Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter! All characters recognized belong to J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., Bloomsbury, and Scholastic, respectively. Copyright infringement is not intended and I make no money from posting this story.

Summary: When Lily visits Petunia, their meeting forges the strongest force and shapes the future for one little boy and those around him.

Time to Pretend

Chapter One: In a Moment...

Inside of a house on Privet Drive, two women sat next to one another on an overly firm floral couch. They could not have been anymore different to each other; one was tall and rail thin with an elongated face and neck, while the other was shorter and supple with kind and gentle features.

But, they were sisters – Lily Evans Potter and Petunia Evans Dursley.

Lily's green eyes and Petunia's brown had settled on the forms of two boys who played with one another on the light pink carpet, one boy easily twice the size of the other.

"I can't believe how big he's gotten, Tuney," the red haired woman said. Her lips fluttered into a gentle smile as she watched the two toddlers play with colorful blocks.

Petunia brought a hand up to smooth her curly, blonde hair, "Harry has too, still a bit on the small side though." Her dark eyes softened as she took in the green-eyed boy. "You were like that."

The red haired woman giggled softly before taking a sip of her tea. "Something you never let me forget." Her smiled faltered when her older sister's mouth turned down into a frown.

"Of course not, mummy and daddy would always tell me to be careful with you," she sneered. "They didn't want anything to happen to their precious Lily." Towards the end, her voice took on a mocking tone as she scoffed.

Lily sighed, looking down into her bitter lemon tea. Petunia knew she hated her tea bitter. She said nothing and returned to watching the two boys play. "I bet their going to be best friends, Tuney, like brot-"

Petunia shook her head almost violently, cutting the younger woman off. "Don't say it, Lily," she warned. "I will not let my Duddikins hurt like I did." She huffed, looking away from the younger.

Lily said nothing for a moment; she always knew her sister had hated her being a witch, for leaving her to go to Hogwarts. They grew apart more and more with every new term, and then ultimately they barely talked. Lily didn't even know her sister had been dating Vernon Dursley until she received a wedding invitation, the day before the wedding.

After that, the only other time the sisters had visited with each other was after the births of their sons.

"I know I've caused you so much pain, Tuney," she finally began at the same moment a cartoon appeared on the television, grabbing the boys' attention from the blocks. "You don't know how sorry I am about it," - the older woman scoffed- "how much I regret it. We've lost time we can never get back, and we might not have much longer-" She trailed off, fearing she had said too much.

Curiosity filled Petunia's eyes. "Might not have much time?" she prompted, a feeling of dread taking place of the anger. "What do you mean by that?"

"I," Lily swallowed nervously, "I- it's a lot to tell you, Tuney." She placed the teacup onto one of the lace coasters. "I guess starting at the beginning is a good place."

She began to tell her sister everything she could possibly say, everything she knew.

With a deep breath, Lily started by telling her everything she knew about the monster that called himself Voldemort and his followers. She told her how the man had attempted to recruit both her and James, and how they had denied him thrice. That led her to tell Petunia about the prophecy, and about the Longbottoms …

Lily did not know when she began to cry, and she did not even realize her sister had taken her into her long arms until she pressed her face against the sweater Petunia wore.

The tall woman held her sister with everything she had, her heart heavy at the pain she heard in the other's voice. How had she not seen the pain in her Lily's words in her letters? The times the woman had begged her to come visit them; it was because Lily would risk everything if she had to come to her. But Petunia turned her down time after time, and now here her sister was, risking everything to see her.

"Come stay with us," she said suddenly, pulling away from the younger to look in her eyes. "You and Harry can stay with us."

Lily smiled sadly, "Then you all would be in danger." She looked to the boys and noticed that Harry was now looking at them. Green eyes identical to her own held curiosity and concern. She could only give her son a quivering smile, but that seemed to be enough for him. "Us being here now is putting you in danger."

"Once this is over," Petunia grabbed her sisters attention with her soft spoken words, "Let's take the boys to Chessington, yeah?"

Lily was shocked to hear this from the taller woman, and it broke her heart. She knew that it would all soon be over, but they would never have a chance to take a trip to the theme park. "We'll go and make up for lost time."

Lily nodded sadly, wanting that to happen with everything she had. "If- if it doesn't, Tuney," she held up her hand to keep her sister from interrupting. "In case me or James are unable to take care of Harry properly," In case they are placed at St. Mungo's next to the Longbottoms or dead, "would you take care of him?"

When Petunia did not answer right away, Lily felt her heartbreak. True, they had their friend Sirius Black, Harry's godfather, but the thought of Petunia hating her son just because of who she was -

"Of course."

Thinking she had been hearing things, Lily looked to her sister, searching for something in those dark eyes. She found nothing but honesty and another that she had not seen in many years – love. "Oh Tuney." She sobbed, feeling something heavy rise from her shoulders as she buried her face back into the sweater.

"If it comes down to it, even though it won't."

So much hope and determination lay in her words, and each one broke Lily's heart. She knew somehow Petunia's heart would break and it would be her fault. She knew that, once again, she would let the other woman down.

However, she was fine with living for just today. Together they, even Petunia, sat on the carpet floor next to their sons and talked, much to the toddlers' annoyance, about everything they had missed out on.

Vernon came home just as the sun began to set, and Lily regrettably needed to leave. With a sleeping Harry in her arms, she walked out the doors after getting one last hug from her older sister, and even bid farewell to the large and confused man.

"Write me," Petunia demanded, understanding that the red haired woman would not be able to visit until this monster was gone. "Promise you'll write me."

Lily gave her sister a smile and nodded, "I promise." She stepped back. "Thank you, Tuney. For everything." Then with a loud snap, she disapparated away from Privet Drive to Godric's Hallow, Harry still sleeping in her arms.

Her arms tightened around her son as a sob escaped from her lips. She had thought she could no longer cry, but her emotions proved her wrong. She jumped in shock when arms wrapped around her, but unlike the last that held her, these were large and hard with muscle. "James..." she whimpered, and allowed herself to cry into her husband's chest.

"We have to get inside, Lily, before we're seen," he said as he led her into their hidden home. It was then that Lily had to return to reality and her cries increased tenfold.

Somehow, she just knew, she couldn't explain it; she would never see her sister again.

Back at the home that was identical to all the rest, those thoughts echoed in the mind of Petunia as she stood over the stove preparing a dinner she had forgotten about.

They had said goodbye...

I'll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms.
I'll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world.
I'll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home.
Yeah I'll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone.

The wind howled, carrying a chill through the air as children wandered from door to door of Privet Drive. Petunia Dursley smiled at the group of children as she placed pieces of candy into their bags and buckets, her heavy son propped on her hips with a large lollipop in his mouth.

When the children left her threshold, the tall woman began to shut the door only to freeze when she caught sight of familiar red hair. "Lily?" she called, opening her door once again, but no one, other than the children running around with their parents, could be seen. Sighing, she stepped back in, shaking her head as she tried to still her quickly beating heart.

For the last hour, something had felt off in the air, causing her to have constant raised goose bumps. At first, she thought it had been caused by the excitement and noise that came from outside; that alone was odd for the quiet neighborhood. But, as time went by, the feeling didn't go away.

Lily.

Her sister had been on her mind nonstop since her visit. She had promised to write, but Petunia had not heard from her yet. However, she stayed patient and hopeful. That was all she could do.

She tried to place her son into his playpen, but, not wanting to be put down, his dimpled hands twisted into her shirt. "What's wrong, Duddikins?" She placed a hand on his forehead. "Do you feel icky? You don't have a fever."

"Arry," the boy mumbled, his bottom lip stuck out in a pout. He had been calling for his cousin since the moment he woke up that day to find the younger boy gone. It was not easy to find friends for Dudley in the neighborhood, and it was easy for the boy to attach so quickly to the other.

She sat down next to her snoring husband on the couch with Dudley resting on her lap, and stared blankly at the television where a game show was playing, but she paid it no mind. Dudley was soon snoring along with his father, and she was finally able to ease the boy off her lap.

Petunia stood from the couch and went into the kitchen, where she grabbed a tall glass from one of the cabinets and poured the clear liquid of water into it.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she caught a shadow and quickly turned her head towards the window. "Lily?" she gasped, nearly dropping the glass onto the floor. There her little sister stood, staring right back at her with a saddened expression on her face. Slowly, she laid her glass onto the counter. "Lily, what are you-" she stopped, realizing that the figure of her sister no longer stood there.

Her hands trembled as her eyes closed. She tried to calm her nerves, but to no avail. Petunia knew that that had been her sister, and she couldn't get rid of the image of her face.

She was so sad...

I'm sorry.

Dark brown eyes opened wide and it was then she knew...

Lily was dead.

Her entire body shook as she collapsed onto the floor of her kitchen, her long arms wrapping around herself as if to warm her body that had gone cold.

That was how Vernon found his wife in the early hours of the morning, long before the sun was due to rise. He tried to get her attention, to find out what was wrong, but she never responded or even moved. He could do nothing but stare down at his wife before finally navigating his large body onto the floor where he awkwardly wrapped his arms around her.

"C'mon, pet." He coaxed the woman to stand. "It would do no good for the neighbors to see that you've gone mental." He knew it would just be a matter of time before this would happen. He had warned her the day he came home to find his wife drinking tea with his abnormal sister-in-law.

By dawn, Vernon had managed to get his wife upstairs and tucked into their bed. Afterwards, he grabbed all the baby items he could and wobbled across the street with the toddler in his arms.

Wrinkling his nose at the strong cabbage smell that attacked his nostrils when the door opened, Vernon all but begged the neighbor to watch him for a few hours while he went to work, saying that Petunia had taken ill and barely had any strength to watch herself.

As he crossed back to his home, it never occurred to him that he had never seen the woman before, in fact that house had been empty just the other day, or that he had just left his son with a complete stranger.

Yet, with a thermos filled with strong coffee and a couple egg sandwiches, he climbed into his car and drove off to work.

Arabella Figg just watched from her window, sighing when the car disappeared around a corner. "Well, shall we go check on your mum?" She smiled at the toddler as she bounced him on her hip; his weight was almost nothing for her since she dealt with Kneazles, many that were as heavy as he was, sometimes more.

With the boy in her arms, she crossed the street to house number four. "After all," she began, looking down at one of her hybrid felines, Mr. Tibbles, "it would be a neighborly thing to do."

AN: Here the Longbottoms were attacked before the Potters and yes, Petunia is blonde in this fic just as she is in the books.

Lyrics and fic title come from a song by MGMT