Lily would guess – when Petunia arrived home, tear-stained and red in the face, and shouted that magic was the "most horrific, vile, degenerate thing" she had "ever had the most sincere misfortune to cross" – that her date with Peter had not gone quite as well as she would have hoped.

Peter swept his eyes over her appraisingly. Her blond hair was done up quite well; she was even wearing a bit of mascara. The effect was rather nice and brought out the hardness of her grey eyes – a hardness, Peter thought, he would like to try.

She blushed a little under his gaze, and looked down at herself as if to make sure there was nothing wrong in her appearance. She smoothed the fabric of her dress over her thighs deliberately. "It's new, this," she said, her cheeks flushing. She seemed a bit drunk. "I bought it just the other day. Do you like it?"

She seemed to hold in her breath, and he thought of what to say. Always make a woman feel more beautiful than she really is. Lucius' careless drawl surfaced in his mind. Women will do almost anything for a man who makes them feel beautiful. He had smirked as he'd said this, but Peter thought he ought to take this advice very seriously.

"You look quite lovely," he said, not untruthfully. She did look rather pretty, despite her overly-pointed chin and generally gangly appearance. The dress was flattering. "I do like it – yes, indeed, I like it rather a lot." Peter attempted his most charming smile (one he had seen grace Sirius' face – how many times, he couldn't say) and Petunia beamed.

He understood, suddenly, that Petunia intended to deprive him of the moment to which the entire evening was supposed to have culminated. He stared at her sweetly smiling face, and decided that now was the time to follow some advice Sirius had once given him: "Don't tell a woman what she wants - show her! She likes to feel that you're in charge and that you know her mind as well as she does."

Peter took Petunia's hand - rather a little more roughly than he meant to - and explained, "But the evening isn't over yet, pet. The best part has still to come." He smiled at her, unaware that his smile closer resembled a frightening jeer, and mistook Petunia's sudden loss of resolve for a modest show of acquiescence.

When Sirius later found out what had transpired with Petunia, he was livid. It was this confession, in fact, and led to Sirius' revulsion of Peter – which, in turn, led him to mistrust him. He protested when James announced that he and Lily were making Peter their secret-keeper, but when James asked why he didn't agree, Sirius never said. Lily hadn't said a word about the subject and never seemed to project any feelings other than disapproval and annoyance at the mention of her sister, which led him to believe she had not been told about Petunia's date with Peter. And if Petunia had not told Lily, it was certainly not Sirius' place to tell James. He finally let the matter of switching secret-keepers die, begrudgingly of course, and upon the Potters' death, he knew exactly who deserved to reap what he had so menacingly sown.

She made to jerk away, and Peter grunted "Incarcerous", conjuring strong ropes to curl themselves around her delicate wrists to prevent her from taking away his moment, which he had certainly earned (dinner had cost an entire seven Galleons, just for the two of them.) Indeed, if he could master this simple date, if he could pass this milestone, he was one step closer to Lucius' inner circle. To successfully go to dinner with a woman, and survive what always happened afterward, would prove to him that he had a chance of reaching his goal. He was worth something.

An hour later, Peter sat against the headboard and relished the feeling of unequaled power the moment allowed him. Petunia was shuddering and making grotesque squelching noises in the far corner of the room. He knew this was relatively normal; they did sometimes do that. Peter recalled the manners of his friends, whom he had observed in situations quite like this before from hidden spaces behind trick bookcases and the like. He mimicked what he felt Lucius would have done, or Macnair, or Dolohov: tossing her tattered dress roughly toward her (Peter felt a tinge of guilt at having ruined her new gown), and straightening himself up importantly, he demanded that she "stop making a fuss at once and make herself at least appear like a lady" and with a sneer added, "if that was possible." Never be too eager, Avery had said. Women like to play for you, just as much as they want you to play for them. His performance wasn't quite to his friends' standards, but it was getting better all the time.

Petunia's manner toward Lily was decidedly and permanently changed after that.

It wasn't until years later, as Lily angrily reflected on Petunia's refusal to attend Harry's christening, that Lily realized something far more sinister than a disappointing date may have transpired that night. By the time Lily had put all the pieces together – Petunia's sudden denouncement of any interest in magic, the looks of loathing and blame she shot at her sister, the utter ruin of their friendship, her insistent relationship with Vernon Dursley, perhaps the most distasteful man in the world, as unlike to Petunia as Lily could imagine – well, by that time it was too late to make amends. They had been absolutely estranged, and in mere months, Lily and her husband would be dead, leaving her only son to her once-beloved sister's care.

"Petunia Evans."

The tall blond-headed girl at the railing turned. She spotted him through the crowd of patrons just leaving and smiled, clutching a salmon-colored cardigan and a small handbag.

"You must be Peter?" It was a question. She blushed, and took his outstretched hand. "I'm so pleased to meet you – Lily told me you were handsome, but she didn't say – " Her face turned a darker shade of pink, and she stopped talking for a moment.

Peter grinned, leading her through the front doors of the restaurant. "I hope you like this place. It was a recommendation; I've never been here myself, so if it's awful, you cannot blame me." Petunia giggled, and they sat down.

"Funny, isn't it? Our names?" Petunia spoke over the top of the menu she was holding, propped up on the table. "Peter and Petunia. Both start with 'p-e-t'…"

Peter glanced down at his menu and noticed that he was starting to sweat. Was he nervous? He considered the ache in his stomach and decided he was. This was the first time he'd ever been on a date with a woman…and Lily's sister no less, who was very pretty. He wasn't sure he could go through with this without making himself a fool. No. His inside self pushed his apprehensions down deep into his mind. You were put in Gryffindor for a reason, you dolt. If you are ever going to convince Lucius Malfoy that you are strong enough to meet Lord Voldemort, then you had better be able to handle a single woman. Be BRAVE! This part sounded more like Sirius than Peter. He wiped his brow on his sleeve, and looked up at Petunia.

"…I've always wanted to be called someone's 'pet' – in an endearing sort of way, you know. Maybe you're the man I've been waiting fo- " she stopped mid-sentence, looking horrified and completely embarrassed, but she need not have bothered. Peter was hardly listening to a word she was saying.

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