The Beauty, The Beast, and The Potter

Chapter 2

Petunia Dursley awoke the next morning the same way she did every morning. She got dressed, fixed her side of the bed, fixed her hair, then went downstairs to begin breakfast and to set the milk out for the milkman.

She was not expecting to find a baby on her doorstep. Yet, that is exactly what happened, and she promptly screamed, dropping the bottles and waking the baby.

"VERNON!!" She screeched, and her husband thundered downstairs.

"Dear god, woman!" He exclaimed gruffly. "Are you trying to wake the neighborhood?"

"Look! Look at it!" She told him, and he looked down to see the crying baby who clutched the letter from Dumbledore. Vernon Dursley's face went very red as he bent down and picked the baby up, quickly handing him to Petunia and ripping open the letter, his own baby boy, Dudley, screaming from his bedroom for attention.

"Petunia." Vernon said gravely. "Bring the boy inside." She looked to him, shocked.

"Vernon, are you-?"

"I SAID BRING HIM INSIDE!" Petunia didn't question him this time. She quickly scurried inside and Vernon slammed the door shut, not seeing the woman hiding in his bushes.

"This, is addressed to you!" He told her, handing the letter over to her as she bounced the baby boy in her arms, trying to get him to quiet down. She took the letter in her other hand, and read it, her expression unreadable.

"This is Harry, Lily's son." She told Vernon. "We have to take him in." Vernon's face turned beet red.

"Take him in!? With freaks for parents like he had!?"

"Perhaps, if we never tell him about it, nothing will happen!" Petunia told Vernon. "After all, he'll never learn that dreaded rubbish if he doesn't know it exists! He can live under the stairs, away from crowds and onlookers. We've got a cot in there already, after all. He won't need much." Vernon's face was turning purple, but he sighed.

"Fine. Wouldn't want him traced back to us, anyhow. Now, go get Dudley and bring peace back to this house!"

But peace did not come so easy for Petunia Dursley. After a short breakfast, Vernon had hurried off to work, leaving Petunia to feed Dudley, who threw his food all over the kitchen, and Harry who still took a bottle most of the time.

Both babies needed to be changed, and Dudley had an absolute fit. He hated being changed, and made it more difficult for Petunia. Harry wasn't too bad. After being fed, he was a much more enjoyable infant, and even smiled at Petunia as she buttoned him into one of Dudley's wunsies that didn't fit anymore. Petunia, however, did not return the smile. She merely set out a blanket and a few toys, and allowed the two to play while she sat down for a minute.

"Duddy-kins, don't poke Harry's eye now." She told him tiredly at one point, when a knock came at the door. Petunia stood up to answer it, having to pick up Dudley because he had started screaming again, and she opened the door to see a dark red haired girl with a sprinkling of freckles across her nose standing there. Harry, who was by Petunia's feet, gave a yell and held up his hands to her.

"Belle! Belle! Belle!" And the girl, without saying a word to Petunia, bent down and lifted Harry into her arms, the little boy quieting at once, Petunia in shock.

"How did you do that? They've been yelling all morning! Who are you?"

"I'm an old friend of Lily's." The younger woman told her. "My name is Belle, remember? I came to your house for Christmas one year. I want to help you take care of Harry." Petunia opened her mouth to tell Belle to leave, that her kind wasn't allowed here, but then she remembered the hectic morning she'd been having, and she had an idea.

"Come inside, Belle." She told her. The woman stepped through the threshold into the house. "Have a seat." Belle sat down in one of the armchairs, Harry curling up in her lap, as Petunia shut the door and sat down across from her. "Now, you went to school with Lily, yes?" Belle nodded, rolling her eyes a little.

"Yes, Petunia, I know about Hogwarts and magic and whatnot." Petunia shivered at the words, but kept going.

"Well, if you can keep the boy from ever learning of these abnormalities and keep him from becoming spoiled, I'll let you watch over him and have him over for weekends. I'd say you can keep him..."

"But we both know Professor Dumbledore wouldn't approve of that." Belle finished for her. "I understand. I'd love to take him in when you need me to. I used to take care of him for Lily and James quite a bit. I know how to handle a magic baby." Petunia winced at the word.

"Alright, but we must keep this a secret from Vernon. He wouldn't approve of me allowing... One of your kind to help raise the boy when we strictly said we wouldn't tell him about... That." Belle shrugged.

"Alright. Then tell him that I just moved into town. Make me sound like a desirable babysitter for Harry." She told her, and Petunia noticed that Harry had fallen asleep in her arms, her legs crossed. Dudley was by Belle's feet, beating on her leg. She held Harry in a way that if Dudley tried to hit him the way he was hitting her, she would protect him.

"You really care for the boy, don't you?" She asked, and Belle nodded, looking down at the sleeping baby in her arms as if he were her own.

"Petunia, I knew Lily and James well. I grew up with both of them, and would let nothing harm their child." She spoke as she looked at the baby, pushing his already long black hair out of his face, thinking just how much he looked like his father, it was uncanny. But she knew the eyes underneath the closed eyelids. Those were the eyes of her best friend, a girl who really got Belle. She would do anything for that girl who had been there when Belle was alone.