Cultivating Roses and Daisies

Warning: contains minor spoilers for TDKWWS and Cross-Pollination.

Coraluna: It'd be interesting to explore Rubble Flower's Petunia and how she's changed. She sent the Potters' an ugly vase for Christmas in the books before they died. I wonder what TDKWWS!Petunia would think of the totally normal, innocuous, yet slightly ugly vase she encounters in the department store one day, especially with her very much not normal, or innocuous, or ugly boyfriend James Potter on her mind that holiday season?

-o-O-o-

"Go on! Find Lily and her fiancé their Christmas gifts," James encourages as he hands Petunia her purse. "And something nice for yourself." Then, with the same hand that he used to give her her purse, Petunia's husband lifts the tiny arm of their infant son and waves it back and forth. "Say bye-bye to Mummy, Henry!"

The seven-month-old only drools in response.

Petunia twists the strap of her purse between her hands. "Are you sure you'll be alright?" she asks, "you don't watch him very often all on your own."

"We'll be fine!" James reassures. Grinning, he gives their son's nose a tweak, which earns him a smile from Henry, and tells her, "We're finally going to have some father and son quality time."

Seeing that she has no winning argument, Petunia sighs in defeat. Leaning in, she places a kiss on each of her boys' cheeks and promises, "I'll only be gone a couple of hours."

What a ninny she'd been. A couple of hours. What in God's name had Petunia been thinking? Christmas shopping is a nightmare because of the crowds alone. Add in not even having the faintest idea of what to buy your magical little sister and you've got Hell. Her and Lily's tastes rarely align when it comes to anything. Especially when it comes to fashion. Where Lily finds shoulder pads mannish, Petunia finds them empowering. A sweater tied around the neck looks refined to her, but to Lily, downright silly. In turn, Petunia finds all of the sweeping skirts Lily adores old-fashioned and the color-combos of her clothes (who pairs chartreuse with pink? Witches and wizards, apparently) downright horrifying.

Petunia sighs and puts down the blouse she'd been considering for Lily. Chances are her sister won't like it – unlike the bow tie she picked up for her fiancé. The man's obsession with the neckwear is baffling to Petunia, but at least it makes him easy to shop for. Looking around the department store, Petunia spies the household goods section and makes a beeline towards it. Perhaps she can find Lily some nice placemats.

She does a casual round through the aisles looking for said placemats. Just as Petunia feels she's getting near the aisle with them, she almost bumps into an askew display table holding several vases at the end of the row she's in after she gets distracted looking at a serving spoon for herself. She leaps forward when one begins to wobble dangerously close to the table's edge. Grabbing it before it can fall off, Petunia lifts it in the air and lets go of the breath she is holding.

Her line of vision now filled with the vase, Petunia can't help but inspect it closely. It's a squat, white ceramic relief vase decorated with cherubs. Her lips curl back in distaste. Petunia can't help but think it's something a dowdy grandmother would display in her home. All in all, very ugly.

For a moment, she almost considers it for Lily. As a joke, of course. They've come quite a way since she was a jealous young girl who wanted to hurt her sister for nothing more than being a witch. Even so… Petunia puts the vase back on the display table. Sometimes, Lily still looks at her as if she's second-guessing Petunia's intentions. As if she doesn't quite believe Petunia really loves her and wants to spend time with her. Her little sister has given her less of those looks as of late – especially after she asked for Lily to be with her in the delivery room when she had Henry – but it's best she does not tip the boat.

Lily has plans to get married next fall and wants Petunia to be her Matron of Honor. The last thing Petunia wishes to do is upset her little sister and make Lily drop her from the wedding. Not only would it hurt, it'd be highly embarrassing. What would she tell James? He'd discouraged Petunia years ago out of saying catty remarks to her sister when she was feeling poorly about herself. He likes Lily (maybe too much, Petunia worries sometimes. But then she looks at the ring on her finger, the baby with his hair and her smile and Petunia feels better. James is tied to her through both marriage and a child). She could lie, but it'd be futile in the end.

James's best mate is Sirius, who's good friends with Severus, who's Lily's best mate. The truth would find James by word of mouth eventually. And when he found out, it would, without a doubt, strain their marriage. James puts great importance in honesty with one another and would feel deeply betrayed should he learn the truth in such a hypothetical scenario.

Yes, buying Lily the vase in the name of a laugh would cause far more stress than merriment. Ripping her gaze away from the ugly thing, Petunia walks away from it, trying to recall what it is she had been looking for in the first place for her little sister. A gravy boat? No, that isn't it. Perhaps if she continues browsing the household goods section she'll remember…

James was a bit more than a boyfriend here, but close enough, no? I hope you enjoyed this Coraluna. You were great help with this collection :)

And to everyone else, thank you so much for reading!