Chapter 11 – Two Weeks with Petunia
Day 1
"Get your lazy butt down here Lily Evans!" shrieked Petunia.
"Jeez," Lily muttered, "I might have to kill myself if she goes on like this for two weeks. Although I should have expected it. I bet she even blames me for Mum and Dad's deaths. Selfish cow."
Lily walked downstairs and into the kitchen. "About time you got in here you freak."
"Was there something you wanted Petunia dear?" Lily asked sarcastically.
"Yes actually Lily darling," Petunia replied equally as sarcastic, "I want you to clean the house, scrub the bathrooms, water the garden, mow the lawn then cook dinner. I'm going out for the afternoon. I want everything done by the time I get back."
Lily smiled tightly then went to begin. As she reached the upstairs bathroom, Lily was having a full-on rant about Petunia.
Day 2
Lily lay on her bed after dinner, which she had again made, and began verbally abusing Petunia. This was quickly becoming Lily's favourite pastime. "Who does the bleeding cow think she is? The bloody Queen of England? Why the hell did she make me clean the bathrooms and water the garden again today when I did it yesterday? There is no way I'm going to let this go on all holidays. I don't give a damn if she's my 'legal guardian'. I don't put up with Potter's crap so there's no chance in hell that I'm going to stand for Petunia's."
"LIL-EEE!!"
Lily walked out to the top of the stairs and called, "What the hell do you want now?"
"Don't you dare use that kind of language with me young lady."
"Excuse me? Young lady? You're four years older than me Petunia Evans. Now what do you want? I already did everything you told me to."
Petunia glared at her. "I want you to go clean out the shed before you go to bed."
"Hey Pet what do you know? You're a poet and you don't even know it. Hmm… now let me think. To clean the shed. Let's see… no." Lily turned around and went back into her room slamming the door. She flopped down on her bed and growled, "Stupid bitch."
Day 3
Lily woke up and groaned. "Oh goodie," she said, "Today I can look forward to doing more cleaning while Petunia goes out and does crap. Well screw that. I'm gonna go have fun." Lily got dressed, grabbed some muggle money and left the house before Petunia could stop her.
Lily decided to do the first thing she thought of. She had enough money to buy herself a new book and maybe see a movie. Lily hopped on the bus and went into downtown London. She got off outside her favourite bookshop and went inside to start perusing the titles. 'Hmm… maybe I should get a Dickens book this time,' she thought. Lily stopped at the Dickens section and started pulling out books.
"Let's see. Oliver Twist, read it already. Great Expectations, same thing. Oh here we go A Tale of Two Cities and David Copperfield. Hmm… David Copperfield's longer so I'll get that."
Having decided Lily took the book over to the counter and paid. "That's a great book," the cashier said.
"So I've heard," replied Lily. She took her bag and walked across the street to the movie theatre. Lily sighed. The only half-way decent thing that was showing was Star Wars and Lily didn't particularly want to see it. 'Oh well may as well see it anyway. It's that or go home and have a nice little yelling match with Petunia,' she thought.
When Lily came out she got on the bus and began reading. It was now late in the afternoon but Lily didn't care. It's not like Petunia cared about her or anything. By the time the bus got to Lily's stop she had read two chapters. Lily got off and walked inside. If she was lucky she might be able to get upstairs without having to talk to Petunia. Lily did manage it and went to her room and kept reading. She didn't come out till the next day.
Day 4
"LILY EVANS!!"
Lily woke up startled and a bit confused. The sun was streaming in through her window but her light was on and there was something sticking in her side. Lily pulled it out and saw that it was her book. She looked at her clock and it said 11:00am. Lily realized she must've fallen asleep reading.
"GET DOWN HERE NOW FREAK!!"
Lily grumbled. She got out of bed and shuffled downstairs to where Petunia was going nice and slow just piss Petunia off.
"Take your time why don't you," Petunia said angrily.
"Okay I will," replied Lily in a cheeky tone.
"Don't give me cheek Lily. Where were you yesterday? I was worried sick."
"Yeah right. You were worried about a freak like me? Not likely."
"True but that's not the point. I'm your guardian and I-"
"HA," Lily interrupted, "My guardian? Tell me Petty do guardians usually make their charges, or whatever they're called, do all the housework while they go gallivanting around town?"
"Go to your room," Petunia bellowed, "You're not coming out till I say so."
"Okay Petty. Whatever you say." Lily bounced back up the stairs, locked herself in her room and went back to sleep.
Day 5
After lunch Lily decided to start packing up a few of her things. After all she was going to have to take everything she owned back to Hogwarts with her since Petunia never wanted her to come back. And frankly to tell the truth after the way these holidays were going Lily didn't want to come back either.
Petunia still hadn't let Lily out of her room, not even for meals but Lily had snuck out a few times for food. Lily wasn't going to starve herself even though Petunia might hope that she'd starve to death. Lily had spent all her time reading David Copperfield and now the book was finished. 'I should've bought two books instead of going to Star Wars,' Lily had thought as she snuck down for a sandwich.
And now that she had nothing to do Lily was bored. So she was going to begin packing. She would start with her room then over the rest of the holidays she would invade her parent's bedroom and take the things she wanted, such as the photo albums and her mother's jewelry.
By the time Lily went to bed she really hadn't packed much. Just some of her old toys and a few books. She had kept getting side-tracked by all the memories that things brought up. Although it hurt, it wasn't as painful as Lily had thought it would be. More happy memories were brought back than sad ones anyway. And although Lily cried herself to sleep, she was glad that she had her memories because they were things no one would ever be able to take away from her.
Day 6
Lily continued to pack her things up. She skipped breakfast and worked straight through lunch and dinner. By the time Lily stopped she had all her toys and books packed and it was 9:00pm. She sighed. She was exhausted and was getting light-headed from the lack of food. 'I'll start my photos tomorrow if Petunia still hasn't let me out,' Lily thought.
Feeling as though she were going to faint Lily went to go get some food from the kitchen. But it was the wrong time since as Lily walked past the living room door Petunia came out and caught her.
"What are you doing out of your room missy?" Petunia said pompously, "Did I say you could come out?"
'Think fast Evans,' Lily thought. "Umm… I thought I heard you call me."
"Really? So have you thought about what I said?"
"Yes Petunia."
"And do you agree that I have the right as your legal guardian to know where you are at all times?"
Lily inwardly rolled her eyes. "Yes Petunia."
"Good. Then you are allowed out of your room again."
"That's great Pet. Cause I thought tomorrow I'd go into the city. If that's alright with you of course." Petunia glowered but didn't seem to be able to come up with a good reason why Lily couldn't go. "Thanks Petty darling." Lily did an Irish jig into the kitchen while Petunia continued to glare at her back.
Day 7
Lily woke up with a smile on her face. What a nice dream that had been. She had been flying on her broomstick, playing Quidditch for England on an all female team. If only it were true in real life. 'Oh well,' Lily sighed as she got out of bed, 'Maybe I'll be able to change all the prejudice against women playing Quidditch one day.'
Lily bounced down into the kitchen, where Petunia was eating breakfast, feeling the best she had all week. Lily grabbed a piece of toast of the table then said to Petunia as she bounced back out, "Bye Petunia. I'll be back this arvo."
Lily grabbed her wallet and went to hop on the bus humming the whole way. She got off the bus outside the bookshop and grinned. Inside Lily went straight to the Dickens area and grabbed a copy of A Tale of Two Cities of the shelf. She took the book over to the counter to pay.
"Back already?" asked the cashier, "You were only in here a few days ago. Don't tell me you've finished David Copperfield already."
"Yeah I have," Lily replied, "I finished it two days ago." The cashier was stunned. The two got into a discussion on classic books and when they had finished talking Lily walked over to a small café for lunch. After a croissant and chocolate thick shake Lily went window shopping. 'I wish I had more money,' Lily thought.
Lily arrived back home just in time for dinner. "I suppose you enjoyed yourself immensely today," Petunia sneered.
"I did actually," Lily replied cheerfully, "Thanks for asking Pet."
Day 8
"Freak."
"Yes Petunia?"
"Have you done your chores?" Lily nodded. "Have you done all the other things I asked you?" Lily nodded. "Good. Then I want you to clean out the shed."
"Is that so? Well I don't really want to do that. I'm feeling a bit tired after all the other things I've done today. And you might want to be careful Petunia. You wouldn't want to work me too hard. I might have to report you to Social Services."
"Oh yeah? Well if you don't do what I say then I'll tell-"
"You'll tell who what Petunia? Mum and Dad are dead if you haven't noticed. You can't blackmail me anymore."
"Is that what you think freak? Mum and Dad might be dead but I can still tell your boyfriend about you."
"My boyfriend? You can try if you want but you might find it difficult since I don't have a boyfriend. Not everyone is a slut like you Petunia."
"You little bitch."
"Now now Petunia. You wouldn't be swearing in front of a minor would you? I think it's time you start being a bit more careful Pet."
Day 9
Lily's holidays were running out and she still had a lot to pack so that's what she did. She had to pack up everything from her room before she moved onto her parents' things. Lily began packing and again worked straight through lunch.
By the time Lily went down for dinner she had packed up everything in her room except her clothes and bed sheets and doona. Of course during dinner Lily was questioned by Petunia about what she was doing in her room all day. "Oh I was just reading this great book," Lily answered innocently, "It's called A Tale of Two Cities and it's by Charles Dickens. You should read it sometime." Lily smiled.
"Humph," replied Petunia.
Day 10
Of course since Lily had blown off her chores the day before she was expecting it when Petunia made her work all day long. Petunia as was expected went out, while she left Lily to do everything. Lily had to clean the house from top to bottom, including the attic and basement plus water the garden, pull out any weeds, mow the lawn and clean out the shed. Then on top of all that Petunia had ordered Lily to make roast lamb and baked vegetables for dinner.
By the time Lily had done everything and had the roast cooking she was exhausted. She stumbled up to her bedroom, fell on her bed and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.
"LILY EVANS!!"
Lily woke up and could smell something burning. "What the hell?" she said. Lily gasped. "Oh no! The roast lamb!" Lily ran downstairs and into the kitchen where Petunia was standing rigidly glaring at the oven. Lily opened the oven and stared at the lamb, which was now as black as charcoal and completely uneatable. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Petunia. I fell asleep. I swear I didn't mean to," Lily tried to explain.
"Room now," Petunia said simply while her nostrils flared. Lily sighed and went back up to her and began reading.
Day 11
Lily again spent the whole day reading, occasionally sneaking out for food. 'Petunia will have to let me out soon,' thought Lily, 'After all there's no way that she would want to do lots of work herself.'
'I can't wait to get out of here,' Lily thought before she went to sleep, 'I'd be happy if I never have to see Petunia ever again. She's a bloody tyrant, that's what she is. I hope she never has children. I'd never leave a child in her care. Only over my dead body would a child of mine ever live with her.' Lily sighed. Only a few more days then she would be free.
Day 12
Lily spent her morning reading A Tale of Two Cities. By lunch she had finished it so she packed it away then snuck down for a sandwich. In the afternoon though Lily decided that she should probably do the homework they had been assigned over the holidays. And there was quite a bit of it. Lily had a three foot essay for Charms, two rolls of parchment about Vanishing Spells for Transfiguration, yet another boring essay about some goblin rebellion for History of Magic; she had to do some research on muggle authors for Muggle Studies and a two foot essay for Potions.
"Oh God," Lily moaned when she had gotten out all her books, "This is too much. I'll never get it all done." She began hitting her head on a book then calmed down a bit. "Okay, okay. I'll do Muggle Studies first since that will be easy."
Lily settled in and worked for a solid five hours. Lily's stomach rumbled and she jumped slightly. 'Wow,' she thought, 'I actually managed to get a lot done.' Lily had finished the homework for Muggle Studies, History of Magic; she'd done half of the Charms essay and had written a role of parchment so far for Transfiguration.
"Lily could you please come down here?" Lily heard Petunia call. Lily went downstairs and confronted Petunia defiantly. "I have decided you've been punished enough," Petunia said, "Now I'm going to be out all day tomorrow so I've written a list of things that I want you to do." Petunia handed Lily the list and Lily stared at it incredulously. Lily turned around and went back to her room still staring at the list.
Day 13
Lily went downstairs for breakfast to discover that Petunia had already left. She found a note on the table saying that Petunia would be back at approximately 7:00pm. "Okay," said Lily, "This is perfect. Okay planning the day. This morning I'll try and do a lot of what Petunia has on that stupid list of her's, then I'll have a super quick lunch, then grab the things I want from Mum and Dad's room, pack them up carefully, then finish off the things from the list. After dinner I'll finish the Transfiguration and Charms work, hopefully start the Potions which I can then finish tomorrow."
That's the plan that Lily followed. After she had quickly eaten breakfast, Lily had worked hard and fast up until 1:00pm. Luckily for her she had managed to get through two-thirds of what Petunia had written down. Lily made herself a sandwich and ate it on her way upstairs. She finished it as she went into her parents' room. When Lily walked in there she was overwhelmed with memories and emotions. 'No,' she thought, 'I don't have time now. I have to get the photos and jewelry then go straight back to the work on the list.'
Lily grabbed all the photo albums out of the wardrobe and took them into her room and put them in her trunk. She went back to her parents' room, picked up her mother's jewelry box then stopped. She had a look around and suddenly realized this would be the last time she ever set foot in this room. Lily sank to the floor and began crying.
Half an hour later Lily wiped her eyes and picked up some of the photos as well as the jewelry box and packed them. Then Lily began working faster than ever to get all the things on Petunia's list done. She managed it and it was still only 6:30. Lily made herself another sandwich then went back to her homework.
Day 14
Lily walked downstairs that night dragging both her trunks behind her. "What are you doing freak?" asked Petunia.
"I'm just bringing my stuff downstairs so I don't have to in the morning. That is okay isn't Petunia?"
"Fine. But why do you need to have your freak stuff downstairs?"
"I'm going back to school tomorrow. You are driving me to Kings Cross aren't you?"
"If I must."
Lily turned to go back upstairs but Petunia stopped her. "You do know don't you freak that whatever you own but don't take with you I'm either going to burn or throw out."
"I know."
"Good. Just so you know Lily you're never coming back here. I hope I never see you again freak."
"The feeling is mutual sister dearest." Lily went upstairs thinking about how much she couldn't wait to get back to Hogwarts and her friends, although she could definitely do without Potter being there.
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