Enlightenment

Three years. The potion had lasted three years. Petunia had no doubt that it had been a potion. And, she had no doubt who had made it. When it wore off, it was sudden, startling. She almost heard a POP as the last three years of her life came back in focus. The images and sounds played out in an instant, revealing the lie her life had been, the damage that had been done.

She knew when she'd been given the potion. The cocoa at the donut shop. The POP showed her that. She could clearly see now that Vernon had been smirking and gloating, not smiling and beaming.

She saw how her marriage had been a travesty from the start. Not the romantic adventure she'd thought, she could see that it was a forced marriage, an assault on her will. Her parents whom she'd condemned as unsupportive and mean she now saw as loving and devastated. She could see now how they'd put their horror aside to do what they could to help her. Gawds, they must have thought she was insane. Yet, her father had gotten Vernon a job that paid well. Her mother had helped them find a starter home on Privet Drive, just a few blocks from the Evans home. Petunia recalled how she'd sneered that it just meant Mum wanted to spy on her. She saw now that they she was hoping to protect her. That by keeping Petunia close, the monster she had married might not feel it was safe to beat her, abuse her, terrorize her. It hadn't worked. Petunia saw how she'd lied to herself and her family that everything was her fault, that Vernon was nothing short of a Prince who's only failing was loving an unworthy specimen like herself.

She saw the day the owl had arrived with the invitation to Lily's wedding. She had thrown the card away and smacked the owl with a broom. Her own sister's wedding and she'd just tossed the invitation in the trash. The thought was heart breaking.

It was, however, nothing compared to what had previously been the most horrible moment in her life. The day the police arrived to tell her that her parents were dead. Their house had been destroyed in what the police described as "a strange weather phenomenon". Petunia remembered hearing the explosion the night before, waking her husband in fear, only to have him growl at her to let him sleep. When the police came, she was confused, she refused to believe what they were saying. That wasn't the worst. While the policemen were speaking words of comfort and trying to extract the information they needed for their report, Lily had arrived. She had run to Petunia instinctively wrapping herself in her sister's arms. Still in shock, Petunia had held her sister for a moment, gaining strength from the shared grief.

Then, Vernon had rushed forward from his position in the hall. He hadn't offered so much as one word of comfort to his wife when the policemen told their tale, but when he saw Lily, he jumped into action. He pulled them apart, tossed her smaller sister away.

"Get OUT!" he roared at her. "Do NOT touch my wife!" He advanced on her, so threatening looking that the police had grabbed him to restrain him. Petunia remembered with horror that she had turned her back on her weeping sister, had--instead--gone after the policeman holding her husband.

"Get your hands off him! How dare you!"

She remembered now what Lily had called out as the other policeman took her away. At the time, she hadn't listened, hadn't thought it was important. But she heard it now.

"It was him, Petunia! It was Voldemort! He killed them!"

Voldemort had killed her parents. Even with her new awareness, Petunia felt a pang of resentment that it was her sister's odd powers that had gotten their parents killed. But she could no longer feel hate for Lily. She knew, now, that Vernon had caused that. He wanted her to hate Lily and the potion made her do whatever Vernon wanted. She was overcome with grief and fear and horror. Her life as she had known it was over. Her only living family, her sister, couldn't possible love her anymore. Not after what she'd done. It was impossible.

All this came to her in that POP. The instant realization that her life had was over, that everything was gone. That whatever future she had would be a future with Vernon Dursley. She had no where else to turn.

And she realized something else. Whatever else he might be, Severus Snape was--as Lily had said--the best in Potions. Petunia didn't know anything about magic, really, but she knew, in her heart, that only the best could have created this potion.

Petunia was sure that it would take a really powerful potion maker to cause her to ruin her life, to tie her future to an abusive monster.

But she knew, as she knew that the sky was blue, that only the best potion maker could do what Snape had done. To make his potion vanish in an instant, with total clarity and understanding was extraordinary. But the really impressive thing--and Petunia was impressed-- was to have it happen at the very moment when she first held her newborn son.

The end