A/N: So I initially was only going to have this as a series of one-shots but that has changed as I think I can actually write this as a full novel. Not sure how long it will be but it will definitely cover all of Hogwarts at least. I will be updating more frequently though it will be slow. Probably once a month. The "central plot" will be about the upcoming war but this is a story centered around the characters so you will be getting a lot of insight on them. I have an idea about pairing but for right now they're too young. On that note, I would like to point out that Snape and Petunia are somewhat similar to me. They both let the bitterness and regrets rule their lives leaving them as not so very nice people. So the question remain without that bitterness and regret weighing them down who are they? Also how do they deal with all their insecurities? And don't worry Lily isn't a saint. Both Severus and Petunia tend to put Lily on a pedestal, a place she very much does not want to be in. Without anymore interruptions here is the new chapter.

Disclaimer: I am NOT J.K Rowling and do not own anything Harry Potter. I know I'm disappointed too.

A Tale Of Two Sister

BY: revelynn42

CH 2: Proof- The Last Thing on Their Minds

Petunia looked out the window of the room she was tiding up as she waited for Lily. Last night Lily had been trying to tell her all about "Hogwarts", she hadn't let up until Petunia finally said it right. It was ridiculous, they would go to the park and that Snape boy would admit he'd been lying, he had to be. But there was a little voice inside of her, one that was never wrong and that she always listened to, and right now it was telling her that the Snape boy wasn't lying. But he had to be. She remembered the incident very well because that same night, well she wasn't eavesdropping, that would be wrong, so no she wasn't eavesdropping, she just overheard her parents from the door of their room when she should have been sleeping. They were concerned and not in a good way because according to them this wasn't the first of such incidents just the most public. And prideful as she was, Petunia didn't have the heart to tell her family that things hadn't been so good for her after that.

The Roger boy had started calling her a freak and a witch, it was an insult. Petunia was the most normal and ordinary girl that there could be, though now she was slowly becoming somewhat of a pariah at school. Lily was two years younger so there was no way she could know, different recess times and she had different friends. It wasn't fair, Lily was much stranger than her yet no one ever left Lily out or called her a freak. She was the pretty one, the nice one, the one everyone wanted to be friends with. Even that Snape boy had been more interested in Lily than her.

"Tuney. I'm ready to go." Lily appeared at the front door. Unaware of the hateful thoughts that ran through Petunia's mind, smiling lovingly at her older sister. And just like that a Petunia felt worse because she knew her sister like she knew herself and Lily would give anything for her. And maybe that's what made it so hard for Petunia, she wasn't kind, at least not the way Lily was. Smashing down all resentment she smiled back.

"Then let's get this over with." And with that they both set out to the park.

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Lily stole glances at her older sister. She had always known she and Tuney were a bit peculiar and different from other kids their age. It didn't bug Lily though, at least not so much lately. Maybe it would have if it was only her but Tuney always understood her strangeness and would share her own. What she didn't understand was why Tuney so afraid of being marked as different. Their parents had told them that they were special; Lily knew they were only trying to help but a little part of her couldn't help but believe what her parents had told her. And with what Sev had told her about being magic, it explained everything. They really were special, they were real witches. All she wanted to do was share this amazing revelation with her sister. But Lily had a gut feeling things wouldn't be so simple.

Other kids weren't always so nice, Lily was quite aware of that. She hadn't mentioned it to her parents or Tuney but some of her friends had started to avoid her lately as if they were scared of her. And they were whispering things about Tuney too. Of course when they had started talking about her sister Lily put a stop to it right away, defending her and coming close to having an actual physical fight with the Roger boy. But that wouldn't stop her from being who she was and she couldn't see why it would Tuney. Dad always said you had to be yourself and never be ashamed of that so she couldn't understand why her sister would ever want to hide part of herself. Yes Tuney wasn't the warmest person there was but she was good older sister, she would play with Lily and was always there watching out for her even though it could get annoying at times. There was no doubt in Lily's mind that Tuney loved her just as much she did.

So she had to show Tuney that Sev wasn't lying because Lily was sure that her sister needed this just as much as she did, maybe even more, and that was saying something.

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Severus was not dreading the meeting that was about to take place and he certainly wasn't worried that the older girl had managed to convince Lily that he was lying because he wasn't. Still he found that he couldn't concentrate of the potions book right in front of him. This of course wasn't the only book in his possession; he had brought all the books he could sneak away without his mother noticing. Hogwart, A History, The Art of Human Transfiguration, Simple Charms and Enchantments, Basic Magic Theory as well as his favorite Potions Opuscule, were all he was able to bring but it defiantly should be enough. And while some of them would be far to advanced, he did have a couple of books that they would be able to comprehend. And if he was careful enough he could sneak away some ingredients and his mother's cauldron to actually brew one of the more simple potions. He would need to borrow her wand too but she barely ever used it anymore and she certainly never had noticed before.

So with this in mind Severus Snape knew that logically speaking he shouldn't be nervous but all alone waiting for both girls he was able to admit to himself that he really did want them to like him. If not at least tolerate him enough that they could actually talk about magic. He didn't have any friends, he was poor and as a result, his clothes were old, hand-me-downs and in wizard fashion that most muggle children saw as strange but they were the best his mother could do. They might not be new but were clean and carefully mended, not that anyone ever saw that. Add his pale skin tone, somewhat hooked nose, slightly crooked teeth and greasy hair and it was no wonder why every kid in the neighborhood thought they could get away with picking on him. And when they realized they made a mistake in thinking him and easy target, they became too frightened of him to ever come around again. But again, he didn't care they were muggles, just like his father.

"Sev!" He turned at the call, the use of a nickname still foreign to him, but he let it go because for once it was nice, it was said with affection that he couldn't get enough of. Looking he could see the small figure of Lily Evans running down the park to meet him, her sister walking slowly behind her. Lily smiled at Severus as she sat down beside him and smiled at her when she yelled at her sister to hurry up. The only thing he could think of Lily Evans was that she had to be, without a shadow of a doubt, an angel. Her face was round with a small nose, full pink lips, big expressive one-of-a-kind green eyes and glossy long, slightly curly dark auburn red hair. Even more than her pretty looks was her generous soul, in one meeting Severus could tell that Lily Evans would probably be the kindest and sincerest person he would ever meet. Her sister puzzled him. It was apparent that Petunia was not a generous soul like her sister and all the more obvious that she was jealous of young Lily with her snappish attitude and resentful remarks. But there was a longing in her that Severus could see, for what he wasn't sure, but it was something he understood, which made him reserve his judgment, for now at least.

"Finally." Lily exclaimed when Petunia made her way over to the two children sitting beside her sister.

"I'm only here to see if you can actually prove what you're saying is real." She quickly explained with a haughty attitude saying she clearly though he didn't. He smirked as he grabbed the potions book and Hogwarts, a History and handed them to her. He let them take some time as they went through each of their books.

"Are these real spells?" Lily asked in awe, she couldn't believe that she had in her hands a real spell book. Severus' smirk turned into a full grin as he went on to show and explain the charms Lily was interested in, not noticing Petunia's look of astonishment and fear turn to anger. For the next few minutes he was engrossed with Lily as he excitedly told her all knew of the charms.

"These…these aren't real." Petunia charged. Finally she regained her composure from her stunned state at seeing his "proof." That little voice told her it was true but her heart stilled at all the implications and fear took over like always.

"What?" A confused Severus blurted out. "Of course they're real. Mum got them at Diagon Alley years ago." He exclaimed. His face turned slightly red at Petunia's condemning statements. He was offended and when he looked at Petunia he could tell she was being blatantly stubborn. For what reason, he couldn't tell. She said she wanted proof and he had brought it, there was no denying that these books were real. He knew that she knew that so why try to deny it? Why? With the stubbornness to match he looked her straight in the eye and after a minute into the showdown he saw it. The reason why. And it infuriated him.

"You didn't want proof. You just want to try and humiliate me. Prove to yourself that I'm a no good nobody. That I'm just that 'horrible Snape boy' from the bad part of town. You hypocrite."

"Am Not. Besides it's true. Just look at you. What are you wearing you're mum's blouse?" Petunia wasn't an idiot, she wasn't the smartest person in the world but she was willing to bet she was the shrewdest. And as such she could tell, that Snape had seen what he wanted to because that's what he feared. He didn't actually know why at all, so she played on it, after all that had to be better than him knowing the truth. Why should she care if he thought badly of her? He was nothing to her and with that in mind her assault continued.

"How old are you anyways? Like barely eight or nine probably. I'm turning eleven in less than four months, if there was magic I'm sure I'd know about. You're just a liar trying to get one over on me and Lily. People like you are known for doing shady things. You'll probably grow up to be a dead beat drunk."

Lily gasped, genuinely shocked at the venom in her sister's tone. Severus was too stunned to even speak.

"Tuney. How could you?"

"He's a freak Lily."

"No he isn't. Tuney. He's just like us." She tried to reason with her sister, get her to see that Sev really was like them. Lily had never imagined that things would turn out this way.

"Well he's certainly not like me. And if you think you're alike then you're a freak too."

"…that's not a very nice thing to say." Young Lily was shaken by the spite her sister had directed upon her, it instantly sapped any fire she had.

"It's true you're both freaks to try and mess around with all this…this…unnaturalness. His father no doubt taught him all the rubbi-"

"SHUT UP!" Severus couldn't help but scream. He was beyond simple anger, he was livid. Who was she to even dare suggest he would be like his father, she knew nothing, was nothing. She should hurt and hurt bad. In an instant all the dark and ugly feelings he had kept down bubbled up and before he knew it he released all that bad energy. But before even the snap was heard Petunia's eyes widen and made a split second decision to leap backwards falling on her bottom but narrowly missed being hit by a falling branch. Silence stood between the children for a full minute as they stared in astonishment before Petunia was back on her feet.

"You tried to...to...to-" But Petunia was too traumatized to say anything more. Lily stood in the middle shocked at the entire exchange to say anything.

"NO!" He instantly denied." I didn't want...I didn't mean..." Severus stuttered, appalled at what he had done, even by accident, yet he knew there was no coming back from this. His eyes moved from Petunia to Lily hoping that some way, somehow Lily might understand. Unfortunately looking to Lily was the worst mistake he could make with Petunia. It's always about Lily, Petunia thought angrily. Despite her anger, Petunia now had a very real fear of the boy in front of her.

"You..just… stay away from me." She was able to stutter out still scared out her mind. Just as she burst into tears at her overwhelmed state, she turned around and took off running back home. To the safety of her mother's arms. Not once looking back as she left a very worried sister and a very repentant boy.

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Lily gazed at her sister's form as she disappeared. Even though she wanted to run after her, she was stuck where she was.

"It was an accident." Severus whispered but it was loud enough to bring Lily out of her trance-like state. She looked to his direction with an angry glare.

"I don't believe you." Lily simply stated." You wanted hurt her."

"No!" He immediately replied. "I was angry...I...no one can really help it before they...we start school." He was stuttering and obviously close to panic. This wasn't supposed to happen. Lily was torn, though she didn't show it, she didn't know how to react. She wanted to be mad at Severus, she was mad at him. He had tried to hurt her sister...but Tuney had said awful things to Sev. But Sev shouldn't have...what? Lose control? There were plenty of time Lily had lost her temper, a spitfire, her dad had called her. And Tuney had as well. It was with that thought that Lily realized why Tuney had been so scared; magic could be used to hurt others. Magic could be dangerous. Yet even with that she couldn't give in. This was her sister and Severus had to understand that.

"You didn't mean to." Lily finally relented carefully, making her tense self relax. Severus looked at her with tentative hope. "But you did." And those words had him closing off completely; he just didn't let her see that. He knew what was coming now; she'd write him off and forget about him.

"I'll talk with Tuney, if it was really an accident. But if we're going to be friend then you can't do that anymore. You can get mad at her; I do sometimes but can't hurt her. EVER." Severus just looked at her, as if he did don't understand what she was saying, and in a way he didn't. No one had ever been willing to get pass anything bad he'd ever done, let all me offer to be friends. He didn't know what to say.

"Well?" Lily exclaimed when it became clear he wouldn't say anything.

"It was an accident...I…I promise I won't do anything to hurt her." He replied starring Lily straight in the eyes looking very solemn. It was a vow for him, one he didn't mind taking. He had no doubt that if he ever did anything intentional to harm Tunney in any way Lily would cut him down and never forgive him. But in return for his promise, they might be friends and she might be just as willing to defend him. And for once having someone defend him sound nice, he might not need it but he never had that before and now it was within his grasp.

Lily looked back at Severus. She stared straight into his eyes as he stared right back both knowing that right now she was judging the sincerity of his vow. If asked about that moment Lily would say she honestly didn't know why she believed him, they had only met a day ago. And just meeting Severus she could tell that there saw something maybe not bad like Tuney thought but there was something dark about him. Still she could see that maybe he was lonely like Lily sometimes felt. Out-of-place. Nobody seemed to understand that even with so many people around, if they didn't understand you then you were just as alone as if there was no one. It was hard being different in a way not even her parents understood, Tuney understood but she wouldn't accept it, she even seemed to shun it. Not Lily. And that made her long for someone to talk to that would. Just giving him one chance couldn't hurt,could it? But after what happened it was like being asked to choose between her sister and this wonderful something. If anything did happen, she'd defend her sister with all her might she knew she would. So for now it was okay, wasn't it? This wasn't betraying her sister at all. She gave Severus a small smile to let him know she believed him, ignoring the voice said he only had promised not to hurt Tuney but if they were friend, she reasoned, then they could never hurt each other.

"I better go talk to Tuney but I'll see you tomorrow?" she questioned. Severus nodded in agreement his relief preventing him from speaking again.

"Bye Sev." She waved.

"Wait." Lily paused at his words. He bent down and grabbed a book from the forgotten pile.

"Here. You can borrow it since you didn't get to really look at it. You'll really like it. It's all about Hogwarts." He gave her a small hesitant smile startling Lily. He has a really kind smile, the thought ran through her head, it really changes him, as she smiled back.

"Thanks." And with that ran off.

"Bye Lily." He managed to whisper too late as she was already gone.

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Petunia slammed the door as she entered her home. Her stifled tears had burst and painful sobs came through grabbing the attention of the mother in the kitchen, who was always aware of her daughters' coming and goings.

"Petunia honey, what's the matter?" At her mum's kind and motherly question Petunia flung herself into her arms.

"Boys are mean." She managed to cry into her mum's stomach, incoherent to anyone but Rose Evans.

"Oh Pet. I'm so sorry. Boys can be so hurtful at this age." She gently pulled her eldest daughter away as she knelt down with caring hands at her face and with her shirt she wiped tears away. "I know words can hurt very much." And once again pulled Petunia into a warm embrace. Rose didn't try to tell her daughter not to be upset, after all words went straight to the heart, at least that was her experience and to try and deny her daughter that truth would belittle her pain, which was very much real.

"Come on," she said as she tugged Petunia into the kitchen with her. "You can help me make you favorite biscuits and tell about those little trolls and their very wrong opinions. You're my beautiful and special Petunia flower after all. I should know I am your mother." She teased lightly, smiling patiently at Petunia until a small nod and smile appeared. They went into the kitchen and Rose took care to make her eldest feel safe and heard. Teasing and fights were part of life and childhood but so was baking with mum and maybe these would be the moments that she held closest to in the bad. A little while later her youngest appeared to, going straight to her sister's side but not really speaking about what happened. Lily had tried but Petunia ignored all questions. But that was okay too. When she was ready she would speak up and if she didn't then she had a mother that would raise hell to those who tried to harm any of her precious flowers.

Petunia didn't talk about what had happened. She didn't want to show the ugly side of her to her mum, especially when she thought Petunia was beautiful and special. It was lucky that their mum didn't know the truth, that she wasn't special at all, Lily was. Lily was everything beautiful and special. Petunia wasn't, she was a freak.

A/N: I actually rewrote this about three times before I was satisfied with it. It's tricky to get the balance just right but i hope i'm doing a good job. Please let me know if you think differently or if you actually like it. Please review.