I might change POV somewhere in the next two chapters (I'm still unsure if the next or following that one), while this will be mostly a Petunia-centric story, I also want to show how other characters see her as time goes on. She will still be the main focus of the story, but POVs will rotate between main characters tagged.
Please don't ask for shipping, I read all reviews and take them into account. I have planned few pairings and even fewer will be mentioned at all in this story. I do not want to spoil which pairings will happen. If you truly want romance, I suggest reading something else in the meantime.
Thank you for your time.
Against all of her inner turmoil, Petunia decides Lily and this boy, Severus, would meet that very day.
She still feels somehow slighted, somehow disgusted with the notion itself, but there is little to no justification for such feelings on her part. Even with the boy's lanky, greasy hair and unnerving eyes, or that he belongs to that dead cul-de-sac known as Spinner's End, Petunia knows that isn't enough for her to feel what she feels.
[How does she know where he lives, she wonders, when he hasn't mentioned his address or home life even once?]
They left the little rundown park in silence, and Petunia had managed to grab his hand as they walked to the more frequented playground by the lake, where she and Lily would meet up after her sister felt bored enough with the party she was attending. The blonde isn't sure if she had grabbed his hand to guide him, to make him feel better or to prevent him from running away.
[Severus is only eight years old, shorter than Petunia and looks even younger with his skinny frame and too-big clothes. He's still vaguely hopeful of the idea of finally meeting someone else with magic, and terrified that it was just a very sick, mean spirited prank. He does not comment on the slightly older girl grabbing his hand.]
Petunia notices her sister right away, running towards her across the playground, jacket pocket full of birthday candies and chocolates, hair flying behind her as if it were fire and a smile so bright it could have outshone the dreary autumn sun.
"Tuney!" Lily shouts as a greeting, and only just stops from hugging her sister upon seeing the boy she's holding hands with. She blinks, looking confused for half a second before shooting the boy a smile as well.
He stiffens, as if he's surprised by the action itself.
"Lily, this is Severus," Petunia starts, letting go of his hand and fighting the urge to twitch her fingers. "Severus, this is my sister, Lily."
"Hi!" Lily greets happily, and the boy can only mumble a shy "Hello" in return.
"He has the same powers as you." Petunia nods to herself, eyes unfocused. "I thought you two could talk about it."
Lily gasps, mouth agape as she stares at her sister and then at Severus. The boy can only look at her as if he were expecting a blow, like the cruel remark of a prank, and his own surprise is visible when the redhead grabs both his hands on hers, looking at him with stars twinkling in her eyes.
"Really?!"
Petunia just stares at them, silent. She doesn't know why she does this when she feels so angry at the image she sees in her head about this boy and her sister, feeling like she had just made it easier for Lily to leave, for that world to swallow her whole.
She only settles peacefully on one of the swings, looking at her sister and the boy sitting on the slightly damp grass next to the swing and how the tension leaves Severus's shoulders, his posture growing less guarded as he glances at Lily and sometimes, at her. He is completely enthralled when Lily does her "trick" of making flowers bloom and dance in her palms.
Lily, of course, takes to Severus like a fish takes to water. She doesn't even notice his pale hands, ruined clothes or unkept hair, and looks at him with the love and friendship only a little girl is capable of giving.
The smidgen of jealousy that flares in Petunia for a split second, is indeed, her own.
Petunia and Lily fall into an easy routine of going to school and doing their schoolwork, spending time with their parents before having a bit of time for themselves, and meeting up with Severus Snape in a little, secluded playground by the lake, claiming a spot under an old weeping willow tree.
Lily loves Severus, then again, Lily loves so freely it was easy to see it coming. Petunia on the other hand, tolerates everything that happens with unfocused eyes and pale hands.
She doesn't exactly like the boy, and all of the bits and pieces she can manage to remember from muddy dreams about him don't exactly help that feeling. Her dislike, however, is mixed with a kind of pity Petunia isn't exactly sure where it came from, and that helps her tolerate and sometimes endulge the talk of magic and witches.
[Pity, because he's obviously not taken care of enough, treated with harshness and spite from his own blood and Petunia winces everytime the image of a goliath of a drunken man towering over a snarling, crying Severus flashes through her eyes.]
Petunia is just nine years old, almost ten, she has no idea what those images could imply, the grim tale they tell about little Severus Snape's homelife. The Evans sisters are still too innocent to even phantom the thought of a parent being capable of not loving their child.
The following months are somewhat of a struggle.
They talk about their powers, Lily and Severus, that is- about magic, wizards and potions and creatures. Petunia and Lily mostly listen, as Severus whispers his knowledge to them with careful words and invisible smiles.
Lily is starry eyed, rosy cheeks warming at the thought of wonders only seen in storybooks. Petunia swallows her fear and her disgust as best as she can, and tentatively listens, trying to understand what will take Lily away in the years to come.
"My mum's a witch," Severus tells them one day, after Lily asks how he's able to do his own share of magic. "it's because of her that I'm a wizard; children with magical parents will be born with magic, too."
"Your mum is a witch?" Lily whispers, as if that were one of the universe' biggest secrets. "Wicked!"
"And your dad?" Asks Petunia.
Severus almost grimaces at the mention of his father. Trying to control his utter disgust towards the man and the word associated with him, he replies, "He's a muggle."
"Muggle?"
"He doesn't- He doesn't has magic."
"Like me." Petunia replies, voice flat and terse for reasons unknown. She can only nod at herself, so she is muggle, a fact she's okay with and at the same time she's very much resentful of that.
[Of course Lily would be the special one, of course she would be the one to be blessed with such a gift and vanish into a world full of wonders and treasures.]
Petunia lets the conversation wash over her, not asking questions, not really listening. From the corner of her eye she can see Lily staring at her for a few seconds, before her attention is easily caught with the mention of fairies and spells. Maybe it's not so bad, she thinks, remembering the far too real nightmare that started everything, remembering screams, spells and a ray of green. Maybe being a muggle is a good thing.
[For a split moment, between all the wonder and the chat and the smiles, Petunia worries. She will never be part of that world, but Lily will, and she won't be able to protect her like a big sister should.]
Petunia turns ten in November, with a quiet birthday celebrated with just her parents and Lily, because Daisy and Harry Evans firmly believed that birthdays were family affairs, and Petunia and Lily didn't really mind it, hogging the cake for the family rather than with other kids.
She gets the dolly she wanted from her dad, a periwinkle blue diary from her mom, because a girl aged ten should have her own diary, and two whole milk chocolate bars from Lily, because those were her personal favorite.
The eldest Evans smiles, blows her candles and eats cake with juice and shares a special day with her family, there's no thoughts about something that has yet to happen, no glassy eyes or tense shoulders.
Lily, in all her happiness, manages to accidentally summon sparks from the now unlit candles that decorated the half eaten cake, shining golden and blue and startling her parents with quiet gasps of wonder.
They do not see Petunia's wide eyes, the line her lips make, how her face pales for a few seconds as she stares at the display with thin-veiled terror while no one pays attention to her, Lily's magic steals the spotlight once more.
[Like it always does.]
She's fine, she knows she is, and blinks away the tears at the corners of her eyes, forces herself to breathe and smiles a terse smile at the display. There's no need to get angry or to scream when in reality she's terrified, she doesn't want her family to know of her fear, much less explain it.
She's quiet for the rest of the evening, the day washing over her without much of a fuss. Lily holds her hand the entire day, full of love and cheer. Petunia somehow manages to feel it in between her unfocused thoughts.
She pockets candies in her dress pocket and saves a slice of cake away from the rest in the fridge, for Severus, because she still feels that unwanted dislike and pity for him and she just can't help herself. Once that's done, the blonde goes upstairs to her room, gently sets her new doll on top of her shelf, leaves her chocolates under her pillow, and goes to the little desk she uses to do homework on her own, opening the brand new diary she was gifted.
The first page stares at her, blank. The worn pencil in her hand trembles for a few seconds before writing.
'My name is Petunia Evans, I'm ten years old, and I'm afraid of Magic.'
The childish scrawl stops for a few seconds before continuing in the next page, and Petunia vents her woes and fears onto the diary as it if were a lifelong friend listening, she writes until almost ten pages are done, her hand aching a little, and her gut feeling slightly lighter than before.
Petunia stuffs the diary under her mattress, turns off her light and sleeps, feeling somehow a bit better than in the morning, somehow a bit less burdened by her own emotions. Even if magic slowly crawls its way into the house, into her life, maybe she will learn to make it as if everything is still normal for her.
She wakes up normally the next day, she and Lily being allowed cake for breakfast before sprinting towards the playground, Lily's cheer melts the snow and cold on their way there.
Severus is there, wearing a winter jacket much too big for him, as he greets Lily with utmost devotion and Petunia with wary politeness that lasts just as she thrust the piece of cake she saved last night in front of his face, and his expression as Lily explains her sister saved some for him is almost laughable.
Petunia does not laugh, just nods at the boy as he chokes out a small "thank you" and "Happy late birthday."
Wary politeness, and tentative friendship, she guesses. Lily and Severus are friends, that much is obvious. Petunia and Severus though? Neither is quite sure, children could be awkward like that, and neither was in a hurry to know if they were friends, too.