Two Stockings are Better than One

"T'is the season to be jolly..."

Petunia was aware that her mother was looking at her, but turned to the tree instead. She fiddled with the ornament she was holding, trying to pull wrestle the short golden string over a branch. She hoped that the woman would get the hint and stop trying to make her join in on the carol; one person dancing around the house and singing was quite enough, thank you very much.

"Fa-la-la, la-la-la…" her mother prompted, walking over and draping a Santa Claus hat on her head.

Giving her a tight smile, Petunia resisted the urge to pull the hat off. The little white pom pom on the end fell into her eyes, and although she planned on redoing her hair before she went to visit her friend, Clarice, she didn't want it going frizzy from the hat.

"Well, I think we're done," her mother said, dusting off her hands. She stood back, her hands now on her hips, and looked at the tree. "A little uneven with the tinsel, but your father can fix that up when he brings in the lights. Yes, I think it looks very nice."

Petunia looked at the tree, too, not quite as impressed. It was alright, she supposed, but the decorations didn't seem to follow any theme, and many of the ornaments were falling apart after the years of use. She had wanted her mother to buy some new baubles at Woolworths, but her mother had insisted they use the traditional decorations she and her father had bought when they moved into the house, as well as the flimsy paper chains she and Lily used to make in school.

Still, she hadn't thought they would have a tree at all, not when Lil—the traitor had decided she wasn't going to come home for Christmas. Her younger sister had decided that she would rather stay at that freak school of hers for the holidays with her new friends, leading her parents to decide to spend the day with their grandmother in Surrey. Her mother therefore hadn't seen the point in putting up a tree since they would be away, but after much begging, she soon changed her mind. Now that her mother appeared to be enjoying herself, she wasn't about to complain.

"It does," Petunia said.

"Alright, I might go help your father before he hurts himself," her mother said, heading out of the living room.

Petunia could hear her father grunting from the garage, cursing under his breath about lights becoming tangled and the pressure of impressing in-laws. Sighing, she turned to the box marked 'fireplace' and dug around. Most of the decorations were already on the mantle, leaving only hers and Lily's stockings in the box. She took out her own and hung the loop around the nail above the fireplace.

"I just don't see why I need to put them up if we're going to be out. It's not like your mother is going to be seeing this," her father said, walking into the room with a string of lights slung across his shoulders.

"I want to give Petunia the perfect Chris—" her mother stopped talking as she followed him into the room. "—That looks nice, sweety."

Petunia rolled her eyes again. "Yes, well, I suppose I should go pack."

She headed towards the staircase, but before she even put a foot on the first step, her mother called her back.

"You still have all of tomorrow to pack. Why don't you finish up in here and we have a nice cup of tea?" she said.

Petunia turned and walked back into the living room. "I'm already finished," she said, waving her arm around the room.

Her mother glanced at her father. "What about your sister's stocking? Wouldn't you like to hang it up for her?"

This time, she couldn't hide her contempt. She narrowed her eyes ate her mother and folded her arms. "I don't see the point. She couldn't be bothered to be here, so why should I put out a stocking for her?"

Her mother licked her lips. "Well, we're not going to be here, either. I just thought it would nice to have something of Lily's hanging up as we always do."

Petunia's cheeks grew hot. This time, she pointed to the many frames lining the mantle, each featuring a smiling Lily at various times of her life. There were some of Petunia, too, but they were far outnumbered by those of her sister.

"We already have plenty of reminders of her; she doesn't deserve to have even more. I don't even know why you're wanting to buy her gifts when she's too busy with her new life," she said. She had to work to keep her voice steady.

Her mother's face softened. She took a step forward, probably to give Petunia a hug, but the girl moved away.

"Sweety, you know Lily loves us all—especially you. I'm sure if she knew you really wanted her to come home for Christmas, she would change her mind."

"If I wanted her home? If I wanted her home? That's not what—" Petunia shook her head, unable to form proper words.

She didn't want Lily to come home; that wasn't it at all. In fact, it would be better if she didn't. Petunia would probably get more presents from her parents, and she wouldn't have to put up with Lily waking her up at 5am in the morning to see if Santa had come yet. No, her parents were missing the point as usual: Lily was being selfish, and she had to pay the consequences for being so.

"We'll still have fun," her mother said, looking to her father for confirmation. "Won't we, dear?"

Her father was too busy untangling the lights to give more than a grunt in reply.

Shaking her head again, Petunia walked over to the box. Making sure that Lily's stocking was at the bottom of it, she made a show of jamming the lid on. Then, turning on her heel, she stalked back towards the staircase.

"We sure will," she said as she headed up towards her bedroom.

Even though she had closed her curtains, the moonlight still had managed to wake her up. Perhaps it was because she hadn't really been asleep in the first place, nightmares involving owls and broomsticks haunting her as soon as she closed her eyes.

Sighing, she pushed off her quilt and got out of bed. Her bedroom door creaked as she opened it, as did the stairs as she tiptoed down them. She cringed with each sound she made, sure that her parents would wake up and ask her what she was doing up at that hour.

Truth be told, she didn't really know, and although her mind screamed at her to just go back to bed, her feet took her down to the living room. She found herself in front of the mantle decorations box that was still lying on the coffee table.

Opening the lid, she pulled out Lily's stocking. The green and red velvet boot of it was a little dusty, and the embroidery on the 'y' of her name was coming apart. Really, both of them needed new stockings. Petunia's own stocking was a little worse for wear, but at least it's hanging loop was still intact; Lily always had trouble hanging hers up, and last year, her mother had to sew the loop back on after the girl tried to sticky-tape it back on.

Petunia looked at the fireplace and sighed. Even if Lily had been there to hang it up herself, she still would have needed Petunia's help. Not that she deserved any presents, being what she was and all.

Nevertheless, the fireplace did look a little bare with just one stocking hanging up. Taking the pin that she had placed in her pyjama pocket, she stuck it in the loop to hold it together, and hung the stocking on the nail next to hers.

Stepping back, she admired the effect. Two stockings hanging up—and perfectly aligned nonetheless—looked far better than just one. The room finally looked finished, just as her mother had said it would, and now perhaps she would be able to get some sleep.

A/N: This fic is for Fruits (SecretFruits) for both the mini drabble tag and for being an awesome friend. It's another Petunia story, and the plot sounded better in my head, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless :)