Secrets She Kept » Harry Potter

Part 3

Petunia awoke in a hotel, her head pounding at the sunlight pouring through the curtain only half-closed. She groaned as her memory blanked as to the events that led her to this hotel room. She was still dressed in the clothing she had left her home in, yet there was a great feeling of guilt in the air. The woman sat up, pushing the cover from her body eyeing the dingy room yet still appeared clean.

Taking a peek at her watch she saw it was in the early hours of the morning. She still has time to drag herself from the comfort of the bed and make her way back to her home. Where she knew she had a big mess to clean and still prepare her husband's breakfast. That's exactly what she does as she sneaks down the wooden steps, noticing no people around the bar she had entered last night and to find her car still parked out. A sigh of relief escapes her lips getting into the car to drive home.

Upon arriving home, she notices the house in almost perfect condition. Including the dishes washed and dried. Walking through the house she is confused to see her nephew let out of his room and drying the last mug that Vernon had used that night. "Goodmorning Aunt Petunia!" He greets quietly. "Did you have a nice evening?"

Harry had always been an incredibly positive boy, even with the constant abuse from his family. He still saw the good parts of his tragic life. "Yes, thank you, Harry." Petunia murmurs. "Thank you for doing the chores before I returned."

Her nephew nods, it was nice to be thanked for his help around the home. Although his aunt was strict there were moments that he thought she was a kind woman, she just had a terrible husband and was afraid to speak out against him. Since Petunia got pregnant with their son she had to stop working, she hadn't been allowed to return. He made more than enough to spoil his family and support the extra child that was placed on their doorstep. Vernon just saw the freak of nature the boy was since he was the splitting image of his father, a man he hated.

Speaking of her husband, he was still snoring in their shared bedroom when Petunia went upstairs. She knew the man would've got terribly drunk that evening, he wouldn't be awake until the afternoon.

Weeks pass from the evening that Petunia was allowed freedom, the missing memories from that night were lost from her brain entirely. The summer break had finished and the two children were back at school for the semester, leaving Vernon to go back to work. That left Petunia alone during the day, working in her garden or having tea with the other wives in the neighbourhood. "Say, Petunia, will you and your husband be having another child?" Her friend Suzan asked the younger woman.

Petunia nods by shaking her head. "After we took my nephew in after losing my sister, he believes our family is complete." Her expression was sour. It wasn't what she wanted, it was what was demanded from her husband. Her friends could sympathise with the woman, although Petunia would admit she was jealous that they all had growing families. She enjoyed infants and was missing the days she could hold her son in her arms instead of the demanding boy she was gifted with now. He was a clone of his father almost.

"Don't I recall you complaining about a stomach bug just last week?" Her mother's friend Helen asked, putting her teacup back on the table.

Petunia's days had been so busy recently that it had slipped her mind that she had thrown up last week. She was feeling much better by consuming minimal amounts of food and keeping her fluids up. Although at moments she fell uneasy, she thought it was the stress of the children returning to school or her anxiety playing up. "Merely something off I have eaten recently." Petunia mentions, assuring herself.

She hadn't been intimate with her husband in three years. "Do you think it would be wise to take a test anyway?" Suzan asks, causing Petunia's heart to race.

"N...no. There's no way." She firmly states, looking at the time. "Oh I must be off, I have to pick up the groceries before picking up the boys from school."