Chapter Thirty-Two

All too soon, I found myself at Kings Cross once again. Nic and I went to drop Lily off, laughing at her antics when she finally saw James again. I got another hug from Mrs. Potter, and one from Sirius and James each. "Be good to her," I whispered to James, utterly serious, and he nodded.

"Always," he replied, just as serious, before going back to my sister. It seemed as if they couldn't bear to be apart, something I understood all too well.

Just then, I caught sight of Snape, who was watching Lily hungrily. Until he caught my eye. He stalked off, boarding the train with a huff.

Lily, seeing this, looked near to tears. "I'm sorry, love," James whispered. "If I hadn't-"

But she cut him off, shaking her head furiously. "It would have happened, sooner or later, with or without you. I just wish I could have done something-"

This time, I was the one cutting her off. "There's nothing you could have done, Lils. You were the best of friends to him, something he never reciprocated."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he was a Death Eater by now," Nic added lowly. "He was always hanging round with Avery and Mulciber, listening to Lucius Malfoy's every prejudiced word. Like you said, he would have let his true colours show sooner or later, and you deserve to be friends with someone who's not ashamed of being friends with you. Not someone you have to hide your relationship with."

Lily nodded once, very decisively. "You're right," she said, looking more like the determined Lily I knew so well. "You're right. I do deserve better than that. Who needs Severus Snape anyway?"

"That's the spirit," Sirius laughed. "Now, as lovely as this chat has been, always made better by seeing Petal's beauty, if we don't get on the train now, our Head Boy and Girl are going to miss it."

As if to punctuate his statement, the train whistled loudly, making me jump, which made everyone else laugh. One more round of hugs was given, then the three going back to school hopped on the train. "I love you, Pet! Love you, Nic!" Lily called out the window.

"Love you, too!" we called back, waving to all three of them.

Once the train left the station, Nic turned to me. "Will you and Mum be alright?" he asked me, indecision warring in his eyes.

"Of course, we will be," I assured, lying through my teeth. "Go get Danae, and go back to France. You keep learning, and I'll take care of Mum."

"If you're sure," he hedged.

I was not about to take away this opportunity from him, least of all from feeling bad for me. "I'm fine, Nic, getting better every day. I'll take care of Mum. It'll be fine. Now, go get Danae."

He laughed, hugging me quickly. "I know better than to argue with an Evans woman. Alright, I'm going, but let me know if anything changes for Mum. And I mean anything, Pet. I'll come home in a flash."

"Of course," I lied again, knowing Mum would never let me, even if I wanted to. I hugged him once more, holding tightly to the brother I never knew I'd needed, then let him go.

"Love you, Pet," he said, then, with a crack, Apparated away.

I turned on my heel as well, showing up back home in our lounge. "Mum, I'm home," I called softly, even though she'd probably heard the crack I'd made.

But she didn't respond. Even after I called out, several times. With dread crawling through my veins, I quickly searched the house. "Mum?" I called, finally making it to her room upstairs. At the sight of her, collapsed on the floor next to her bed, my heart dropped to my toes. "Mum!"

I dropped next to her, shaking her slightly in hopes of rousing her. "Mum," I whispered, terrified that she was gone. But I felt for a pulse, and after a moment to calm myself so I could feel something other than my own pounding pulse, I felt hers, faint and thin.

An ambulance ride and several hours later, Mum finally woke. "Where- Tunia, where am I?" she asked, taking in the room with wires connected to her, but clearly not comprehending what they meant.

"Mum, do you remember what happened?" I could barely speak around the lump in my throat, but I forced myself to stay calm. Mum needed me to.

"I- Lily and Nic said goodbye, and you said you'd be right back," she told me, still quite confused.

"And that's the last you remember?" I gripped her hand, though taking care not to crush it. It had never felt so birdlike and fragile before.

Mum nodded slowly. "I think I had to use the loo, but I don't remember. What happened, Tunia? Where am I?"

Thankfully, our doctor walked in just then, a calming smile on his face. "Well, Mrs. Evans, it looks like someone had too much holiday fun," he teased lightly.

"Is that it?" I asked anxiously, simultaneously wanting another answer and hoping that was it. On the one hand, if we had simply worn her out, we could avoid it in the future. On the other, we'd barely done any celebrating, meaning Mum was far worse than I ever wanted to admit.

"We've run all the tests we can, and it seems like your mother is simply experiencing exhaustion, Petunia. Otherwise, she's as healthy as can be expected," he answered kindly.

We spoke with Mum for a few more minutes, but her eyes simply refused to stay open any longer. Another minute or two, where Doctor Rogers kept an eye on the heart monitor, and then he spoke, rather lowly, to me. "Petunia, I'm afraid with this episode, it shows that your mother doesn't have much longer."

Terror squeezed my heart. "But you said it was mere exhaustion!" I accused.

"It is, but it's a sign that her body is exhausted," he said, still infuriatingly calm and understanding. I wanted nothing more than to hex him with any number of spells, or possibly even punch him. "She's fought, long and hard, against this terrible disease, but in the end, there's nothing more that we can do. She's going to be tired even more easily now, and even the slightest bump could possibly break a bone. She's lucky this fall didn't turn more serious. I've seen others break hips, ribs, fracture skulls. I'm not saying this to worry you," although he was succeeding splendidly at it, "but to warn you. It might be time to have her stay here in hospital, for her safety."

Immediately, I began shaking my head. "No, I'll stay with her," I refuted. Doctor Rogers opened his mouth, but I cut him off, not even caring if it was rude. "No, it'll be fine. I was just taking Lily back to school, that's why Mum fell this morning. It'll be fine. I'll stay with her, and she will be fine." I couldn't handle any other result.

Sighing, he agreed, albeit reluctantly. "Alright, I'll release her back to you, but we need to keep her overnight at the very least, to make sure nothing else presents itself. But I'm afraid the time is coming, very soon, that she won't be able to stay at home. She'll be too much for you to take care of on your own."

But I have magic, I thought to myself. I'll be able to keep her at home. "I understand, thank you, Doctor," I said instead, inclining my head to at least make him think I agreed.

Doctor Rogers watched me closely. "You've been through so much at such a young age, Petunia," he said finally, sounding oh so regretful. "I'm sorry to bring one more burden to your door."

I managed to keep it together until, at long last, the man who'd delivered me walked back through the door, closing it behind him. Once alone, since Mum wasn't waking anytime soon, I let myself break, the tears bursting through the dam I'd shoved them behind the moment I'd seen Mum lying on the floor. I cried for Mum, and for Dad, and for Gid. For Lily, and for Nic. But mostly, I cried for me. What had I done to deserve this? To have nearly everyone I loved taken from me?

I had no idea how long I cried, but I finally stood up when an orderly came to check on Mum. "We'll take good care of her," she told me, smiling kindly.

I couldn't even form words to thank her, but she didn't seem to mind, no doubt used to grief stricken family members. I gathered my purse, absently checked that I still had my wand in it, and walked aimlessly out of Mum's room. After all, there was nothing I could do there, since she clearly needed the sleep.

Finding myself in the hospital's tea room, I ordered a cup of tea, noting in the dim recesses of my mind that I hadn't eaten anything all day. I'd been too preoccupied with getting Lily and Nic off to think of eating. And now, my stomach was too nauseous for anything more than tea, so I decided that would be acceptable. At least it was some sort of substance, after all.

The tea room in a hospital isn't exactly where one might think of meeting someone important to one's future. But that's exactly what happened. There I was, sitting at a small table and barely touching my tea, when a rather large man interrupted my blank staring. "Do you mind if I sit here?" he asked me, gesturing to the empty chair next to me. "I'm waiting for my sister, we've been visiting our mum, and I'd rather not be alone. If that's alright with you."

AN: And here's the next chapter! It's a bit depressing, as will most of the remaining chapters, to be completely honest. This story definitely will not end happily ever after, since we've already seen where it ends, but it will have a happy conclusion in its sequel, I promise! What Now Is will end with Petunia and her boys happy! It's just going to take a long while to get to that point, at least from where we are now. I'm going to push through to that, because it's hard to write, but we'll get there. And I know it's been a hugely long time since I started this story, but I will finish, I swear! Thanks for reading, and a big thanks especially if you take the time to review. Reviews make me so happy!