A shorter chapter. Everything will kickstart in the next one. (The POV switch won't come until..maybe Hogwarts?)
Thank you for reading!
The inter months come and go, and Petunia can't help but beg for summer to arrive quicker. School is easy if not boring, her friendships felt slightly mundane between schoolwork and tests and in-between breaks, and her only silver linings were her times with Lily, at home or at the playground they frequented to hang out with Severus.
Lily loved him, and between his reserved nature and shy smiles the redhead had decided he would be at her side much like Petunia was; in a high pedestal filled with care and trust. Petunia tolerated it, and she didn't mind too terribly when it looked like the Snape boy and Lily would be soon attached by the hip.
She is still on the fence about it, but she can very well suppress her grimaces and manages to smile at Severus without having to fake it so often.
When they're in school, Petunia learns, Severus was at home being schooled by his mother rather than a teacher. It is not odd per-se, both Evans sisters understand what homeschooling is. However, the subjects are something that make Petunia frown and wonder.
"You learn magic?"
"I learn about magic. Mum says children can't use spells at home," Severus replies, rolling his eyes after a second. "Not that I know how to use spells anyway."
"But what about other things?" Petunia asks, confused. "Like maths? Or history?"
"I know basic mathematics," Severus says quietly. After a few seconds, he makes a face. "and how to read and write, but besides that, muggle subjects aren't really useful for wizards."
If the notion that children with magic lived eleven years without anything else than the basic knowledge of school bothered her, Petunia didn't show it.
Lily turns nine in January, the affair is just as Petunia's birthday if not a little bit more lively, because Lily absolutely refused to stay still for most of the day, and before cake and such could be given, she had wanted to go to the playground.
Petunia, dutifully, follows her sister as they meet the familiar black shape of Severus sitting on the swings. Lily immediately goes to him with a bounce on her step.
"Mum and dad don't really let us bring friends to our birthdays," Lily rolls her eyes at that. "So I'm gonna bring you cake later, like Tuney did last year!"
"You don't have to." Severus shakes his head, two pink spots burning on his cheeks.
"But I want to," Lily nods, hands on her hips and smiling brightly, showing a little tooth gap. "Cuz we're all friends and you deserve cake for being our friend, Sev!"
Severus subtly looks at Petunia, or as subtle as a nine year old boy can manage, cocking an eyebrow at her with tense yet slightly hopeful silence.
"She's right." Petunia shrugs. If she referred to the cake or the friendship part, neither is sure. At the very least, it only reinforced Lily's sentiment of friendship between all three. The redhead beams.
One wednesday afternoon, after school hours, Lily, Severus and Petunia's friendship was more or less properly cemented.
Petunia only stares at Lily and Severus as her parents tend to Lily's split lip and scraped knees and Severus' bleeding nose. The Sullivan twins, both eleven year old bullies from down the block, had the bright idea to antagonize the Evans sisters after seeing them in the playground with a kid from Spinner's End. Lily, of course, had retaliated in defense of her sister and her friend, Petunia had retaliated in defense of Lily when Ethan Sullivan pulled on Lily's braid hard, and Severus had joined the free for all with a right tackle at Albert Sullivan when he heard Lily and Petunia's squeals of distress.
Petunia can almost smile in amusement remembering Albert's Sullivan's surprised face as Severus, in all his tiny and sullen nine year old glory, tackled him from the side and pounded his tiny fists on his face when the twin had smacked Petunia and elbowed Lily in the process. Ethan Sullivan yelped in pain as Lily sunk her baby teeth into his hand equally as hard as he had pulled her hair.
The little free for all had gotten serious, when Ethan smacked Severus on the face hard enough to draw blood, and the sight of it startled both twins into stillness.
And shy, quiet Severus, instead of running or crying or both, snarled in a pitiable way to be menacing before throwing himself at Ethan Sullivan, biting and scratching. Lily at his heels and Petunia keeping Albert from kicking her little sister or the Snape boy, pulling hair and scratching as well.
And sooner rather than later, that little playground fight was done, ending with the twins going to their own home and Petunia herding her sister and Severus to hers. Both parties having minor and usual injuries save for Severus' still bleeding nose.
Daisy and Harry Evan's first impression of the little Snape boy is of him bleeding, holding their daughters' hands shyly and almost trying to disappear behind Lily as Petunia tells them about the scuffle they took part in a moment ago. They immediately make a point of calling the Sullivans later, not before scolding the three of them about fighting, and thanking Severus for looking out for their daughters. Amid the dirt and blood on his face, both Evans sisters can see the flush of pleased embarrassment on his cheeks and the slight swell of pride.
"Does it hurt?" Lily asks Severus, face full of concern and split lip in a pout. She had been startled when Severus' nose had started to bleed profusely after being hit.
"No," Severus replies, shrugging slightly. "I'm used to it anyway."
Petunia frowns slightly, looks at Severus' dirt and grass covered clothes for a few seconds, and scoffs to herself.
[Because she is sure Severus being used to having a bleeding nose didn't come from schoolyard fights or playground tussles, but rather from his own home.]
Lily frowns at this too, and for some reason, it puts Petunia at ease.
Petunia does her best to take care of Lily as a big sister should, and to some extent, take care of Severus, too. Her friendships take a spot in the backburner through the new school year, though she stills laughs freely around Michelle and Evelyn when they link arms or whisper secrets in each other's ears.
No one sees her worry, or the tell-tale of black shadows under eyes every now and again. Petunia is a good, proper little lady. It was what separated her from Lily, from just being 'Lily's big sister' and nothing more.
[Not that she blamed her sister, but bitter feelings already had a bud in her that she tried ruthlessly to ignore.]
Petunia doesn't sleeps as much as before, her parents had caught her more than once awake in the middle of the night, scribbling notes in her periwinkle-blue diary on her desk. A gentle admonishment was everything it took to send Petunia back to her bed and back to sleep.
But more often than not, they didn't catch her awake at all. Petunia scribbles in her diary her thoughts, her often paralyzing dreams and small, little doodles at the end of a page or two. It helped her pause and think, but it did not help the growing anxiety she held onto as she wrote everything she could remember.
[Lily will sprain her ankle and two days later, it will be fixed.]
[Lily will spill juice in her math textbook, the pages will dry themselves out with no stain.]
With a sour look, Petunia stills for a moment before writing what she could remember from her nausea inducing dreams.
[Lily will talk with Severus by the lake, a tree branch will fall on me and hurt my arm.]
She huffs, closes the diary and stuffs it back between her mattress. Sleep did not come easy for her that night.
With thin veiled fear, she sits by Lily's side the next few days, as Severus quietly tells them about Azkaban and its guards, filling them in with more information about the world that was just out of Petunia's grasp, awe tampered by bone-crushing terror.
[The willow tree they sit under remains strong as ever, leaves gently rustling as wind coursed through them. Petunia's tension only leaves her when they wave goodbye to Severus, Lily's warm hand in hers.]