Secrets She Kept » Harry Potter

Part 16

Petunia needed space to think.

She went ahead with her travel plans with the children, wanting to make pleasant memories as a family. She had made sure to pack her camera to capture the live memories for the children to look over when they were older. During her marriage Vernon only approved to have their pictures taken professionally, unaware that his wife had always enjoyed taking pictures of Dudley as he grew. Paying for a professional photographer each month did come with a cost. It was simply another secret she kept from Vernon, saving from any argument.

There were no words exchanged between herself and Vernon when she had picked up Dudley from his house. Dudley was upset noticing that Harry had taken the front seat in the car for their trip south, which made him complain to his mother. "Perhaps you and Harry can share." She suggested as they had a long drive ahead of them.

The family made it to their destination safely. With Petunia suggesting she take the children straight to the beach to enjoy the cool water as they had been stuck in the car most of the morning, this was happily accepted by the boys, including Dudley who had dropped his toys his father had recently brought for him. The woman would watch the distance put between Dudley and the two others close as they enjoy playing on the seaside building sandcastles or chasing each other through the waves. It put a smile on her face, she was able to forget what was reality.

The week she had booked away was spent engaging in many games with the boys while managing her morning sickness. The woman hadn't heard a word from Severus as she had requested. She wanted time to decide what she wanted to do with her situation and not have anything that reminded her of the wizarding world. Harry was ageing quickly and she knew it was only a few short years until she would send him to Hogwarts, George would follow shortly after. It scared her to send the children towards the world that ripped her sister away from the land of the living. Petunia knew it was right to keep the children from the world that they belonged to, yet she had a sense of dread to send them through the border between worlds. All it brought to her life was loss and devastation.

On the venture home Petunia drove slowly, she was afraid of the decision she was going to make surrounding her situation. The boys were sleeping when they approached London, she had a smile present on her face looking back at the children in the rearview mirror. That faded the moment she pulled into the driveway of the former family home she once shared with Vernon, the man waiting outside for Dudley to return safety. The man held a dark glare at the woman as she felt the anxiety bubble inside of her as she focuses on waking her son to inform her they had arrived at his home. "Dudley." She shook his shoulder.

Dudley awoke quickly, a smile on his face as he saw his father waving at him. "Daddy!" The young boy yelled excitedly.

Once out of the car he threw his arms around his father and Petunia silently handed Vernon the bags that Dudley had brought on the trip. One bag was full of brand new toys unopened by the boy as he was too busy exploring the new surroundings. "Are you keeping my boy from his new toys?" Vernon asked grumpily noticing the tags still attached. His chubby arms crossed against his body that was dressed in a fine suit.

Petunia wanted to burst out laughing, in truth Dudley had been more interested in their activities exploring the coastal towns, with the walks and playing in the ocean with the other boys. There had been plenty of toys already equipt at the accommodation that she had booked. Vernon felt embarrassed that his purchases had gone to waste, it was supposed to show that Dudley was superior to his cousin and brother George. "Dudley was too busy playing in the ocean to need to unpack Lego." The woman informs, maskin any emotion she felt towards the man that was radiating anger. "Perhaps purchase more appropriate toys for his travels."

Vernon scoffed. "I buy our son everything he asks for, something you can not provide with your salary, or are you relying on your compensation from the freaks that murdered your sister?" The man inquires.

At that moment, Petunia snapped.

"One sick person murdered my sister you bastard." Her voice was full of rage. "You'd think years married to you I would have the same conclusion, yet in the year we've been separated has been nothing but bliss." It was a time of change in Petunia.

"I learned that the wizarding community have wonderful people that have provided friendship instead of a sick man who thinks he got away with abusing people." The words weren't much damage to the man presented in front of her, yet they felt like daggers being verbally sent through his chest from her perspective. "If anything, you're more of a monster than a stone-cold killer."

At the same moment, the final word was spoken, and the sound of glass shattering in heard in the surrounding neighbourhood. Petunia was glad Dudley had run inside his father's home as she witnessed the windscreen of Vernon's brand new car shatter. This causes the Muggle to destress as he was still fiancing it and was already damaged. "Get those freaks out of here!" The man demands pointing at both George and Harry who sat witnessing the situation. "They can't protect you forever Petunia, you will drag yourself back here once you learn that!"

Petunia was glad to get back in her vehicle.

"Bad man." Were the quiet words spoken by George, untamed magic had unleashed from him in a moment that he wanted to protect his mother.

Once in the safety of her home, both children were tired from their long drive and Petunia tucked them both into their beds for a late afternoon nap. The woman saw this as an opportunity to distress from the events that occurred that afternoon. Part of her felt proud that she had the courage to stand up against Vernon but at the same time she felt defeated that it came at the cost of the children using their accidental magic to protect her from the man when she should be doing that. With another child developing inside her, it should be a top priority for her.

She had dragged her tired body to her bedroom where she looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair showed signs of being bleached naturally from the sun. Although she appeared exhausted from the small altercation with Vernon. It wasn't fair that he still had the power to make her appear like her previous self when he could order her around, using fear.

This wasn't the life she had promised the children the moment she knew she was safe from Vernon. She still felt trapped, confined by the walls of the past. The echoes of memories she held with her sister running through the halls while their mother would scold them for waking their father. Or the afternoons she would bake cakes with her mother while Lily was at school. Even the moments when she would spy on Lily talking with Severus about the magical world that lie ahead of her once she had learned she was a witch. The pain that was still felt when she learned the news that her parents had perished in a car accident or the murder of her sister, leaving her nephew an orphan in her care.

She was haunted, haunted by the past.

This life wasn't healing. She was raising the boys in her old childhood home hoping to seek comfort from the past, but she wasn't healing inside. Although the lives of the children were better and she had established a life for them in the community, it wasn't fair to herself. It was time she was selfish to let her finally grieve the past of loss and suffering she had endured for so long. Petunia needed to look toward the future.

If her short holiday away had proved anything, it made her realise she enjoyed a life in the sunshine.