The garden at Spinner's End was starting to look less like a miniature jungle and more like an actual garden. Definitely a good sign in Petunia's opinion. It was time they started thinking about which plants they would like to grow there. She didn't think they would keep many of the existing plants. The tree at the back of the garden was alright, but most of the other plants were far too overgrown to be salvageable. At this point, it would be much easier to replace them altogether. She took the problem to Severus and the two of them finally decided to grow plants that could be used in Potions. It would kill two birds with one stone, and, though she didn't say a word of it, Petunia felt that it was a good way to motivate Severus. Though the boy had been very helpful and had not complained, it was clear gardening wasn't his cup of tea. By linking it to his beloved Potions, he at least looked interested by the prospect of growing his own Potions' ingredients.
In order to buy the necessary plants and seeds, a trip to Diagon Alley was organized. On the appointed day, they made their way to the magical street of London.
As they walked side by side amidst the crowd of wizards and witches, all dressed in brightly coloured robes, Petunia noticed the tension in Severus' shoulders and the way his dark eyes kept darting around. Discreetly she gave the boy's hand a reassuring squeeze.
She could easily guess the cause of his anxiety. Since their conversation about Pureblood ideals, Severus had opened to Petunia a lot more and recounted his various encounters and conversations with Purebloods. He had confided in her about his worries that there would be a war, and the rapid increase in the Dark Lord's followers.
She was quite sure, he was worried about meeting someone he knew. Or more accurately, someone who believed in blood purity and might cause him trouble if he saw him walking with a girl whose clothes classed her clearly as Muggle. Also, she realized it might put her in danger as well. Severus hadn't mentioned the risks for Muggles but she had a feeling that Voldemort's followers could get pretty violent.
She glanced at the dark haired boy and caught the briefest flicker of a smile, which disappeared as quickly as it came. After a moment however, some of the tension in his shoulders seemed to vanish.
It didn't take long for them to find the shop which specialized in gardening tools and magical plants. It was the latter, of course, which interested them, and they lost no time in going into the 'plants' section of the shop.
As they gazed at the rows of plants, Petunia felt the familiar feeling of excitement mixed with wonderment which usually came with the discovery of a previously unknown aspect of the wizarding world. Wherever, she looked were flowers of exotic colours or shape, some still, some moving, plants of varying degrees of safety and hers with astonishing properties. Every plant bore a simple parchment label, with its common and Latin name written in a curvy, rather feminine, script. Underneath was written the price of the plant. Petunia ignored those, as she still had difficulties understanding the worth of galleons and sickles compared to pounds.
After much deliberation, they chose three potted plants and purchased a few small bags of seeds to plant in the garden which all went into a paper bag which looked far too small to contain all of their purchases.
They had barely left the shop when a youthful voice called out to Severus. The dark haired boy tensed up at once and turned around cautiously, subtly placing himself in front of Petunia.
Petunia let him do so without protest. She certainly disliked being treated like a weak and fragile thing, but she understood perfectly well that this wasn't a situation where she could afford to show her pride.
"Black." acknowledged Severus as he laid eyes on the smaller dark haired boy who had caught up to them.
"Hello Severus." answered the boy, his silver eyes lingering on Petunia and her Muggle outfit.
Severus' gaze narrowed dangerously. The boy appeared to understand the implicit warning, as he casually turned his gaze to Severus and made no comment on the company he kept.
"Were you out shopping?" he enquired instead, sounding in no way as if he had seen anything shocking.
Petunia felt reassured by this and allowed herself to relax as she observed the boy. The name 'Black' was familiar but she was quite sure Severus hadn't been the one to mention it. No. No, it had been Lily. Yes, that was it. Black was one James Potter's friends. But surely that wasn't the same person. Severus wouldn't be addressing him so politely if he was.
While she was thinking about this, the two boys finished their exchange and before she knew it, 'Black' was saying his goodbyes, turning around and disappearing in the crowd. She turned a questioning gaze towards Severus.
"Regulus Black." he muttered in answer to her silent enquiry. "A Slytherin a year below me."
He sounded mildly displeased which led Petunia to believe this Regulus might be one of those extremist Purebloods.
"Do you think…?" she started asking but he cut her off by shaking his head.
"I don't think he'll say anything. If he does, I'll lie and say you're a witch from Beauxbatons."
The girl nodded slowly. She supposed Bo-whatever was another wizarding school, she remembered Lily mentioning there were others.
Severus glanced around, worry evident in his eyes.
"We should go home." he said, leading her away from the shops and away from potential danger.