What You Never Knew

Petunia Dursley: The Remorseful One

1. She met Tobias Snape once.

At the time, she had no clue what was happening, what the older man was insinuating. Looking back on it, however, Petunia couldn't help but shudder in revulsion.

A ten-year-old Petunia Evans merrily strolled home from the neighborhood florist, having bought a bouquet of lilies to give to her younger sister for her eighth birthday. The thought of Lily made Petunia smile; at first, she had hated all the attention Lily received, but now, she couldn't be happier to have her sister to play with. They were nothing less than the best of friends; even if Lily was a bit of an odd child.

Petunia rounded the corner, and checked her watch. She was supposed to be home by dinnertime, and that was in ten minutes! After pursing her lips in thought for a second, Petunia decided to go down a short cut she knew of.

Summoning her courage, she turned into a dark alleyway; if she went through it, she knew that then she'd arrive at her street on the other side. She hated the alleyway; it was much too close to Spinner's End for her liking. Nonetheless, it was the quickest way home.

Suddenly, a man stepped out of the shadows. Petunia gave a little scream and jumped back, and the man spoke in a deep, soothing voice, "Quiet, girl. Do not be afraid."

"Who- Who are you?" Petunia asked, her voice high pitched from fright.

The man stepped into the little light there was in the alleyway, and Petunia took a good look at him. He had a handsome face, with coal black eyes and shaggy black hair (if a bit greasy), and a muscular body. Despite this, though, something about him- maybe his patched, dirty clothing- unsettled Petunia.

"Tobias Snape," the man introduced himself. "And you, young lady?"

Petunia nearly giggled at being called a young lady, but blushed instead. "My mummy told me not to talk to strangers," she proclaimed.

"But we aren't strangers, are we?" Tobias replied. "I just told you my name. We know each other now."

"Well, I suppose you have a point." Petunia bit her lip and finally said, "I'm Petunia Evans."

"Petunia. Lovely name," Tobias started, and smiled, "fit for a lovely girl."

Petunia blushed again. Not many called her lovely- she found that she quite liked it. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome," Tobias said. "Say… would you like to come to my house?"

Taken aback by this offer, Petunia asked a startled, "What?!"

"I asked if you would like to come to my house," Tobias repeated. "We could have tea, perhaps…"

"Oh," Petunia said. "No, thank you, Mr. Snape. I have to be home for dinner- and I'm late! So, if you'll excuse me, I'll be going now-" She moved to push past Tobias and continue on her way, but he grabbed her arm. She gave a startled shriek.

"Now, now, no need to be frightened," Tobias assured Petunia, his voice still deep, but somehow less soothing. "Come home with me."

"No!" Petunia exclaimed. "I have to go home!" She tried in vain to wrench her arm from his viselike grasp, but he only squeezed her harder.

"You can go home tomorrow morning," Tobias smiled, and this time, it was evil and leering. "But right now, you're coming home with me."

Petunia was extremely scared by now, and vented her fear in a surprisingly hard kick where it counted on Tobias Snape. He yowled and clutched his area, letting go of Petunia. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, not daring to look back. Finally, she reached her house, and flung open the door, dashing inside and locking it behind her.

"Petunia Iris Evans!" Mrs. Evans exclaimed, her hands on her hips as she glared at her daughter, her red hair tied back in a messy bun. "Where have you been?!"

For whatever reason, Petunia answered simply, "I lost track of time. I'm sorry, Mum; it won't happen again."

"It better not! We were worried about you, dear!" Mrs. Evans spoke. "Now, come, wash up, and then it's dinnertime."

Petunia did so, and no one could tell that anything was wrong.

2. She never really hated Severus Snape.

Sure, she knew he was poor and he disgusted her. But she didn't hate him- she didn't know him well enough to hate him. But from the point he became Lily's best friend, she was always jealous of him. Not only had he stolen Petunia's sister from her, but he- a greasy-haired, bat-like, rude little boy- was a wizard, while Petunia wasn't a witch! It just didn't seem fair. Lily, though- Lily was perfect. She deserved to be magical. The Snape boy, though? Petunia was much more deserving to have magical powers than him.

In her opinion, at least.

3. She was popular.

People generally wouldn't guess that long-necked, vindictive Petunia Evans would be the most popular girl in school, but she was. Perhaps it was because she was so vindictive- she never hesitated to make someone feel bad, because it made her feel so, so good. Powerful. She loved to be in charge. And with the right make-up and clothing, Petunia was pretty enough, too. And so, people would vie for her attention, none of them wanting to be on her bad side for fear of being shunned by the entire student body.

Petunia tried to ignore the glares from that same student body when she turned her back.

4. She was a complete Daddy's Girl.

There was no other way to put it. Lily may have been their mother's favorite, but Petunia knew that she was her father's. Even though Lily was beautiful and kind and sweet and magical and just plain perfect, and Petunia just wasn't, Petunia was always the one Mr. Evans would buy the bigger presents for, the one who got to sit on his lap first as a child, the one who he would sing to every night up until Petunia graduated from school. In return, he was Petunia's world.

5. When she was sixteen, her whole world turned upside down.

Petunia had had one mole- a single mole- for a few years. It was a severely ugly mole. It was huge, and both black and brown, with a blurred outline. However, it was on the back of Petunia's leg, just below her butt; so, since no one ever saw that part of her, she never paid any mind to it. It wasn't hurting her.

Or so she thought.

Then, at one of her doctor's appointments- just a regular check-up- the doctor saw the mole, and instructed Petunia to go see a dermatologist about it immediately. She did, and the mole was tested. The results were clear, and shocking:

Petunia had skin cancer.

For a year and a half after that, Petunia Dursley wore a wig. She never told anyone besides her parents about her cancer, and if anyone asked why she refused to put on a swim cap or why she had so many doctor's appointments, she would just shrug and change the subject.

6. She met Vernon Dursley when she was eighteen.

It was her graduation, and she was talking to one of her "friends", Marge Dursley, when a large older man strode over.

"Margie!" The man exclaimed, lifting up the rather round girl in a hug. "Congrats, sister!"

"Thanks, Vernon! You can put me down now!" Marge laughed. Vernon obeyed, and Marge turned to face Petunia. "Petunia, this is my older brother, Vernon- he graduated from Smeltings last year. Vernon, this is my friend, Petunia Evans."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Vernon," Petunia smiled politely, extending a delicate hand.

"The pleasure is all mine," he assured her, taking her hand gently and placing a light kiss on it, winking at her. Petunia giggled.

They were married a year later.

7. She never truly hated her sister until Friday, October 13, 1979.

Up until that point, Petunia had only been greatly jealous of her sister. In spite of what everyone else may think, she did not, in fact, hate Lily- she didn't hate anyone, except maybe the rude lady who worked at the grocery store and never gave Petunia the right change. But, besides that lady, Petunia hated no one.

She was smiling broadly on that particular Friday. She had just found out that she was pregnant, and was on her way to her father's office- she knew she could wait until he was home from work and she could tell him and her mother together, but she was so excited, she couldn't hold in the good news any longer.

Finally, she arrived at her father's office building. To her surprise, there was nothing short of mass chaos going on. People were screaming, policemen were trying in vain to calm the crowds, a few women were sobbing, and in the sky above the building hung a large, green skull with a snake slithering in and out of it. A part of Petunia knew that symbol from somewhere, but she couldn't remember where for the life of her.

Petunia frowned and walked over to a nearby woman she recognized as Jane Mallory, her father's secretary, who was sobbing uncontrollably. Concerned, she tapped the older woman on the shoulder and asked, "Jane, what happened?"

"Oh, Petunia! I'm so, so sorry!" Jane blubbered, enveloping Petunia in a watery hug. "I- I should have been able to do something, but I didn't even see someone come in, I didn't hear anyone either, oh, I just don't know what happened-"

"What are you talking about?" Petunia asked bewilderedly.

"Y-You don't know?" Jane questioned, tears still streaming down her face. Petunia shook her head. "Petunia- he- I'm so sorry, there wasn't anything I could do-"

"What do you mean? Who's 'he'?" Petunia inquired confusedly. Suddenly, all her senses seemed to halt, and she felt as if she had been plunged in ice cold water. "Jane, where's Dad?"

Jane cried all the harder. "I-I'm so, so sorry, Petunia. I found him in his office… th-there was nothing I could do…"

"Jane, what happened?" Petunia felt tears well up in her eyes now, willing what she suspected to be false, for her father to run up and hug her and tell her everything was alright and-

"He's dead, Petunia."

With those three words, Petunia recognized the green symbol- it had been in her sister's magic textbooks that Petunia had secretly flipped through. It was the sign of Lord Voldy-something; the sign that someone had died thanks to him or his Death Eaters.

With those three words, Petunia hated her sister with every fiber of her being.

With those three words, Petunia's world ended.

8. Dudley saved her.

Sometimes, Petunia wondered if she would have committed suicide without Dudley. Her grief for her father's death was so great, as was the anger and fear and guilt that surrounded it, that some days, she wanted nothing more than to die. But the thought of her son kept her going- she had to stay alive, for him. He was her son, and he was her sun- he was the center of her universe, the ball of light that everything orbited around and depended on.

It only fit that he was named after her father, her first sun.

9. She loved Harry.

Not once in her life did she show it, but she loved Harry. Not half as much as she loved her Duddykins, but she did love Harry. He was her nephew, and she knew that he was a good boy, plain as that. He reminded her so much of her father, sometimes it killed her to treat him the way she did.

Still, she treated Harry like he was the worst of the world's filth. Why? Because she knew- Albus Dumbledore's letter had told her so- that one day he would have to leave her to go off and defeat Voldemort and save the world. Petunia wanted it to be as easy for him as possible, no matter how much it tore her up inside.

When you love someone, you have to let them go. And that was exactly what Petunia did.

10. Skin cancer killed her.

Cancer returns to people sometimes, and Petunia was one of those unlucky people. However, by the time her doctor diagnosed it, she was ninety years old, had several grandchildren, and had lived her life to what she felt was her fullest.

There was just one thing she had to do.

And so, Dudley gave her Harry's address, and she wrote him a letter:

Dear Harry,

I want to apologize for how I treated you when you lived with my family. It was wrong of Vernon and I, and you have no idea how much I regret it. It wasn't your fault- it was entirely mine. You were too much like your mother, a truly wonderful person, so unlike myself. I admit to being horrid, and to being jealous of you.

Dudley tells me that you married the little Weasley girl, and that I have two great-nephews and a great-niece now, and that you're the Head of some department at your Ministry. Congratulations. It sounds like you have a good life; you deserve no less.

I am going to die soon. I hope that, before I do, you can forgive me for how awful I was. If I could go back and change it, I would.

Love,

Petunia.

P.S. Thank you for defeating Lord Voldemort, otherwise, I doubt I would have lasted this long.

Vernon mailed the letter for her, and that was that. She didn't live to read Harry's reply.

Petunia Dursley was never the nicest person. Even as a young child, she would steal the other kids' lollipops and throw sand in their faces. However, there was a large variation between Petunia and all the other not-nice people out there: she regretted her actions. She would look back on nearly everything she had done in her life and wonder what in the world was wrong with her. She felt remorseful.

And as she entered a glowing world of white, greeted by her smiling father, she knew that that made all the difference.

I think this might just be my favorite chapter! Just to clarify, Petunia's father was named Dudley, and her first skin cancer- at age sixteen- was cured after a year and a half.

So, what'd you think of my Petunia? Like it? Yes? No? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I still need three before I update again!

Thanks so much for reading!

-Joelle8