It seriously does. Plus summer teaching about to start and conference paper due yesterday. a;lsg.
But no matter! Am done, and loved it. :) I never would have clicked on it without knowing it was you, truth be told, because unlike some others here, I actually don't have any burning desire to learn more about Petunia - or at least, I didn't think I did, but now I am definitely better off or having given her a bit of thought, and letting you fill in so many of the gaps, because, just, it makes so much sense!
I love so much how it weaves through canon, especially, starting with the post-DH world of the Dursleys coming back from exile, which, yes, is a huge loose end in canon. I love how unsettled Petunia is, and how the exile itself forces her to think about things she's tried not to think about: the wizarding world and its war in general, Harry, Lily, etc. I love that she comes back and can't get back to "normal." I think that's fabulous and real.
And then the premise is just, al;sjkg. You are so creative with plots and magic and stuff, you know that? Lily's box and the magic around it was wonderful. I loved all the details there, as well as the cameos from Augusta and Flitwick. (And just details like "Minerva, you might have seen her before - she's the one who can turn into a cat. You know, Harry's father could do that, too" - I just, it's SO COOL, tying all those things together like that, for Petunia's benefit. I suppose maybe part of my flail is just the coolness of seeing all of HP canon laid out like this, being explained by wizards to a Muggle. The Apparition, the spells/charms, the Animagus discussion, St Mungo's, the war - every little detail was there, and Petunia's sense of wonder at it all was our sense of wonder, when we first read the books, right? It was great to feel all of that again, that Muggle sense of, "OMG, a moving staircase??? A talking portrait?? SERIOUSLY?" I loved all of that. :)
I loved the large cast and the cameos - Neville, the Weasleys, even Harry. Harry was sex on a stick, actually, which - I mean, I know that wasn't the point of him, but somehow adultish!Harry in supporting, non-pairing roles in fic does something twisty to my insides, just hanging out, rebuilding Hogwarts, wearing jeans and trainers, saving people a few more times, casually doing magic like charming Save Me coins, and GOD, possibly being too busy doing urgent stuff to come right away when called? I don't know why I went all melty at that detail, but I just. al;skgj. HARRY IS SO AWESOME AND IMPORTANT AND IN DEMAND AND I JUST. ♥ !! He reminded me of why I love the books, you know? Because I love Harry so flipping much. GOD. *SQUISHES HIM*
Also, Dom!Harry with the receptionist at St Mungo's made me go take a cold shower. I just, I don't even know what. a;skljg.
The domestic abuse plot was very IC too, I thought, very fitting. It seems perfectly reasonable to me that Vernon would be like that with her, and that even Dudley wouldn't have seen it. Dudley was maybe slightly more sympathetic than I would have thought, but then, there's a whole other novella there, detailing his character development. *g* We don't really get to see it because he's offstage so much, but I can believe he came around. I like the bouncer job. Heh. And getting a beer for Percy.