Chapter 2: A Dark Cloaked ManChapter Text

It was early morning of January when Lily had woken up, rubbing her eyes, her hair sticking out in different directions. She glanced at the calendar hanged upon her bedroom door, her sleepy eyes quickly became alert, she beamed and got up, jumping out of her bed, she ran out her room and loudly opened Petunia's door.

"Tuney!" squealed Lily, jumping unto Petunia's bed, bouncing from side to side, like a round balloon dancing mid-air. "Come on! Let's go!"

Lily grabbed Petunia awake and dragged her downstairs. Petunia, still groggy, yawned and looked around, her eyes slowly focusing on her surroundings as Lily held her hand. Petunia stiffened and dragged Lily back to her room.

Lily protested but Petunia put her foot down, she grabbed her hairbrush and combed Lily's hair, humming a tune to herself. A few minutes of getting ready passed by, changing clothes and fixing their hair, once everything was done and neat, Lily wasted no time, she grabbed Petunia's arms and headed back downstairs.

"Happy birthday!" Mr. And Mrs. Evans beamed at the two girls striding down their plight of stairs. It was Lily and Petunias Day, the birds were chirping loudly, and the bright sunlight was overly present over this dull town.

Lily giggled and threw herself into their parents embrace while dragging Petunia with her. Mr. Evans laughed, grabbing both girls and lifting them up, his emerald-green eyes glinting with glee.

"We'll go celebrate! Where does my two little flowers want to go and have fun?" said Mr. Evans, kissing them both in the cheeks, and putting them down.

Petunia and Lily looked toward each other, nodding their head together, they stared back at their father. Mr. Evans looked confused but smiled, wondering what they were up to, he rumpled up Lily's well brushed hair making Petunia wince, her hard work on Lily's hair, gone.

"There's something we want to ask." said Petunia, looking at her sister, nodding at her, expecting her to continue her words.

"We want to bring someone else with us!"

Mr. Evans flinched, he and Mrs. Evans exchanged looks with each other. Mrs. Evans looked worried, her brows furrowing, and her head almost shook to the side, but she caught Petunia's eyes and stopped. "Is it Severus?" Mr. Evans asked, a slight tone shift in his voice.

"Yes!" squealed Lily, staring directly into her father's eyes, she was positively beaming at her father's right guest, not noticing the worried look on his face.

Petunia looked at both of her parents, she sighed and shook her head, making both flinch and look at her. Petunia crossed her arms and looked up at the both of them, she raised one of her eyebrows, her nostrils flared up, an offended look on her face.

"Severus is a good kid." Said Petunia with a cold look on her face, her nose up high, she added, "It's been three years since he became our friend. Isn't it about time you warm up to him?" her eyes sharp as she looked at the two of them.

"That's not it! Dear! Severus is adorable, his father is just-" Mr. Evans caught himself, he glanced at his wife, Mrs. Evans sighed, her eyes full of worry.

Petunia raised her eyebrow even higher, she opened her mouth then closed it again. She remembered Mr. Snape, he was a sour looking man with a permanent scowl on his face, he reeked of alcohol even at broad daylight, and had screamed at Petunia, Lily and their father when they visited Severus. Mr. Evans angered had screamed back at him, the two had an altercation that almost resulted in a fight.

"He is foul." Petunia said absentmindedly. Mr. And Mrs. Evans looked towards each other and back at Petunia. "But that is not Severus's fault, isn't it?" tilting her head, she looked into their eyes, Lily mimicking her, also tilted her head and added, "Isn't it?'

Mr. Evans sighed, rumpling up Petunia's well kempt hair with a pat, Petunia looked up at him. "My little flower has really grown into a mature little lady, Daddy feels lonely!" said Mr. Evans, he hugged Petunia tightly, rubbing her back with a gentle pat. "Of course, it's not his fault, I'm just worried about you two being near someone like that."

"But we don't go to Sev's house!" interjected Lily, squeezing herself into their hug, "Sev doesn't want us too anyway!"

"She's right Dad." Said Petunia, squeezing out of the hug and combing her hair back into place with an ornate brush from one of her pockets.

"It's not that I'm saying no, of course we can take Severus with us." Sighed Mr. Evans. "Maybe I should go get him?"

"We already told him to ask his mother instead." Petunia said coolly.

"We'll go get him at the playground!" beamed Lily, immediately opening the door with such force that it made a loud thump. "Oops!"

"Lily..." sighed Mrs. Evans, she grabbed her daughters face in her hands, softly pinching her soft cheeks. "Don't be brash."

"Sorry~" replied Lily, laughing to herself.

Petunia straightened up, patted down her lavender dress, straightening up the wrinkled flower patterns, she stood by the door alongside Lily and her mother.

"We'll go get him then."

Petunia and Lily walked out the door hand in hand. Mr. Evans called out to them one last time. "Be careful, okay?"

The two girls arrived at the playground, and it was deserted as usual. A young boy with a slouch back, Severus sat at the swings alongside someone wearing a dark cloak, he looked worried and small in front of the cloaked man, he repeatedly averted his eyes and shook his head from side to side. Petunia flinched at the sight and stopped at her tracks, Lily looked on, she tugged at Petunias hand.

"A strange man is talking to Sev. Let's go see who that is."

"Lily, that man could be dangerous. Look at how he's completely covered." Petunia looked back at Severus and the cloaked man, his dark robe covered his entire body. Severus was repeatedly shaking his head, they haven't noticed the two of them yet.

"All the more reason to go!"

"No, go to Uncle Toms shop. Its nearby, go tell him there's an odd adult at the playground." Petunia said very quickly, pushing Lily into the shop's direction, her eyes not leaving the cloaked man and Severus. "Go."

"But-"

"No buts. Go now, I'll go to Sev."

Lily hesitated, looking at Petunia and Severus with the cloaked man, her eyes squinted slightly, she shook her head. "I want to stay with you..."

Petunia looked at her, she could see tears glistening in her eyes, Petunia sighed and replied. "Go now. I'll be fine, if something goes wrong, he's covered in something so flammable."

Lily flinched, a worried look on her face, her emerald-green eyes shifting between Petunia and the stranger, she nodded her dark red hair bobbing slightly, she knew that nothing could change Petunias mind, she quickly ran into the direction of the shop, her stride small yet quick.

Petunia watched Lily for a minute, her pale violet eyes steeled as she quickly walked up to where Severus and the cloaked man was, her legs slightly shaking every step she took.

"Sev!" screamed Petunia, hoping someone else will hear her loud voice.

Severus and the cloaked man snapped into her direction. Petunia could now clearly see the grim expression on Severus's face as he stood up, she trembled slightly, fear slightly trickling on her back.

"Come here." Commanded Petunia, her voice cold and flat as she looked at the two. Severus quickly shuffled to her side and clutched at the back of Petunia's dress, he was a head shorter than her, his thin sallow face contorted in fear and worry.

"Be careful." He whispered in her ear, his voice slightly shaking. "He's one of us."

Petunia's face hardened at his words, if this man was one of us, wouldn't it be hard to set him on fire if he tried something bad?

Petunia steeled herself at the ground where she stood and looked up at the man, trying her best to look fearless, although she knew she looked more like a terrified stray cat.

'Even stray cats can scratch out someones eyes' Petunia reassured herself, making sure her back was straightened, making herself as tall as she could.

The man's face was entirely covered by his cloak, he was standing still like a statue. Petunia could barely see a green glint in his eyes, she raised her eyebrow, she felt like his eyes were familiar.

The man spoke, "..nt Petunia?" Petunia hadn't heard him clearly, but she got the gist of her name coming from his mouth, she flinched and started backing away with Severus behind her.

The man opened his mouth again, but before words came out of his mouth, another voice took everyone's attention.

"Oy!" A loud yell could be heard from the direction where Petunia had sent Lily.

Mr. Tom was running towards their direction, his head shining at this unusually bright day, heaving as he ran, holding a metal bat with Lily on his tail. The cloaked man looked at the two arriving individuals then back at Petunia, he looked disappointed, he shook his head and walked away. He had already turned the corner into a dark alley before Mr. Tom and Lily had arrived.

"You kids! You must be more careful! Do you not watch the news! So many kids have gone missing these days! People should be on alert!" nagged Mr. Tom, his face red with rage as he looked at the corner where the man had left. Petunia thought that he would've liked to follow him and use his bat, but he didn't want to leave their side. "Come, I'll go bring you back home."

"No!" shrieked Severus, everyone looked at him with a questioning gaze. "He! He... was just asking for directions."

Petunia raised her eyebrow, looking at Severus's fidgeting appearance, she nodded her head, curious with what he had to say, she decided to play along.

"He was... I'm sorry uncle Tom, I overreacted." said Petunia, straightening up her stance and flinging back her pale blonde hair. "We can go home by ourselves, its early in the morning and a lot of people are already out so we'll be fine. And Severus is coming with us."

"Are you sure?" Uncle Tom pondered slightly, staring directly into Petunia's eyes, after a moment he relented and sighed. "Okay, just be careful. I thought I was going to have a heart attack when little Lily here came barging into my shop, crying."

"I was shocked! Sev looked like he's in trouble and Petunia-"

"I'm sorry Lily, I shouldn't have overreacted." interjected Petunia, staring directly into Lily's eyes. They looked at each other, Lily nodded, her resolute eyes squinting slightly.

"We'll get going then... Thank you Uncle Tom." bowed Petunia, the two followed suit with each saying their gratitude. Uncle Tom fumbled, his red face had returned into its normal colour beside his flushed cheeks.

"Okay, okay... Just go straight home now! Go."

The three walked on, Lily waved goodbye again while Petunia whispered in her ear. "Sev said he was like us." Lily flinched and started to walk with a faster pace, the other two matching her stride.

"So... What was he saying back there." asked Petunia, her pace slowing down.

"He... was looking for someone." replied Severus, averting his eyes, his thin brows furrowed as he spoke. "He was looking for you and Lily."

"What?!" the two girls stopped on their tracks, looking back at the alley the man had disappeared into. It was dark despite the bright sun, barely any light seems to enter it.

"Well, he knew you two by name. He didn't ask where you live but about you."

"You didn't-" Petunia's eyes shook, she didn't understand why anyone from that world would be looking for them.

"Of course, I didn't tell him anything! But he was persistent and said he knew your father."

"Dad?" asked Lily, her head tilted to the side, a dumbfounded look on her face.

"But he didn't even know his name. I kept saying I didn't know you, but then I felt it." Severus shuddered at his words, clutching his arms together as it shook slightly.

"Felt what?" Petunia had never seen Severus act like this before, besides the time they had visited him at home. She started rubbing his shoulder, consoling him.

"He looked deep within me, he knew, he broke through my mind."

"He could read minds?" asked Lily, her eyes shook as she looked at Severus, she grabbed his other arm, clutching it tightly.

"Minds aren't like books you could just read." scowled Severus.

"But you just said he could." pouted Lily.

"It's different, at that moment he knew everything about me, it felt awful." Drawled Severus, his hooked nose scrunching up. "You two better be careful."

The three arrived at the Evans's house, gliding through their brightly coloured garden front, courtesy of the flowers Mrs. Evans greatly loved.

The three opened the door to the house with a loud creak. Mr. And Mrs. Evans welcomed Severus with open arms, they glanced at their two daughters perched upon him like koalas upon a thin tree branch.

"Why are you two- Never mind, are you three ready?" Mr. Evans asked, grabbing his keys.

"Yes!" the two girls replied enthusiastically.

They sat at the back of Mr. Evans car, the three spent most of the ride whispering upon each other like quiet little birds while Mr. And Mrs. Evans loudly talked about something else.

Severus was telling them about Legilimency, it was the act of magically navigating through the many layers of a person's mind and correctly interpreting one's findings.

"Dahlia, I think it's a bit too extreme. The disappearances are far off our girl's school." Mr. Evans reasoned with his wife, his eyes not leaving the road.

"Even so! We should try looking at other possibilities. A boarding school might be a safer option." Mrs. Evans looked troubled, her hands fidgeting together.

"I know, but do you really want that?" said Mr. Evans, glancing at his wife. "We'd barely see the girls."

The two tried to reason out with each other, whether it would be a normal school or a boarding school, Petunia thought the option was obvious, Severus had told them that Hogwarts was a boarding school and that was the only place they both wanted to go to.

Petunia and Lily had decided not to tell their parents about magic, not like they haven't tried. They had told them about Hogwarts and magic, but they had only looked toward each other with worry and told them not to show their magic to other people.

"How is it not mind-reading?" whispered Lily, leaning slightly towards Severus who was sitting between her and Petunia.

"Because the mind is not like a book! It's more complex than that!" Severus whispered back, his tone slightly higher. "Mum taught me how to do it, but it's a bit hard."

"Really? Can you read my mind?"

"Not read! Its Legillimency!"

"Don't get caught up in terms too much." giggled Lily, covering her mouth with one of her hands and poking Severus with the other. "Your forehead will get more wrinkles!"

"Sev." interjected Petunia. "He really didn't ask about anything else?"

The two stopped bickering and stiffened at Petunia's question, looking towards the parents who were immersed in their own conversation and back towards Petunia.

"He really didn't. But he was a bit odd."

"You don't say." drawled Petunia.

"He sounded a bit sad when he asked about you." scowled Severus, slightly pushing Petunia. "He sounded a bit like a lost person."

The three looked toward each other, curious and afraid of what the man had wanted from them, the three then decided not to pointlessly wander about it too long, instead they once again talked about Hogwarts and how they would soon get their letter.

The day went by quickly as nothing as odd as a cloaked man looking for them happened, the three browsed upon the animals in the small zoo located in London with a slightly amused expression. They ate their cake and celebrated at a cute little café, after that they visited a museum showing about mythological entities with Severus whispering to the two if those existed in their world.

"A chimaera is real?" Lily's shocked voice was loud, gaining the attention of other people around, she quickly covered her mouth with both hands, looking even more guilty.

The other two sighed, they could see other people whispering around them, but honestly neither of them cared, they laughed at Lily's predicament and continued on with their tour, Lily slightly pouting and exaggeratingly covers her mouth from time to time.

The day ended as the three fell asleep on the back of the car, their heads laying on each other. Mr. Evans smiled, they had already arrived back at their home, he picked up his girls, the slight movement made Severus wake up from his nap.

"Mr. Evans? Are we home?"

"Oh Severus, sorry for waking you up. You can stay and sleep at our spare bedroom if you want."

"Ah! No, I'm fine! I'll just go home."

Severus looked more flustered than usual, his sallow cheeks coloured once again. He didn't want to burden the Evans couple anymore than this, since they might get sick of him, that was only his thoughts though.

"Still, it's already dark out."

Mr. Evans looked obviously worried, the boy in front of him was even smaller than his girls, even though he wore clothes that looked newer than the other ones Mr. Evans had seen before, it was still overly large for his small body.

"Really! I want to go home."

"If you insist. Come inside, I'll put the girls to bed then bring you home." replied Mr. Evans quietly, not wanting to push him further. "And I won't take a no. It's so dark, it's safer for me to take you home."

"Yes, Severus. Come inside now."

Severus looked quite happy, the Evans couple had treated him nicely all this time, although they didn't looked pleased at first, they were kinder than any other muggles Severus had met before.

Severus quietly entered the house together with the Evans family, and just like that, their day ended under the dark sky littered with stars.

It was a bright sunny weekend in Cokeworth when Petunia awoke, walking past Lily's room, she saw her messy floor lined with dirty clothes, sighing at the sight she strode down the stairs in quiet steps, and walked directly into the kitchen. Mrs. Evans was preparing breakfast, Petunia naturally started helping her out, flipping the crispy bacon on the stove and cracking a few eggs into the pan.

"Petunia, honey can you go and get the milk? Dad is still asleep." Asked Mrs. Evans, mixing pancake batter and putting some on another pan.

"Okay." replied Petunia, quickly striding to their front door.

Petunia opened the door slowly and there, in front of her, stood a strict looking tall woman, her hair slick and tied tightly, not a single strand of hair out of place, she was wearing burgundy red robes and had an air of someone you ought to not offend.

"Hello?" Petunia said cooly, covering her shock with a strained smile. "Can I help you?"

"Is this the home of the Evans Family?" the woman spoke, her voice sounded as commanding as she looked. "Can I ask for your parents?"

"Are you from Hogwarts?" Petunia asked, eagerness in her voice, the woman looked exactly like the way Severus told them how witches dressed, oddly coloured long robes that definitely stood out on a muggle neighbourhood.

The woman raised her eyebrow, a look of shock and amusement on her face while she held a long, intricate looking stick on her hand.

"How did you know?" the woman asked, suspicion on her voice. "Are you not muggleborn?"

"I have a friend who's a wizard." Petunia replied calmly. "We've been waiting ever since he told us about Hogwarts. Oh, and yes! I am muggleborn, my parents are muggles!"

The two stared at each other for a while, and only looked away from each other when Mrs. Evans, who was still wearing her slightly dirtied apron came looking for Petunia.

"Petunia? Dear? What's taking so long?" Mrs. Evans asked, wiping her hands on her apron, she stopped and stared at the two standing by the door, her eyes shook for a second at the oddly dressed woman. "Who? Can I help you?"

"Hello, you must be Mrs. Evans. May I speak with you? It is about your daughters." The woman said, very quickly and clearly.

For a moment, Mrs. Evans looked worried, but the appearance and demeanour of the tall woman gave off a serious and no-nonsense attitude that Mrs. Evans thought was respectable, she nodded, replying a quiet "Yes." And lead her to their well kept living room, sighing of relief that Lily hasn't awoken yet, so their living room still looked respectable.

"Petunia, go wake your dad up."

Petunia looked on to her mother, she had a serious expression on her face as if she realizes it had something to do with their "magic". Petunia nodded and quickly ran up the stairs and opened their parents' bedroom door with a loud thud, waking up the man sleeping soundly.

"Huh? What?" the man staggered slightly, quickly sitting up, a tired expression on his face. "Petunia dear? What's wrong?"

"Dad! Come hurry! Mum asked for you! There's someone here! Hurry!" Petunia said all of this very quickly, shaking him awake and tugging at him. "Hurry!"

Mr. Evans quickly got up and quickly put on his pajama pants. Lily, who had woken up due to the commotion, had entered the room while rubbing her eyes.

"What's happening?" said Lily with a yawn.

"Lily! They're here! Hogwarts!" Petunia said loudly, her usual calm demeanour gone as she jumped and shook excitedly.

With those exciting words from Petunia, Lily quickly perked up, her big round eyes shaking with excitement as she joined Petunia, jumping beside their sleepy father, loudly giggling at each other.

"Hogwarts?" said Mr. Evans, a confused look on his face as he stumbled putting on his pajama shirt.

The three quickly got down the stairs, with Mr. Evans being strung along by his two daughters. They arrived at the living room where Mrs. Evans was serving tea to the strict looking woman sitting on their perfectly kept sofa. Mr. Evans looked at his appearance, then back to the woman, although the woman was wearing odd robes, it gave off an expression of formality compared to his brightly coloured, flower patterned pajamas.

"Maybe I should have changed..."

"No time! Quickly! Dad!" said Lily excitedly, her hair sticking at odd places as she quickly sat him down across the tall woman.

Mrs. Evans finished with serving tea and snacks, sat beside Mr. Evans, with Lily sitting on his side and Petunia sitting on Mrs. Evans side. The four sat there quietly as the tall woman opened her mouth.

"I'll introduce myself once again. I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, head of the Gryffindor house and the transfiguration professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am here to inform you that Ms. Petunia and Lily Evans have been accepted into our school."

Professor McGonagall said all of this matter-of-factly. She continued as she handed them the Hogwarts Acceptance letter, it looked exactly like Severus had described, a letter stamped with a red coloured wax, bearing the school logo, the address written with green ink.

"As the two are raised by muggle parents, I am to show you magic for you to see and believe it properly but-" Professor McGonagall glanced at Petunia. "It seems that your daughters had already encountered someone from our world."

"Yes!" squealed Lily, grabbing onto Petunia's arms and shaking her wildly. "We have a friend! He's a wizard!"

"So that's why you two are so attached to him." Sighed Mr. Evans, he squeezed his temple and glanced at his wife who was staring dazedly at the professor in front of them. "We know that our girls were different. Ever since they were babies, odd things kept happening."

"Yes... there was that one time. I... I saw Lily here floating into Petunia's crib, I thought I was losing my mind." Added Mrs. Evans, her hands trembling slightly

Mr. And Mrs. Evans looked into each others eyes and nodded, holding each others hands, their resolute eyes looking back at the tall woman sat across them.

"We'd prefer it if you could... You know, show us."

Professor McGonagall set down her tea and took out a long ornate wooden stick, she nodded towards the family of four, who eagerly eyeing the stick she was holding. She flicked the stick with an odd pattern towards the table, and in that instant, the brown table morphed into a large pig who squealed at the same time as Lily and Mrs. Evans.

"Ho-" breathed Mr. Evans, staring at the tea set floating in his eye level. "So... Magic is really... real. And its... what our daughters does."

"If there are any other questions, please feel free to ask." Professor McGonagall sat down once again after she flicked her stick one more time and put everything back together. "Please do read your letter."

"Umm... Where are we supposed to buy all these stuffs?" asked Petunia, raising her hand like a student asking questions. "That... the stick you used, it must be the wand. Where can we get that?"

"Now that's a good question, I will help you find your way into Diagon Alley, where you could find everything, you need for school."

"Diagon alley?" asked Lily, pondering to herself. "Oh! I remembered! Sev told us about that before!"

Professor McGonagall looked curious, she looked like she pondered something but ended up shaking her head. She then opened her mouth once again.

"I am also obligated to tell you about our Statute of secrecy."

Professor McGonagall talked about how witches, wizards and their family are required to keep magic a secret to the rest of the world, it was nothing that Severus hadn't told her and Lily about.

Petunia started tuning out their conversation as it went to the specifics of how their parents should prepare. Their conversation ending with formalities, with Professor McGonagall leaving with a basket of baked goods that Mrs. Evans had baked.

The family said their goodbyes to her, Professor McGonagall stating that she would send them post by owl. The Evans family waved goodbye to her. With Petunia eager for what the future holds for them.