Chapter Two—The Evans Girls
Lily turned, wide eyed and open mouthed to her sister. "No way! Severus Snape?"
Petunia blushed a little "Well, not really…we just talked a bit. I mean, we've known him for ages, right, and when he came by last summer, you know, to study what was that? with you.."
"Potions" Lily answered "We studied potions."
"Right, potions, well… we got to talking and he said he doesn't have many friends at that school.." Petunia looked sharply at Lily who was trying to suppress a laugh. "What? I thought it was sad!"
"umm…yes, Pet…it's true and you're right, he doesn't have many friends and it is sad."
The girls continued to talk as their parents gathered bags and herded them towards the car.
"Well, so,I suggested that I could write him. We could be, like pen pals, maybe."
Lily tried to keep utter disbelief out of her voice."And, he agreed to this?"
"Yes…well, to me writing him. He said it would be nice to hear from someone outside the school. It would be nice to hear from me."
"But he didn't say he would write you."
"He didn't promise. He said he would try."
As the car moved slowly through traffic, the two girls sat together in the back, keeping their voices low.
Lily had the look of someone who was just figuring out the answer to a difficult puzzle.
"You know….this makes sense."
"What makes sense? That he didn't write to me?"
"Yes" sensing that hurt, Lily went on "well, no, that's just Snape, I would have been surprised if he'd written you. He's not that type" seeing Petunia's questioning look, she hurried to find something safe to say "Most boys don't write, you know? It's like they have some kind of code against it." Petunia let out a relieved laugh which Lily matched.
"What makes sense then?"
"Well, Snape…uh, Severus, he's been acting odd all term."
"Odd? How?"
"Well, hanging around, you know?" Lily could see her sister did know.
"You think he likes you."
"Yes, well..no, see? That didn't make any sense. Severus knows I don't have feelings for him…he knows that I…"
"That you what? Do you have a boyfriend you haven't told me about?"
Lilly giggled. "No, he's not my boyfriend."
"But there is a boy." Petunia declared with a smile. It was like they were kids again, giggling over who liked whom.
"Yes, there's a boy. And, Severus hates him. I don't mean just dislike, Pet. He hates him. He was angry with me when he found out. Said he wouldn't study potions with me anymore, just because I…you know…So, it didn't make sense that he was hanging around me. Unless, it was because of you!"
Lily turned her bright eyes to her sister, reached out to hold her hand. "He must have hoped I would mention him to you, or tell him about you. Don't you see?"
Caught up in the moment, Petunia didn't question this logic.
"Oh, do you think?"
"Yes, I do! Oh, that James Potter is going to feel so stupid when he learns the truth! He's been mean and nasty to Snape, trying to chase him away." Lily gave a satisfied laugh as she pictured herself telling James how wrong he'd been.
"Oh, it's James is it?" Petunia inquired with a wink.
Lily blushed, girlish giggles burst from both of them.
As they pulled into the driveway, Petunia was happy. The Evans Girls were together again, laughing and chatting about boys. It was as though separate schools and potions and magic had never happened.
Dinner was better than most. Mum and Dad were overly interested in "spells" and "transfigurations"…they certainly never expressed that much interest in "Civil Affairs" or "Algebra". But, Petunia didn't care. Lily seemed to have been taken over by the idea that Severus was infatuated with Petunia. Regardless of the topic Mum and Dad latched onto, she kept turning to Petunia, putting her hand over Petunia's and saying things like "Oh, this is so wonderful!" and "I'm so happy about this!" and "You and Severus!"
Petunia had thought Lily's logic was a little flawed. To her, it didn't seem reasonable that a man would lurk around the sister of a woman he was interested in. That just seemed, to Petunia, to be a path to jealousy. But, Petunia had to admit that Lily was far more wise about such thing. She had more experience with men. And, Petunia would have to have been blind to not recognize that Lily was beautiful and vivacious and definitely "what men want in a woman"…while, Petunia was not. If Lily thought that this made sense, then maybe it did. Maybe Petunia—a bit dowdy in appearance and unaccustomed to the company of men her own age—didn't really understand how completely different they were.
Severus Snape. She and Lily had been in school with him since the beginning. He'd always been a bit dirty, as though his family didn't demand he bathe much. And, his clothes had always been torn and out of fashion. But, Petunia hadn't thought that was important. All the boys seemed to be smellier than the girls. Or—at least—they seemed to smell worse than the girls. And, plenty of kids wore hand me downs. Severus might have been the smelliest and the most tattered, but most of the boys were smelly and tattered too.
The girls got up to clear the table. Petunia almost never did this when Lily wasn't there. Mum and Dad did, telling Petunia she might as well go study. But the tradition was "the girls" cleared the table and did the dishes. They rose to it automatically, seeing it as a time to chat and laugh, pretending that their parents, all of 15 feet away watching the television news, couldn't hear them.
"Lily, can you tell me something?"
"Hand me that cup, would you? I'm making a strictly "drink receptacle " run this time!... thanks…sure, Pet, you know I'll tell you anything"
That wasn't strictly true, and both of them knew it. But, it was a nice pretense and it helped keep the mood light. Petunia appreciated it.
"Why isn't Severus popular?...at your school, I mean…why doesn't he have any friends?"
Lily put her chin on the top cup one hand on the bottom, one about midway up the stack, and gave Petunia a glance that was supposed to say "I really want to answer you right away, but I have this tower of cups and glasses here and can't possibly talk until I put them down!"
Lily walked awkwardly into the kitchen trying desperately to think of a reason that wouldn't sound horribly nasty and mean…
She was somewhat disappointed to find that Petunia had followed her. Rather than loading up on flatware, which would have taken her quite some time—their Mum believed in the full place setting for special occasions!-- she had simply grabbed a dinner plate and followed close on Lily's heels
She stalled a bit, taking her time to deconstruct the tower very carefully.
"Lily, why?"
"I'm not sure, Pet. Maybe it's because he's so smart."
"He is? But he did so poorly in class."
"Oh, that was Muggle stuff, Pet….Severus is an amazing wizard. He knows more than just about any of the other kids in class. He is the best, I mean, the best, at two of the hardest things."
Petunia's back stiffened a bit at the dismissal of her own school work as "Muggle stuff" but let it pass in her desire for information.
"What things, Lily? What is he so good at that it would make people stay away from him?"
"Well, there's a class…Defense Against the Dark Arts. It's really hard, but Severus just gets it. It's like he knows so much about the Dark Arts…and, um how to defend against them, that he almost doesn't need the class.."
"You said there were two, Lil…what's the other?"
Petunia thought she knew. She thought this was the reason Lily had asked Severus to visit over the summer…but she wanted to hear it from her sister's lips.
"Potions, Pet…he's amazing at Potions".
"I thought you were top of the class at Potions, Lil."
For the first time in years, Lily looked embarrassed. She blushed a very satisfyingly deep shade of red and looked furtively over at where their parents were watching the news.
"I am, Pet…I am top of the class…but…" Lily bit her lip. This was hard to admit, even to the other half of The Evans Girls. "I'm only top of the class because Professor Slughorn likes me. Really, Severus is the best. He's much better than I am, and I am good." Lily seemed to rally a bit…seemed to find her pride. She looked her sister square in the eye… "I am good, Pet! Hell…I'm brilliant! I can do things no one else can do. I do them faster, better and with flair…but Severus is better than I am…He's just not as—you know—charming or lively or….well… "
"Beautiful?" Petunia offered.
Lily blushed again…looked down…smiling. "Well…umm… I guess."
"Because you are, you know? I know it, you must know it".
"Thanks, Pet…but it doesn't feel right to be called top of the class when I know it's because of how I look."
Petunia had never—in her life—considered the idea that there was a downside to being beautiful. But, she could see there was. Her sister clearly felt it. Petunia ignored the part of her brain that was making note of the fact their parents had never heard this story…they had only heard she was "top of the class". That wasn't important now. What was important was that her "boyfriend" was better at Potions than Lily.