Julie Anne Dursley

Deathly Hallows Part 3

The days quickly turned into weeks. Julie immensely enjoyed the set rhythm in The Lair, with breakfast at nine, lunch at one and dinner at six. By adhering to it, Julie did not end up with weird sleeping schedules that contributed to her anxiety. Hestia had taken Julie up on her offer to help out and so she brought the injured witches and wizards that also hid in the house their potions and did little tasks for them.

When the Hogwarts students, who to her delight really were not much different from her, were studying, Julie went to the library. The pictures in the books actually moved, just like the paintings, and they were full of interesting stuff. She read about Quidditch, magical history, transfiguration, how to make potions and a lot more. Sometimes she spent hours on end in the library, fascinated by everything she discovered. Occasionally she felt a little sad about not having magical powers, and she regretted never asking Harry questions about his world.

When the Hogwarts students were not studying, Julie played games with them. She also asked them about Hogwarts and they answered all of her questions. She would love to one day see the school for herself, and Justin promised her to show her the castle someday. Sometimes Justin and Colin told her about the things Harry did at Hogwarts, and they were very surprised that she did not have a clue.

"You and Harry were not very close, were you?" Justin asked her carefully one day.

"Well, we just didn't have much in common, with him being a wizard and me being a Muggle and all," Julie said evasively. Well, that was not a lie, but it also was not the whole truth. The situation inadvertently reminded her of her childhood, when she had playdates with other children. At home with her parents and Harry, her safe zone so to speak, her behaviour was always rather terrible with bullying Harry and her temper tantrums when she did not get her way, but when she was at friends' houses she always behaved very well. She was calm and polite, and everyone liked her.

After a while, Julie knew about the Philosopher's Stone and the horrors of the Chamber of Secrets. This afternoon they told her all about the Triwizard Tournament. Julie was very impressed when she heard about how Harry outsmarted a dragon during the first task, and how he went all the way to the bottom of the Black Lake. "Cedric and Harry were tied after the first two tasks, so they entered the maze first. The first champion to reach the Cup would be declared the winner. No one knew what had happened exactly, but after a few hours Harry suddenly appeared with the Cup and Cedric's body. Later it turned out that Cedric had been murdered by You-Know-Who and Harry narrowly escaped," Justin said softly. "Cedric was in my House. We were all devastated and in complete shock."

Julie looked at him and said nothing. She thought about the night of the Dementor attack in Little Whinging, when Harry had pushed her against a wall and threatened to curse her because she had taunted him with the fact that he had said 'don't kill Cedric!' in his sleep. She felt truly disgusted with herself now.

"Are you all right, Julie?"

"Er, yes, I'm fine, just give me a moment," Julie said feebly. She went to the bathroom and splashed some water in her face, feeling awful. Maybe it was time to come clean to Justin at least...

It went off her mind, however, that evening. She had enjoyed another lovely dinner with her friends, and had barely set foot in her apartment when she heard her mother call her name. "Julie, dear, we need to talk."

"Er, okay," Julie said surprised. She walked into the living room where her father and mother sat at the table. Vernon motioned for her to sit and so she did, not at all sure what was going on.

"Your mother and I have been talking," Vernon said, "and we don't really like you mingling so much with that kind of people."

"Why not? They're really nice!" Julie said surprised.

"We think you just have that idea because you have nobody else in this bloody place," Vernon said, "they aren't true friends, Julie."

"What makes you say that? Not like you ever came out of these rooms and saw it for yourself!" Julie retorted. Her surprise had turned into anger.

"Your father's just worried about you, dear," Petunia said softly, but Julie smiled sarcastically.

"Worried? While I'm socialising and learning lots of new stuff and he's isolating himself? Good one, mum."

"Show a little respect Julie, we've given you so much!" Vernon said angrily.

"Well, all you're giving me now is a headache. What are you saying anyway, that I can't hang out with my friends because you're still scared of magic," (her parents winced), "despite these wizards always going the extra mile to make it easier for us?" Julie said.

"They'd better, it's not like we're here for our own pleasure, are we?" Vernon spat.

Julie rolled her eyes. "Why are you so terrified of magic anyway? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it was me who magically got trapped in a snake enclosure at the zoo, it was me who was given feathers for which I needed surgery and it was me whose nose became longer than the trunk of an elephant. Why can I move past that while you can't?"

Her parents said nothing for a few seconds, until Petunia feebly said: "Julie, dear... you don't understand."

"Then explain it to me."

"Petunia, you don't have to!" Vernon intervened.

Julie looked at him. "If you want to forbid me from seeing my friends because they can do magic," (they winced again), "then I feel that I deserve to know the reason why. And with that I mean a good reason, not some irrational rubbish."

Petunia sighed. "All right, Julie. My sister, your aunt, and I were the best of friends as sisters. We did everything together and we held no secrets. Then one day, she received a letter from that school. My parents were so incredibly proud, while I just wanted one thing and that was to go too. I even wrote the headmaster, but he wrote back saying that I couldn't come. I felt rejected, jealous and overshadowed; emotions I've never been able to fully shake off. I was so upset with Lily that I didn't want her as bridesmaid, something that hurt her deeply. We've never been able to reconcile, because then she was killed. I'll never forgive the magic world for taking away my sister." She took out a handkerchief and dried the tears that had welled up in her eyes. Julie touched her arm but did not say anything. "Then suddenly we were left with her son on our doorstep. Every time I looked him in the eyes, I thought of the sister I lost."

"Is that why Harry was always treated so badly?" Julie asked carefully.

Her mother nodded. "That's also why we always wanted to give you everything, Julie. I wanted you to be the special child, to compensate for my own miserable childhood, where all attention went out to my sister."

Julie said nothing for a bit. It was a lot to take in, and she had never had the faintest idea of the feelings that had been tormenting her mother for so long. "Mum... I'm so sorry," she said eventually, and she meant it. Her mother had started sobbing. Julie hesitated for a bit, but felt this might be the only chance she would ever get to discuss this subject, and therefore went ahead. "I understand you, I really do. But I don't think Harry should've been punished for events that happened before he was even born."

"What do you want us to say?" Vernon suddenly interrupted.

Julie looked him straight in the eyes. "Say that we failed him. You and me. All of us. For the longest time I've blamed Harry for those bad magical experiences I had, but it wasn't his fault. It was my own."

Her parents said nothing for a few seconds. "Part of the reason why we wanted to slap the magic out of him, was because we knew it was a dangerous world. I had proof of that," Petunia said eventually. Julie nodded faintly. "Can I ask you a question, dear?" her mother said.

"Yes, of course."

"When you're out there, with those wizards and witches, don't you feel at least a little jealous?"

"No, because it is what it is. I'm just glad that I can even have a taste of it, since most Muggles have no idea. Sometimes in life you just got to accept the way things are and focus on the positives and on what you have rather than what you don't have."

Her mother smiled at her, tears still rolling down her cheeks. "I don't know why I deserved such a wise daughter. Please don't think too badly of me..."

"Of course not, you're my mother," Julie said softly and then her mother and she simultaneously got up and hugged each other tightly. Her childhood suddenly made sense to her now.

Julie needed some air after that talk and went out again. The corridor was dark, but she knew her way by now. Thousands of thoughts ran through her head, and suddenly she felt extremely emotional. She went to the second floor and stormed into a classroom, where before she knew it she kicked a desk and pushed over a chair. Then she heard a cough and she promptly looked around. "Oh, I didn't know anyone was in here, I'll go," Julie said, feeling embarrassed.

"No, it's okay, please stay, I was just doing some late night studying," Justin said, "what's wrong?"

Julie slid down the wall and sat on the ground. "Just family stuff. My parents aren't doing well, they miss their old lives. It creates tension." That again was not a lie, but not the whole truth. Justin got up and went to sit beside her.

"I understand it's hard to be away from home, leaving your normal life behind, with so much uncertainty about the future," he said.

Julie nodded, suddenly thinking about Calum. "This watch was given to me by my boyfriend, with whom I broke up because I had to go into hiding. I don't even know why I'm still wearing it, the damn thing's not even running anymore. Anyway, that's the past." She took off the watch and promptly threw it in the tiny trash bin in the corner. "You know, the real reason why I never knew anything about Harry was because my parents and I always treated him horribly. But I'm really sorry about it," Julie said.

"How horribly?" Justin asked carefully.

Julie looked at him. "He slept in a cupboard under the stairs for the first eleven years, that kind of horrible."

"Oh," Justin said, "I guess you've changed then, because we all like you."

"That, I have," Julie said.

They sat there silently and awkwardly for a while and then Justin got up. "We'd better get going. Thank you for being so honest, and don't worry, I like how you're now and I don't blame you."

"Thanks, Justin," Julie said with a faint smile. He grabbed his stuff and then walked out the room.

"Are you coming?"

"In a bit."

"All right." He waved her goodbye and Julie went to sit on one of the chairs. Suddenly it dawned on her that her relationship with her parents might just have changed significantly and it made her nervous. Maybe she had gone too far with some of the things she had said, especially about Harry. She stared in the dark for a while, a tear rolling down her cheek, and then buried her face in her arm.

Something was poking her. She groaned. "Don't do that..."

"Ma'am! It's morning!" A voice squeaked. Julie yawned and stretched and then spotted Lumi, the house-elf. She realised that she had fallen asleep in the classroom. "What are you doing here, ma'am? Have you been crying? Lumi sees your eyes are red," the elf said.

Julie groaned again. "Don't be silly, Lumi, seventeen-year-olds don't cry. What time is it, anyway?"

"Almost time for breakfast. You should come with me!"

Julie shook her head. "I'll meet you there, okay? I have something to do first. Thanks for waking me up." She got to her feet and went back to her apartment, leaving the surprised elf behind.

"Julie! Where have you been?" her mother said when she stepped through the door.

"I accidentally fell asleep somewhere. I'm sorry, mum. And I hope we can still be close, even with, you know, all that," Julie said.

"Of course Julie, it's like you said, we're in this together. Isn't that right, Vernon?"

Her father nodded. "I'm still not thrilled about all this, but if you want to make friends with those people, that's okay."

Julie smiled. "Thanks, dad. It's gonna be okay, we'll get through this. Whatever it takes."