A/N: I try not to start with A/N just because I tend to get wordy. I didn't post yesterday due to #blackouttuesday. The systematic racism that has been going on for years against black people is wrong and if you don't believe that then please do some reading. No privilege is worth the loss of black lives. Black Lives Matter.

Chapter 20: Normal Days

Petunia woke up at the crack of dawn and pulled on work overalls. The heavy material was identical to the one her dad was wearing. They were short on hands at the factory and since Petunia was back and Ross asked nicely, Petunia had to help. Her mother reminded her that the money would help. Lily was turning seventeen soon along with Severus and the traditional gift of a watch was not cheap. Petunia had seen the watches though, many of her co-workers had one and it was a beautifully useful piece to own.

They deserved it, especially considering how the last couple of years had taken its toll on all of them. Petunia drove in the car with her dad that morning to work and it was not the usual kind. She found the timestamp she had used over the summer and clocked in and out. The factory itself never bothered her because when people didn't have the factory there would be no work in the area.

What truly bothered her was that the factory was owned by Ross. Ross had no loyalty to people like Petunia. To the little people that were needed. One day the work they did would be redundant and too expensive to justify the costs of making. Then what would they be able to do? They had nothing because, for a lot of people who lived here, this and the church was all they knew.

The factory was back-breaking work and Petunia spent more time moving than she ever had in a potion dungeon. Ross had begged her to come in, by even offering to pay her at the end of every day. He was desperate and as much as he didn't like Tobias, Tobias was one of the few people who had the patience to keep their very outdated machinery running.

So Petunia stayed for Tobias and to try to make what seemed like a really sad situation better. Petunia hadn't felt like she had been paying much attention to the people around her. She was too off her game and she was losing a little. Every battle felt like too much and every other moment drove her insane. Henry was the only one who seemed to be acting anything like an adult as much as Petunia loathed to admit it.

She could not make the situation into something it wasn't. They, as a collective, we're not doing well. Letters that passed between each member said very little. Everyone was worried about something. More worried that they had been. Eileen was dying a slow, painful death and when Petunia reviewed the treatment plan with the healer she felt stressed about it. There was seemingly no sunshine in this story, just a never-ending trip down the road of sadness.

Rose has taught Petunia to look at the positives when things hurt. The positives were a simple thing like there was food on the table, her favourite jam was in the fridge and her sister sent her a letter. It didn't feel ok though and Petunia found herself taking an extra day off work to try and help get the factory machinery running. It was an exercise in futility. Ross was there working with the rest of them and only when Tobias had said, they needed a specialist, had they given up.

The men went to the pub after that and Petunia went home. Clara was there with the baby, it was a women's church meeting. They all gave her weak, pitiful smiles that made Mrs. Evans smiles weaker. Rose did not do pity, regardless of who gave it out.

"Shower and come down, we were just about to finish up," her mother said. Petunia nodded and obediently went to go have a bath.

She heard the soft voices croon over the baby. She was happy for Clara, the baby did look beautiful and if he was anything like either of his parents he would grow up to be beautiful.

Petunia showered and pulled on a white blouse and dark, navy slack. Clara walked in, her eyes immediately zoomed into the tattoo that stretched on Petunia's side. It was visible through the thin blouse material.

"What have you done?" Clara asked horrified.

"It's nothing big," Petunia shrugged it off.

"What do you mean it's nothing big, why do you Petunia Rose have a tattoo on your ribs? I thought going to London would tame that wild side of you." Petunia had to smile Clara did sound like her mom, all hyped up and insanely nervous about what seemed to be a bad life decision.

"It's not that bad. I did daffodils for you, I know they are your favourite flowers," Petunia offered shyly.

She did, she had a flower for anyone who made any significant effect on her. People who touched her with their fingers or wanted something more and stronger for her.

"God, Petunia, I let you go out into the world and this is how it returns you to me," Clara seemed to whisper thoughts she knew her mother had about everything that was going on.

Petunia shrugged and pulled a cardigan over the blouse, making sure her ribs couldn't be seen through it.

"Let's go downstairs, I want to see the baby," Petunia said, taking Clara by the hand.

The church was something that made Petunia feel at home. It was just the patterns, that and Eileen had been a more critical Sunday school teacher that encouraged a lot of her students to think deeply about the lessons they were being taught.

"Do you think you will be able to help out with the Sunday School Christmas play this year?" Clara asked, her eyes begging Petunia to say yes. It was weird to see Clara like this, mothering and almost nurturing to the little boy on her lap who seemed excited about the pearls on Clara's neck.

Petunia did not want to know the kind of pressure Clara was under. She had to now be a good wife to a community leader, at least to the public. Petunia cruelly wondered how long it would take Ross to cheat on her. It was one of those cruel things that seemed almost inevitable.

"I can't really, I don't know if I'm going to get any time off of work," Petunia said. "But if I am around I promise to pop by."

She was promising within her limits. She kept a smile on her face even when it seemed to hurt to do so. She kissed her mother on the top of the head after everyone left and did the dishes. It seemed only fair.

"Have you met a nice boy yet?" Rose asked her oldest.

Petunia stiffened at the question. Her parents knew she was living with Darren. She had never hidden that from them knowing that it wasn't something she wanted to lie about. To a certain extent, Darren was a good man, she would not have his reputation tarnished by a rumour.

"Darren is seeing someone else and my job keeps me too busy even to go out, " Petunia said, watching her mother cook.

There was not much going into supper today, just the usual two vegetables, chicken and potatoes. Her mother seemed to not be high but with Rose, Petunia could never tell. Her mother was good at hiding, it's what made her a brilliant wife and mother.

"I know, I just want some grandkids. You know I'm not getting younger, " Rose said.

She popped open a bottle of dry wine and offered a glass to Petunia. Petunia declined, she did have to leave early the next morning. Her mother had been around her age when she had gotten married, it was something that didn't sit well with Petunia. She knew the kind of people in their town who married this young and it made her uncomfortable to think about it.

"Lily and Severus said they are going to come down for Christmas, I managed to get them away from the staying and studying," Rose said. "I want you to be here too if you can get time off."

Petunia nodded and went to set the table as her dad came in. He wasn't smelling like anything, in particular, an for the moment played into an illusion as if he had never cheated on their mom in the first place.

They said grace and sat down to eat in silence. Petunia then quietly informed them that she had to get down to the Snapes to finish up brewing. Her mother insisted that if she was going then she should take a plate of food.

Petunia drove there with the rest of her stuff. She needed to leave early in the morning and the Snape property was closer to the train station. Mr. Snape also was less spooked out by owls as they swooped in and out without much care other than their tasks.

Petunia let herself into the house and finished the last round of potions. The poppies she had were probably going to reach the end of their useful life if she didn't attempt to start working with them now. She cleaned every surface in the kitchen and began the labour intensive process.

Creating something like this was time-consuming and took a lot of active hours of working. The low heat along with the crushing arm movements caused Petunia to sweat. Eileen hadn't left very many notes on it which was not like her. The notes she did leave were to the point and warned the potioneer about the risks of trying it.

Petunia hadn't started with much, to begin with, and when she was done, she took a strip of parchment paper and wrapped the now cooled piece in poppy petals first before putting it in her pocket.

She cleaned the kitchen once again making sure to leave no trace. Then she made breakfast before leaving. Tobias had the day off so he would also be coming to St Mungo's later in the day.

Eileen being in the hospital had been hard on him. His face was lined deeply with worry and sometimes he couldn't even bring himself to see her at the hospital asleep. Petunia understood this because it seemed like no matter what the healers did there was still no cure for it. At the risk of not further angering her family, Eileen had put her foot down at exploring muggle means for a cure.

At this point, they had all decided that managing the symptoms was best. Petunia didn't feel very good about this. The more she lived and worked at St Mungo's the less happy she was about the diagnoses. There was very little time where the entire healer staff would just give up like the way they had on Eileen's case. There was something that Eileen wasn't telling them.

The walk to work was the same as it usually was. Petunia could feel her shoulders tighten as she got closer to the building. The walls of St Mungo's today felt a little more familiar than the walls of her apartment.

She took out the envelope of opium and place it on Lord Gaunt's desk. She didn't trust anyone else with it. Potion makers were not known to be the soberest bunch. Hell, if they were sober for more than a week a lot of them considered it a victory.

"It should be wizarding strength and it's only a couple of grams,' Petunia said. "I don't want to know what you plan to do with it."

Lord Gaunt very rarely looked shocked at most things. He raised her eyebrow and Petunia walked away before she was dismissed. She didn't want to know what it was for. There was a certain sense of calmness that surrounded her now that she knew that the task was complete. It had been bugging her, also she would never forgive herself had she been the one who put Eileen in more pain than necessary.

A/N: All reviews shall be answered before posting the next chapter on Saturday.