Petunia more or less was forced to hang out with that Snape boy at the behest of Lily. She claimed that it was so Petunia was properly prepared for Hogwarts, but Petunia secretly thought this must be Lily's way of making her and Snape friends. Snape was avoiding eye contact and sitting in an awkward stiff position on Petunia's bedroom floor openly judging her decor. She felt no need to make him any more comfortable, this was just to please Lily.

Her and Lily hadn't found a name for their owl they could both agree on, there were pages of torn notebook paper strewn across the room with more and more discarded names. Snape seemed to think this was the most boring conversation he'd ever been a part of and had no qualms about expressing it.

"Can't you just name it Jane or something?"

Lily shook her head indignantly, "Too plain, I'm not giving our magic owl a common name," Lily flipped through Petunia's history of magic book again until she came across another name, "How about Hedwig?"

"I don't like that name."

Lily shoved some more paper onto the floor and threw herself at Petunia in a dramatic fashion, "But Tuney-"

Petunia pushed Lily's head off her leg, "I said no. It doesn't even sound like a girl's name. What about Belladonna?"

"You want to name your owl after poison?" Snape asked.

"It's not poison, it's a flower," Petunia said.

"Flowers can be poison too, genius."

Petunia got ready to chuck her notebook at him but Lily grabbed it and tossed it on the other side of the room, "Can't you two just be nice for two seconds, you're annoying me."

"No," they both choursed.

Lily groaned and flopped herself back on the bed, "New idea. Sev didn't you say names from Greece are popular in the wizarding world?"

"What about it?"

"Well what if we gave the owl a name that is Greek and is related to flowers."

"So like we'd name it after the Greek word for a flower species?" Petunia asked

"Or like the Greek goddess of flowers or something."

Petunia pondered for a second, "If it's pretty I'd be fine with it, but I don't think we have any Greek mythology books."

"My mum does," Snape said.

Petunia and Lily turned their attention to Snape. Lily was the first to speak, "Would she let us borrow it?"

"I'm sure she wouldn't mind and this could be a learning opportunity for Petunia. Bring your wand," Snape stood up and walked towards the door, but Petunia stopped him from leaving.

"Why would I need my wand?"

Snape gave her a once over, "My mum has her books locked in the basement and we need to use a spell to unlock the door."

Petunia huffed and kicked the door closed, "I'm not stealing books from under your mum's crooked nose, Snape." Snape glared at her which she returned with glee. Lily just gave her a disappointed look.

"Why would she lock those books up anyways? It's just mythology, or is there something else…" Lily frowned, "Sev-"

Snape contracted in and took a deep breath, "The mythology books are really locked up, but… I wanted to grab some of her old Hogwarts stuff okay. Neither of my parents will be home and if they find out," Snape took a pause, a shadow passed over his face, "It'll be me that'll get in trouble. You two don't have to worry."

Petunia sneered at him, "Lair, I know I can't do magic with a wand until I get to Hogwarts, I'm not stupid. Are you trying to get me kicked out or something?"

Snape rolled his eyes, "Oh I don't know if you'd just get expelled. I've heard some people have gone to Azkaban for doing under age magic, but I'm sure you don't have to worry about the soul-eating dementors. Not even they would want to kiss you," the absolute wretch raised his voice at Petunia. His face was so close to hers, that she could practically smell the grease on his face.

"Sev! Don't lie, would you-"

Lily tried to get between them but Petunia knocked her back, "Oh yeah! I bet that what your boozer dad said about you whe-"

"SHUT UP NOW!" Lily screeched. She shoved her way between them and pushed Petunia towards her bed and Snape into the wall. Her face was bright red and she bellowed, "You're both acting like fucking morons! Now we're going to go over to Severus' house and you both are going to be nice and enjoy it!"

Lily gave them both death glares before stomping off to her room for her shoes and stomping back in. She watched both them carefully as Petunia and that boy got ready. Petunia after tying her shoes took out her wand from the dresser drawer. She watched it carefully before turning, "Snape..." she started, but paused at Lily's careful eyes, "Will I get thrown out of Hogwarts if I use magic."

He looked like he wanted to say something rude but bit it back, "You don't get expelled for using underage magic until you start Hogwarts. And since my mum's a witch and the Ministry of Magic knows she lives at our house, they'll assume it's her casting spells. You should be fine."

Petunia clutched her wand more tightly now. She'd been wanting to try it out since leaving Ollivanders and if she wouldn't get found out, well then what's the harm, "Fine I'll do it, but just warning you if anything happens I'm blaming this all on you."

"Whatever," Snape muttered while grabbing one of her books ( The Standard Book of Spells Grade 1). He stuffed it in his coat, "This should have the charms we need. Let's go."

Snape fluttered his coat in a way that made him look like an overgrown bat as he descended down the hall. Lily pounced after him with Petunia close behind. It was about midday and the sun was beating hot and heavy above them. They admittedly made an odd trio as they walked off towards Spinners End; what with prim proper Petunia in a pink puffy dress, Lily in her scraped up tomboy getup, and Snape looking like he was a vampire that crawled out of a bog. Though they barely turned any heads. No one really cared much about children, especially in Spinner's End.

There were some kids playing footie in the street with a red rubber kickball and some teenagers sitting in a car snogging to loud rock music. There was the sickly smell of smoke filling the air worse here than at home that was offset by the rank river running next to the road.

Lily seemed a little off but not surprised. She stuck closer to Snape and so did Petunia, not wanting to be far with the look of the place. Snape walked forward not paying anyone mind, it was evident this was a normal mundane day for the people of Spinner's End. Snape stopped at one of the brown stoned houses with a bike laying out on the concrete slab. He took out a key and unlocked the door letting himself in first telling the girls to wait. Petunia grabbed Lily and brought her close, watching to make sure that no one tried to bother them. After a few minutes they were told to come inside.

To the right of the entrance a living room could be seen with mismatched carpets and a single couch with Snape's discarded jacket on it pushed by the window. There were no lights on inside the house, only small bits of natural lights flickered in. To the left Snape now holding a sack was flipping through the spell book he took while standing in front of a wooden door. He landed on the page he'd been looking for and handed it to Petunia.

"You've got to use that charm and we'll be able to unlock the door."

The spell was on page 10, written in thick black lettering the page read:

Alohomora, The Unlocking Charm

Spell Type: Charm

Pronunciation: ah-LOH-ho-MOR-ah

Wand Movement: Turn wand wrist clockwise, then flick upward (see figure 1a)

Origin: West Africa

Meaning: Friendly to thieves

Underneath it showed a black and white moving picture of a wizard demonstrating the wand movement with a lock box popping open after casting the charm. The book continued on page 11 explaining what the spell did and the history behind it.

Petunia looked up at Snape and asked, "So do I say the spell then do the movement or-"

"Same time. It might take a couple tries but it's a first year spell so you should get it," Snape said and walked back towards Lily, leaving the door open for her.

Petunia handed the book over to Lily and took her wand out holding it steady to the doorknob. She twisted her wrist and flicked like the diagram showed, "Alohomora!"

Nothing happened. Petunia tried to open the door, but it was still locked. Lily looked a bit disappointed but Snape wasn't surprised, "Just try it again."

Petunia took a deep breath and concentrated on the door and tried it again. And again nothing happened. She tried a few more times but the door was still locked. Petunia grounded her teeth and kicked the door with a bang, "What am I doing wrong? Isn't this just supposed to do it?"

Lily and Snape stared at the door in puzzlement, "Are you drawing up the magic?" Snape eventually asked.

"I thought the wand drawed it up for me."

Snape shook his head, "No, I think you need to do it yourself on purpose."

"Oh like when we thought about growing the flowers and they grew, maybe try something like that," Lily said.

"Yes, imagining the spell working would help, I think."

Petunia turned to the door again and huffed. She tried to imagine the magic in her moving. The waves moved from her core to her left arm and into the wand. Then she saw herself busting open the door wide open. Pointing the wand, Petunia twisted her wrist in a more violent fashion and cried out, "ALOHOMORA!"

A small clicking sound rang out. The three looked at each other and then back. Tentatively, Snape opened the door which showed a set of rickety stairs descending into utter darkness. A smile spread over his face as he merrily (or merrily for him) leapt down the steps. Both girls trailed after him, with Petunia shutting the door at Snape's order.

"You know I was expecting something bigger to happen. Like a big boom," Lily said, disappointment seeping into her voice.

"Stop whining, I don't see you doing the magic here."

A single light bulb flickered on basking the room in a dim yellow glow. Along the grey cinder block walls were books, cauldrons, brooms and all sorts of other magical objects peppering the basement. Everything was covered in copious layers of dust so bad that Lily was in the middle of a particularly bad sneezing fit. She grabbed for something to hold onto and tore away a sheet from an antique full sized mirror with brass claw feet.

"My, with all that dirt I don't even know where to start," a voice tisked from somewhere within the room. The girls jumped back and grabbed for each other, looking frantically for the extra person.

"Oh stop messing with the talking mirror and help me sort through these books," Snape was digging around like a bloodhound. Sitting next to him, Petunia started shifting through the books while Lily (after attempting to talk to the mirror) went looking in a nearby shelf.

After shifting for a bit Petunia pulled out a board with circles carved around and stuck to it was a small box with clear marbles filled with liquid, "What's this?"

Snape's face lit up, "Gobstones! I've been looking for them," He made a grab for the board, then paused for a moment, a slight frown pulling at his lips, "I wonder what it's doing down here."

"Okay but what are gobstones?" Petunia asked, dropping another set of books onto the ground puffs of dust falling around the floor.

Snape shoved it into his sack along with a few other stolen books, "A wizarding game, kinda like marbles. My mum taught me how to play when I was little and we'd do it on rainy days over tea and biscuits. I'll show you two how to play later."

After a few minutes Snape found all the books that he wanted and Petunia aided Lily in finding the mythology books. The first few shelves that Lily and Petunia could see had nothing of interest except a book on how to clean your broom properly, something about potions that involved human blood, and a hex and curses index which Snape gladly took.

Petunia was on her tiptoes trying to see at the last two shelves, when she fell back with a sigh she turned to Lily, "I can't see any higher."

A determined glint coloured Lily's eyes as she got into a running position, "Okay, Petunia spot me."

"What?"

With a great leap Lily started to scramble up the bookcase. It wobbled with her weight creaking back and forth. Lily at the top pulled a thick white book with golden text that read: Gods of Tragedy: The Complete Collection of the Greek Mythos that came tumbling down from the shelf hitting the floor hard. Jumping back with a shocked yelp, Petunia picked it up. She dusted off the cover and slipped it into Snapes bag while Lily threw herself from the shelf kicking up a cloud of dust.

"That's it then?"

"Yep," Snape said. The trio checked over the basement making sure everything was inplace; the sheet back over the mirror, books scattered in their messy disorganisation, food prints swiped away which Snape assured them was crucial, and lights off. Walking up the steps, Snape held the spell book on the page for locking charms telling Petunia what she needed to say when he froze. Lily and Petunia ran into him, nearly tripping backwards.

"What's the hold up?" Petunia hissed.

Snape was anxiously still, as though if he breathed too hard the stairs would collapse from under their feet. The boards had felt stable enough on the way down, even if they were a bit squeaky. Frowning, Petunia pressed down on Snape's board. It didn't seem loose or rickety at all, but a high whine emanated from the board. Suddenly a hot breath fanned over her face, "Shhh."

Whatever Snape was on it must have been making him hear things, because she only heard the breathing of the three of them. Maybe if she tried harder she could discern a tap, but that was surely the stairs. Lily, just as confused, whispered a question into Petunia's ear and was met with the weirdo shushing her too. She didn't know what authority he thought he had, but she was soon going to put him back into his place.

When Petunia opened her mouth to scold him, he said in a low shaky voice, "My dad's here."

Lily practically winced next to her. Any person who could elicit that response must be dangerous. Now that Snape mentioned it she could hear the thrumming of firm footsteps growing closer.

"Are you sure?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, it's definitely his."

Petunia took hold of Lily's hand, rubbing hopefully comforting circles into it, "I thought you said he wasn't going to be home!"

"He wasn't supposed to," Snape whispered back before he thought better of it. He grinded his teeth and turned forward, "I'm going up there."

A few steps squeaked when Lily left her side, "No wait. If he sees us- He said you can't play with me, he'll be so mad. We can sneak out together and get to our house. Sev, wait-"

"He'll hear the door open. This way he'll think I'm coming in and you two can get out."

Petunia frowned at the both of them, "Why can't we-"

Petunia felt Lily shift towards her, "Um… Mr. Snape's kinda scared of magic."

"Yeah… scared," Snape laughed in a bitter voice.

Petunia thought for a moment. The steps were getting louder, probably in the living room now. If Snape could get his dad somewhere else then Lily and her could get out. If they were the issue Snape should be able to get out himself and meet up later.

"Hand over the bag," Petunia said, "You get your dad into the back of the house and we can book it to ours."

A brief pause filled the air when a heavy cloth bag was pushed towards Petunia, "I'll keep the basement door cracked. Close both it and the front door as quietly as possible, Dad has real good ears. Oh and make sure you don't lose any books," Snape took slow steps up the stairs.

A flood of daylight blinded both girls, the last thing they saw before it going black was Snape's nervous face. Like he said, a sliver of light barely showed through. The creaking of the front door rang shortly followed by a slam.

"Oh Dad, you're home," Snape's voice called out loud from the hallway.

There wasn't a response aside from a grunt and more shuffling from the entrance to the living room. There was a long pause, then Snape tried again, "How was work?"

Another long pause, "What do you want?"

"So y'know how um- you wanted to teach me to play footie, ah I thought maybe we could play some today-"

"Why?"

"Why what?" Snape asked back, a little tremble in his voice.

"You know what I'm asking."

"I just thought that maybe we could spend time together or-"

"What have you done this time, boy?" When Snape didn't answer a series of muffled footsteps grew closer to the door, Mr. Snape's gravelly voice could be heard more clearly, "Come on, now."

"Um- I…"

Snape was really shit at lying, or maybe it was just to his father that he was. Either way it didn't matter because she would need a plan B with the way things were going. Logically she could probably just run with Lily and ditch Snape, but that left the unsure variable if Mr. Snape would chase them down. He'd probably be faster than her and Lily if their dad was anything to go by. Also Lily might rebuff her for leaving Snape, but all wars had their sacrifices and Lily was bound to learn that sooner or later.

And there didn't seem to be any better options at this point, staying down there would either make them late for curfew or get them caught regardless. Also there was little hope for sneaking out with Mr. Snape in probable eye view of the door. No, running was the best option.

"Lily, we're going to run," she whispered.

"No, not without Sev-"

"We can't take Snape, he'll be fine. It's not like his dad's gonna kill him-"

"You don't know that," Lily shoved Petunia back when she tried to drag her up the stairs, "I'll make a distraction- Like I'll chuck a book."

"You are not throwing any of the books I risked my backside getting! Now we're going, Snape can get himself out of trouble."

Petunia tried to pull Lily again to no avail, "Wait! Wait! Let me think," Lily pulled the bag, "Give me that game!"

"The gobstones?"

"Yeah that. I'll use the marbles. That'd at the very least trip him and then we all could use that time to run." She took out the box, tipped the marbles into her hands and got closer to the door pulling Petunia with her. Petunia could see slightly out of the door crack; Mr. Snape over that poor excuse for a distraction watching him carefully.

"Well?" Mr. Snape barked, Snape started to shake somewhat. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out except nonsense, "Severus answer me now. What did you do?"

"Nothing I- I swear."

Mr. Snape's beady eyes bore into Snape's, "Is that your final answer?" Snape nodded enthusiastically, "You know the consequences of lying."

"I'm not lying!"

Lily steadied herself with her hand against the door and Petunia got ready to run. Lily was extremely agitated, the anger came off her like palpable waves. Right before the door pushed open something crashed in the living room giving both Mr. Snape and Snape a scare.

Mr. Snape whipped his head around, "What in the devil-"

Lily took this as her que to jump out. Brandishing the marbles, she chucked them at Mr. Snape's feet and yelled, "Run!" Grabbed Snape's wrist and bolted through the front door.

A putrid yellow and red gas spilt from the marbles obscuring the entrance with Petunia and Mr. Snape was caught in the middle of it. She tried to navigate out, but wasn't able to get very far with water eyes and uncooperative lungs. The smell stung her nostrils and Petunia was positive by the time she got out that she wasn't going to be able to see. Next time she was anywhere near Lily she was going to strap her to a ceiling fan and turn it on.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Snape yelled as he 'saved' Petunia from the gas. The first gracious breath of fresh air hit Petunia with a staggering punch and she kneeled over at Lily's feet.

"No time for breathing now Tuney, we need to go," Lily ran with Petunia's legs not quite working, but the three managed to get away from the house and down the street before Mr. Snape found his way out and started ranting.

They wasted no time listening to him or for yelling at each other (which Petunia desperately wanted to). They slammed their way into the house and then into Petunia's room. With the door shut the trio collapsed onto the ground in a huff. Petunia's lungs finally started to burn and her heart that thrummed at a fast pace began to calm. Lily and Snape were in a similar condition, Lily heaving on her back and Snape pushed up against a wall trying to calm down.

"I'm so dead," he moaned, hitting the wall, which caused their owl to squawk.

Lily pushed herself up. "Sev-"

Snape frown deepened when he looked over to Lily, "Why'd you go and do that? You cocked everything up and now my dad's gonna be so pissed now and… and I-" Snape shook his head, "Mum too, she's always telling me I need to stop causing trouble."

Petunia growled. Like that mattered right now, it was far more important that they got out, but of course Snape wouldn't know priority if it hit him in the face. She went to chew him out for getting them into this mess and not having the ability to get them out, but Lily beat her to the punch.

"What was I supposed to do, let him hurt you?"

"He doesn't hurt me !" Snape yelled back.

"You looked like you're about to faint, Sev. I was scared for you!"

"It doesn't matter what you thought was going to happen, Lily. You can't just do whatever!"

Petunia stood up in front of a beat red Lily, staring down the slimeball in what she hoped was an intimidating stance, "We wouldn't have needed to run if you hadn't been born braindead!"

Snape jumped back like he'd been slapped. Instead of saying anything he looked between the both of them. "You two don't understand at all, do you?" he asked before storming out of the room with the bag of books in tow. As the door slammed shut a sharp whoosh sound followed by a resounding crack. Both girls jumped and instinctively looked towards the window, now fractured down the middle.