Chapter 40: The Petunia Shock

(Spoilers here, but necessary. I wish to warn the readers here that homosexuality and mild negative reactions to it will be featured in this chapter. This is NOT personal, it is merely an attempt to make the story realistic, as the story is set in 1974 at this juncture. Please enjoy but know that I am not against homosexuality and I do not mean any offence.)

There was no doubt that swimming in the Great Lake in the middle of June was a pleasing pastime, particularly if you had a friend who was more than just a friend to you. Severus and Lily had a fun swim together, along with Quincey, Mary, James and Rebecca. However, the fun was diminished when they took note that Severus was the only one in their group still wearing a shirt.

"Why don't you take it off, mate?" asked James. "It's not like you're hiding any fat that would embarrass you."

"Shut the hell up!" snapped Severus.

Lily was surprised at the outburst, as were the others, but the former understood. Severus must be hiding scars bestowed to him by his father.

"James, can I speak with you a moment?" she said.

"Sure?"

They swam to shore, Rebecca stroked one of the Giant Squid's tentacles and Severus trod water, staring at the pair with suspicion, trepidation and suppressed loathing.

"Sev had a rough childhood," she said briefly, "he's hiding something other than weight…"

James caught on to what Lily was indicating and bowed his head. He didn't pronounce his understanding, as he felt quite inadequate at what he nearly made Severus do.

The rest of the year had passed swiftly, in spite of the exams. One major relief for everyone was that Lucius Malfoy would be graduating this year. Severus knew full well that he would instantly go to Voldemort and be branded as a Death Eater, and after all he had done to the Union, he was feeling no regrets at not having a friendship with him.

Frank and Alice had tough exams, and Frank was keen to get the year ahead of him out of the way so he could train as an Auror. Alice planned to join him once she too graduated.

"What do you plan on doing when you leave?" asked Mary.

"Bit soon to be thinking about that, isn't it?" asked Lily.

"Not really, it's only four years off from now," said Marlene.

"Well, the idea of resisting Voldemort without actually fighting and risking death is appealing, so I wouldn't mind becoming a Healer."

"Same," added Mary, "we could be nurse buddies!"

"I'm more of a mystery gal," said Marlene, "so I'm considering becoming an Unspeakable."

"Oooh!" chanted the girls in unison.

"What about you, Andromeda?" asked Rebecca.

Andromeda was sat with a still unhappy looking Narcissa. The latter barely spoke to anyone in the Union, though Severus, keen to start a new friendship with this new version of the woman who made him godfather to her son, often offered her comforting words.

Lily didn't mind. She knew Severus didn't fancy Narcissa. He didn't look at her in the way he looked at Lily.

"I am planning on marrying Ted as soon as I leave here, but then I'll consider working at the Ministry," replied Andromeda dreamily.

"We're gonna miss you," said Lily softly.

"You'll do fine, but please look after this grouchy girl for me in my absence."

"We will, if you'll let us, Narcissa.

Narcissa barely registered and shrugged in acknowledgement.

The end of the year feast came a week after that. Ravenclaw won the House Cup, and Severus celebrated accordingly with the Union, particularly Quincey, Nora and Elizabeth. Lily and Frank offered keen congratulations.

The Union also held a tearful farewell the night before to Frank and Andromeda, and a good riddance to Malfoy.

The next day, they all shared an expanded compartment, all happy at the end of term and a long, pleasant summer ahead. However, they were still saddened that Remus was not on the train with them. His parents had conceded to letting him remain in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing as there was nothing from home that they could do. Frank and Andromeda's departure also came as more difficult than they had anticipated as the train slowed to a stop at King's Cross.

The girls practically cried as they hugged goodbye to Andromeda, and Frank insisted that none of them or the boys sobbed at his departure. After a long farewell in the compartment, the friends parted ways for the summer. Andromeda left with her boyfriend, Ted Tonks, and with Narcissa, whom was struggling not to look Ted in the eye, let alone her mutinous ex-boyfriend. She was still ill at ease with her new situation and dreaded what her parents would have to say about her broken engagement and relationship.

Severus and Lily joined their families. The only one among them missing was Petunia.

"Hello, you two!" said Rose.

The parents all noticed that the pair were subconsciously holding hands. This sparked some concern for Rose and Trevor.

Eileen, on the other hand, felt delighted and cheerful.

"Let's get going, shall we?" she suggested.

They all once again shared a car, and as they pulled out of the station, Lily asked after Petunia and her whereabouts.

"She's fine, m'dear," replied Rose, "she's entertaining her friend, Carly? Carly Willett?"

Lily remembered. A redhead with attractive qualities who became Petunia's friend after her acceptance of Muggle life, alongside another girl named Millie Quince.

"How are those two friends?" she asked.

"Carly's good, though Millie is spending more of her time with her new man, older student, would you believe? By the name of Vernon…something. She brought him round with her once, looks like a walrus with high blood pressure."

Severus' jaw dropped. Vernon Dursley was in this new world too, and was not dating Petunia, but her friend.

But if he's dating Millie, who is Petunia gonna be with? he thought to himself.

He didn't remember any such scandal of Petunia betraying a friend to date Vernon, and he wasn't exactly a man worthy of betraying a friendship for. Severus then recollected that Petunia was likely not friends with Millie Quince in the old universe, and so never managed to get her acquainted with Vernon. But he was still worried that she had inadvertently doomed herself to being single…not having a family life…not having her son, Dudley.

"You look nervous, Sev," said Lily.

"No, just possibly travel sick," he said.

"You don't often get travel sick," pointed out Trevor.

Lily recalled Severus saying that he was as such when they first met James and Sirius on the train, but she had a gut feeling that he was passing off his nervousness and disdain for the pair with this excuse, but what could have caused Severus to feel this vexed in this moment?

The rest of the journey passed by quite inconsequentially, but Severus and Lily were delighted to learn that there was an extra special thing to look forward to this summer: a wedding.

"We're going to marry on August the 18th," revealed Eileen.

"That's wonderful news!" squealed Lily excitedly.

"I can't wait!" added Severus, and he wasn't lying. He couldn't wait for the happiest day of his mother's new life.

The conversation was soon swiftly taken over by Eileen, Rose and Lily talking of wedding plans. Trevor and Robin were silently chuckling and shaking their heads, and Severus fell asleep.

But at long last, they arrived at Spinner's End, and the Princes and Robin disembarked and hauled out Severus' trunk.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Lils," said Severus.

"Usual place," smiled Lily.

The Evans family drove back to their home, where Petunia was likely going to greet them, keen to hear from Lily about her most recent educational updates. But she wasn't at the door as Lily had anticipated.

Must be upstairs doing her nails with Carly, she thought dismissively.

"Got your trunk, Lily?" asked Trevor.

"Yeah, Dad," replied Lily.

"I'll go on in and get the kettle on," he said.

Rose helped Lily move her trunk, but as she locked the boot of the car, they heard a horrified shout.

"OH MY GOD!"

Rose and Lily rushed inside, the trunk left outside and forgotten.

They burst into the conjoined dining room and living room where Trevor stood, shell-shocked, pale and mortified.

There in front of him, in a tight cuddle, both looking fearful and pale, were Petunia and Carly Willett.

Lily wouldn't have seen the need for concern if not for the fact that Petunia had a lipstick marked cheek and that Carly was not wearing her t-shirt, and her bra was exposed.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" bellowed Trevor.

Carly scrambled to put her t-shirt on. Nobody stopped her. Lily was just staring at Petunia in shock, and Rose was growing pale and tried to reach out for Trevor's hand, but he yanked it away, advancing on the two fifteen-year olds with disgust.

"If you come near this house again, you will regret it! Now get out!"

"Dad-!"

"Silence, Petunia Evans!"

Carly and Petunia shared a frightened look and Carly ran out of the house as fast as she could.

Lily was frightened too. She had never seen her father look this way before, dangerous, angry, intimidating. She knew that he had a jaunt disdain for this sort of thing, but to aim it at his own daughter…

"Dad, please calm down!"

"Be quiet, Lily! Go upstairs with your trunk!"

"We were just experimenting! We're not in love, Dad! We're too good as friends to risk that! There was nothing serious in it!"

"YOU WERE KISSING YOUR FRIEND IN A STATE OF UNDRESS!" shouted Trevor.

"We g-got c-carried away! P-please, Daddy-!"

"NO EXCUSES! GET UPSTAIRS AND STAY OUT OF MY SIGHT! YOU'RE GROUNDED AND NOT TO SEE THAT GIRL AGAIN!"

Petunia ran up to her room crying. Lily went to get her trunk, and when she saw Petunia take off up the stairs, she took advantage of her own dismissal and went into her sister's bedroom.

"Tuney?"

She found her sister hunched against the wall, clinging her arms around her legs, her head bowed in silent tears. She showed no reaction whatsoever to Lily's presence.

Lily walked over and sat beside her, but not before shutting the door behind her.

"Tuney…look at me."

Petunia didn't move. She was scared of Lily being ashamed of her, or at least angered for not telling her of her sexual orientation.

"Tuney, I don't mind!"

Petunia looked up and saw Lily was crying too, but with a soft smile of comfort on her face.

"Y-you're not…?"

"Not mad or disgusted at you? Petunia, I'm a witch! Who am I to judge you for being different? I'm a little mad that you never came to me about your sexuality…why didn't you?"

"I wasn't fully sure of it myself," replied Petunia. "Carly has always known she was a…a…"

"Lesbian?"

"Yes…but I know how much Daddy hates the idea of it…and I was trying not to be like Carly…there was a time I considered ending our friendship. But she and Millie are all I have at school and around here. The other students still think I'm weird after how I acted in my first year…but they have always been there for me, along with Vernon. He originally felt attracted to me, but I just couldn't see him that way…so he turned to Millie. They're so suited to each other, and I'm happy for them, but that was when I knew that I couldn't picture myself that way with a man, and I confessed my feelings about myself to the only other single girl in our group…Carly."

"And she confided in you about being a lesbian?"

"Yes…she also considered me as a partner…but after we tried out kissing…after a lot of persuading on her part, we both realized that we were best friends, but not in love. But ever since then, we have continued practising kissing with each other, and through Carly, I have realized and am trying to accept…that I am…gay."

Lily cuddled Petunia tightly.

"You have no need to be ashamed of who you are and who you may fall in love with one day," she assured her sister, "Dad is just talking through his arse. He isn't really a homophobe, I'm sure. It's just such a foreign concept to him…but all those things we learned about homosexuality lately…it's becoming more acceptable. I'll bet that by the time you can learn magic, it might even be a common trend. It's people like Carly who can help you and other men and women come out as gay, and I thank her for that. You will never have to hide your true self from me, Tuney. I promise!"

"But why can't Daddy accept it?" sniffled Petunia. "He accepted your magic."

"I don't know, Tuney…but we will get to the bottom of it."

Lily was right. When she was in a mood, people suffered, and she had gotten this terrible, but effective quality from her own mother.

Downstairs in the dining room, Rose Evans was unleashing said fury upon her husband.

"How…DARE you treat your own daughter and her friend that way?! You didn't do this when we found out Lily was a witch! You know Petunia sometimes feels we had favoured Lily over her! HOW DO YOU THINK SHE'LL FEEL NOW WHEN YOU BERATE AND PUNISH HER FOR BEING DIFFERENT WHEN YOU PRAISED AND APPLAUDED LILY FOR BEING DIFFERENT IN HER OWN WAY?! WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH THAT DELUDED MIND OF YOURS, TREVOR REGINALD EVANS?!"

She was practically spitting at him with rage, and Trevor's blind temper was rapidly depleted into shame and fear at his wife's fury and his own stupidity.

"I…I wasn't thinking about that."

"DAMN RIGHT YOU WEREN'T!"

"It's just…we've always been against such things in my time, and throughout the ages."

"Times are changing, Trev! And our daughters just happen to be in the age group where such a thing will be a revolutionary way of life! If Petunia wants to be a…a lesbian, we shouldn't be yelling at her and making her feel hated and disgusting! We should be supporting her through it, just as we did for Lily when we realized what her talents meant!"

Trevor felt very ashamed. What Rose was saying was true, and now he felt awful that he didn't treat Petunia with the same understanding that he had shown Lily.

Rose's temper wavered when she saw how appalled Trevor looked upon her eloquent discourse.

"The only thing I can agree with you in all of this is that Petunia and Carly should not have been going as far as they were when we came in…but beyond that, Trevor, in my eyes, Petunia's done nothing wrong other than exploring who she really is."

Trevor couldn't say anything. He had grown up with these beliefs. He was now starting to realize just how close-minded he had been. It had been easier for him to accept Lily's magic as he had always seen it as a figment of imagination for children stories, and while not real, it was a wonderful philosophy to imagine. But homosexuality had always been real and considered by his generation as unnatural and against nature and God.

But then, so was magic, wasn't it?

"I will apologise to her tonight," he said sadly. "I don't think she will want to look at me right now."

Rose silently agreed and went up to see how Petunia was faring. She was quite happy to see that Lily had beaten her to the mark and was consoling her sister to the best of her ability. Petunia was still sobbing on her shoulder though.

"Oh, sweetheart."

Rose went over to them and cuddled them both, Petunia for her ordeal, and Lily to show her pride at having such a loving, loyal and understanding daughter.

"Petunia…I've just had severe words with your father. He is sorry for how he reacted to what he had seen, and I have made him see that this whole thing you're going through isn't as black and white as he's always believed. He's coming around to the thought that your sexuality is as special as Lily's magic, and if he knows what's good for him, he will continue to do so."

Lily giggled a little at Rose's cheeky wink, but Petunia felt no better.

"He still loves Lily more…"

"No, that's not true, Tuney-"

"Yes, it is. He didn't act this way towards you when you learnt that you're a witch…and as soon as he sees me kissing another girl, he explodes like one of your cauldrons, seals me inside his home and then bans me from seeing my best friend! Where was all this when you told him that you were a witch?! Where were the pitchforks? The torches? The stake?! Why does he hate me so much?!"

"Petunia."

Trevor had peeked in through the door, looking all the more shamefaced, but Petunia turned on him instantly.

"I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"

She ran out of the room and out of the house, slamming the door behind her.

Lily and Rose set off in pursuit, leaving Trevor standing still, staring into the bedroom of his poor little girl, the daughter he had let down so many times and now yet again.

Lily and Rose soon caught up with Petunia and Rose suggested diplomatically that they go and visit Eileen and Severus early to soothe the nerves over an always ready and welcome cup of tea and a homemade cherry scone.

Petunia reluctantly agreed, and the three Evans ladies went off to visit their closest friends and neighbours. But all Petunia could think about was how her father seemed to hate her in those moments of anger, and of Carly's frightened expression when she was kicked out of the Evans residence.

Lily was thinking along the same lines. Did her father still unconsciously favour her over her sister? She prayed that this wasn't the case, but she and Rose shared a look indicating that they both knew that this incident would take a long time to recover from.

(Here's Chapter 40! Like I said above, I deeply apologise if this chapter is offensive to anybody. I just wanted to make the reactions as realistic as possible, considering the year and decade this story is set in. I want to make it very clear that I am not in the least bit homophobic. I have a transgender family member and I was among the many who accepted her completely. On that note, I do not expect to see any homophobic comments in the reviews. Such reviews will be reported immediately. If anybody has any requests or suggestions on how I should approach this sub-plot in future, please express them to me via PM as politely as possible! Thank you for reading, and please review!)