FIC: "Molly, Wanna-Be Mind Reader" by snuggle_muggle
To: katwoman_68
Title: Molly, Wanna-Be Mind Reader
Author/Artist: snuggle_muggle
Pairing: Harry/Ginny, Molly, Arthur, James Sirius
Rating: PG
Word Count: 6500
Summary: Harry and Ginny head out on a secret mission, but somebody needs to watch the baby.
katwoman_68, so sorry that this is late, even for a pinch-hit. The plot seemed so simple when I thought it out, but then it took on a life of its own and just would not end. I tried to incorporate your idea of H/G keeping a secret from Molly (with a pinch of Hermione) and also Ginny's love of Muggle artifacts. I also made baby James a key element to the story, so I hope it works for you. I hope you enjoy. And thanks, as always, r_becca, for your patience with me getting this done.
"Ta-Da!" Ginny crowed as she lifted her hands off Harry's eyes. "I found it at something called a boot sale, although I looked for a new pair of boots as mine are getting a bit worn and I didn't see any. Oh, well. Isn't it beautiful?" She turned away, putting down her shopping bags.
"Oh, my," Harry answered quietly. He was used to his wife bringing home odd assortments of Muggle home electronics. She had started her collection, she had said, with just a curiosity to find out how the Muggles did things, but it had developed into a full-blown obsession. Her father could not have been more pleased and they often cooed for hours over the newspaper ads when Harry brought home the Sunday Muggle paper so he could read the funnies. But now, standing here, a shaft of a strange cross between pain and longing pierced him and he reached out to touch. "It's a coffee maker."
"Yes, I know. Silly, isn't it, to have a whole thing just for the purpose of making coffee? But they seem very popular . . ." She left the room, unconcerned that Harry was just standing and staring at her new toy. She scooped James up and brought him back into the kitchen, tickling him under the chin. "Harry, is everything alright?" He still hadn't moved and Ginny wondered briefly if there was something wrong.
"I . . . well, yes, yes. Of course. The Dursleys had one exactly like that. That same model, that same color."
"It can't be theirs. They were nowhere in sight, believe me."
"No, no. Of course not. I just was thinking. It startled me, that's all." He took the baby from Ginny's arms. "James and I had a brilliant time this afternoon, love. I swear he called me da-da."
The rest of the evening passed quietly, in the usual fashion with dinner and clean-up, a bath for the baby, a nighttime story, and a lot of rocking before he decided he was tired enough to sleep. When Ginny finally got James asleep in his bed, she saw Harry sitting, staring into the fire. "Harry, what's wrong? You've been acting off all evening."
Harry turned and smiled at her, pulling her down to the sofa next to him. "Just seeing that coffee pot. It's ridiculous, I know. But it made me think of them. And I realized I haven't seen them in so long. I know they survived the war, although I think Hestia barely did, but afterward, I never bothered to find out.
"I'm sure they went back to their lives and never thought again about you. They were horrible to you. Personally, I wouldn't lose a minute's sleep if they all were turned into rats by Hestia and then sold to a pet shop as snake food." Ginny had used a lot stronger cuss words in the past to describe what she felt about the Dursleys, but she was too tired tonight to build up much of a head of steam.
Harry laughed. "Very funny. I would pity the snake that got a Dursley for dinner." He took her hand. "Still, I think I should look them up. It's been years and maybe they, I don't know . . . wouldn't mind seeing me."
Ginny blew a deep breath out of her mouth, puffing her cheeks and then exhaling long and slow. "Look, Harry. I . . . well, I could yell a lot about how they don't even deserve to see you ever again unless you're pointing a wand at them with a Cruciatus curse on your lips, but I know what you want to do, you do, no matter what I say. So, I guess the only thing I can say is, what can I do to keep you from getting hurt?"
"Nothing. You aren't going to have anything to do with them. If they haven't changed, they'll just torment you and if they called you a name or insulted you, I would have to hurt them and that would sort of defeat the whole purpose."
Ginny could feel her blood pressure start to rise. She tried to remain calm. "So it's okay if they insult you or call you names, but not me?"
"I'm kind of used to it."
"You better not be any more. That was years ago and anyway, you really don't have any choice. I'm coming with you, even if I have to tie myself to you permanently."
Harry waggled his eyebrows. "I like that idea . . . ."
"You perv," Ginny squealed and made a half-hearted effort to escape right before Harry scooped her up in his arms and carried her off to their room.
Afterward, they lay in bed talking. "We can't take James with us." Harry couldn't bear the idea of the Dursleys even turning up their lips at his little boy. He knew logically James wouldn't be able to understand, but he would. And he just wasn't going to take a chance.
"Of course not. For one thing, I don't know how we're going to get wherever we wind up going and I don't want to Apparate a lot with him. It can be hard on a little body."
"It can be hard on a big body." Harry tucked Ginny under his arm and kissed her forehead. "We can leave him with Molly, but I don't want her to know."
Ginny laughed quietly. "No. Because she would forbid it and you would cave like the ever-obedient son you are."
"What does that mean? I mean, I hear some subtle criticism there."
Ginny just laughed. "I'll owl her in the morning and we'll go right after work tomorrow. We'll start at the box you grew up in. Maybe they're still there which would make things really easy."
"Too easy for my life."
-*-*-*-*
Molly was obviously trying to be subtle but both Harry and Ginny could tell she was trying to figure out what they were doing. "So, um, just going out to dinner for some private time?"
"Harry's working on a project, Mum. I don't know how long we'll be or where we'll be but we'll try to floo if it goes late, okay."
"But what kind of project?"
"Sorry, Molly. Not at liberty to say."
"And you're going with him? So it can't be work-related." She was glaring at Ginny with a speculative look in her eye.
"Mum, it's nothing dangerous. We just don't want to be Apparating with they baby, okay? We'll see you soon." They both kissed James and Molly and then with a significant look at each other, they Apparated away. They had already decided the little alley off of Magnolia Crescent would be the best place to start.
The alley was just as stinky and nasty as it had been when the Dementors had attacked Harry here years ago, possibly even worse. As they emerged onto Wisteria, Harry looked around with the eyes of an adult at the sights he was so familiar with. It was obvious the neighborhood had not fared well in recent times and things were looking run down. He thought with a laugh that he would have fit in better in his holy shoes and huge misshapen clothes if the place had looked like this when he was younger. He took Ginny's hand, feeling inexplicably nervous. He even fingered his wand, safely in its holder under his shirt. If the Dursleys tried anything, he could always freeze them, silence them, shove them away. He had options now, options he hadn't had before when they had made his life such a misery.
"I guess there's no use waiting. They always used to eat dinner at exactly the same time, so they're probably home and they do not like to be interrupted in the middle of their food."
"Having seen your uncle and cousin, I can completely believe that!" Ginny tightened her hand on his. She was a little scared, too, but didn't like seeing the worry in Harry's eyes most of all. "I can always use the Bat-bogey if worse comes to worst." They both smiled and then walked the rest of the way in silence.
Number 4 looked totally different now. For one thing, it was no longer the beige identical to every other house on the street, but was a bright blue. For another, the lawn was long and ragged looking and the flower beds looked more like Molly was in charge of rather than his ever-obsessive aunt. Harry could not imagine any Dursley ever allowing their house to look this way, so he had a feeling this was going to be a dead end. The young woman who opened the door, popping bubble gum in her mouth and humming to the music blaring from the stereo was definitely not a Dursley.
"I'm looking for the people who used to live in this house, about ten years ago or so? I don't suppose you'd know anything about them?"
"No, no. We've only been here three years ourselves. My Da bought the place from a young couple with a baby. They said they had to sell it 'cause their house kept getting vandalized but the police couldn't find out who was doin' it."
"Vandalized?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, ya' know. Graffiti, damage to the property, rude words. But they didn't mention knowin' no one by the name o' Dursley to us, I don' think. Not that I guess they'd be likely to. I've got their address around here somewhere, for the post, ya' know. Wait here a sec'."
While the girl was gone, Ginny and Harry looked at each other. "Vandalized?" they both mouthed at the same time. "That's strange," Ginny said just as Harry said, "Very odd." They both laughed as the girl came back with a piece of paper in her hand.
"Now, I don't think we've needed to be forwarding any mail for at least a year, maybe longer. So no promise this address is still good, but here ya are. If they bought the house from these Dursleys, they might at least know what they was thinkin' a doin', ya know."
"Thank you, you've been very kind. We'll track them down." Harry took the paper and glanced at the address. London. Well, that would make Apparating fairly straightforward at least. There were all sorts of wizarding spots in London so slipping into the city was easy. They waved goodbye at the girl and made their way back toward Wisteria Walk and the alley. "Should we go tonight, Ginny or another day?"
"Let's at least see if we can find this couple. Then, if they don't know, we can give it up for the day."
They found the address easily enough once they consulted a street map. Unfortunately, no one was home, so they didn't know if they had the right place or not. "I guess we'll come back tomorrow or another day, in any case," Ginny grumbled. "I want to find the damn Dursleys and get this over with."
They Apparated home and James screamed in excitement to see them. Molly handed him over and then looked at the two of them. "Hmm. No injuries, not really disheveled, although you do smell like that horrible automobile exhaust, which means you've been hanging out around Muggles."
"Mum, honestly!"
"I have a right to know."
"No, you don't." Ginny scowled at her. "We deserve some privacy when we need it. Now, are you willing to watch James for us again tomorrow night or do we need to hire a sitter?"
"I'm insulted you would ask. I would be happy to watch him, of course. Just bring him when it's convenient. If you come early, you can have dinner with us, too."
"Thanks for the invitation, Molly. That sounds delicious." Harry tried to sooth the feelings of both women, but as they left Ginny glared at him.
"It'll just give her more of a chance to ask questions, Harry. In and out quickly, that's the best way to avoid her finding anything out. I swear, if I didn't know better, I'd say she knows legilimency but it only works once you're around her for more than a few minutes."
Harry just chuckled. "I'm a trained Oclumens. She won't get anything out of my brain."
*-*-*-*
The next day Harry spent some time during the day looking over some Muggle sources for leads on the Dursleys but found nothing out. It was like they had disappeared off the face of the earth entirely. He even tried alumni records for Dudley's school, only to be told by a snooty woman over the phone Dudley Dursley had never finished at Smeltings and therefore he was not considered an alumnus and the information they had on Vernon was confidential. He could not get access to it unless he was in law enforcement and came with the proper papers.
Harry was surprised to learn about Dudley not finishing up. Of course, he had never been bright, that was for sure. But Harry had had the distinct impression brains were not a requirement at Smeltings and certainly original, creative thinking was actually discouraged there, if Vernon was any indication. But last Harry knew, Dudley had been doing well there and his boxing had gotten him some measure of respect. He hoped their having to leave Privet Drive for that year in hiding had not been the cause of it.
Dinner with the Weasleys was vaguely uncomfortable for Harry, mostly because Molly was trying every trick in the book to get either Harry or Ginny to spill their secret. She even had employed a top-secret weapon - Hermione. Hermione who could always tell what Harry was up to even before Harry had figured it out himself. Hermione who could suss out wrong-doing from ten miles away. Hermione who could smell mischief on either Harry or Ron from Hagrid's hut through three locked doors at Hogwarts. Harry heard her admitting to Molly after dinner, though, that she was stumped. He took it as an affirmation his Auror training had been successful. Molly looked extremely frustrated as Ginny and Harry kissed James good-bye and Apparated to the point nearest the address they were visiting this evening. "Maybe I should tell her," Ginny suggested as they headed toward the house. "She might be upset, but she can't really stop us."
"If you want to, I won't stop you. You're the one who thought she would make us feel guilty and I would cave."
"That's right. You will. Well, hopefully tonight we'll find them and be done with the whole secret thing."
"I hope so, too. Who knows what she'll do next time? There might be Veritaserum in our food."
Ginny laughed. "Silly boy. Veritaserum doesn't work cooked in food. If it did, it would certainly have been a standard ingredient in the Gryffindor meals for the entire time you were in school."
"Ah, well. That does explain a lot, doesn't it?"
Tonight, their luck was better and the young couple was home. Harry introduced himself and Ginny, briefly outlining their reason for showing up on the doorstep, and got a surprising response. "You are Harry Potter!?"
"Uh, yes. Do you, I mean, why do you know me?"
"Come in, come in. We would love to visit with you." The wife and husband were gracious and welcoming, offering tea and cakes and smiling broadly at them.
After a few moments of expectant silence, Ginny cleared her throat. "Thank you so much for inviting us in."
"Of course. We've wanted to meet you for years. Imagine. Harry Potter sitting in our living room."
Harry looked around quickly, wondering if he was missing something. Was one of them magic? Were they wizards living as Muggles? There was no indication of that, but he supposed there wouldn't be if they were trying to blend in. When he was just about to ask, the husband cleared his throat.
"Just so you don't think we're too odd, we should probably tell you why we recognize your name when you don't know us at all."
"I was a little shocked," Harry admitted.
"We bought the house on Privet Drive, you know it obviously, from that dreadful Vernon Dursley. A more unpleasant man I hope never to meet."
Harry laughed and then bit his lip. It was probably rude, but he always found it surprising when people agreed with his assessment of them, rather than the view they had always had of themselves as model human beings, the epitome of social grace and civilization.
"He kept trying to cheat us out of more money, insisting we pay fees for this or that and the other thing. He was loud and blustery and quite ignorant."
"Sounds like the Dursleys, all right," Ginny affirmed. She hadn't ever met them, actually, but had heard enough stories through the years to have formed a very accurate and negative opinion of the whole bunch.
"In any case, once we had moved in, we found quite a lot of evidence you had lived there. Since it was obvious they disliked you, we came to admire you, even though we knew nothing of your story."
"We found your name in the cupboard under the stairs, along with a few toys. Did they put you in there for punishments?" the young wife asked as she was passing around the plate of biscuits.
Harry sat silently for a minute, unsure how to answer. He decided truth was best. "No. That was my room, actually. I lived there until I turned 11."
"My God." The husband stared at him for a long moment before shaking his head. "I had a feeling that might be it, but Karen couldn't imagine it to be so. They should have been locked up, you know, for child cruelty."
"Perhaps, but that's long past now," Harry shrugged.
Ginny growled. "We're actually trying to find them and we were hoping you might have some clue as to where they are. Then perhaps we can consider having them arrested, assuming Harry would testify."
"Which I wouldn't. It could make for some awkward questions, don't you think? About my parents. About where I went during the school year. About us."
Ginny smiled faintly and looked over at Karen and Steve, who were listening with wide-open ears, she could almost see them pointed forward trying to catch every word. "Uh, true. I suppose. But we don't need to decide now. First we need to find those Dursleys."
Karen and Steve looked vaguely disappointed at not hearing more gossip, but they leaned back in their chairs. "We moved because our house was continually vandalized, I suppose you know."
"We had heard something about that."
"The odd thing was once we moved, I guess it stopped completely. Maybe this gang just didn't like us."
Harry had a thought flash across his mind but then he dismissed it. It wasn't possible.
"Gang?" Ginny asked.
"Yes. A loud, noisy bunch of people. They would come, do some minor damage, and then leave. None of our neighbor's houses were ever hurt, but we got tired of it, so we sold it. Took a soaking on it, too, although like I said the people who bought it never had a problem."
The thought flashed again and Harry decided to ask, even though it was crazy. "When you bought the house, um, was there like an agent's sign in front, saying the house was for sale, all that kind of thing?"
"No, no. That Dursley seemed to not want to admit he would ever do anything as crass as sell his house. It was a private sale. Our agent heard about it and suggested we look. It was all very secretive." Steve shrugged. "The house was so spotless and well-kept we couldn't really decline, you know. And we got a fairly good deal, once we squashed all the extras Dursley kept trying to add."
"But when you sold it . . . you just did the usual thing, with the agent's sign and the sold notice and everything."
"Of course. We were anxious to get out of there and running a private sale like that is slow and dear."
Ginny was looking at Harry strangely. "This has been a fascinating retrospective on what it's like to sell a M . . . mansion-like house, Harry, but let's just figure out where they might have gone, okay? I'm sure we need to be getting out of their house."
Harry was staring at Karen and Steve with wide eyes. Was it possible? No, it had to be just a coincidence. He heard Ginny but it took a minute for it to sink in. "What? Oh, yeah. We should be going, I suppose. He never gave any clues or left a forwarding address or anything?"
"No, no. I got the impression the family had been moved for quite a long while. As I said, selling a house that way can be quite slow."
"Wait, Steve, didn't he say something about the Isle of Wight?"
"He didn't. The agent did, remember?"
"Oh, yes. That's right. The agent asked if he was enjoying living there and Dursley shushed him, then spun some tale about how it was just a vacation home and in fact they were living in London, but I knew he was lying."
"How's that?"
"Well, simple, really. It was not raining in London that day or anywhere in the area, certainly not in Surrey. But he arrived with an umbrella. I remember thinking at the time the rain was moving north that day and it had been raining there and would probably rain in London by the afternoon and it did and then I thought no more about it."
Harry and Ginny looked at each other. "Isle of Wight?"
"I suppose it's possible. I can't really see Petunia liking island living, but I suppose." Harry was surprised because none of the Dursleys liked to be outside and Aunt Petunia trying to keep sand out of her house continually was not a scenario he could imagine in his wildest dreams.
"Oh, if you're thinking beach cottage and waves, dismiss that from your mind. The homes in the center of the island there are quite posh, quite lovely. In fact, it makes me wonder why he was trying to squeeze so much out of us if they could afford to live there, now I think about it. I didn't at the time."
Ginny stood. "Thank you, so, so much. You both have helped tremendously. We will take our search there next."
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Harry. And Ginny, of course. You have solved that nagging mystery about the cupboard. But I may say you seem to have turned out rather well, despite that."
"Thanks. I had good role models after I left there, you know. Including Ginny's parents. We have a baby of our own now. And he will never sleep in a cupboard, I can assure you."
"Good to know." Steve shook his hand. "All the stories you read about how abused kids can't help but abuse as they grow older, I always knew sometimes it's just strength of character, you know, that makes it stop."
Ginny smiled. She liked these two. "Harry is the best man I've ever known despite what those horrible people did to him. Thanks for the information."
"No bother at all." Harry and Ginny waved as they walked down the street toward the Apparation point before the door to the little house was closed.
"That means at least one more night of searching, doesn't it?"
"I'm afraid so. I think Mum will hex us if we don't tell her what's going on and ask her to watch James again."
"Let's just tell her. I'm curious enough now I don't think she could dissuade me and I know she has no sway on you." Harry took her hand and kissed it. "You've always been the braver of the two of us when it comes to standing up to your mother.
"I've had more years of practice, Harry."
When they had Apparated back to the Burrow, however, James was playing with Victoire and Arthur was reading the Daily Prophet. He set it aside and kissed Ginny's cheek. "Your mother had to go out, I'm afraid. She said, and I quote, 'If they're still doing this fool thing tomorrow night, tell them I will STILL watch the baby.'"
Ginny laughed. "Okay. Well, if she's still willing to watch James, hopefully by tomorrow night this whole thing will be resolved."
"Is there some reason you're keeping whatever it is you're doing a secret? It's not illegal or anything, right?"
"Of course not, Dad. We just know she won't be happy, so we wanted to avoid the lectures. But we didn't expect it to be such a long project."
"I can certainly understand." Arthur sat down and looked at the two of them. "I've been known to avoid telling Molly certain things myself, you know, for her own good."
Both Ginny and Harry chuckled. Arthur had gotten himself into quite a lot of trouble over the years because invariably Molly found out about his little shenanigans in the end. The flying car was one example Harry could think of right away but there were lots of others.
"Don't suppose you'd be willing to tell your old Dad about whatever it is . . . if you should need some help."
"We were actually going to tell Mum tonight, but I'd feel bad telling you first with her not here and then if you told her later it might come out all wrong and then her feeling would be hurt, and . . ." Ginny sighed. "Would you mind waiting just another day? We'll tell you together."
"No, that's fine. As long as you're sure you aren't doing anything morally or legally questionable."
"Absolutely not, Arthur. Nothing like that at all."
"I trust both of you. But this son of yours. He is trouble, that boy. Today, he took my eyeglasses and hid them. I looked for an hour before I found them."
The three of them visited for a long while before they took James and went home. Harry spent another hour before bed looking at all the information he could find on the Isle of Wight, trying to come up with a working plan to find the Dursleys which did not involve going door-to-door but when he crawled into bed next to her, he had to admit he had no good ideas.
When they Apparated into the Burrow's kitchen the next evening, Molly was waiting for them, fire in her eyes. She took James from Ginny and carried him into the living room, then returned. "I insist you tell me what is going on. I've received information you've been lurking around Little Whinging and London and I want to know why."
Harry just gaped at her and Ginny looked equally shocked. "How did you? Information from whom?"
"I have my sources. Now spill."
"We've been trying to find the Dursleys." Harry winced inwardly, preparing himself for the screaming. What happened next completely shocked him.
"Obviously. Why?"
He glanced at Ginny and she looked just as wary as he undoubtedly did. "Uh, curiosity, I guess. I sort of felt bad I had never talked to them again. I don't even know where they are or if they're well. Dudley might be married. Vernon might be dead. I don't know, I just . . . wanted to reconnect."
Molly raised her eyebrow. "Reconnect? Did you ever connect the first time?"
"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean I don't somewhat care, a little bit, what happens to them."
"Humph. And you, Ginny? What is your role in this?"
"I'm supporting my husband. Do I need more reason than that?"
"Humph." She folded her arms and glared at the two of them. Harry fully expected the story of his life to start playing in his brain like it had all those years ago with Snape. He understood now what Ginny meant about the Legilimency thing. "Do you want information or do you want to see them?"
Harry just looked at her steadily. "Both."
"Fine. Sit down." She waved her wand at the tea pot and then at the cupboard and teacups came out and settled themselves on the table. Ginny and Harry sat down carefully on the chairs. Harry looked at Ginny and raised his eyebrows in a questioning way. She shrugged and then they both looked at Molly.
"Fact is, I . . . well, I am the Dursleys' Secret Keeper."
There was dead silence in the room. In fact, Harry suspected if she had just announced she was an alien from the planet Zork who had been posing as human for the last fifty years, the silence could not have been more absolute. He shook his head, certain his ears had betrayed him.
"What? I think I heard you wrong."
"No, you didn't. After the war, they were getting harassed, you know, by people who, out of feelings for you, you understand, were attacking their house, all that kind of stuff."
"But . . . how did people even know?"
"All those unauthorized biographies. Did you never read them? They told all about your pitiful childhood. I didn't mind the Dursleys were getting some grief. Heaven knows, they deserved it all. But it got out of control. So, Minerva and I decided to do something."
"Nobody told me!"
"Why did you need to know?"
"They're my relatives, I guess. I . . . I should have been told." Harry wasn't sure what he was upset about, really. He couldn't have cared less about them at the time and only barely cared now.
"Maybe. But more than that, they are somewhat under the protection of us wizarding folk and we owed them. So, we took care of it."
"I bet that didn't settle well with them."
"Oh, I don't know. Minerva paid them off quite handsomely."
"What? She gave them money?!" Now Harry was indignant. They didn't deserve any money ever as far as he was concerned.
"They had to move, their address was already out there, too late to secure. So she paid them and they moved to the Isle of Wight. Vernon retired and they have no friends. So having the Fidelius charm on their house is hardly an inconvenience. I'm not even sure they understand the situation. I told that obnoxious sister of his and that was that."
"Dudley?"
"Dudley lived there. He knew the address. He moved out and since he's never married, passing the address on to a wife or children hasn't been a problem. But we're monitoring the situation. If he ever should decide to marry some poor woman I suppose we'll have to work something out but it should be easy enough. They're remarkably thick, actually."
"That's true." Harry looked at Ginny. "You knew nothing of this?"
"Of course I didn't. Why would I? I would have told you, Harry. But, Mum, I thought you hated the Dursleys?"
"Oh, I hated the way they treated Harry. But, when I met them . . . I felt sorry for them more than anything. They were dragged into a situation they were in no way ready to handle. They treated you miserably, I know." She patted Harry's shoulder. "But they kept you alive and maybe for that alone I should give them some credit."
"Maybe." Harry tried to look at it from an adult's perspective now but still had a hard time dredging up any real sympathy. They could have treated him better without it making any difference to their situation but maybe they just didn't have what it takes to feel anything for what he was going through, either.
"So, Mum. Could we go see them?" Ginny reached for Harry's hand, squeezing tightly.
"I suppose so. I worry their address might get out again, but I think it's been enough years that people have stopped caring."
"Molly . . . the people who bought the house from the Dursleys said their place was vandalized a lot by loud groups of people. Were those people wizards?"
"I believe so. That was the sort of thing going on. I'm ashamed to say even some of our family participated in it, and no, I won't tell you who. We tried to put out the word that the Dursleys had moved but I don't think it mattered. It was sort of the 'in thing' there for a while. Finally, when that couple moved it seemed to die out."
"George?" It didn't take much for Ginny to guess and that had been the name on Harry's lips, too. He knew it wouldn't have been Percy, Ron would have bragged about it to Harry at some point, Charlie wasn't here, and Bill wouldn't have gotten away with it because of Fleur. But George had gone through a rough patch there for a while and tormenting the Dursleys would have been something Harry could see him doing.
"Not saying. It doesn't matter now, anyway." She scribbled an address on a scrap of parchment. "Take James with you. Petunia seems to have mellowed a bit and I think she wouldn't mind meeting her grand-nephew."
*-*-*-*
Ginny and Harry were both nervous as they approached the neat bungalow, lit up now against the encroaching evening. It was beige, even though the other houses around it were painted bright colors more appropriate for an island paradise setting. James squirmed in Ginny's arms and pointed to the ground. Ginny shushed him. She was unbelievably on edge about this.
"You've got your wand handy?"
"Yeah, you?"
"Of course." Harry knocked on the door and a moment later it swung open.
Petunia stood there, blinking into the darkness. She paled at the sight of the three of them, her hand over her heart. "Lily, James. I . . ."
"No, Aunt Petunia. It's me, Harry."
She sagged against the door frame, gripping the knob as if it were the only thing holding her up. "God. You look so much like him. So much. I . . . Are you his wife?"
"Yes. I'm Ginny."
"Come in, come in. I . . . we so rarely have guests. I think sometimes our house is invisible, you know."
"Uh . . ." Harry didn't know how to respond to that, so he didn't. "Thank you."
They both wiped their feet. Petunia was just staring at them. "Vernon's in the parlor. He will be surprised to see you." She looked down at James, still squirming in Ginny's arms. "He's yours?"
"Yes. This is James. He's almost one."
"He takes after his mother."
Harry wasn't sure if that was an insult or just an observation, so they quietly followed her into the room where Uncle Vernon was sitting. Vernon looked older. What hair he had was gray and his mustache looked thin, now. His skin was blotchy and saggy. He had lost weight but not in a healthy way. To Harry, he looked ill. "Who was at the door . . . Oh, I say. I never thought I'd see you again, boy."
"I know. I am sorry I haven't come by earlier."
"Didn't say I wanted to see you again, did I?"
"Vernon, be nice. They've just stopped for a visit." Petunia waved them onto a very uncomfortable couch and Harry and Ginny perched on the edge. Ginny held James tightly, unwilling to have him even arms' length away. "I've thought of you, you know, through the years. Wondering what had ever become of you."
"I'm well." There was another uncomfortable silence, with only the noise of the television penetrating it.
"Good to know. Dudley, too. He's never married, although he seems happy. He has a good job, makes lots of money and has a lot of people report to him."
"What does he do?"
"He supervises assembly of luggage, very high quality luggage. He lives in London but comes to visit every other week or so."
"Ah."
"What about you?"
"Don't ask, Petunia," Vernon billowed from his chair, showing he obviously was listening more than he wanted to let on. "He probably does something with that magic of his."
"I'm an Auror," Harry asserted, not letting Vernon stop him from answering. "It's sort of like a policeman, but not."
"Ah." Petunia fidgeted a bit. Harry wasn't sure what he expected her to say. "I'm glad things worked out for you. In the war."
"Wasn't a war, Petunia. That would have been something noble and decent. This was just a bunch of crazy people shooting sparks out of their sticks at each other." Harry was very tempted to silence Vernon with a quick flick of his wand, but thought it would just aggravate the situation. He gripped the edge of the couch with his nails.
"So are we," Ginny said, finally letting James down. "It was a bit dodgy there at the end, but Harry came through and saved us all."
"I heard that. I thought about writing. Hestia said she would give it to you if I did, but then she left unexpectedly and I didn't . . . I mean, I knew I needed an owl and . . ." she shrugged as if the thought of what to do next had overwhelmed her. "We had a bit of trouble, after."
"That's what I found out tonight. I honestly didn't know." Harry sighed. "I know things weren't good between us, but there was no cause for abuse."
"I guess there was, a little." Petunia smiled as James toddled over to her and stood at her knee. "He's beautiful." She stroked his hair. "Really, he looks so much like Lily. So much." She picked him up, settling the baby on her lap. "It's been so many years since I held a baby. You forget how soft they are." She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his head, and somewhere at that moment, Harry forgave her all the pain she had caused him through the years. She just looked old and lonely and he supposed whatever sadness she had caused had come back to her ten-fold.
They left a short while later with no promises to write exchanged, no false affection expressed, but with civility at least in their tones. "Let me know, if you need anything, okay?" Harry imagined Molly would be keeping track.
"Yes, of course." And then the door shut, and they were standing out in the street.
Ginny took a deep breath. "This didn't turn out the way I expected it would."
"No."
"I felt kind of sorry for them, you know."
"Me, too."
"I guess we better get back home. Mum will probably want a full report."
"I imagine so. Remind me about this adventure thenext time we think not to tell your mother something. She really does know everything."
"Absolutely. Will do. And I've learned from the best, Harry. Don't bother to try to keep secrets from me, either."
"I won't, Ginny. I won't. It wouldn't even cross my mind." Harry hefted James higher on his shoulder and they held hands as they walked through the darkness.
Title: Molly, Wanna-Be Mind Reader
Author/Artist: snuggle_muggle
Pairing: Harry/Ginny, Molly, Arthur, James Sirius
Rating: PG
Word Count: 6500
Summary: Harry and Ginny head out on a secret mission, but somebody needs to watch the baby.
katwoman_68, so sorry that this is late, even for a pinch-hit. The plot seemed so simple when I thought it out, but then it took on a life of its own and just would not end. I tried to incorporate your idea of H/G keeping a secret from Molly (with a pinch of Hermione) and also Ginny's love of Muggle artifacts. I also made baby James a key element to the story, so I hope it works for you. I hope you enjoy. And thanks, as always, r_becca, for your patience with me getting this done.
"Ta-Da!" Ginny crowed as she lifted her hands off Harry's eyes. "I found it at something called a boot sale, although I looked for a new pair of boots as mine are getting a bit worn and I didn't see any. Oh, well. Isn't it beautiful?" She turned away, putting down her shopping bags.
"Oh, my," Harry answered quietly. He was used to his wife bringing home odd assortments of Muggle home electronics. She had started her collection, she had said, with just a curiosity to find out how the Muggles did things, but it had developed into a full-blown obsession. Her father could not have been more pleased and they often cooed for hours over the newspaper ads when Harry brought home the Sunday Muggle paper so he could read the funnies. But now, standing here, a shaft of a strange cross between pain and longing pierced him and he reached out to touch. "It's a coffee maker."
"Yes, I know. Silly, isn't it, to have a whole thing just for the purpose of making coffee? But they seem very popular . . ." She left the room, unconcerned that Harry was just standing and staring at her new toy. She scooped James up and brought him back into the kitchen, tickling him under the chin. "Harry, is everything alright?" He still hadn't moved and Ginny wondered briefly if there was something wrong.
"I . . . well, yes, yes. Of course. The Dursleys had one exactly like that. That same model, that same color."
"It can't be theirs. They were nowhere in sight, believe me."
"No, no. Of course not. I just was thinking. It startled me, that's all." He took the baby from Ginny's arms. "James and I had a brilliant time this afternoon, love. I swear he called me da-da."
The rest of the evening passed quietly, in the usual fashion with dinner and clean-up, a bath for the baby, a nighttime story, and a lot of rocking before he decided he was tired enough to sleep. When Ginny finally got James asleep in his bed, she saw Harry sitting, staring into the fire. "Harry, what's wrong? You've been acting off all evening."
Harry turned and smiled at her, pulling her down to the sofa next to him. "Just seeing that coffee pot. It's ridiculous, I know. But it made me think of them. And I realized I haven't seen them in so long. I know they survived the war, although I think Hestia barely did, but afterward, I never bothered to find out.
"I'm sure they went back to their lives and never thought again about you. They were horrible to you. Personally, I wouldn't lose a minute's sleep if they all were turned into rats by Hestia and then sold to a pet shop as snake food." Ginny had used a lot stronger cuss words in the past to describe what she felt about the Dursleys, but she was too tired tonight to build up much of a head of steam.
Harry laughed. "Very funny. I would pity the snake that got a Dursley for dinner." He took her hand. "Still, I think I should look them up. It's been years and maybe they, I don't know . . . wouldn't mind seeing me."
Ginny blew a deep breath out of her mouth, puffing her cheeks and then exhaling long and slow. "Look, Harry. I . . . well, I could yell a lot about how they don't even deserve to see you ever again unless you're pointing a wand at them with a Cruciatus curse on your lips, but I know what you want to do, you do, no matter what I say. So, I guess the only thing I can say is, what can I do to keep you from getting hurt?"
"Nothing. You aren't going to have anything to do with them. If they haven't changed, they'll just torment you and if they called you a name or insulted you, I would have to hurt them and that would sort of defeat the whole purpose."
Ginny could feel her blood pressure start to rise. She tried to remain calm. "So it's okay if they insult you or call you names, but not me?"
"I'm kind of used to it."
"You better not be any more. That was years ago and anyway, you really don't have any choice. I'm coming with you, even if I have to tie myself to you permanently."
Harry waggled his eyebrows. "I like that idea . . . ."
"You perv," Ginny squealed and made a half-hearted effort to escape right before Harry scooped her up in his arms and carried her off to their room.
Afterward, they lay in bed talking. "We can't take James with us." Harry couldn't bear the idea of the Dursleys even turning up their lips at his little boy. He knew logically James wouldn't be able to understand, but he would. And he just wasn't going to take a chance.
"Of course not. For one thing, I don't know how we're going to get wherever we wind up going and I don't want to Apparate a lot with him. It can be hard on a little body."
"It can be hard on a big body." Harry tucked Ginny under his arm and kissed her forehead. "We can leave him with Molly, but I don't want her to know."
Ginny laughed quietly. "No. Because she would forbid it and you would cave like the ever-obedient son you are."
"What does that mean? I mean, I hear some subtle criticism there."
Ginny just laughed. "I'll owl her in the morning and we'll go right after work tomorrow. We'll start at the box you grew up in. Maybe they're still there which would make things really easy."
"Too easy for my life."
-*-*-*-*
Molly was obviously trying to be subtle but both Harry and Ginny could tell she was trying to figure out what they were doing. "So, um, just going out to dinner for some private time?"
"Harry's working on a project, Mum. I don't know how long we'll be or where we'll be but we'll try to floo if it goes late, okay."
"But what kind of project?"
"Sorry, Molly. Not at liberty to say."
"And you're going with him? So it can't be work-related." She was glaring at Ginny with a speculative look in her eye.
"Mum, it's nothing dangerous. We just don't want to be Apparating with they baby, okay? We'll see you soon." They both kissed James and Molly and then with a significant look at each other, they Apparated away. They had already decided the little alley off of Magnolia Crescent would be the best place to start.
The alley was just as stinky and nasty as it had been when the Dementors had attacked Harry here years ago, possibly even worse. As they emerged onto Wisteria, Harry looked around with the eyes of an adult at the sights he was so familiar with. It was obvious the neighborhood had not fared well in recent times and things were looking run down. He thought with a laugh that he would have fit in better in his holy shoes and huge misshapen clothes if the place had looked like this when he was younger. He took Ginny's hand, feeling inexplicably nervous. He even fingered his wand, safely in its holder under his shirt. If the Dursleys tried anything, he could always freeze them, silence them, shove them away. He had options now, options he hadn't had before when they had made his life such a misery.
"I guess there's no use waiting. They always used to eat dinner at exactly the same time, so they're probably home and they do not like to be interrupted in the middle of their food."
"Having seen your uncle and cousin, I can completely believe that!" Ginny tightened her hand on his. She was a little scared, too, but didn't like seeing the worry in Harry's eyes most of all. "I can always use the Bat-bogey if worse comes to worst." They both smiled and then walked the rest of the way in silence.
Number 4 looked totally different now. For one thing, it was no longer the beige identical to every other house on the street, but was a bright blue. For another, the lawn was long and ragged looking and the flower beds looked more like Molly was in charge of rather than his ever-obsessive aunt. Harry could not imagine any Dursley ever allowing their house to look this way, so he had a feeling this was going to be a dead end. The young woman who opened the door, popping bubble gum in her mouth and humming to the music blaring from the stereo was definitely not a Dursley.
"I'm looking for the people who used to live in this house, about ten years ago or so? I don't suppose you'd know anything about them?"
"No, no. We've only been here three years ourselves. My Da bought the place from a young couple with a baby. They said they had to sell it 'cause their house kept getting vandalized but the police couldn't find out who was doin' it."
"Vandalized?" Ginny asked.
"Yeah, ya' know. Graffiti, damage to the property, rude words. But they didn't mention knowin' no one by the name o' Dursley to us, I don' think. Not that I guess they'd be likely to. I've got their address around here somewhere, for the post, ya' know. Wait here a sec'."
While the girl was gone, Ginny and Harry looked at each other. "Vandalized?" they both mouthed at the same time. "That's strange," Ginny said just as Harry said, "Very odd." They both laughed as the girl came back with a piece of paper in her hand.
"Now, I don't think we've needed to be forwarding any mail for at least a year, maybe longer. So no promise this address is still good, but here ya are. If they bought the house from these Dursleys, they might at least know what they was thinkin' a doin', ya know."
"Thank you, you've been very kind. We'll track them down." Harry took the paper and glanced at the address. London. Well, that would make Apparating fairly straightforward at least. There were all sorts of wizarding spots in London so slipping into the city was easy. They waved goodbye at the girl and made their way back toward Wisteria Walk and the alley. "Should we go tonight, Ginny or another day?"
"Let's at least see if we can find this couple. Then, if they don't know, we can give it up for the day."
They found the address easily enough once they consulted a street map. Unfortunately, no one was home, so they didn't know if they had the right place or not. "I guess we'll come back tomorrow or another day, in any case," Ginny grumbled. "I want to find the damn Dursleys and get this over with."
They Apparated home and James screamed in excitement to see them. Molly handed him over and then looked at the two of them. "Hmm. No injuries, not really disheveled, although you do smell like that horrible automobile exhaust, which means you've been hanging out around Muggles."
"Mum, honestly!"
"I have a right to know."
"No, you don't." Ginny scowled at her. "We deserve some privacy when we need it. Now, are you willing to watch James for us again tomorrow night or do we need to hire a sitter?"
"I'm insulted you would ask. I would be happy to watch him, of course. Just bring him when it's convenient. If you come early, you can have dinner with us, too."
"Thanks for the invitation, Molly. That sounds delicious." Harry tried to sooth the feelings of both women, but as they left Ginny glared at him.
"It'll just give her more of a chance to ask questions, Harry. In and out quickly, that's the best way to avoid her finding anything out. I swear, if I didn't know better, I'd say she knows legilimency but it only works once you're around her for more than a few minutes."
Harry just chuckled. "I'm a trained Oclumens. She won't get anything out of my brain."
*-*-*-*
The next day Harry spent some time during the day looking over some Muggle sources for leads on the Dursleys but found nothing out. It was like they had disappeared off the face of the earth entirely. He even tried alumni records for Dudley's school, only to be told by a snooty woman over the phone Dudley Dursley had never finished at Smeltings and therefore he was not considered an alumnus and the information they had on Vernon was confidential. He could not get access to it unless he was in law enforcement and came with the proper papers.
Harry was surprised to learn about Dudley not finishing up. Of course, he had never been bright, that was for sure. But Harry had had the distinct impression brains were not a requirement at Smeltings and certainly original, creative thinking was actually discouraged there, if Vernon was any indication. But last Harry knew, Dudley had been doing well there and his boxing had gotten him some measure of respect. He hoped their having to leave Privet Drive for that year in hiding had not been the cause of it.
Dinner with the Weasleys was vaguely uncomfortable for Harry, mostly because Molly was trying every trick in the book to get either Harry or Ginny to spill their secret. She even had employed a top-secret weapon - Hermione. Hermione who could always tell what Harry was up to even before Harry had figured it out himself. Hermione who could suss out wrong-doing from ten miles away. Hermione who could smell mischief on either Harry or Ron from Hagrid's hut through three locked doors at Hogwarts. Harry heard her admitting to Molly after dinner, though, that she was stumped. He took it as an affirmation his Auror training had been successful. Molly looked extremely frustrated as Ginny and Harry kissed James good-bye and Apparated to the point nearest the address they were visiting this evening. "Maybe I should tell her," Ginny suggested as they headed toward the house. "She might be upset, but she can't really stop us."
"If you want to, I won't stop you. You're the one who thought she would make us feel guilty and I would cave."
"That's right. You will. Well, hopefully tonight we'll find them and be done with the whole secret thing."
"I hope so, too. Who knows what she'll do next time? There might be Veritaserum in our food."
Ginny laughed. "Silly boy. Veritaserum doesn't work cooked in food. If it did, it would certainly have been a standard ingredient in the Gryffindor meals for the entire time you were in school."
"Ah, well. That does explain a lot, doesn't it?"
Tonight, their luck was better and the young couple was home. Harry introduced himself and Ginny, briefly outlining their reason for showing up on the doorstep, and got a surprising response. "You are Harry Potter!?"
"Uh, yes. Do you, I mean, why do you know me?"
"Come in, come in. We would love to visit with you." The wife and husband were gracious and welcoming, offering tea and cakes and smiling broadly at them.
After a few moments of expectant silence, Ginny cleared her throat. "Thank you so much for inviting us in."
"Of course. We've wanted to meet you for years. Imagine. Harry Potter sitting in our living room."
Harry looked around quickly, wondering if he was missing something. Was one of them magic? Were they wizards living as Muggles? There was no indication of that, but he supposed there wouldn't be if they were trying to blend in. When he was just about to ask, the husband cleared his throat.
"Just so you don't think we're too odd, we should probably tell you why we recognize your name when you don't know us at all."
"I was a little shocked," Harry admitted.
"We bought the house on Privet Drive, you know it obviously, from that dreadful Vernon Dursley. A more unpleasant man I hope never to meet."
Harry laughed and then bit his lip. It was probably rude, but he always found it surprising when people agreed with his assessment of them, rather than the view they had always had of themselves as model human beings, the epitome of social grace and civilization.
"He kept trying to cheat us out of more money, insisting we pay fees for this or that and the other thing. He was loud and blustery and quite ignorant."
"Sounds like the Dursleys, all right," Ginny affirmed. She hadn't ever met them, actually, but had heard enough stories through the years to have formed a very accurate and negative opinion of the whole bunch.
"In any case, once we had moved in, we found quite a lot of evidence you had lived there. Since it was obvious they disliked you, we came to admire you, even though we knew nothing of your story."
"We found your name in the cupboard under the stairs, along with a few toys. Did they put you in there for punishments?" the young wife asked as she was passing around the plate of biscuits.
Harry sat silently for a minute, unsure how to answer. He decided truth was best. "No. That was my room, actually. I lived there until I turned 11."
"My God." The husband stared at him for a long moment before shaking his head. "I had a feeling that might be it, but Karen couldn't imagine it to be so. They should have been locked up, you know, for child cruelty."
"Perhaps, but that's long past now," Harry shrugged.
Ginny growled. "We're actually trying to find them and we were hoping you might have some clue as to where they are. Then perhaps we can consider having them arrested, assuming Harry would testify."
"Which I wouldn't. It could make for some awkward questions, don't you think? About my parents. About where I went during the school year. About us."
Ginny smiled faintly and looked over at Karen and Steve, who were listening with wide-open ears, she could almost see them pointed forward trying to catch every word. "Uh, true. I suppose. But we don't need to decide now. First we need to find those Dursleys."
Karen and Steve looked vaguely disappointed at not hearing more gossip, but they leaned back in their chairs. "We moved because our house was continually vandalized, I suppose you know."
"We had heard something about that."
"The odd thing was once we moved, I guess it stopped completely. Maybe this gang just didn't like us."
Harry had a thought flash across his mind but then he dismissed it. It wasn't possible.
"Gang?" Ginny asked.
"Yes. A loud, noisy bunch of people. They would come, do some minor damage, and then leave. None of our neighbor's houses were ever hurt, but we got tired of it, so we sold it. Took a soaking on it, too, although like I said the people who bought it never had a problem."
The thought flashed again and Harry decided to ask, even though it was crazy. "When you bought the house, um, was there like an agent's sign in front, saying the house was for sale, all that kind of thing?"
"No, no. That Dursley seemed to not want to admit he would ever do anything as crass as sell his house. It was a private sale. Our agent heard about it and suggested we look. It was all very secretive." Steve shrugged. "The house was so spotless and well-kept we couldn't really decline, you know. And we got a fairly good deal, once we squashed all the extras Dursley kept trying to add."
"But when you sold it . . . you just did the usual thing, with the agent's sign and the sold notice and everything."
"Of course. We were anxious to get out of there and running a private sale like that is slow and dear."
Ginny was looking at Harry strangely. "This has been a fascinating retrospective on what it's like to sell a M . . . mansion-like house, Harry, but let's just figure out where they might have gone, okay? I'm sure we need to be getting out of their house."
Harry was staring at Karen and Steve with wide eyes. Was it possible? No, it had to be just a coincidence. He heard Ginny but it took a minute for it to sink in. "What? Oh, yeah. We should be going, I suppose. He never gave any clues or left a forwarding address or anything?"
"No, no. I got the impression the family had been moved for quite a long while. As I said, selling a house that way can be quite slow."
"Wait, Steve, didn't he say something about the Isle of Wight?"
"He didn't. The agent did, remember?"
"Oh, yes. That's right. The agent asked if he was enjoying living there and Dursley shushed him, then spun some tale about how it was just a vacation home and in fact they were living in London, but I knew he was lying."
"How's that?"
"Well, simple, really. It was not raining in London that day or anywhere in the area, certainly not in Surrey. But he arrived with an umbrella. I remember thinking at the time the rain was moving north that day and it had been raining there and would probably rain in London by the afternoon and it did and then I thought no more about it."
Harry and Ginny looked at each other. "Isle of Wight?"
"I suppose it's possible. I can't really see Petunia liking island living, but I suppose." Harry was surprised because none of the Dursleys liked to be outside and Aunt Petunia trying to keep sand out of her house continually was not a scenario he could imagine in his wildest dreams.
"Oh, if you're thinking beach cottage and waves, dismiss that from your mind. The homes in the center of the island there are quite posh, quite lovely. In fact, it makes me wonder why he was trying to squeeze so much out of us if they could afford to live there, now I think about it. I didn't at the time."
Ginny stood. "Thank you, so, so much. You both have helped tremendously. We will take our search there next."
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Harry. And Ginny, of course. You have solved that nagging mystery about the cupboard. But I may say you seem to have turned out rather well, despite that."
"Thanks. I had good role models after I left there, you know. Including Ginny's parents. We have a baby of our own now. And he will never sleep in a cupboard, I can assure you."
"Good to know." Steve shook his hand. "All the stories you read about how abused kids can't help but abuse as they grow older, I always knew sometimes it's just strength of character, you know, that makes it stop."
Ginny smiled. She liked these two. "Harry is the best man I've ever known despite what those horrible people did to him. Thanks for the information."
"No bother at all." Harry and Ginny waved as they walked down the street toward the Apparation point before the door to the little house was closed.
"That means at least one more night of searching, doesn't it?"
"I'm afraid so. I think Mum will hex us if we don't tell her what's going on and ask her to watch James again."
"Let's just tell her. I'm curious enough now I don't think she could dissuade me and I know she has no sway on you." Harry took her hand and kissed it. "You've always been the braver of the two of us when it comes to standing up to your mother.
"I've had more years of practice, Harry."
When they had Apparated back to the Burrow, however, James was playing with Victoire and Arthur was reading the Daily Prophet. He set it aside and kissed Ginny's cheek. "Your mother had to go out, I'm afraid. She said, and I quote, 'If they're still doing this fool thing tomorrow night, tell them I will STILL watch the baby.'"
Ginny laughed. "Okay. Well, if she's still willing to watch James, hopefully by tomorrow night this whole thing will be resolved."
"Is there some reason you're keeping whatever it is you're doing a secret? It's not illegal or anything, right?"
"Of course not, Dad. We just know she won't be happy, so we wanted to avoid the lectures. But we didn't expect it to be such a long project."
"I can certainly understand." Arthur sat down and looked at the two of them. "I've been known to avoid telling Molly certain things myself, you know, for her own good."
Both Ginny and Harry chuckled. Arthur had gotten himself into quite a lot of trouble over the years because invariably Molly found out about his little shenanigans in the end. The flying car was one example Harry could think of right away but there were lots of others.
"Don't suppose you'd be willing to tell your old Dad about whatever it is . . . if you should need some help."
"We were actually going to tell Mum tonight, but I'd feel bad telling you first with her not here and then if you told her later it might come out all wrong and then her feeling would be hurt, and . . ." Ginny sighed. "Would you mind waiting just another day? We'll tell you together."
"No, that's fine. As long as you're sure you aren't doing anything morally or legally questionable."
"Absolutely not, Arthur. Nothing like that at all."
"I trust both of you. But this son of yours. He is trouble, that boy. Today, he took my eyeglasses and hid them. I looked for an hour before I found them."
The three of them visited for a long while before they took James and went home. Harry spent another hour before bed looking at all the information he could find on the Isle of Wight, trying to come up with a working plan to find the Dursleys which did not involve going door-to-door but when he crawled into bed next to her, he had to admit he had no good ideas.
When they Apparated into the Burrow's kitchen the next evening, Molly was waiting for them, fire in her eyes. She took James from Ginny and carried him into the living room, then returned. "I insist you tell me what is going on. I've received information you've been lurking around Little Whinging and London and I want to know why."
Harry just gaped at her and Ginny looked equally shocked. "How did you? Information from whom?"
"I have my sources. Now spill."
"We've been trying to find the Dursleys." Harry winced inwardly, preparing himself for the screaming. What happened next completely shocked him.
"Obviously. Why?"
He glanced at Ginny and she looked just as wary as he undoubtedly did. "Uh, curiosity, I guess. I sort of felt bad I had never talked to them again. I don't even know where they are or if they're well. Dudley might be married. Vernon might be dead. I don't know, I just . . . wanted to reconnect."
Molly raised her eyebrow. "Reconnect? Did you ever connect the first time?"
"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean I don't somewhat care, a little bit, what happens to them."
"Humph. And you, Ginny? What is your role in this?"
"I'm supporting my husband. Do I need more reason than that?"
"Humph." She folded her arms and glared at the two of them. Harry fully expected the story of his life to start playing in his brain like it had all those years ago with Snape. He understood now what Ginny meant about the Legilimency thing. "Do you want information or do you want to see them?"
Harry just looked at her steadily. "Both."
"Fine. Sit down." She waved her wand at the tea pot and then at the cupboard and teacups came out and settled themselves on the table. Ginny and Harry sat down carefully on the chairs. Harry looked at Ginny and raised his eyebrows in a questioning way. She shrugged and then they both looked at Molly.
"Fact is, I . . . well, I am the Dursleys' Secret Keeper."
There was dead silence in the room. In fact, Harry suspected if she had just announced she was an alien from the planet Zork who had been posing as human for the last fifty years, the silence could not have been more absolute. He shook his head, certain his ears had betrayed him.
"What? I think I heard you wrong."
"No, you didn't. After the war, they were getting harassed, you know, by people who, out of feelings for you, you understand, were attacking their house, all that kind of stuff."
"But . . . how did people even know?"
"All those unauthorized biographies. Did you never read them? They told all about your pitiful childhood. I didn't mind the Dursleys were getting some grief. Heaven knows, they deserved it all. But it got out of control. So, Minerva and I decided to do something."
"Nobody told me!"
"Why did you need to know?"
"They're my relatives, I guess. I . . . I should have been told." Harry wasn't sure what he was upset about, really. He couldn't have cared less about them at the time and only barely cared now.
"Maybe. But more than that, they are somewhat under the protection of us wizarding folk and we owed them. So, we took care of it."
"I bet that didn't settle well with them."
"Oh, I don't know. Minerva paid them off quite handsomely."
"What? She gave them money?!" Now Harry was indignant. They didn't deserve any money ever as far as he was concerned.
"They had to move, their address was already out there, too late to secure. So she paid them and they moved to the Isle of Wight. Vernon retired and they have no friends. So having the Fidelius charm on their house is hardly an inconvenience. I'm not even sure they understand the situation. I told that obnoxious sister of his and that was that."
"Dudley?"
"Dudley lived there. He knew the address. He moved out and since he's never married, passing the address on to a wife or children hasn't been a problem. But we're monitoring the situation. If he ever should decide to marry some poor woman I suppose we'll have to work something out but it should be easy enough. They're remarkably thick, actually."
"That's true." Harry looked at Ginny. "You knew nothing of this?"
"Of course I didn't. Why would I? I would have told you, Harry. But, Mum, I thought you hated the Dursleys?"
"Oh, I hated the way they treated Harry. But, when I met them . . . I felt sorry for them more than anything. They were dragged into a situation they were in no way ready to handle. They treated you miserably, I know." She patted Harry's shoulder. "But they kept you alive and maybe for that alone I should give them some credit."
"Maybe." Harry tried to look at it from an adult's perspective now but still had a hard time dredging up any real sympathy. They could have treated him better without it making any difference to their situation but maybe they just didn't have what it takes to feel anything for what he was going through, either.
"So, Mum. Could we go see them?" Ginny reached for Harry's hand, squeezing tightly.
"I suppose so. I worry their address might get out again, but I think it's been enough years that people have stopped caring."
"Molly . . . the people who bought the house from the Dursleys said their place was vandalized a lot by loud groups of people. Were those people wizards?"
"I believe so. That was the sort of thing going on. I'm ashamed to say even some of our family participated in it, and no, I won't tell you who. We tried to put out the word that the Dursleys had moved but I don't think it mattered. It was sort of the 'in thing' there for a while. Finally, when that couple moved it seemed to die out."
"George?" It didn't take much for Ginny to guess and that had been the name on Harry's lips, too. He knew it wouldn't have been Percy, Ron would have bragged about it to Harry at some point, Charlie wasn't here, and Bill wouldn't have gotten away with it because of Fleur. But George had gone through a rough patch there for a while and tormenting the Dursleys would have been something Harry could see him doing.
"Not saying. It doesn't matter now, anyway." She scribbled an address on a scrap of parchment. "Take James with you. Petunia seems to have mellowed a bit and I think she wouldn't mind meeting her grand-nephew."
*-*-*-*
Ginny and Harry were both nervous as they approached the neat bungalow, lit up now against the encroaching evening. It was beige, even though the other houses around it were painted bright colors more appropriate for an island paradise setting. James squirmed in Ginny's arms and pointed to the ground. Ginny shushed him. She was unbelievably on edge about this.
"You've got your wand handy?"
"Yeah, you?"
"Of course." Harry knocked on the door and a moment later it swung open.
Petunia stood there, blinking into the darkness. She paled at the sight of the three of them, her hand over her heart. "Lily, James. I . . ."
"No, Aunt Petunia. It's me, Harry."
She sagged against the door frame, gripping the knob as if it were the only thing holding her up. "God. You look so much like him. So much. I . . . Are you his wife?"
"Yes. I'm Ginny."
"Come in, come in. I . . . we so rarely have guests. I think sometimes our house is invisible, you know."
"Uh . . ." Harry didn't know how to respond to that, so he didn't. "Thank you."
They both wiped their feet. Petunia was just staring at them. "Vernon's in the parlor. He will be surprised to see you." She looked down at James, still squirming in Ginny's arms. "He's yours?"
"Yes. This is James. He's almost one."
"He takes after his mother."
Harry wasn't sure if that was an insult or just an observation, so they quietly followed her into the room where Uncle Vernon was sitting. Vernon looked older. What hair he had was gray and his mustache looked thin, now. His skin was blotchy and saggy. He had lost weight but not in a healthy way. To Harry, he looked ill. "Who was at the door . . . Oh, I say. I never thought I'd see you again, boy."
"I know. I am sorry I haven't come by earlier."
"Didn't say I wanted to see you again, did I?"
"Vernon, be nice. They've just stopped for a visit." Petunia waved them onto a very uncomfortable couch and Harry and Ginny perched on the edge. Ginny held James tightly, unwilling to have him even arms' length away. "I've thought of you, you know, through the years. Wondering what had ever become of you."
"I'm well." There was another uncomfortable silence, with only the noise of the television penetrating it.
"Good to know. Dudley, too. He's never married, although he seems happy. He has a good job, makes lots of money and has a lot of people report to him."
"What does he do?"
"He supervises assembly of luggage, very high quality luggage. He lives in London but comes to visit every other week or so."
"Ah."
"What about you?"
"Don't ask, Petunia," Vernon billowed from his chair, showing he obviously was listening more than he wanted to let on. "He probably does something with that magic of his."
"I'm an Auror," Harry asserted, not letting Vernon stop him from answering. "It's sort of like a policeman, but not."
"Ah." Petunia fidgeted a bit. Harry wasn't sure what he expected her to say. "I'm glad things worked out for you. In the war."
"Wasn't a war, Petunia. That would have been something noble and decent. This was just a bunch of crazy people shooting sparks out of their sticks at each other." Harry was very tempted to silence Vernon with a quick flick of his wand, but thought it would just aggravate the situation. He gripped the edge of the couch with his nails.
"So are we," Ginny said, finally letting James down. "It was a bit dodgy there at the end, but Harry came through and saved us all."
"I heard that. I thought about writing. Hestia said she would give it to you if I did, but then she left unexpectedly and I didn't . . . I mean, I knew I needed an owl and . . ." she shrugged as if the thought of what to do next had overwhelmed her. "We had a bit of trouble, after."
"That's what I found out tonight. I honestly didn't know." Harry sighed. "I know things weren't good between us, but there was no cause for abuse."
"I guess there was, a little." Petunia smiled as James toddled over to her and stood at her knee. "He's beautiful." She stroked his hair. "Really, he looks so much like Lily. So much." She picked him up, settling the baby on her lap. "It's been so many years since I held a baby. You forget how soft they are." She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his head, and somewhere at that moment, Harry forgave her all the pain she had caused him through the years. She just looked old and lonely and he supposed whatever sadness she had caused had come back to her ten-fold.
They left a short while later with no promises to write exchanged, no false affection expressed, but with civility at least in their tones. "Let me know, if you need anything, okay?" Harry imagined Molly would be keeping track.
"Yes, of course." And then the door shut, and they were standing out in the street.
Ginny took a deep breath. "This didn't turn out the way I expected it would."
"No."
"I felt kind of sorry for them, you know."
"Me, too."
"I guess we better get back home. Mum will probably want a full report."
"I imagine so. Remind me about this adventure thenext time we think not to tell your mother something. She really does know everything."
"Absolutely. Will do. And I've learned from the best, Harry. Don't bother to try to keep secrets from me, either."
"I won't, Ginny. I won't. It wouldn't even cross my mind." Harry hefted James higher on his shoulder and they held hands as they walked through the darkness.