Hello and Enjoy.
He knows she won't let him in to see her sister; nevertheless, he puts on his trainers and finds himself walking down the path to the park and picks a wildflower before leaving to her house from there. He is dreading having to face her because he knows. He knows that in spite of all her cruel words and her mask of petty indifference Petunia loves her younger sister. He dreads facing her every day because he knows she pities them because he pities him in particular, him and the love he feels for her sister, and Petunia knows her sister won't admit it but she loves him too.
He knows she won't let him in to see her sister; indeed, she hasn't so much as yelled at him in the two weeks and three days he's been doing this. It's become a sort of routine for both of them. He picks up their mail from the post box at the end of stone steps leading up to her front door because he learned in the first few days that it's pointless for her to slam the door in his face and wait five minutes for him to round the corner of the street before going out and getting it herself.
He knows she won't let him in to see her sister; of course she'll open the door for him but she won't let him in to see her sister. She has been civil, acknowledging his arrival by opening the door with a nod and a quiet 'thank you,' taking the mail and leaving it, along with his (by then) limp wildflower, on the table at the far end of the hallway next to the bottom of the stairs, before coming back to the door and bidding him an immediate farewell. Then he nods back and she's shutting the door as he leaves. Then, once she's fully closed the door, he walks down the same stone steps away from the house, 'away from her…' he think to himself..
He knows she won't let him in to see her sister; on the other hand, it isn't really Petunia's decision to keep him out either. He always stops on the sidewalk right next to the post box and looks up at the second floor window on the far right and every time he sees its white curtain flutter just the slightest bit. Whether or not it's the breeze blowing through the open window or his hopeful imagination, he doesn't know, but he always swears he catches just a hint of red and a quick flash of the lights going out before the curtain moves again, dancing in the wind and her window is dark once more.
He thinks… No! He knows that she won't let him in to see her sister; however, all of these thoughts go right out the window when Petunia opens the door with a sigh and looks him in the eye for the first time since they met. She takes only the mail with a short nod and a 'wait here' as opposed to the usual thanks and walks down to the little table at the end of the hall, leaving him standing on the front porch holding his limp wildflower and he finds himself feeling confused. She comes back takes his flower with a quick 'thank you,' and a nod of her head before she turns around and goes up the stairs. He grows even more confused as a minute goes by and she doesn't return. He doesn't know if she forgot to close the door before going upstairs to do who knows what with his flower, 'but she said to wait,' so he does. He stands there awkwardly and waits patiently for her to return. He waits as another minute goes by. A minute later and he is still waiting.
Finally ten minutes have gone by before he decides that maybe she meant to wait until she took his flower and that she really did just forget to close the door. So he reaches over, grabs the door handle and closes it before turning and stops…. maybe he shouldn't go, at least not until she comes back and realizes he's gone, and maybe then he can find out what happened. He looks around their front porch before he sits down on the railing to the left of the door because he knows he doesn't belong in this neighborhood and the tree in front of this particular side of the house provides a decent amount of privacy from anyone that happens to be passing by.
Just as he sits down the front door opens and Petunia steps outside and groans before bringing her hands to her mouth and giving a quick shout.
"Snape! Snape, I-"
"What?"
She jumps and it makes him laugh a bit before she turns and scowls at him.
"Don't you have any manners? Didn't anyone ever teach you that it's not polite to sneak up on anyone, especially a lady?"
He smirks, "you're a lady?"
She walks over to him with a hand on her hip and very firmly pulls his ear with the other,
"do you want to know what it is I have to say or should I just kick you of my parent's property?"
He grabs her wrist and tries to make her let go but the she starts talking and makes as if to take him to the porch step.
"You always argue with me and here I thought you'd like to know what shehas to say about all this"
He stops squirming in her grasp and stays silent. It works and she lets go as she turns her back on him, nose in the air arms crossed, and in that moment, for the first time in a long time, he can actually see the resemblance between the two sisters.
"You two are very much like each other, you know that?" he says it so quietly it's almost a whisper and he almost thinks she didn't hear him. Except she stiffens and he thinks he's said something wrong and ruined his chances of making it up to her, 'and of ever hearing from Lily again.'
"I didn't mean to insult you or anything, its just-"
"You didn't insult me it," this time she's the one who whispers and he wonders if he just misunderstood. So instead of saying anything he chooses silence. Silence because he doesn't think he heard her right.
She sighs, obviously noticing that he doesn't understand. This time she looks at him sideways and her voice is loud and clear and her face is calm and thoughtful.
"You didn't insult me," she repeats.
"But we thought –"
She turns, fully facing him now, and puts her hand up, silencing him.
"You both thought wrong,"
"…"
"I'm not saying I tolerate her…unique talents…or yours for that matter." He listens because for the first time she doesn't call it 'freakishness' and it's because of this that he knows she means what she says next.
"It's just that no one has said anything remotely similar since she went to that …special… boarding school of yours and I'm just surprised, it was nice to hear someone say it again…even if it is you."
He stays silent because he doesn't know what to say. It's strange how she can compliment him and be a snob at the same time. He nods his head for her to continue.
"Well I guess that's all I have to say about that. I'm sorry if I've been so mean to you and I just want you to know I don't hate you and tha-"
He cuts her of because he's angry and he doesn't believe her, "what do you mean you don't hate us!?"
She steps back, obviously shocked because of his outburst.
"What about all those times you called us 'freaks' and ran your mouth of about us to your friends!? Do you know how many times I had to comfort Lily becau-"
"I didn't mean it"
"Don't lie to me when you know I-"
"When you what Snape? When you dare claim that you love her and you're no better. You have made my sister cry and she won't even talk to my parents about it."
He stops. He's shaking but he still looks Petunia in the eye and asks so calmly and so evenly that she knows he is absolutely seething. Yet his words manage to show genuine curiosity, "how could you possibly know anything about anything? You hardly even talk to her anymore!"
"I know what happened"
These four words stop him cold in his tracks.
Thank you for reading. I hope you read and review, and depending on feedback (or lack of) i might add more to this.
Again, thanks for reading. ~