CHAPTER 12- Age 6
On Sunday, Marie was in living room folding laundry for the Dursleys. Vernon and Dudley were in the room watching the telly.
"The nerve of that woman!" a shrill voice shrieked from the front door. Aunt Petunia was coming back from having tea with the neighbors.
Vernon sighed, "What's wrong?" he asked. What he learnt from being married to Petunia is that when she was upset, it was best to let her do most of the talking.
Petunia took off her coat and sat on the couch. "I met Sally Miller today." The Millers moved into their neighborhood recently. "She was raving on and on about her precious daughter. What does she have that Dudley doesn't?" she pinched Dudley's cheeks in affection. Dudley engrossed in the telly, barely acknowledged her.
She continued on, "What's worse is that next week Sally is hosting a tea party for the ladies and their daughters. I swear, she just planned this so I can't attend."
"Maybe you can take Marie." Piped Dudley, with his eyes still glued to the telly. Three heads whipped to look at him in shock. His idea actually made sense, they thought he wasn't even listening to the conversation.
Petunia and Vernon then turned to look at Marie who was holding a sock in her hand. She dropped the sock and ran to Petunia, "Please Aunt Petunia, take me. I want to go." Petunia hosted a tea party just for her neighbor friends a few months ago and there was so many sweets but Marie wasn't allowed to have any.
Petunia stared at her niece and stared at her in scrutiny. This could work she thought. "Fine, but you better not embarrass me." Marie nodded in excitement.
The next day, Marie was taken under Petunia's wing. Petunia decided that she wanted Marie to be better than Sally's daughter. She taught Marie how to drink tea, even though she didn't like that taste of it. She also taught manners and what not to say.
During the week, Marie couldn't wait for time to go faster. Her aunt bought her a dress and new shoes.
On the following Sunday, Petunia spent some time trying to tame Marie's hair into two braids. She added some light make up to her niece's face, the girl had some of her mother's features, so she didn't need much make up. Another reason that Petunia was jealous of Lily.
"Now, go downstairs and don't get your dress dirty." Petunia needed to finish getting ready.
Marie ran down the stairs, "Uncle! Do you like my dress?" she asked shyly.
Vernon awkwardly muttered out, "Err yes." Marie beamed at him and went off to show Dudley.
Twenty minutes later, Petunia came down the stairs all dressed up. "Aunt Petunia you look so pretty!" Marie said in awe. Petunia lightly blushed from her niece's words. "Okay, let's go."
"Wait!" Marie went to the other room and brought back a camera. "Uncle take a picture of us."
Vernon took the camera and Marie went to stand next to her aunt. After a few clicks, Petunia and Marie left the house.
They walked in silence to the Millers house. Sally Miller opened the door, "Ah Petunia, welcome."
"Hello Sally, this is my niece Marie." The girl held out her hand for a handshake.
"Petunia, she is adorable! Come meet my daughter." Sally let them into the house.
Sally set up a huge round table with cute decorations and towers of dessert trays. When all the guests arrived, Marie sat next to Petunia. She wanted to eat the cookies and cakes, but she remembered her aunt saying that it was not good manners to stuff your face. Marie briefly wondered why Dudley was allowed to stuff his face if it wasn't "good manners".
She took a respectable amount of food and began eating slowly. Her aunt said not to talk unless she was asked a question. So she quietly observed the other girls and listened to the conversations.
Eventually the topic of conversation became about Petunia taking her niece. "I had to take care of two babies at the same time, it was exhausting." The other ladies looked at her with sympathy, taking care of one baby was already hard enough, two at the same time must have been difficult.
"So Marie what do you think of your aunt?" Sally asked the little girl.
"She is the best cook! One day I hope to cook and bake just like her." Marie replied honestly. The other ladies cooed at her answer and Petunia wore a smug smile.
As the afternoon went on, Petunia was reminded more about Lily as she spent time with Marie. She never spent this much time alone with her without Dudley or Vernon distracting her. With most of her attention on the girl, she noticed Marie's mannerism and quirks which were similar to Lily's.
After the tea party, they walked back home. Marie noticed her aunt's dull mood and kept quiet the whole time. Was she in trouble? She hoped not.
When they got home, Vernon asked how the tea party went.
"It went splendidly. I had a good time. I'm going to go sleep, I feel tired." Petunia headed up the stairs.
"Aunt Petunia. Did I do something wrong?" a timid voice asked from behind.
"No, I'm just tired. Don't get your dress dirty, take it off. Wash the make-up of your face."
Marie watched as her aunt disappeared upstairs. She felt even more lonelier, all the other girls at the party had their moms with them. She had hoped her aunt would like her better now, but it looked like Petunia was upset. Marie went to her cupboard to change her dress.
Petunia laid on the bed thinking about her sister. She wondered how life would have been if Lily had not died.
AN: Hello so some reviews from last time, wanted me to write some scenes at Hogwarts. They are all wonderful ideas, however for these oneshots they are all about Marie and the Dursleys. So it wouldn't make sense for me to write about her Hogwarts experiences. I'm sorry to disappoint you guys.