Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Petunia was sitting in a compartment in the train with Remus, Rose, and Arthur. James was sitting with Jack, Henry, Molly, Dominique, and Louis. Petunia didn’t really know the older cousins of Remus and James just yet, but they promised to introduce her more during the school year and especially during the Christmas holidays. Apparently Victoire was sitting with the Prefects on the train.

She did remember seeing somebody with Victoire briefly as their families were seeing them off to Hogwarts, though she wasn’t sure who he was. He and Victoire looked close, though. She could’ve sworn she saw them snog before she boarded, too.

As the group was sitting in their compartment, they saw other students going by in the halls, some older students as well as a few first years, like themselves. There was one boy who had the blondest hair Petunia had ever seen, even more than hers and her father’s. He looked in and asked if he could join them in their compartment. They all looked at each other and agreed before looking over and nodding at the boy.

The witch pushing the trolley came by after the boy did, before they were able to introduce themselves. Petunia looked excitedly at the sweets on the trolley as did the others in the compartment with her. They each bought a couple of sweets from the woman and sat back down on their seats, deciding that they better get introduced to the blonde boy in their compartment. She decided to start.

“My name’s Petunia. What’s yours?” she asked as she looked at the boy before opening a chocolate frog. She learned from her uncle and cousins to quickly eat these, so she did, not looking at the card just yet.

“My name’s Scorpius Malfoy.”

“Malfoy… I think our parents went to school together. I’ve heard mum and dad mention that name,” Rose said. Remus and Arthur agreed as they’d heard the name too. Petunia recognized it from the book. She looked at him.

“Is your father Draco Malfoy?” she asked. He looked at her and nodded. “I figured. I recognize the name from the book about Uncle Harry.”

“‘Uncle Harry’?” He looked confused.

“My dad’s her uncle,” Remus said, looking at Scorpius. “I’m Remus Potter. These are my cousins Rose Weasley,” he indicated Rose, “and Arthur Weasley,” and Arthur as he said their names. They both nodded at Scorpius. He thought for a moment.

“I’ve heard those last names too. Of course, I know who Harry Potter is, and I’ve heard my dad mention the name Weasley. Don’t you have a lot of family?”

They nodded with little smiles on their faces. Scorpius then looked at Petunia. “Are you a Weasley too? You mentioned Harry Potter’s your uncle.”

“No,” at the response Scorpius looked confused. Everybody knew that Harry was technically an only child (unless you counted his godbrother). She explained. “My dad is Harry’s cousin. So technically he’s my cousin but my brother and I just call him and his wife uncle and aunt. My last name is Dursley.”

Scorpius nodded at this. They all chatted about some other things before moving on to discussing Hogwarts.

“What house do you think we’ll be sorted into?” Rose asked the compartment.

“Well, I think I’m gonna be Gryffindor, like my parents and brother,” Arthur said. Rose agreed with him on that. Remus looked at them.

“Well, my dad was almost in Slytherin, but he and mum were both in Gryffindor. They don’t really care what house I’m in as long as I’m happy and do well in classes. Just like with James.”

“My parents were Slytherin, so I’m probably going to be sorted there. I don’t think my dad would be happy if I was sorted into either Hufflepuff or Gryffindor,” Scorpius stated.

“What do they have against Hufflepuff and Gryffindor?” Petunia asked.

“Well, they were both in Slytherin so that’s why they don’t really like Gryffindor. I’m not sure about Hufflepuff, but all our family’s been in Slytherin, except for some cousin of my dad’s, so they’re expecting me to be too.”

“Well, a lot of times families get sorted into the same house. Weasleys are almost always Gryffindor,” Arthur mentioned. He knew his entire family, with the exception of one or two family members, had all been put in Gryffindor. “Victoire is in Ravenclaw.”

“I think I might be in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, from what I know about the houses,” Petunia said, remembering what she’d been told and read about the Hogwarts houses.

“My mum said she was almost put in Ravenclaw,” Rose told Petunia. “She said that the hat took a bit trying to decide whether to put her there or Gryffindor, like Uncle Harry with Slytherin and Gryffindor.”

“I just want you all to promise we’ll still hang out no matter what houses we’re in,” Petunia said, looking around at everybody. “That includes you too Scorpius.”

They all nodded at her and she was happy that she already had a friend group regardless of what house she was going to be in. They talked a bit more and got to know each other, mostly them getting to know Scorpius and him getting to know them since Petunia had already spent a bit of time with the Weasleys in the past week. Once they got closer to the school they all changed into their robes and were getting more excited. Petunia couldn’t wait to see what the school looked like after all she’d heard and read about it.

When the train arrived, they were all buzzing with nerves and excitement. They said goodbye to the older children since the first years were gathered by Hagrid (Uncle Harry had mentioned Hagrid before and apparently his children all knew him already) and he led them to a bunch of little boats. First Petunia was amazed at the fact that the boats were moving on their own, but that amazement paled in comparison when she saw the castle as they made their way across the lake. Her mouth had dropped open as she stared. The stories from her aunt and uncle didn’t do the castle justice. She knew that her cousins had sometimes come to the castle to see some of the professors, but Remus looked to be just as in awe as her.

Once they disembarked from the boats, they ended up in a separate room to await the sorting ceremony. Petunia was still with her little group from the train, all of them talking about the sorting ceremony. She realized that most of her cousins and current friends would likely be in different houses than her so she’d need to make a couple friends in her own house once she was sorted. It would be nice to have a friend within her house since they could spend time together in the common room when everybody else was in their own as well. Though the friend group already decided that they’d hang out whenever they could and even do homework together in the library.

Eventually a professor (who Remus told her was actually the headmistress and someone he called “Aunt Minnie”), came into the room and led them into the Great Hall. Petunia looked around and saw the candles floating in the air and the ceiling that looked like the night sky outside, stars included. She also saw the four house tables sitting in the room with students seated at each table. She could see James and a few of his cousins, mostly at the Gryffindor table.

Finally they made it to the front of the room where the head table was. A small professor (Flitwick, Remus told her) brought out a stool with an old patchwork hat on it. She was confused, until the hat opened what looked like a seam at the base of the hat, but it turned out to be a mouth as the hat actually sang . She just stared wide eyed at it before the first student was called up. The hat was placed over the student’s head, covering her eyes, and then after a minute or so it yelled out “HUFFLEPUFF” and the hat was removed and she went over to the Hufflepuff table as they cheered. So this was how they were going to be sorted.

Petunia didn’t pay a lot of attention to the few students before her, she was too busy listening for her name since she knew she would be earlier on the list since it was alphabetical.

“Dursley, Petunia.”

She walked up to the hat with a bit of hesitation. The hat was placed over her head, slipping over her ears and covering her eyes. It was silent for a moment when she heard a voice inside her head.

“Hm, very loyal I see and hardworking. Hufflepuff would be good for you. But there’s also a thirst for knowledge of any kind and quite some intelligence too. That’s best suited for Ravenclaw. I think you’d be best in-”

“RAVENCLAW!”

The hat was taken off Petunia’s head as she smiled and went over excitedly to the Ravenclaw table as they cheered. The older students welcomed her and she sat down next to another student in her year, before turning back to watch her friends get sorted as well. She clapped for the other Ravenclaw students, but didn’t really remember all the names being read.

“Longbottom, Primrose.”

Petunia knew the last name Longbottom for a couple reasons, so her head perked up. There had been a couple other last names that she remembered from the biography of Uncle Harry, but this one was the same last name as the current Herbology professor as well as a good friend of her aunt and uncle.

The hat sat on her head for a couple moments.

“HUFFLEPUFF!”

Primrose happily made her way to the Hufflepuff table and sat down with her new housemates. Petunia turned her attention back to the others.

“Malfoy, Scorpius.”

There was some whispering in the hall, but that seemed to happen with any last name related to a family that was either heavily involved in the war, was highly influential, or both. Just as he’d predicted, the hat had barely landed on his head when it proclaimed-

“SLYTHERIN!”

She smiled at Scorpius, which he returned, before he made his way over to the Slytherin table and sat down. It took a little bit for her cousin’s name to be read.

“Potter, Remus.”

The hall erupted into whispers from both students and professors alike, though Remus didn’t seem to be surprised by this and Petunia wasn’t overly surprised either. Her uncle was arguably the most famous wizard, especially in Europe. The hat sat on Remus’s head for quite a while while everyone waited to hear what house he’d be put into.

“GRYFFINDOR!”

Remus smiled and made his way over to the Gryffindor table to raucous applause and cheering and sat between another student from his year and his older brother, who affectionately ruffled his hair with a small smile on his face. He looked over at Petunia with a bright smile which she returned. She knew her cousin wanted to be in the same house as his parents and older brother. Now Petunia only had Arthur and Rose to pay attention to the sortings of.

“Weasley, Arthur.”

There was some whispering again, but it seemed that most were just mentioning how this was another Weasley, which made Petunia giggle as she knew how big the family was.

The hat didn’t need to sit on Arthur’s head long before it announced-

“GRYFFINDOR!”

There was loud applause and cheering (not as loud as it had been for Remus but meh) from the Gryffindor table again, mostly from his cousins, as Arthur made his way over. Right after him was,

“Weasley, Rose.”

The Sorting Hat took a longer time to place Rose than it had with Arthur. Finally, the hat seemed to decide where she’d be placed.

“RAVENCLAW!”

Petunia loudly cheered as Rose made her way over to the table and sat down next to Petunia. She was happy that she’d already have a friend in her house. She’d probably befriend others, but it helped to know at least one person in her year that was also in her house. And because her family had stayed at Potter Manor the last week of summer holiday along with her family, they’d gotten to know each other quite well and became fast friends. Maybe the fact that they had a shared interest in learning new things and talking over what they’d learned helped.

She paid little attention to the rest of what was said before the plates on the tables filled themselves magically and the feast began, to the astonishment of Petunia.

Chapter Text

Petunia was sitting next to Rose and the two of them introduced themselves to the other students they were sitting with in their year. The student who Petunia had sat next to after she was sorted was a girl named Ella Boot whose twin brother Connor had also been sorted into Ravenclaw. There was another classmate that Petunia started talking to named Lochlan Ainsley. They all joked and got to know each other more as the feast went on, Petunia enjoying all the different foods that were on the table. One of the best parts was when the dessert appeared after the main portion of the feast.

After everybody was done eating, the tables cleared themselves and Headmistress McGonagall stepped up to the podium to say some notices for all the students and a small speech before letting them all go. The older students left on their own, but the first-years all were told to follow the prefects from their houses. Their prefects led them through the castle. There were multiple staircases (some of which moved!) and a few secret passages until they were in front of a door with only a bronze eagle knocker on it. The prefects explained that in order to get into the common room, the knocker would ask a riddle and either they had to answer it correctly or wait for another housemate to answer it correctly in order to get in. Petunia thought that sounded incredibly interesting.

The common room was fairly large (though not as large as some of the rooms in Potter Manor) with beautiful arched windows and blue and bronze fabrics on the walls. The carpet and ceiling of the room was a dark midnight blue with stars in the ether. There were tables and comfortable looking chairs laid around the room and next to another door in the room was a tall marble statue of a witch, whom Petunia recognized as Rowena Ravenclaw from the information on the school she’d gotten a hold of. There was also a small library in the common room and moving portraits on the walls. She wasn’t sure what the view was from the windows as it was too dark to see right now, but she’d find out in the morning.

The prefects told them all a bit about the common room, as well as where to find their dorms (through the door next to the statue were staircases leading to the dorms for each year) before letting them go about the rest of their evening.

Rose and Petunia eventually went to their dorm. The room had 5 four-poster beds against the walls of the circular room. The beds each had navy blue curtains with a couple shelves on the back of the bed and a nightstand next to each bed. The windows also had blue curtains. At the foot of each bed was a student’s trunk and Petunia found that her’s and Rose’s were next to each other. The bed on the other side of Petunia belonged to an Orla (if the first name on the trunk was to be believed). The other two beds belonged to Ella and a Maeve. Petunia hadn’t met Maeve or Orla yet but she figured she would eventually since they were roommates.

Petunia moved over to her trunk and opened it to take out a few personal items to decorate with, while Rose did the same. Both of them took out a few photos to put up around their beds, and they both had a copy of the same photo of their families with Uncle Harry’s taken shortly before they left for school. They were wizard photos too, so they moved (which Petunia still thought was the coolest thing in the world). Petunia also had a photo with her brother and parents and one with a lot of the Weasley children as well as her cousins. She also had a couple little figurines and postcards and such from her family trips and from holidays that she set up as well. She then grabbed some parchment and a quill to write a letter home to let her family know how everything went.

She told them what house she was in (and reminded them what that house represented) and what houses the rest of her friends were in, including her new friend Scorpius and her new Ravenclaw friends Ella, Connor, and Lochlan. She also described the Ravenclaw common room and her dorm and promised to send some photos soon. She and Rose (who’d also written a letter home) left their dorm and made their way to the Owlery to send off their letters with their respective owls. Petunia stroked Bridget’s feathers a bit before she left with the letter and the two girls made their way back to the common room.

They got back and went to sit with some of the other first years. They already knew Ella, Connor, and Lochlan but they were introduced to Eoin and Orla, who were both from Ireland. Molly and Victoire Weasley also came over and talked with them a bit, mostly Petunia and Rose since they were cousins with Rose and knew Petunia through Uncle Harry. The other first years they were with seemed a little impressed that they knew a couple of the older Ravenclaws so well already, but Rose and Petunia explained why they knew them and it made more sense. A couple of their eyes sparkled a bit since Rose was a Weasley . Petunia knew there was another first year in this little group that was muggleborn as well, so Eoin didn’t really know what the meaning of that last name was.

She could see the gears turning in Ella and Connor’s heads, though. Then Ella spoke up.

“Petunia, you mentioned that you knew them through ‘Uncle Harry’?”

“Yeah,” Petunia responded, starting to figure out where this was going.

“I know that the Weasley children have Harry Potter as their uncle since he married Ginny. Since you know the Weasley children through an ‘Uncle Harry’, does that mean that your uncle is Harry Potter ?”

All the faces in their group turned to look at Petunia. She felt her cheeks turn a slight pink as she nodded at Ella’s question. “Yeah, he’s technically my dad’s cousin but my brother and I call him and his wife our aunt and uncle and his kids do the same with my parents.”

That had the half-bloods or pure-bloods in the group sparkle with interest even more than before.

“You’re related to the Harry Potter?!” Lochlan asked with interest, his voice raising slightly. Eoin just looked on, confusion still apparent in his eyes.

“Shh!” Petunia hushed him as she noticed some other students turn to look over at them. “Not so loud! I don’t need everybody swamping me because he’s my uncle. I may be a muggleborn, but I know how important he is and how everybody else will react. My parents and I saw the reaction when we went shopping with him. But, to answer your question, yes. Our families have visited each other’s houses and we have plans for the Christmas holidays.”

“That’s so cool!” Connor said, in a quieter voice due to Petunia’s warning.

“Hey, Rose and her brother and cousins know him and his family just as well, if not more so.”

“Well,” Rose cut in, “Hugo and I definitely do, but some of my cousins aren’t as close. Uncle Percy isn’t as close to Uncle Harry, so his daughters don’t know him as much. But Uncle George, Uncle Lee, Uncle Fred, and Aunt Angelina are really close with Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny! Though part of that is because they all played for Gryffindor.”

“Which Weasley is your parent?” Ella asked, looking over at Rose.

“My dad’s Ron Weasley and my mum is Hermione. Since they were so close with Uncle Harry in school, Hugo and I are really close to him and his kids too.”

They all sat around and talked a bit more before they headed off to their dorms. Rose and Petunia met Maeve and the five girls talked a bit while Orla, Ella, and Maeve unpacked their trunks a bit and after all the girls had changed into pajamas and gotten ready for bed. Petunia was excited to start her classes and find out what her schedule would be like. She’d already read a lot of the books she’d gotten, both the school required books and the ones she got for fun.

Chapter Text

Petunia had had trouble falling asleep the night before simply because she was too excited to actually start learning magic. Sure, she’d seen magic performed more and more since it was discovered that she had it, but that was different than learning it. The classes all sounded exciting, too. Flying wouldn’t be too hard, but she’d already started learning with Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, and James. And of course she knew a lot about Quidditch because James wouldn’t shut up about it. Apparently he’d been let on the Gryffindor team in his first year as a seeker since McGonagall (Aunt Minnie as James called her) knew he had nearly the same talent as his dad (and apparently Uncle Harry was the youngest player in a century and had phenomenal talent, not that he ever bragged about it or even played professionally). Petunia also remembered reading about Uncle Harry’s Quidditch talent in the biography.

After she’d gotten some sleep and gotten dressed, she and Rose walked down to the Great Hall together to get breakfast and wait for their schedules to be handed out.

When they got their schedules, Petunia saw that they had Potions with Gryffindor, which meant that she’d get to see Remus and Arthur during that class. They also had Herbology with Slytherin meaning that she’d get to see Scorpius then too. It looked like Flying was with Hufflepuff, though Petunia didn’t know any Hufflepuffs in her year yet. The first class they had was going to be Charms, and she was practically vibrating with excitement.

~~Alex~~

Petunia was starting classes at Hogwarts today. Alex and his parents had gotten a letter from Petunia this morning that had talked about her first evening at the school and who she’d met along with what house she was in. She’d been put in Ravenclaw, which Alex figured would happen. His sister was wicked smart and had been reading everything about Hogwarts and the classes that she could get her hands on, along with that biography of Uncle Harry and some of the history books that she’d gotten as well as some of the ones that were in the library at Potter Manor. Alex was also certain that she’d end up getting top marks in most, if not all, of her classes with how much she’d already taught herself through the textbooks from her school list. He couldn’t wait till he could go to Hogwarts too.

Right now, though, he was stuck going to a normal primary school. He’d heard that wizards didn’t really have primary schools and they’d either homeschool their children or have them go to muggle primary schools, so there was nothing he could really do about that. From what he’d heard, Lily was homeschooled along with her cousins from her mom’s side of the family. Apparently a few of the adults had all created a group to homeschool the children together, which Alex was just a little jealous of. He’d also have to construct a really believable lie about where he was going to be going to school to tell his friends when they were heading off to secondary school. And it’s not like he could use technology at Hogwarts (Petunia said in one of those books it mentioned that technology and magic didn’t really mix too well which was why some things were still old fashioned).

Alex apparently had been so distracted that the magic he only recently discovered he had, decided to act up a little. It wasn’t anything big, but Alex knew that he had, accidentally, caused it. In his boredom and focus on Hogwarts, his magic has caused a stack of papers that’d been on his teacher’s desk (nicely stacked nowhere near the edge) to fly off and scatter everywhere on the floor. While most of the other students thought it was just a common occurrence, he saw a few look over to the closed windows and back at the papers, wondering what could have caused them to fly everywhere so suddenly if it wasn’t the wind.

He actually felt a little giddy at performing magic. It wasn’t on purpose, but he was still excited to know that he even had magic. He loved watching all the magic his aunt, uncle, and cousins had been performing, especially when they were staying at their house. And there were the moving, talking portraits and pictures and book covers. The teacher collected her papers, confused as to how they ended up the way they had, while Alex was able to keep his smile inside over the magic. Maybe next time his parents took Petunia to that magic shopping area (the name was something similar to the word ‘diagonal’...), he could come too! Or maybe he’d get something magic-related from his aunt and uncle as a gift!

These thoughts helped him keep any jealousy towards his sister going to magic school at bay. After all, he’d be going there in a couple years anyways. Maybe he’d be able to figure out what house he’d be in…

~~Petunia~~

Petunia was already loving her classes. Sure, she hadn’t had all of them yet, but the ones she had were already so exciting!

Of course, they weren’t doing too much in terms of magic since the school year was just starting, but Petunia was still enjoying everything. The professors all seemed quite nice too. Petunia had been just a little worried after learning about some of the professors Uncle Harry had when he was in school. Though, the majority of the problems he’d had were because of the “curse” on one of the positions that was apparently no longer an issue.

~~~~

By the end of the week, Petunia was completely spellbound by her classes. They’d started using magic more in some of the classes, and she’d been able to successfully summon her broom fairly quickly in her flying class. She was thankful that she’d already learned how to fly with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. Otherwise, she was sure she’d have been fairly scared of the whole thing. She’d also befriended a Hufflepuff from that class. It was Primrose, whose surname she’d recognized during the sorting. Her father was actually the Herbology professor and a friend of Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry. That was why Petunia recognized the name when she heard it.

She was quite proud that she’d managed to make at least one friend in each of the four houses. And they’d all met up a few times during the past week during free time and a couple meals. It was also nice to do some of their homework assignments together, especially for the classes they had together. The girls in her dorm were also very nice and they’d already had a few deeper discussions while getting ready for bed. She also liked that they’d bounce homework answers off each other and discuss things they’d read and learned. While Petunia liked learning things on her own, she liked the camaraderie that came from living with others who had a few major things in common. They’d also found out that another of Uncle Harry’s school friends was a professor of one of the electives and was a Ravenclaw as well (Remus called her Aunt Luna).

So far, her favorite classes were Potions and Charms, though she’d have to wait to see what the other classes had in store before she knew for certain. History of Magic seemed interesting, but the professor (who was a ghost!) wasn’t very good at keeping the class interested with his monotone lectures. She heard that it was worse for some of the other Houses in terms of attention spans. Especially with how young they were. She loved learning, but even she would zone out sometimes when class dragged on. She was also sure it was worse for those who grew up learning a bit of magical history and already knew some of the subject matter.

She’d written a few letters to her parents and brother, and had gotten a couple responses back. Saturday morning one of Uncle Harry’s owls dropped a letter in her lap before she fed him some of her breakfast (the owl’s name was Monty). The letter she got was specifically from her brother, asking about Hogwarts in more detail (she’d written mostly about her classes but her brother was interested in the castle itself) and then he proceeded to tell her about the accidental magic he had in class during the week when he wasn’t paying too much attention to the teacher. While she felt a little exasperated with her brother not paying attention to his class, she was excited that he was excited about doing magic even if it was unintentional. Alex even mentioned that their parents were thinking of getting an owl of their own at some point if they were going to be sending letters to Hogwarts more, and not having to either use Uncle Harry’s or wait for Petunia’s to drop off a letter for them to send a response.

Alex apparently really wanted their parents to get an owl. He loved owls before they found out about wizards using them to send parcels and letters.

Once she and her friends finished breakfast (they all sat at the Hufflepuff table today), they decided to go outside to hang out and play a couple games to relax. They didn’t have a whole lot of homework just yet since it was still early in term. Petunia planned to work on some later, though, as she didn’t want to fall behind no matter how much homework she had. She knew her uncle and his friends tended to finish homework last minute (though most of that was because of other events outside of their control) and was determined to not let that happen to her.

The group (Petunia, Scorpius, Remus, Rose, Lochlan, and Primrose) headed outside, with Remus saying that he’d brought some Exploding Snap if they wanted to play. They all eagerly accepted, finding a nice spot near the lake that was partially shaded by a big tree. There were other students working on homework, relaxing, or playing some sort of game in other areas of the sprawling grounds, and Petunia could even see some students on broomsticks over where the Quidditch pitch was. She guessed that perhaps it was a team practicing or some students either preparing for tryouts or getting a leisurely fly in (James had mentioned that tryouts were coming up).

After playing multiple rounds of Exploding Snap and talking a bit about their families and how their summers were, the group all headed inside and separated a bit to do other things. Petunia and Rose decided to start working on some of their homework with Lochlan in the Ravenclaw common room. Petunia also planned to write a response letter to Alex then too, so she could send it off with her Bridget before heading down to dinner. She was going to tell him all the details of the castle she could remember from what she’d seen so far, and even include some rumors she’d heard (and some details she’d learned from Uncle Harry’s biography).

~~Dursley Household~~

Alex was impatiently waiting for a letter from his sister, hoping to get more details about the castle. Maybe he’d get to visit it before starting school there. He wanted to see the castle so badly. He knew that Uncle Harry’s kids had gone to it before since apparently he knew some of the professors and the headmistress. Petunia was sure to send him details about the castle and some more about her friends. They seemed really nice and maybe he’d get to meet some of them during summer holidays if she had them visit.

When her owl showed up, Alex was practically vibrating with excitement. She landed, held out her leg to allow him to grab the letter, and then flew over to where they kept some owl treats. He read through the letter, reading more about Petunia’s friends (Primrose seemed really nice and Lochlan seemed cool) before she started describing some of the castle.

A lot of the staircases moved and the portraits on the walls talked and moved around between them all. She’d even heard that one of the portraits guarded Gryffindor Tower (apparently when Uncle Harry was in school, she’d even been attacked!). There were also enchanted suits of armor throughout the castle and secret passages that were known shortcuts that they mostly used to get to their common room (which apparently all the houses did throughout the castle). She described the Quidditch pitch and the Great Hall with its floating candles and ceiling that matches the sky outside.

There was also a giant squid that lived in the Black Lake on the grounds, and she’d also read that there were Merpeople and Grindylows as well. There was a forest (they weren’t allowed in) that had all sorts of creatures, including Centaurs! He didn’t know those were real!

While Alex read the letter, eyes sparkling, Dudley had been starting that book about his cousin that his daughter had left him. There were a lot of different colored sticky notes stuffed throughout the book, and they had different definitions and notes that she’d added when she came across certain people or terms. He was thankful for his daughter’s habits since they’d not only gained her good grades and a thirst for any kind of knowledge, but it was going to help him understand more of what was in the book. He was a little surprised at the length of the book, but knowing more of Harry’s life made it make sense since he’d been through a lot.

Most of which Dudley hadn’t known anything about.

Emily had also shown interest, but was more content with either getting the information from her daughter or husband, or reading the book at a later time. She knew that Dudley needed to read it before her, needed to know exactly (or as exactly as the book got) what his cousin had gone through before reaching adulthood. It would even help him understand some of the dynamics between Harry and his adoptive family.

He knew it would most likely take a bit to read the book considering he had work and other engagements, but Dudley decided to start it about a week after Petunia started Hogwarts. He’d been too nervous about how she’d acclimate beforehand to focus on much of anything, but her letters had been reassuring (plus his cousin had been able to acclimate well despite not knowing magic even existed for most of his life at that point).

Despite Harry telling him the basics of what happened to him as a baby, reading about it was a little different. Harry spoke fairly quickly about it, not wanting to linger on the start of his fame and the end of his original family. Dudley understood that, and it was hard to read how horrible it’d been. There was input from Remus and Sirius about what kind of people Harry’s parents had been and how much they loved their son. Remembering how he and his parents had treated Harry, he mourned what Harry should’ve had. What his parents should’ve tried to provide. He really regretted how long it took him to realize how horrible Harry was treated at their house.

This was going to be a tough read.

Chapter Text

~~Petunia~~

Yep. Her favorite classes were Potions and Charms.

She definitely enjoyed most of her other classes (History of Magic was still tough), especially Transfiguration. But her definite favorites were Potions and Charms. She loved the work that went into Potions and how specific the ingredients and steps were, including something as mundane as which direction you needed to stir. The professor also was quite nice (she’d heard and read that Uncle Harry’s professor for the class, Snape, wasn’t a very nice man) and she found the class somewhat relaxing. Charms was fun and they were learning quite a few different spells, including levitation! Petunia wondered if you could use that charm on yourself…

Alex had also been thrilled with her sending him little tidbits about the castle that weren’t necessarily in the book she’d read (though apparently it’d been edited and reprint after Uncle Harry had discovered the Chamber of Secrets in his second year). And while Petunia had met a number of people, she already had a specific friend group she hung out with, which was made of those she’d befriended on the train plus some of her newer friends. She’d sometimes hang out with the older Weasleys and Potters, but since most of them weren’t in her house, she didn’t see a number of them very often since they had different kinds of schedules and responsibilities.

Though sometimes they would help the group of first-years with some of their homework if they asked. Petunia had also already seen a couple pranks done by Henry and Jack, though they hadn’t been caught yet. They’d also enlisted Peeves in one of their pranks, causing even more chaos. She was just glad she hadn’t been caught in any of their pranks yet, though apparently they didn’t often target family and friends. Though it was still a possibility. And some of the pranks were just targeted at whomever was unlucky enough to come across it first.

The caretaker Mr. Filch hated having another set of prankster Weasleys at Hogwarts. James even helped with his invisibility cloak and some sort of map he had, Petunia didn’t know specifics. Some of James’ cousins on his mom’s side didn’t even know he had the cloak.

Currently, Petunia was working on some homework as it rained a bit outside. Normally she’d be interested in spending some time outside on the weekend, but as it was raining, she was going to get a head start on the assignments she had. She was in the library with her normal friend group as they talked about some of the assignments they had when they needed help with something or couldn’t remember a specific detail they needed to include.

And Remus seemed to be a little distracted by something. Petunia noticed, and decided to quietly ask him if everything was ok.

“I don’t know,” he replied, shrugging a little. “I’ve just had this feeling for the past few days that I’m being watched. It’s weird. James has had the same feeling, too. We can’t figure out what it is, and James says he didn’t really have the same feeling last year. And that was when people were watching him a bit since he was the first of dad’s kids to attend Hogwarts.”

Petunia frowned a bit. “That’s odd. Have you noticed anybody watching you?”

“No! And it’s annoying since I can feel somebody watching me and I never see anybody and I know somebody isn’t under the cloak since James basically never lets it out of his sight.”

“What’s this about?” Rose asked, looking over at Petunia and Remus after hearing a bit of their whispered conversation. Rose asking also caught the attention of everybody else at their table.

“What’s going on?” Eoin asked. Remus sighed.

“I was telling Petunia that I’ve had this feeling for the past few days that I’m being watched. And James has had the feeling too. But we’ve never seen somebody watching either or us, so we don’t know why we’re having the feeling if we can’t ever see somebody watching us,” Remus explained to the group.

“Could you be imagining things?” Scorpius asked. Remus shook his head a little.

“No, it’s not something we’re imagining. And dad always tells us to trust our instincts cause he did and nobody listened to him and he would end up being right.”

Petunia nodded at that, knowing both from the bio and her interactions with Uncle Harry that that lined up with his character. That’s also why he’d immediately listened when her dad told him that she most likely had magic when she was younger.

“We can always keep our eyes out to see if we ever see anybody nearby who’s watching. Especially if you let us know that you have the feeling again,” Lochlan suggested, looking over at Remus with a bit of concern.

“Yeah, we’ll do that. I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody is keeping an eye on you and James for some reason since you guys are Harry Potter’s kids,” Scorpius said, making a good point.

Remus nodded at that. “I’ll tell James and his close friends.”

“Also, if you’re still experiencing it by the time holidays come around, you could always tell your parents. They might have ideas for what you could do,” Rose suggested. “I mean, if anybody would know what it’s like to be secretly watched, it’d be your dad specifically.”

Most of the group nodded at that. They talked a little more about it before going back to doing their homework some more. Remus seemed able to concentrate more now that he’d had a bit of that weight lifted from his shoulders.

~~~~

When Halloween came and went, Petunia’s group of friends had been keeping an eye out for Remus’ mystery stalker and a couple of them had actually caught a small glimpse of someone who was presumably the presence Remus and James would feel watching them. They hadn’t been able to figure out who it was, but they definitely knew somebody was watching the Potter kids for some reason.

Alex really loved the letter that Petunia had sent that described the Halloween decorations around the castle and the feast they’d had for the holiday. Apparently Alex had dressed up as a wizard for Halloween, one that was more aligned with how actual wizards and witches dressed rather than the cheap imitations that stores sold as costumes.

The first Quidditch match had also happened (Gryffindor beat Slytherin with James catching the Snitch) and Petunia had also recounted as much as she remembered to Alex. While she somewhat liked Quidditch (and was possibly considering trying out for the team in a couple years), Alex had been enamored and was determined to try out for his house team when he was able once he was attending Hogwarts too.

What most students had started talking about was whether or not they were going home for Christmas holidays and what they’d be doing. Lochlan had just told them he was going to his grandmother’s home in Wales with his family this year instead of them spending Christmas in Scotland.

“What are you guys doing?” he asked, looking at everybody else. Eoin just shrugged.

“We just celebrate at home with my aunt and grandpa coming over to our house for a couple weeks. Nothing too fancy or too big.”

“That’s definitely not what we do,” Remus said, looking over at Rose. “My dad hosts a gathering at the Manor and all our family comes over. Not only all my aunts, uncles, and cousins but also my grandfathers and their son. Petunia and her family are invited this year too!”

“Wow, that sounds like a lot of people,” Primrose said, looking over at Remus, Rose, and Arthur. They just shrugged.

“Since our family is so big, we’re used to it. The party is specifically for family, and I can’t imagine how much bigger it would be if it was a bunch of influential families showing up too,” Rose said. “Though sometimes family friends have come by. I think your family has a perpetual invitation if they ever want to come.”

Primrose smiled at that. She seemed to remember hearing her dad mention something like that.

“You’re going to mention what you and James have been dealing with to your dad, right?” Scorpius asked, looking over at Remus. Remus nodded.

“Yeah, James and I talked about it and we’re gonna wait until after Christmas and the party before telling him since we don’t want to bring down the mood or anything. So we might be telling him and mum closer to when we come back to school but we’ll definitely be telling them. One of them might have an idea what more we can do if the feeling continues after we get back.”

Chapter Text

It was finally time for Christmas holidays and though Petunia was curious about what Hogwarts was like during Christmas and what the feast was like (it was briefly described in her uncle’s biography a few times), she was more excited to go back home and see her family. She’d be going with her parents and brother to see her grandparents for a bit and then they’d go to Uncle Harry’s party with the rest of his family and Petunia would finally get to meet his godparents and their son! She was so excited to meet their son!

They all packed to go back home for a bit and left for the train station, saying goodbye to each other and promising to write during the short time they’d be gone for break before coming back for the next semester.

After the train ride and arriving at King’s Cross, all the children got off and met with their families. Petunia saw her parents and brother along with Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, and Lily. The Weasleys were there as well, including a few family members Petunia hadn’t really met yet. She excitedly ran over to them, hugging her parents first and then her aunt and uncle. She was more excited for Christmas than normal this year. Her family was going to spend part of it at Potter Manor and she’d get to see what a wizarding Christmas looked like compared to the festivities she’d already seen at Hogwarts before she’d left.

On the way back home, Alex was asking about some stuff at Hogwarts, talking about his own school year so far, and mentioning some accidental magic he’d done. He was also excitedly talking about their upcoming trip to Diagon Alley for some Christmas shopping since he’d get to come this time when they went with the Potters. They were going to go the next day so they wouldn’t be shopping too last minute, though she knew that most of the adult’s shopping had already been done and it was mostly for the kids to do a little shopping for gifts for friends or family. She already had a couple ideas of things to get her brother and her friends.

For her grandparents, she and her family would be going out to a normal muggle shop since her grandparents did not appreciate anything magic-related. She’d definitely noticed the weird looks she and her brother had started getting from their grandma and grandpa. And she knew her dad had started noticing too and wasn’t happy with it. She’d overhead a conversation last year where her dad told her mum that it reminded him a bit of when Uncle Harry was living with them after he’d started showing signs of magic.

~~~~

The next day Uncle Harry and his family met with them outside the Leaky Cauldron and he led them through it (with the normal stares at him and his family) to the entrance to Diagon Alley. Alex was watching the entire thing in awe (and finally understood just how famous Harry was just by the people staring and whispering about him inside). When the bricks moved to create the entrance, Alex was practically vibrating where he stood. His eyes popped wide when he saw all the different shops lining the alley and the different purposes they had. His eyes were especially drawn to the Quidditch shop and the Owl Emporium. Petunia and Lily giggled a little at his reaction while James chuckled and Remus started dragging him to some of the shops. They split into small groups to do a little shopping.

At one point, Petunia followed Alex and Remus into one of the shops and sneakily bought something they had each been eyeing for their Christmas gifts. She did the same when she and James had been in a shop and she noticed him looking at something while he was looking for gift ideas. She didn’t need to do that with Lily, but only because she’d gotten some ideas from when they hung out during the summer. It was also easy getting gifts for the rest of her friends based on what she knew about each of their interests.

They spent a couple hours going through Diagon Alley and then had lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, which Alex loved because he was able to see others using magic. There were also a few people who came up to say hi to Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny but apparently they were friends or classmates to her aunt and uncle weren’t annoyed by it.

After they’d finished lunch, the families parted ways with Petunia, Alex, and their parents going out to muggle London to buy gifts for her grandparents for Christmas (and her parents too) while Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny headed off to Potter Manor to finalize some decorations and details for their upcoming party.

Petunia picked out some simple but nice gifts for her grandparents along with Alex and her parents paid for them. They spent a little more time shopping before heading back home, where her owl had just returned from delivering a letter to Scorpius and had one from him for Petunia to read. She was keeping more in touch with the friends she knew she wouldn’t see at Uncle Harry’s as quite a bit of her friends were part of his family and would be there for the Christmas party.

Alex joined her when she read her letter and she told him who Scorpius was, and pointed him out in a photo that the group had taken before they all went back home for Christmas holidays. She also got out wrapping paper to start wrapping the gifts she’d gotten, specifically the ones for her friends, so they could be sent out in time for Christmas. She wasn’t too worried about wrapping the ones for any of the Weasleys or Potters since she’d be giving them in person rather than sending them out with her owl. Her brother asked if she could wrap some of his a little while later after he’d unsuccessfully attempted to wrap some of his.

~~~~

They arrived at her grandparents’ house around midday the following day. They were going to be staying with them since it was a bit of a drive to get to their house. From what Petunia understood, they would be with them through Christmas morning and then head back home where Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny would get them to bring them to their house for the party and possibly longer depending on if they wanted to stay past that.

She and Alex got out of the car with their parents and headed inside, hugging their grandma first and then their grandpa. She pretended not to notice them giving her and her brother apprehensive looks afterwards. Pretended that it hadn’t been happening as soon as she started showing accidental magic along with her brother. It wasn’t as though her dad had said she had magic, but she’d unintentionally changed the color of something when she was younger and her grandparents knew what it was after having Uncle Harry grow up in their house.

Instead, she and Alex decided to head upstairs where some of her dad’s old toys were. They liked what the older toys were like and would mess with them whenever they came over. She also took a moment to look in the room that had once been her uncle’s after he started getting letters and noticed the loose floorboard he would hide things under. She knew nothing of his was still in this room as he always made sure to keep his things packed away and easy to collect, but it was interesting to look around the room after knowing more about his childhood from that book. It was sad too, but she was trying not to focus on that bit.

A little later, she heard some loud voices from downstairs and, leaving her brother who had fallen asleep and was taking a nap, she made her way to the stairs to hear what was being said better.

When she got closer, she could tell that her father’s voice was one of the louder ones. That was odd. He never raised his voice to her grandparents that she’d ever seen or heard. He rarely raised his voice ever, even when they were in trouble (which she was rarely in trouble thank you very much).

“-unnatural!” That was her grandmother’s voice.

“We already put up with that under our roof once, and you expect us to do it again,” her grandfather stated, voice stern.

“It’s not like they live with you all the time, we’re only here for visits and holidays! Plus, they’re your grandkids ,” her father said, and she felt herself stiffen. They were talking about her and Alex?

“But they’re still freaks who are just like my perfect sister and her family! What if the neighbors find out?  We were lucky that none of their kind was ever around long enough for the neighbors to notice when the boy was here-”

“Stop talking!” her mother yelled, another thing Petunia had rarely heard. “These are your grandchildren and one of them is named after you . So what if they have magic? So what if they go to a magical boarding school? Our daughter is one of the top students and is having a great time! You should be celebrating that and her!”

There was some silence for a bit. Then, her father spoke with a quiet anger she’d only heard a couple times.

“We’re going to leave. I can’t have you treating our children the way you treated Harry for his entire life living with us. I didn’t know how wrong it was back then and couldn’t do anything when I started to realize, but I can keep you from doing the same to our children. Until you apologize and can treat them with all the love and normalcy any grandparents should treat their grandchildren with, you won’t see us again.”

Petunia heard footsteps and rushed back out of view and to the room with her brother. She didn’t say anything and managed to look surprised when her parents showed up at the room they were in. Her brother woke up when the door opened.

“Sweeties,” her mother said, pasting a smile on her face, “we’re going to leave early this year. You two need to gather anything you’ve unpacked while your father gets our things. We’ll head to Uncle Harry’s a little early.”

Alex was confused by this change, but Petunia only nodded and she and her brother gathered the couple things they’d taken out of their bags and followed their mom downstairs and to the car where their dad was waiting while he put the bags back in the car. The drive home was spent in relative silence after their mom gave a brief explanation as to why they were leaving without mentioning what Petunia had overheard.

Once they got back home, Petunia got Bridget and sent a letter to Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny about them leaving her grandparents’ home early, though she didn’t mention what she’d overheard and only what her parents wanted her to tell them.

Since they didn’t live too far from them, it didn’t take long for her aunt and uncle to show up at their doorstep. They came in, greeted them all, and took them to Potter Manor. Once they were inside, James, Remus, and Lily immediately took Petunia and Alex to their rooms to put their bags down and then off to play while her parents talked with her aunt and uncle.

~~~~

Once Harry had gotten his cousin’s family to Potter Manor, his kids took Petunia and Alex and ran off to another room, as expected, while he and Ginny sat down with Dudley and Emily. He was surprised that they’d left Dudley’s parents’ house this early. Something must have happened.

“What happened to make you leave your parents’ house so soon?” Harry asked Dudley after they’d settled in their seats in one of the sitting rooms.

“It was something that had been brewing in the background since Petunia started doing accidental magic. Mum and dad haven’t changed their view on magic, and it was leaking into how they would look at and treat my kids since both have shown accidental magic at their house before. They ended up comparing them to your family and called them freaks. I’m not going to let them treat my children similar to how they treated you in any way. I told them they’d never see us again unless they change their minds, apologize, and treat my children as they should rather than starting down the path of how they treated you.”

Harry was a little surprised for a few different reasons. He was shocked that Dudley would so readily cut off his parents like he had with how dependent he’d been on them when they were growing up. Though, he supposed that Dudley had started seeing how wrongly his parents treated Harry back when they were living together and the more recent years had shown him even more, so it shouldn’t be too surprising that Dudley would be willing to cut contact with his parents if he saw a hint of the same behavior towards his kids. The other main reason the whole thing was surprising to Harry was the fact that his aunt and uncle would be more set in their ways towards magic than loving their own grandchildren for who they are. Sure his aunt was jealous of his mother and treated Harry like garbage, but he would’ve bet she’d treat her own grandkids better than that.

Either way, his cousin had cut contact with his parents and was now at Harry’s house with his wife and kids a few days early for Christmas.

“I’m sorry that they’re so stuck in their ways. Hopefully some time apart will make them rethink their views on magic. Regardless, you guys are always welcome here. Some of the family will start coming over closer to the party and many will stay for a few days after since we’re all so close. And my godfathers and godbrother will be coming shortly before Christmas since we spend the holiday together and have been since after my fifth year at Hogwarts.”

“That’s perfectly fine,” Emily said. “Petunia’s been excited about meeting your godbrother since she heard about his existence.”

“She’ll get to then,” Ginny stated before laughing slightly. “He’s still at Hogwarts but because he’s an older student and in Gryffindor, it makes sense that he and Petunia wouldn’t have really crossed paths yet.”

“What year is he in?”

“He’s in his 6th year, so he’s also been fairly busy during term.”

They talked a little bit longer, Harry and Ginny both assuring Dudley and Emily that it was no trouble to have them over a bit earlier than planned. Ginny left to check on the children (namely to make sure James hadn’t set anything on fire again) while Harry showed Dudley and Emily to the same room they’d had last time and told them they were free to explore or go anywhere in the Manor while he left for a bit. He’d been asked by Fred and George to come by and look at their new products since he was their investor and they wanted his input (and to give him some that his son would most likely get his hands on to bring to Hogwarts).

Chapter Text

A couple days before Christmas, Sirius, Remus, and Dylan were scheduled to floo over around lunch. Petunia was excited to finally meet them after hearing so much about them. Especially since James, Remus, and Lily talked about them so much since Sirius and Remus were their grandfathers. She’d also heard a lot about Dylan from them too since he was the same age as some of their cousins and was still attending Hogwarts. According to James and Remus, Dylan had been busy since the year prior since he was in his last few years at Hogwarts and was taking harder classes with harder exams than the rest of them. He had NEWTS next year.

Time seemed to fly as Petunia and Alex spent time playing with their cousins and soon they heard the floo activate and ran into the room it was in.

The first man to step out was a tall wizard with short, curly light brown hair that had some gray mixed in. He had scars over his face and green eyes. Judging from his appearance, he must be Remus Lupin-Black. Petunia remembered that he’s a werewolf which explained the scars he had and the exhaustion that seemed to be deep set in his bones.

He was shortly followed by a shorter man, shorter than Uncle Harry, who had shoulder length black wavy hair and grey eyes. She could also see some tattoos mostly hidden by his clothing. He was also wearing more muggle clothing including a leather jacket. So this was Sirius Lupin-Black. If she remembered correctly, he had a seat in the Wizengamot because of the family house he was the heir to. Just like Uncle Harry had one for the Potter family.

The floo flared green one final time for now as a teenager stepped through. This must be Dylan Lupin-Black. He was taller than Sirius but shorter than Remus (though whether or not he’d stay that way remained to be seen) and had Remus’ curly brown hair (though he had his styled a bit longer) and Sirius’ grey eyes.

The three men practically ran over to Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny, and their kids to hug them all. Petunia noticed Sirius and Dylan in particular giving Uncle Harry super tight hugs. It made sense considering Sirius and Dylan seemed to have the strongest connection to him. After they exchanged greetings, Uncle Harry brought over her parents, her brother, and herself to introduce them.

“Siri, Remy, Dylan, I want you to meet my cousin Dudley, his wife Emily, and their children Petunia and Alex. Petunia just started at Hogwarts and Alex has been showing accidental magic, meaning he’ll be going there soon as well.”

They all shook hands with each other before they all moved to sit down. While Sirius and Remus started talking with Uncle Harry and the other adults a bit, Dylan turned to Petunia and Alex, along with their cousins.

“What house are you in?” Dylan asked as he looked at Petunia.

“I’m in Ravenclaw along with one of my best friends, Rose. What about you?”

“Makes sense as to why I haven’t seen you, then. I’m in Gryffindor. Do you know Molly and Victoire?”

“Yeah, they’re Rose’s cousins! We don’t see them a whole lot since they’re older and have different classes, but we sometimes hang out with them in the common room. I mostly hang out with a few other Ravenclaws in my year and Remus, Scorpius, and some of our other friends if we’re not too busy. We do a lot of our homework together.”

Dylan looked over at Remus, “So that’s why you’re in the library so much.”

Remus just scowled. “It’s quieter than the common room so it’s easier to focus there and do homework. Plus, we usually help each other so it’s nice."

“They have a whole inter-house friend group,” James commented, indicating Petunia and Remus. She felt herself beam a little at the thought of all her new friends.

“Petunia’s probably one of the smarter ones. She’s got some of the books memorized ,” Remus stated, looking at Dylan a certain way and Dylan just nodded with a knowing smile.

“Sounds like Aunt Hermione,” he remarked. “Super smart muggleborn. I’m still a little surprised that Aunt Hermione wasn’t a Ravenclaw.”

“Didn’t the Sorting Hat almost put her there? That’s what Uncle Harry said,” Petunia mentioned, remembering that from when he’d been telling her family about the Hogwarts houses.

“Yeah, it did. Almost put Harry in Slytherin and Uncle Nev argued with it wanting to be put in Hufflepuff. The hat sometimes takes your preference into consideration unless it feels it knows better.”

They all talked some more before running off to another room to play some games, including some Wizard’s Chess and Exploding Snap.

Christmas Eve was much the same, though Petunia and Alex got to know Sirius and Remus a bit better and they asked Petunia about how her first year at Hogwarts was going as well as Remus II and they asked how James’ third year was going and how he liked the trips to Hogsmeade. James had even brought some of them back candy from Honeydukes when he first went, which only made Petunia more excited to go once she was in third year.

On Christmas morning she and Alex woke up early and woke their parents. They headed out to the main family room, as Uncle Harry said they should just all open presents together since they were here for Christmas. Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny were also being led into the room by their children and she saw Remus and Dylan walking in wide awake with Sirius trailing behind, hair disheveled and bleary eyed.

They all started handing out presents and opening them. Petunia found that she had presents from the friends that wouldn’t be at Uncle Harry’s Christmas party. Scorpius had gotten her some really nice stationary since they’d started writing so many letters to each other, Ella and Connor each got her a book that she’d mentioned wanting to get, Lochlan got her a Potions magazine subscription, and Eoin had sent her some really nice muggle chocolates from Ireland that she was excited to try and she promised she’d give some to Alex. She also got gifts from her cousins and aunt and uncle and found a mix of different things she’d wanted from Diagon Alley and some more Honeydukes candy from James, which she thanked them all for. Everybody who she’d given gifts to seemed to like what she’d picked out, which she was happy with. And she got some nice presents from her parents too, including some muggle items and some wizarding items. Her father said he’d give her and Alex the presents from their grandparents later.

The rest of the day was spent messing with their new presents and spending time together. They also went outside for a bit and flew around on a few broomsticks while bundled up in their winter clothes. Petunia had so much fun flying, though she still found it a bit terrifying. James said she was getting pretty good, though. He even mentioned maybe trying out for her house Quidditch team in the next year or two if she practiced her flying and he could help her practice for a certain position. She told him she’d think about it.

Dinner that night was so much fun, especially compared to her grandparents’ house. At her grandparents’ house they were typically more subdued, especially since she and her brother started doing accidental magic, but here it was so lively . Everybody was talking and making jokes and having fun, including her parents. It was such a nice change and felt so warm and inviting. She hoped this was how Christmas would end up being every year. The food was also really good. And there were magic Christmas crackers that were on the table for them!

That warm, inviting feeling continued when the party was held a couple days later. All the Weasleys showed up, and they all said hi to her and her family before all the kids gathered to do their own things. The older ones were separate from the younger ones this time since there were so many of them. A little bit into the party, Petunia noticed Primrose showed up with her younger brother Thomas, and her parents, Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbot. Petunia realized now why that last name had been so familiar. He was one of Uncle Harry’s friends and she remembered Remus II mentioning that Primrose’s family had a perpetual invitation to their Christmas party. An older lady followed the Longbottoms and Petunia figured that she was the grandmother that raised Neville based on the hat she was wearing that Primrose had described more than once.

The house was full of so many people and music and talking. It was nice. She exchanged presents with her other friends that came to the party and enjoyed what she got and loved that her presents to them were loved as well. She’d also used her new parchment the day prior to write thank you notes to her friends that had sent her presents. Some of their new games and other items were brought out for them to use when they got a little bored of the rest of the party and talked about what else they’d gotten from family. Primrose had also told them a bit about some of their other family they’d seen for Christmas, including some uncle of Neville’s who’d been ecstatic when they’d shown magic fairly young. Apparently their father hadn’t really liked that uncle.

Primrose and Thomas were introduced to Dylan, Sirius, and Remus and then were given a bit of a tour of the manor by James, Remus II, and Lily. They looked around the (still unfinished) trophy room just as Petunia and Alex had, seeing their father in some of the pictures and mentioned in some of the articles.

As the night went on, they all eventually got tired and some of them headed out, but the majority were staying at the manor at least for the night, if not for a few days since the holidays were ending soon. Those that were staying made their way to their rooms and fell asleep. Petunia was happy she had so many friends to give presents to and get presents from. She hadn’t had many friends before in muggle school, so it was nice to have so many now. Especially because they wouldn’t freak out over her doing magic since they could also do magic.

Over the last few days of break, Petunia and Alex got to spend more time with the Lupin-Blacks and more of the Weasleys (Rose was over almost each day which was amazing since they didn’t need to focus on any schoolwork!) and Alex seemed to be bonding with some of the kids he’d be going to Hogwarts with, which Petunia thought was nice. It’d be nice for him to have at least one friend there by the time he started going like she did.

She found out that Dylan would be going back to the train station with the Potters and herself as they were staying for the rest of the break. Especially since Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny would help them with the barrier again since they were still new to it.

At the end of break, James and Remus II finally went to their parents about what they’d been experiencing at school. Petunia went with them since she was one of the few people who’d seen somebody run around the corner once when Remus II had felt somebody watching him.

“Dad?” James said, getting Uncle Harry’s attention as they all walked up to him and Aunt Ginny.

“What is it?” Uncle Harry asked.

“Remus and I have both felt like somebody’s been watching us while we’ve been at Hogwarts this year. Petunia and a couple other of our friends have even caught a couple glimpses of somebody running just out of view. Something about this feels… off.”

Uncle Harry nodded, looking over at Aunt Ginny as they shared a concerned look.

“And it just started this year?”

James and Remus II nodded. Uncle Harry nodded at the confirmation.

“Keep an eye out and let your mother and I know about anything else. The moment you have any evidence, go to one of the professors. And you should go to your head of house anyway to let them know what's going on so if anybody else notices anything, they’ll already know that you’ve noticed something.”

Remus II and James both nodded and thanked their dad. The following day they all went to King’s Cross and boarded the train to head back to Hogwarts. Petunia was both upset that holidays were over but also excited to see her friends again and start their new lessons. She knew what was coming up in Potions after break and was excited.

Chapter Text

On the train ride back they got to meet up with Scorpius and Primrose in one of the compartments and they started talking about what else had happened during their breaks since the last letters they sent. Scorpius noted that Petunia had used some of her new parchment and ink from him for her thank you notes and commented on it. She smiled wide when he mentioned how much he loved her gift. They talked about the Potter Christmas party and then moved onto what Uncle Harry said about what Remus and James told him about somebody watching them.

They also talked a bit about upcoming lessons and what classes they were most excited for. Scorpius also liked Potions like Petunia so the two of them talked about the upcoming potions they’d be learning while Rose started reading a book and the others started a game of Exploding Snap.

The ride back to Hogwarts passed fairly quickly with all of them joining Exploding Snap at some point and having a lot of fun playing the game. They cleaned off the soot from the game as they changed back into their school robes when they got close to the school and all got into one of the carriages together before parting to go to their house tables (they would rotate the tables they sat at during the rest of the school year).

Petunia and Rose caught up with their Ravenclaw yearmates and friends about how their holidays were and what they got present-wise from their families. Apparently Lochlan had a lot of extended family that showed up for Christmas holidays and Eoin had quite a few siblings, most of whom they knew didn’t have magic, though his younger brother was showing signs of accidental magic and was about Alex’s age. She wondered if they’d end up meeting and becoming friends but it’ll probably partially depend on what houses they get sorted into. After dinner ended, they headed up to the common room and Petunia and Rose made sure they’d done all the homework they had due after break, which they had. It wasn’t long after that that they went to bed.

The next few months were going about the same as the months before break had, except they were starting to be prepared for their end of year exams. From what Petunia remembered from the biography of her Uncle Harry, his first year was one of the few times he actually had end of year exams (which was a grand total of three times out of the six years he was enrolled at school).

There were still instances that Remus and James felt eyes on them, and even a few times smaller items of theirs either ended up somewhere they weren’t supposed to be or disappeared entirely, which was freaking them out a bit, especially Remus. There was also the time James tripped in the hallway near the stairs, and while he was convinced it was his own clumsiness, Remus says he saw a light indicating it was the tripping jinx cast by another student. They were just lucky they weren’t too close to the steps yet or James would’ve most likely been severely injured.

The end of the year also brought the final match for the Quidditch Cup, which Gryffindor won. And the exams they had at the end of the year weren’t as bad as Petunia thought they’d be, and most of her friends shared the same opinion. Primrose, Arthur, and Remus didn’t really agree. When results came out, she was very excited to learn that she’d ended up either top of her class or near the top in most of her classes, and she wrote a letter to her family immediately to let them know how she’d done in her first year at Hogwarts. Remus and James said something about her reminding them of Miss Hermione and the other Weasleys agreed having heard the stories of her at school and knowing how intelligent she was first-hand.

The last days after exams were nice and relaxed and allowed the friend group to spend more time together. Some of the elder Weasleys even spent some time with them along with James and even Dylan. A bunch of them even played a pick-up game of Quidditch, with Petunia doing pretty well and having a bunch of fun while they all took turns playing matches. The exhilaration of flying was always a nice experience too.

The end-of-term feast was nice with Headmistress McGonagall giving some parting words and reminding everybody to make sure they were all packed up by tomorrow morning for the trip home. She and her friends talked about what some of their summer plans were, which left Petunia stumped for a bit. After the falling out her parents had with her grandparents, she figured they wouldn’t be spending time with them like they usually did. Maybe they’d spend time with Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny again.

“Our parents are looking to get tickets for the Quidditch World Cup this summer,” Connor said while his sister nodded her head enthusiastically.

“I hope we’re able to go! It sounds like so much fun!” Ella contributed, eyes sparkling.

“I think we might be getting tickets,” Rose said, thinking a bit. “I think mum and dad mentioned something about it, but nothing was set in stone. I also know that if we go, we’re gonna be going with a lot of our family too.”

“Have you gone to the World Cup before?”

“We have,” Rose responded, nodding her head. “Dad loves Quidditch so we typically go if we can, though I’ve only ever been to one since I was too young before then.”

They talked a bit more during dinner until it was time for them to head back to their dorms. Rose, Ella, and Petunia all talked more with the others before heading up to their dorm, where Maeve and Orla were already starting to pack. The three girls each moved to their beds and started to put away their things. Petunia made sure her clothes were nicely folded, with some left out to wear tomorrow, and her school things neatly put away so nothing would get damaged or not fit. She also took down and put away the personal touches she’d had like pictures and decorations. It didn’t take her too long to put everything away in her trunk, with the cage for Bridget to be put in for the journey back home. She talked with the girls in the dorm for a bit once they’d all finished packing before each of them went to sleep.

The next morning Petunia got up a little later than she did on days when she had class and got dressed before double checking that she had everything packed and ready to go. Rose woke up not long after her and the two headed down into the common room where there were a number of other students milling about, with some leaving to head to breakfast. The two of them met up with a couple of the boys and they headed down to breakfast together, still a little sleepy.

Breakfast went by fairly quickly and before Petunia knew it, they were on the train and getting into compartments to head home. She and Rose were sitting with Remus and Scorpius again as well as Arthur and Primrose. They all talked about summer plans again since the discussion Petunia and Rose had had the night before was just with their fellow Ravenclaws.

“Father said we’ll be going to the World Cup this year,” Scorpius announced to the compartment once Rose brought it up.

“Dad said we’ll be going too,” Remus added, “and I think he may be able to get tickets for some of the other family as well. Usually does. Oh, and if your parents are ok with it, dad said you and Alex can come too,” he stated, looking at Petunia.

“Oh! That’d be great! I’ll let mum and dad know when we get back! It sounds like great fun!” Petunia said, excited at the prospect.

At one point during the trip, it seemed like somebody walking by the compartment looked in for a bit longer and bit more intensely than polite or necessary, but it was quickly forgotten about after they started playing Exploding Snap.

It was probably nothing.

Once they arrived at the station, Petunia saw where her parents and brother were waiting with Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny. Alex was staring at the train in awe as she got off and headed over with her trunk and owl on a trolley. They hugged her and they headed through the passage before they started talking a bit more. She told them about what Remus had said about her and Alex possibly going to the Quidditch World Cup with Uncle Harry and her dad said he and her mum would talk about it and think it over. She nodded and listened to Alex talk about how his year had ended and ask more about Hogwarts and what her exams were like her first year. He couldn’t wait to start at Hogwarts year after next.

She promised to write to her friends, but they also promised to see each other over the break before they each went their separate ways.