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Through the Veil and Back Again	By : SpeedyTomato Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 77508 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 13
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter (though someone could gift me a few of the men in it and I wouldn't complain) and make no money off of this.

Chapter List
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Chapter 30

Beta'd by the amazing Tenchi, who I couldn't work without anymore. Thanks, Tenchi!

With help from Lynn who works with me when it comes to flow, continuity and other issues.

Just a reminder of what's on my profile; reviews complaining or whinging about the lack 'o sex in stories will get deleted. If you want a smut-filled romp, you need to find another story to read.

“You said that we're going to go get what Dudley needs tomorrow?” Petunia asked as she poked at her food. It was a couple of days removed from the event that turned her life upside down and she was doing better. Definitely firmer in the conviction that she had done the right thing. Dudley—he was so happy with what happened. He told her he felt wonderful and better than he had in years. Those in the house, despite that they were obviously close to Harry and probably knew how shabbily they all had treated him over the years, were helping all they could with the mess. Not once had any of them made an off comment to her about the past. That was good, obviously, especially for her. She assumed that at some point someone would say something, especially Sirius as he was obviously close to Harry. And she would deserve it. At this point, it wasn't anything she wasn't saying to herself because of how badly she had treated Harry. She just couldn't see beyond her past prejudice. And she was kicking herself for it.

“They are taking you early tomorrow morning,” Sirius told her with a firm nod after swallowing his food. “What they're going to do is take you to Gringotts first to set up your vaults. That's going to take the longest. They'll press on from there. Rather than spend forever to get him some clothes, they're just going to grab catalogs for those and let you pick them out when you get home. We can owl order whatever you need that way. The same with some other areas. Or Remus can grab what we need when he's out. That way you don't have to be in the Alley any longer than you need to and won't get overwhelmed by so much.”

“Lucius suggested, and Sirius agrees, that we need to get with Dudley on some of the basics he might need to know. You know, the normal areas for boys. We took care of that with Harry earlier this summer and want to make sure Dudley is tended to as well,” Remus told her softly. “If it's not been handled, one of us can take over and show him. We'll also make sure that we get him our version of what he needs.”

After poking Sirius and Harry then going over what they came up with, getting the permission, Lucius added, very quietly, “We need you to keep what I'm about to say to yourself, understood?”
Stiffening up then glancing at her son who was a little wider-eyed than normal, Petunia gave a stiff nod. She assumed that this had to do with the few brief mentions Harry had made about keeping some things quiet and not all was how it seemed, so she said, “Our word.”

Glancing at Lupin, who nodded as the man had signed the paperwork earlier for this, Lucius explained, “Over the years, you were supposed to get a stipend for Harry to care for him. For reasons we won't fully get into yet, you didn't receive it. Remus signed the papers earlier for you to get what you should have been given over the years. It'll automatically transfer into the vault you open. We all felt this was best so that you don't feel beholden to anyone over their support until the divorce goes through the courts. After all, this was moneys you should have received over the years and didn't.”

“I never once heard about getting money to care for Harry,” Petunia said softly, looking around, brow drawn down. “We just assumed there wasn't any or that your system didn't provide for that.”

“There was an entire vault set aside for that,” Remus sighed, shaking his head. “Let's just say that it's a right mess and we're working with what we found out not long ago. You'll get the money and that will be plenty to get you started out until you settle. I signed the papers for that today and they'll be in the hands of the goblins when we go in tomorrow. I would suggest that Harry and I sit with you when you open the vaults as we know what's going on.”

Now very confused, Petunia asked, glancing at Harry then to Sirius, “I thought Sirius was his godfather. How is it you're the one that had to sign for all this? I'm a tad lost.”

“It's a mess,” Harry sighed, poking at his food. “Let's say I was never actually supposed to go to you. Remus was the one mum and dad set up to get custody of me. That never happened. Someone else stepped in and ignored mum and dad's wills. We'll explain it all later, just not right now because it's a giant mess we're still trying to correct. Sirius will eventually get custody, but he can't until he's cleared.”

“This—it makes no sense. Wouldn't I have to sign something to turn over custody? I mean, you were put with us, Harry,” Petunia asked, glancing around. Then her eyes widened when she saw some knowing looks passed between the rest of them. “What is going on?” She asked, tone far firmer. “Something is very wrong and I want to know what it is.”

“You never had custody of Harry,” Sirius told her softly. “He was just placed with you. Custody was held by someone else.”

“Who, if not us? From what the letter said that came with him, it sounded like by me accepting him would mean I had custody. At least that's how I understood it,” Petunia said, completely confused.

Groaning, rubbing a hand over his face then smoothing down his goatee, Sirius said, “This can go no further. It's to protect all of us. You just need to trust that we are doing the right thing.” Seeing her nod, a firm look on her face, he explained the mess with Albus when it came to custody. Oh, there was plenty more, he just didn't want to dump it on her all at once. When he finished, he said, “We're getting it straightened out the best we can. Both Harry and I have the best solicitor we can get our hands on. Remus is now in place and handling all of it. It's just going to take time and work, nothing more.”

“Why in the world would that awful man do that?” Petunia asked, livid. Part of that was driven by the guilt over how she treated Harry, but part was because this plain wasn't right.

“We don't know, honestly,” Sirius sighed, shaking his head. “All we have are guesses, nothing more. It's nothing to worry about. You have my word. Just concern yourself with what you now have to deal with and adjust to. Let us take care of this end. Albus won't come out on top, we've already made sure of it. Whatever he did, we'll get fixed. In fact, most of it is well on the road to being handled.”

“If he's willing to pull a stunt like this, I don't want Dudley anywhere around him,” Petunia huffed, looking angry. Folding her arms over her chest, she said, “I know Lily trusted him to do the right thing by her. If he would ignore that, he's not coming near my son!”

“We'll protect Dudley,” Lucius assured her firmly. “For now, we just need you to play along like you are with him. We don't want Albus figuring out that we know about his shenanigans. It will be hard, we won't say otherwise, but we need you to. Trust us that we have plans that will ensure that his manipulations and plans won't come to fruition. You just need to follow our lead. And you won't be in any danger, that we all promise you. There is much going on that you don't know and all of it comes so we can protect everyone at this table. Let us work with it and guide you.”

Glancing around then looking at her obviously concerned son, Petunia then glanced at her nephew. Quietly, she asked, “Harry? Is this true?”

“It is,” he assured her with a firm nod. “It's part of what I was talking about. Just trust me and it'll work out. And don't say anything to anyone not here other than Snape. He's trying to help, too. All you have to do is follow our lead and we'll all be fine. You have my word that Dudley won't go in Dumbledore's hands. None of us are going to end up there, no matter what he might plan for this mess.”

“Understood,” Petunia finally said with a nod. “This—I don't know what to think!”

“It's a mess, none of us will tell you otherwise,” Narcissa assured her softly. “And much isn't how it seems. You'll understand as time goes on. None of us think it’s wise to just dump everything that we know on you at once. That would just be too overwhelming. We'll slowly fill you in. You have all our words that you're in no danger and we'll protect you.”

“Absolutely,” Sirius told her with a firm nod. “Harry won't steer you wrong. He knows just what's going on and the why behind it. At least from our end. The other—none of us fully know that mess. We're just avoiding as much as we can while we do what we can to protect all of us. That includes the both of you.”

“Alright,” Petunia sighed, not sure what else to say. Shaking her head, she asked, “How much time is it going to take tomorrow, do you know? You said the bank will take quite a bit. What about the other areas?”

“The bank will take the bulk of our time,” Remus told her honestly. “The rest shouldn't be that bad. We have most of the books, so we won't have to tend to that. The same with some other areas. The wand—we aren't sure with that. It varies from person to person. And I'm sure both of you will want to look around at least a little in the Alley as you haven't seen it before. It's always wonderful the first time you see it. We'll take that in account.”

Getting excited once again after being concerned with part of the conversation, Dudley asked, grinning, “What's getting a wand like? How do you do that? Do you pick or is it something else?”

Grinning himself, Harry began to explain it. “Just be prepared that you're not going to know what to make of Ollivander. He's an odd one. And it took me forever to get the right one.”

“He's an odd one, that's for sure,” Draco agreed with a nod. “Mine didn't take that long. It's a great feeling, though.”

“Better than flying?” Dudley asked, looking between the two. Flying was something he adored from the start and couldn't wait to do it again. He honestly didn't think there was anything that could top that.

“Not better, just different,” Harry told him. “You'll understand when you experience it. There isn't anything else like feeling that for the first time.”

Taking that in, Dudley gave a slow nod, assuming that he would understand when it happened. Then he began asking other questions about what they were going to do, getting more excited as they talked about it. Though just a couple of days ago he hadn't thought about being able to do what Harry did much, now he couldn't wait. It was great!

Holed up in their room with Lucius, Harry and Remus, Sirius looked between them and said, “We seriously need to sit Petunia and Dudley down then really explain what's going on, fast. We're pushing towards getting us the hell out of here in about a month, so we can't delay this. Not to mention all the other odd bits that are bound to show before then. The bond alone is going to take us time to get through to them and not have her getting very upset. We won't even go into the other bits, like we knew about the 'attack' before it happened.”

“We do,” Remus sighed, smoothing down his mustache. Glancing between the other three, he said, “And fast. Some of this—if Petunia stumbles across it before we have a chance to talk about it, she's going to end up plenty upset. Dudley won't fair much better. It might be best to bring Severus in as well. He knew her growing up. The relationship might not be the best one in the world, but it's better than most of us have with her.”

Thinking it over, Lucius gave a slow nod. “Yes, having Severus here is for the best. I say the night that I go to tend to matters with Wormtail have him stay here and all of you walk them through everything the best you can. It won't be fun and will be plenty taxing, not to mention overwhelming, but it can not only prepare her, but ensure that she keeps a close eye on her son and is wary for attempted manipulations. This way she doesn't misstep around the wrong person. There is too much riding on what's coming in the next month for us to chance that.”

“We'll get with him and have him plant his arse with us to help,” Sirius nodded. “As you'll be doing that late enough at night that we won't have to worry about people coming over, we won't have interruptions.”

“We also need to get with him about being 'on call' in some way so when things really start moving, he can come over to help. We're going to have to start venturing out soon to ensure that all areas are set up. The home is the big one. That will probably result in multiple trips to ensure all is in place, repaired and ready for habitation,” Lucius sighed. “And we don't have much time to tend to this.”

Glancing at Remus, Sirius said, quietly, “And see if we can get him to brew the Wolfsbane. The full moon is next week. The account is set up to pay for that, so we can compensate him. We need Remus here as much as we can get him for now. Especially since he has custody. One never knows what Albus might pull. If he's around, even that night, Albus can't do shite. We have a room ready downstairs, so that's not a big deal.”

“I'll get with him on that as well,” Lucius told him firmly. “I'm certain he will or, if he doesn't have time, knows where we can procure it.”

“And that's another thing we need to explain to the two as well,” Remus sighed, shaking his head. “We don't want Dudley getting curious and putting himself in danger.”

“And he would be,” Harry chimed in for the first time. “He's seen plenty of monster movies and knows what a werewolf is. I'm sure he'd want to see a 'real' one.” Seeing some confused looks, Harry explained that reference then added, shaking his head, “The movies have some of it right, but not all. We need to explain the difference.”

“Yeah, that we need to tend to, now,” Sirius said, straightening up, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms over his chest. “We'll do that tonight or tomorrow, one of the two. We don't want Petunia more unnerved than she already is or have her thinking we're hiding something from her.”

“Not something I thought of,” Remus sighed. “Merlin, this is growing more complex by the day!”

“That may be,” Lucius admitted. “It doesn't change our plans, though. That we need to focus on and work towards that goal. It's just going to take us pushing what we have to do is all. Nothing more. The foundation is there and this is just something added to it. We can handle it.”

“I'm also going to add that with the two of them here, we can expect more company. We need to stay on our toes about that. The bond solidified enough that Harry isn't having the problems he had been, but we still need to be careful about objects and people touching him. Which means we need to seriously pay attention to what he gets.”

“Are you getting anything from your aunt and cousin, Harry?” Remus asked, looking at him. “Or 'signals' that tell you there might be something there?”

“No, nothing. Which is good,” Harry nodded. “Even Dudley hanging onto me when riding the broom didn't cause a problem. That's good.”

“It is,” Sirius said, relieved. “Alright, we just—shite, need to come up with what we're doing in a firmer way than we have now so we can prepare. Up until now we've just been winging it. That we can't let go on with what's looming.”

“I say we get Severus involved and have him help,” Lucius said, looking between the three. “He has a perspective that we don't and may have a better timeline than we are aware of. We do need the major events planned for, though.”

Seeing nods from Remus and Harry, Sirius said, “I'll let you tend to that end. We'll take on planning out how in the hell to explain part of this mess and where to even start. I'm not sure she's not going to blow her top over parts anyway, what with some of her reaction tonight. As much stress as she's under, it's understandable.”

“I'll send an elf tonight so he knows,” Lucius assured him.

“Let's start by saying Harry needs to take the lead. She's apt to listen to him more as she knows him,” Remus added. “We'll jump in when we need to and help with explanations.”

From there, the four of them began to plan out what they had to cover.

Fascinated by some of what Narcissa was showing her in the books, Petunia said, tone resigned, “I'm not sure if I'll remember all of this anytime soon. It's quite confusing. I get that Dudley would be what is called a Muggle-born and that you, Sirius, Lucius and Draco are Purebloods, but what does that make Harry? Is that the Half-Blood?”

“It is,” Narcissa nodded. Reaching out, she patted the slightly overwhelmed woman's hand and said, “Don't worry, you'll catch on quickly enough. It just takes time to remember the terminology is all.”

“And Remus is? I'm not sure that's been mentioned,” Petunia said, brow furrowed as she thought.

“It hasn't. He's a Half-Blood as well. After a fashion. It's been a couple of generations since the Muggle-born was married into his family,” Narcissa explained.

Taking that in and nodding, Petunia asked, “You and Sirius are related then?”

“Oh yes. We're cousins. Most Purebloods are related in some way,” Narcissa told her with a soft smile. “You'll grow to understand it, don't worry. I don't think Harry has a full grasp of some of it yet either. He has the basics, of course, but not all of it. It's hard to get used to, but you will. I would bet, if someone ran scans on you, that you'd be found to be a low level squib. That would mean you would just be classified as magical without any abilities or chance at doing what Dudley will. Your sister probably got all that. It happens that way sometimes.”

Shaking her head, trying to take it all in and assimilate it with what she knew, Petunia just sighed. It was so much and she was still feeling plenty overwhelmed. Glancing at Dudley again to reassure herself that he was fine, she smiled a tiny bit and said, “He seems to like flying and swatting that ball around.”

“Most young men adore flying,” Narcissa said fondly as she watched her son. “Plenty of women as well. And Quidditch is almost an obsession among our kind. Harry's just as bad in that area. I'm sure Dudley will end up being drawn in by the both of them.”

“It still seems dangerous to me, what between the flying and swinging the bat,” Petunia sighed, wringing her hands slightly.

“Well, yes, it is. Nothing in the world is truly safe. If what Harry said is correct and that Dudley boxed, I can say that isn't exactly a safe sport either. After all, he spends matches getting punched. I wouldn't call that safe at all,” Narcissa told her.

“Yes, very true. I don't suppose I looked at it that way. It's just—I'm sure you understand,” Petunia chuckled softly.

“Oh, I do! Lucius bought Draco his first broom when he was about a year old. Though those don't go very far off the ground, only far enough so their toes are barely touching the floor. You can only imagine the stress that caused me to see him zooming around on it,” Narcissa told her with a bigger smile, remembering her son going all over on it. “You get used to it. We won't let anything happen to him if we can at all help it. The boys don't come out here and fly without someone with them. We can all easily stop a calamity if it looks like one is going to take place. Once Dudley gets better at it and knows what he's doing, you won't fret as much. It'll just take time is all. Like everything else.”

“I imagine this will take a lot of time to get used to,” Petunia said with a shake of her head and a shuddering sigh as Draco did a roll on the broom, hanging both of them upside down.

“Some, yes, that's for sure,” Narcissa told her with a bigger smile and shake of her head.

Pulling her eyes away from the two in the air, she asked, “Now, about these creatures—you said dragons are actually real?”

“Very real,” Narcissa nodded firmly. “Ask Harry. He's had encounters with a couple of them. And they aren't pleasant. They are, of course, awe inspiring to see. You keep your distance, though, unless you want to feel their flames. How about if I send one of the elves for a book on some of our creatures? It's my understanding that even Muggles have heard of them.”

“That—yes, I'd like that,” Petunia told her with a firm nod. “I'm sure that what I know of them and what they are really like are two different things.”

Summoning an elf then sending the creature for a book, Narcissa said, “That could be. I've heard that Muggles tend to have lore different than ours.”

Looking to where the elf vanished, she said, “And the elves are servants? And do all the cleaning? Does everyone have those?”

“They are. House elves serve Wizards. No, not everyone does, we just happen to have quite a few of them.” She then began to explain the job of house elves and what they were like. While this wasn't much and there was so much that Petunia had to learn, Narcissa thought that easing her into their world this way was probably the most straightforward method. After all, it wouldn't overwhelm her and would show some of the basics. They could then build from there to the more complex areas. Most of that, though, would probably come when Dudley started to use his magic for the first time. Then poor Petunia would probably have a better grasp of what they talked about. It would just take time, that's all.
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Through the Veil and Back Again