CHAPTER 15: A Sister, an Aunt

Harry was tucking into his breakfast reviewing his latest quidditch practice strategies when Dean dashed into the great Hall and grabbed his arm.

"Harry mate you gotta come quick!"

"What happened this time?" Harry asked in horror. Honestly couldn't things be quiet just once? Ron was still in the hospital wing and he'd only just stopped having nightmares from the whole poison incident. He just want one week where things weren't falling apart around him.

"It's your aunt!" Dean cried "she's getting absolutely swamped!"

"Aunt Petunia?!" Harry asked in shock "what's she doing here?!"

"Just come on!" Dean insisted. Harry didn't need any further encouragement. He followed the boy out to the entrance courtyard. It was blustery, with a few flakes drifting hither and thither, occasionally whipping by stingingly. True to the black teen's proclamation Petunia Evans was at the epicentre of what was honestly a mob. Countless students were asking the woman all kinds of questions. She appeared as graceful as ever, but Harry could tell by the way she gripped her handbag that she was quite uncomfortable.

"EXCUSE ME!" Snape suddenly roared from the entrance to the viaduct. The crowd instantly jumped and fell eerily silent. The man stepped out from the shadows with a firm scowl "this is an absolutely shameless display! To accost a guest of the school in this way! You bring dishonour to the name of Hogwarts!" He scanned the crowd with cold eyes. "Now! Any student remaining in this courtyard in the next minute will lose fifty points from their house!" He narrowed his eyes "EACH!" What followed was a panicked stampede as everyone rushed to get inside before Snape's wrath could descend on them. Harry had to flatten himself against the door to avoid getting trampled for the second time in his life. When all was said and done he was the only student left in the vicinity.

"I thought I made myself- oh. Potter." Snape grumbled quietly. Petunia reached out and patted his arm.

"Thank you, Severus." Then she stepped forward and gave Harry a firm hug "I came to check-in. Dr. Emmeline says you've been under a fair bit of strain lately. Something about a classmate of yours getting poisoned?!"

"Er yeah." Harry said with a slight blush "it was Ron ."

"Ronald? Goodness, I'll go visit Molly next she must be distraught." Petunia said. Then she frowned "goodness what are you teaching these children in potions, Severus! Much too dangerous I say."

"I don't teach potions anymore Tuney." Snape snapped in irritation. Harry couldn't help the snicker. "A point for Gryffindor for cheek."

"Come now Severus, that's hardly fair!" Petunia cried out in alarm. The man's face twisted into a grimace before he huffed.

"Very well. I rescind my declaration."

"Thank you, sir," Harry said with a grin.

"Where is Snuffles?" Petunia suddenly asked. Harry flinched.

"He... er… wasn't feeling well." He tried "I took him down to Hagrid for my r&r."

"With any luck, Hagrid will accidentally kill the mongrel," Snape muttered under his breath.

"Severus! Don't be so heartless! Harry needs him. And I'm sure he'll tell me the real answer when he's ready." She said smoothly. Snape's eyebrow suddenly rose and he gave Harry a look. Harry grimaced. Then the potions master cleared his throat.

"You're welcome to use my passage Tuney. I'm sure the students are hiding just inside the great Hall waiting to pounce again. I'll remain out here and keep them at bay."

"Why Severus!" Petunia declared, placing a hand on his arm again "how chivalrous!" Then Harry gaped in awe. His aunt placed a quick peck on the man's cheek. Instantly his high cheekbones pinked and he stared at her flabbergasted. Then at once he schooled his expression into a firm scowl and nodded. Then Petunia led Harry away. Once they were a sufficient distance away the woman began to chuckle merrily. "Poor Severus."

"What was that?" Harry asked flatly. Petunia's eyes glittered in a way very reminiscent of Dudley getting away with a good scheme.

"My dear Harry, Severus would hate for me to tell you this, but he's always had a bit of a crush on me."

"He wot?!" Harry choked out. Petunia chuckled again before her face pinched.

"When Severus was about twelve one of the neighbourhood children started taunting him. The taunt escalated until the boy threw a rock at the back of Severus's head. Head wounds tend to bleed quite a bit, even if they're shallow. He managed to make it to our house but he was already woozy with blood loss. Lily and I were the only ones home so I left her there and took him to the hospital. He was terribly afraid. And rightly so! Poor thing needed seven stitches!" Her eyes were sad even as she smiled. "I held his hand through all of it. I couldn't just leave him there all on his own. Even if I didn't exactly like him I wasn't completely heartless. After the surgery, I got him some candy. He was so very grateful and sweet. I think I'd become a sort of Florence Nightingale to him. When we got back home he wanted to hold the door open for me and help me up the stairs but he could barely walk poor thing." Then suddenly her face hardened "of course Eileen was furious."

"What?" Harry demanded indignantly "why?! You helped him even though you weren't exactly friends! What could she possibly have been mad about?"

"Well I don't know if you know this Harry but Severus still has the scars from the stitches." She admitted. She rolled her eyes with a huff "Eileen was furious because if I had just given him a towel for the blood and some ice she would have been home in less than twenty minutes and have been able to patch him up good as new. As it was she removed the stitches and healed him in a second. But she couldn't do anything about the scaring." Harry thought back to the conversation he'd had with Snape about that scar and shook his head.

"Don't feel back. Professor Snape wears that scar like a badge of honour of sorts. To prove all those arses who said he was a lying brat wrong."

"He… he told you about that?" she asked in awe. Harry nodded even as he picked at his cuff.

"Yeah, he told me about what happened with Tobias and about Gran's crusade," Harry said quietly. Petunia looked floored and was silent the entire long walk down the viaduct. A few students did a double-take as they walked by but none of them stopped or bothered them. Evidently, Snape's threat had already spread around the school. Somehow.

"In some ways, Tobias was worse than Vernon." Petunia finally declared. Harry blinked at her in shock. It was the first time Petunia had mentioned her dead husband in more than a year. "Tobias pretended to be a good man when he had an audience. Vernon never bothered with all that. I shudder to think how that affected Severus' psyche when he was younger."

"He probably thought it was all his fault." Harry muttered absent-mindedly "and that maybe if he tried hard enough he would like him… maybe if I got all the chores- I mean he got all-" Harry was cut off as Petunia pulled him into a tight hug. He gladly latched onto her and buried his face into her robes. After a few moments, against his will, a few tears began to drip into the soft fabric. Petunia didn't let go as he began to sob quietly, just squeezed and rubbed his back, humming her song into his ear. After a minute he was fine again. But he felt lighter.

"I had a feeling you needed that." Petunia remarked matter of factly. "You're under a great deal of pressure. I could tell at Christmas." she explained at his confused look "It wouldn't have anything to do with this mysterious illness of Snuffles would it?"

"I've got him following Draco Malfoy," Harry admitted quietly.

"Why?" Petunia questioned impatiently.

"Because he's up to something!" Harry cried in exasperation. A group of Ravenclaws at the end of the hall looked over with a frown. Harry winced. Evidently, he'd broken up their study group.

"Be that as it may." Petunia said sternly "didn't Dudley tell you it's foolish to make harsh accusations without proof? And if not proof, at least president."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Is the boy a troubled student?"

"No, he's almost as good as Hermione."

"Does he get into trouble often?"

"Well no, but that's cause Snape-"

"Severus is not the only professor at this school Harry." Petunia reminded him. "Does he cause trouble with any of the other professors?"

"Not out loud."

"So he's a model student?"

"I guess."

"Then what in God's name makes you so adamant that he's up to something?"

"Because… because he's Malfoy!" Harry finally snapped "because he's caused me and my friends nothing but trouble since I started coming here! He's a specky scrawny squirrely git whose done nothing but taunt me and harras me and break my nose!" he ranted angrily. Petunia blinked.

"He what?" she demanded. Harry paused.

"Er… it was a couple of years ago." he lied quickly "during a quidditch match."

"Hmmm." Petunia said before she took a deep breath "while I agree that school bullies can be incredibly frustrating Harry, accusing one of being a terrorist is a touch further than schoolyard taunting." Harry opened his mouth to try and think of some way to convince her but realized that he sounded rather childish. He'd just whined at her about how mean and horrible Draco had always been but there wasn't really anything she could do about that. In fact, that year aside from that one incident on the train Draco hadn't even looked at him. Blaise had been the most antagonistic, almost like he was making up for Malfoy's absence. Maybe she was right, maybe Draco wasn't as bad as he thought.

"He is up to something though." Harry insisted "I heard him say so. At Christmas."

"Be that as it may, having your service dog follow him around when he should be at your side at all times is not the right course of action." Petunia insisted. Harry flinched.

"Alright. We'll go and find him." Harry said before he pulled out the marauder's map. Petunia rose an eyebrow when he unlocked it then rolled her eyes.

"Your father made this didn't he," she said in exasperation.

"Er…" Harry said with a blink "yeah… yeah he did…. How did you know?"

"The man had an unhealthy obsession with alliteration." Petunia declared. "The wedding invitations alone… 'the couple cordially crave your convocation'" she recalled smoothly. Harry choked on a laugh before frowning.

"You were invited to the wedding?"

"Yes."

"Did… did you go?"

"No… we were visiting Vernon's mother in Manchester." her face pinched "Vernon would have had an aneurysm if he'd seen the owl in the hotel window." she looked far away again "Lily sent me a letter the next week apologizing for James's foolishness… She wanted to meet up in London. But I never found the time. And then she went into hiding…" she took a deep breath, looking very forlorn. Harry looked at her and suddenly remembered that Lily wasn't just someone Petunia knew. They had been sisters. And quite close when they were young. To know that they hadn't spoken in years, and then she'd died, without them ever having reconciled. It was his turn to pull his aunt into a hug. The woman tittered at him as she pulled away. "Now now!" she insisted, even as she dabbed her eyes with a hankey "no time for tears. Let's find your dog shall we?"

Petunia looked around the common room with an awed expression.

"Simply marvellous!" she declared. Then she looked at the various clutter scattered surfaces and pursed her lips "if a bit disorganized."

"Er… yeah." Harry said even as he quickly tossed a few things into the rubbish bin with a blush "Dobby is the only one who cleans in here now... It's a long story."

"I see." Petunia said, "I hope none of this is from you."

"No no, I keep things clean." Harry assured her "oi Snuffles!" he shouted up the stairs. The door above them instantly banged open and the dog galloped down the stairs. He froze and stared at Petunia in shock.

"Hello Snuffles," she said unimpressed. "I hear you've been leaving Harry on his own to trail teenagers." the dog whined and gave Harry a look of betrayal.

"She wheedled it out of me," he admitted. Snuffles huffed and walked up to her with a bowed head.

"I've instructed Harry that this behaviour is unacceptable and cannot continue. You are here to help him and keep him safe. From now on you'll keep right by him at all times."

"Er… aunt Petunia, what about when I go to the slug club?" Harry asked.

"What about it?"

"Er… well professor Slughorn is absolutely terrified of dogs."

"Well then hell just have to manage!" Petunia declared with a sniff "and if he has a problem, he can take it up with me."

"I'll be sure to tell him," Harry said with a grin. Now that was a showdown he'd pay to see.

A/N: Hello my lovelies!

More Petunia for this happy Friday!

Rori Potter: see you next week!

ILoveGeorgeEads: Thanks!

Thank you, everyone!

See you next week!

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-TTC