Title: Familiar with the eyes, but not with the Owner.
Author: Tripletrouble88
Disclaimer: I do not own anything that you recognize, and no profit is being made from this.
I step unseeingly outside, mentally running through my plans for today. Lamb roast for dinner- after all that is Vernon's favourite, and Dudders does so love playing with the peas. I had planned to take my son to the park but looking out at the grey clouds that governed the sky, I rapidly change my mind, unaware of how meaningless all my plans would be.
As I pick up the milk, I glance carelessly around getting ready to re-enter the warmth of my home, when the sight of a bundle catches my eye. I turn suddenly, stepping hesitantly towards it even as fear claws at the corners of my heart.
Bending slightly I peer carefully into the bundle, before uttering a small scream. For peering obstinately back at me are a pair of eyes all to familiar, although I can hardly claim that I was familiar with their owner- they belong to my sister Lily.
Stepping back abruptly, I refuse to pick up the silent child, refuse to accept the brutal reality that I had already been warned of.
-flashback-
Ding-dong.
The sound of the doorbell startled me slightly as I sat dozing in the rocking chair. Rubbing my eyes, I hauled my self out of the chair, and waddled towards the front door, my overly pregnant belly before me.
Ding-dong.
"I'm coming!" I shout irritably, wondering who this impatient visitor was. It couldn't be Vernon- he had a meeting, and my parents had died the year before.
Reaching the door, I hurriedly undid the lock, pulled it open, and found my self looking into the face of the person…
Before promptly shutting the door.
Ding-dong.
"Petunia" came the voice, " I know you're in there- open the door."
Mutinously I remained silent, what on earth was my brother- in- law the freak husband of my only sister doing on my door step.
"Look Petunia" repeated the man, " You can open the door, or I can get my wand out and open it myself"
Turning around I hurriedly opened the door to find James Potter smiling victoriously.
"Get in." I hissed, stepping aside, " I don't want anyone seeing you on my doorstep."
"Nor do I wish to see you, my dear petunia." Retorted James- the smile disappearing, " I came because of Lily."
I paused briefly, a rush of emotions flooding me at the sound of that name. For Lily Evans- Potter as she was now, was my sister -is my sister. My sister who went off to some freak school before marrying the black haired man who stood before me, and committing herself to a life of… freakness. Yet, despite that she was my sister, a sister who I'd spent the majority of my early childhood with and one who despite my best attempts was irreplaceable.
"What about her?" I retorted- hiding my concern behind a mask of bitterness, " Hasn't finally come to her senses and left you has she?" I added, although I knew from the moment I met them that James and Lily has something special.
"No." replied James coldly and, without further ado, he began to tell me about the war. About the atrocities that were being committed by both sides and about the losses of friends that both he and Lily had suffered through.
My mind went numb long before he had finished, long before he went down the endless list of people whose lives had been cut short, people that could easily have been him or Lily.
"Petunia?"
James had apparently stopped speaking and was looking at me cautiously, and there was something in his eyes that resembled pity.
"Can I make you a cup of tea?"
"No." I bit out slowly, " Just say what you have to say and get out of my house Potter."
After that James was silent for a while until he once again took up his thread and told me exactly how this whole thing affected me.
" Lily's pregnant." He announced, holding up a hand to stop me from responding, " I know you know that – she said she wrote to you."
" So you're going to have a child- who no doubt will be as much of a freak as you." I responded acidly, " I still don't see why I should care."
"If anything happens, to me or Lily, we'd both really like you to look after Harry." James replied, looking hard at me, his eyes cool and calm despite the fact he was talking about his own death.
Shocked I remained silent for a long time.
" Why me?" I finally asked, my voice no more than a whisper.
"Why not?" responded James wryly, before shaking his head and continuing, " We had asked my parents to look after him," he added- his eyes suddenly cold and flat, filling me with fear, " but they were tortured to death last week by Voldemort's supporters."
"Oh." I replied inadequately, refusing to meet his hazel eyes and instead staring into my lap.
"What about your friends?" I asked, " Surely you'd rather they took…. Harry?"
I had difficultly getting my lips around that name, it was hard to believe the amount that the name suddenly meant to me. On one hand it was the first child of my only sister- a sister that I could hardly believe was old enough to be having her own child. On the other hand it would just be another addition to that freak world, the world that slunk in the shadows, and that I now knew was in turmoil.
"Sirius will be his godfather, but if anything happens to Sirius- god forbid- than we'd really appreciate it if you could take him." James repeated earnestly, staring heatedly at me.
"She doesn't even like .." I began, before James abruptly cut me off.
"She loves you Petunia, and at one time she even needed you, but you threw that away Petunia, YOU not her, it would mean a lot to her- to us." he corrected before continuing, " He's our only child Petunia, our mark on this world, Lily's mark on this world, you could look after him, you could keep him safe, keep him alive."
He stopped there, breathing deeply in an effort to calm himself.
"For Lily, Petunia, and for your parents."
Startled at his last line, my neck jerks upward to stare into his face; a face that is suddenly lined- like one who has seen too many years, his eyes dark and empty, as if the horrors are now to much.
"I'll do it"
The words came out suddenly, so much so that even I was surprised. Yet they seemed to fill the gap between us, as James abruptly stood up and hugged me- briefly to be sure- but a hug none the less, before he stepped back, his face less lined and his eyes twinkling- more like the young man I knew him to be.
And in that moment, that moment of utter change in my brother-in-law's face, I suddenly has an insight, an insight into the boy that had become James Potter. For here was a man who remained full of life in the face of danger, a man who seemed incandescent to me, even then with no-one else around. A man who seemed to radiate leadership yet approachability and above all a man whose sun rose and set with his family.
I was silent as he left, following him to the door, and inclining my head as he bid me 'take care.'
I replied the same, yet to both of us the words seemed strangely redundant, and even brought a wry smile to his young face.
In the days that followed I often reflected on his visit, and my agreement, but it was only after a visit from my grateful sister, that I truly appreciated the weight of my decision.
-End flashback-
As I break out of my thoughts a thin wail fills the air. Turning automatically towards the bundle, I cautiously pick up my nephew, before realising the sound is coming from within my home.
Dudley.
Looking down on Harry, I suddenly wonder the impact that my nephew will have on my son, and it is then that I first consider not taking him in.
As if sensing my thoughts the baby begins to squirm, and I look down to find those eyes peering endearingly out at me. Those familiar eyes that take me so easily back to my childhood, to my Lily. Holding in tears, I hurry into the living room, where I sink into a chair, my arms clasped firmly around the precious bundle, and it is only then that I begin to cry.
I cry, not just for my sister and brother in law- the lives that were cut brutally short, nor just for Harry- who now faces life as an orphan, but for everyone who unexpectedly finds themselves regretful even though it is suddenly far too late.
And, that's it… ok well it's not. This is just one part of what will probably be a 3 part series, through the eyes of the lovely Petunia Dursley. All 3 are set shortly after the death of Lily and James. Please review as I would love to know your thoughts on my writing.