Chapter 3: Settling In

Longview Manor, Winchester, Hampshire, South East, England

November 14, 1980

How had her life come to this? Just a month ago, she was the mother of a single child and was married and living with the man she had chosen as her husband. Oh, alright, so she had already admitted that her choice in spouse was flawed. Severely flawed. Vernon Dursley had been a horrible husband. He had been a horrible fiancée and boyfriend before that. Truly she was an idiot to have ever considered dating the man. Having gone on a single date with Vernon she had no idea why she had agreed to a second date. It was appalling to think about it. She had though and she had chosen Vernon to marry and now she was running scared from her husband.

One month ago, she was showing off her young son to the neighborhood ladies at tea parties and bragging about her husband's job position at Grunning's. Then of course she had received word of Lily's death and custody of her nephew.

Lily's death was the final nail in her own coffin. She could not pretend to be happy with Vernon any longer. Keeping up the pretense was exhausting and honestly, she could not remember when she had last been truly happy. It was a long time ago, she knew. Long before Lily's death. Long before her parent's deaths. It was so very long ago. Perhaps before she and Lily were told of what she was. Back then it was just Petunia and Lily. Sure, Lily did strange things, but Petunia was not afraid of those things. She was a bit jealous that she could not seem to do them as well, but she was still young and mostly carefree. She did not judge Lily yet for being a Witch.

Vernon's own actions against Harry and then against her for wanting to keep Harry and protect him just made her swifter about leaving him. That she had Marius Black to run to had helped an even greater deal. With both of her parent's dead and Lily as well, Petunia had feared divorcing Vernon would be difficult. Where would she live? How would she live? Would he take Dudley away from her?

She doubted she was out of the woods about Dudley and Vernon yet. Even if Vernon did not want to draw out his divorce from Petunia, he would deliberately draw out the custody hearing. He would want custody of his son for no other reason than the crush and hurt Petunia. It was frustrating just how much she was being forced to rely upon Marius Black.

She didn't really know the man. For all she knew, this man could turn out to be an older yet handsomer version of Vernon Dursley. She really had very little to go on. Still she had chosen him. She had thrown her fate into his hands and with it the fates of her beloved boys.

She contemplated this in the hours after she had eaten her breakfast. She spent her morning in the nursery with Dudley and Harry and the two House-Elves that were now bonded to her boys, at least that is what the two Elves, Rathty and Dobby, had insisted when she first spoke with them that morning. She had no idea what they meant by bonding, but she doubted it was in the way that humans got to know one another better.

"Rathty, you have lived a long time with Master Marius?" She asked of the House Elf.

"Yes, Missy Petunia," Rathty said happily.

Petunia cringed at the way that the House-Elf pronounced her name. Rathty and Dobby both called her Pet-toon-ee-uh instead of Pet-toon-yuh. Somewhere out there she swore she could hear the spirit of her vibrant sister laughing every time Petunia cringed upon hearing it.

"What is your opinion of Master Marius, Rathty?" She asked of the Elf.

The Elf smiled at her even as he ran soothing fingers through a now tired Dudley's hair. Dudley did not have as much energy for play as Harry did. He was also overweight for a baby his age. It was something that had alarmed her when the doctor had informed her at his last checkup. She would have to get him and Harry in for another checkup and see about things she could do to ensure that Dudley did not become overweight like Vernon.

"Master Marius is a kind man," Rathty said. "He employs House-Elves, Squibs, and Wizards in his home. He is rare in doing so. Most Squibs would perhaps hire their own kind but they would not want Wizards and House-Elves near since we knows magic and they be's not. Master Marius is different. He treats all as equal and never acts like he is beneath Rathty, but he never acts greater than Rathty either. He is unusual man."

Petunia mulled over Rathty's words. "Would you agree with Rathty, Dobby?" She asked.

The other Elf hesitated in his play with Harry, which was just enough for Harry to be able to grab the small stuffed toy out of his hands. Dobby smiled at his Master Harry while Petunia giggled.

Dobby turned his attention back to Petunia and smiled at her. "Dobby is not being in Master Marius' home long. He was a gift to Master Harry from Master Lucius Malfoy," he reminded her.

She nodded. "I understand you have not lived here for as long as Rathty, but surely you have lived here long enough to have formed some sort of opinion of the man."

Dobby nodded slowly and cautiously. "Dobby likes Master Marius. He is a kind man and he let Dobby come to his household to take care of Master Harry."

She watched the House-Elf smile and sighed softly to herself. She had hoped for more in-depth information about Marius Black to be dropped, but clearly, she had picked the wrong people…or uh…beings to ask. The House-Elves were intelligent but sweet tempered beings. She would have to talk to the other servants of the house to get more information on Longview Manor's Master.

The very next morning Petunia thought over how to begin getting to know the servants better and thus also gain knowledge about the Master of Longview Manor. It seemed a sensible enough idea to Petunia that she should eat her lunch in the kitchen with the other denizens of the household. After all, Marius was at work during the lunch hours and not home at Longview. The children were too young to sit at the table for luncheon.

She had convinced herself that entering the kitchen close to lunchtime would be a wise idea. They would not yet be serving lunch and would not yet have set the lonely dining room table for her single place setting yet. Upon entering the kitchen, she had worn a happy smile and it had slowly melted into a polite one as she encountered a frosty and hostile group of people.

It was obvious to Petunia that they had been gossiping about her and her purpose in the Manor. This told her that Marius had not yet, told them that she was marrying him. Perhaps that was for the best. She was still a married woman. Until her divorce to Vernon was final, discretion was probably for the best. She clung to the old phrase that 'Discretion was the greater part of Valor' in this instance because otherwise she was sure she would begin to fret that perhaps Marius did not mean to keep his word. She had to admit that she was now in his home, in his power. The servants had probably been told to let her come and go as she pleased but not with her boys. She was sure he had ordered that she could not leave Longview alone with Harry. She could only now cling to the hope that he would keep his word in regards to their deal.

The servants certainly didn't seem to think much of her. The plump brown-haired Housekeeper, Marjorie Stewart, looked at her with a slight curl of disdain at her lips. Petunia knew the look well from some of the women who lived on Privet Drive. They had all looked at Petunia as though she did not belong there when she had moved into the neighborhood with Vernon. Now, she was receiving this look from Marjorie Stewart, well not just Marjorie. Most of them were looking at her with hostile unfriendly looks. The pretty blonde-haired Julia Kane was a welcome change. The woman had given her a friendly smile and seemed to not care that the others were looking at Petunia as though she were something disgusting found on the bottom of their shoe.

Was it because she was a Squib?

No. She swiftly dismissed the idea. It could not be for that reason. Some of the staff were Squibs, she had been informed of that by Marius himself. So, it was Petunia as a person that they objected to. She was disappointed with their behavior, but she knew that she could do little to nothing about it.

"Ma'am, how may we assist you?" Julia was the one that spoke up.

Petunia could no longer stomach the idea of eating her lunch with these people. Though she was sure the food tasted delicious she knew that it would be as chalk in her mouth. She shook herself mentally to respond to Julia without looking like a fool. "I just wanted to inform the kitchen that I would prefer to eat my lunch on my veranda if possible," she said politely. It would be lonely, but at least the veranda overlooked the back gardens of Longview and it boasted a pretty view of Winchester in the distance.

"Of course, Ma'am," Julia said with a sweet smile. Petunia returned that smile in equal measure, grateful for Julia's kindness.

Petunia nodded and said "Thank you," before she turned away from the room. She was just at the threshold when Marjorie Stewart called out to her. She turned around, feeling hopeful for a moment. Mrs. Stewart's face was a blank canvas, a social mask to hide what she was thinking, but it did not hide a thing since all of her feelings were there in the woman's eyes. Disdain was in the woman's eyes as she spoke to her.

"You need not trouble yourself with coming to the kitchen again. You can simply call one of the House-Elves to you and they will relay your orders to the rest of the staff," said Mrs. Marjorie Stewart with some satisfaction in her voice.

Petunia felt herself stiffen. She inclined her head then. "It is as you say, I could call a House-Elf and perhaps I shall do so in the future. I also may pay this kitchen a visit in the future. That is the great thing about the future, anything can happen. It has endless possibilities," she said in a pleasant voice though she felt anything but.

Marjorie's sense of self-satisfaction was wiped away with Petunia's statements. 'Stewart = 1 and Evans = 1.' Petunia thought as she strolled out of the kitchen leaving the staff to their luncheon preparation and gossip. Petunia may not like it much, but she had tangled enough with the mean-spirited creatures that used to be her neighbors in Surrey. She had been able to handle those harpies and she was sure that she could handle Marjorie Stewart. She winced then. Well, if Marjorie was not a real harpy. She would not know the first thing to do then.

She ended her first week at Longview Manor no closer to obtaining her goal in learning more about Marius, but she did learn more about her own situation in his home. It was enough to keep her on edge and up late nights planning and plotting out other options, just in case the man did not intend to keep his word to her.


I apologize that this chapter was shorter than the previous one. I will make up for it in later chapters. As we can see Petunia is slowly settling in though she is not yet sure if she can trust Marius and his intentions. Next Chapter we shall see Marius once again. In the meantime everyone Happy Holidays and please be Merry and Safe during this wonderful Season.