1971 October
By the time Lily sent her first ever letter, the leaves had begun to change colours and October rolled around. It was a little strange for the house to be so quiet. Lily had always that rambunctious energy and now that she was gone, it was dead silent in the house.
Now, everything sounded too loud.
Petunia wasn't expecting anything at all. She had been a little disappointed when September ended and no letter from Lily came. But her disappointment only last a minute when Lily's owl landed on their window stall, the owl stared at her peevishly with her big and bright eyes, but she made no noise.
It was clear that she was waiting for Petunia to move.
Petunia caught sight of the letter attached to the owl's feet—there was two of them. One of which she managed to secure the pink letter with her name printed on the edge in Lily's elegant handprint. She managed to pocket the letter just in time for the owl to hoot loudly enough to catch her parents' attention.
The blonde girl didn't want to let their parents know that Lily had sent a separate letter specifically for her.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Evans rushed into the living room and untangled the letter from the owl's leg. Their faces lit up, and she let them crowd around the letter before she climbed up the stairs, taking two steps at a time in a hurried pace. The owl followed not too far behind her. She held the door open for the owl before she shut the door gently as possible so she didn't alert their parents–not that they were going to pay her any attention anyways.
The owl hooted again, tapping the empty bowl.
Petunia rolled her eyes, but she reached down to fill the bowl up with some water before she finally sat down at her table and opened the letter up.
Dear Tunia,
I know it's been quite some time since school started but there is JUST SO MANY THINGS TO LEARN that I haven't had the time to sit down and write.
First of all, I hope that little Missy got you the letter all safe and sound. Hopefully Mum and Dad don't see her before you do. Missy is a smart girl, so she'll make sure to get to you before anyone else sees her. Anyways, back on the train, when we finally arrived, everything was just so…so magical!
Oh Petunia, I wish I could take a picture and show you how it looks like. Words cannot describe just how magical and beautiful this looks. It's like straight out a fairy-tale. Shortly afterwards, we got into the castle and then we were sorted into houses. In Hogwarts, there are four houses–Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.
I got sorted into Gryffindor.
Apparently, they're a symbol of bravery! I thought I would have been sorted into Ravenclaw. Oh well, and Severus got sorted into Slytherin! Isn't that cool?
Petunia snorted; she didn't care much for Severus. But she supposed it wasn't a bad idea to get updated on him. She made sure to note it down in case she ran into Mrs. Snape. Petunia wondered if Severus wrote to his mother–he didn't seem like the type but who knows really.
He could secretly be a mama's boy.
Or maybe his mother didn't care for such…mundane things. She was a witch, after all. A pretty one despite how haggard she had gotten. Petunia had accidently seen a picture of Mrs. Snape when she was still a young teenager. Bright and brilliant in her attire. It didn't match the current her and Petunia wondered how far the older woman had fallen.
It was a mystery as to how Mr. Snape had managed to secure the lady down into a tasteless marriage—Petunia had vowed to herself that she would not make that mistake.
She continued to read the letter.
Classes are so interesting; all the professors are so intelligent and there is just so much to learn. Oh Tunia, but I must tell you, there's these annoying buggers in Gryffindor, they call themselves the marauders–they just go around pranking anyone that's not in Gryffindor. They are making people's lives miserable! And it seems like they made Severus their target.
I don't know how to help Severus. I feel so bad and I've tried to yell at them or tell the Professors but they just dismissed it as child-play. Argh, I hate them so much!
Especially that damn Potter who won't stop bugging Severus and me.
Petunia paused at the name. Potter. Potter.
What are the chances there could be another Potter in their year? In the school. Surely, this wasn't the James Potter, right? Petunia pursued her lips and tried to bury the anxiety that she felt was boiling in the pit of her stomach.
So, he was part of this so-called marauders group.
Which honestly didn't surprise Petunia since Potter seemed like the type to lead a group or be a part of a mischievous group like this.
Away with the negatives, Severus seems to really love Potions class. I think he's got a talent for it, what do you think?
Sorry for complaining so much, Tunia. How are you? How are your classes? Are you doing anything in particular? Write back soon.
Missing you always,
Lily Evans
Petunia grinned, as usual, she could feel Lily's entire mood out of the parchment paper. She shook her head; Lily always wrote so animatedly that it was almost unbecoming for a young lady.
The blonde girl took out a pen and paper and stared blankly at the paper.
She didn't really have anything to update Lily on. Her school year began as usual, she had been placed with Mrs. Smith and her group of friends remained by her side and well—that's about it. Her school year was nothing exciting like Lily's. After a couple of minutes of silence, she finally began to scribble. Mainly to send back a dry reply–
Good morning, Lily,
I am writing back a response and I have enjoyed your letter. I must say that Missy is a smart owl and did not fuss when I took your letter off her leg. I am glad that you are enjoying yourself in school and I believe you will make us proud.
Nothing new in my life. But I have been placed in Mrs. Smith's class. You remember how that teacher from last year right? The one that was boosting about her French fiancée. Well, she's finally gotten married over the summer and it's rather dreadful hearing about her honeymoon to the French Peninsula every hour.
Send my regards to Severus and thank you for updating me.
Those marauders sound a handful, distant yourself from them for my sake. Especially that Potter. He sounds like a nightmare. I would not want a letter being sent home because things happened so please try not to do anything drastic.
Also I do not know if Severus has a knack for Potions or not but I will trust your words for it.
Anyways, hope that you both are doing well.
Yours truly, Petunia.
P.S. STAY AWAY FROM THAT POTTER BOY.
Petunia stared at her letter.
Perhaps she was going a little overboard with writing to Lily about staying away from Potter. But it was better to be safe than sorry. At least she tried to warn Lily and she hoped that Lily would heed to her words.
The blonde girl wrapped the letter up and turned to Lily's owl—Missy, who stared at her unblinkingly and offered her ankle to Petunia. With a small hesitation and all kinds of precaution, she wrapped the letter around Missy's ankle. She held the small owl against her chest and opened her window. She didn't know if she was supposed to flung it, but she did, and the owl flew away. It intrigued her on just how the owl seemed to know what to do and where to go. She didn't even put an address and assumed that Missy would know to return to Lily.
Petunia continued to watch the owl until she could no longer see it anymore. She shut the windows and cuddled up to her larger than normal bed and slowly dozed off to sleep.
.
/…/
.
Petunia lived through each day like it was a chore. There was really nothing else for Petunia to do–she initially wanted to go for modelling but decided against it last minute and before she knew it, the deadline was done and over.
It was stupid.
Hesitating for no reason.
And she could easily just hang out with her friends and enjoy her youth by wasting the days away, but it wasn't enough stimulation for Petunia, and she was now bored out of her mind. It was unfortunate that today, Petunia, out of the blue decided to go home early and for some reason, her mother had also been in the house.
"Good timing, Tunia," her mother said, wiping her hands on her apron. "Be a dear, won't you and take this to Mrs. Snape."
It wasn't really a request, not when her mother shoved a basket into Petunia's hands. She peered inside to see a bunch of premade meals; she wasn't aware that her mother was making picnic food for people. Nor was she aware that her mother was doing charity cases.
"Do make sure that she eats at least one of the sandwiches there, I'm quite worried about her, she's been losing quite a bit of weight," her mother muttered to no one in particular. "And tell her that she's more than welcome to come and eat dinner with us."
Petunia nodded, a little confused because last time she saw Mrs. Snape, she seemed quite healthy, although a little bit underweight but healthy. She shrugged and made her way to the Snape's house. The Snape house was located on the edge of the river, just above a small hill and it wasn't exactly in the greatest shape which was to be expected since they were rather poor. The walk towards the Snape's house was quick but Petunia made sure to go extra slow today. She closed her eyes, feeling the cool autumn wind and the wistful grass throwing her bare skin as she crossed the fields.
She made a pit stop to poke at the river before she continued up the hill. Within minutes, the Snape house came into view. She could hear little bits of noises and glass clicking against each other. It was clear that Mrs. Snape was busy—doing what? Petunia wasn't sure.
Probably some witchy stuff. Brewing potions or something. Petunia raised her knuckles and gently knocked on the door.
"Just a minute!" Mrs. Snape's voice drifted through the walls.
Petunia patiently waited–far too long in her opinion but the sounds of clicking glass finally stopped and before Petunia can even wonder why the clicking sounds stopped, the door finally swung open. Petunia stared at the lithe woman—no lithe probably didn't describe how Mrs. Snape looked. She almost looked like she had been starved and any longer, then Petunia swore that she would have dropped dead. Mrs. Snape seemed almost unrecognizable at this point. Her clothes hung loosely on her body, her black hair had grown considerably long that it was almost touching the floor and as usual, she wore black like she was in a permanent state of grief.
The slight fat in her cheeks that Petunia had seen a couple of weeks back have completely sullen so much that Petunia could see the bones underneath.
"What brings you here, young Evans?" Mrs. Snape's question forced Petunia to look into her grey eyes.
It reminded Petunia greatly of Black's eyes. They had the same cold gaze in them. But it wasn't like they were cold. It was the opposite, Black seems mischievous, and a little bit of a jokester and Mrs. Snape was nice in her own terms—maybe it was just her association with the eye colour.
"Mum told me to bring this to you," Petunia raised the basket, pursuing her lips before she corrected the older woman. "I'm the older Evans, ma'am. Lily is the younger Evans."
She chuckled and took the basket from Petunia. "Oh, I do apologize, elder Evans. Would that be all?"
Petunia stared at the older woman before she shook her head. "Mum told me to make sure you actually ate. If you don't mind, I would be more than glad to join you for lunch."
Mrs. Snape frowned; clearly displeased by the turn of events and when it was clear that Petunia wasn't going to back down, she sighed and opened the door wider so Petunia could enter their house. Petunia thanked the older woman for her gracious attitude and entered the broken house. Pausing slightly at the pungent smell that welcomed her, she bit her tongue to stop herself from mentioning it but she could not help with the wrinkle on her nose.
The older woman directed Petunia towards the dining room—if it could even be called that.
It was really a half table that was supposed to be a side table for a couch but still Petunia didn't complain. She took her seat on the uncomfortable plastic chair and felt the legs slightly give even though Petunia herself knew that she was a little underweight for her age.
Mrs. Snape began snooping through the basket, trying to decide which one she wanted. She was clearly taking her time so Petunia did the most obvious thing that a polite guest would do, she eyed the kitchen, diligently noting the little trinkets in the kitchen.
At the ledge of the window was a row of herbs that didn't look like anything that Petunia had ever seen before. On the dish rack was a bunch of beakers and flasks that initially Petunia would have assumed belonged to a scientist but the cauldron sitting just behind the trashcan was indication of anything but a scientist.
The older woman finally picked something from the basket and sliced the sandwich in half, offering the other half to Petunia who gratefully took it. Mrs. Snape sat on the opposite end and began to nibble on her food like a rabbit.
Petunia stared and watched Mrs. Snape chew twenty times before she swallowed her first bite.
Mrs. Snape stared right back with her icy grey eyes and sleek black hair. "Something on my face?"
"No, ma'am," Petunia answered, she eyed at her own sandwich. "Is it good?"
There's a pause before Mrs. Snape answered. "Yes, it's good. You should eat yourself."
Petunia ate her portion, winching at the bland taste and the dryness of the bread. "It's not very good. I'll apologize on behalf of my family, apparently father had made that bread–so your mouth must be drier than a desert right now."
A small broke on Mrs. Snape's face. "You're a funny one, elder Evans."
"Just Petunia, Mrs. Snape." Petunia said before adding in. "I wasn't lying."
"Then you can call me Eileen," Mrs. Snape said. "I would greatly appreciate it. And I know you weren't lying. The bread is…rather dry."
From then, Petunia kept her mouth closed and watch the older woman struggle to finish even just half a sandwich. Chewing so long that Petunia wondered if this was because of her husband or because she just wanted to savour the taste.
But Petunia did not dare to say anything.
She finished her portion of the sandwich over twenty minutes ago and Mrs. Snape was still chewing. Barely down to the end.
Petunia offered small talks, trying to fill the awkward silence—talking about literally anything, the weather, the crops, the new family that moved in just a couple of houses down from Petunia's family to even questioning why cats had such fast reflexes.
Eventually, and much to Petunia's relief, Mrs. Snape finally finished eating her sandwich.
Then the silence fell apart. Suddenly the texture of the table was looking really interesting this time. Petunia could feel the boring stare from the older woman, and it felt like forever before Mrs. Snape spoke up.
"Uhm, have you heard from Severus…?" Mrs. Snape asked softly.
Petunia twitched, unsure of what and how to feel.
She had heard from Severus. But through a proxy. Lily didn't really say too much about the greasy boy—other than the fact that he had been placed in the house of Slytherin and the fact that he had been targeted by a group nicknamed the marauders. Petunia decided to omit the fact that these so-called marauders were most definitely bullying Severus. If she got a hold of them, she was going to give them a piece of her mind, not because she liked Severus or anything but rather…she kind of liked Mrs. Snape.
A feeling told her that she probably shouldn't mention that part. After all, what kind of parent would want to hear their kid is being bullied. In the first semester of the year no less. And she kind of doubted Severus would appreciate her spilling his business to his own mother.
"Petunia?"
"Not really." Petunia lied.
Mrs. Snape's expression fell for a second before she immediately cooled it. Petunia watched curiously because she's never actually seen the older woman express such emotions before. As far as she knew, Mrs. and Mr. Snape didn't really have a good relationship with Severus, but it was clear as day that she did care for Severus especially when they had their trip to Diagon Alley to purchase their required items.
"Lily said he got sorted to Slytherin," Petunia murmured,
pretending not to see the older woman's shift of expression.
"Is that so?"
Petunia couldn't tell if the tone from Mrs. Snape was one of relief or disbelief. But it was clear that she was intrigued and invested in the conversation, so Petunia continued, trying not to seem like she was just as invested into the welfare of Severus.
She cared more for Mrs. Snape than Severus if she was being honest. She had never really gotten along with Severus. Mrs. Snape was at least more tolerable than that greasy boy.
"And apparently, he's very…talented in Potions."
Mrs. Snape smiled fondly, "seems to run in the family."
Petunia looked up interested. "Really? Are you also skilled in Potions?"
"I guess you can call it that," Mrs. Snape said. "I enjoy doing anything related to Potions. My father too."
Both paused. Petunia mainly out of curiosity, she had never heard Mrs. Snape talk about her family ever. She had only heard some rumours floating around that Mrs. Snape had been cut off from her family when she wedded Mr. Snape, and she could see why the family cut her off because if she had a daughter and brought home a Mr. Snape, Petunia didn't think she would be too happy either.
Mr. Snape was notorious in the neighbour.
Mainly for not good things.
He had once tried to fight with a small boy in the neighbourhood because Mr. Snape drunk in daylight had accidently bump into the small boy and fell on his ass and proceeded to verbally attack the boy until the boy's father came running, shouting obscenely and well—the rest was history.
"Thank you, Petunia," Mrs. Snape softly said.
Petunia blinked her eyes and stared at the older woman. Her eyes had grown glossy, a clear indication that she was trying to blink her tears away and Petunia wondered if it was tears of happiness or sadness.
She didn't think she would like to know the answer.
Mrs. Snape stood up so Petunia did as well.
"Can you tell your mum that I enjoyed her sandwiches?"
Petunia nodded, following the older woman towards the doorway. "I definitely will. My mother will be pleased, Mrs. Snape—"
"—call me Eileen, Petunia," she corrected.
"Mrs. Eileen," Petunia corrected and when it was clear that she wasn't going to change her mind, Mrs. Snape nodded. "And Mum says that you can come over any time and have dinner with us."
"That's very kind of your family, Petunia but I shouldn't intrude—"
"It would make me quite happy if you can drop by every now and then," Petunia added.
Mrs. Snape smiled in defeat and nodded in acknowledge. Petunia thanked her one more time before she turned on her heels, she could feel Mrs. Snape's gaze on the back of her head and just as she crossed down the hilltop, she turned to look at the Snape house before casting her gaze down to pretend like she didn't see the tears that rolled down Mrs. Snape's hollowed cheeks.