Julie Anne Dursley

Deathly Hallows Part 1

"Get down here, boy! We need to talk!" Vernon's voice coming from downstairs was loud and clear even though Harry's bedroom door was closed. He threw away the newspaper he had been reading and went downstairs. It was the summer of 1997 and the atmosphere had been tense at four Privet Drive, ever since Kingsley Shacklebolt and Arthur Weasley had made an unanticipated visit to the house. They came to explain that since the protective charm would break as soon as Harry would turn seventeen, the family was in danger and had to go into hiding. This had obviously come as an enormous shock to the Dursleys, and they were not at all sure on whether to accept the protection or not. In fact, Vernon, being the head of the family, had changed his mind about ten times now. One moment he felt he needed to protect his family, then next moment he was sure it was all nonsense and some kind of trick to get a hold of the house.

When Harry entered the living room he found Vernon and Petunia standing in the middle of the room, and Julie stood a few feet away from them with her arms folded. They all looked at him.

"Yes?" Harry said.

"I've come to a decision. We're not going to leave," Vernon said. Harry did not say anything; they had had this conversation before. "I don't believe it," his uncle continued.

"You seemed to believe it when Kingsley and Mr Weasley came to explain," Harry said pointedly. It was true, Kingsley had made a very good expression on the family with his deep voice and proper attire.

"Let's say that we accept this protection. Why can't we get Kingsley to transport us to that safe location?"

"Well, he's not available, but Hestia Jones and Dedalus Diggle are very accomplished wizards and up to the task."

"We don't even know who those people are."

Harry began to lose his patience and pointed at the television. "All of those accidents aren't actually accidents. Voldemort's behind it all; the crashes, the explosions, the disappearances and the murders. Even the fogs, they're caused by Dementors, and if you don't remember what they are, you can ask your daughter." He pointed at Julie, who gave him a scared look.

"There are... more of them?" she asked feebly.

"Of course, there are maybe thousands by now."

"All right, we get it. But what about my work? And what about Julie's school? I doubt you lot took those things in consideration!" Vernon snapped.

Before Harry knew it, he started shouting. "Don't you get it?! Are you really as stupid as you look?! They will torture and kill you!"

Julie seemed to be convinced by his words. She looked at her father and softly said: "Dad, please. I think we should put our trust in Harry. I want to go with these Order people."

Harry looked at her. "Thank you, Julie." She nodded at him. He knew they would accept the protection now; there was no way they were going to be separated from their Juliebee now that she was scared enough to go. "They'll come tomorrow at nine p.m.," Harry said and he left the Dursleys alone as he went back to his bedroom.

The next day the Dursleys had resigned to their fate and started packing. Fortunately some of their most precious belongings fit in their storage unit on a supervised area. When Julie was in her room she felt odd. The idea that they would be leaving and maybe never come back was a very weird feeling. In her room she found some long forgotten toys, most of which she had intentionally destroyed when she was upset about something. From her desk she grabbed the watch Calum had given her for their one year anniversary. She put her favourite picture of them together in her wallet, nodded to herself and decided to do what she had deemed best. She went downstairs and as she was waiting for him to come, she looked at her youth pictures in the living room. The living room where she had thrown so many tantrums about rather silly things. "Every day you grow a little older, and every day you grow a little wiser," she mumbled to her younger self on the pictures. The pictures did not respond.

She then went outside and sat by the drained pool, her beloved pool that she had been given to train for gymnastics during the summer breaks. Who could have foreseen that she would quit the sport at fifteen and simultaneously leave her father's old prestigious school? Life was really weird like that sometimes, but at least those choices had been her own. She waited by the pool and stared at the hole in the fence through which Calum usually came to visit her. There was no logical explanation to that, it just had become some sort of ritual in their relationship that he almost never entered through the front door. The sound of cracking twigs indicated his arrival. "Hello, Jewel!" he called when he had appeared in her view. His smile was warm and his hair was messy; some things never changed.

"Hello, Cay. We need to talk," Julie said. She had gone over this conversation about a hundred times in her head, but she knew that would be nothing like the real thing.

"Sure, about what?" Calum curiously peered past her into the house, where Vernon and Petunia were packing and checking for things they might have forgotten.

"Well, the thing is, my family and I have to go away for a while. A long while. It's hard to explain." It was true, how was she supposed to explain to her boyfriend that her cousin was actually a wizard and that some very dangerous wizard had returned, and that that wizard was now plotting to kill her cousin and that she therefore had to go into hiding?

"Well, can you try to explain?"

"It's got to do with my family's safety. Please trust me."

"Of course I trust you, Jewel."

She did not know how to say this so she just did. "We should break up." When she said those words she did not look him in the eyes. Her eyes that he had once called pretty just could not do it.

"Why?" he asked flabbergasted, "no matter where you're going, I can wait for you!"

"The truth is, I care too much about you to let you wait indefinitely for me. You should go and meet someone else."

"Is that... really what you want, Jewel?"

"What I want is that you're happy, Cay. I can take care of myself, so you just get out of here and don't you look back."

"There must be another way..."

"Just leave now... please." Her lips started to quiver.

Calum stared at her for a few more seconds and then he nodded. "All right, Jewel." He turned around and slowly disappeared through the hole, among the trees, until they had engulfed him completely. Julie gulped back the tears and went inside, where her mother gave her a sympathetic smile and a hug.

"Are you sure Calum's going to be all right?" Julie asked her.

"Of course, Juliebee, dating you for almost two years has made him tough as nails. He'll be fine."

"Yeah, I guess so," Julie said, but it was more hope than anything. It suddenly dawned on her just how much her life would change on this very day; within a matter of hours she would basically lose the entire basis of her life. Apparently this was one of those major crossroads that every individual sometimes had to face.

"Come on, Julie! Hurry up!" Vernon gave his daughter an impatient pat on the back. They were carrying the last of their suitcases to the car, but Julie had stopped for a few seconds to look at the house. She still could not quite believe that they were about to leave it all behind. Not just the house, but basically their whole life. The gloomy grey sky seemed to reflect her emotions. She sighed and followed her father. The people from the Order would arrive in a couple of minutes. Julie was not scared of them, they were going to protect her family after all. She just hoped that her father would not be too rude to them during the transport. They went back inside to wait in the living room. It seemed much emptier even though they were not actually bringing most of the furniture.

"I've lived in this house for twenty years, and now I'm expected to leave in a single night?" her mother asked nobody in particular.

"It's going to be okay, mum, we're doing this as a family. We have no choice, but we're leaving together and one day we're coming back together," Julie said. Before she knew it her mother had hugged her tightly. She actually hated it when her mother did that, she could barely breathe, but seeing how upset she was she decided not to protest this time.

Harry silently stood in the doorway. When Petunia had let go of Julie, he spoke. "You made the right decision. They'll murder you."

Petunia looked at her nephew. "You think I don't know what they're capable of? You didn't just lose a mother that night at Godric's Hallow, I lost a sister." Harry and Julie both looked at her, too taken aback to say anything. The doorbell rang. Petunia quickly wiped away a tear and Vernon went to open the door.

"Hello, you must be Harry's uncle!" an excited voice said. Petunia and Julie went into the hall. They saw a tiny wizard with a purple hat and a black-haired witch. "I see you're all ready to go! Splendid! Let's go right away. The plan is to drive about an hour and there we'll Apparate to the safe house. Ah, hello Harry! What an honour to see you again!" Harry had followed the Dursleys into the hall to greet the members of the Order and shook their hands.

The Dursleys stood there awkwardly until Hestia softly said: "I think we should wait outside by the car." Dedalus nodded and stepped outside with Hestia, but there was no teary goodbye.

Vernon turned around and looked at his nephew. "This isn't just goodbye boy, is it? This is farewell."

Harry nodded, but Julie looked at him in surprise. "Wait a minute. I don't understand. Isn't Harry coming with us?" She looked inquisitively at her father, then at her mother and finally at Harry.

"No," her father said impatiently.

"Why not?"

"Because, well, he doesn't want to, right?" Vernon said and he looked at Harry.

"Absolutely not. Besides, I'm just a good-for-nothing git, ain't I, uncle Vernon?"

Vernon did not respond to that directly. "Well, come on, everyone," he said and he stepped outside. Petunia, without looking at Harry, followed but Julie did not. Some kind of internal conflict seemed to be going on, until finally she realised that she felt something she had never felt allowed to feel. She genuinely cared about him and was worried for his safety. While her parents walked to the car, she turned to Harry.

"I... I don't think you're a good-for-nothing git." She went red and Harry felt surprised and a bit embarrassed himself.

"Er, thank you, Julie," he said.

"You saved my life. I don't think I ever properly thanked you. So... thank you, Harry."

"That's all right."

Julie realised full well that this was maybe the very last time that she would ever see him, and there was so much that she wanted to say to him, but somehow her brain did not cooperate with her voice. Instead, she just offered him her hand and he shook it. "Please be safe, no matter where you're going and what you're going to do. I don't want to lose the only cousin I have," she said.

"I'll be fine, Juliebee," Harry said.

"I know you will. You're a strong man, Harry James Potter, the kind of person who gets up no matter how many times he falls down. You go get them." Julie smiled at him, nodded and turned around. She looked over her shoulder as she slowly walked towards the car. She hesitantly waved once more at her cousin, who nodded at her. Finally she got in, settling herself next to Hestia on the back seat.

The drive took about an hour, like Dedalus had said, and finally they stopped at an abandoned factory in the middle of nowhere. "All right, everybody out, please!" Dedalus called and Julie gladly did. She had not enjoyed the ride one bit. Her father had been quite impolite to the wizards, questioning everything they told him to do. Also the remark 'These people can't even drive!' after Dedalus had paid him a compliment regarding his driving skills Julie had found stupid. She was sure that these wizards meant well.

Once they were out of the car, Hestia grabbed her arm and soon after she felt her feet losing touch with the ground. She saw a myriad of colours and finally they landed on soft grass. The fresh air felt incredibly good after the Apparition. Night had fallen during the transport and the Dursleys could barely make out where they were. While the Dursleys were recovering from the unpleasant sensation of Apparition, Dedalus Apparated once more to get their belongings. It seemed like they were in the clearing of a forest, on which a house had been built. The house was more of a mansion and comprised of about four or five floors. Its shape was rectangular and the bricks were black. All in all it did not look very inviting. "This is The Lair," Hestia explained, "let's go inside."