Petunia had sprawled all her best clothes on her bed, trying to decide what she would wear. She had no idea why she was acting like she had an extremely important appointment when she was only going to cook at that boy's house. She didn't even know why she had suggested it in the first place, perhaps because she was lonely and Severus looked lonely as well. She had to admit, she had been surprised that the boy agreed to it. She was sure he would refuse; but he hadn't.

She looked at the pile of clothes. She suddenly felt like banging her head against the walls. This was ridiculous; she should just wear normal clothes. It would do just fine, she would only cook and eat there after all. She grabbed a pair of jeans and a pale blue sleeveless shirt and put them on. She quickly combed her hair and with one last look at the mirror she went downstairs to pick the ingredients she had bought earlier.

"I'm going." she called.

"Have a nice day." called back her mother.

She had told them she was going at a friend's house for lunch. She knew her parents had assumed the friend in question was a classmate. She was pretty sure they wouldn't have agreed so easily if she had told her she was going at the house of a boy who lived alone and who just happened to be Severus Snape. She felt a bit guilty but reminded herself that she hadn't lied to them; she just hadn't told them the entire truth.

Checking that her keys were in her pocket, Petunia left her house and made her way towards Spinner's End. There weren't many people in the streets which was good as Petunia didn't want the neighbours to tell her parents that she had gone to the Snape household. She rang the doorbell and waited. If she hadn't known better she would have thought the house was abandoned. It looked old and rundown. She heard footsteps inside the house and the door swung open revealing Severus in plain jeans and shirt. The boy looked at her with a strange expression on his face and Petunia thought he would tell her to leave.

"Come in." he said at last making way for her to step inside.

She entered the house and he closed the door behind her. The inside was similar to the outside. It was old and dirty. She followed the dark haired boy in the kitchen which also served as a dining room.

"I was thinking of making curry, do you like it?" she asked placing her bag of ingredients carefully on the table.

"I've never had curry before so I don't know." replied the boy taking a seat.

"I see. What kind of food do you usually eat?" asked Petunia as she started taking out the ingredients. "By the way do you have a frying pan?"

"It's in the drawer on your right." he said pointing to the drawer. "Since I'm not very good at cooking I usually eat basic stuff, like sausages and such."

They stayed silent for a while, Petunia continuing cooking and Severus observing her. Soon a nice smell filled the kitchen. The blonde girl smiled as she looked at the simmering curry. It was looking good.

"Should I lay the table?" asked Severus.

"Yes please, I think it will be ready in a few minutes." she said with a smile.

The dark haired boy nodded and started placing plates, knives and forks on the table. Petunia turned back to the dish. Satisfied with the result she brought the dish to the table. She served them as Severus sat at the table. They ate in silence. Severus seemed to like curry a lot and had a second helping. Petunia was quite happy that it had so much success.

Once they were done eating, they washed their plates and went in the sitting room. They sat in silence for a while longer. This gave Petunia the chance to inspect her surroundings. The room was dirty. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned in ages; it probably hadn't. Petunia was a bit fussy about cleaning and it unsettled her greatly that there was room that was so dirty and that she was not cleaning it.

"I don't mean to be rude," she started after a moment of hesitation. "but do you ever clean?"

The boy stared at her blankly, most likely surprised.

"No, not really." he said at last.

He must have noticed the look of shocked horror that Petunia gave him because he added:

"I only live here in the summer and even then I don't spend much time inside, so it doesn't really matter."

"But surely it can't be healthy!" exclaimed the blonde girl frowning slightly.

The boy shrugged.

"Can I clean?" blurted Petunia.

She blushed furiously when she realized that the words had actually left her mouth. The boy blinked.

"Well, I don't mind but…" he looked suspicious as if he expected a trap or something.

"I mean, I like to clean and it would probably better for you not to live in dust all the time." she justified herself quickly.

Severus stared at her before shaking his head.

"Do whatever you want." he said in the familiar bored drawl.

Petunia beamed at him. She then enquired about cleaning equipment and got to work. Meanwhile Severus retreated to the cellar to 'work'. Petunia started with the sitting room. She dusted the little furniture there was and vacuum the floor. She also did her best to rid the sofa of all its dust. Once she was satisfied with the sitting room, she went into the kitchen/dining room and started cleaning there as well.

It was half past six by the time she finished cleaning the first floor. She put her equipment back in its cupboard and walked to the cellar. She opened the door slightly and looked inside. The room wasn't like any other cellar she had seen. It had a long table on one side, with loads of strange looking plants and…well, stuff. On the walls were shelves packed with books and vials sporting etiquettes with names in Latin, and in the middle of the room was a cauldron set on a fire. Severus was behind the cauldron, his back turned to her.

"Severus?" she called hesitantly.

The boy jumped in surprise and turned around hastily. The blonde girl gave him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." she said. "I just came to tell you that I would be heading home, now. I'll come back tomorrow to clean the rooms upstairs, if that's alright with you."

The dark haired boy looked surprised that she would be coming back. For a moment he had an uneasy expression on his face.

"Alright then." he said just when Petunia thought he would tell her to never come back. "See you tomorrow."

The blonde girl smiled and bid him goodbye before silently closing the door again. She made her way back to the front door and picked her coat. A minute later, the front door banged shut and silence settled in the house once more. It wasn't the same kind of silence though; it wasn't heavy and cold but rather peaceful.