Into Ashes

Petunia sat in a self-rocking chair nursing her three-day old daughter, Alice, named for her best friend and mother. Both women were two of the strongest that she knew, so she hoped that her daughter would be as brave, smart, kind, and loyal as her namesakes.

"Hi, love," Edwin said, leaning against the doorway, giving his wife and daughter a look of utter tenderness, wonder, and love. "How're you two doing?"

"We're doing well," Petunia replied. "Come over here, you."

Edwin walked over to where his wife and daughter sat and the chair obligingly widened to fit him as well. Sitting down, he stroked Alice's downy hair gently.

"She's amazing," he whispered. "You're amazing."

Petunia kissed him gently. "You're amazing too, you know."

"We're picking up Lily tomorrow, then?"

"Mhm," Petunia murmured, shifting Alice to her other breast. "The train should be getting in about six o'clock if you want to join us."

Edwin let out a low, rumbling chuckle. "Of course I'll be there. Three of my favorite girls in the world will be in one place… do you think we can get Mum to join us?"

Petunia chuckled. Edwin frequently told the world that his mother, his wife, and his sister-in-law were his three favorite women in the world. Now, finally, it was bumped to four to include his newborn daughter.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I know it's because I'm Muggleborn and all, but I don't trust those spells the Healers gave us for taking Alice out into public so soon. I was hoping your mum could watch her for us."

Edwin suddenly became quite serious. "Love," he began cautiously. "You know the anti-Muggle sentiment in the world right now." This was true – although Petunia had eschewed Muggle clothes her entire time at Hogwarts unlike other Muggleborns, there were still those who knew her to be Muggleborn and would hurt her if given the chance. He looked like he was considering his next words very carefully before he continued. "Most witches will bring their babies out as soon as possible, show them off, you know. It'll help you two blend in," he finally blurted out with an air of desperation.

"If you think it's safest, then," Petunia said with a small frown. "Just… can your mum do the charms?"

Edwin broke out into a wide smile. "Of course, love, of course."


Mildred Prewett came over early the following morning and immediately began fussing over her granddaughter. Petunia was actually quite grateful to her mother-in-law, who had helped her through her pregnancy as if she was her own daughter and knew all sorts of charms to help soothe a fussy baby. Petunia was still horribly frightened to perform any charms on Alice, so she had taken to practicing them on herself and had to admit they were quite soothing.

"There… and there!" Mildred Prewett announced, swishing her wand wildly over Alice.

"Thank you, Millie," Petunia said gratefully, carefully picking up her infant daughter. She placed her in wrap, making sure she was quite secure and not budging. The tiny girl seemed quite content, having been recently fed, bathed, changed, received an anti-colic charm, and was now cuddled quite close to her mother.

After hailing the Knight Bus and the large, purple, triple-decker bus had appeared in front of them, they boarded, Edwin handing over ten silver Sickles to the elderly conductor. Mildred insisted on taking seats near the front, which were comfortable, even if the ride was not.

"King's Cross Station!" the conductor hollered, and the sounds of stamping feet could be heard from the other floors. The Prewetts quickly exited the bus and made their way to Platform 9 ¾ where many other parents and relatives could be seen hurrying to as well.

The Prewetts, once off the bus, ambled over to the platform since Petunia didn't want to jostle Alice overmuch, as she had somehow managed to fall fast asleep on the Knight Bus. Chatting, the three of them leaned through the barrier and moments later heard the distant whistle of the Hogwarts Express.

"I still can't believe all that's happened," Petunia murmured to Edwin. "I'm married, have a beautiful baby girl with the man I love, and my baby sister only has a year left at school."

Edwin gave a low chuckle and wrapped his arm tightly around Petunia's shoulders, bringing her closer to him. "We're all growing up, love," he informed her, placing a kiss in her hair. She smiled and leaned into him.

Several minutes later, the red train stood quietly at the platform and students began clamoring off, exchanging goodbyes with their friends and merrily (and sometimes not so merrily) greeting the friends and relatives who had come to pick them up and bring them home. Soon enough, Petunia spied the brilliant copper hair bouncing through the crowd and she waved her arm up in the air to get her little sister's attention.

"PETUNIA!" Lily yelped upon catching sight of her sister. "When?"

Petunia grinned madly. "Lily, I'd like you to meet your niece, Alice Mildred Prewett."

Lily looked at the tiny bundle clutched tightly to Petunia's chest. "I'd say she's beautiful, but I haven't seen her yet," she teased.

"Lily!" a voice called out.

Lily groaned. "That'd be the infamous James Potter," she replied with a grimace.

A tall young man with horrendously messy hair came running towards the Prewetts and Lily. "Lily, I just wanted…"

The air was suddenly filled with dozens of loud cracks, black robed figures wearing white masks appearing all over the platform. The boy paled. "We have to get out of here," he said urgently. "Can you Apparate?"

"I'm not Apparating with Alice," Petunia said resolutely.

Edwin tugged on his wife's arm. "The boy's right, we need to get out of here now. If they're able to Apparate in, they must've taken down the wards around the platform." Suddenly a jet of green light hit him in the back, causing him to slump to the ground.

"EDWIN!" Petunia cried, kneeling down next to her husband. "Get up, get up, please get up!" He didn't move and when she raised a shaking finger to his neck, she couldn't find a pulse.

Mildred was ashen faced and her hands were trembling, but knelt down next to her daughter-in-law. "I know, dearie, but we need to get you out of here. Go on, I'll take him to St. Mungo's."

Petunia nodded frantically and tried to bring up a clear image of St. Mungo's in her head, but she couldn't do it. The image of the green light racing towards Edwin and him slumping over kept racing through her mind. "I can't do it," she sobbed, frantic with worry.

Lily, quite pale took a hold of her sister. "You have to do it," she said urgently, as a jet of purple light came towards Petunia, hitting the tiny bundle on her chest.

"NOO!" she screamed. She turned her wand on the nearest masked figure she could find. "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Much to her amazement, the figure was thrown off his feet, flew several feet through the air, before finally landing and staying quite still.

"Lily," the boy said. "Yell at me all you want later, but you Side-Along with her and I'll bring the trunks along. I'll meet you there."

Petunia was reaching to undo the wrap that held Alice, but Lily stayed her hand. "Don't," she ordered, grasping her arm firmly and spinning the three of them off to St. Mungo's.


Petunia sat numbly next to a small cot that held her infant daughter, who would gasp for breath every few seconds, too far apart for her liking. Lily sat on one side clutching her hand and Mildred had gone home to find her husband and share the sad news.

"Er – do you need anything else?" the dark haired boy – James, Petunia thought – asked from the corner, his hands jammed into his pockets.

"No," Lily said slowly. "Really, though, thank you for all your help today, James. It means a lot to me… to us."

"Won't your parents be worried about you?" Petunia asked, still staring at her tiny daughter.

Lily's hand tightened around hers in warning, although what warning that could be, Petunia could only guess. "Er – no," James said, finally. "My mum, well, my mum died back in my fifth year and my dad," his voice cracked so he cleared his throat before continuing. "My dad died last month."

"Oh," she said, not knowing what else to say. Clearly the boy needed comforting, but having lost her own husband just a few hours ago and her baby girl barely clinging to life… well, she simply wasn't in the place to provide it.

"Anyways," James said, turning his attention back to Lily. "Write me if you need to." He pulled a rumpled quill and a scrap of parchment out of his robes, scribbling something down and handing it to her. Lily took it, glancing at it before pocketing it.

"I will," Lily said quietly. "Make it home safe, James."

"I will," he said quietly before adding quite seriously, "stay safe."

A few minutes passed before the monitors over Alice's cot began beeping loudly and going haywire. Petunia had been counting the seconds between each breath… five… six… seven… Lord, help her!

The healers rushed in and after a glance at the diagnostics above her cot, began pouring potions into her, but she didn't seem to be capable of swallowing. After a few harrowing minutes, the monitors were switched off and several of the healers left the ward talking to each other quietly.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Prewett," the remaining healer said. "There was nothing more we could do." He looked down at the stack of charts in his hands. "You should be able to pick up the death certificates…" He did a double take at the writing on the chart. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, Mrs. Prewett," he said, looking at her with a stricken look on his face. "Death certificates may be picked up at the reception desk."

"Thank you," Lily said softly, tugging on her sister's hand.

"No," Petunia croaked out. "I need… I need…" Breaking down into heaving sobs, she curled into her sister's comforting embrace.


Petunia had her in-laws, her husband, and her daughter buried along with all the other past Prewetts in a cemetery in Godric's Hollow. I can't stay here, she thought desperately, swiping at her eyes with a handkerchief. Mildred Prewett had rushed from St. Mungo's to the apothecary to inform her husband of their only son's untimely demise, but shortly after she arrived in Diagon Alley more masked figures had appeared and the slaughter continued. Both Mildred and Andrew were found in the midst of the battle, six masked figures lying dead around them. They had refused to go down without a fight. Both, along with Petunia, had received Orders of Merlin, third class, for "assisting in the takedown of a terrorist group".

Eventually, Petunia and Lily made it back to the little cottage Petunia had bought in Hogsmeade nearly two years previously, unable to face the house she and Edwin had lived in in Godric's Hollow.

"I think we need to go back to the Muggle world," Petunia finally said over now cold cups of tea.

Lily's eyebrows raised. "You're just going to let them take over? That's the same as admitting that they're right!"

Petunia's eyes filled with tears. "I have lost my husband, my daughter, and two wonderful in-laws to this madness," she said fiercely. "I am not going to lose my sister, too!"

Lily sighed. "Tuney," she said gently. "I'm of age… and I'm choosing to stay in this world. Please stay with me."

"If you stay, I'll have lost you anyways," Petunia said choking up with tears. "I'm leaving for Muggle London tomorrow."

Lily tried arguing with her with no success. Long into the night, Petunia agreed to leave Lily the house in Godric's Hollow (how could she bear to ever step foot in there again without her husband and daughter?) and both sisters left each other with tear stained faces and nothing really resolved.


Petunia patted her hair nervously as she walked in the front door of her new employer, Grunnings, which made drills. It was about as Muggle as Muggle could get and she felt confident that the dark wizards (whom Lily told her were stylizing themselves as "death eaters") wouldn't even think to look for her in such a place. She had given Lily her house in Godric's Hollow, unable to face the painful memories of her husband and daughter, and sold the tiny cottage in Hogsmeade. Petunia used the money as down payment on a tiny, single room flat in the outskirts of London and to pay for her typing course.

The pain of the loss of her husband and daughter weighed on her every day. She would wake up in the morning expecting to feel Edwin snuggled up to her, but the spot on the bed next to her would be cold and empty. She threw herself into putting new life into her flat, cleaning it like it had probably never been cleaned before. Now it was shabby, but sparkling clean, and the walls all had a fresh coat of white paint.

"Go-good morning, sir," she said shakily when she finally arrived at the office where she would be working.

"Ah, excellent, you must be Miss Prewett," the middle-aged man said gruffly. Petunia didn't have it in her to explain to the man that she was recently widowed and therefore Mrs. Prewett. "Here, I'll show you your desk and you can get started on your assignments."

Soon enough, Petunia was placed at a small, cramped desk with barely enough room for a typewriter, lamp, and the piece of paper she was to turn from messy handwriting to neatly typed print. She was handed a stack of papers and dutifully began to type.

Finally it was time for lunch, and two of her typing companions helpfully showed her where the lunchroom was, although they made no move to sit with or get to know their new coworker. Unfazed, Petunia sat down at a table, pulled out her cheese sandwich and a book on recent political developments in the Muggle world.

Suddenly, she was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Looking up in surprise, she saw a young man, about her age, holding a brown bag and staring down at her nervously.

"Er – do you mind if I sit here?" he asked.

Petunia looked around, there were plenty of other empty tables in the lunchroom, so he had likely chosen to sit with her. Carefully marking the page in her book, she replied, "Certainly."

Looking relieved, the man sat down. "Vernon Dursley," he said sticking out his hand. "Junior Executive."

Petunia reached for his hand, shaking it in greeting. The man had quite a firm handshake. "Petunia Prewett – I just started today as a typist."

Vernon was blatantly staring at her left hand. "Married?" he grunted. A small, sad smile graced her face.

"Widowed," she confirmed quietly, fiddling with the rings on her left hand.

"I'm sorry," he replied, but he looked more relieved than sorry. When she continued looking down, desperately trying to prevent the tears forming in her eyes from falling, he cleared his throat. "Er – do you want to talk about what happened?"

"He was murdered," Petunia whispered, tears now falling down her cheeks. "Him and Alice and Millie and Andrew…"

Vernon's face contorted into rage. "Those BASTARDS!" he cried out. "I hope they were caught and rounded up! I wish the death penalty were still around, dogs like that deserve to be shot…"

Petunia choked a laugh out through her tears, this man had a passionate side to him after all – politics, evidently. She rather thought that if the Death Eaters were ever rounded up and sent to Azkaban that would be a fate worse than death, to slowly be driven mad by the soul-sucking Dementors.

Vernon's face softened as he cut himself off in the middle of his tirade about the death penalty. "I'm sorry," he apologized, this time seeming sincere, as he fished a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to her. "I didn't mean to go off like that…"

"It's quite alright," Petunia said, wiping her face with the soft, cologne scented handkerchief.

"So – er – what was your husband like?" Vernon asked tentatively.

Petunia smiled through her tears and launched into stories. This man, while definitely not Edwin, was certainly sweet.


Author's Note:

And there's chapter 5! I hope you enjoyed it!