Sender to Keep
"Welcome home, darling, did you have a good day?"
As soon as Petunia walked through the door, she knew it was going to be a bad afternoon. It was the way her mother's blue eyes shone with hope, the way the corners of her mouth creased as she beamed at her.
Petunia nodded and hung her bag on the hook by the door. Then, careful to not get any dirt onto the cream carpet—not that she strayed from the footpath, of course—she took off her shoes. With each buckle it was a slow process, her fingers working under the clip and pulling out the strap. She knew her mother was fast losing patience by the way the woman folded her arms and the faltering of her smile, but it only encouraged her to move slower.
Finally, after laying her shoes on the small stand her father had made, she stood up.
Her mother waved a creamy envelope in front of her, the smile once more reaching her eyes.
"Guess what came today?" she said in a song-like voice.
Petunia had to work hard not to roll her eyes. Her mother may have been lenient as of late since Petunia was now the only one left at home, but that did not mean she would not be punished if she tested her too much. Instead, she went with a simple shrug.
"You won the lottery?" she said.
Her mother shook her head, holding the envelope directly under her nose. "Don't be silly," she said and pointed to the sloped writing on the front. "It's a letter for you."
As her mother placed it in her hand, Petunia narrowed her eyes at it, hoping it would somehow catch fire. If only she had the power to set it alight and burn whatever sappy story was inside. Of course, if she could, then she wouldn't be stuck where she was, and the letter would probably have been as welcome a sight as her mother insisted it was.
"Why don't I put a pot of tea on whilst you run up to your room and get changed? We can read the letter together at the table, if you'd like," her mother said.
Taking a deep breath, Petunia shook her head and plastered a smile on her face. "The fr—Lily probably has some secrets she wants to tell me, and I don't think she'd like it if I shared it with you and Daddy. I'll go and read it up in my room, if you don't mind."
"Oh yes, I understand. Well, you go off and have some fun then! If you need more paper for your reply, just let me know and I'll fetch you some," her mother said.
Before her mother could enfold her in a hug or leap around with joy that her daughters were about to have some sisterly bond again, Petunia bounded up the stairs and into her room.
She shut the door behind her and headed straight for her desk. Opening one of the drawers, she took out a fresh sheet of paper and pen, and dumped the letter in a second drawer below it with the previous letters. She had meant to clean them all out and place them in the wastepaper basket, but every time she had tried, she would be interrupted. Her mother would take the rubbish out too early, or her bin would already be too full to add more waste. Even now, she was far too busy to clean to do anything.
Her hand shook as she hastily scrawled it a message, but it wouldn't matter too much if her handwriting was messy. Unless she dared touch one of the disease-ridden birds that the school used for mail delivery, the letter would never reach Lily anyay; the normal mail method was apparently not good enough for her kind, and the school had no known address. Nevertheless, she had to prepare a reply, lest her mother insist she send one with whatever treats her parents sent her precious sister that week.
'This is your last warning, freak. Stop sending letters. Your owl has made droppings all over the window sill and it's bad enough that I had to clean up your mess in here when you left.'
She folded the note up and stuffed it into an unsigned envelope—a normal, white, perfectly good paper envelope. Then, placing the letter in the same drawer full of other letters to and from her sister, she turned to her dresser and did as her mother asked.
When she returned downstairs, her mother had a cup of tea waiting for her on the table.
"So, is everything alright with your sister?" she asked.
"As always."
Her mother seemed satisfied with her reply, because she started prattling on about what Lily must have been up to at school. Petunia took a sip of her tea and concentrated on the way the hot liquid burnt her throat.
At least she had a week or two before another letter came.
A/N: I'm not 100% sure what this is, but I know she likes Petunia fics from earlier requests, so here is another attempt at writing her XD This is for Fruits (SecretFruits) not only for the mini drabble tag on The Leaky Cauldron, but for being an amazing friend :) More are to come!