Change

Petunia sighed as she trudged down the stairs. Dudley had woken her and Vernon up in the middle of the night, and she hadn't been able to sleep afterwards. She had spent several hours lying in bed, awake, next to a contentedly snoring Vernon. Then she had gotten up early to prepare Vernon's breakfast, and once he had left for work, Dudley had woken up and kept her busy all morning. Now she had finally managed to put him to bed again after lunch, and she sat down on the sofa, relieved to be able to rest for a moment.

She wanted to sleep for a while, but she knew that just like during the night, she wouldn't be able to sleep. She felt guilty, and she wouldn't be able to sleep until she did something about it.

It had happened quite unexpectedly while putting Dudley to bed again. She had gotten reminded of her sister, Lily, by some triviality she couldn't remember. Of how she had fought with her, of how Lily had begged her to still remain sisters. But Petunia had ignored Lily, she had turned her back on her, and hadn't seen her again. But now she felt guilty for not being there for her sister.

Petunia could admit to herself now that she had been wrong. She should have chosen for her sister, but it had been so much easier to just keep blaming and keep hating her. But now, though, now she had decided to make things right.

Lily was still her little sister, and for once she would be the responsible elder sister, and take care of this. She would heal the rift between them. It was time to get rid of the petty arguments she had used against her sister. Time to let go of the nonsense she had always told as an excuse to have nothing to do with magic. Because even though it had all been reasons for her not to like magic, she had always thought it was something great in reality.

She would change if it was necessary, because it was only now that she realised how much she missed the close bond she had once shared with her sister. She wanted to have that back. So Petunia did the only thing she could think of to do. She called her sister on the phone, because that was the only way she had to contact her sister.

It was rather nerve-wrecking to stand there in the hallway, phone pressed to the side of her head, eagerly waiting for, and dreading at the same time that someone would pick it up.

"Hello, Potter residence," a voice from the other side said. Petunia recognised the voice. It was one of the friends of her sister's husband. The one who had always been the nicest to her when she did meet them.

"Yes, it's Petunia, Lily's sister. I wonder if you might…" she trailed off at the end, not sure how to word her request. It seemed the man had understood though, because after a few moments of silence, a new voice suddenly reached her.

"P- Petunia? Tuney?"

"Hello… Lily," Petunia said in an attempt to sound as if this was a normal social call.

"Tuney, why are you calling? Is there something wrong?" Lily asked, she sounded very worried.

"No, I'm fine. I just thought I'd call you, see how you're doing," it sounded fake to even her own ears.

"What is going on Tuney? Why are you suddenly calling me? You know I can hear it when you lie," Lily reminded her, suddenly sounding colder.

That was true, Petunia remembered. Lily had always seen straight through her.

"I- I just felt… I thought it would be a good idea…" She didn't really know how to say what she wanted to say. Lily's voice got warm again as she spoke again.

"There's no rush Tuney, take your time. Just tell me why you decided to call me today."

Petunia took a deep breath, and tried again.

"I… I realised I don't know you anymore Lily. And I would like to know you again. I'm aware I haven't been the best sister to you, but I want to change that. I realise I've been rather… stupid about you being magical." Here Petunia took a deep breath. She knew it was something she needed to say, but I would cost her a large piece of her pride. She had decided it would be worth it though.

"I was jealous of you. Because you had something I didn't. Could you forgive me Lily? I'd like to get to know you again. And I 'd like to get to know little Harry as well." James wasn't mentioned, and she wasn't planning to. She still didn't like him one bit, but she would tolerate him.

Sniffling on the other side of the line distracted her from her thoughts.

"Oh, Tuney, of course I forgive you. I realise it can't have been easy for you" Lily answered in a rather shaky voice.

"Thank you, Lily," Petunia said somewhat formally, trying to keep her voice steady.

There was a small silence, and then an idea entered Petunia's mind. Vernon's sister, Marge, who was a rather crude and unpleasant woman would visit on Halloween, something she wasn't looking forward to too much. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to visit her sister. Vernon had been complaining to get some man-time with Dudley anyway, even though he was only a year old.

"Lily, I'm free on Halloween," Petunia started, even though they both knew she wasn't really. "Would it be all right if I came over for dinner then?"

"Oh, Tuney, I'm so sorry, but we're eating with friends on Halloween. Or at least, we were planning to, but then Harry fell ill, and now we won't be able to go unless we find a babysitter. I don't think you'd want to come with us to dinner though…" Lily said.

"I- I could watch Harry for you if you want," Petunia offered.

"You mean that Tuney? That would be very helpful. Are you sure?"

"Yes, yes. Vernon is better at entertaining Marge than I am, and I'd like to get to know my nephew."

"Thank you Tuney. I'll call tomorrow to make further arrangements"

"Ok, see you tomorrow"

Petunia looked forward to Halloween. It seemed 1981 would end as a good year, despite all the killing that was happening.