A Time And Place To Grow

Chapter 2: A Bath And Breakfast

"Little blighter," Uncle Vernon shook his head as he picked up the discarded hammer, "not a moment of peace with him around. I swear, Petunia -"

"No, Vernon," his wife cut him off. "Don't start. There's nothing we can do anyway."

"Think he's coming back?" Vernon jerked his

head towards the fireplace.

Petunia dusted the mantelpiece with a rag, straightening the pictures of Dudley. "Probably not tonight. I imagine we'll hear where he's gone tomorrow, or they'll bring him back."

Vernon swore under his breath, but Petunia looked over at her son. "Enjoying the show, Sweetums?"

"Yes, Mum." Dudley said around a mouthful of gummy bears. "Can I have more chocolate?"

The doorbell rang before she could answer. Petunia and Vernon turned towards the hall slowly.

"Don't move," he hissed. "Don't speak. Maybe

they'll think no one's home."

"Don't be ridiculous," Petunia threw her rag on the kitchen counter as she walked by. "They know we're here. I don't want another screaming letter. You stay with Dudley, and don't let anything happen to him!"

Vernon opened his large mouth to tell his wife to come back, but she was already down the hall to the door. Steadying herself with a deep breath, she opened the door prepared for the worst.

To her surprise, the person standing on the doorstep was not a freak or anything frightening. Simply, a tall man with long dark hair dressed in a black suit, an impatient look of his face.

"Mrs. Dursley?" he asked crisply.

"Yes," Petunia held on to the door, ready to slam it if trouble arose.

"I'm Professor Severus Snape from your nephew's school."

"Oh, so you're a..."

"A wizard? Yes, madam, I believe that is the correct term. At the present moment, young Mr. Potter is at my home, asleep. He arrived a couple of hours ago, unexpected and gave me the impression that he was not planning to return to your humble home."

"We did not kick him out," Petunia insisted, aware that her husband was watching from the end of the hall. "He just stormed down and started attacking the fireplace, then disappeared in the green flames."

"Yes, it took him to my house," Snape watched her carefully. "But I take it you are not sorry to see him go?"

Petunia stepped closer, partly closing the door to cut off their conversation from the rest of the house. "I heard what happened - how his godfather died. And how the other boy died last year. I don't care what anyone thinks, when he was left on our doorstep fourteen years ago, I knew there would be trouble. After my sister and that man she married were killed. I knew it was only a matter of time before their murderer came back."

"That was a wise assumption considering how many people believed that he would never return," Snape noted, his face blank.

"Yes," Petunia crossed her bony arms, her lips tight," but we did take Harry in, against Vernon's wishes and my better judgment. Dumbledore thinks I've been cruel, but I do have another son to think about. I only have one son and a husband to worry over. And taking into account that everyone who gets close to the boy ends up dead -" Petunia closed her mouth and stared down at the ground with red eyes.

"Quite understood," Snape stepped back. "I'm sorry to have bothered you so late in the evening. Suffice to say Mr. Potter will not be returning tonight or anytime in the near future if I can help it. You have been through a great deal, Mrs. Dursley, and I commend you for persevering. Dumbledore may frown upon your treatment of his favorite student, but you did all you could considering the circumstances. If I could take Mr. Potter's schoolbooks..."