Night Of The Broken Glass
Petunia's Hope
Petunia had been staying with the Weasley's for two days now. She hadn't seen much of them. They were always at the hospital visiting that girl, or off somewhere. They tried to distance themselves for her. The first night she was there for dinner it had only been Sirius, George, and herself.
Sirius keep trying to dig up old memories, while George was eager to hear about old pranks that had been pulled. They did her best to make her feel welcome.
She had cooked them dinner, with some trouble. She had keep George on hand to help her with were things were keep, but he wasn't that much help. He told her how is mother does all the cooking and doesn't make any of the kids help, unless it is to set the table. He told her how Mrs. Weasley used magic to cook; she could summon anything with a flick of her wand.
He tried to teach her how to summon small object. "Hold your wand in your wand hand." She had looked at him blankly. "The hand you write with," he explained. He had placed her fingers where they should be, he told her to loosen up her fingers, wrist, and upper arm. He showed her how to flick her wrist without straining it.
"I never know that there was so much to this wand waving thing. I always though it was just waving you wand saying some made up words." She waved her wand around, and said "Adva Kadavbra!" A drizzle of blue light came out of her wand.
"Don't say that!" George yelled at her. He snatched the wand right out of her hand. She looked at him confused.
"What? Is it like that Voldemort thing? You wizard and your weird corks."
"Don't. Say. That. Name!" He stressed each word. "And yes, it is like saying that name. There's a curse that sounds just like that. Mostly Muggle born wizard know about that, they've past it on to us," George told her.
"Know about what? Adva Kadavbra?" she asked, a smile danced at the corner of her mouth.
"Don't say that!" George told her again. He put Petunia's wand, and his own into his pocket. She was about ready to protest, but he stopped her. "You can have it back when you promise not to say that again."
"Only if you tell me why," She retorted.
"Deal," George said. "There is a curse, like I said, that sounds just like what Muggle magicians say when they pull a rabbit out of a hat. As far as we know, it has no effect in the Wizarding world. Are version is a curse. It's the killing curse. It's unblockable. If you are hit with it, you will die, unless you're Harry."
"What?" Petunia asked shocked. "Harry? As in my nephew Harry?"
"Yup, the one and only. He lived when the curse hit him. You-Know-who, on the other hand didn't come out so great. Harry defeated him. I thought you new that all ready, through."
"Um, yes I guess I did know that. It said in a letter what had happened that night." Petunia dimly remembered reading the letter. "Can why go back to my wand lesson? I promise not to say that again."
She was able to perform the Summoning Charm, but she had to use the charm many times to get the object to her. Petunia was still proud of her shaky skills to show Sirius what she could do. George told her that she was learning fast, and the Summoning Charm was taught to fourth years. He told her about Harry's Summoning for the first task.
"He faced a dragon on a broom?" she asked in disbelief. He could have gotten killed. How come he never told us about that?"
George looked at her, "He didn't think you would care. He thought you would have been disappointed that he hadn't died."
"And we would have been." George gawked at her.
The second day at The Borrow Petunia had spent the morning talking to Sirius. Every one else was either still asleep or had all ready left for work. George had left early to get Pig back from the owl lady.
Sirius had shown her all around the house and the gardens and lawns. He should her the gnomes, the ghoul, and the talking mirror. She had gotten quiet a shock when the mirror started talking to her. She had talked to the mirror for a good twenty minutes to the amusement of Sirius.
Petunia hadn't wanted to see the ghoul in the attic. She had asked Sirius what made all the noise at nighttime. She had stayed in Ginny rooms, and had given the girl quite a fright when she had come into her room and Petunia had been stretched out on the hideaway bed. The noise had kept her awake for the longest time. She was use to her house that never made any noise in the middle of the night.
Sirius had insisted on showing her the ghoul. The ghoul was the worst thing she had ever seen. It was a pasty color, and when it was in front of the window the light that shined through him became the color of dust. The attic in itself gave her the creeps. Cobwebs hung all over the place, the dust was ages old, and the air was musty. Petunia knew that if she didn't leave, she was going to clean the place top to bottom.
She had found the gnomes delightful. She helped Sirius degnome the garden. She caught them, and Sirius tossed them high above them over the fence. When all the gnomes where gone Petunia worked in the garden a bit. Sirius showed her simple pruning charms, but she had a hard time doing them. She weeded the garden the only way she knew how too, on her hands and knees bent over the garden. She was still working when a window upstairs opened and a face peered out of the window. The freckled red headed boy was looking out over the field, Petunia thought she recognized him as Harry's friend, but she couldn't place his name.
He looked down at her, "What are you doing here?"
"Gardening," she replied very crisply, and under her breath she add "You little brat,"
"Pardon?" he said. "Aren't you Harry's horrid aunt?" Mrs. Weasley had come around the house in time to hear Ron calling Petunia horrid. Her hands were on her hips, and her lips were drawn into a thin line. No one had noticed her yet.
"Why if I know some more curse then that killing curse you'd be in trouble!" She shook her wand up at him. Ron pulled himself back through the window and slammed it shut, but not before, he gave a yelp of surprise.
"Mrs. Dursley!" Mrs. Weasley yelled at her. Her eyes were blazing. "How dare you threaten one of my children? You are a guest in this house, and I want you to behave as such. Do you understand?" Mrs. Weasley roared at her.
Petunia looked at her stunned. She nodded her head, and down cast her eyes.
"Good. Lunch is ready," she said very stiffly. She turned on her heal; digging her shoe into the ground and with a swish of her robes, she was gone.
Petunia gathered up the gardening tools. She put them away in the shed. The closer she got to the house the louder the yells got. She could hear one of the boys yelling as loud as he could. She pushed the door open and slipped in. Ron was yelling at any one who would listen to him.
"Who taught her the killing curse?" Ron yelled.
George came into the kitchen holding Pig. Petunia wanted to go over to the little bird to see how it was doing, but she could tell that this wasn't the time. "She doesn't know the killing curse." All eyes went to George. Ron's mouth hung open. "She was waving around her wand saying what Muggle's say. I took her wand away, and told her how wizards don't say that because of the killing curse."
"I see," said Mrs. Weasley. She turned to Petunia, "There is a lot that you don't know about the Wizarding world, and sometimes you really need to be careful with what you say. I hope you understand."
Lunch had been a quiet meal. Petunia sat in silence; she didn't say a word through out the meal. She didn't even ask the girl to pass the salt when she wanted to put some on her meat, she went with out.
The afternoon went by with out trouble. Petunia had made herself seldom seen around the house. She spent the afternoon weeding the back garden while talking to Sirius and George, the only ones who would talk to her.
Ron, Fred, and Mrs. Weasley went back to see Hermione. Ginny had stayed behind and was now shut up in her room. Everybody else was off working. The two older sons had to go back to there far away jobs, and wouldn't be returning.
"If I wanted to go back to my house how would I do that?" Petunia asked George after dinner that night. They were sitting outside near the garden. Sirius was in his dog form and he was laying at Petunia's feet.
"Why would you want to go back?" George asked.
"To get some stuff, like my robes, and some stuff that was Lily's."
"Oh. Dad never got your house off the Floo Network. He left it on in case we needed to get to Harry.
"You mean if we were being mean to him."
"Well yes."
"Could you help me get back to my house?"
"I think so," George said. They set up a time to go back to Privet Drive.
Petunia didn't go to sleep that night. She stayed awake waiting for one in the morning, the time that she would be going home. She watched the hands of her watch go round, and waited. She had to wait for Ginny to fall asleep.
At twelve fifty Petunia tossed back the covers. She was fully dress, but her feet. She pulled on her shoes, and was about to leave the room when Ginny moved. Petunia froze.
"Where are you going?" Ginny asked in cold voice. She had propped herself up on her elbows and faced Petunia. Her face was pale in the in the dim moonlight. Petunia could hardly make her out.
"That is none of your business." Petunia left Ginny staring after her. She crept down the stairs and into the kitchen. George was waiting for her by the fireplace. He held out the Floo Powder. They both took a pinch for the way back, and one to get there.
"When you throw the Floo powder into the fire you have to say 'Flowed house.' Don't ask me, some one at the ministry thought of it."
"All right, that sounds easy. I'll go first to make sure Vernon isn't still up." Petunia stepped up to the dyeing fire, and let it whisk her away.
She bit her lip to keep from screaming as she spun around in the network. She fell onto the floor of her living room. The impact caught her off guard. She could taste blood in her mouth from her lip. She jumped out of the way when the fire rose up again and turned green.
She steadied George when he came out of the fire. The cost was clear. George was to wait for her by the fire when she went up to the attic to retrieve her old robes. She left him in the living room looking at all the pictures on the walls.
Petunia was at the door when a hand gripped her arm. She gave a yelp of surprise. "Shh, its just me Petunia," George whispered to her. Petunia put one shaking hand over her heart trying in vain to calm herself down. George looked at her strangely, "Are you okay?"
I'm fine. Just try not to sneak up on my again like that." George nodded. "What do you need?
"There's a spell that will help you get your trunk down. It is a first year charm, so you shouldn't have any problems with it.
"What does it do?" asked Petunia.
"It will levitate your trunk. You'll be able to float around." Petunia looked at him with wide eyes eager to know more. "You have to really concentrate or it won't work. The spell is Wingardium Leviosa!"
Petunia looked around the room puzzled. "I don't get, nothing happened."
George chuckled lightly at her. "I didn't have my wand in my hand," he told her, "We're not aloud to use magic over the summer. We don't you give it a try. Pick a small object and say the words." He should her the way to flick and swish her wand over a picture on the mantel. Nothing happened.
"It won't work," she said in a defeated and whiny voice.
"It could be worse," he told her. "One poor wizard had a buffalo land on his chest when he said the spell wrong." He grinned at her shocked face. "Try saying it like Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa. Got that?"
Petunia tried it, and to her grate delight the picture hovered four feet in the air.
"That's good!" The picture wobbled and started to fall slowly. "Keep it up! Keep it up there!" Petunia steadied it. "Good. Now keep you wand where it is and walk. It should hover above your wand."
It moved with Petunia as she walked around the room. "I did it! I really did!"
"Shh! Petunia, do you want to wake the whole neighborhood?" He had grabbed her by her forearms and gave her a slight shake. The picture came crashing to the floor. The glass face shattered on impact. Petunia gave a cry of fright, but regretted it. She chewed on her tongue nervously waiting to hear if anyone woke up.
"I don't think anyone woke up. I think you should go know, I'll wait here for you." Petunia nodded and made her way to the stairs. She heard George hiss good luck to her.
Her clean house had fallen apart in the two days that she had been gone. Dirty clothes lined the stairs and the hallways. Petunia skipped over the first stair, she remembered how it would squeak when some one put any weight on it. That stair itself had woken her up a few times when some one was sneaking around.
Petunia went by Vernon's room on her way up to the attic. She paused outside his door to listen. She heard nothing come from the room, so she moved on. She went to the end of the hallway. A rope hung from the ceiling and a crack in the ceiling was the only hint that there was an attic in the house.
Petunia pulled down the fold up ladder. Cold stall air floated down to her. She had to fight down a sneeze, but it was a losing battle. She heard Vernon grunt from his room. She froze and listened until she was sure that she hadn't woken anyone.
The attic was dark and musty. Petunia couldn't make out anything in the darkness. Large dark objects loomed over her. "Lumos" she whispered. Sirius had taught her light spell and how to put out the light. The narrow beam of light stretched out into the dark. Petunia raised her wand to make the light go out farther.
She walked down a narrow path lined with old junk. The attic ran the full length of the house, and had become packed full of odds and ends. She knew just where she was going, her hope chest.
She found it hidden in the back of the attic, covered in years of dust, and grim. She remembered dragging it up into the attic and over to this corner she hadn't opened it then. She had to push it, shove it, and pull it across the length of the attic. She had cover the chest in a length of fabric, but it was now know where to be seen. That had been the last time she had been up in the attic.
She bent down in front of the faded green trunk to study it. Its paint was pilling off and the gold trim brown with grim and aged. The lock had become rusted and Petunia was glad she hadn't locked it up many years ago.
She ran her hand over the top, leaving a trail of dust free green, and gold paint. She leaned closer. She could still make out faded gold lettering. She lingered her long fingers over the lettering, before touching it. The gold paint came off with her touch, leaving her fingers with the slit glint of gold. Her name. It had been fancy in its day.
Petunia closed her eyes. Her hands found the latch. As she opened the trunk the hinges made a horrid screeching noise. She know what she would find when she opens her eyes, the contents would look just how they had seventeen years ago when Lily had kicked it shut in a fit of rag, which had happened often. The day she had moved into this house was one of the last times she saw Lily on her own free will.
Their parents wouldn't let them out of holiday get-togethers. Lily would bring James with her when the family got together. Petunia had gone alone, Vernon wouldn't step foot in her old home. Petunia didn't speak to Lily or James. Lily didn't seem to care, she wouldn't have spoken to her anyway, but everyone else was highly annoyed. James had tried to be peacemaker. In the end, he only made things worse.
After Lily and James death, she had stopped going to her parents' house. They had begged her to come over with their grandchild, but she wouldn't. They never understood why she couldn't come back, neither did she.
When Petunia had moved out of her home to live with Vernon, Lily had put a charm on both of their chest at their parent's request. She had told Petunia that it would keep everything nice and new, but Petunia could have cared less. Back then she wanted everything in the chest to rot.
Petunia and Lily stopped talking to each other when Petunia was sixteen. Lily's chest had all but gotten destroyed that Halloween. Petunia shuddered at the thought. They had stopped specking to each other at the same time. Little things led to their silence, it was Lily's fault as much as hers. It had driven their parents to the edge. Petunia could remember many hostile dinners. She couldn't help but miss her sister know that she had what she had always wanted. She just wished Lily was with here to teach her magic.
She opened her eyes, "Oh Merlin!" Her eyes grew wide as she looked at the wedding gown. She dropped her wand, but the light still showed her what she needed to see. She reached out a hand to touch the soft white fabric. She pulled out the gown. The folds and wrinkles fall out leaving it smooth and beautiful in Petunia's hands. Lily had looked like a fairy in her dress when she married that Potter boy.
Tears sprang to her eyes as she remembered the days leading up to the wedding, and the wedding itself. Voices swam in her head. She dropped the dress back on top of the pile in the trunk. She closed it. "Out of sight out of mind," she keeps repeating to herself. The wedding hadn't been a happy day for her. She plucked the wand up off the floor.
She was shocked when the trunk floated before her on her first try with the charm. She walked with it floating in front of her. She was in total darkness as she made her way to the ladder. She wished now that she had never come back. 'Its to painful to remember,' she thought.
She backed down the ladder managing not to drop the trunk on herself. She turned around to find her way blocked.
Vernon Dursley was standing before her. The trunk fell to the floor with a load crash. It just missed falling on Petunia. Vernon was standing less then a foot away.
"Hello Petunia," he said. He sounded perfectly calm despite the fact that she had ran out on him and their son and then came back two days later like a thief in the night.
"V-vernon," she stuttered. She couldn't think of anything to say to him, she just stood there as he loomed over her.
"I'm not surprised you came back. I know you would sooner or later. I've been waiting for you to sneak in, in the night when you hoped no one would see you. I've been waiting for you.
"You have? Why?" Petunia was shaking with fright. She wondered where George was. He must have heard the trunk fall.
"You are my wife Petunia, and I'd be damn if I let you run off to so flee bitten wizards."
"I can leave if I want to. You have no right to keep me her anymore. I'll curse you if you don't step out of my way." She was gripping her wand tightly to keep it from shaking.
Vernon's eyes flashed with furry. "How dare you threaten me woman!" He roared at her. Petunia was taken aback when she saw the look in his eyes. He looked slightly deranged, and sleep deprived. He advanced on her, closing the small gap between them with one step. Petunia couldn't back away for the heavy trunk was behind her.
He grabbed onto her arms and gave her a small shake, just as George had done before, but Vernon's grip was painful. "Let me go," she gasped.
"What are you going to do if I don't?" Petunia didn't say anything. "Answer me Petunia!"
"I'll curse you, like I said I will." She didn't know any real curses, but she could play with his mind like Lily and her friends use to do with her. Some of the color left his face, Petunia was glad to see she had frightened him. His grip on her arms tightened.
He leaned in close to her, "Don't threaten me!" he snarled at her. He let go of one of her arms. He reached in front of himself. Petunia didn't know what he was about to do. He grabbed onto her hand that was gripping her wand. "Let go of it Petunia" he hissed at her.
She shook her head. "Fine. Then I'll just take it." He grabbed on to the wand and pulled it right out of her hand. Petunia tried to hold on, but her palm was so sweaty she couldn't keep a grip on it.
"No, give it back," she said in a defeated voice.
"All right, if you really want it," he said. Petunia stared at him. There something in the way he spoke that made her think she wouldn't be getting her wand back. He raised it in front of her face, and snapped it in half.
A long mournful scream ripped from her throat. Something in her hurt when he broke her wand, like her magic snapped. She flung herself at him. She clawed at his hands and face. She hit him in the chest, trying to hurt him as much as he had just hurt her. "How dare you do that!" She cried.
He held the pieces of her wand above her head so she couldn't get them. She backed up into her trunk again, and got an idea. She jumped up on it, and from there she was able to get the wand halves out of his grip. White smoke was coming out of the wand, all the magic was licking out. She shoved the two pieces back together. The white smoke trickled between the cracks.
She looked Vernon in the face. Her furry had left. She felt weak and she was shaking all over. Vernon still loomed over her, making her feel small like a child. "Are you happy now that you've hurt my? Did you want to make sure I would never show my face here again? Is that why you did this?" She held up her wand for him to see.
"You hurt me too, Petunia." Vernon said in a normal voice. "You took away the person I loved the most. You left me."
"Vernon, I had to leave. I don't belong here any more. I belong with them now. I got the thing I have wanted for almost all of my life. I'm magical."
"Don't say such rubbish Petunia." He took one of her hands in both of his. "You know that you belong here. This is your home, your family. What about Dudley?"
"Dudley and you will be just fine without me. I promise." Petunia pulled her hand out of his. She hopped down from her trunk. She focused on the spell that she needed to get it back to the Borrow. She muttered it under her breath. White smoke seeped out of the wand, but the trunk didn't move. Vernon had backed away from her. She thought about calling for George, maybe she could use his wand. It wasn't that bad of an idea, but she didn't want Vernon to kill him.
She walked over to the stairs that went down. She stood at the top and called for George.
"Who's George?" Vernon questioned her. He grabbed her arm again, and gave it a painful squeeze.
"He is a friend. You have nothing to worry about, he is boy a year or so older then Har- Dudley." George appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He looked at the two.
"Are you alright Petunia?" George asked.
"I'm fine." She didn't see reason to tell George about her fight with Vernon, not now at less. "I just need to use your wand, can I?"
"Sure." He came up the stairs and handed it to her. He could see that she had been crying. Vernon's face was covered in scratch marks, but he didn't say anything.
Petunia lead the way back to the trunk where it had fallen, Vernon still had a tight grip on her arm. She said the spell, and Vernon back away again. She floated the trunk down the stairs. George was right behind her, Vernon was farther off.
The reached the fireplace. "So you came by the fire, then?" Vernon asked.
"Yes." Was all Petunia said.
Vernon spun her to look at him in the face. She went tense in his arms, and George looked at them like her was ready to pounce. "Don't come back Petunia, unless you are going to stay. Next time you come I might break more then just your wand." He pushed her away from him. George was snarling at him.
"Good bye then Vernon." She tossed Floo Powder into the fire. "The Borrow!" She said, her voice had a slight waver. She and the trunk where gone in an instant.
George moved to the fire, but Vernon stopped him. "I don't want to see you or you're family near this house again. I've told you lot that before, but this time I want you to stay a way."
George tossed in his Floo Powder into the fire and was gone. When he arrived, he saw Petunia sitting at the table with her head in her arms. She was in tears.
A/N: Thanks to the one person who reviewed chapter nine (Luinthoron), and to those people who review some of the earlier chapters.
I've posted today in honor of my first full day of summer vacation. I am officially a junior in high school! This is going to be a great summer for me. I'll turn sixteen, I'll get my driver's license, and my first job!
I've got a shorter companion fic to go with this story, and I'm going to post it when I get a hundred reviews. That's my goal. And I'll dedicate it to whoever happens to be my 100dth reviewer. The fic centers around one of the couples that I've written about in this story.
The next chapter is already written, but I'm on the verge of throwing it out. It seems like a filler chapter that I could do with out, but there are one or two key things. It's a flashback to Lily and James' wedding from Petunia's POV.
Cheers!
Lisa Cove, soon to be Majestic Whirligig on Fanfiction.net
Petunia's Hope
Petunia had been staying with the Weasley's for two days now. She hadn't seen much of them. They were always at the hospital visiting that girl, or off somewhere. They tried to distance themselves for her. The first night she was there for dinner it had only been Sirius, George, and herself.
Sirius keep trying to dig up old memories, while George was eager to hear about old pranks that had been pulled. They did her best to make her feel welcome.
She had cooked them dinner, with some trouble. She had keep George on hand to help her with were things were keep, but he wasn't that much help. He told her how is mother does all the cooking and doesn't make any of the kids help, unless it is to set the table. He told her how Mrs. Weasley used magic to cook; she could summon anything with a flick of her wand.
He tried to teach her how to summon small object. "Hold your wand in your wand hand." She had looked at him blankly. "The hand you write with," he explained. He had placed her fingers where they should be, he told her to loosen up her fingers, wrist, and upper arm. He showed her how to flick her wrist without straining it.
"I never know that there was so much to this wand waving thing. I always though it was just waving you wand saying some made up words." She waved her wand around, and said "Adva Kadavbra!" A drizzle of blue light came out of her wand.
"Don't say that!" George yelled at her. He snatched the wand right out of her hand. She looked at him confused.
"What? Is it like that Voldemort thing? You wizard and your weird corks."
"Don't. Say. That. Name!" He stressed each word. "And yes, it is like saying that name. There's a curse that sounds just like that. Mostly Muggle born wizard know about that, they've past it on to us," George told her.
"Know about what? Adva Kadavbra?" she asked, a smile danced at the corner of her mouth.
"Don't say that!" George told her again. He put Petunia's wand, and his own into his pocket. She was about ready to protest, but he stopped her. "You can have it back when you promise not to say that again."
"Only if you tell me why," She retorted.
"Deal," George said. "There is a curse, like I said, that sounds just like what Muggle magicians say when they pull a rabbit out of a hat. As far as we know, it has no effect in the Wizarding world. Are version is a curse. It's the killing curse. It's unblockable. If you are hit with it, you will die, unless you're Harry."
"What?" Petunia asked shocked. "Harry? As in my nephew Harry?"
"Yup, the one and only. He lived when the curse hit him. You-Know-who, on the other hand didn't come out so great. Harry defeated him. I thought you new that all ready, through."
"Um, yes I guess I did know that. It said in a letter what had happened that night." Petunia dimly remembered reading the letter. "Can why go back to my wand lesson? I promise not to say that again."
She was able to perform the Summoning Charm, but she had to use the charm many times to get the object to her. Petunia was still proud of her shaky skills to show Sirius what she could do. George told her that she was learning fast, and the Summoning Charm was taught to fourth years. He told her about Harry's Summoning for the first task.
"He faced a dragon on a broom?" she asked in disbelief. He could have gotten killed. How come he never told us about that?"
George looked at her, "He didn't think you would care. He thought you would have been disappointed that he hadn't died."
"And we would have been." George gawked at her.
The second day at The Borrow Petunia had spent the morning talking to Sirius. Every one else was either still asleep or had all ready left for work. George had left early to get Pig back from the owl lady.
Sirius had shown her all around the house and the gardens and lawns. He should her the gnomes, the ghoul, and the talking mirror. She had gotten quiet a shock when the mirror started talking to her. She had talked to the mirror for a good twenty minutes to the amusement of Sirius.
Petunia hadn't wanted to see the ghoul in the attic. She had asked Sirius what made all the noise at nighttime. She had stayed in Ginny rooms, and had given the girl quite a fright when she had come into her room and Petunia had been stretched out on the hideaway bed. The noise had kept her awake for the longest time. She was use to her house that never made any noise in the middle of the night.
Sirius had insisted on showing her the ghoul. The ghoul was the worst thing she had ever seen. It was a pasty color, and when it was in front of the window the light that shined through him became the color of dust. The attic in itself gave her the creeps. Cobwebs hung all over the place, the dust was ages old, and the air was musty. Petunia knew that if she didn't leave, she was going to clean the place top to bottom.
She had found the gnomes delightful. She helped Sirius degnome the garden. She caught them, and Sirius tossed them high above them over the fence. When all the gnomes where gone Petunia worked in the garden a bit. Sirius showed her simple pruning charms, but she had a hard time doing them. She weeded the garden the only way she knew how too, on her hands and knees bent over the garden. She was still working when a window upstairs opened and a face peered out of the window. The freckled red headed boy was looking out over the field, Petunia thought she recognized him as Harry's friend, but she couldn't place his name.
He looked down at her, "What are you doing here?"
"Gardening," she replied very crisply, and under her breath she add "You little brat,"
"Pardon?" he said. "Aren't you Harry's horrid aunt?" Mrs. Weasley had come around the house in time to hear Ron calling Petunia horrid. Her hands were on her hips, and her lips were drawn into a thin line. No one had noticed her yet.
"Why if I know some more curse then that killing curse you'd be in trouble!" She shook her wand up at him. Ron pulled himself back through the window and slammed it shut, but not before, he gave a yelp of surprise.
"Mrs. Dursley!" Mrs. Weasley yelled at her. Her eyes were blazing. "How dare you threaten one of my children? You are a guest in this house, and I want you to behave as such. Do you understand?" Mrs. Weasley roared at her.
Petunia looked at her stunned. She nodded her head, and down cast her eyes.
"Good. Lunch is ready," she said very stiffly. She turned on her heal; digging her shoe into the ground and with a swish of her robes, she was gone.
Petunia gathered up the gardening tools. She put them away in the shed. The closer she got to the house the louder the yells got. She could hear one of the boys yelling as loud as he could. She pushed the door open and slipped in. Ron was yelling at any one who would listen to him.
"Who taught her the killing curse?" Ron yelled.
George came into the kitchen holding Pig. Petunia wanted to go over to the little bird to see how it was doing, but she could tell that this wasn't the time. "She doesn't know the killing curse." All eyes went to George. Ron's mouth hung open. "She was waving around her wand saying what Muggle's say. I took her wand away, and told her how wizards don't say that because of the killing curse."
"I see," said Mrs. Weasley. She turned to Petunia, "There is a lot that you don't know about the Wizarding world, and sometimes you really need to be careful with what you say. I hope you understand."
Lunch had been a quiet meal. Petunia sat in silence; she didn't say a word through out the meal. She didn't even ask the girl to pass the salt when she wanted to put some on her meat, she went with out.
The afternoon went by with out trouble. Petunia had made herself seldom seen around the house. She spent the afternoon weeding the back garden while talking to Sirius and George, the only ones who would talk to her.
Ron, Fred, and Mrs. Weasley went back to see Hermione. Ginny had stayed behind and was now shut up in her room. Everybody else was off working. The two older sons had to go back to there far away jobs, and wouldn't be returning.
"If I wanted to go back to my house how would I do that?" Petunia asked George after dinner that night. They were sitting outside near the garden. Sirius was in his dog form and he was laying at Petunia's feet.
"Why would you want to go back?" George asked.
"To get some stuff, like my robes, and some stuff that was Lily's."
"Oh. Dad never got your house off the Floo Network. He left it on in case we needed to get to Harry.
"You mean if we were being mean to him."
"Well yes."
"Could you help me get back to my house?"
"I think so," George said. They set up a time to go back to Privet Drive.
Petunia didn't go to sleep that night. She stayed awake waiting for one in the morning, the time that she would be going home. She watched the hands of her watch go round, and waited. She had to wait for Ginny to fall asleep.
At twelve fifty Petunia tossed back the covers. She was fully dress, but her feet. She pulled on her shoes, and was about to leave the room when Ginny moved. Petunia froze.
"Where are you going?" Ginny asked in cold voice. She had propped herself up on her elbows and faced Petunia. Her face was pale in the in the dim moonlight. Petunia could hardly make her out.
"That is none of your business." Petunia left Ginny staring after her. She crept down the stairs and into the kitchen. George was waiting for her by the fireplace. He held out the Floo Powder. They both took a pinch for the way back, and one to get there.
"When you throw the Floo powder into the fire you have to say 'Flowed house.' Don't ask me, some one at the ministry thought of it."
"All right, that sounds easy. I'll go first to make sure Vernon isn't still up." Petunia stepped up to the dyeing fire, and let it whisk her away.
She bit her lip to keep from screaming as she spun around in the network. She fell onto the floor of her living room. The impact caught her off guard. She could taste blood in her mouth from her lip. She jumped out of the way when the fire rose up again and turned green.
She steadied George when he came out of the fire. The cost was clear. George was to wait for her by the fire when she went up to the attic to retrieve her old robes. She left him in the living room looking at all the pictures on the walls.
Petunia was at the door when a hand gripped her arm. She gave a yelp of surprise. "Shh, its just me Petunia," George whispered to her. Petunia put one shaking hand over her heart trying in vain to calm herself down. George looked at her strangely, "Are you okay?"
I'm fine. Just try not to sneak up on my again like that." George nodded. "What do you need?
"There's a spell that will help you get your trunk down. It is a first year charm, so you shouldn't have any problems with it.
"What does it do?" asked Petunia.
"It will levitate your trunk. You'll be able to float around." Petunia looked at him with wide eyes eager to know more. "You have to really concentrate or it won't work. The spell is Wingardium Leviosa!"
Petunia looked around the room puzzled. "I don't get, nothing happened."
George chuckled lightly at her. "I didn't have my wand in my hand," he told her, "We're not aloud to use magic over the summer. We don't you give it a try. Pick a small object and say the words." He should her the way to flick and swish her wand over a picture on the mantel. Nothing happened.
"It won't work," she said in a defeated and whiny voice.
"It could be worse," he told her. "One poor wizard had a buffalo land on his chest when he said the spell wrong." He grinned at her shocked face. "Try saying it like Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa. Got that?"
Petunia tried it, and to her grate delight the picture hovered four feet in the air.
"That's good!" The picture wobbled and started to fall slowly. "Keep it up! Keep it up there!" Petunia steadied it. "Good. Now keep you wand where it is and walk. It should hover above your wand."
It moved with Petunia as she walked around the room. "I did it! I really did!"
"Shh! Petunia, do you want to wake the whole neighborhood?" He had grabbed her by her forearms and gave her a slight shake. The picture came crashing to the floor. The glass face shattered on impact. Petunia gave a cry of fright, but regretted it. She chewed on her tongue nervously waiting to hear if anyone woke up.
"I don't think anyone woke up. I think you should go know, I'll wait here for you." Petunia nodded and made her way to the stairs. She heard George hiss good luck to her.
Her clean house had fallen apart in the two days that she had been gone. Dirty clothes lined the stairs and the hallways. Petunia skipped over the first stair, she remembered how it would squeak when some one put any weight on it. That stair itself had woken her up a few times when some one was sneaking around.
Petunia went by Vernon's room on her way up to the attic. She paused outside his door to listen. She heard nothing come from the room, so she moved on. She went to the end of the hallway. A rope hung from the ceiling and a crack in the ceiling was the only hint that there was an attic in the house.
Petunia pulled down the fold up ladder. Cold stall air floated down to her. She had to fight down a sneeze, but it was a losing battle. She heard Vernon grunt from his room. She froze and listened until she was sure that she hadn't woken anyone.
The attic was dark and musty. Petunia couldn't make out anything in the darkness. Large dark objects loomed over her. "Lumos" she whispered. Sirius had taught her light spell and how to put out the light. The narrow beam of light stretched out into the dark. Petunia raised her wand to make the light go out farther.
She walked down a narrow path lined with old junk. The attic ran the full length of the house, and had become packed full of odds and ends. She knew just where she was going, her hope chest.
She found it hidden in the back of the attic, covered in years of dust, and grim. She remembered dragging it up into the attic and over to this corner she hadn't opened it then. She had to push it, shove it, and pull it across the length of the attic. She had cover the chest in a length of fabric, but it was now know where to be seen. That had been the last time she had been up in the attic.
She bent down in front of the faded green trunk to study it. Its paint was pilling off and the gold trim brown with grim and aged. The lock had become rusted and Petunia was glad she hadn't locked it up many years ago.
She ran her hand over the top, leaving a trail of dust free green, and gold paint. She leaned closer. She could still make out faded gold lettering. She lingered her long fingers over the lettering, before touching it. The gold paint came off with her touch, leaving her fingers with the slit glint of gold. Her name. It had been fancy in its day.
Petunia closed her eyes. Her hands found the latch. As she opened the trunk the hinges made a horrid screeching noise. She know what she would find when she opens her eyes, the contents would look just how they had seventeen years ago when Lily had kicked it shut in a fit of rag, which had happened often. The day she had moved into this house was one of the last times she saw Lily on her own free will.
Their parents wouldn't let them out of holiday get-togethers. Lily would bring James with her when the family got together. Petunia had gone alone, Vernon wouldn't step foot in her old home. Petunia didn't speak to Lily or James. Lily didn't seem to care, she wouldn't have spoken to her anyway, but everyone else was highly annoyed. James had tried to be peacemaker. In the end, he only made things worse.
After Lily and James death, she had stopped going to her parents' house. They had begged her to come over with their grandchild, but she wouldn't. They never understood why she couldn't come back, neither did she.
When Petunia had moved out of her home to live with Vernon, Lily had put a charm on both of their chest at their parent's request. She had told Petunia that it would keep everything nice and new, but Petunia could have cared less. Back then she wanted everything in the chest to rot.
Petunia and Lily stopped talking to each other when Petunia was sixteen. Lily's chest had all but gotten destroyed that Halloween. Petunia shuddered at the thought. They had stopped specking to each other at the same time. Little things led to their silence, it was Lily's fault as much as hers. It had driven their parents to the edge. Petunia could remember many hostile dinners. She couldn't help but miss her sister know that she had what she had always wanted. She just wished Lily was with here to teach her magic.
She opened her eyes, "Oh Merlin!" Her eyes grew wide as she looked at the wedding gown. She dropped her wand, but the light still showed her what she needed to see. She reached out a hand to touch the soft white fabric. She pulled out the gown. The folds and wrinkles fall out leaving it smooth and beautiful in Petunia's hands. Lily had looked like a fairy in her dress when she married that Potter boy.
Tears sprang to her eyes as she remembered the days leading up to the wedding, and the wedding itself. Voices swam in her head. She dropped the dress back on top of the pile in the trunk. She closed it. "Out of sight out of mind," she keeps repeating to herself. The wedding hadn't been a happy day for her. She plucked the wand up off the floor.
She was shocked when the trunk floated before her on her first try with the charm. She walked with it floating in front of her. She was in total darkness as she made her way to the ladder. She wished now that she had never come back. 'Its to painful to remember,' she thought.
She backed down the ladder managing not to drop the trunk on herself. She turned around to find her way blocked.
Vernon Dursley was standing before her. The trunk fell to the floor with a load crash. It just missed falling on Petunia. Vernon was standing less then a foot away.
"Hello Petunia," he said. He sounded perfectly calm despite the fact that she had ran out on him and their son and then came back two days later like a thief in the night.
"V-vernon," she stuttered. She couldn't think of anything to say to him, she just stood there as he loomed over her.
"I'm not surprised you came back. I know you would sooner or later. I've been waiting for you to sneak in, in the night when you hoped no one would see you. I've been waiting for you.
"You have? Why?" Petunia was shaking with fright. She wondered where George was. He must have heard the trunk fall.
"You are my wife Petunia, and I'd be damn if I let you run off to so flee bitten wizards."
"I can leave if I want to. You have no right to keep me her anymore. I'll curse you if you don't step out of my way." She was gripping her wand tightly to keep it from shaking.
Vernon's eyes flashed with furry. "How dare you threaten me woman!" He roared at her. Petunia was taken aback when she saw the look in his eyes. He looked slightly deranged, and sleep deprived. He advanced on her, closing the small gap between them with one step. Petunia couldn't back away for the heavy trunk was behind her.
He grabbed onto her arms and gave her a small shake, just as George had done before, but Vernon's grip was painful. "Let me go," she gasped.
"What are you going to do if I don't?" Petunia didn't say anything. "Answer me Petunia!"
"I'll curse you, like I said I will." She didn't know any real curses, but she could play with his mind like Lily and her friends use to do with her. Some of the color left his face, Petunia was glad to see she had frightened him. His grip on her arms tightened.
He leaned in close to her, "Don't threaten me!" he snarled at her. He let go of one of her arms. He reached in front of himself. Petunia didn't know what he was about to do. He grabbed onto her hand that was gripping her wand. "Let go of it Petunia" he hissed at her.
She shook her head. "Fine. Then I'll just take it." He grabbed on to the wand and pulled it right out of her hand. Petunia tried to hold on, but her palm was so sweaty she couldn't keep a grip on it.
"No, give it back," she said in a defeated voice.
"All right, if you really want it," he said. Petunia stared at him. There something in the way he spoke that made her think she wouldn't be getting her wand back. He raised it in front of her face, and snapped it in half.
A long mournful scream ripped from her throat. Something in her hurt when he broke her wand, like her magic snapped. She flung herself at him. She clawed at his hands and face. She hit him in the chest, trying to hurt him as much as he had just hurt her. "How dare you do that!" She cried.
He held the pieces of her wand above her head so she couldn't get them. She backed up into her trunk again, and got an idea. She jumped up on it, and from there she was able to get the wand halves out of his grip. White smoke was coming out of the wand, all the magic was licking out. She shoved the two pieces back together. The white smoke trickled between the cracks.
She looked Vernon in the face. Her furry had left. She felt weak and she was shaking all over. Vernon still loomed over her, making her feel small like a child. "Are you happy now that you've hurt my? Did you want to make sure I would never show my face here again? Is that why you did this?" She held up her wand for him to see.
"You hurt me too, Petunia." Vernon said in a normal voice. "You took away the person I loved the most. You left me."
"Vernon, I had to leave. I don't belong here any more. I belong with them now. I got the thing I have wanted for almost all of my life. I'm magical."
"Don't say such rubbish Petunia." He took one of her hands in both of his. "You know that you belong here. This is your home, your family. What about Dudley?"
"Dudley and you will be just fine without me. I promise." Petunia pulled her hand out of his. She hopped down from her trunk. She focused on the spell that she needed to get it back to the Borrow. She muttered it under her breath. White smoke seeped out of the wand, but the trunk didn't move. Vernon had backed away from her. She thought about calling for George, maybe she could use his wand. It wasn't that bad of an idea, but she didn't want Vernon to kill him.
She walked over to the stairs that went down. She stood at the top and called for George.
"Who's George?" Vernon questioned her. He grabbed her arm again, and gave it a painful squeeze.
"He is a friend. You have nothing to worry about, he is boy a year or so older then Har- Dudley." George appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He looked at the two.
"Are you alright Petunia?" George asked.
"I'm fine." She didn't see reason to tell George about her fight with Vernon, not now at less. "I just need to use your wand, can I?"
"Sure." He came up the stairs and handed it to her. He could see that she had been crying. Vernon's face was covered in scratch marks, but he didn't say anything.
Petunia lead the way back to the trunk where it had fallen, Vernon still had a tight grip on her arm. She said the spell, and Vernon back away again. She floated the trunk down the stairs. George was right behind her, Vernon was farther off.
The reached the fireplace. "So you came by the fire, then?" Vernon asked.
"Yes." Was all Petunia said.
Vernon spun her to look at him in the face. She went tense in his arms, and George looked at them like her was ready to pounce. "Don't come back Petunia, unless you are going to stay. Next time you come I might break more then just your wand." He pushed her away from him. George was snarling at him.
"Good bye then Vernon." She tossed Floo Powder into the fire. "The Borrow!" She said, her voice had a slight waver. She and the trunk where gone in an instant.
George moved to the fire, but Vernon stopped him. "I don't want to see you or you're family near this house again. I've told you lot that before, but this time I want you to stay a way."
George tossed in his Floo Powder into the fire and was gone. When he arrived, he saw Petunia sitting at the table with her head in her arms. She was in tears.
A/N: Thanks to the one person who reviewed chapter nine (Luinthoron), and to those people who review some of the earlier chapters.
I've posted today in honor of my first full day of summer vacation. I am officially a junior in high school! This is going to be a great summer for me. I'll turn sixteen, I'll get my driver's license, and my first job!
I've got a shorter companion fic to go with this story, and I'm going to post it when I get a hundred reviews. That's my goal. And I'll dedicate it to whoever happens to be my 100dth reviewer. The fic centers around one of the couples that I've written about in this story.
The next chapter is already written, but I'm on the verge of throwing it out. It seems like a filler chapter that I could do with out, but there are one or two key things. It's a flashback to Lily and James' wedding from Petunia's POV.
Cheers!
Lisa Cove, soon to be Majestic Whirligig on Fanfiction.net
