Alice Knows Best

Thoughts in italics. Very short filler chapter, I just really enjoyed this scene!

Petunia preened as she opened the door the next morning, quietly hoping the press would take lots of pictures and show her on the news. She was the Aunt of the Boy Who Lived, after all; she deserved some sort of recognition! As long as they don\'t demand to see the boy; why couldn\'t Vernon have kept himself under control?

"May I help you?"

The man standing there was very well dressed, his suit far better than the one Vernon wore for business meetings. Perhaps this man was here to get an interview with Harry Potter\'s family! Everyone would be so jealous-after all, no one had even tried to interview anyone else in the neighborhood yet so far as she knew!

"My name is Brandon Gray, I am the personal assistant to Crown Prince Charles. I am here to collect Mr. Potter and transport him to Buckingham Palace for the evening, where he is invited to stay the night and be escorted home in the morning. I must warn you that I am not to leave without Mr. Potter, Mrs. Dursley."

Petunia mumbled something about boys being boys, and playing with friends, but Mr. Gray would not be put off. Petunia threw a fit, making sure the reporters could hear her protestations against this \'heavy-handedness\' on behalf of the Royal Family-the woman was positive her performance was newsworthy. She firmly shut the door in the man\'s smirking face and went back to her television.

The police were at her door by the end of the commercial break, and they had the Royal Military with them.

Even worse, however, was that once she\'d been physically pulled from her own home Petunia realized her entire neighborhood was watching and whispering, shooting her accusing glares without even knowing what she\'d done wrong. The police radios were buzzing with static and feedback and garbled messages that made no sense to anyone else while they coordinated with the Military (Petunia wasn\'t sure which branch they were in, not being overly familiar with the uniforms). Neighbors whispered and gossiped and shared around biscuits and tea in thermal cups while they watched the spectacle. The reporters watched every move rabidly, making sure each breath was captured for further review and possible airtime. Dudley and his friends showed up but stayed at the edge of the crowd, not getting too close; Petunia had the hysterical thought that her son wanted to keep away from her so he wouldn\'t be implicated in what she knew was going to happen. Petunia wasn\'t stupid. Her husband had beaten her nephew into a broken, bloody mess and she\'d not done anything to either stop it or help the boy afterward. In fact, it was technically her fault that the boy was in that condition in the first place. As one of the police officers came up to her, Petunia had an irrational thought. Well, at least I know I\'ll be on the news.

"Petunia Dursley, you are under arrest for..."