chapter 2

"What…?"

Vernon had a manic grin on his face as he looked at Harry. He was standing closer to Petunia and Dudley. No. No, he wouldn't, hadn't. Harry could not think. Had he?

Harry glanced right to Petunia, saw the fear in her eyes as she made eye contact with him. Her hands were shaking, her lips pressed tightly together, and every muscle in her body tense. Vernon had his hand on her shoulder, close to the neck, with a threatening smile still directed at Harry.

To the left Dudley still sat in the sofa, hunched over, and leaning as far away from Vernon as possible. He looked decisively pale, fear and disgust for his father shining in his eyes.

Vernon chuckles, and Harry's eyes snap back to him again. Vernon's eyes were on him, a sneer on his face. "You think I would marry the sister of one of those freaks? The only reason I stayed with her was because she was pregnant with Dudley. I couldn't very well ruin my image by knocking up a woman and then not marry her." Harry took in the picture of his relatives, the blatant disgust and superiority of Vernon, the fear in Petunia and Dudley, this was not the family he left when he was oneone. "When I was beginning to accept that she was not a freak like her sister, and Dudley was nothing like your kind, you came. I suddenly remembered this woman's heritage."

Suddenly so many things made sense. Harry may not have the reputation of being very smart or observant, but that is not true. Harry is plenty observant, and he can be smart when he actually tries. So, it wasn't hard for him to see that something had happened while he was at Hogwarts for his first year. He had noticed as soon as he laid eyes on them again at King's Cross when he came back from his first year.

He, Ron, and Hermione passed through the gateway together.

"There he is, Mom, there he is, look!" It was Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, but she wasn't pointing at Ron. "Harry Potter!" she squealed. "Look, Mom! I can see —"

"Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point." Mrs. Weasley smiled down at them. "Busy year?" she said.

"Very," said Harry. "Thanks for the fudge and the sweater, Mrs. Weasley."

"Oh, it was nothing, dear."

"Ready, are you?"

And there they were, the Dursley's, Harry looked at his relatives, but… what? Aunt Petunia and Dudley were acting strange. Why are they standing so far away from Vernon? His aunt's face is even more pinched than normal, and Dudley is kind of hunched over. What?

Saying his goodbyes to his friends Harry followed his relatives back to the car, the whole way they were all silent. Strange. This is way to strange. Where was Dudley's nagging about food and his TV-shows? Petunia's prattling about a neighbor or the latest gossip? Very strange.

The strange mood continued throughout the summer. Dudley is never at the house in the afternoons and evenings, always with at least one friend. He doesn't make eye contact with Vernon anymore, and he doesn't seem to want to be anywhere near him. he even goes as far as sitting on the opposite end of the dining table.

Petunia hides the changes better, Harry thinks, but her eyes move around too much and too fast. She has stopped with the nicknames around Vernon, and she is way too quick to get what Vernon barks about, bringing him the paper or a glass of alcohol with shacking hands.

Harry is, of course, very confused by all these changes, but what can he do? And then Dobby shows up and any thought about the strange behavior is wiped from his memory.

All the dots connected after a few seconds and the picture it made was not pretty. Harry almost couldn't believe it. After Harry left for Hogwarts Vernon turned his abuse on his own wife and child.

"Did you ever love me…?" Petunia was looking up at Vernon, and Harry could see how her eyes were shining with tears. Vernon turned his eyes on Petunia and Harry could feel the compelling feeling to save her.

While Vernon started accusing Petunia of all the mistakes in his life Harry looked over to Dudley, getting eye contact. For the first time, they had a connection, and both knew the plan.

"-you waited to tell me about the FREAKINESS in your blood until you knew I couldn't leave you!!!" Vernon continues to rant, getting louder and louder. Petunia looked like she was shrinking as she hunched more and more under Vernon's continued rant.

Harry began inching into the room and closer to his aunt's hunched form, and behind Vernon's back Dudley looked around before taking the big candlestick on the small table in the corner between the two sofas. Vernon must have seen Harry in the corner of his eye, for he turns to Harry. Vernon sneers at Harry and open his mouth to say (yell) something at Harry, but Harry would never know what Vernon was about to say as Dudley smashed the candlestick over Vernon's head.

Vernon falls forward and Harry grab Petunia and drag her away from the avalanches of a man. Dudley was standing behind Vernon's collapsed body, candlestick in hand, staring with wide eyes down at his father.

All of them stand around and look at the collapsed body, not really knowing what to do. "Are you okay? Aunt Petunia?" Harry drags his eyes away from Vernon to look at his aunt.

"I'm fine…" She did not look fine. Pale as a sheet, and big wide eyes still staring at the collapsed body of her husband.

"…Okay…? Dudley?" Harry looked over at his cousin.

Dudley startles at his name, dropping the bent candlestick, and his eyes snap up to meet Harry's. With a voice barely above a whisper, fear in his eyes and voice, he said "He is going to kill me when he wakes up…"

Within seconds Harry has made his decision. "No, he is not. Because you won't be here when he wakes up." Straightening his back Harry said with determination dripping from his voice.

"We can't leave. We don't have access to the bank account!" Petunia said, voice building with hysteria and fear.

"I know you have a university degree. You can get a job, and until then you can stay with me." Harry looks back at Petunia, catching her eyes with his, and willing his aunt to agree with him.

They stare into each other eyes for what felt like minutes. Finally, Petunia sighs and looks down. "Fine."

"Good! Now, I'll watch this-" Harry indicated Vernon, "-while you guys pack your things. You can use some of the bags in my room, they all have undetectable expansion and featherlight charms on them, the bags can fit basically everything and still not weigh any more than you can carry comfortably. Pack all the things you could need first." Harry stays in the living room while Petunia and Dudley pack all their things.

Petunia and Dudley come back down with one bag each. Harry looks at them, make eye contact with each of them, "We're never coming back here, do you have everything?" the mother-son duo both nods. "I've got to go and get my things. It's not going to take too long, but if he so much as shifts I want you to smack him over the head again with the candlestick." They nod again.

Right before he walks out of the living room Harry turns, "By the way, should I write my godfathers and ask them to obliviate him? do you want him to remember you guys?"

"NO, MAKE HIM FORGET!" The desperation in Dudley's voice was clear, and Harry startled at the loudness of it.

"He will never leave us alone, never stop going after us, if he remembers. So, please, oh-bliv-iate him." Petunia said, putting a comforting hand on Dudley's shoulder.

"Okay, I'll send the letter before coming down with my things." Harry said, before going up to his room.

Up in his room Harry found parchment, quill, and an inkpot to pen a letter to Remus and Sirius for Hedwig to take to them.

---

Moony and Padfoot

Sorry to spring this on you, but I'm leaving Privet Drive now and I'm also taking my aunt and cousin with me. I found out Vernon has been abusing my aunt and cousin since my first year at Hogwarts. I can't obliviate him myself, so can one of you come, and do it? We don't want him to come after us.

We're leaving here and going to Diagon Ally for now, I got a letter from Gringotts, so I have to go there. Can we meet there soon?

Love Prongslet

Mischief managed

---

"They said they would be close by… Hedwig, I'm going to the Leaky now, so find me there, ok?" with a hoot from Hedwig as bye, she flies out of the window to find Remus and Sirius.

Finally, out of the house, Vernon hit over the head once for good measure before they left, Harry suddenly remembered that he hadn't thought about how to get to London. "How to get to the Leaky… we could take the Knight Bus…?" Harry mumbled to himself.

Apparently a little too loud, as Aunt Petunia spun to face him. "NO! I am not taking that dreaded bus again! We are taking a cab. No buts, I've already called one." She didn't sneer, nor did she sound mad at him. she sounded like she did when saying "no" to Dudley, which was strange to have directed at himself.

"Now that is a story I got to know." Harry smiled at his aunt as he walked over to stand beside Dudley.

She looked at Harry, a sad frown on her face, "There is not much to tell. Lily made all of us, her, our parents, and me, take that deathtrap to King's Cross before her 4th year. Awful thing, we never took it again."