Wild Raven

Letters to Accept

"Mrs. Dursley, 

My name is Albus Dumbeldore. I'm sure you have heard of me from Lily. I am the headmaster of Hogwarts, the w-wizarding school in England. I am sure the Potters have given you explanations on why there is a baby on your doorstep. If you haven't, his name is Harry and he is around a year old. He will be picked up on his 5th birthday. If you choose to accept keeping him, you are going to get about 5 pure gold coins a month.

I hope you will choose the right decision, 

Albus Dumbledore"

Vernon was silent as she looked at him again. "What are you looking at women?" He snapped, his hand raised, but he looked at the baby on the ground and lowered his hands. 

'He probably doesn't want Harry to wake up, and disturb Dudley.'Petunia thought, reaching down for the last letter. As her hand neared the brown parchment, she suddenly drew back as if burned. 

"What?" Vernon snapped again, annoyed.

"N-nothing," she stuttered, fear making its way through her voice. She reached her hand back towards the letter and this time, the parchment let her. She opened it and saw another seal on it. Instead of the Hogwarts one though, it was black and had a raven on it. She broke it unevenly and took the letter out. She unfolded it and started reading,

"You don't need to know who I am. What I am going to say is the same. Take care of Harry James Potter or I will end you and make it look like an accident."

The letter was short, but the threat was huge. They did not know who it was from or where it was, but they knew that it would be their end if they did not take him in. Petunia put down the letter gently as if it was going to hurt her if she handled it roughly. 

"What do we do?" She asked, knowing that she had no opinion. And just as Vernon opened his mouth to say something, a cry rang out. She looked wide-eyed at the baby, scared.

Vernon opened his mouth and snapped, "Shut that baby, Petunia! He is going to wake my Dudley up!"

"Y-yes Vernon"

She carefully picked up the baby and cradled him softly, holding his head on her shoulder. He quieted down, and she couldn't help but think 'Why would Lily give up this precious gem?'She looked into his eyes to see a bright emerald and was surprised by the rare color. Lily did have green eyes, but she never had emerald eyes. And while Lily had soft-looking eyes, the baby's was surprisingly sharp, as if he knew something she did not.

Vernon looked at her and said, "We will keep him, but one mistake out of line..." He didn't need to finish, and Petunia quickly shook her head. She started to walk up the stairs but was stopped by Vernon. 

"Where do you think you are going?"

"Up-upstairs to give him s-something to sleep on"

"No, he will live in that cupboard over there"

"B-but-"

"WHAT DID I JUST SAY?" he yelled, spit spraying everywhere. She nodded and asked, 

"Can I at least give him some blankets?" Vernon thought for a moment before he nodded unwillingly. 

Petunia opened the cupboard that was located under the stairs and placed Harry on the floor of the small space. Then, she quickly hurried up the stairs and into Dudley's second bedroom, where various things were scattered everywhere. She went to the little wooden closet at the back and opened the door, relieved when it didn't creak. She then took out several blankets that lay on the bottom of the wardrobe, a pillow that was decorated with a soft silk sheet that had flowers strewn on it, some baby clothes that Dudley didn't fit into any longer, and some small toys that Dudley won't notice missing. 

She ran down the stairs softly and froze as a step creaked. She waited and when she didn't hear anything, she continued down more slowly and carefully. When she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, she saw that Vernon was again sitting on the couch watching the television blare on. She went to the small cupboard and lifted Harry up before placing him on one of the pillows she kept on the floor outside the cupboard. 

She slowly straightened the small cot that lay on the side and put it on the floor, covering it with a thin sheet covered with dancing penguins. The threads had been torn out of it, but it could be put to use instead of laying on the bottom of an old closet. She then put a softer, thicker layer of a blanket over it, covering the whole closet with its length.

Petunia turned to pick up the baby laying outside the closet, but before she could, a small popping sound could be heard to her, and Harry was suddenly in the cot with the pillow on his head. His eyes were still closed and he was breathing regularly. She quickly looked at Vernon to see if he heard and quietly breathed a small sigh of relief when she noticed that he was still watching the news.

Petunia looked back at Harry and smiled softly her heart quickly warming. She put another blanket on top of him and put the toys she had on the deep end behind his cot where it would be kind of hard to see them. She neatly folded the baby clothes that were almost 3 sizes bigger and placed them on the shelf about the cot. She then closed the cupboard door quietly, and sneaked back up the stairs, stopping only to say a small 'goodbye' to Vernon who barely acknowledged it.