Harry Potter and His Shadows

Chapter 15: Death do us part

Vernon Dursley was a simple man. He loved his wife and his son very much. He loved their house, he loved his job and he loved their small normal life. He loved the quiet little part of Surrey they lived in. His life had been just perfect until the freak had shown up at their door. He'd just been promoted at Grunnings, and his beautiful wife had just given him his little boy. Of course, he was aware of Petunia's strange family. They'd met at the wedding. She had reassured him that they would never be a part of their life, and that had been that. When they had to look after the freak, things changed. Magic had entered their lives, and it was just wrong! It was natural, and decent folk like them shouldn't have had to deal with it. They'd sent the baby to the cupboard, out of sight and out of mind, as much as they could.

When the boy was four, things started getting so much worse. His magic started growing. The house seemed to get so much darker when the boy was hurt or upset. As if the shadows themselves were growing. According to his wife, the same things had happened when Lily had been angry. That had set it in his mind. Magic was evil, and he could not allow it. He'd forced the child to work, beating him almost daily. He refused to let the runt believe for one second that he was better than them. He'd walked in on the boy talking to himself quite often. It wasn't right, it wasn't natural goddamit! They deserved more! When the child had gone to that freaky school, he'd been relieved. For at least most of the year, he didn't have to deal with magic, and could pretend his life was back to normal. Just him, Petunia and Dudley.

Then when the boy had disappeared a few weeks ago, he'd been so happy. They'd celebrated, going out to dinner, hoping that the little monster was finally dead! They'd been a happy family again, for the first time in fifteen years, not worrying about magic ruining their lives. That was until the boy came back. Vernon had never been more scared of that boy, than when those terrifying shadow creatures attacked. He was still having nightmares, none of them could really sleep. The boy said they wouldn't see him again, but what if those things came back?

Vernon had been thinking all of this as he drove back home from work. He'd gotten another promotion at work, and should have been excited to go home to his loved ones and tell them the good news, but this dark feeling just wouldn't go away. Sighing, he turned the corner into his street, before slamming his foot on the break at the sight before him. He hadn't even noticed the smoke rising up above the other houses. The entire street was engulfed in flames, bodies littered on the street. He got out of the car and ran to his house, falling to his knees when he found the body of his wife. He screamed, tears dripping down his reddened face, and he shouted his pain to the sky. It was then that he noticed the smoke was moving into a strange shape. He watched through watery eyes, before he realised it was a snake coming out if a skulls mouth. That wasn't normal, it was magic. He panicked, knowing the boy was behind this.

"Dudley!" He stood, rummaging through the wreckage of his house, desperate that his son had survived. He searched and searched, but found nothing. Where had Dudley gone? "Dad!" He turned, relief flooding through him until he saw his son. He was writhing on the ground, bloody foam pouring from his mouth as a lady with untidy black hair stood over him, pointing her wand at him. Another was repeatedly shouting at Dudley, and each time he did, a loud crack of broken bone could be heard. "Dudley, no!" He went to run over and help his son, when a tall aristocratic looking man stepped in front of him. He had long blonde hair and wore white gloves, which held a slender, polished black wand. "My regards, from Mr Potter." That was the last thing Vernon heard, as a flash of green drowned his sight, and nothing was left but darkness and silence.

Harry walked into the Great Hall with Hermione, Ginny and Ron following behind him. He took a seat at the table and started to eat, ignoring the rest of the school. He couldn't wait for Hogsmeade weekend, when he could finally see Vol again! He had the rest of the week to find the horcrux, figure out who the spy was and make up an excuse to get away from the others on Saturday. "Harry?" He grunted, not looking up from his notebook. "Harry, mate, you need to see this." He looked up, and finally noticed how quiet the hall was. Everyone was looking at him, and he frowned before turning to Ron. "What's going on?" He didn't reply, simply looking at Hermione, who passed the Daily Prophet over to him. The headline stared up at him and his face went blank, unsure of how to react. He'd been pretty sure Voldemort was going to do this, but it was still surprising. "Harry, are you okay?" He looked up and saw Ginny leaning over, most of the Gryffindor table looking at him worried. Cherié, what do I do? The old man, master. Harry looked up to see Dumbledore watching him, a solemn expression on his face. The wizard stood, gesturing for Harry to follow and walked out of the hall. Ignoring the questions from the trio, he left, going up to Dumbledore's office.