Redemption

Revelation

Vernon looked as if somebody slapped his face. "That's impossible!" he blurted, his face turning whiter.

Petunia was very worried. She had seen her husband get angry more than once, but he was always getting redder. What did this mean? She hoped he wasn't having heart problems, as he suddenly seemed unstable on his feet.

Pansy reacted first, fetching a chair and letting Vernon fall on it. He didn't even seem to notice her, his eyes fixed on the painted officer, who responded, looking quite smug. "I remember that Lord Durley was very upset at that time, as his children barely had any magic, yet his brother didn't even marry and had no children at all. That happens a lot in magical families, you know."

Vernon, breathing heavily, didn't answer, as his face distorted with pain.

"Are you alright? Do you feel any pains?" Petunia asked, taking his hand in hers.

"I'm... I'm fine, Pet. This just brought back some very painful memories."

They all seemed confused. Even Petunia didn't remember anything about her husband that could lead to this. Vernon slowly regained his color and his breathing became less stressed.

"What is it, Vernon? You gave me quite a fright," Petunia said, still holding his hand.

"I'll tell you all later," he said, standing up. "Shall we go in now?"

Vernon disregarded the rest of the magical paintings. Their hosts showed them to their allotted rooms. Dudley was also assigned a room, although everybody knew he would spend the night with Pansy.

After a short rest, they all reassembled at the dining room, which was also decorated for Christmas. Vernon was unusually quiet throughout the meal, making Petunia quite worried, yet it was a pleasant meal. The food was excellent and the desserts were fabulous. That was no news for Dudley, who had already sampled the local cooking, yet Petunia enjoyed it very much, eating quite a bit more than usual, despite being worried about her husband.

As they finished eating, Vernon turned to Jenny. "That was an excellent meal. I'd like to thank your house-elf personally."

Everybody seemed surprised, yet Gopsy popped in a moment later. Vernon bent down on his knees and shook Gopsy's hand in thanks.

They moved to the family room for some tea and chatting, each couple sitting on a different couch. Vernon looked at his tea cup for a few minutes, before finally talking. "I believe I owe you all an explanation." He lifted his eyes and noticed the expectant look on all faces.

"I really am the current Lord Durley, head of the ancient house of Durley. Since that time mentioned by your ancestor, my family lost almost everything. We have no vault at Gringotts any longer, our Wizengamot seat was removed and we almost perished."

Petunia seemed shocked for a moment. She couldn't quite believer it, yet Vernon wouldn't lie, certainly not under the circumstances. She looked at her husband, trying to understand what was going inside him. She felt that he still needed her, maybe even more than before. She could be there for him.

Vernon looked at his wife, as if asking for her understanding. "I married immediately after Hogwarts, marrying my childhood friend and the love of my life. She was a muggle, but none of my parents cared. About half their friends were muggles and they felt more comfortable with them than with magical folks, as nobody in my family had much magic to start with. Yet those were very dark times. Voldemort was rising, wiping entire families in his wake. Despite not being powerful or influential, my parents had the wards strengthened, just to be safe, as associating with muggles made them unacceptable for Voldemort and his followers.

"I was doing some shopping for my pregnant wife when the manor was attacked. The wards didn't hold too well, so it seems. My parents, my wife and my unborn child were killed. All I could find, when I came back, were charred corpses, barely recognizable, under piles of rubble."

He wiped the tears from his eyes with his hand. "I was never a powerful wizard, barely more than a squib. There was nothing I could do. I only buried my loved ones and then left the magical world, swearing to never let it interfere with my life again."

Vernon smiled sadly. "Easier said than done, as you all know. About a year later, I met Petunia. It wasn't an all-consuming fiery love, like the one I had with Marcy. It was more like a creek with refreshing water – just what I needed at the time. I then got to know her sister. You already know about her. But Petunia and I were good together. We had something in common – we both hated the magical world, although for different reasons. She also got relatively well with my sister, who is a squib. We married about a year later in a simple muggle ceremony. Lily invited us to her wedding a few months later. We didn't go. Too many people could have recognized me there. Luckily, neither Lily nor her friends knew me at Hogwarts, due to age difference."

Petunia hugged Vernon tightly. In all their years together, he had never looked so vulnerable, so helpless. She suddenly found in her heart the love that she thought she would never feel again. Dudley and Pansy joined the hug soon.

Once they all calmed down, it was a very pleasant visit. With Vernon accepting his fate, he was no longer a cause of worry. He seemed to actually enjoy being back in the magical world, although not whole heartedly.

They all opened their presents in the morning, having fun. When the Dursleys left late in the afternoon, the three couples were content that it went so well.

Yet Dudley was not satisfied. Now that he knew why his father had opposed the magical world so much, he wanted to learn more about his heritage. Vernon needed some persuasion, but eventually agreed. He only asked Dudley to bring a certain box from the attic and then sat with both his wife and his son in the study.

"I've not opened this box for more than twenty years. It contains all that was left of my old life and the lock is keyed so that only I or my descendants can open it." He then smiled apologetically. "I'm not powerful, but I know how to use what little magic I have."

He touched the lock with his hand and it popped open. He lifted the lid and let the others peek in. There was a wand there, several photographs – most of them charred, and a few other objects. Vernon took out his wand, held it pensively for a moment and put it back. "I was never good at any kind of spells. Most needed more magic than I had, although I knew exactly how to cast them."

He now took the photos and spread them on the table. "These are all the photographs that I could salvage from the ruins. There were tens of albums there, dating back more than a century, as well as hundreds of paintings. None survived the fire." He pointed at an image of a man and a woman with two children. "My parents, Marge and I, when we were still kids." Another picture showed a youngster wearing robes and holding a wand. "At Hogwarts."

He now took another picture and looked at it adoringly with tears in his eyes. "Marcy, shortly before our wedding. We got to know each other when we were about seven, and we became lovers at sixteen..." His voice choked and he took a few deep breaths to calm down. Dudley saw it was an image of a dark haired young woman who looked very shapely. Vernon then took all the scattered photos, put them back in the box and locked it again. "The other stuff is not really important, especially since you are not a wizard. I may need to show it if ever you have a magical son."

Dudley was still bothered. "Dad, they say this house was burned completely. How come you still have this box?"

"I took it along with us. I intended to take the wand out and use it to protect you as much as I could, if ever we found ourselves in such a situation. Luckily, that didn't happen."

"Why did you change your name?" Dudley wondered.

"My sister chose to be Dursley when she started living among muggles, so nobody would know that she was a squib, and yet the name felt close enough to be comfortable for her. When I moved out of the magical world, I didn't want to be recognized as a wizard. I used the name that was already known as muggle. In a way, I also changed my first name, using my middle name instead. My original full name is Leonard Vernon Durley."

Dudley was quiet for a moment, letting himself absorb the new information, before asking, "Isn't there anything left of the family fortunes?"

"The little that remained in my vaults after the funerals, I transferred to a muggle bank. It allowed me to buy this house. We also have majority shares in Grunning and some shares in other companies, but they produce very little income. Whatever was stored in the manor was either destroyed or robbed. We still own the terrain, but it's barren. You need very powerful magic to restore even a part of it."

Dudley nodded, Pansy had told him that she was not powerful at all, yet he knew one who was certainly powerful – his cousin. "Is Harry powerful enough to help us with this?"

Vernon grimaced. "Why should he? The way we treated him... Better leave him alone."

"Well, Pansy and I have met him more than once. He helped Pansy in being accepted by his friends and suggested we meet regularly after we finish school. I would have met him more had we not visited Canada."

Vernon looked pensive. "If he's willing, then maybe we can restore the manor house. I will never live there, but that doesn't mean you can't."

"Why don't we meet with Harry?" Dudley suggested. "We can set a meeting at a restaurant, maybe even one in Diagon Alley."

Vernon grimaced. "No, not there. Too many painful memories."

Dudley felt sorry for his father. He couldn't really understand the pain, but just the thought of losing Pansy was more than he could bear. "We can meet someplace else. I'm sure he'll accept."

He used one of Pansy's owls to send a preliminary invitation to Harry, also stating his mobile telephone number. His phone rang the next morning. "Dudley?"

"Yes. Who is it?"

"Hi, it's Harry. You owled me."

"Hi, Harry. My parents are ready to try and repair the relations with you. I believe it would be good for all of us to meet. I thought that meeting at some restaurant would be nice, at least as a first step. Will you come?"

Harry was puzzled. "What made them change their mind?"

"I don't think Mom has ever really hated you. Dad had very different reasons. It all came out when we visited Pansy's parents. One of the drawing there recognized dad. I'll tell you more when we meet."

"That sure sounds interesting. Will Pansy be present?"

"I'm planning to bring her along, unless she has some other obligations."

"I'll come with Hermione, then."

Dudley couldn't refrain from asking, "Are you together now?"

"Yep. She's dating me now and I intend to keep her at my side for as long as we live." Dudley could almost see Harry smile as he said that.

"Alright. I'll make the reservations and send you the details. Can I call the number you use now?"

"Sure. Hermione made me buy a mobile phone and made sure it worked even at school. She'll treat Pansy's phone when they meet, so you two can stay in touch."

"Yes, that will be really nice."