"We all do Harry. You're going to have to move on with your life though. If you slip into a depression...I don't even want to think about it. You could stop eating properly. You could become bulimic or even worse anorexic!"

"It's too late."

"You might-what? What do you mean it's too late?" Hermione said, scared.

"It's too late. Depression's already come and it probably won't leave for a long time," Harry said.

He was picturing Hermione's mouth opening in protest. Correction, he knew that's what was happening on the other end.

"I won't stop eating. I won't promise that I won't try to kill myself though," Harry whispered.

"Harry! Don't talk like that! You're not the only one who misses Sirius!"

Harry began to cry at the sound of his dead godfather's name. He couldn't believe he was acting so childish! It was only Sirius.

And Sirius was the only parent like figure he had had in his life.

"Harry?"

"Mmhmm," Harry sniffed.

He curled up in a tighter ball. He hated this life. Couldn't he have someone else's?

"I think I should just call back tomorrow. Can you hand the phone back to your Aunt? I need to talk to her."

"Okay. 'Bye Hermione."

"Keep out of trouble!"

They both laughed. It was a cliché of every adult who cared about Harry.

"I promise I won't," Harry replied.

"Good-bye Harry. Talk to you tomorrow."

Harry yanked the covers off his head. His Aunt was sitting in the chair at his desk. Harry's heart sped up.

"Did you hear the whole thing?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I did."

Harry's jaw dropped.

"You can't tell anyone! Not the Order, not a soul."

"I solemnly swear," Petunia said.

Harry just had to stop and think that what his Aunt had just said was the beginning of the phrase that opened the Marauder's Map.

"Well, here's Hermione."

Petunia took the phone and began chatting away about driver's ed with Hermione. Harry curled up under his blankets once more. Even though it was 4:30 and 80 degrees outside, Harry felt cold and tired. He pressed himself down harder into the mattress. He wanted someone else there with him.

He wanted Ginny Weasley.

~~**~~