Hello there!
Thank you so much for clicking on this story. Welcome to my very first dabble into the world of fanfiction. I hope you'll enjoy it!

Before posting the story there were a few things I wanted to address to avoid any confusion.

Canon:

A character that is probably considered OC will play a big role in this story. While his existence is canon, we don't know his name, his birthday or his character. Which means I basically had all the freedom in the world to mold him myself. (Which means that if we ever learn more about his canon counterpart I will probably have to amend a few things *sweat*.)
Otherwise I do my best to keep the story canon-compliant, especially when it comes to the timeline. I had so much fun doing research for this story I actually have a whole file filled with random character's birthday's.

Petunia:

I always had a soft spot for villains, and while Petunia Dursley is as unlikeable as one can get - taking her grudges out on a helpless child who is dependent on her care - Petunia Evans' fate is quite pitiful.
Please keep in mind that I don't intend to character bash anyone, especially not Lily, but as this story is told from Petunia's point of view everything is going to be colored in her opinion and how she perceives other's actions. So while people might not be truly vicious or mean-spirited, they could appear as such in Petunia's mind.

With all that out of the way, happy reading!

August 1971

Petunia had always been a watchful child. And being watchful, she understood quite a few things. For one, she knew that her parents loved her little sister more than her. This realisation had begun with their choice of name but hadn't ended there.

Petunia also knew that 'muggle' wasn't a nice word, though no one had ever really explained its meaning to her. She simply knew because the thin boy's eyes gleamed with dislike whenever he addressed her as such. She stared back, trying not to let him see her apprehension. The last time he had looked like this, her shoes had suddenly sprouted roots and she had to scramble to get them off before she was completely immobilised. While she lay sprawled on her back they had grown into the soil and sprouted leaves, just a few inches from her feet.

She didn't really understand how he was doing it, but she knew other things. She knew that he too, like everyone in her life, preferred her younger sister over her.

Even God preferred Lily. He gave her beauty, with big green eyes and flaming locks, and he gave her a talent so unique every child dreamed about it. Petunia was pale in comparison with wispy, blond hair and watery eyes not containing any strong flashes of colour.

Petunia got nothing. Not even a nice name.

Though that spoke more of her parent's favouritism than God's. Of course they never admitted it, but whenever anything happened they didn't suspect Lily and instead questioned her first. Petunia had heard the term 'older sister' enough times that she almost broke out in hives whenever they uttered it now.

Petunia, as the older sister you should take care of your little sister.

Petunia, as the older sister you can't be mean to Lily.

Petunia, you're the older sister, you shouldn't be jealous.

What about Lily then? What were her tasks? Shouldn't she also take care of Petunia? Mind her feelings?

Instead Lily liked flaunting her specialness whenever she found out something new about her 'magic'. Just moments before, she had tauntingly worked her 'magic', shoving her specialness in Petunia's face.

Of course Petunia had started a fight. What else was she supposed to do? And who else would defend her if she didn't do it herself?

Lily had enough people to defend her. One of them was standing protectively in front of her at the moment, wind tousling his greasy hair and threadbare clothes. Wearing his hair that long and stringy made him look like a derelict in Petunia's opinion. The blasted boy had turned up just at the right moment, like always, seeing Petunia's outbreak but not what had triggered her.

Even if he had seen Lily twirl flowers above her palm, he wouldn't have understood Petunia's outrage. No one ever would. Somewhere deep inside, Petunia herself even allowed the notion that maybe Lily didn't realise how her actions were tormenting her. But that was no longer an excuse. She had done it often enough, and seen Petunia's reaction just as often, that she should have stopped by now.

But she never did. Others saw it as a younger sister trying to befriend her older sister again, after their once good relationship had been torn apart.

Petunia saw it as mean-spirited showing off.

The lanky boy sneered at her and raised his hand. Not waiting for him to curse her once again, Petunia turned around and ran. She knew when she was overpowered and outnumbered. She wasn't a fool who didn't learn her lessons.

She stopped once she couldn't see her younger sister any longer, breath rattling in her lungs. Sweat glued some of her thin hair to her forehead but she combed it back behind her ears. It wouldn't do to look too unordered.

Petunia couldn't control many things in her young life, but she could control her demeanour. And she would always look out for herself.

Simply because no one else ever would.

The magical letter had arrived this morning, causing her parents to break out in laughter and Lily's pretty face to be wreathed in smiles. Petunia had sat broodingly at the table, but when no one paid her any attention, she went up to her room and got out a piece of parchment. It was her most expensive one, one she had bought with her little pocket money for a special occasion. Like a letter to whomever would be her first true friend, though she hadn't found one yet.

Contemplating, she sat down at the desk she shared with Lily, twisting a pen between her fingers. She wanted the letter to be perfect and so wrote a few drafts, discarding and starting anew multiple times. Finally she reached for the nice paper, which felt unduly heavy in her small hands. Taking a deep breath she started writing.

Most honourable Headmaster of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry,

My name is Petunia Evans and I am twelve years old. My younger sister recently received a letter to attend your school and I wanted to let you know that I dearly wish to be a witch as well. Though I might lack my sister's natural talent, you have my honest promise that I will be the most hard-working student in school. I will dedicate myself to the magic studies and make you proud if you give me this chance.

Please Mister Dumbledore let me attend your magic school and learn how to become a real witch.

Sincerely,

Petunia Evans

Finished with her work, Petunia read it over a few times before she carefully blew the ink dry and folded it up. Surely the headmaster would not already be biassed towards Lily - he hadn't even met her yet. He would be fair and give Petunia a chance. She hadn't done anything to not deserve it after all.

Lily and the boy were ridiculing her.

"You begged to be a witch? Thought you said Lily was a freak!"

"You snooped through my mail?" Enraged, Petunia glared at Lily, who was once again standing behind the blasted boy.

"Lily didn't snoop, I saw the letter myself!" The boy sneered, his thin lips appearing even more bloodless.

Liar.

"I can't believe a muggle actually managed to get a letter to Hogwarts!" He laughed, but it was mean-spirited. "You don't even have an owl! Must be a magical postman working somewhere around here who didn't know it was actually a muggle who had written the letter."

Petunia stayed silent, not willing or knowing how to refute. All she knew was that she had done something with hope in her heart and with her best effort - and now her sister's best friend was mocking her for it. Laughing at her. And Lily just stood next to him and looked at her with her typical pitying eyes.

What right did she have to pity her? Just because she inherited the nice hair and unique eyes and Petunia hadn't?

Just because Petunia wasn't special and no one was even willing to give her a chance, no matter how hard she tried?

She hadn't done anything wrong. None of these were her fault, it was simply as if a greater power was set against her in all things.

She felt the burning behind her eyes but willed herself not to cry. She hadn't cried when Dumbledore's letter of rejection glared back at her and she wouldn't cry now because of a stupid boy's words. When everyone was against her she had to stay strong and take care of herself.

And 'strong' in Petunia's mind was often equal to 'angry'. Instead of crying she preferred to fight, always with venom-laced words, because her arms were too weak and thin for conventional defence. But her mind was agile and worked quickly. She noticed things and this helped her to determine her opponent's weak spot.

Like right this moment. This little boy was not only smitten with her sister but the whole town liked to gossip about his family …

"I might not have an owl, but at least my father doesn't hit me! At least my mother loves me!"

The last line was a lie in Petunia's mind, but the boy wouldn't know that. His usually sallow face had turned red in rage and his dark eyes were wide open. With trembling lips he raised his hands. The leaves around his feet started swirling ominously but Petunia didn't stick around to find out how he wanted to punish her. Instead she whirled around and once again ran away, her longer legs letting her escape easily.

Sometimes, they liked to rely on their specialness too much. Hurting him wasn't something Petunia needed magic to do. And reality wasn't something magic would protect them from.

Petunia was an observant child, so understanding death took her only a number of days. It was the week after her grandmother had died that she familiarised herself with the concept, sitting in her room and coming to grips with the fact that she would never see her grandma again.

Lily was still too young and hadn't been allowed inside the room but Petunia had insisted. She had stood next to the bedside when her grandmother's chest slowly stopped moving.

It was a strange feeling. One moment this had been a person, able to talk and breathe and think and suddenly they just … weren't any longer. Petunia couldn't really explain the feeling, but it was as if her grandmother had stopped being her grandmother and instead had turned into an inanimate object. She was still there but not in any way that mattered.

Petunia was frightened by the feeling and her mother had ushered her out of the room when she started trembling, telling her to watch over her little sister and to not come inside again.

Petunia hadn't realised it that day, but the thought stirred in her mind, restless until she could accept it. The finality of the moment … her grandmother was dead.

She would never talk to her again or get her hand patted. She would never even see her again.

Petunia rested her head on the desk and quietly allowed herself a few tears.

Lily and the stupid boy had entered the forest bordering the field they liked to play in. It wasn't a deep or big forest, but it made finding her more difficult. And that was exactly Petunia's task, ordered by her mother to find Lily and bring her back in time for supper.

It was summer so it was still light out but the shadows beneath the trees were cool and dark. Petunia cautiously made her way in deeper, taking care not to let a branch rip her dress or get tripped by roots. The air smelled of wet earth and moss and Petunia felt uncomfortable. She never ventured into the forest alone - she had played here once or twice when Lily had still been nice - but that was a while ago.

She heard a rustling to her right and let out a breath. The forest wasn't large enough for any big animals to live here. The rustling had to be either Lily or a squirrel.

When Petunia discovered the origin of the rustling she found that she was wrong.

It wasn't Lily. It wasn't an animal either.

It was a monster.

A small monster not higher than her hips, wobbling on four skinny legs. Its skin was oily black and stretched tight over a skeletal frame, each rib starkly outlined. Two flaps of loose skin hung down on either side of its emaciated torso, black veins faintly shimmering through. Its skull was long and separated by a row of sharp teeth, exposed because its lips weren't long enough to cover them. Two milky-white, pupil-less eyes sat on the sides of its skull, thankfully not facing Petunia.

It was ugly and unlike anything Petunia had ever seen before. She was frozen in shock while staring at it, for once at a loss. Should she cry for help? Run away? Throw a rock at it?

Petunia wasn't moving and the little monster paid her no attention, its long neck with a smattering of stringy hair hung low to the ground.

Petunia didn't know how much time passed until she heard her sister's voice from somewhere behind her: "Tuney? What are you doing here?"

Petunia didn't want to take her eyes off the little monster, fearing it would attack her as soon as she turned away. It was small, true, but those teeth looked vicious.

"Is something wrong?" Lily entered her peripheral vision, looking confused. The black-haired boy was next to her and looked annoyed.

Why did they ignore the little monster? It was pawing the dirt just a few feet away from them. Petunia shot them a glance and raised a shaking finger. "There …"

Lily looked around, her confusion mounting. "Where? What are you pointing at?"

"Just ignore her, Lily. Why are you even bothering with that muggle?"

"She's my sister, Sev, stop saying that."

"It's the truth though. She is a muggle."

Petunia couldn't believe that they would choose to bicker in this situation. They were completely ignoring the little monster!

Or maybe … maybe they weren't ignoring it? Maybe they just didn't realise it was there?

A strange, hopeful feeling started bubbling up in her stomach.

"Don't … you see it?" Petunia whispered, interrupting their spat.

Lily once again glanced around the forest while the blasted boy snorted disdainfully. "See what? There's nothing here."

They couldn't see it … they couldn't see it! Only she, Petunia, was able to see the little monster!

Her heart started beating faster, this time not in shock and fear but elation.

She was special after all. Even though Lily could make flowers dance and the boy could turn her shoes into shrubbery, none of them could see the little monster! For all their specialness, Petunia had a talent they didn't. For once she was the one who knew something they didn't, for once someone had chosen her instead of Lily.

Petunia smiled for the first time since Lily had discovered her magic.