Chapter Two: New Beginnings
They were only about two week into the semester, and already the gossip was out of control, particularly regarding the upcoming arrival of the new Muggle Studies teacher. He or she was supposed to arrive within the next day or two, according to Professor Dumbledore, and the rumors were flying with excitement at the mystery of his or her coming half a month late. Some were saying the teacher needed to be released from Azkaban before he could teach, while others were convinced that Dumbledore hadn't hired anybody, and Professor Redding was going to be left subbing for the entire year. Jenna Levine swore the teacher was a pure blood wizard with an obsession with all things involving muggles, and that he even had a collection of plugs. James and Sirius were even bold enough to insist that the teacher knew everything about being a muggle because she was one. Students began to get into arguments about which theory was the right one, and Lily would sigh and watch carefully, prepared to intervene or fetch a teacher if they fight turned violent.
On the night before her sister's wedding, Lily was sitting quietly in an armchair by the fire, a book laying unread in her lap, when a sudden outburst of shouting erupted from behind her. Frustrated that the entire school was so worked up about one tiny bit of intrigue, she stood up from her seat, tossing the book onto the cushion and storming over imposingly and prefect-ly to the two students arguing in the corner. Of course, Sirius Black was one of them. If he were any more like Potter he would be asking Lily out on a regular basis, as well.
"What is the meaning of this?" She asked loudly, trying to be heard above the shouting. Sirius and the girl he was fighting with, a fourth year named Auden Croft, ignored her and continued their yelling.
"DON'T TELL ME YOU WERE FRAMED, BLACK—WHO CARES THAT MUCH ABOUT GETTING YOU IN TROUBLE THAT THEY WOULD TAKE MY THONG FROM MY TRUNK AND LEAVE YOUR WATCH UNDER MY BED? GOD! YOU COULD AT LEAST BE A MAN AND ADMIT TO WHAT YOU DID!"
"I DIDN'T TAKE YOUR THONG, AUDEN! WHY THE HELL WOULD I WANT TO TOUCH SOMETHING THAT AT ONE POINT WAS WEDGED UP YOUR ARSE? BESIDES, IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T REALIZED, I AM A MAN—AND I THEREFORE CAN'T GET INTO YOUR BLOODY DORM! THE STAIRS MELT AS SOON AS I TRY!"
Auden's face fell for a moment, considering this. Lily took a breath to say something while she would still be heard, but was immediately interrupted by a sudden "HA!" from Auden, who was now pointing victoriously at Sirius. "SO YOU ADMIT IT! YOU HAVE TRIED TO SNEAK INTO MY DORM! I KNEW IT!"
"Err…" Sirius faltered, now looking somewhere over Lily's shoulder. She turned around, surprised to see Professor McGonagall standing there, highly disapproving look on her face.
"Lily, would you come with me, please?"
"It wasn't me, Professor! It was Black and Croft; I was just trying to stop them!" Lily blanched.
McGonagall waved this away, replying, "I'm sure, but that isn't what I wished to speak with you about."
Lily followed her toward the portrait hole, asking, when they reached it, "aren't you going to do anything about the fight?"
McGonagall gave a thin lipped smile. "I think they've cleared the matter up just fine on their own."
Lily turned to look at the two to see that they had indeed cleared up their issues, as Auden was now pressed against the wall, Sirius' body on hers, their lips moving violently against one another. Lily blushed. "Err… right, they have..."
When they reached the end of the hall, Professor McGonagall placed a hand on Lily's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Miss Evans, but Professor Dumbledore has asked me to inform you that tomorrow you will not be attending your sister's wedding—it has been cancelled."
Lily felt relief wash over her like a summer rain. "So there is a God," she whispered to herself. McGonagall looked at her, confused.
"I'm sorry, Miss Evans, but I rather expected you to be upset by this news! You do understand what this means, don't you?"
Lily nodded, asking "Did Professor Dumbledore say why? Can I talk to him?" As much as Lily was relieved that her sister wasn't going to make the biggest mistake of her life, she needed reassurance that her sister was alright, and that she was making this decision rationally—not because of a silly argument or something.
"No, he is away getting the new Muggle Studies teacher, and won't be back till later tonight. All he said was that the wedding had been cancelled, so you needn't take the train home tomorrow." McGonagall eyed Lily shrewdly, attempting to analyze her strange behavior.
"Oh, alright then. I'll just talk to him later, then."
"Yes, tomorrow. Curfew is in just a few minutes."
"Of course," Lily said, slightly disappointed. She turned to walk back to walk to her dorm, free of her old worries but filled with new ones as well. She no longer needed to worry about her sister spending her life bored-to-tears, but what had caused her to change her mind?
'Did she just get cold feet? Or is there something more to this? If Vernon hurt her, I will make sure he pays…' She thought, somewhat surprised at the degree of her protective feelings for Petunia, who rarely said a kind thing to Lily. However, some things, like protecting your family, are more important than petty arguments and jealousy.
These were the thoughts that played through Lily's head as she attempted to revise her potions essay that night, until she decided that it was late enough—Dumbledore couldn't possibly still be gone, and wasn't the sort of man to worry about rules when it came to family problems. However, she didn't think it would be very beneficial to her reputation if she was caught by anyone on her way to his office, which meant one thing: it was time to visit James Potter.
When Petunia was packed, she wrote a quick note to Dumbledore, a little frustrated that he had waited this long to send her the letter, considering that she only had about ten hours for her message to arrive to Dumbledore and for him to come and fetch her. She knew if she told her parents where she was going in person they would try and stop her, and make her see reason. Quite frankly, though, Petunia didn't want to see reason. She wanted to stop drifting along, doing what people expected her to do, and start doing what she wanted to do, even if it wasn't what anybody anticipated.
She tied the letter to the owl's foot distractedly, wondering if she should maybe wait outside, so that if it looked like Dumbledore was coming too late, she could still run away, and try and contact Dumbledore from there. However, no sooner than she had shut the window behind the owl than a small pop! Sounded from behind her, and there stood the man that she had seen in her living room, talking to Lily all those years ago. Same silly robes (though they were a shiny blue now, rather than purple), same funny pointed hat, same ridiculous beard…
"Well, that was fast," Petunia said, for lack of words. "I only just sent the owl; you couldn't have possibly received my letter yet?"
Dumbledore smiled. "I was planning on coming whether I received a reply or not," He whispered conspiratorially with a wink.
Petunia was still at a loss for what to say. Reading the letter was one thing, but seeing Dumbledore standing there in her bedroom was another thing entirely. Luckily, Dumbledore knew what to do, and pulled out his wand, levitating the trunks she had piled by the door. Petunia had to stare. He glanced around the room, and then asked, "Are you planning on leaving a note for your family? Or would you rather they assume you have been taken from your window?"
Petunia cringed. "They would assume I was running from the altar. Which in a way, I am…" She shook her head quickly, trying not to feel guilty. "But I'll let them know where I am."
Dumbledore nodded serenely, sitting on one of her flying trunks, looking disconcertingly at ease hovering in the air. "Take your time."
Petunia took two pieces of Hello Kitty stationary, for old time's sake, and then began writing.
On the first sheet she wrote,
Dear Mum and Dad,
I'm sorry I couldn't have told you this in person, but I think that if I did, you would try and stop me. I've been offered a teaching position at Hogwarts, and I am going to take it. Headmaster Dumbledore doesn't care if I'm not a witch—we'll work things out somehow. I'll be able to fix things with Lily, now, and get a new start on my life. I don't love Vernon. I am never going to love Vernon. You can tell him I've left to teach at Lily's boarding school, and give him the letter I wrote for him. I love you both; please don't worry about me. I'll write often.
Love,
Petunia Evans
On the second piece of paper, addressed to Vernon, she wrote
Vernon Dursley,
I will not marry you. I do not love you, nor will I ever. I shouldn't have let our relationship go on for as long as I did. I'm sure you'll be happy someday, married to a woman who actually wants to hear your stories about the God forsaken drill company.
Thanks for everything,
Petunia Evans
She stifled the urge to write "PS: the sex sucked," and left the two letters next to Vernon's picture, which was still face-down on the mattress. She walked over at Dumbledore, who was humming softly to himself, and declared "I think I'm ready to go."
"Very well, then! I'm going to ask you to hold on tightly to my arm, now. This is going to be slightly uncomfortable…"
Petunia did so… and then they imploded. Or at least that's what it felt like to her—like all the air in the world had vanished and her insides were collapsing in this new vacuum. She was choking, she was dying, she was… extremely uncomfortable. But then it was over, as suddenly as it had started, and Petunia was then breathing deeply, sure that she would never take oxygen for granted again, in a finely furnished office. She stared in wonder around her, conjecturing about the uses for the different funny looking trinkets that cluttered the room, and attempting to find the sources of the soft snoring.
Dumbledore smiled at her delighted expression, and motioned for her to sit in the chair across the desk from his throne-like seat. When she did so, the headmaster began to speak.
"There are a few things I need to tell you of before I take you to get settled into your rooms. Firstly, there are many charms placed on this castle in order to provide security for its inhabitants. Security from dark wizards and other malevolent forces, but also from muggles such as yourself. If any non-magical person besides yourself were to look at the castle, they would see a bunch of ruins and signs warning them against trespassing. If they were to touch anything they would instantly remember a very urgent appointment and leave straight away. And so on." He waved his hand casually, as if he wasn't changing Petunia's entire world at that moment. "But because it would be rather awkward for our Muggle Studies teacher to not be able to see her own classroom, I have altered the spell so that you can see the castle just as well as any witch or wizard."
He cleared his throat, looking as if he didn't want to say what was coming next. "However. The castle is protected from muggle sight for a reason. If it was known that there were witches and wizards in the world, there would be an uproar. People do outlandish things out of jealousy, or want of power," he said, looking meaningfully at the nineteen year old before him. "And while I am confident you wouldn't give us away to the public, and even if you did it is unlikely that anyone would believe you, the fact is that many people at Hogwarts will likely not agree with me on this point. What I mean to say is that it will be harder for you to earn the trust of your colleagues and students than is fair for anybody. Sadly, there are many people in the wizarding world who believe in 'purity of blood'. They treat others cruelly on the basis that they are somehow less of a witch or wizard because one or both of their parents or even grandparents were not of magical decent. I implore that you don't let them make you feel any less worthy of being here than you truly are, and if anyone gives you any trouble at all, do not hesitate to ask me for assistance."
Petunia swallowed, wondering what she had gotten herself into. "Please, Professor… I'm just a little nervous. There won't ever be a time when I can't do something because I'm a muggle, will there?" She fiddled with the end of her brown braid as she asked.
Dumbledore smiled reassuringly. "There will be instances where asking for help from somebody will make a task easier for you, but never will there be a time when you cannot do something simply because you aren't a witch." Petunia nodded, only slightly reassured. Dumbledore chuckled. "Come," he said, standing, "I'll take you to your room."
AN: Thank you for the reviews I am already beginning to receive! I was so excited when I saw them that I decided I would write another chapter! See how this game works? For you physics nerds, you could consider reviews to be the equivalent of force, and the rate at which I update to be the equivalent of acceleration. And does not an increase in force result in an increase in acceleration? Yes! It does! Because F=ma! Therefore, review more, and I'll update more, and faster! Yay!