Just a little something 'til I get the next chapter done. Also to remind everyone, I will be a slow and unpredictable updater.

Standard Disclaimer applies

Expectations

Petunia stared at the dark blond almost brown haired man surprised. This certainly isn't what she expected from the budding friendship with James Potter's childhood friend. In fact, she never expected it to happen ever after she had gotten out of her relationship with Vernon.

She hasn't dated in years. The most contact that she has with men happens only at events where there are plenty of other people around or in public areas. For the longest time after the death of her only son the only man in her life has been her nephew. They had a better relationship compared to his early childhood while she had still been with Vernon.

There were rough times; how could there not be? Her son had been diagnosed with cancer in his late teens. Around that time Harry had come out to them and she had wanted to pretend otherwise. After Dudley's death she had focused her attention on her nephew solely. So while he had been going to university she had conveniently put aside what he had told her about his sexuality and tried to pair him off with young women that she felt would be good companionship to Harry.

She had only stopped after Harry had returned the favour of setting up a blind date with one of his professors. She had been embarrassed and agitated though she had gone through with it in the end. The man had been thankfully patient and understanding and somewhat amused as to the reasons that had lead up to the date. He had even given her some good advice because he too had a son that had recently come out of the closet.

He admitted that he had reacted badly. His son had run off and they hadn't spoken for months and it would have gone on for years if he hadn't gotten the call from the hospital. He had gotten there and been informed his son was the victim of assault. When he had gone in to see his son, he had been torn by the defeated and small figure lying in the hospital bed. His son was a vibrant healthy athlete to that point and the figure he presented in that room was a stranger to him.

"He said in the most tired and self-loathing voice, 'I tried...I didn't want to be this way. I ignored it for as long as I could hoping it would just go away. A phase isn't that what a lot of homophobes say? You would still love me then.'" He had gone silent for a moment as he looked out the window of the restaurant.

"For me that reaffirmed the fact that I am a parent and differences aside I raised him alongside my wife until she died. I think what had made it hard for me to accept was the idea that I had failed to raise him properly on my own. I blinded myself to the more important things and just saw what so many see whether because of societal views or religion. I couldn't blame religion because I'm not a very religious man and the same for my deceased wife. I always thought of myself as being an educated man but the way I reacted to my son's announcement says otherwise." He had paused again before saying quietly.

"We don't have a perfect relationship but then who can claim that? I do my best to be more tolerant and to educate myself on this as any other subject. To do less would be to lose my son forever."

It had been difficult at first but she had learned over time not just to tolerate but to accept the way it was. Her nephew was all the family she had left. If she couldn't go beyond the instant disapproval that so many others, particularly of her generation, went through over the idea of someone close being a homosexual then she would be that same scared housewife with the haughty attitude that masks it. She couldn't be her again not after gathering what little courage she had to leave Vernon and go through with a divorce.

Yet here she is and another man is asking her to marry him. She, who had broken vows before. They had met briefly years ago. Lily had introduced them at her engagement party and later they had given polite greetings at her sister's wedding. He was one of James' groomsmen after all and she her sister's maid of honour (she had been astonished that her sister had given her that role at her wedding, certain it would be given to one of her girlfriends from Hogwarts).

Then there is what happened after Tom Riddle escaped from prison and Harry insisted that she go stay with Remus Lupin. It had taken some persuasion but in the end she went and stayed with him. It had been awkward at first; her not knowing how to interact with the best friend of her long deceased brother-in-law, and him being a little uneasy and defensive of his health condition, as well as being overly solicitous because of the situation of Tom Riddle's unknown location.

Then during Harry's capture he had been there offering solid support and firm updates (even if they weren't much) about the investigation and locating of her nephew. He gave her facts and not pity. Importantly, he didn't let her wallow in pity or self-recriminations. He 'put up' with her sharp tongue by giving witty and dry comments back at her.

He gave her friendship in the long anxious wait of her nephew's recovery.

"Yes, but let's not have a long engagement." She surprised herself further with that statement.

As she saw his small somewhat nervous smile increase in size and his brown eyes take on a glow in response, she feels her heart stutter and then resume at a faster and harder pace. A hand lifts up to her chest in response as she feels a kind of wonderment over the feelings that were circulating within her. She knew despite all of her fears and doubts that marriage to Remus would be everything that her first should have been and more.

He was a better man.

He would be a partner.

Somehow, she knew that those weren't just expectations but fact.