Normally, Harry hated the end of the school year. It meant all of the students went home, and so did most of the teachers. It meant unless he went to the visit the Weasley's, or Draco, he would be very bored. Although, there were perks to getting older. He was allowed to go out to the grounds by himself for instance. He no longer had to be supervised at all times by a teacher or the caretaker Filch.

This summer, Harry was happy that the school year was over. It meant that in a couple of months, he would be a student at last. He would be able to go to classes and learn magic. He would finally have his own wand, and he would finally have kids his own age around as well. He would be able to sit with the other kids at the house tables instead of his usual spot at the teachers table.

He did still wonder why he and Professor McGonagall couldn't go to her house, if she did have a house. Why did they stay at the castle year round? Why couldn't they go on vacation somewhere? He loved the castle, but other than Diagon Alley, or his friends houses, he hadn't really left the castle grounds.

"Mrs. McGonagall," he began, forgetting to call her Professor while they sat in his sitting room. She was reading the Daily Prophet, and he was looking through a Transfiguration textbook. "Don't you have a house? Why do we always stay here?"

"I do have a house, but to be honest, I get lonely staying there by myself during the summers," she replied. "I prefer staying at Hogwarts."

"But you went to your house before I came along," Harry pressed. "Why is it so important for us to stay here? You stay here because of me. You won't be lonely at your house if I go with you. Students usually aren't allowed to stay at Hogwarts for the summer. Sam Audrick told me because he wishes he could stay here too."

"I wish you wouldn't talk to that boy," Professor McGonagall said instead of answering him.

"He talks to me," Harry said. "But I want to know the real reason why I stay here. I know you're my guardian and I am going to be eleven very soon. Does it have to do with my past? You've all promised me that you would be more honest with me when I got older."

He was tired of secrets and waiting to be older. He felt that he was now a student at Hogwarts, even if it was still the summer vacation, so why couldn't they tell him more? He had a feeling that there was something that the teachers still weren't telling him. He still often wondered why they waited until he was nine to tell him the truth. Draco had known the truth for years, and so had the Weasley's.

"I'll tell you what I know," Professor McGonagall finally relented. "However, there are some things I still don't know, Harry. Professor Dumbledore has his reasons for not telling you everything. He hasn't even told all of us, including me, everything. The reason you stay at the castle instead of going to my house is because Hogwarts is the safest place for you."

"Because of Lord Voldemort?" Harry asked causing her to flinch. "But he has gone. So we'd be safe going to your house. Besides, I lived at my aunt and uncle's when I was smaller. So why was it safe then, and why not now? And why would me come after me anyway?"

"The last part is what I don't know," Professor McGonagall replied. "As for the rest of it, you were safe at your aunt and uncle's because Petunia was your mother's sister. I have been given permission from the Headmaster to tell you this, but if you have more questions, he'd rather you ask him yourself. He knew you'd ask more questions about that night. According to Professor Dumbledore, your mother sacrificed herself for you when You-Know-Who went to kill you. It's why the curse rebounded on himself, and it's why you went to live with aunt and uncle. You were safe as long as you stayed with your aunt because you share her blood. Your mother's sacrifice created a shield for you, so to speak, while your resided there. The blood wards protected you."

"Even with the way they treated me?" Harry asked. "Did Aunt Petunia know that?"

"Yes, we left a letter for her. She knew that by taking you in, she was keeping you safe and alive," Professor McGonagall confirmed.

"But apparently it didn't apply to abuse," Harry said feeling the bitterness and resentment he usually felt when he thought back to the time when he'd lived with his aunt and uncle. "It didn't protect me from getting hit or starved all the time."

"Harry, if we'd known that would happen when we dropped you off, we would not have left you there," Professor McGonagall told him. "I've always felt guilty about that. I would have argued with the Headmaster more if I'd known we were leaving you to four years of abuse. I knew your relatives wouldn't understand magic, but I didn't know they'd take it that far."

Harry looked at her sharply. There was something else that had always bothered him all these years, but he had never asked her or anyone else. He'd always believed they would tell him that he had to wait until he was older. How had he ended up at Hogwarts? They had to have known something was going on, otherwise why had he woken up in the hospital wing? Had one of them set that cat after his uncle? The cat had attacked Uncle Vernon for hitting him, and then it had slept on him to keep him warm. With the exception of Mrs. Norris, he had never met a cat that obeyed it's owner so well, but obviously someone had told that cat to do that.

"But you knew," Harry finally said. "All of you knew something was going on. I fell asleep outside that night, and I woke up here in the Hospital Wing."

"Yes, we found out Harry," Professor McGonagall explained. "Do you remember your neighbour, Mrs. Figg?"

Harry's eyes widened. Mrs. Figg was a witch? Was she the one who had saved him? He did remember her always asking about his bruises and cuts. Hadn't she commented on his black eye? That cat had been at her house when he'd arrived. So was it Mrs. Figg who had set the cat after him? Could she talk to cats the same Filch could? Why hadn't he made that connection before?

"She's a witch? She brought me here? She sent that cat to attack my uncle?" He fired off his questions quickly.

"She's a squib. The same as Mr. Filch is. I believe we told you about squibs?"

Harry nodded quickly. Yes, he'd learned all about them during his schooling. They were people born to witches and wizards, only they didn't have powers. They were kind of the opposite of muggleborns from his understanding. Many of the big kids often said it was the reason why Filch was so bitter. Harry had to wonder why he would want to work in a magical school?

"She was there to keep an eye on you. She reported to us that you appeared to be abused, so we began taking it in turns to watch you. We rarely saw you, but I did once see your aunt shove you off a chair while she was teaching you to cook, and at five-years-old," she added that part angrily. "We began arguing with Professor Dumbledore that it wasn't the place for you to be. But then Halloween night, while I was visiting Mrs. Figg, I saw that man hit you and I'd have enough. He left you outside, so I brought you here," she finished.

"So you set the cat after him?" Harry asked with shock. "But where were you? I didn't see you at Mrs. Figgs. Were you hiding under a disillusionment charm. Why didn't you ever tell me it was you who brought me here?"

She seemed to hesitate a moment. She let out a sigh, but Harry didn't break eye contact. After almost six years, she was finally telling him the truth, and he wanted more from her, and from Professor Dumbledore. By the sounds of it, it was partly his fault that he'd been abused for so long. From the sounds of it, he might have left Harry there if Professor McGonagall hadn't interfered. All because he thought the blood wards could protect him. Sure, they kept him safe if Lord Voldemort ever came back, but they didn't save him from being abused. He often wondered why his magic hadn't protected him, but that was a question for another day.

"I was the cat," she finally replied. "You would have found out in your third year anyway. I am an Animagus. I can turn into a cat. I attacked him in my cat form, and then when I saw that he left you outside, I laid down on you to keep you warm. When you fell asleep, I brought you here. I would have liked to tell you sooner, but Harry, you always had so many questions that we couldn't answer until you were older as it was. I couldn't tell you when you were five because you'd have wanted me to teach you as well. It was something else we'd have to tell you that you couldn't do. And to be honest, if you ever decided to become an Animagus, I'd rather you wait until you're at least seventeen. There are so many complications with it. You'll learn more about it when we do a unit in it your third year."

Harry just stared at her. She had attacked his uncle? It made sense. Even at the age of five, he'd known it hadn't been normal cat behaviour. He remembered when it had run out of Mrs. Figg's house, only for it turn and stare at him. And hadn't Mrs. Figg told him that the cat went to visit sometimes? Likely she had been there in her normal form until the Dursley's had dropped him off.

It had been a very rough day for him. Even after all these years, he still remembered that beating. His uncle had always been very rough him, but it had been one of the worst spankings of his life, and it was on the day he'd finally gotten the bacon right. It had been on the day when he was supposed to go trick-or-treating at a few houses.

At school that day, they were supposed to do a number of Halloween activities as well. He'd been looking forward to that too. He hadn't even been able to go to school however. His uncle had spanked him so bad, he'd been in too much pain. His aunt had kept both him and Dudley home that day. He wasn't sure why Dudley had stayed home too.

He just remembered that his aunt had actually been concerned about him. It was the first time she'd ever shown any concern after a beating, though it hadn't lasted. She'd let him lay on his stomach and watch cartoons on the telly after she'd applied some kind of cream to his bottom and the back of his legs. It had been the first time she'd ever told Dudley to let him be as well, but for once, Dudley hadn't been excited. Usually, Dudley had loved it when Harry got in trouble. Harry believed now that it had been a bad day for all three of them.

He'd been so excited for that day. He remembered talking about it at school with his teacher, some of his classmates, and even his older peer tutor. He was supposed to be a ghost, and he'd drawn many pictures of himself dressed up as a ghost, and then he hadn't been allowed to do it! All he'd gotten was a terrible spanking for leaving the table, and then he'd been slapped hard for making Dudley sick, and then he had to sleep outside.

"I was going to be a ghost," he finally told her and then told her more about that day. "It was the worst day and the worst spanking, but then I ended up here. Were you talking about me at Mrs. Figgs?"

"Yes and I know it was a very bad day for you," Professor McGonagall told him, her voice sounding funny. "We saw that in your memories. I went to her house for a meeting, and she told me you were coming over for a visit soon. I stuck around so I could get a glimpse of you. You weren't supposed to see any of us. Unfortunately, we rarely saw you outside."

"I wasn't allowed out much unless it was to do my chores," Harry explained. "When I turned five, I had to start earning my keep. I just could never do things right, at least in their eyes. I tried very hard everyday, especially with the bacon and eggs. I hated it though. Sometimes the grease would splash me and burn me. It was so scary and sometimes Dudley would do something to scare me. I was always scared that Uncle Vernon would burn me on the stove. He threatened me he would."

"Harry, if we could have taken you out of there sooner, we would have," Professor McGonagall told him. "I wanted to the moment we were contacted by Mrs. Figg, but Professor Dumbledore wanted to be sure she was right first. After all, they were innocent until proven guilty, and it was the safest place for you, or so we thought."

"Were you at my house a lot as a cat?" He asked.

He couldn't ever remember seeing the cat before. And could the other Professor's turn into animals as well? Had they all been watching him in animal or insect form? Or was she the only one who could turn into a cat? He wished they'd talked to him, though by the sounds of it, they couldn't have. He wanted to see Professor Dumbledore, but unfortunately, the Headmaster wasn't at Hogwarts. He'd gone off somewhere for a few weeks. Harry wasn't too sure of where.

"Sometimes, or else we were under disillusionment charms, or we transfigured ourselves to look like someone else," she answered.

Harry nodded. He wished they'd seen the abuse sooner, or else would have just let him live at the castle when he was a baby. He didn't admit it, but he still felt as if there was something wrong with him even if everyone had reassured him there wasn't. He also knew that chances are his aunt had been jealous, he remembered even saying that to the teachers. But why did they have to hurt him as much as they had? Why did they have to basically turn him into a slave?

And would they have even let him come to Hogwarts if he still lived with them? If Professor McGonagall hadn't found him sleeping outside, just how bad would the abuse had gotten? He remembered the older he got, the more they hit him. He would be getting his acceptance letter from Hogwarts very soon. What would they do if he'd gotten it? Would he be beaten and then locked in his cupboard?

"I bet I wouldn't even be able to come to Hogwarts if you hadn't found me," he finally said.

"You would have come," she told him. "We would have investigated it if we hadn't gotten your acceptance letter. We even assumed, even after we dropped you off that it might be hard getting a hold of you. I think Professor Dumbledore would have sent one of us to explain. It's what we do for muggleborn students after all. I don't know if Petunia would have told you who you were."

"Not likely," Harry snorted. "I bet even if they hadn't been as mean, they wouldn't have told me anything. I remember a lot. They didn't like anything to be out of the ordinary. They wouldn't want to explain to the neighbours why I left every school year."

He often wondered what his Aunt Petunia was doing now. He knew his uncle had gone to a muggle jail, though from what he heard, he wasn't supposed to be in there for long. So perhaps he was already out. Was he living with Aunt Petunia again? He knew they no longer lived in the house on Privet Drive. She lived in a flat somewhere with Dudley. Did Dudley ever wonder what happened to him?

-
Petunia flinched as Dudley entered the flat, walked right past her, into his bedroom and slammed his bedroom door. This was becoming a frequent occurrence. She missed the days when they'd been very close, but something had happened during Dudley's last year of Primary school. He'd gone from a very helpful boy, to one who ignored her.

After they'd lost the house, and Vernon had gone to jail, Petunia had stayed with a friend until she could afford this flat. Dudley hadn't taken to moving here too well at first. He'd been used to playing all day in the backyard except when he was in school. He'd been used to her being home all day, and having a snack while he watched the telly. All that had changed, and after many tantrums, he'd adjusted and actually started helping her out in the flat after school.

After school, once she came home from work, they would prepare dinner together and talk about their days. It had seemed that even though things had gone very bad for them, things were working out for the best between the two of them. She no longer had the boy around, or the threat of her husband who had been a very angry man. She had to work, and though somehow many people knew about the abuse of her nephew, things seemed to be for the best.

To this day, she still didn't understand why so many people knew what had happened. Sure, at times child abuse could make the news, but it seemed everywhere she went, people recognized her. For the first year, she hadn't been able to hold her head high because of it, and she'd been ashamed. Not only because of what she was going through, but because she'd finally realized just how bad it had been for Harry. It still didn't make sense how so many people knew, and she often wondered if the wizards had something to do with it. Was it the reason for why Dudley seemed so angry? She'd done her best to shield him from it, even by putting him in a different school.

Sighing, she got up from the kitchen table where she'd been going over the monthly budget. Money was still very tight these days. She missed the days of having someone else earning all the money, and not having to worry about it. Back then, she'd just have to worry about keeping the boy in line, making the meals, and keeping the house clean.

Again, she couldn't help but think back to Harry. Something had changed in Vernon. She hadn't wanted to take Harry in, but she had for her sister, and to protect Harry. She knew even then that she would never show him the love that she showed Dudley, especially since he too had those powers she liked to ignore. The first couple of years were fine, and Harry kept to himself. But then something had changed in Vernon, and he went from the loving doting husband to the angry man he'd been at the end.

She knew now it was just an excuse, but she always believed that by beating Harry, it kept all three of them safe. She'd thought back then that if she joined in on hurting him, it saved him from an even worse beating. He had never actually struck her or Dudley, but the threat had been there, and she'd gone from loving him to fearing him, and treating an innocent boy so cruelly.

She'd even told Vernon to just leave him alone that fateful Halloween day, but he had stared at her so coldly that she'd been frightened. So she'd stood back while Vernon had spanked Harry harder and longer than any child ever deserved. She still could remember the sounds of those slaps against his bare flesh, and his horrible screams. It had even scared Dudley, and her son used to encourage the beatings.

That night, they'd let Dudley eat some of the treats while they went out, even though he'd eaten too many during the day as well. Because of this, Dudley had been very sick, and they'd had to cut the night short. She'd sent Vernon to bring Harry home from Mrs. Figgs. She had no idea that he would blame the boy, and then make him sleep outside.

It wasn't until the next day he'd told her what he'd done. She rushed to the door to open it. What would the neighbours think if they woke up early and saw him there? What would the milkman think? No one knew just how bad the abuse was, even if his teacher had sent some letters home asking why Harry seemed withdrawn compared to Dudley. She'd been worried people would guess what they had been doing to him if they saw him on the porch sleeping.

However, Harry had been gone, but there was an owl standing there with an envelope. She knew what that meant. She'd grown up with Lily after all. Before she could do anything, it had flown into the house and into the kitchen, straight to Vernon who had yelled out furiously. It dropped the letter on his head and took flight back to the door that she hadn't closed.

The letter informed Vernon that they knew about the abuse Harry had suffered, and at the moment, they had him. It wasn't until a few days later when another came informing them that he was staying with the wizards forever, and that they may be charged with child abuse. They'd come to visit not that much longer with the threat that they could take Dudley away.

Vernon had gone to jail, and she'd been charged for child abuse. She always believed the wizards had made the price higher than normal just to ruin her life. It had taken most of their life savings and her house. She knew that in the wizarding world that Harry was famous, and she felt they'd gone after her more than the average person because of that. She felt they'd used magic to influence the Judge's decision when it came to Vernon as well. Not that he didn't deserve it, but she'd believed he would just be put on probation or something instead of getting five years. And the hearing had happening so quickly after they'd taken Harry. Normally it didn't work that way. From her understanding, it could take up to two years with court cases. Harry's had been over within a couple of months.

Perhaps it was the fact that Vernon was no longer in jail that made Dudley angry. Vernon wasn't allowed to visit them. Maybe her son really wanted to see his father. He'd never mentioned it, but they never talked about those days anymore. Dudley had stopped asking after Harry and his father years ago.

She couldn't taken the hostile home environment anymore, so she stood up, and headed to Dudley's bedroom door. He'd put a sign up saying: Keep Out! She knocked anyway though. She tried to respect her growing sons privacy as much as she could, but at times she did go into clean. Her son could be very messy.

It took a few minutes before Dudley answered the door. He glared up at her.

"Yes?" He asked with raised eyebrows.

"I would like to talk to you. Could you please come to the kitchen table with me? We can have a snack," she said.

"About what?" Dudley asked without budging.

He was starting to look more like his father with every passing day. It was hard for her to look at him at times when he stared at her with such hostility. The only difference was that he wasn't as big as his father had been. He'd been going down that road when he was younger, but he'd lost a considerable amount of weight after they'd moved. At the time, she hadn't really noticed he was far too big for a child his age. It wasn't until her friend had pointed it out (to her annoyance) that she'd given it much thought. Now he was at a healthy weight, but she felt relieved by this. The last thing she wanted was for him to be teased about something else.

"About this new attitude," she told him. "It's gone on long enough, and I think we need to talk about what is bothering you."

She'd been reading many parenting magazines about this very thing. How to talk to your hostile teenager. Dudley wasn't quite a teenager yet, but he would be in two years.

"Maybe I don't want to talk about it," Dudley told her.

"Well, I do," she told him. "We need to get through this. We're a team, remember?"

Dudley snorted. "Some team."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" She asked.

"Were you and dad a team when you decided to beat and starve my cousin?" Dudley snarled. "What about when you forced him to cook when he was five? And you let me hurt him too!"

"Diddy," she began with his childhood nickname.

"No mum," Dudley interrupted. "You put Harry through hell!"

"Where is this coming from?" She asked him. "Come sit down, and let's talk. I didn't realize you were so angry about your cousin. And you know I'd take it back if I could."

Dudley didn't respond. He pushed his way past her, and walked over to the kitchen table. There flat was rather small, but it was all she could get for a two bedroom. The kitchen and the living-room were one room, and they didn't have a dining-room. Not that she had people over anyway. Their rooms were down a small hall with a bathroom across from her room.

"Talk to me Diddy," she said once she'd joined him.

"How could you let my cousin be treated that way?" Dudley demanded. "I've been remembering a lot from those days lately. You starved him and locked him in a cupboard!"

"I didn't realize you were so angry about it," she repeated. "When you were younger, you never minded the way we treated him."

Dudley rolled his eyes. "Cause I was a little kid and I thought it was normal. I bet if you hadn't been caught I would still think it's normal. Why did you have to treat him like that?"

"I was scared of your father, Dudley," was all that Petunia could offer but Dudley snorted again.

"Mum, we're doing fine on our own now. If you were that scared, you could have left dad and brought me and Harry here!" He said angrily.

"Dudley, it wasn't that simple," she said.

"But it could have been!" Dudley said. "I've been thinking about that day ever since dad was released from jail. He wrote me, you know. I found it in the mail but never told you. He is staying with Aunt Marge, and he isn't even sorry! He's angry that he had to go to jail and he is angry with you for telling them what happened. He thinks we betrayed him."

"And do you think that?" She asked wondering if that was what Dudley was so upset about.

"No," Dudley responded. "I think what you both did was wrong. But I think you did what you could to stop yourself from going to jail too."

"No I didn't," she said. "Dudley, I enabled the child abuse but that was it."

"What does enabled mean?" Dudley asked with a frown.

"It means I allowed it to happen and I didn't do anything about it," she explained. "But I never did it myself."

"That's a lie!" Dudley responded angrily. "I saw you! You used to hurt him too! I saw you so many times! You pushed him off chairs, you pulled his hair, you spanked him, you-"

"Dudley, I did it because I feared your dad," she replied.

She knew it sounded like an excuse as she said it, but Dudley hadn't see the ways her husband could look at her. At first, when he'd started to be rough with Harry, she told him off for it. Dudley and Harry had been so little at the time. She'd also done her best to protect them from the horrible words. Neither boy had witnessed some of the things he would say to her or about her sister after they were put to bed. Even years later she could admit it was an excuse, but it was easier to think that now because she wasn't living it.

"He probably thinks I hate him too," Dudley said with a bit of a pout. "Do you ever hear from him?"

"I haven't heard from him since he was taken away," she replied. "I don't know how to contact them."

That was a lie, but she was sure they didn't want to hear from her. She too wondered how he was doing. How was he doing after living four years of abuse? Did he live with a wizarding family now? And why couldn't they have done that in the first place? Why did they leave him with a family who wouldn't want him? She knew all about the blood wards of course, but they obviously had him in a safe place now. She knew he was at that age to be a student at that school.

"I want to show you something," Dudley said, and without another word, he got up and headed to his bedroom.

She wondered what it was that he wanted to show her. Was it the letter Vernon had sent to Dudley? He wasn't supposed to contact Dudley. It was up to her to change how things were, and even then, he could only talk to Dudley with supervision. She'd been considering changing things if Dudley wanted it. It seemed he didn't want to see his father though.

Dudley returned with a painted shoebox that had bits of construction paper glued to it. Petunia had vague memories of Dudley bringing a shoebox home that was similar to the one in his hands in year one, but it had looked different than this one. When he set it in front of her, she leaned forward to see Harry Potter written on it big messy letters.

"Where did you get that?" She asked him with shock.

They'd never paid attention to Harry's school work when they into the school for the parent and teacher nights. Now that she thought about it, the teacher had shown her that box a few weeks into September. All the children had shoeboxes they'd decorated to keep some of their favourite school work or artwork in. Back then, they'd dismissed it and had taken more interest in Dudley's. When he'd brought his home when she took him out of that school, she'd put up some of his artwork on the fridge. She wasn't sure what he'd done with his old shoebox.

"I asked Piers mum to get it for me," Dudley said. "I still talk to him, but when we left that school, I asked Piers mum at the end of the school day if she could get it to me someday. The teacher wasn't going to give it to her at first until she explained it was for me. I've had it ever since."

"But why didn't I know about this?" She asked.

"She brought it when you asked her to baby-sit me years ago. I kept it in my closet," he explained. "I have other things of Harry's. I have some stuff he made from Reception too, but this is from year one. This is what I wanted to show you," he continued and he lifted the lid off the shoebox.

He pulled out a child's painting of a stick figure with what appeared to be a ghost costume drawn around it. On the stick figures round head were a pair of glasses, and even a lightning bolt scar! The stick figure was holding a bag.

"Harry drew that?" Petunia asked with shock.

It could only be a painting of Harry in a ghost costume. It had obviously been for that Halloween day all those years ago.

"He was so excited to go trick-or-treating," Dudley explained. "It was all he talked about at school. I remember thinking how annoying it was, but now when I think about it's really sad," and he continued to pull out stuff from the shoebox. "We had peer tutor buddies remember? I was one too for the last few years. It's when the big kids help out the little kids."

"Yes I remember," Petunia said wondering what else he wanted to show her.

The picture of the boy in the costume made her want to cry. He'd been so excited for that day, and he hadn't even gotten to go. She thought back to that day, it had been a school day as well if memory served her right. The spanking had been so bad that they hadn't even sent him to school.

"This is what he got his peer tutor to write for him," Dudley told her as he pulled out a piece of paper. He read aloud: "Tomorrow night I am going trick-or-treating for the first time. I am going to be a ghost. Tomorrow is going to be the best day ever. I can't wait!"

Petunia began blinking back tears. The picture of the ghost had gotten to her, but hearing it in Harry's words made it worse. He really had been excited, and all he'd gotten was a beating and then he'd had to stay with Mrs. Figg. When she remembered back to that day even more, she could remember the heartbroken look on his face as they'd gotten Dudley ready to go. The best thing that could have happened for the boy was that they wizards had found out.

"I remember so many of the mean things you and dad did to him," Dudley continued. "But I'll never forget that day, especially now that I remember how excited he was. And the saddest part is you were only going to let him trick-or-treat to the cat ladies house. He wasn't going to be out the whole time. He was so excited just for a few houses!"

Everything Dudley said was true. It was only a few houses. The boy had been so excited about just getting a few treats. At the time, Dudley would have thrown a temper-tantrum but Harry had been excited about three or four houses. And this time, she couldn't keep the tears from running down her cheeks.

"And you did all that 'cause he was a wizard!" Dudley snapped, causing her to stop crying from shock.

She had never told Dudley about Harry's heritage.

"How did you know-"

"I listened when those wizard people came," Dudley told her. "I snuck back downstairs after you put me to bed so I could listen. Anyway, I remember everything before you took me upstairs. You called them wizards too. You said Lily was a witch. Lily was your sister, wasn't she? I remember that too. And Harry always accidentally did weird things. I've thought about it a lot since then. You always thought I wasn't listening before dad went to jail, but I always did. You and dad always talked about it. I remember that long bearded fellow saying there is a Ministry of Magic too. Harry could do magic, right?"

Dudley was certainly full of surprises. She'd never expected, even back then that he'd been that observant. She'd always thought Dudley was a simple minded child who just played and ignored adult talk, especially at that age. There were times back then when she and Vernon would discuss Harry after he left, and Dudley would be playing on the floor or colouring. She'd never expected that he was actually listening the whole time, or that he would remember it.

"Dudley, all I can really say is I am sorry," she finally said. "If I could take it all back, I would."

"It's not me you should apologize to," Dudley told her. "But you can't apologize to Harry and neither can I. You always told me it was okay to hurt him when I did it, but it wasn't!"

Seeing how much this meant to her son, she wondered if she should send a letter to the wizards? Would she even be allowed? She remembered how angry that elderly woman had been with them. She'd told Petunia she should be ashamed for treating her sisters son that way. She told her Lily would be devastated if she knew her child how grown up abused. Petunia had felt fully ashamed, and she should have. She was glad Lily didn't know what had happened to her little boy.

And for the first time, she felt she deserved to have lost almost everything.

A/N: This is one of the chapters I remember writing years ago, although I don't remember if this is exactly when it took place. I just know Dudley confronted Petunia about the abuse, and that Harry asked McGonagall more about that night. They might have even been separate chapters. Now, if anyone is thinking that Dudley is OOC, remember the Dudley in the books had a different experience. The abuse in this story was a lot worse first of all, secondly, Dudley in the books had a Dementor attack knock some sense into him. In this story, he only grew up with four years of the abuse. He had time to grow up and realize it was wrong. The Dudley in the books was used to the treatment of Harry when he was eleven and older.

The shoebox thing and the peer tutor thing comes from my own experience in school. I'm from Canada, and in Kindergarten and grade one we put some of our school work in shoeboxes we decorated. The peer tutors were kids in grade four to grade eight who helped out kids in Kindergarten (although there is Junior Kindergarten too now, but not when I was in Kindergarten. That started a couple years later) to Grade three. In this story, it's kids in Year four to year seven helping out the kids in Reception to Year three. At least I hope I have the years right, especially for the 80s. If the years for the UK are wrong, let me know. I just went with that Google told me.