When Petunia found Harry the next morning, her scream woke up the entire neighborhood. She knew, from just one look who the child was. He looked exactly like her sister's husband. She was considering calling the orphanage until he looked at her. She gasped. Those eyes! She was looking into Lily's eyes. Involuntary tears welled in her eyes as it hit her that her sister must be dead. She would never leave her son here otherwise.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts, then leaned down and picked up Harry. She was confused by the crinkle of paper she heard until she saw the corner of the letter peeking out of the blankets. She pulled the letter out then turned and went back into the house.
"Vernon!"
"Yes dear?"
"Vernon, come here, quick!"
"What is it dear? Did the morning paper crush your flowers..." He trailed off as his eyes landed on the child. "Petunia, what is the meaning of this!" Petunia set Harry down on the kitchen table.
"I don't know, but there is a letter."
"Let me see that." Vernon ripped the letter out of her hands, opened it, and began to read. Petunia scurried to his side and read also, her pale face losing all of its color as she continued down the page. Vernon, however, turned an ugly shade of purple as he read.
"Petunia! Is this true? Are we to take care of this little freak?"
"Yes dear, I suppose so."
"And can we definitely squash the magic out of him?"
"We must be able to. Why else would Dumbledore say such a thing?"
"Hmph. And what is this about compensation?"
"Lord only knows, Vernon. Are we going to keep him?"
"Well, I suppose we should, for charity's sake. However, he must earn his keep as soon as he can."
"Of course, Vernon. I'm sure as soon as he's old enough to understand he will be very grateful. We are taking him in through the goodness of our hearts. Why we're practically saving his life. If we are to squash the magic out of him though, we must never tell him anything about the magical world."
"Indeed. Now go see if you can't find someplace for him. Dudley's old crib should do nicely."
"Of course, good idea, Vernon." Petunia scooped up Harry and carried him upstairs to put him in the crib. She stopped at Dudley's room to look in on him. Her son was fast asleep curled up under his blankets. She noiselessly pulled one of his oldest set of clothes from the closet then went into the spare bedroom that was currently a storage room.
She set Harry down on the dresser and unwrapped his blankets. As she did, a purse dropped onto the dresser with the unmistakable clink of coins.
"Vernoooon!" Vernon raced up the stairs as fast as his large frame would allow. When he reached his wife, he was gasping for air.
"What...has the...little freak...done?"
"Look!" Petunia pointed at the purse. She still hadn't opened it. Vernon reached for it with a greedy expression.
"This must be our compensation dear. How much do think the old coot gave us? It's not exactly a large purse." He opened the bag and began counting.
"200 pounds? He expects us to raise this freak on 200 pounds?!" Petunia cowered at his rage.
"Perhaps it is only an installment dear. After all, he did say he had arranged for compensation until Harry's 17th birthday. And remember, Harry will be earning his keep as soon as he is old enough." Vernon calmed somewhat at that thought.
"You must be right, dear. Put the freak in his crib and let's go wake up Dudders." Petunia dressed Harry quickly, plunked him in his crib, then followed Vernon out the door. Vernon closed the door behind him with a resounding THUD, leaving poor Harry in the dark.

Alexander Interlude:

Augusta Longbottom looked down at the letter in her hands a look of absolute loathing on her face.
"Mum? Is something wrong?" She heard her son Frank ask as he and Alice got ready for work.
"Lily and James are dead....." She replied quietly. Alice let out a gasp.
"No! What happened?" She asked, picking up her son Neville in one arm, and tucked her godson Alexander into his highchair with the other.
"Voldemort killed them. What's worse is that they've disowned Alex.....left him nothing....." Augusta explained. Frank had a look of pure shock on his face.
"They would never!" He said angrily. Alice shushed Neville, who began to whimper a bit. Alex just looked around at the three adults in the room, his emerald green eyes wide in wonder.
"They did. Thankfully Old Fleamont had a plan in case something like this happened, gods rest his soul." Augusta said gruffly as she read further down. Frank looked over her shoulder.
"What?" Alice asked.
"I Fleamont Potter, in sound mind, hereby pass my potion company onto my grandson, Alexander Fleamont Potter. All profits from that company shall also belong to him. In addition to this I'd also like to pass on my title of Lord Gryffindor onto him as well." Augusta read aloud. "That's good that the poor boy won't be left with nothing." Frank and Alice nodded in agreement.
"But how could they do that to Alex? And why didn't Dumbledore stop them?" Alice asked with a frown. Augusta and Frank shared a knowing look with one another.
"I don't know girly. I don't know." Augusta said, shaking her head. Although the truth is, she had an idea.