PETUNIA: CHAPTER 3: SILENT NIGHT

Petunia Evans hummed Christmas carols as she decorated the tree. She was careful to space the decorations evenly and hang them straight. Lastly she placed the angel on the tip of the fir tree. She stood back to admire her work. She had decorated the tree all by herself. Her parents had gone to meet Lily at King's Cross Station.

Petunia felt giddy. Lily was coming home. As the weeks went by her bitterness had dissipated. She missed her baby sister; she couldnt wait until she was in her arms. This Christmas would be like all the others. She and Lily would bake little gingerbread men. They would eat them (biting off the heads first, then the feet) and leave the rest for Father Christmas. They would wake up early in the morning and rush downstairs to open presents. Nothing would change.

She sat down by the fire to wait for them to get home and dozed off.

Petunia rose slowly from her deep slumber. A familiar face swam in and out of focus, she could hear a voice but it wasnt saying anything she could understand. She fought to come awake and found her sister waking her. She grabbed her in a groggy hug, "Merry Christmas!" she said sleepily and kissed her on the cheek.

"Oh sister its so good to see you! Merry Christmas!" Lily returned her kiss. They let go of each other and sat side by side on the sofa. Lily told her family about her time at Hogwarts. It sounded wonderful to Petunia and the old jealousy returned. She gritted her teeth and balled her fists inside her pockets. She eventually stopped listening as she focused on just enjoying their time together and not making it difficult.

"Petunia. Petunia? Are you listening?"
Petunia looked at her sister blankly. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"Dont you think it was about time we made our gingerbread men?"

"Oh yes. Of course." She followed her out to the kitchen. They silently mixed the dough; the silence was not a companionable one. As they shaped the dough into little men Lily tried to start a conversation but Petunia would answer her shortly and would not meet her eyes. Lily eventually gave up as they decorated the men with frosting and candy.

As they baked they returned to the living room and chatted with their parents. They returned to the kitchen to remove them from the oven. You could easily tell who made each man. Lilys were perfect and not a drop of frosting was out of place. Petunias, on the other hand, were misshapen and gnarled. They removed them from the pan and brought them in front of the fire. The Evans family ate their fill and left the rest out with a glass of milk.

Petunia was the last to go up to bed. She saw on the plate that Lily had made a gingerbread woman of herself. The red licorice hair was placed perfectly and the frosted clothes were of the latest fashion. Petunia looked at the one she had done of herself. She had made her hair of nuts and many of them had fallen off. Something on Lilys caught her eye as she stood up; something in its hand. It was a wand. Petunia broke off wand and hand and tossed it in the dying embers of the fire.

Late that night Lily snuck into Petunias room. She crawled in bed beside her sister. "Petunia, why arent you talking to me? Arent you glad Im home?" she whispered. There was no answer. She kissed Petunia on the cheek and crept out, sure that she was asleep and had not heard her. But Petunia had heard it all and had held her tongue.

Petunia woke up late the next morning to find her family waiting for her downstairs. "Merry Christmas!" they chorused.

"Merry Christmas" she replied sleepily. She sat down by Lily grabbed one of her presents and looked at the tag. This one was from Lily. She ripped it open to reveal red and gold socks. She stared blankly at her sister.

"I knitted them myself' she said 'theyre Gryffindor colors, the house Im sure youd be in"Petunia continued to stare at her. "I really wasnt able to go anywhere to shop"Lily babbled "I believe I shall do my shopping for next Christmas during my summer holidays" She averted her eyes from Petunia and opened a present. She had grabbed Petunias gift; it was a collage of pictures of the two of them over the years.

"I thought that if you ever missed me you could just pull it out and look at it" Petunia muttered. Lily threw her arms around her sisters neck and said "thank you" many times over.

The rest of Lilys stay was pleasant. She and Petunia played outside in the snow like they used to and sipped hot cocoa together by the fire. They were both sad when it came to an end. Once again Petunia did not go to the station but told Lily good bye before she left.

Lily promised, "Ill be home for Easter"