Petunia closed the door softly behind her, inhaling the fresh air. Lily had just come back from Hogwarts. Of course, she was happy to see her. She was her sister after all. Not to mention they had been quite close before. Before Lily received her letter. From the time Lily had learned she was a witch, Petunia had felt a distance between them. They were sisters, but they didn't live in the same world anymore. Lily was a witch, and Petunia was not. She was a…a Muggle, they called it.

Her parents were doting on Lily now that she was back. And wasn't that normal? They hadn't seen her in a few months, not like Petunia whom they saw every day. Perhaps, that was why they didn't treat their two daughters the same way. Still, Petunia felt left out. It wasn't jealousy. She would just have wanted to be a part, even a very small part, but a part of Lily's world. So that at least they could have a proper conversation. Whenever Lily talked, it was always about Hogwarts and the magical world; things that Petunia didn't understand.

The blond girl slowly made her way to the park. She had always liked the place. She liked being able to simply relax and just look at the flowers. She liked the peaceful atmosphere which was sometimes disturbed children laughing or yelling to their friends.

She walked towards the lake but froze as soon as the benches came into her sight. There was a boy there. He had black shoulder-length hair and dark eyes, staring at the lake in front of him. She recognised him immediately. She had seen him with Lily countless times before. Severus, he was called. Now that she thought about it, Lily hadn't so much as mentioned him ever since she came back. Rather she hadn't said a word about him for a few months now. Her letters always contained stories of school and there usually were descriptions of what her friends had done or what that prat James Potter had said. Yet, her last letters had been clearly lacking the usual stories about 'Sev' as Lily called him. Her parents had been quite happy that she didn't seem to care about him anymore. They had never liked the boy. Mainly because his father was not the type of people you would want near your children. He was an alcoholic and there had been rumours that he hit his son.

Petunia hadn't cared. There was no real reason why she would. She had never been close to him. It was always Lily he came to see. Always Lily he talked to. And there was the fact that he had been the one to tell Lily she was a witch. He had told her once, after he had seen her make a flower bloom, even before she had received her Hogwarts letter. Maybe it had been that day that Lily had distanced herself from her sister. Maybe that was why, Petunia saw Severus as the embodiment of the magical world, the world that had taken her sister away from her.

The boy seemed to notice he was being watched and turned his head. His gaze met hers and she knew he had recognised her. She could tell by the sight frown that had appeared on his face. It didn't stay long though and soon he was back to wearing a blank mask. He didn't turn his eyes away though and they were left staring at each other, neither of them moving or uttering a word.

It was Petunia who moved first. She wiped the shocked expression from her face and determinedly went to sit by him on the bench. He watched her move with a faint interest and then went back to staring at the lake. Petunia didn't know why she had done that. She could have just walked away and pretended she didn't know him. Or she could have just said hello and left. But somehow, she had ended up sitting with him and silently looking at the lake. Well it didn't matter, she was comfortable with the silence and it was nice having company even if you didn't talk.

He had watched the girl as she sat beside him. He had recognised her of course. He remembered her short blond hair that looked like dried straw and her icy blue eyes. She was Lily's sister. She had been with Lily when he had first talked to her. He'd never talked to the elder girl though. He couldn't even remember her name now. Lily called her 'Tuney'. It was some kind of flower…Petunia, it was Petunia. It was a nice name not as nice as Lily of course, but nice all the same.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye. She was thin. Thinner than Lily, somehow it made her look unhealthy. She had an angular face, devoid of any kind of charm. Her eyes were cold. Her lips were thin and set in a tight line. She had a long neck but it didn't stand out that much thanks to her shoulder length hair. She was wearing plain clothes, a white tee-shirt and blue jeans. She wasn't wearing any jewellery or perfume. Compared to Lily, she was plain, uninteresting.

He turned his gaze back to the lake and contemplated the dark waters silently. Neither of them said a word but they both felt the comfortable presence of another human being. It surprised him when she got up suddenly. He turned to her with a puzzled expression. She blinked at him as if she was surprised by his reaction.

"It's nearly dinner time."

Her voice was different from how he recalled it. It was softer, somehow, than in his memories.

He nodded. Without further inquire, he turned back to his silent staring. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her shifting uncomfortably. She had seemed determined to leave and yet here she was watching with eyes that said she wanted to ask something.

"Are…Aren't you going to go back home?"

He didn't turn to her this time. He could feel her stare on him and made sure the blank mask was in place.

"Nobody's waiting for me." His voice was calm, but there had been a hard edge to it that hadn't gone unnoticed.

With a last glance at him, the girl walked away. Her quick footsteps echoing in the silence of the empty park.