"Just one peek," Petunia thought, "Just one little, tiny peek and I'll leave." She was standing outside Lily's bedroom, eyeing the brass door knob, indecisive whether to go in or not. The Evan's house was unusually quiet, for her parents were out golfing, and Lily was hanging out with some of her mates. The only thing holding her back was her self conscious. "Come on," she chilled herself, "What kind of behavior is this? Entering your sister's room without asking! Remember what happened last time when you did this and accidentally stepped on her wand?" Petunia felt her face heat up at her awful mishap; her parents were furious and grounded her for six months! Lily was much kinder thank god, she didn't know what she would do if Lily started to hate her! But after seeing all those wonder things, all of those magical things, she couldn't help but want more. "Don't worry, I'll be extra careful this time! And oh, how I want to see that flying broom she was talking about! I mean a broom, flying! That people RIDE! How wicked is that?" Curiosity soon won her over and slowly opened the door.
The first thing that came into Petunia's mind was how absolutely atrocious the room was. It looked as if a hurricane had decided to pass through it! Now she loved Lily to death, but the one thing she couldn't stand about her was how much of an absolute slob she was. Petunia managed to dance her way around the floor, searching for any areas not covered in sheets, clothes, books, and candy wrappers.
At last, she settled herself in front of a leather truck with gold hinges and the name Lily Evans engraved on top. The leather buckles seemed to stare into her soul, reminding her this was her last chance to turn back. "Petunia Evans following the rules? Give me some credit! Lily and I share the same blood after all," she thought as she greedily opened the truck.
Lo and behold, there right in front of her was the thing she was looking for. A flying broom. She carefully lifted it out of its resting place while examining it. So sleek and smooth, the branches so evenly cut. Petunia stood up and mounted it picturing what it must be like flying up high, soaring over the clouds with your hair blowing in the wind. At times like these, she hated being a moggle… or was it maggle? Whatever witches and wizards refer to them as, how wonderful it must be. To live in that world, a world full of magic and mystery, and world filled with adventures. She closed her eyes and swayed slowly back and forth trying to imagine a life she'll never have.
"Petunia! Dear, we're home!" a shrilled voice yelled from downstairs.
"Tuney! We're back!" Lily sang as the door slammed behind them
"Crap, they're back!" Petunia thought as she hastily tried to run towards the door. Unfortunately, she had forgotten of the broom between her legs in her panic, and was only reminded when she heard a sickening crack. She froze in mid run and slowly turned her neck praying to not see the sight she was imagining. There before her laid that beautiful broom, crack right down the center, with a web of smaller cracks circling around it.
"Petunia dear, what was that noise?" Mrs. Evans shouted sharply her voice getting louder, "Did you break anything again?" Petunia could hear her feet pounding on the staircase making its way closer and closer to here
"What are you talking about? Nothing broke, and even if something did break I'm alright, thank you for asking." Petunia replied hoping to sound her usually sarcastic self as her eyes scanned for a hiding place for the broom. Why do they have to come now? If they find out… I'm dead meat!
"So this is where you were," A stern voice echoed through the room coming near Lily's door. "Don't you remember you were banned to come in here after that… accident?" Petunia felt her whole body freeze up as she slowly turned around to face her mum.
"Hi mum! How was the golfing trip?" Petunia said as she hid the pieces behind her back.
"Tuney, what in the bloody name are you doing in my room?" Lily asked as she followed her mum into the room.
"Hee…Hee… Hey mom, Lily, I was just trying to look for something… that might have been in Lily's room…" Petunia explained glancing at both of them. "I'm not doing anything bad or anything…" she added.
"Hey, what are you holding behind your back?" Lily asked her pointing towards her hidden hands.
"Oh, that?" Petunia said nervously showing the pieces of the handle, "It's just some pieces of wood."
"I see… For a second it looked like it was part of my… broom…" Lily said nervously. "Which is impossible of course, right Tuney?"
Petunia bit her lip and scooted over to cover the bigger bits of the broom. Lily saw this movement and narrowed her eyes with suspicion.
"Petunia, step aside, NOW!" Lily said forcefully, green eyes locking with brown. Petunia looked away hesitating, wanting so much just to disappear in a tiny little ball, before finally exposing the cracked broom
"Oh my god, Petunia, WHAT DID YOU DO TO IT?" Lily cried rushing over to her prize possession. She picked up the broken pieces and tried aimlessly to piece them back together. Mrs. Evans inhaled sharply as she saw the damage that had been done to the broom and was filled with anger.
"PETUNIA MARIE EVANS!" Mrs. Evans roared, "WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU DO?"
"I'm so sorry mum! I didn't mean to! I just wanted to pe-"Petunia stammered.
"JUST WANTED TO LOOK AT IT, IS THAT IT? WELL YOU DID A LOT MORE THAN LOOK AT IT! WE JUST GOT THIS AND YOU RUINED IT! JUST LIKE HER WAND!" Mrs. Evans yelled her face red with rage.
"It was an accident! Honest to goodness, it was!" Petunia pleaded feeling tears forming in her eyes. She looked at Lily, hoping for her sister, her beloved sister to believe her. All she was greeted with was those green eyes, those intense, unforgiving, green eyes.
"After all that happened after the wand… Have you learned NOTHING? You can never do things right Petunia! Why can't you be like your sister sometimes? Lily's always well behaved and gets good grades, and I'm afraid I can't say the same for you my dear," Mrs. Evans cried out in exasperation.
Lily looked up sharply at her mum in shock, "Mum, that's going too far!"
"Petunia when will you ever learn? Why can't you be well mannered and polite like Lily is?" Mrs. Evans started rambling on, " And why is it that you can never get straight A's? Is it really that hard for you to process everything that is taught to you?"
"Mum!" Lily said warningly as she stood up.
"See? Even though you broke her wand and her broom, she still stands up for you! Such a kind younger sister you have, so considerate to you.
"Mum, that's enough!" Lily exclaimed through clenched teeth.
The words felt like a dagger to Petunia, she always knew, deep, down, inside her heart, that her parents loved Lily more, but for it to be said? Time seemed to slow down, and right then and there, Petunia Evan's heart broke in two.
"Never, ever, ever, compare me to Lily!" Petunia said trembling, "You can say all the shit you want about me, but never compare me to… to that WITCH!" Petunia cried pointing at Lily in disgust. Petunia could feel the blood rushing to her head and the pounding in her ears.
"How dare you talk to your sister that way!" Mrs. Evans cried, "Yes, your sister may be a witch, but she's special, a lot more special than you'll ever be! Plus, she is able to control her emotions unlike you!"
"OH SHUT UP YOU OLD HAG!" Petunia yelled, "YOU ALWAYS LOVED LILY MORE JUST BECAUSE SHE COULD DO SPELLS AND WAS SPECIAL! It's not my fault I'm not like that! I'm sorry I'm not like that stuck up brat of a sister I have! Who always so prime and proper! The perfect daughter, right? And how do you know how she acts since she's always away at that bloody school for idiots! Always acting so superior just because I'm not a witch, A BLOODY STUPID WITCH LIKE SHE IS!" Petunia screamed to her mother.
"Petunia, you know mum doesn't really mean all that stuff! Please calm down, I really don't blame you for breaking my broom anymore, I forgive you! It's okay," Lily said trying to reason with her sister.
"Oh, shut up Lily! Stop trying to act like you care in front of mum! The thing is you really could care less about me, a muggle! The only thing you care about it getting mum to like you more. Pathetic little brat! I can't believe I actually liked you, I can't believe I actually called you my sister! I guess they teach you how to bewitch people too at that school of yours!" Petunia spat, "If all witches and wizards are like you, I don't want to know your world anymore!" And with that, Petunia ran out and went into her own room with a slam. Lily was left there stunned, with a hurt expression across her face.
"You little spoiled child!" Mrs. Evans cried in anger, "How dare you talk to us like that!"
"Mum, you know what? You need to learn to shut that trap of yours!" Lily said in detest as she walked out of her room.
"What? But I was on your side! Is that any way to-" That was all Lily heard before she slammed the door behind her.
"Tuney? I know you're in there, may I come in?" Lily asked as she stood outside Petunia's door. There was an awkward silence and Lily didn't know if she should just let in self in or not. "Well, this isn't going to be solved on its own," she thought and opened the door.
Petunia was lying with her face buried in her pillow motionless and silent. "Tuney, are you alright? I'm really sorry about what mum said, you know she didn't mean it right?" Nothing happened for a while before Petunia finally sat up right and turned her tear stained face to Lily. "Lily, could you please leave, I need time to myself," she said with cold eyes. "I just want to be left alone."
"O-okay, if that's what you want," said Lily slowly as she backed out, "I just want you to know that I'll always be there for you… So if you ever want to talk to me, it's okay… I just want you to know that no matter what, I'll always love you." She stood there for a few seconds as if waiting for an answer, before hastily making her way down the hall.
"She didn't mean it? Pshhh, give me a break, everyone knows that what people say when they're angry is what they really mean, no matter how much they try to cover it up. You'll always be the favorite one Lily Evans, and you know it very well. So you play your role, and I'll play mine. I, Petunia Evans, will become what my mum wants me to become; stiff, polite, good grades, and someone with no emotions. I will become the perfect daughter, while you, Lily Evans, will be yourself, and still be the favorite. Like you've always have been."
From that moment on, something clicked inside Petunia Evans mind that changed the rest of her life. Her heart, which was once broken, managed to finally mend itself together. But it was healed in a lopsided way from all the anger and jealously that helped it to grow. It was mended into a heart full of hatred, a heart full of resentment, and a heart full of bitterness; it was reborn as a crooked heart.
"There are those hearts, reader, that never mend again once they are broken. Or if they do mend, they heal themselves in a crooked and lopsided way, as if sewn together by a careless craftsman. Such was the fate of Chiaroscuro. His heart was broken. Picking up the spoon and placing it on his head, speaking of revenge, these things helped him to put his heart together again. But it was, alas, put together wrong."
― Kate DiCamillo, Despereaux; Tale of Despereaux
A/N: Hey guys! I hoped you liked my second fanfic! :D Hopefully I'm getting better… Anyways, not every one of my fanfictions will have a quote at the end (for all of you who had read my first one). When I saw this book at the library, it made me remember this quote, which inspired me to write this fanfiction on Petunia. I really wanted to make a fanfiction about Petunia because I had re-read harry potter a few weeks ago and thought that Petunia must have not always been that stiff. I mean, Lily, her sister, has so much more character and life to her. So I decided that I would write this thinking that this might be one of the reasons why Petunia turned out the way she did. I am so most of us also know what it feels to be compared to a sibling… and let me tell you, it's pretty crappy :/ also the feeling of when your parent yells at you for one thing, and then decides to point out all your flaws D; Don't worry, you are not alone :p I am also planning to write a fanfiction concerning Peter too, so keep a heads up about that. :) Love you all for actually reading this! 3333 Please comment and review~ Constructive criticism is accepted!
~TRIS