Author's note:
Dear readers,
another update for you to enjoy. Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting and/or following my story. Over 30k views already. It means the world to me. :)
Have a nice day,
Vani12
Chapter 35 – Shocking your family half to death, I!
Petunia's backyard, Willow Lane, Cokeworth, July 1978
Petunia survived her second side-along apparition by clinging to her boyfriend's form. She embraced him around his neck in a death-grip and admired the soft feel of his dark-blue cotton t-shirt. In a blink, their surroundings had changed and they were standing engaged in a lovers' embrace in the backyard of her childhood home. She pecked Severus on his cheek, clapped him playfully on his sexy butt and exclaimed in a husky tone, "Damn, you really look hot in these blue jeans, my dark prince. I can't wait to peel them down from your strong thighs. Thank you for holding on to me for dear life. I guess that I only managed to apparate without missing some body parts or throwing up because your love and care calmed me down. I would trust you to beam me into every corner of the world, for I know that you would never let me go. Lily entertained me with horror stories of wizards and witches losing their legs or ears while apparating because they had lost their focus. So, thanks for being the fasted, safest and sexist means of transport in the world."
Severus nudged her happily in the side, tucked one of her honey-blonde strands behind her ear and kissed her gently on the lips. He loosened their kiss after some seconds and chuckled with beaming obsidian eyes, "Sometimes I fear that someone must have put you under a spell, for nobody would call my bony ass 'sexy'. But I'm delighted that you are physically attracted to me, for I can't wait to worship your body again. You are some sexy seductress, my love, and tempt me to snog you senseless in your beautiful lace dress in the garden of your parents' home. And I can assure you that you are a natural 'apparator'. It is nearly uncanny how well you cope with it. I have never heard of a non-magical person who has dealt with it as well as you did. I guess your trust in me is the key for you not emptying your stomach behind your mum's beloved rose bushes right now. I promise to never abuse your trust and always be there for you." He intertwined their fingers, smiled at her with honesty and love sparkling in his onyx eyes and squeezed her delicate fingers.
Petunia beamed at him in happiness, returned his squeeze and mumbled in an emotional tone, "Thank you for always being sweet to me, Severus. You are a true gentleman and I can't believe that we can embark on our magical journeys now after I have gotten rid of this ass Vernon. Your love nearly drives me to tears, but I won't face my worried parents while spotting tears on my face. They will think that you have hurt me if they see me resolved into tears in your arms. I guess we should face the party now." Petunia pulled slightly on Severus' hand and guided him to the back door of their winter garden. She looked at the beautiful blooming rose bushes, cherry trees and colorful flower-beds that littered the green and stone path of her garden and inhaled their heady scent. She listened to the birds twittering and bees buzzing around, basked in the warmth of the sunshine and admired the glass structure of her parent's winter garden. It was a square building of white wood and gleaming glass panels that uncovered her mum's beloved herb garden, her dad's kicker table, their gas grill, and their comfortable patio furniture – a huge oval-shaped taupe-colored rattan table with a glass top, eight matching taupe-colored rattan chairs with crème-colored cushions and two taupe-colored rattan lounger with cème-colored reserves that stood on terracotta tiles.
Petunia loved to chill on the lounger reading an interesting book, memorizing her finances' books or drinking a peach ice tea. God, she also missed the warmth and coziness of their family barbecue evenings that had gotten more awkward over the last years due to her rocky relationship with Lily and her feelings of being the unwanted daughter. She sighed wistfully. She hoped that they could have an honest family talk and start fresh. Severus had noticed her discomfort, caressed her fingers and whispered, "You don't have to be afraid of your parents and Lily, Nia. They will be overjoyed to see you looking happy and returning to them without a scratch. Hell, you radiate happiness, self-confidence, and beauty and will blow them away by showing your true self. I should really worry about my looks because I can't imagine that your parents will be overjoyed to see you holding hands with your childhood nemesis. Merlin, Lily will probably hex me into next week and accuse me of luring you into my dark liar with a Love Potion. I should really up my game and make a good first impression."
Severus frantically muttered some spell that smoothed out the wrinkles in his shirt and fixed the holes in his jeans. He pointed his wand at his hair and moved it in a complicated pattern so that his freshly-washed choral black hair shined like silk in the sunlight and pulled itself together into a ponytail. Besides that, he pointed his wand at his teeth, mumbled something and his crooked teeth began to straighten and whiten themselves. He turned his face to the side, smiled at his girlfriend with his newly straightened and whitened teeth and joked, "Thank Merlin for some easy Teeth-Fixing Spells and Hair-Managing Charm. I hope that your parents can overlook my bad home due to my improved teeth and hair somewhat. I certainly won't scream 'neglected, unkempt, greasy-haired weirdo with anger issues and bad hygiene' from afar now. Do you like my new Hollywood smile?" Severus asked his girlfriend in a teasing tone but scratched his neck nervously.
Petunia looked flabbergasted at him, cupped his face and stated in a determined voice, "I loved you with your flaws, my love. Good looks aren't everything to me. I know that you have a good heart, care deeply for me and fight to make a living for yourself. If you feel more comfortable with your whiter and straighter teeth, I'm happy for you. But your smile will always be handsome to me, regardless if you have spinach between your teeth or spot some discolorations. And I must say that I love your new hair-style because it underlines your mysterious onyx eyes and angular facial features. But please never again call yourself a 'greasy-haired weirdo'. I love your shiny choral-black hair and admire you for your unique personality. My parents will approve of you when they see how happy you make me. So, don't sell yourself short, my dark prince. I love you like you are, although I must say that I don't mind you casting some spells, for the tingle of your magic always makes me feel warm inside and at home." She pecked him tenderly on his lips and whispered into his ear, "I love your new nickname 'Nia' for me, for it sounds mysterious, sexy and grown-up. I can't wait to hear you scream it in pleasure."
Severus returned her kiss hungrily for some minutes, came up for breath and uttered in a dazed voice, "Thank you for always believing in me and making me feel loved, Nia. I love that my magic has such a positive effect on you and that you love me unconditionally. You are perfect to me. And I will gladly call out 'Nia' in our throes of passion after I have managed to make you call out my name in ecstasy multiple times. My brain is bombarding me with naughty images of your naked body. I should dispel them with my Occlumency shields right now, for I certainly won't make a good impression on your parents if a spot a hard-on. Damn, you really are a sexy minx." The darkly handsome wizard sighed, closed his eyes for some seconds and mumbled something. Petunia giggled to herself. "God, he is probably imaging his teacher in a bathing suit right now and citing the most vicious potion ingredients to calm his hormone-driven body down. I love that I can rattle him like that. And I'm curious what Occlumency is. I guess I will have to keep my questions for later, because we really should face my family now," Petunia thought in an amused tone.
Severus joined into her giggles, gripped her hand tightly and they approached the glass door of her winter garden with a spring in their step. "He wants to show me that he is there for me and that we don't have to fear anything. We can conquer every obstacle together. God, I'm truly blissfully happy with him and can face my parents' wrath with a clear mindset now," Petunia vowed inside of her head. When she put her hand on the handle, she felt some buzz rush through her hand. Frightened, she pulled her hand back and cried panicked, "Don't put your hand on the handle, Severus. There is something wrong with it. I got some electric shock mere seconds ago. What the hell?"
Severus searched her hand for injuries, rubbed her tender fingers and gripped his wand tightly in his hand. "Are you okay, Nia?" he mumbled in a worried voice. Seeing her nod, he let out a sigh of relief and put an arm around her shoulder, "Thank Merlin. It seems like someone put a Security Spell on your backdoor. I guess we will be swarmed by your family in mere seconds. But stay close to me in case that some darker forces are behind this nifty spell." Severus uttered in a perplexed voice. "Calm down, Severus. Death Eaters couldn't have tracked down Lily and attacked her. Her affiliation with the Order isn't common knowledge and the Death Eaters would never attack such a miserable Muggle industry town as Cokeworth without being certain that they could deal a blow to their enemies. Lily and this fool Potter have probably cast the spells to stay alert if someone approaches their backyard," a logic-sounding voice stated inside of his head.
Suddenly, a red blur appeared in the winter garden, rushed to the backyard door and threw it open. "Tuney, thank God that you are here in one piece. We were worried sick about you. Don't ever disappear on us again," Lily exclaimed in a relieved voice and enclosed Petunia in a tight embrace. The impact of her embrace would have knocked her down if Severus weren't supporting her around the shoulder. Before Petunia could utter a word, Lily noticed the arm around her shoulder, stepped a little back, stared owlishly at the person it was attached to and shouted in a furious voice, "SEV! Step back from Tuney before I hex you into next week. What did you do to her? Did you kidnap her to get revenge on me or use her as a guinea pig for some of your dark spells?" Severus only blinked at her in shock, recoiled from her words and tightened his grip around Petunia for comfort. "This is how Lily thinks about me? That I would hurt her sister to get back at her? Merlin, I feel sick and can't believe that I thought she was my best friend," a defeated voice intoned in his head.
Before he could open his mouth to defend himself, his girlfriend exclaimed in an icy voice, "Calm yourself down, Lily. How dare you accuse Severus of harming me to get back at you? I know it is hard to believe but the whole world doesn't center on Lily Evans. Severus would never hurt me. In fact, he is the only person who seems to care for me and my feelings. He comforted me yesterday after that pig Vernon treated me like dirt. If it weren't for him, I would have probably ended up as a beaten, unhappy and depressed house-wife. He opened my eyes that I deserve better than this. I'm a young, intelligent and beautiful young woman who deserves to be loved, treasured and admired. He is the first person who could see my real self and although I have to admit that we have a rocky past, we let our childish grudges die down and decided to be friends. He is very dear to me – no scratch that – he is the most important person in my life and I have fallen in love with him. So, please, stop your ridiculous conspiracy theory and treat him with respect."
Whereas Severus gazed lovingly at Petunia and kissed her on the head, Lily glared venomously at her former best friend, pulled her wand out of her sleeve and faced the pair in combat mood. "Tuney, step back from this slimy Death Eater wannabe. I don't know what dark spell he has cast upon you, but he will pay for his crimes. He has clearly brainwashed you. You aren't in love with Severus Snape! You hate him and loathe him for his magical powers. He is a freak to you. So, please, step aside so that I can blast him away and cure you." Lily looked pleadingly with her emerald eyes at her older sister and urged her with a nod of her head to step aside.
Petunia shook her head, stepped into her boyfriend's arms and stated in an enraged voice, "You don't listen to me, Lily. Severus isn't some dark bad boy who has seduced me with a dark spell and plans some nefarious actions with me. I love him. And he loves me. Sure, we had our difficulties in the past and I might have loathed him for his cocky attitude as well as nasty snark and been afraid of him due to his magical powers. But I don't hate the Magical world anymore. Can you believe it that I actually brewed a Laughing Potion with Severus and helped him to refurbish his home via magic? Magic is truly amazing and I have realized that I can be a part of the Magical world without having magical powers myself by going with you to Diagon Alley, traveling to Magical places with Severus or visiting a Quidditch match with him. I actually love the tingle of his magic and have even managed to not throw up after apparition. I will never call you a freak again because of your magical powers. They belong to you. You are my sister and I was a blind, jealous fool in the past. Aren't you happy for me?" Petunia implored, locking intense sapphire eyes with incredulous emerald ones.
Lily broke their intense eye contact, fixated Severus with a death glare and aimed a Stunning Hex at his head. "Help Severus! You need to protect him! He can't get hurt because your sister is an ignorant fool!;" screamed a voice inside of Petunia's head. She jumped in front of the spell, focused all of her energies to shield Severus from harm and raised her outstretched hand. She awaited the blow of the blue-white glowing spell to hit her, but she felt a strange energy buzz through her veins and observed flabergasted how Lily's unconscious body hit the floor. What the hell was happening to her?