Hey guys! I am a bad person and haven't updated TMATSS yet, and am feeling extremely regretful and ashamed of myself. Thing is, the chapters are averaging 90 pages, and that's a LOT, especially with all the work piling up in Senior Year. I'm not making excuses, I PROMISE.
So I'm really sorry for disappointing frequently with my lack of updating. These few weeks have been/are ACTUAL hell, I'm not even kidding;
Last Friday (23rd)= History in-class essay and Biology Lab report due
Monday (Today)= In-class essays in English, Bio quiz.
Tuesday= Math test
Wednesday= TOK Essay, Psych in-class essay.
Thursday= Psychology Internal Assessment due (this is worth 20%)
Friday= Biology Test
So I'm very sorry if I'm updating too slowly. I'm really trying I promise. The week after this hell week is pretty much empty, and then the week after that is term break, so I will update soon (: Just be patient.
ANYWAY. Now that I've cried over my life, this oneshot just came to me out of nowhere when I woke up and had to write it. After doing my homework, of course.
ENJOY.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, my week wouldn't be so hellish. I'd be able to afford someone to do the week for me.
"Petunia!"
Her hand flew up to her chest, holding it as she breathed in and out deeply. It wasn't everyday one opened up the door to see a baby laying on your doorstep after all. Her screech had woken it up, and it began to cry, mouth opened wide, eyes squeezed shut.
"Petunia!" Vernon panted, showing up next to her, Dudley in his arms. The baby was whacking his father on the top of the head. He looked at her face, and then followed her gaze down to the floor, stopping short as he saw what had scared her wife, "P-petunia?" he spluttered.
The baby continued to cry.
"What do we do Vernon?" she asked, still looking down at the baby. Suddenly there was a slamming of a door, and she froze, "Vernon the neighbours," she whispered, and her husband paled, looking around quickly, "What do we do?"
"Pick the blasted thing up," he said, "Ruddy old lady's coming out," he muttered, eyes glancing around at the curious neighbours who were poking their noses out to see what all the ruckus was about.
Petunia grabbed the baby and slammed the door shut, leaning against it as she eyed the child in her arms. Dudley began to bawl at the sight of another child in his mothers' arms.
"There, there," Vernon said, bouncing the angry baby slightly, eyes focused on the wrapped up baby in his wife's arms, "I'll feed him, shall i?" he suggested, and before Petunia could object, Vernon walked swiftly into the kitchen. She could hear him muttering to Dudley about letting women handle the major problems, and sniffed, before deciding to go up the stairs to comfort the screaming child in her arms.
As she took a step, a letter fell from the blankets wrapped around the child. Balancing the baby in her right arm, she reached down to pick it up. The handwriting…it seemed…vaguely familiar, as if she'd seen it in a dream.
Her eyes widened.
"Mum! Mummy! I told you it would come!" the red headed eleven year old skid into the kitchen, her small body slamming into the doorframe in her attempt to get to her parents faster.
"Slow down there," Andrew Evans chuckled, crouching down so his face was on the same level as his eleven year old, "Now Lily, what are you screaming about?"
"It's here!" she screamed gleefully, shoving the piece of thick parchment in her fathers face, "I told you it would come! Sev was right!"
Petunia snorted into her bowl of cereal, "the freak?" she snorted, and Lily shot her sister a glare.
"He's not a freak!" she yelled, tiny hands balling into fists.
"Yes he is! You're both freaks!" Petunia taunted, grinning as her sister's eyes narrowed even further. Her cereal bowl exploded, "Lily!"
"Now Petunia," her mother said impatiently, sighing, and walking over to mop up the milky mess all over her kitchen counter, "You can't blame Lily for everything. She's all the way over there," she said, nodding towards where the eleven year old was still glaring at her sister, her fathers' large hands resting on her shoulders.
"It's her fault!"
"Petunia," her mother said sternly, and Petunia quietened under her mothers uncharacteristically harsh look, "Apologize to your sister."
"Sorry," she muttered, looking down at the table. Lily didn't respond.
"You had news?" Andrew said, attempting to lighten up the atmosphere, shaking his seething eleven year old slightly. Those seemed to be the magic words, and Lily's eyes widened and a grin took over her face.
"I got my letter!" she squealed, waving the parchment around. Andrew frowned and took the letter from her, sitting down on the floor and ripping the envelope open, "Daddy be careful!" she squealed, and Andrew chuckled.
"Sorry Lil-bit," he smiled, unfolding the letter. A few seconds later, the letter hit the bright tile floor, and Lily was giggling as her father let out a shocked laugh and swung her around. Petunia walked over to the letter and picked it up, having the slanted, cursive handwriting confirm her worst fears; that her sister was magical, and she was not.
"What's he writing to me about?" she asked nobody in particular, placing the now sleeping child on the bed, worn out from all the crying. She sat down on the armchair in the corner of the room, and took a deep breath before ripping the letter open.
For the second time in her lifetime, the letter written in cursive, slanted writing fell to the floor.
"No," she whispered, shaking her head, blue eyes shining with tears, "No, no, no," she whispered, closing her eyes tightly, as if to erase the words on the letter from her memory. Images started to flash through her mind, as a tear fell down her cheek
Her mother handing her a red headed, green-eyed baby sister, which upon first contact grinned up at her with a toothless grin.
Lily crying as her mother cleaned up a cut on her hand, her mother hand grasping tightly to Petunia's
Lily giggling madly as Petunia pushed the five year old on the swings.
Lily twirling around in her ballerina costume with Petunia.
Lily's face, alight with excitement as she told Petunia what Snape had told her
Lily crying the first time Petunia had called her a freak
Lily's face, wet with tears, brightening as the Hogwarts Express began to move, her green eyes meeting those of her big sister before vanishing from view.
Lily coming home over Christmas, complaining about some boy named James Potter
Lily sitting in the television room doing her magic homework over the summer, laughing with her father.
Lily waking up in the morning and stumbling into the kitchen, yawning hugely and grabbing a piece of toast off Petunia's plate, spreading jam on it, always strawberry, and taking a large bite, before grinning at Petunia with jam coated teeth.
Lily squealing madly as the doorbell rung one day to reveal the tall black haired boy about whom she'd complain about
Lily walking down the stairs dressed up to go on a date with the boy, the boy at the bottom of the stairs with wide eyes, looking up at her lovingly, causing a blush to grace her cheeks
Lily controlling her temper as Vernon called her a freak
Lily walking in front of her on Petunia's wedding day, on the way to the alter, winking at James Potter in the audience as she passed.
Lily hugging her congratulations after her wedding, grinning at her, before taking James Potters arm and letting him lead her onto the dance floor
Lily coming home after graduation with talk about moving out into a flat with James Potter
The smiling image of Lily on her wedding day, laughing as the tall, messy-black-haired man put his arm around her shoulders, placing a gentle kiss on her temple, grinning like a lunatic.
Lily smiling goodbye through her tears
Lily's final wave as she met Petunia's gaze, before allowing James' Potter to pull her into the unknown.
Lily's letter, telling her she'd had a baby.
The sound of a sob echoed around the room, and Petunia's eyes flew open as she realized the ghastly sound had come from her own chest. She wiped the flow of tears off her cheeks quickly, taking deep breaths. Lily, her sister, her baby sister, was dead. Gone. And Lily's baby, her son, left with Petunia.
A cry sounded through the room, and Petunia's eyes flew open, landing on the baby screaming on her bed. She stood up carefully, knees shaking, and walked over to the bed, delicately picking the baby up, holding it in her arms.
"Shh," she whispered, rocking the baby slightly, seating herself down on the rocking chair in the corner of the room. The baby whimpered again, eyes still squeezed shut, "It's okay," she choked out. She carefully pushed the blanket off the baby's hair, to see a mop of black hair.
Just like his father.
Petunia's body shook with a violent sob, as she remembered the charming, cheeky, carefree man who had won her sisters heart. The man who would come to their house with flowers, and present them to her rather than to Lily, before winking at Lily and kissing her on the forehead, claiming he'd brought her a kiss. The man who had pretended to beg Petunia to come back to him on her wedding day, attracting laughs from everyone, before Lily, shaking her head amusedly, grabbed him by the tie and dragged him away from her with an apologetic smile. The man who had shoved right past Lily to give his best mate a hug. The man who had punched Vernon for calling Lily a freak. The man who had ruffled his hair anxiously every time their father came into view. The man who could go on for hours talking about his favorite sport. The man whose eyes would crinkle in the corners as he smiled. The man who saved a secret smile for only Lily. James Potter.
The baby cried again, and Petunia rocked gently, holding the baby to her heart, "We're going to be okay," she whispered, a sob jumping out of her throat.
The baby whimpered, and Petunia looked down at him. he looked remarkably like his father, even from such a young age. In fact, she would have claimed Lily had no part in the baby's making. She felt her heart tear as she realized this was the first time she'd ever met her nephew. When his mother was…
The baby's eyes flew open suddenly, and Petunia found herself looking into Lily's pools of green. It's eyes searched around, and Petunia just knew who the baby was looking for.
"She's not here," she said gently, and the baby looked at her. She smiled slightly at its curious expression, before its lips puckered, "But it's okay. I'll look after you," she whispered, and the baby let out a cry, a cry of longing, "We can cry together," she choked, a tear falling down her face.
"Petunia!" her head snapped up at Vernon's call, and she looked back down at the baby, which was looking straight at her.
"Your father was one of the funniest people I've ever met," she whispered to the baby, which whimpered, "And your mother was a fantastic person," she whispered, tears streaming down her face once more, "She is…was…she was," she sobbed, "was the best sister I could have ever asked for," she said, and the baby's face scrunched up, as if preparing to cry, "We can cry together."
"Hush," she said gently, hugging the child closer to her as his cries split through the silence, "I miss her too."
Well there you have it. A rather pointless oneshot. I know lots of you believe Petunia to be heartless, but I've always thought of her like this. Just wanted you all to see that.
REVIEW PLEASE (: It'll make my miserable week!
