A Different Halloween

Chapter 12

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Petunia Dursley opened the door of number four Privet Drive and almost shut it again at once when she discovered who had rang her doorbell. Only the steely conviction in the well-remembered voice stopped her slamming the door in the couple's face.

"Now Petunia, you don't want to force me to take my wand out and open this door, do you? The neighbours might even see me do it!"

Petunia stood aside and allowed Lily and James Potter to enter her house, thankfully for all of them Vernon wasn't home. They entered the living room where baby Dudley was currently contained in his playpen and rapidly working his way through an entire packet of biscuits.

Petunia was exceedingly unhappy at them being here and, now that the neighbours could no longer see, made no attempt to mask her ire. "What are you doing here? I thought I made it quite clear the last time we spoke that I never wanted to see you again. You've made your bed and now you have to lie in it."

Lily tried to hide the hurt her elder sister's words caused, "Petunia, last night nearly had us lying in wooden boxes. The house we were staying in was attacked and it's mainly down to luck we made it out with our lives. We're being forced to leave the country for our safety and I'm worried about leaving you behind. Britain isn't a safe place to be at the moment."

Petunia let more of her anger out, "Why the hell should we be forced to move? Your type can kill each other as much as they like, it doesn't concern normal people like us."

Lily tried once more, "Petunia, this animal is killing everybody! He doesn't believe that normal people like you have the right to live. Killing your family would mean nothing more to him than pulling the wings off flies. If he should discover you're my family, he will come for you."

Petunia was showing signs of worry now. "I would just tell him that you and I don't speak. He wouldn't harm us then?"

"This wizard doesn't listen to anyone Petunia, he would kill all three of you."

James understood he was there purely to provide moral support for his wife. Anything he said would only harden Petunia's attitude against them. He was sure now they were hearing the real reason behind her point blank refusal to listen.

"Vernon would never leave, not because of some wizard. He just wouldn't do it."

Lily had tears forming in her eyes now, she recognised the truth in her sister's words. Vernon would think he could order Voldemort out of his home and the evil wizard would politely apologise and comply. Vernon could get them all killed. "Petunia, there must be some way to convince him? You know I wouldn't be here if the situation wasn't deadly serious."

Petunia could only dejectedly shake her head, "Mentioning this to him would only result in hours of ranting and Vernon digging his heels in even deeper."

Lily couldn't hold back the tears as she shifted her gaze to her only nephew. "Petunia, would you give your life to save your son's?"

"What kind of a stupid question is that? Of course I would."

"I'm sorry sis, I know you would. I'm just trying to convince you how serious this situation is. We may not be able to convince Vernon to move but, if things go really badly I might be able to offer you a chance to save Dudley. It uses magic yet leaves no trace, Vernon need never know."

This peaked Petunia's interest, "How can I do magic, I don't have any?"

"You're my sister and we share the same blood, Dudley is my nephew by blood. We can offer him a chance to live but it's pretty drastic, a real last resort."