The rest of the day passed without much incident. Vernon Dursley left soon after the row over the cold bacon for work which allowed the house to let out a sigh of relief. Petunia did what she did best when she began to feel stressed…clean. As she was donning her latex gloves she walked into the kitchen to see her sister sitting at the table, composing a letter using a feather quill that she had no doubt was real.
At the sight of Tuney, Lily looked up from the letter to Peter Pettigrew. "I'm sorry about this morning," she apologized, dipping the quill into the ink well she brought downstairs with her.
"He's just…upset. He likes to take life by the horns, you know and to have full control. When something or someone doesn't let him take control…well, he gets a bit upset."
Lily nodded and looked back down at the parchment. "Oh, Tuney," she spoke up, remembering something important. "Were you fond of that lamp in the extra bedroom?"
"Umm no," Petunia said hesitantly. "Why?"
"Oh," Lily said surprised her sister had asked for the reason. "No reason," she lied, mental picturing James "accidentally" causing it to crash to the ground from the desk.
A moment of silence passed through the kitchen, save the scratching of Lily's quill and the rubbing of Petunias sponge. Finally, they couldn't stand the silence any longer. "So," Lily said, always the one to start a conversation, "How's Vernon's work doing?"
"Lily, we both you don't honestly care about it," her sister replied, tossing the sponge into the sudsy sink. Lily laughed slightly but it was short lived. She couldn't get her mind off the possibility of Voldemort finding them and the Dursley's. Petunia sat at the table, removing her gloves and rubbing her hands. "Lily, can I ask you something?" She took her sisters silence as a yes. "Please, don't take any offense by this, but…"
"You want to know how long we're staying here." Lily said. When Petunia nodded embarrassed, Lily smiled back. "I'm sorry, Tuney. I know we dropped in unannounced. We just needed to run at that moment."
"What exactly is chasing you?" Petunia asked concern on her eyes.
"More like who," a voice explained from the doorway. James came striding in, running his hand over the back of his neck. "Harry's down for a nap," he told Lily before sitting beside her.
"Ok, who is chasing you?" Petunia asked again, staring at her sister and brother-in-law.
"Petunia, you might not understand…" James began but she shook her head.
"I'm not Vernon!"
He looked over at Lily, who was folding up her letter. She shrugged and James went on.
"His name is Voldemort," he began. "Most wizards don't like to call him that though. They say You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He is the most evil wizard anyone can ever imagine. He hates anything to do with muggles or muggle born. He wants to illuminate any wizard who doesn't believe in his ways and any muggle born wizard. And if he doesn't get to kill them he'll torture them, their friends and their families."
At this, Petunia's eyes widened. Silence followed his explanation. Lily stood walked upstairs only to return with Jean on her arm. "Who's the letter to?" James asked, trying to defuse the tension.
"Wormtail," Lily told him.
"Do you think it's safe to send her out again?" James asked, stroking the bird's beak. She was special to him, seeing as he got her at his first year at Hogwarts.
"Why wouldn't it be?" Petunia asked her voice quiet.
"She got attacked when we sent her out last time," Lily explained, placing a soft hand on her husband's shoulder. "We think she was intercepted by an enemy owl."
"I don't think we should send her out if theirs enemy owls in the area," James cautioned.
"But they didn't hurt her horribly. They obviously didn't want to kill her. It's the only way we can talk to him." Lily said. James finally gave in, albeit reluctantly.
Before tying the parchment to Jeans talon Lily read to James. "Dear Wormtail, we hope you're well. We are doing well ourselves. We are currently staying at a relative's home. I won't actually tell you the location. I'm sure Voldemort knows you're our secret keeper and I know we couldn't live with ourselves if he tortured the location out of you. You've been such a help to us. I heard some of the Order members are upset because of our absence. Please tell them we're only thinking of their well being. We'll be here only as long as we have to. We'll probably be back home by the thirtieth to help you fight once more. Once this is all over we'll have dinner with you and the rest the Order. Send our love to them, especially Severus and the Longbottoms. Sincerely, Lily and James."
"Severus, really?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.
A small blush grew on Lily's cheeks but she tied the letter to Jean's leg trying to hide it. "Severus! Wasn't that little freak boy who you talked to back when we were kids?"
"He was not a freak! He was very nice to me…for a while." Lily said defensively.
"Until he called you a-" James began but was cut off.
"James, don't you dare! You promised you wouldn't talk about that again!" Lily nearly screamed, pushing him back a few inches.
"I know Lils, I'm sorry," he said in a soothing tone.
"Fine," she huffed, opening the front door. Within seconds, Jean took off and flew through the front hall, shooting through the front door and out into the world. Seeing James worried expression, she smiled up at him. "She'll be fine." He pulled up the corner of his mouth and kissed her cheek.
"Ok, ok. Close that door would you. You're letting in a draft!" Petunia scolded. Once Lily did, she heard Harry crying from upstairs.
"I'll go get him," she called and walked upstairs. As she did, James noticed the cupboard under the stairs.
He peeked in it and looked around. "Hey Lily. You should put him in here for naps from now on. It's actually quite cozy in here." He suddenly felt dust fall from the ceiling, caused by his wife stomping on the stairs above him. "I'm just joking! Gosh!" He cried, laughing slightly. And with that, he left to join his wife upstairs.
Ok, I know I already had a cupboard joke but I couldn't resist putting this one in. I'm sorry this chapter is pretty much just talking. I promise next chapter will have action and fighting. And just to give you all wonderful people some perspective, the day they wrote the letter on was the twenty seventh of October. I think we all know what that means. :o Gasp! Duh, Duh DUHHH!