Making it Right

"Tuney? Can I come in?"

Lily paused at her sister's bedroom door, her ear pressed against the wood. She could hear Petunia behind it, the squeak of the bed giving away that she was not yet asleep.

The room used to be the office, but after the fifth night of not speaking to her, her parents decided that Petunia needed a little more space. Tears had sprung to her eyes when she had seen all of Petunia's things packed up out of their bedroom. The only remnants that her sister had been there at all was four round imprints in the carpet left over by Petunia's bed. There would be no more late night guessing games, no more spelling lessons, no more drawing on each other's backs with their fingertips, no more giggling on Christmas Eve as they waited with torches hidden in their beds for Santa to come.

Lily lifted her head and shook those thoughts away before pressing her ear back to the door. No, there would be more time spent with each other in the same room, and if all went to plan, it would all be alright that night.

"Tuney?" she asked again, pushing the door open.

The sound of sheets and comforters moving filled the room, and as Lily walked inside, she caught Petunia pulling the blanket up over her head.

"Go away," she said, her voice muffled by the blankets.

Lily took a deep breath and crossed the room. She hesitated in front of her sister's bed before sitting down on the edge. Petunia moaned and turned to face the wall, but Lily took it as a good sign that she didn't push her off the bed altogether.

"I—I have something for you that will make everything better," Lily said, pinching the envelope she was holding. When Petunia didn't respond, she added, "It came tonight."

It was a few more moments before Petunia turned back. She then yanked down the blankets covering her face, revealing messy strands of blonde hair clinging to rosy, tear stained cheeks.

Lily's heartbeat quickened, not having realised that her sister had been crying. Her hand flew to the pocket of her nightgown, ready to pull out a tissue, but Petunia fixed her icy glare on her and dabbed at her eyes with the hem of the sheets.

"What could you possibly ever have that I would want?" she spat.

Lily shrank back. Still, she would not give up so easily, and like holding meat out to a lion with her bare hands, she held up the envelope for Petunia to see. Sucking in her breath, she watched as her sister's expression slowly changed from cold to curious.

"I believe that is my private mail. Why are you meddling with it?" Petunia snatched the envelope out of her hand and tore it open. Her eyes betrayed her annoyance, however, as an excited glint shone within them.

Gripping the blankets in her hands, Lily tried to calm her rapid heartbeat. Petunia's eyes were growing bigger as she read the letter, and a small smile was growing on her lips. Her plan seemed to be working, and not for the first time, she inwardly thanked her parents for taking her shopping for school supplies early.

"I'm a—this says—is this like the one you got—how can I—" Petunia said. Lifting a hand, she rubbed both of her eyes and blinked rapidly, before turning back to the letter. "I'm going to Hogwarts, too?"

Lily sighed with relief: it had worked. She grinned at her sister, who was now, for the first time in over a week, smiling back at her.

"We get to go together!" Lily said.

Without warning, Petunia leant forward and wrapped her arms around Lily. Her older sister was squeezing her tight, yet she didn't mind—not at all. Instead, Lily enclosed her own arms around the blonde, her eyes prickling with tears once more. This time, however, they were happy tears. She had her sister back, and everything would be ok again.

A tiny part of her felt guilty for what she had done, but she was sure it would all work out. True, she had copied the letter from her own acceptance letter using her brand new green ink and neither her parents nor her future professors knew that Petunia was coming. That was just a minor detail, though. She was sure that once Petunia had all her things and arrived at the school, they would have to accept her. Who knew? Petunia probably was a witch anyway, and as soon as she had her own wand, they would all see it.

"I'm a witch!" Petunia said, pulling back. She then cupped her hand over her mouth, realising how loud she had been.

Lily giggled and nodded along. "You're a witch! Just like me!" she said, not caring if she woke her parents up.

Petunia put a hand over Lily's mouth to quieten her, but from the way she started giggling herself, it was clear she wasn't really annoyed.

In a whisper, she asked, "Does Mummy and Daddy know?"

Lily shook her head. "Not yet; I wanted to tell you first."

Petunia beamed. "Oh, they're going to be so happy! Oh, do you think they'll take me shopping tomorrow? That little friend of yours was wearing quite funny clothes, but I don't want to be wearing—what do you call them? Muddle clothing?"

"Muggle, I think Sev said."

"Yeah, Muggle. Well, I want to make a good impression," Petunia said. "Where do we sleep? Do rooms get shared?"

Lily paused for a moment and stared at a loose thread on the quilt cover. She had forgotten about that aspect of boarding school. What if she had to share with someone who didn't like her? What if she snored or talked in her sleep? Worst still, did it mean she could not bring her doll, Tabitha?

When she looked back up at Petunia and saw her smiling, however, her fears subsided. "I don't know, but maybe we could be in the same room?"

Petunia nodded, "yeah… yeah that would be good. Actually… maybe I could move back into our room? Tomorrow, not now, of course."

"Really? Oh, Tuney, yes, yes please!" Lily said, the weight on her shoulders lifted.

She pulled Pertunia in for another hug, squeezing her sister tight. Petunia patted her back before pushing her gently away.

"Ok, ok, don't get too excited. I'm going to have a busy day tomorrow. I still need to get—" Petunia said, looking back at the equipment list. "A cauldron, a wand, a…"

The blonde was frowning now, staring at one of the items in her list. Lily had chuckled a little, knowing Petunia would think some of the items were a little strange. When she didn't say anything, however, she knew something must have been off.

"What? Is everything alright?" she asked.

Petunia's eyes narrowed, and slowly, very slowly, she looked up. "You misspelt 'protective.'"

"Wh—what?"

Petunia shoved the letter in front of Lily's face. With a long finger, she jabbed at where Lily had written 'One pair of pertective gloves'. Lily's face grew pale.

"We practised that word all summer, remember? 'Pro' not 'per'," Petunia said.

Her face was red again, her eyes flashing wildly as tears brimmed at the edges. Petunia snatched the letter back and, with loud rips, tore the entire document into tiny little pieces. Picking them up as they fell to her comforter, she threw them in Lily's face.

"Tuney, I—"

"I do not know what you were trying to pull, freak, but I will never, ever be going to Hogwarts. Never. Now get out."

"Tuney, please—" Lily opened her mouth to explain, her heart thumping wildly.

The room started to spin. This could not be happening, not now that everything was ok again. Tears of her own clouded her vision. She had to make it right again.

"You can still—"

Kicking off the bed covers, Petunia leapt out of bed. Lily backed off the edge, only to have her sister grip her arm, nails digging into her flesh. The blond dragged her to the bedroom door, and before Lily could protest, pushed her into the hallway.

"Get out. I never, ever want to speak to you again," Petunia said.

She didn't yell, but as she slammed her door shut, she didn't need to. Lily's heart felt like it had shattered all over again, and now, she didn't know how she would mend it.

A/N: This story was written as a gift for the lovely Celina (Celinarose). Thank you for being such a wonderful friend! I hope you like this sneaky Petunia fic ;)