#Moving into Number Seven Privet Drive

[aethon-recs]

Thank you for your recs, there've been so many fics I would have never come across without your recs! The Lost and Found series by Aquaphobe is now one of my favorites, it is truly one-of-a-kind and so underrated, so thank you for surfacing that one.

As a result, I am now craving fics with an older Tom Riddle, magical or muggle setting, in other words, Tomarry but with their canon age gap. Would you be able to rec some? Thank you greatly

Thank you so much! And yes, lost and found by @honbug is a beautifully written series featuring a Mafia AU setting; I will link it here so that everyone can hopefully read it 🤍

I love a good age gap fic! Please see below for a rec list featuring older Tom, and I’ll combine this with another ask I received recently requesting silver fox Tom Riddle recs. I tried to find fics where it’s mentioned that Tom has a bit of grey at the temples; otherwise, these fics all feature Harry and Tom at their canon age gap (or close to it). 

lost & found (Series) by @honbug (E, 183k, WIP) 

(Part 1) Sometimes, Harry gets lost. (Part 2) For as long as he can recall, Harry's felt that the world is not as it should be… (Part 3) Tom knows from the beginning that he is destined for greatness. Nothing and no one will stop him from achieving his goals. (And then, of course, there are the dreams.)

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Canon Age Gap Recs

A Special Day by @vdoshu (E, 3k, complete)

“I think a fresh start is important. I’d like one, and I think this can be it.” “It’s a bit late for a fresh start for me, don’t you think?” he retorts snidely.

An afternoon's delight by @loneamaryllis (E, 2k, complete) 

"I want you to fuck my throat." Voldemort was a hard man to surprise, and yet those seven words knocked the wind out of him. He lifted an eyebrow, lips parting slightly. 

aurora polaris by @aglassroseneverfades (E, 217k, complete)

Harry does not give up the Horcrux when he dies. Moved by compassion, he embraces it instead. The world Harry wakes up to is not like the one he remembers. And his captor is neither the same as he was, nor as different as he would like.

Everything Green Is Gold by anonymous (E, 24k, complete)

Prior to Hogwarts, Harry had stayed mostly invisible to the teachers and adults around him his whole life. But Tom Riddle, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, looked at Harry like he was something to be wanted.

Everything We Dream Can Be Real by @vdoshu  (E, 52k, complete)

Harry had a life after Voldemort. He had a family. He had a career. And then one day it was all ripped away when he woke up at Number 4 Privet Drive. Or: Where Harry doesn’t exactly get that chance to do it over again. And things are Not Okay.

Fault Lines by @vestiges-of-light (M, 151k, complete)

After the world believes that Voldemort has died on that Halloween night, Tom Riddle returns to Hogwarts to claim the Defense post at last. Hogwarts will be a sanctuary, while he waits to find out more about Harry Potter and the prophecy that connects them. But when Grindelwald is broken out of prison, perhaps the magical world needs Voldemort to be publicly resurrected after all.

hook, line, and sinker by @purplemineralwater (E, 41k, WIP)

Harry asks Professor Riddle for help in killing Voldemort, Riddle is endlessly amused.)

James Potter Does Not Approve by Lytri (T, 4k, complete) 

James had never liked Gaunt, and that wasn’t about to change anytime soon.

Let's talk sugar by @being-luminous (T, 2k, complete) 

In which Harry Potter may or may not be a sugar baby. 

Memories of a Killer by @chemfreak89 (M, 47k, complete)

Age catches up with everyone. The infamous serial killer Voldemort now spends his time reading newspapers and making trips to the local library in search of a new crime novel. But one day he makes an interesting new acquaintance that shakes his quiet life and rekindles old flames and unknown desires.

Ministry: A Christmas Special by @milkandmoon-103 (M, 4k, complete) 

Rumours are circulating within the Ministry that Senior Undersecretary Tom Riddle is sleeping with his assistant.

One slap, two slaps, three slaps by @albondiguilla007 (E, 4k, complete)

Minister Tom Riddle turns seventy.

One Year In Every Ten by @saintsenara (E, 207k, WIP)

A decade after the final battle, a serial killer emerges, with a message that proclaims the Dark Lord has risen again. Harry is assigned to the case.

Resonating Souls by @endlessburningdarkness (E, 4k, complete)

Minister Riddle has an unusually dream filled night.

Revolution of Configured Stars by @tollingreminiscentbells (E, 162k, WIP)

In another world, Harry Potter was spared. Raised in Lord Voldemort's Britain, he enters his seventh year wanting to keep his head down. But after a chance encounter with ‘Marvolo Gaunt’, it looks like it may not be so simple.

Terms and Conditions May Apply by @duplicitywrites (T, 17k, WIP)

Lord Voldemort gets one chance at a new life. This new chance comes with a lot of conditions.

The Betrayal (And Boon) of One's Own Biology by @riverxsong-ao3 (E, 7k, complete)

Tom Riddle had always known he was destined for greatness. As a young wizard, he was certain he would present one day as an Alpha - strong, powerful, in charge. When he did not, he came to accept that he must, in fact, be a Beta.

The Dinner by @moontearpensfic (T, 3k, complete) 

Voldemort takes Harry to meet his parents.

The Rigmarole Dance by cannibalinc (T, 8k, complete) 

Harry is nine years old when he points at Lord Thomas Marvolo Slytherin, High Warlock of England, and declares "You're my soulmate, and we're going to be married."

Unwinding the Minister (Hypothetically) by @ramabear (E, 4k, complete)

It's the end of December and Head Auror Harry Potter finds himself in the Minister's office once more and he can't help but wonder, how much the young, uptight Minister really just needs to unwind for a night. And how much he'd be happy to help.

Until Midnight Comes by @dividawrites (E, 26k, complete)

A few years after the war Harry reluctantly attends a party at Malfoy Manor. He drinks a few too many and runs into a handsome man called Tom. What happens after is definitely not a drunken error in judgement—it’s love at first, blurry sight instead.

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[starsandsunkissed]

My Fics (Harry Potter)

Cleaved (AO3 links to the series, Cleaved II is currently in-progress)

Genre: Friendship/Adventure

AO3 link | FFN link

Series Summary: By all rights, the story of Holly Potter and Alex Kann should have ended when they parted ways at age 11. Their destinies lay in different worlds: witch and Muggle; magic and science; Scotland and London. Then Alex came up with the idea of selling potions to Muggles. Their waning bond is revived, but can it last while running a nascent illegal business, the challenges of school and new relationships? Fem!Harry, Time-shifted AU, Pre-Hogwarts, Years 2-4.

Cleaved II Summary:

After a death-defying end to her second year at Hogwarts, Holly returns to find an increasingly distant Alex, the chasm between Muggle and Witch becoming ever greater despite her efforts.

On her return to school, Holly attempts to hold on to her waning friendship. Pulling this off will take all her effort, however, with everything else going on. Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban. Eternal Elixirs becomes ever popular with the Muggle world. And why does Hermione seem to vanish at random? Time-shifted AU, Year 3

✨More details ✨

Set in an AU that's moved closer to the present, Fem!Harry makes a friend at the age of seven. This Muggle friend has a Squib mother and she learns magic and the Wizarding world sooner than canon. The family has secrets of their own that she's not privy to, and it's all about Holly and Alex trying to maintain their unlikely friendship while running a "potions for Muggles" business.

This fic was inspired by a number of ideas: ones where wizards secretly sell magical items to Muggles, Harry/Muggle OC fics (and the lack of Fem!Harry/Muggle fics), Squib/Squib discrimination fics a la The Second String, fics where a witch or wizard (Muggle-born or half-blood) befriend Muggles in childhood, but instead of bailing on them at 11, they're let in on the secret, and a few more to be revealed. Starts the summer after 2nd year with flashbacks to pre-Hogwarts events.

Also inspired in part by: A Wizard's Guide to 'Banking', What E'er Therein is Promised by Deeble (formerly on Ashwinder), The (incomplete) Roman Holiday trilogy by Anna (Mainly Jewel of the Nile and Last Tango in Paris - formerly on witchfics).

💫Other Harry Potter long fics (all rated T)💫:

A Date With Destiny

Genre: Angst/Adventure

AO3 | FFN

Summary: After awakening from a magical coma to discover his best friends now dating, Ronald Weasley sets out to forge his own path, discovering who he is by discovering who he isn't. Ron-centric fic, starts HHr, final pairings undecided.

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A Grangerous Adventure

AO3 | FFN

Genre: Parody/Romance

Summary: Even when you're the brightest witch of your age like Hermione, some things are beyond your control. Keeping Harry alive and away from the Weasleys while maintaining her Prefect status is no easy task, and that's before a certain Weasley starts sneaking around with a Slytherin… Crack/Parody, H/Hr pairing. 5th-year subplot.

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Tale of a Weasley Tail 🧜

Genre: Action/Adventure

AO3 only

Summary: After the events of Ron’s second year, the Weasleys go to Australia instead of Egypt. When a series of events leave Ron alone on Mako Island, and his only way out is through a shimmering pool on a full moon night, well…

He always wanted to stand out, didn’t he?

Merman!Ron, AU after second year. Fusion with H2O: Just Add Water. Slow updates.

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Harry Potter ONE-SHOTS:

The Only Normal One:

Mr and Mrs Dursley of Number Four Privet Drive were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

That’s what Mr Vernon Dursley had thought.

Vernon Dursley's thoughts after a worldwide alien invasion where he realizes that he's the only perfectly normal one. Set in the Cleaved Universe. ONE-SHOT.

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(Not) According to Plan:

After Voldemort is defeated the summer before their 6th year, Hermione believes she and Harry will be together for life…but this wasn't quite what she had in mind.

A Harmony fic that subverts and deconstructs the standard tropes associated with the pairing. Not for hardcore shippers.

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Birthday Gifts:

Holly gets Ron a present for his fourteenth birthday. Set in the 'Cleaved' universe. Fem!Harry/Ron.

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Changes:

The thoughts of an old wizard in a changing world. ONE-SHOT. AU. OCs. Fem!Harry

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Teleportation Technology:

A short conversation between a Wizard bartender and Muggle patron. Has a few clichés. Set Post-Epilogue. OCs. ONE-SHOT

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Broken:

AU HBP. In where Ron decides his dignity is more important than a date with Hermione. A short one-shot based off a Reddit comment by Bleepbloopbotz2, and a post by jakky567.

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[danpuff-ao3]

Snarry AUctober fest is an annual fest exploring Snarry in various AU settings, and is an often fun and thoughtful exploration of my beloved OTP in various scenarios and settings. The fest always provides so many good reads, but to start you off, here are my top 5 for the 2021 fest!

An Evening Adrift

by allhaz_red. Rated: E. Words: 4,966. Canon divergence. Dirty talk. Bottom Snape.

Severus and Harry keep themselves occupied during a lull in the War.

The Way This Ends

by avioleta. Rated: E. Words: 25,837. Wartime. First time. Canon divergence.

A short time after killing Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape decides he is tired of fighting this war alone. He requests a meeting with Harry Potter, gives him a phial of memories, and tells him he wants to help with the task Dumbledore left behind. Together, they form an alliance. Original Prompt #57: Harry meets Snape every month to exchange war intel. it's always short notice, and nearly always in a grimy hotel, Muggle pub, or crowded bar.

Sunk Cost Fallacy

by Coconutice22 (@coconutice22). Rated: E. Words: 45,658. Coffee Shop AU. Mystery.

Life after the war is all the sweeter for a decent cup of tea made by Severus’s favourite green-eyed barista.  A Snarry Coffee Shop AU.

Gold Like Ichor, Gold Like Magic

by DandelionConstellation. Rated: E. Chapters: 11/11. Words: 26,521. Romance. Angst. Slow burn.

Seven years after Harry James Potter was left unceremoniously on the doorstep to Number Four, Privet Drive, Vernon Dursley was offered a promotion and the whole family had to move to Cokeworth, England. While Dudley is off terrorizing the local children, Harry spends his days in the school library and finds a fast friend in Ms. Eileen Prince.  From Cokeworth to Hogwarts and back again, this is a story about the friendship, the magic, and the love that can be found in the unlikeliest of places, if only one bothers to look.

Facility Management

by PinaNaponi. Rated: M. Words: 10,394. Muggle AU. CEO Severus. Office Setting. Accidental voyeurism. Secret relationship. Humor.

Argus had seen a great many things in his thirty years at A.D. Consulting. But never the CEO kissing someone on the rooftop.

[momo-t-daye]

Momo's self-indulgent AU

Premise: Single-parent Tobias Snape + Slytherin Lily Evans + same age!Narcissa Black

Comics/fics (more or less narratively chronological): 

Severus and Lily on the first train ride: Picture and ficlet

Acting Like a Proper Gentleman: Picture and ficlet

The Slytherin Common Room Fire: Picture and ficlet 

Say Cheese: Single panel comic

Grapefruit Intimidation Tactics: Comic

Lucius takes Severus to a Halloween Party: Comic

Severus takes steps to prevent future shaving: Picture and ficlet 

Sirius Black, musician: Picture and ficlet 

Lily deals muggle junk food and Severus read the dictionary at a young age: Comic

Lily plagiarizes Jane Austen for a good (?) cause: Comic

Severus considers photosynthesis: Comic 

Sirius Black experiences consequences after the Willow Incident/Severus gets some petty but fabulous revenge: Picture and ficlet 

Sirius Black helps Severus study for the O.W.L.s: Fic (link to Ao3) and picture

Lily plays Quidditch and has bad taste in men (Severus also has bad taste in men): Comic

The giant straw goat outside of the Hog’s Head prompts conversation: Picture and ficlet

Severus chaperones the first date between Lily and James: Picture and ficlet

AU Moments: 

Carnivorous Clover: Picture

Yule Party Mischief: Picture

Snowball Ambush: Picture and Ficlet 

Ice skating issues: Picture

Tutoring the Biggest Menace in the Lab: Picture 

Narcissa rides a bicycle: Picture 

Getting ready for a party: Picture 

Midsummer Preparations: Picture

Peanut Gallery in the Tea Shoppe: Picture

Harry Years:

Reunion #1: Severus judges the ugliest moustache; comic

Reunion #2: Severus judges the ugliest beard; comic

The Reverse Ouroboros: Comic

Moving into Number Seven, Privet Drive: Picture and ficlet

The Godmother: Comic

The Rescue Team: Comic

The Court Jester: Comic

Grounded: Comic

Co-parenting: Comic

[alohaemora]

Day 1: Molly and Arthur

Numbered Days

Seven stories from the long, tense week between Harry’s departure from Little Whinging and Bill and Fleur’s fateful wedding night.

Or: The Weasleys prepare to go to war.

(Written for @thethreebroomsticksfic's “Weasley Week” fest.)

27 July 1997

It’s well past midnight when Arthur finally puts the lights out in their bedroom and crawls into bed beside her with an exhausted groan. His arm reaches for her in the darkness and Molly gravitates toward it, soaking in the small moment of domestic comfort that’s quickly become a rarity in her own home. Closing her eyes, she wonders if the ringing in her ears is simply the hum of the hundreds of protective enchantments that cling to her roof, or if the knot of anxiety that took up permanent residence in her chest sometime near the end of June is now trying to claw its way out through her ear canals.

“Everything’s set,” Arthur mumbles against her shoulder. “The Polyjuice, the decoys, the Portkeys. Hagrid says the Thestrals have been prepped for the journey. We’ll have him safely out of Privet Drive by tonight.”

“Good,” Molly whispers without opening her eyes. “Hopefully he’ll never have to go back.”

Arthur is silent for a few moments. Then, Molly feels the pillows shift slightly as he gives his head a small shake.

“The boys were brilliant in that meeting,” he says quietly. “Fred and George single-handedly charted every one of our flight paths out of Surrey. And Ron—Merlin, he was so clever, he came up with all of these…”

Arthur trails off as Molly grows stiffer in his arms. She keeps her eyes stubbornly shut, purses her lips against the familiar misery inching up her throat, the telltale burn behind her eyelids. Arthur’s fingers hesitate for a moment, then move up from her waist, gently cupping her jaw, turning her face toward his in the darkness.

“Mollywobbles…”

“It’s wrong,” she hisses, gritting her teeth to keep her voice steady, to contain the insistent lump in her throat as she spits out the words she’s said more times she can count in the past month, the words that seem to disappear into thin air every time she utters them. “It’s wrong—none of them should have been in that meeting. Especially Ron! I fought with the twins every week for a year about waiting until they’d graduated to join the Order. How can we sit back and let Ron—and Hermione—? They’re children, Arthur!”

Arthur lets out a sigh that sounds as though it’s been wrenched from his chest, rattling and uneven. “You know I agree, Molly—but…Ron and Hermione have made up their minds. Harry—”

“—is sixteen,” her voice breaks, and she feels the last threads of her indignation snap, the tears spilling past her fragile defenses. How ironic that she lies here, in this house where security grows tighter each day, when the walls around her heart have never been more vulnerable. “He is a sixteen-year-old boy.”

Read the full chapter on AO3.

[sincerely-wyvern]

Relationship #7 and Prompt #1, please!

Pairing: Harry Potter/Hermione Granger  Prompt: (AU) Soulmates 

By the time he was eleven, Harry Potter knew how to write his soulmate’s name blindfolded. Her name had been written on his arm for years. He spent hours tracing over the letters of her name – trying to sleep in the cupboard, between chores, and ignoring the things the Dursleys told him.

Hermione Jane Granger. 

Harry trusted it would only be a matter of time until he found her. He just had to wait patiently and prove the Dursleys wrong – he was worthy of a soulmate and he would be a good and loyal soulmate.

When Harry looked through the shelves at Flourish and Blotts, he picked up a few books on soulmates. He wanted to learn more, and maybe magic had a way for him to find Hermione faster.

“Ye’r parents were soulmates,” Hargid told him over lunch.

Harry was shocked. The Dursleys told him that his parents weren’t soulmates and they weren’t worthy of having a soulmate. “They were?” he asked.

Hagrid nodded. “James, ye’r dad, pursued Lily for seven years until she agreed to date him,” he explained. 

Nodding, Harry frowned at the phrasing. Pursued Lily. It sounded like his dad didn’t like being told “no” and he wasn’t respectful. One of the few things Aunt Petunia took the time to teach him was how to be respectful to women. It was impolite to ask a girl, or a woman, out more than once, and when she says “no” it meant “no,” not “ask again later” – though he later learned Dudley got his lessons from Uncle Vernon and those lessons were drastically different.

After Hagrid returned Harry to Privet Drive, the young wizard looked at Number Four before he returned and walked away. Knowing about magic, Harry didn’t want to remain with the Dursleys and, technically, no one told him to stay with them. He knew the Dursleys. If he walked into Number Four, it was unlikely Harry would be attending Hogwarts in September.

Instead, Harry took his school trunk and he walked to the bus stop. Thanks to Hagrid, Harry had money and he knew how to get to London and where The Leaky Caldron was.

A few hours later, Harry had a room at The Leaky Caldron and he a morning appointment with solicitor from Scroll and Wand, The Law Offices of Bones, Shafiq, Li, and Vane. 

Turning his attention to his new owl named Hedwig, he asked, “Can you take a letter to anyone?” he asked.

The snowy owl turned her amber eyes to him and she hooted.

“Can you take one to my soulmate?” he asked, a spark of hope forming in his chest.

Hedwig hooted a second time and she stuck out her leg. 

“Wicked,” he muttered with a smile as he moved to gather a pen and a piece of parchment.

Words: ~450

[hprecfest]

Day 4: a comfort fic

Mine (23,626 words) by GillianInOz on AO3 Gen

Five years after the death of James and Lily Potter, Dumbledore has a request to make of young potion maker Severus Snape. Dumbledore knows the truth about Harry Potter’s paternity, and he wants Snape to finally accept responsibility for his son.

Whispers of Intent (30,213 words) by tiranog on AO3 Harry/Severus

Auror Harry Potter has a life changing encounter at a bar.

Harry Potter and the Brewer Downstairs (107,252 words) by orphan_account on AO3

Harry/Severus

Harry just hasn't been the same since his wife died a year and a half ago, and he knows it. But knowing something doesn't make you able - or willing - to change things. It doesn't help him sleep, doesn't help him reconnect with the family and friends he's pushed away, and doesn't help him make sense of the realities of becoming deaf so late in life. So when a total and utter bastard of a potion brewer moves into one of the workshop units downstairs of his broom repair business, he couldn't want less to do with the man. Alas, not everything is as it seems with this mysterious wizard, and Harry discovers that he can be a bit of a bastard, himself. CW: Ginny died, and legit the first 70k words of this fic is Harry making a new friend and recovering from losing the love of his life; featuring violent flashbacks, panic attacks and very questionable but amusing choices!

[podfic] Miles to Go Before I Sleep (11,757 words) by JocundaSykes (Podfic), pluperfectsunrise (fic) on AO3

Harry/Severus

For fourteen years after the war, Harry Potter and Severus Snape dance once a year on the winter solstice at a Ministry ball.

The Dreaming Spires (29,202 words) by Dementordelta on AO3

Harry/Severus

Severus Snape gets on with his life after the war.

The Potion Master's Second Chance (648,148 words) by Thinksy on AO3

Gen

Seven months into Severus Snape's term as Headmaster, he finally perfects a potion that could change the war for the better… or destroy everything Dumbledore set in motion before his death. Dumbledore is dead, and his plans seem to be falling apart before Severus' eyes. Harry Potter and his friends are no closer to finding and destroying the Horcruxes, and Voldemort's hold over the wizarding world is growing. Severus Snape desperately creates a potion that can send him back five years into the past. Hopefully, with more time, he can find the Horcruxes, find a way to save Harry from the Horcrux inside him and maybe even save some of his other students along the way. Or he could fail and doom them all.

Menagerie (2,176 words) by Bil on AO3

Gen

AU. Take one Severus Snape, one baby Potter, and one insane Headmaster; simmer gently and stir well. Don't forget to duck!

16 July 2020 (992 words) by danpuff on AO3

Harry/Severus

Harry and Severus celebrate 20 years together.

Teatime Meetings (4,602 words) by lordhellebore on AO3

Narcissa Malfoy & Molly Weasley || DW rec

Ron and Draco are lovers. While their fathers are stubbornly refusing to face the situation, Molly and Narcissa decide to at least try, and therefore meet for tea once a week.

Animalia (6,809 words) by Animalia on AO3

Sirius/James || DW rec

Everyone assumed that Sirius and James got on so well because they were exactly alike and they were all wrong; everyone assumed Sirius and James got on so well because they were both crazy and that was true.

Where the Heart Is (15,575 words) by silver_fish on AO3

Harry Potter, Severus Snape, The Dursleys || DW rec

After the events at the Department of Mysteries in June—and all that came after—Harry finds himself once again stranded at Number Four Privet Drive. With only his own thoughts to keep him company, he takes to writing letters to the only person he thinks can help, if only he were still alive to do so. As it turns out, though, sometimes help can arrive in even the most unexpected of forms too.

Three's Family (19,351 words) by darkbluedark on AO3

Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, James Potter, Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black || DW rec

It’s May 1979 and the Order has just apprehended a pair of mysterious wizards who look remarkably like a Potter and a Malfoy. Naturally, James Potter and Sirius Black are called in to identify the strangely familiar strangers and determine their backgrounds and loyalties. (This would be a lot easier if their captives weren’t convinced everyone they talk to is dead. It would also be easier if they didn’t spend half their bloody time bickering.)

Ever upward (Series) (406,524 words) by stranglerfig on AO3

Gen || DW rec

Harry finds a better life with the basilisk, but that doesn't mean it's easy. From inter-being feuds, to bloody prophecies, to elven unrest, Harry is in the eye of a hurricane that will change the wizarding world forever. Involving thestrals, merfolk, house elves, centaurs, acromantulae, and various other friends, denizens, and allies.

[sir-bonesly]

March 23rd, 1987 Petunia Dursley, 32 Number Four Privet Drive

Petunia Dursley does not hate her nephew. While she hates magic, hates James Potter and his merry band, and hates the looks people give her when something weird happens, she does not hate her sister's son. Vernon, on the other hand, feels quite different. He's expressed his hatred for anything 'not normal' since Petunia first met him in her last year of secondary school.

She had yearned for someone to look at her back then, look at her without suspicion or fear. Vernon had looked at her and saw nothing but her normality. When Lily begged to meet the boy that had caught her older sister's eye, Petunia had been very upfront about Vernon's views on magic and non-christian religions. But Lily had insisted.

Of course, nothing in Petunia's life could be easy. The same day Vernon arrived to have dinner with the Evans', Severus Snape had decided to spend the night. Now, Petunia has never had any ill will against Severus, in fact, she held a large amount of pity for the boy. But his cold demeanor and sarcasm grated harshly against Vernon, and when he looked to her for help against the younger boy, she had been terrified of his reaction should she deny him. The night had ended in tears from both sisters as they dragged their respective man from the house.

The marriage was never meant to happen, not so early into their relationship. Barely a year into dating, in combination of Vernon forgetting protection and her parents commenting about Lily's marriage, Petunia announced both her pregnancy and marriage. Had she her choice of whom she'd marry, there were plenty of men she'd dreamed about. But none of them had gotten her pregnant at the age of twenty-three.

This is all to say, that Petunia Dursley loves her son more than her husband, and does not hate her nephew.

So when, on an usually sunny Friday morning, she hears Vernon yelling, she is quicker than normal to find out what has set him off. Laying on the stairs, arms covering his head, her nephew cowers behind Dudley. Her son, just a few months shy of seven, has a stern look on his face as his father stills from shock.

"Don't hurt him, it's not his fault!" His little voice wavers as he notices Petunia, but he doesn't move his arms from blocking Vernon. Petunia is shocked still at her son's actions. He's never acted so, out of character to his father. While she has tried her best to keep the relationship between the boys civil, Vernon has done his best to pass on his hatred of Harrison to Dudley, with varied success.

"Move, Dudley! Don't protect that little freak, he's not worth the dirt you walk on!" Vernon's faces reddens with anger as his son shakes his head.

"I'm not moving, dad." Dudley whispers, eyes never leaving his father's face. If he wasn't watching his father's reaction, he might've been able to dodge the hand that swings down at his face. Petunia barely holds back a scream as her son falls to the floor with a hand holding his face. Vernon doesn't stop though. He reaches past his son and grabs Harrison by his long hair, pulling him over Dudley's body and throwing him into the cupboard door. Petunia's first instinct is to run to her son, to hold him and leave Vernon alone. But Harrison looks up at her with tearful eyes that are so much like Lily's.

"Petunia, help me, please! Don't let him do it!" His voice breaks as Vernon holds his belt tightly, winding up to swing.

During Lily's fifth year away from home, something had happened between her and the bleak Severus. She had written home to their mother about how to react to a friend lashing out. That summer, Lily had been closed off and barely went outside. One morning though, Petunia went to tend to her small garden, and found Severus standing on the front porch.

When Lily came down, Petunia left them to talk things out themselves. She had to quickly return though when Lily started to scream her name, yelling for her help. What had truly happened, Petunia never found out, but both children were teary eyed, and Lily had a hand shaped bruise around her wrist.

To hear her nephew, who looked like his mother more than his father at such a young age, call for her help breaks something in her mind. Like a band that's been wrapped around her chest has snapped, she sees her nephew in a new light. A boy who's lost his parents, who's been abandoned by the magical world, and who needs someone to protect him.

Petunia grabs Vernon's hand as he lifts it to bring the belt down again on Harrison. Her eyes are cold and her voice, while quite and barely a whisper, are like a shout in a canyon.

"I'm leaving, Vernon, and I'm taking the boys with me," Vernon stumbles at her words, and she takes the opportunity to shove past him and kneel next to Harrison. "I don't know what came over me the last few years, but it stops now. I never should've allowed you to hurt Harrison."

Vernon, with all the grace of a bull in a china shop, returns his belt to his pants and storms out of the house, keys in hand. Petunia doesn't follow him. Dudley hurries over to his mother and cousin, breathing easy for the first time since Harrison entered the house. Unbeknownst to the three of them, Albus Dumbledore panics as his spells and wards start to fail.