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Chapter Text

Mr. And Mrs. Evans of number 7 Wisteria Street were proud to say they were perfectly happy, thank you very much. They were the kind of people you’d expect to see in a romance movie. The two lovers who had reached their happily ever after, spending their days in pure bliss.

Mr. Evans practices medicine, he had earned a name for himself for his contributions in his work. The first thing you’d notice were his bright green eyes with a glint of knowledge, with his well-kept dark blonde hair, he's a charming man indeed.

Mrs. Evans was beautiful, her red hair swayed with the wind as she tends to their garden. Her chocolate brown eyes shone as she talks to others. Her husband hung on to every word she says with eyes full of pride. Mrs. Evans have been pregnant for nine months, they are expecting their first child anytime soon.

The Evans’s had everything they wanted, but Mr. Evans had a secret, and his greatest fear was for his wife to discover it. While Mr. Evans was away in France for his work, the two lovers had broken up, the long-distance had taken a toll on their relationship.

Mr. Evans had met a beautiful mysterious lady, her white gold hair complimented her striking violet eyes, her skin appeared to shine in the bright moon light whenever they took a walk at night. Mr. Evans thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, though he would never dare tell that to his wife.

“It was only a fling.” Mr. Evans had told himself, unaware of the arrival of that woman in front of his home, carrying a small bundle that was breathing quietly.

Mr. Evans woke up on an unusually bright day for the town Cokeworth. The birds were chirping merrily, bees and butterflies rested on top of the flowers Mrs. Evans was tending to at the back garden. Mr. Evans happily hugged his wife tightly from the back.

“Oh! You’ve startled me.” Giggled Mrs. Evans, her cheeks red. “Can you go grab the milk at the door? Breakfast is almost ready.”

“I’ll go get it.” replied Mr Evans, he kissed his wife on the cheek and made his way to the front door.

When he had opened the door, there instead of the bottles of milk was a basket, inside of it was a bundle of white cloth and a letter on top of it. Mr. Evans stared; he couldn’t comprehend as to why the milkman would go out of his way to wrap the milk bottles in cloth. Then he was startled, something inside the cloth had moved.

“Jasper?” Mrs. Evans had called out to him. “What’s wrong?” She had walked to the front door as Mr. Evans had been standing there for quite some time.

“Dahlia.” Mr. Evans whispered as he reached out for the letter, his words stuck on the roof of his mouth. “There’s something I must tell you.”

Dahlia stared at him, then at the bundle. She reached out and carried something wrapped in that white cloth, it was a baby that looked as if it was barely months old. A pair of pale violet eyes met her brown eyes, she stared, her small face scrunching up.

“We have a lot to talk about.” Dahlia said calmly as she carried the baby inside, still staring at her odd eyes, her small face red as a tomato as her tiny mouth trembled slightly. Dahlia hummed as she brushes her hands across her small face, cooing the infant as it started to cry.

~

Wrapped around in cloth, a small hand reaches out to a woman holding her face tenderly. The woman was beautiful, her strange violet eyes were red with tears as if she had been crying for days. Her white gold hair covered half of her face as it laid there like curtains above.

“I’m sorry.” Her beautiful voice sounded like a sirens song echoed through the cold wind. Slowly fading through the brightening sky.

“Tuney!” shrieked a loud voice, her eyes full of excitement as she slightly trembled, her arms together as she looked on her sister. “You said we’d play early at the playground!”

The girl looked around the room waving away the girls red hair and glancing at her bright green eyes, waking up from a dream which she couldn’t quite remember. She squeezed her temple, thinking hard, she felt like whatever the dream was, it was important.

“Tuney? Are you alright? Did I shake you too much? Why are you holding your head? I’m sorry!”

“I’m fine.” the girl said, frowning while rubbing her head. “Just give me a minute.”

“Mum gave us money for sweets, come quickly!” The red-haired girl said very quickly as she leapt from her feet running out of sight.

The girl, Petunia Evans collected herself after her afternoon nap. Although she thinks she’s too old for afternoon naps their mother insists on making them rest at this time of the day. She straightened her rumpled skirt as she stood up, scrunching her nose. She rummaged through the top of her bedside desk, grabbing a silver necklace with an ornate ring on it and putting it on her long thin neck. She grabbed the bronze coloured pocket watch lying on the top of a pile of books and shove it in her pockets.

Petunia slowly walked down the plight of stairs, the wooden boards creaked ever so slightly with her light steps, she was taking her sweet time so Lily can have time to calm down. Seeing Lily speaking with their mother at the end of the stairs Petunia quickly strode down.

“Mum, we’ll be fine.” Petunia said quickly as she saw the worried look on her mothers face.

“Oh, Petunia... Make sure to look after your sister,” she said grabbing Petunia’s shoulder and glancing at Lily, “She always gets too rowdy.”

“Mum!” Lily yells in protest.

“See?”

“Its fine mum, I’ll look after her.” Petunia replied calmly as her mother leaned in to kiss her and Lily’s’ cheeks.

“Never talk to strangers, okay?”

“Okay!” “Bye mum!” both girls replied quickly as they run off.

Lily handed Petunia their sweets money, it was a couple of coins, they walk through the doors of the local sweets shop, a sour looking man was sitting across the counter, his brows furrowed and nose scrunched as if he had smelled something off, his eyes met theirs and immediately his sour face became filled with a bright smile.

“Uncle Tom! I want my sweets!” Lily burst through the shop door walking in with her head up high, followed by her sister Petunia walking swiftly.

The shop was small and cramped, a few people were looking around the collection of colourful sweets displayed in small jars. Mr. Tom whose balding head shone and his round stomach protruded while standing upright at the counter, nodded goodbye to a customer wearing an odd dark hood.

“Hello uncle Tom, we want the usual.” Petunia said glancing at the hooded figure leaving the store.

“You two oddballs are right on time as usual.” Uncle Tom smiled and handed them two chocolate bars. “And here, it’s on the house!” he says as he handed the two additional lollies, laughing to himself while looking at Lily swirling around, eyes darting from corner to corner.

“Thank you! Is Ms. Fritz here today?” asked Petunia, glancing at the man in cloak leaving the store as she and Lily tiptoed to look over the counter.

“I’m afraid not today as the poor cat is still taking care of her babies.”

“Oh... You seem busy!” Lily said looking around the other customers. “We’d get going then! Bye uncle Tom! Thank you for the lollys!” she exclaimed, striding out of the shop without looking back.

“Lily!” shrieked Petunia, Lily stopped at her tracks and stood at the wide open door, her brows furrowed. Petunia ignored her and faced the shopkeeper. “That man... Was there something wrong?” Petunia asked, staring directly into Mr. Toms eyes.

“Oh, it was nothing.” Replied Mr. Tom coldly. “He’s a beggar, I believe. He tried buying with some odd looking coins, some of it was even gold! Bet it was fake though.” He said, his eyes grim as he looked out through the open door.

“Oh.. . I see.” Drawled Petunia, her fingers clutching the ornate ring on her neck. “Goodbye then... Thank you for the sweets, Uncle Tom.” Petunia walked to her sister, looking back and waving goodbye.

“Be careful out there! And don’t talk to strangers!” Uncle Tom waved goodbye as the two left the store. Tending to the other customers.

Petunia and Lily arrived in a deserted playground, a single huge chimney dominated the distant skyline. The two girls immediately sat at the swings taking out their chocolate bars and biting into it with leisure.

Petunia was staring across the street, it was as deserted as the playground they are in, a large lonesome lamppost stood there, looking old and worn, its green paint chipping off as the light from its lamp flickered, her eyes darted from the lamp post to her pocket watch, her hand clutched against the ring tied to her neck.

“Tuney? Are you looking for the ghost again?”

“She’s not a ghost Lily.” Replied Petunia quickly, as if she had heard the same question before.

“But you always say there’s someone there that only you can see.”

“No, she was there... She just disappears when someone else looks”

“Just tell me when she’s there!” Lily mumbled through words as she stuffs her pink cheeks with chocolate, looking like a small hamster. Petunia giggled at the sight, pulling out her hanky and wiping the chocolate off Lily’s cheek.

The two grew quiet as they finish their chocolate bars and started eating their lolly’s, there wasn’t much movement at the deserted place except the two girls and the bushes nearby rustling by itself when there is no wind.

Petunia was staring with dazed eyes across the road swinging slightly as her sister giggles grew louder and louder. She glanced at her sister and realized that she was swinging higher and higher, her dark red hair flowing wildly at the wind she had created through her swings and her loud giggles reverberating though the air.

"Lily, don't do it!" Petunia commanded, her loud voice echoing through the empty space.

But then it was already too late, Lily had let go of the swing at the very height of its arc and flown into the air, quite literally flown, launched herself skyward with a great shout of laughter, and instead of crumpling on the playground asphalt, she soared like a trapeze artist through the air, staying up far too long, landing far too lightly.

“Lily!" Petunia shrieked at her sister.

Petunia stopped her swing by dragging the heels of her sandals on the ground, making a crunching, grinding sound, then leapt up, hands on hips, her eyes filled with rage and worry.

"It’s dangerous!"

"But I'm fine," said Lily, still giggling as she ran. "Tuney, look at this. Watch what I can do now."

“But still...”

Petunia glanced around. The playground was deserted apart from themselves unaware of the slight shuffling of the bushes nearby. She hesitated but decided to follow her sister.

Lily had picked up a fallen flower from a bush at the side. Petunia advanced, evidently torn between curiosity and worry. Lily waited until Petunia was near enough to have a clear view, then held out her palm.

The flower sat there, opening and closing its petals, like some bizarre, many-lipped oyster.

"Odd." whispered Petunia.

"Isn’t it?” said Lily, as she handed the blossom to Petunia’s palm.

"Watch this." said Petunia, her eyes then followed the flower as it flew up the sky, like a petal flowing up a water stream, both of the girls’ eyes lingered upon it as it bursts into flames, falling into the ground in ashen red. "I wonder how we do it?" she added, curiosity in her voice.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" a skinny boy with overlarge clothes had jumped out from behind the bushes. Petunia flinched and ushered Lily behind her. The boy seemed to regret his appearance. A dull flush of colour mounted his sallow cheeks as he looked at both girls.

"What's obvious?" asked Lily.

The boy had an air of nervous excitement. With a glance at Petunia, shielding Lily with her arms, he lowered his voice and said, "I know what you two are."

"What do you mean?" asked Petunia, wary in her eyes.

"You...you're witches." whispered the boy.

Both girls looked affronted.

"That's not a very nice thing to say to somebody!"

Lily turned as Petunia let go, nose in the air, and marched off toward the swings, Petunia lingered but followed soon.

"No!" said the boy. He was highly coloured now. He flapped after the girls, looking ludicrously bat like.

The sisters considered him, united in disapproval, both holding on to one of the swing poles, as though it was the safe place in tag.

"You are," said the boy to both girls. "You are witches. I've been watching you two for a while. But there's nothing wrong with that. My mum's one, and I'm a wizard."

Petunia stared at the boy, a sense of realization in her eyes as if it made sense, what the boy was saying. But she didn’t show it, her eyes steeled and her face hardened.

"Wizard?” she asked, her courage returned now that she had recovered from the shock of his unexpected appearance. "I know who you are. You're that Snape boy. They live down Spinner's End by the river," she told Lily, and it was evident from her tone that she considered the address a poor recommendation. "Why have you been spying on us?"

"Haven't been spying," said the boy, hot and uncomfortable and dirty-haired in the bright sunlight. "I was just watching.” He said averting his eyes from Petunias dagger-like stare.

Though Petunia was evidently still curious she was reminded of what their parents said about the people from Spinner’s End. She stared down at the boy, his ears grew redder as he shuffled where he stood.

"Tuney, come on, lets go." Lily said quietly. Petunia continued to stare but followed her sister at once, glaring at Snape as she left. He stood watching them as they marched through the playground gate...

~

The next day Petunia couldn’t get the boy out of her mind, she knew that Lily felt the same as she kept glancing outside ever since they woke up. Perking up like a squirrel every time a bush shuffles through the wind, her head twitching at every sound.

“Lily.” Petunia called out to her sister, poking her on her round pink cheeks. “Let’s go back to the playground after school.”

Lily stared at her sister, questioning her with her green eyes. “Should we tell mum, about that boy?”

“No need, you know how Mum talks about people from down spinners end. It’ll be better not to... for now” replied Petunia, her arms crossing as her eyes glazed for a moment.

“Okay! Let’s go to school quickly!” replied Lily, quickly running to the door, expecting that arriving to school early would make the day end quickly.

“Don’t run.” Petunia said calmly, grabbing hold of her sisters’ hand and walking out the unusually bright morning.

~

The two sisters arrived at the playground, hand in hand they walked swiftly. The place was nearly deserted if it weren’t for the lone boy stiffly sat on one of the swings, he wore the same overlarge clothes and he had a look of longing as he stared at the two girls approaching him.

Petunia stood in front of him with Lily right behind her, tugging at the hem of her shirt. Her pale eyes met his sullen eyes, unwavering she spoke.

“You said we were witches?”

The boy’s voice trembled with excitement as he replied.

“Do you believe me?”

“Well... since you seem confident about it.” Petunia paused looking bemused at the idea. Her eyes narrowed, eyeing his appearance. “You might as well spill it out.”

“Tuney, at least say it nicely!”

“Don’t want to.” Petunia replied quickly, staring right into the boys’ eyes. He flinched and she continued “You were spying on us.”

“I... I wasn’t.” the boy seemed embarrassed as his sallow cheeks became full with colour, looking down and scraping his worn out shoe at the ground.

“Mum told us. We shouldn’t talk to anyone from spinners end.” Petunia stopped, her eyes looked dazed. “But I think I can handle you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean...”

“Its two against one.” Petunia said firmly as she cut him off eyeing him from head to toe. “Mums a bit of a worrywart you see.”

“That’s not very nice Tuney.” Lily said cutting her off and stepping up front, a worried smile on her face. “My name is Lily! Lily Evans! And this is my sister Petunia!” She beamed reaching out her hand to the boy who looked smaller than her.

The boy wiped his hand on his large coat seemingly ashamed, but Lily paid no mind as she grabbed the boys’ hand tightly smiling brightly.

“My name’s Severus, Severus Snape.”

Petunia also reached her hand out grabbing Severus hand and quickly letting go. Her nose wrinkled at his greasy hands but had still held it tightly.

“Nice to meet you Severus! Your names a bit long! Can I give you a nickname? How about Sev?” Lily said all this in one breath and without hearing his reply she added. “Sev, can you tell us about witches and wizards?”

“No.” Petunia interjected grabbing Lily’s shoulder, her eyes falling back on the boy smaller than her. “What makes you think we’re witches.”

Severus contemplated for a while, he looked up, staring them directly in the eyes and slowly answered. “I’ve been watching for a while.” He flinched at his own words, glancing at Petunia’s eyes that frowned at the word watching. “You’ve been doing magic. Floating, making flowers move... I saw you weeks ago.” He glanced at Petunia. “You set a girls teddy bear on fire when she pulled on your sisters hair.”

“Thats...” Petunias voice faded remembering that annoying girl who constantly picked on the two of them. The bear was her priced possession as it was a gift from her father who was away. She remembered how she wanted to burn the thing to teach her a lesson and as if on command, it suddenly burst into flames while it was still on the girls arms.

“Tuney!” Lily called out to her sister, shocked. “You did that? She burned her hand...”

“I don’t know...” said Petunia, her eyes filling with tears at the thought of harming the girl, but deep down she thought she deserved it. “I don’t know how to control it.”

“Don’t worry.” Said Severus, inserting himself back into the conversation. “You’ll learn how to control it once we go to school!”

“School?!!” “School?” Both girls looked at Severus their eyes shining with curiosity and excitement.

“Yes...” His face flushed with the colour red once again as he looked at the girls’ eyes staring right at him, eager to hear more. “Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry, its where we’ll be going when we turn eleven.”

“Tell us more!” said Lily, grabbing hold of Severus, dragging him up a slope. “Quickly!!” she shrieked as Petunia followed behind, although she was a bit sceptical, a part of her wanted to strongly believe the boys words.

The three talked throughout the day eagerly asking Severus everything about this magical world as the sky slowly darkened as night came.

“I can’t wait to get our letter!” Lily said, her eyes staring up the stars in the sky, pointing upward, trying to reach the twinkling stars.

“Oh no!” Petunia yelped, leaping up from the grassy floor. “Its really dark now! We need to go! Hurry Lily! Bye Severus!”

“Bye Sev! See you tomorrow!” said Lily, waving goodbye, her feet quick as she ran after her sister.

The boy sat up, looking at the two girls silhouette slowly fading away, waving his hand goodbye. A bit of sadness on his face but smiling, his head filled with the thought of his new friends.

~

“Where have you been?!” Mrs. Evans face was red with anger as she stared at the two girls in front of her, her arms were crossed and her brows furrowed with rage. “Can’t you see how dark it is outside? Petunia, I thought I told you to take care of your sister?”

“Sorry, Mum... we were having so much fun we didn’t notice the time...”

“Mum! It’s not Tuney’s fault! I also didn’t notice the time too!”

“Quiet Lily.” Mrs. Evans said firmly. She looked at her two daughters faces and sighed. “This is my last warning to you two, if you come home again at this time of the day you’ll never be allowed to go to that playground again, do you understand?”

“Yes...” “Yes Mum.”

“Petunia, be more mindful as you are the older one what if something happened to your sister?” Mrs. Evans said flatly, looking down at her eldest child.

“I’m sorry...”

“Go wash up, the two of you... Dinners ready and your dad is about to arrive.”

The two hurried down the hall to clean up, the two shared the stream of water coming from the faucet, Lily squeeled as she splashed the water across Petunias face and shirt.

“Ah! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!” said Lily, worry in her tone, fussing over her sister who is standing over there, a blank look on her face.

“It’s fine. I’ll go change, you go on.”

Lily quickly sat at the dining table while Petunia went upstairs. After a while the front door opened and a man with dark blonde hair entered the room. His face looked tired as the dark circles under his eyes where huge and swollen. He announced himself with a bright smile on his face opening his arms wide open.

“I’m home!”

“Daddy!” Lily yelped and ran to her father, smothering him with a hug.

“I miss you Lils!”

“Jasper, welcome back.” Mrs. Evans had arrived at their side and received a peck on the lips as she smiled. “How was work?’

“Good, not much happened.” Replied Mr. Evans, hiding his tired voice with a smile.

The two spoke for a while until they arrived at the dining table.

“Where’s Petunia?” asked Mr. Evans, glancing around the room looking for a pale blonde girl, his neck craning around every inch.

“She just went upstairs, Petunia! Dear, come downstairs! Your father’s home!” Mrs. Evans yelled up the stairs expecting her to come down fast as she missed her father dearly, there was no reply, they looked at each other then Mr. Evans nodded.

“I’ll go get her.” Said Mr. Evans, as he started slowly striding up the stairs, Mrs. Evans stopped him, taking off his coat and patting him on the back, Mr. Evans laughed, kissing her on the cheek.

“Ah! Me too!” screamed Lily, tugging at Mr. Evans shirt.

“Okay! Okay!” laughed Mr. Evans.

While all of this was happening downstairs, Petunia was in a trance. She was looking far out across the street, she had noticed her father go inside their house, but then her eyes fell on someone else. There, was the wispy looking woman with long white gold hair she always sees on this day.

But there was something different about her this time, something odd. That woman was floating, Petunia was sure of it as she followed the woman’s silhouette gliding from one side of the street to the other. And she wasn’t just floating, Petunia let out a tiny scream as the woman glided under a streetlight, she couldn’t believe it, that woman, she was transparent.

Petunia felt odd as the initial shock went away, she thought she ought to fear what she was seeing and yet she felt calm, as if that woman did not meant harm. She peered through the window further and further out, her hand slipped and she fell out of the window, she let out a squeal but instead of falling down flat on the grassy floor underneath, she floated down, like a feather carried by the wind.

Petunia felt the soft grass as she landed face first, the floor was cold, so was the air of the night. She stood up and she was not in pain as she patted herself down, she then looked up, the woman was looking straight at her from across the street. The woman sobbed, covering her face with both hands.

Petunia felt sorry for the woman and approached her slowly, crossing the road and feeling the cold asphalt floor underneath her uncovered feet. “Are you alright?” asked Petunia, her hand clutching the ring on her neck.

The woman looked up at her, her eyes swollen with tears. Her hand stretched her way as if she’s trying to reach out for a hug, her hand limply reached out to Petunia. Petunia instinctively reached out and tried to hold her hand, but there was nothing to hold, instead it felt as if she had plunged her hand in a bucket of ice water.

{I’m sorry.} The woman’s beautiful voice echoed in Petunia’s ears, her hand glazing through Petunias face. Petunia shuddered, the woman flinched, her eyes lingering at Petunias face. Then as suddenly as she had always arrived behind the lamppost, Petunia remembered, she disappeared like before, but this time Petunia saw her falling under the ground.

Petunia stood there, staring at the ground where the woman had disappeared. Sitting down, her hand shivered as she touched the cold cement floor. Petunia looked around, there was no light aside from a few lamppost and the light coming out of other peoples houses. Petunia walked back up their house, her feet grazing through the ticklish grassy floor, her knees gave in as entire body shook, falling on the grass, Petunia sat and held her head across her arms.

“Pet?!” A scream of a man above snapped Petunia out of her trance. She looked up to see her father leaning out of the window. “What are you doing down there?! How did you get there!?” Half of his body was out of the window, his face twisted with worry staring at his daughter sprawled on the grassy floor.

Mr. Evans screams were heard by his wife, she bursts through the door her eyes falling on her daughters dishevelled appearance. She shrieked, running to her daughters’ aid as she quickly knelt on the cold grassy floor.

“Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere? My baby.” Cried Mrs. Evans, her hands inspecting every inch of Petunias body. She sobbed as she hugged Petunia, cradling her in her arms.

“Mum... I’m fine.”

“Really? I swear I saw you go upstairs! Did you fall? Does it hurt anywhere? I - “

“Pet!” Mr. Evans quickly ran to their side followed by Lily on his tail. “Did you fall? Let’s take you to the hospital!” said Mr Evans, grabbing Petunia in his arms, his eyes falling on Petunia’s scratched knees.

“Thats! I’m fine! See!” quickly replied Petunia, she quickly waved her arm around. “Tell them Lily! I’m fine!”

“Did you fly!” said Lily, mimicking her sister waving her arm frantically, giggling to herself.

The two adult Evans’s shared a confused look with each other. Mr. Evans coughed, “Is this one of your games? Just how did you get down without falling from upstairs?” he asked, more of a question to himself rather than with Petunia.

Mr. Evans looked at his wife, he could see her confused worried look as she shook her head. He looked at Petunia, his eyes furrowed as he carried her back inside, his wife holding Lily’s hands following behind him.

“Tell me if something hurts, I’ll also check if there’s any injuries.”

“Shouldn’t we take her to the hospital?”

“Mum! Really, I’m fine!”

“She flew with magic!”

“Maybe we should.” said Mr. Evans, smiling at Lily’s giggling at her own words.

As all four headed inside their home, a wispy beautiful woman looked from afar with a smile on her face, her transparent body slowly falling to pieces, like flower petals being cradled by the wind.

~

Chapter 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.

Chapter Text

“Tuney! Wake up!”

Petunia awoke with a jolt, it took time for her to know where she was, her eyes met with Lily’s bright green eyes that shook with excitement, light flickered on her small round face.

“Lily.” Petunia groaned, pushed Lily away, though this barely made any distance between them, as they were cramped in the back of their car, like sardines, Lily sat back, still touching shoulders.

Petunia looked beside Lily, a thin, sallow-faced sour looking woman who resembled Severus in every way, who sat right beside her. The woman stared back at her, she had an expression as if she had smelled something bad other than the dingy old clothes that she was wearing.

Petunia remembered the words she first asked the woman. “Why are you blaming Severus?” She had asked her. Their eyes met and she immediately averted her eyes, Severus stared back at his mother and Petunia awkwardly, being unusually quiet than normal.

“We’re here!” Squealed Lily, her entire body shaking as she looked on outside the car’s window. “How did you fall asleep?! I’ve been shaking all this time!”

Six people exited the car, Mr. And Mrs. Evans looked around, a confused expression on their face, their eyes gliding from one shop to another, yet never falling onto a tiny, grubby looking pub that stuck out like a sore thumb. Mrs. Snape looked onto the pub, her eyes glancing at everyone.

Petunia stared back at her, she had nodded towards that dark, shabby looking place, it looked very run down, not the magical store Petunia had imagined, which would’ve mostly consisted of a pretty cottage covered in moving plants.

“Excuse me? Mrs. Snape? Is it one of the stores here?” asked Mr. Evans, expecting an answer from the sallow-faced woman he stood there awkwardly waving his hands.

Instead of answering, the woman, Mrs. Snape nudged Severus who was standing beside her. Her thin hands lightly grabbed onto Severus’s shoulders as Severus cleared his throat.

“Right here.” Said Severus, his voice slightly proud as he spoke and pointed at the tiny pub. “The Leaky Cauldron.”

Lily had quickly grabbed their parents' arms and followed Mrs. Snape who was guiding Severus inside. Petunia stared at the tiny pub for a bit, her hands fiddling with the ring hung on her neck, her eyes glanced away for a moment, and fell onto an alley on her far right.

There, in the shadows of the alley, Petunia could barely make out an outline of someone wearing a dark cloak, helping whoever it was to blend into the darkness.

Petunia flinched, she was reminded of that day, a dark cloaked man lurking in a dark alley was the last thing she wanted to see. She quickly shook her head and walked inside the dingy old pub.

The inside was as unremarkable as its outside, Petunia thought to herself. The place was as old as the outside, dark and shabby. Petunia could see a few oddly dressed people drinking mugs of beer, laughing loudly at whatever the wizard was hiding in his coat.

Isn't it broad daylight? Petunia couldn’t help but stare over at the group, it wasn’t what she was expecting to see first when she entered the wizarding world.

The men pointed and laughed at the man who started turning red, redder, redder than what a normal person could, the two in front of him laughed even louder than before.

Seeing this, Mr. Evans squeezed everyone together, making all four of them walk awkwardly behind Severus and his mother. Then, a man whose head was balding, a few strands of hair holding on, slammed two more mugs in front of them, while the third mug quietly floated down the table.

“Now, you three better quiet down! The other customers had started complaining.”

“Come on! Tom!”

“Shh!”

Mr. Tom’s words were final, the three looked down and continued talking, though much quieter than before. Mr. Tom smiled, his black eyes falling towards the Evans’s huddled tightly together.

“Muggle family, eh?”

“Ah! Yes!” said Mr. Evans, glancing towards Mrs. Snape who had stopped to talk to an old woman wearing an odd old hat behind the counter. “We’re just waiting for a friend to continue towards the shops.”

“First time?”

“Yes... Our girls are starting at Hogwarts this year.” Mr. Evans nudged Petunia and Lily forward. Petunia decided to give a curtsy, it made her embarrassed but Lily followed her example and did the same.

“Hello there! My name is Tom, I’m the innkeeper here!”

“Hello! I saw you float that mug!”

Lily shouted, her words eager as it could get, she pointed straight at the table where the three men were having their funny conversation. The three men looked up, waving at them, they grinned as they pointed towards their mugs and made them float, bobbing in the air, like balloons stuck in a small space.

“That’s amazing! We could do that too! But not as easily!”

“Lily, don’t shout.”

“But Tuney!”

Petunia stared at Lily, she could see her face, red with excitement, she trembled as if she would pop anytime. Petunia sighed, pressing her cold hands to Lily‘s cheeks, making her wince and wrinkle her nose.

Mr. Evans sniggered at the sight, he patted the two girls head, their hair messy once more. His shoulder relaxed, seeing the two act like they usually do made him more comfortable. He held his wife’s hand that was clutching upon his shoulder and smiled at her.

The two shared a look towards each other, only Petunia paid attention to them as Lily was busy chatting with the innkeeper. Petunia could see, the two that were having second thoughts are now slowly changing their mind.

“Let’s go.”

Mrs. Snape’s voice ended the conversation happening between the Evans’s, the innkeeper and the three wizards. They all nodded and said their goodbyes towards each other, Mr. Tom waving his last goodbye, the group exited towards the door at the back.

All of them stood in a small, walled courtyard where flowers littered the green ground, vines covered the red brick walls. A stone path which led to the very back of the place where an old wooden stool stood, leaning in the middle of the wall.

Petunia stared at the place, it was what she would’ve imagined an entrance to a magical world would’ve looked like, though it was smaller, Petunia couldn’t help but smile, she could’ve sworn the flowers made a humming tune, harmonizing with each other.

Everyone stood quietly gaping at the beautiful tune coming from the strangely shining flowers. While Mrs. Snape stood at the front of the stool, a long stick in her hand, with it she tapped the brick wall three times.

The brick she had tapped quivered, wriggled and there, a small hole appeared, it got bigger and bigger, forming an archway that welcomed them to a buzzling wide street, each side were shops filled with every odd thing one can imagine.

The sun burned brightly, illuminating the coloured outlandish robes most of the witches and wizards were wearing. A stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop blinded them.

“This is it... Diagon Alley.” Severus with an air of importance, dramatically welcomed the Evans’s towards the place.

Lily giggled at the sight till she pointed eagerly at the shop. Reciting the words from the letter they had read multiple times.

“One cauldron, pewter, standard size two! Come on Sev!”

“Ah! Wai-!”

Before Severus could protest, Lily had uprooted him from his stance, quickly grabbed him by the arm and tried to drag him inside the shop, but was stopped by Mr. Evans.

“Now, Lily. We need money for that.”

Mr. Evans looked towards Mrs. Snape, she nodded and started leading them towards an imposing marble white building that towered over the neighbouring shops.

“Right there... Gringotts, the wizarding bank! We can exchange your muggle money for wizard money.” Explained Severus as he pointed at the white building.

The group arrived at its burnished bronze door where someone, a head shorter than even Severus stood beside, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, he bowed as they headed inside.

The short man was short and fair-skinned. He had very long fingers and feet, dome-shaped bald head, and had pointed ears and nose. He nodded and welcomed them in with a small smile.

“Goblins.” Whispered Severus, the three children had now huddled together while the adults led them in. “I’ve told you about them before, they run the bank.”

Lily nodded at his words, she pointed towards the silver door that was now facing them and started reciting the words engraved upon them.

“Enter, stranger, but take heed
Of what awaits the sin of greed
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay most dearly in their turn.
So if you seek beneath our floors
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there!”

“That’s quite the warning.” Petunia thought. Glaring at the boldly engraved letters.

The Goblins were very protective of their treasure, Severus had explained to them, it was to the point of keeping an entire dragon deep inside the bank or so Severus heard.

Entering through the silver door, they were greeted by the sight of even more Goblins, more witches and wizards conversing with them, some leaving through the multiple doors leading out of the hall.

“Is it true? A dragon resides deep inside?” asked Petunia absentmindedly. Staring at the goblin weighing a pile of emeralds as large as quail eggs with brass scales.

“I’ve told you. That was just a well known rumour.”

“There’s no smoke without a fire!” Lily replied indignantly, “Maybe we can go see it when we go down your vault!”

Severus had turned red at this, he averted Lily’s eyes and became quiet. Petunia, noticing this, tapped Lily’s shoulder and shook her head. Lily covered her mouth, she had also turned quiet.

“Only Mrs. Snape is going down to their vault.” Petunia had pointed out Mrs. Snape following a Goblin through one of the many doors leading out of the hall. “Mum and Dad are still exchanging money over there.”

“Ah, yeah...”

The air between the three had turned quiet, which didn’t last long as Lily squealed once again and pointed towards someone towering over both witches, wizards and Goblins alike.

“Is that?”

“A giant.” Severus replied matter-of-factly. “I don’t think that’s a full giant though. They are usually more than twenty feet tall.”

“Twenty!? You didn’t say that before!”

“I just remembered.”

Petunia could see the slight pink on his ears, she knew Severus had been reading more and more books to tell them more about their magical world. She had caught him last time, reading a pile of books that he immediately tried to hide under a bush when she spoke up.

Severus was trying his best to learn more, so he would have something new to talk about every time they met.

Petunia giggled at the memory, making the other two shift their focus towards her. Their eyebrows raised as they huddled even closer than before.

“What’s funny?” Lily asked quietly.

“Care to share?” followed Severus.

“Don’t want to. It’s my memory.” Petunia sniggered.

The three continued to bicker till Mr. and Mrs. Evans were finished exchanging money. They carried two heavy looking pouches that they immediately put inside Mrs. Evans purse. Mrs. Snape had also arrived back carrying a lighter pouch on her hand that she had immediately tucked inside her purse.

The group left the building and stood at the side of the road. Mr. Evans leaned towards the children, closer to their height, he smiled.

“So? Which one should we get first?”

The three smiled towards each other, they all knew what they wanted the most out of the list they were given. They all nodded, light in their eyes as they looked back at Mr. Evans.

“A wand!” The three had said simultaneously, Lily’s voice loud and clear, Severus was quiet yet eager, Petunia was calm and reserved, yet a slight shaking in her tone.

Mrs. Snape led them towards a narrow, shabby looking shop, the peeling gold letter over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand laid on a faded purple cushion on a dusty window.

Mrs. Evans looked towards the place, a disapproving look on her face. Mr. Evans, noticing this, held her hand that was clutched in his arms. He sniggered and playfully pushed everyone inside.

With a ring of a bell, Petunia’s stomach suddenly felt full, she became unnecessarily conscious of her dry throat. A single spindly chair stood on the side where Mrs. Evans sat to wait after trying and failing to give the seat to Mrs. Snape.

The inside was even more cramped than it looked like outside, stacks of narrow boxes reached the high ceiling, making a wall of boxes that looked like it was stabilized through magic. A man with pale silvery eyes greeted them with a smile.

“Good morning.”

The old man’s soft voice startled everyone but Petunia who had been staring at him for a while. The three adults behind them had quickly stopped their conversation. Mr. And Mrs. Evans stood beside the children, Petunia could see the sweat on her father's forehead and her mother's fidgeting hands.

“Hello... I’m Evans, Jasper Evans. This is my wife Dahlia and these are our daughters, they’ll be starting at Hogwarts soon. And these are our friends.”

Mr. Evans said all of this very quickly, obviously unnerved by the current situation, he still stood forward, glancing towards Mrs. Snape who once again remained quiet and unmoving.

“Ah! New to our world, aren’t you?”

The old man concluded, he stared directly towards the Evans family, his eyes quickly glanced towards Mrs. Snape then towards Severus.

“This must be the young Prince.”

“Prince?” questioned Lily, her eyes seemingly expectant.

“That’s my mom’s maiden name, Lily.” Severus replied dully.

“Oh...”

Petunia giggled at the two, being poked by Lily, she looked around once more, meeting eyes with the old man, who had come closer than before, wide pale eyes shining like a bright full moon. A knowing glint in his eyes seemed to pass, Petunia was sure he recognized her though she didn’t know why or how.

“Should we start with the eldest?” The old man had pulled out a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. “Well now- Ms. Evans. Which one is your wand arm?”

“I’m right-handed.” said Petunia flatly.

“Hold out your arm.” He measured Petunia shoulder to finger, wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, wrist to armpit then round her head. He blabbed about how no two wands are the same.

Petunia realized that the tape measure had started measuring her nostrils, annoyed, she tried to swat the tape away.

“That will do.” Mr. Ollivander approached her with a long narrow maroon box in his hand. “Right then, Ms. Evans. Try this one. Aspen and dragon heartstring. 10 inches. Nice and whippy. Just take it and give it a wave.”

Petunia glared at the stick on Mr. Ollivander’s hand, its Ivory colour gave off a stylish appearance. She grabbed the wand feeling unsure she waved it for a second before it was quickly grabbed by Mr. Ollivander.

“No! How about this! Silver Lime, Unicorn hair, 13 inches. Quite springy.”

Petunia tried to wave the wand once again before it too was quickly grabbed by Mr. Ollivander. Her eyes looked towards Lily and Severus who was too busy playing rock, paper and scissors to notice her gaze.

“Red Oak and dragon heartstring, 11 inches. Swishy!”

Petunia tried, over and over again, till a pile of boxes had almost reached the ceiling. Each box made her heart beat faster and faster. Sweat was starting to fall from her forehead as she got more anxious by the minute.

What if I don’t get picked? Petunia couldn’t help but have doubts, her mood was getting worse by the minute. When she looked up, she could see Mr. Ollivander, who was contrary to herself, was getting more and more excited every time a wand was added to the pile.

“Tricky customer eh? The wand chooses the wizard after all. But not to worry! We will find a perfect match.”

“What if I don’t get picked?”

Petunia’s words slipped out, shocked, she quickly covered her mouth, glancing back to where her parents, Lily and the Snape’s were. Their troubled expressions did not help with her worsening mood.

“Not to worry! We will find a perfect match! No such thing as a witch that won’t be chosen by a trusty wand.”

Petunia pondered, she quietly thought to herself that she might be the first one to become not chosen by any wand at all.

“Here. Hawthorn and Phoenix feather. 12 and 1/2 inches. Delicate yet feisty.”

Petunia held the wand, warmth suddenly rushed through her fingers. She held it closer, swishing it down through the cold dusty air and a stream of violet and blue sparks shot out at the end like a small fountain that erupted and disappeared in an instant.

“Bravo! This one is not just adept at healing magic but also curses.”

Mr. Ollivander clapped, glee in his eyes, he opened his mouth but closed it right after looking in the direction of the Evans couple. Petunia could see the thoughts flying in his head. She saw him sigh, yet he looked towards her with a smile.

“Very good Ms. Evans, that one was particularly hard to place. I am very pleased that it has finally met its pair.”

“Is there something you have to say to me?” Petunia said bluntly.

Mr. Ollivander looked quite taken aback, though his expression quickly turned into a knowing look. He looked back towards the Evans couple once more before starting to speak.

“I have made another wand with the same core as that one. She quite reminded me of you! You are the spitting image of her when she got her own wand.”

With those words, Mr. Evans had stumbled, knocking over the couple towers of piled up wands sitting at the top of the table beside the Petunia.

“Watch out!”

Mr. Evans had covered Petunia with his body, hugging her close between his arms, he braced for impact, a few moments passed, he stood there unmoving, covering Petunia’s sight.

Petunia couldn’t help but sigh. It was quite suffocating to be embraced tightly. She tugged his coat and spoke lightly.

“Dad, it’s fine.”

Mr. Evans had let go, staring back towards the pile, hundreds of boxes floated up in the air, they flew around and shoved themselves back into shelves they were taken from.

“My! I’m sorry if I've frightened you! Shall we continue with the other children?”

The two Evans’s walked away from Mr. Ollivander. While Severus who won the rock, paper and scissors battle against Lily walked forward towards Mr. Ollivander.

Severus found his wand faster than Petunia, nine and a half inches, acacia and dragon heartstring, quite an unusual wood, tough and rigid. His pile of rejected wands that was more than half of Petunia’s flew by, snuggling themselves back to their shelves.

“A rare wood indeed!” exclaimed Mr. Ollivander.

Severus stepped away, a smug look on his face, based on his expression, he quite fancied his new wand. He smiled towards Lily who smiled back, he stood beside Petunia who elbowed him and grinned.

“You like it that much?” teased Petunia.

“Well… I’ve been waiting for this my entire life.” smiled Severus, his cheeks slightly pink.

Petunia smiled and looked towards Lily who was being measured by the floating tape. She was having quite a fun time.

Even though Mr. Ollivander was quite odd, he is a bit amusing. Petunia had thought to herself.

Petunia glanced back towards her father who looked quite shaken, his eyes darting from places to places, towards Mr. Ollivander, to Mrs. Evans and to Petunia. She could see him flinch when their eyes met, he smiled but Petunia could see the unease in his eyes.

“Dad? Are you alright?”

Mr. Evans glanced towards his wife, who Petunia could now see the same troubled expression on her face.

“I’m fine.” smiled Mr. Evans, ruffling Petunia’s hair.

Petunia could see that they are hiding something, but she does not want to press further. They will tell her if it's necessary, that's what they had always done. She took out her comb and started to fix her hair.

After a while, Lily received her wand. Ten and a quarter inches, long, swishy, willow and unicorn hair. She hopped back towards everyone, her smile from ear to ear, she proudly showed her wand to them.

“Great for charmwork!” said Mr. Ollivanders gleefully.

He must really like his job. Petunia felt exhausted while she looked towards Mr. Ollivander. He seemed too happy to part ways with his craft.

The group paid for a total of 21 galleons for the three children’s wands. Mr. Ollivander bowed to them from his shop with a happy expression on his face.

“That’s something.” murmured Lily, unable to put her feelings into words. “Books! Let's go for books next!”

The group traveled through the shops. Buying everything they needed, books, robes, and a lot more. They stopped in front of a shop that had a broomstick displayed upfront.

“That’s a broomstick!” shrieked Lily, her face almost glued to the glass.

“You said you weren’t interested in quidditch?”

“That’s different Sev! I still want to fly!”

“First years are not allowed their own broomstick. So we can get them when we’re second years.”

“Do you want to play quidditch, Tuney?”

“I can’t say I’m not interested.”

The three eleven year olds were busy in their own conversations while the adults were also busy on their own. Petunia's eyes glanced away for a moment, her eyes fell away from the crowd and into a dark alley.

There it was again, a dark cloaked man hiding in the shadows. Petunia couldn’t help but flinch, but the other two were too busy with their conversation to notice.

The cloaked man stared back, he turned around and started to walk away. And like in a trance, Petunia felt compelled to follow. She started to walk towards that direction but she was immediately grabbed by the arm.

“Where are you going?” asked Mrs. Evans, her hands clung tightly on Petunia’s arms.

“I- I was…” Petunia stuttered, she couldn’t quite tell what she was doing.

“Honey, are you tired?”

Mrs. Evans had knelt in front of her, her hand caressed Petunias cheeks while she held her hand on the other.

“Ah yes!” Petunia replied instantly regretting her words. She still wanted to explore this new wondrous place.

“We should go rest at the leaky cauldron.”

Severus suggested, pointing back from where they came from. Mrs. Evans immediately nodded and started pulling Petunia towards that direction, the others following right behind them.

“But I want to try the ice cream!”

Lily protested, her cheeks all puffed up, she tugged at their father’s coat. Looking troubled, Mr. Evans stopped his wife.

“We’ll go get ice cream while you and Petunia rest for a while.”

Mrs. Evans nodded, while Mr. Evans went towards Petunia, messing up her well combed hair once more, he smiled.

“I’ll get you your favorite.”

““Chocolate.”” the two said in command, laughing at each other's grinning expressions.

The two arrived back at the leaky cauldron, they have decided to wait here and have a meal once everyone has arrived back. For now, Petunia was drinking some hot tea to ease her stomach.

“I’ll just go to the lavatory for a minute. Make sure to stay put.”

With those words, Mrs. Evans stood up and headed towards where the toilets were. Petunia continued eating, silently observing the witches and wizards passing through the bar.

A round face witch was giggling with a sharp looking wizard who was showing her something on the paper. They both wore long brown trench coats that gave off the impression of a detective. They continued their conversation while holding hands and drinking beer.

Hurrying inside was a plump woman holding an infant in her arms. Two boys followed her inside.

One was taller and looked older, he wore round glasses and a slightly haughty expression. But in an instant, when he met eyes with the infant, his face turned into a joking expression, making the baby laugh and clap loudly.

The other boy was younger, he looked like Petunia’s age, same height. He looked very unbothered, unamused, his long hair was tied in a loose ponytail that laid on his shoulder.

All four individuals shared one glaring trait, they all had flaming fiery red hair. Petunia thought that they were very blinding to the eyes.

Petunia continued to observe the people around her until suddenly, a burning pain seared through her skin. She grabbed the culprit of the burning pain, a ring hung on her neck, atleast, it was supposed to be a ring.

There, laying on her palm was a key, with the burning pain gone, Petunia realized that it had the same intricate design as the ring, but it was now more visible, a beautiful bird was spreading its wings while trampling a snake.

Petunia had thought the design was just that of wings but it turned out to be more than that. She carefully examined every inch of it, noticing the slight pulsating glow of the bird's eyes.

Waving the key around in the air, Petunia realized that the glow in the eye would pulsate at different rates. She stood up and decided to point it around like a compass.

Everytime it pulsated faster, Petunia walked a few steps that way. She knew that she was not supposed to walk off but something about this bird's eyes made her feel compelled to follow.

Petunia had reached the wall leading back into Diagon alley. She walked behind a haughty looking pregnant young woman who was being supported by a fair headed sweet looking young man. They were both busy to see Petunia who had walked in with them.

Petunia continued to follow the direction the bird’s eye wanted to go to. She was focused in noticing the slight differences in the pulsating lights speed that she didn’t even realize the place she was in was darker and emptier that before.

The light in the eye was pulsating wildly, in front of Petunia was a shop larger than those around it. Still in a daze, Petunia entered the shop.

It was a large dimly lit wizard shop, whatever they were selling here definitely wouldn’t be in any school list.

A glass case nearby held a withered hand, blood stained items, creepy looking masks and Petunia was sure, human bones decorated this shop.

Seeing all of this, Petunia realized this was not a place she was ought to be. The key in her hand continued to pulsate brighter and brighter.

Petunia looked outside through the dirty looking mirror, she could see that it was definitely not Diagon alley. She looked around as the key in her hand continued to shine brighter than before.

I have to stop this key for now! I'm putting too much attention on myself.

Petunia immediately went back to following where the key wanted to take her. Passing through multiple creepy, odd looking objects that varied from furniture, books, clothes to jewelry, she stood in front of a large black cabinet.

Inspecting it, Petunia saw one of its doors has a keyhole, wanting to shut off the light, Petunia shoved the key inside. Light started to spread across it from the keyhole, it formed a design similar to that of the key, a bird with large wings and long legs trampling down a snake.

The light flashed brightly and disappeared, leaving off the intricate design. Petunia pulled out the key, examining the cabinet she opened it slightly.

“What are you doing?”

Petunia jumped and looked behind her. There, a young boy with curly hair who was slightly taller than her stood behind her, a familiar haughty expression greeted her. With his arms crossed, he stared at the cabinet with his cold grey eyes.

Chapter Text

The boy glared at Petunia, arms crossed, about a head taller, he stared down at her. He had a tall nose, curly black hair that reached his shoulders and upturned cold grey eyes. Petunia stared back at him, she could now see the curiosity in the boy's eyes as he stared at the key on Petunia’s hands.

Petunia recognized the way he looked down at her, like she was something below him. She crossed her arms and glared back at him, annoyingly tapping his finger on his arm. With Petunia’s nose up in the air, she snidely asked back.

“What is it to you?”

The boy raised his eyebrow, he stared at Petunia up and down, uncrossed his arms and scoffed.

“This isn’t a place someone like you is ought to be. You should leave.”

Someone like me?

Petunia, whose fear was now diminished after the boy’s snide remarks, stepped closer to him.

“Someone like me!? What’s that supposed to mean?”

The boy looked unperturbed, a smirk started to appear on his face. Petunia thought it would've been nice to wipe that off his pretty little face.

“I meant a mud- Muggleborn. This is a place where dark wizards would gather.”

Petunia now looked taken aback. Dark wizards? Does he mean like criminals? She looked around once again. Noticing some of the signs in the shop labeling the items in this shop. ‘Do not touch. Have claimed multiple muggle lives.’

“Dark wizards? Like criminals.” asked Petunia, her former courage, gone at the thought of criminals freely roaming around this dark, closed, dingy place. She started to look around, taking in everything she could see.

The dark cabinet no longer shows any signs of light. The large, old door that looked like it would creak the moment it's moved. The walls are covered in paintings depicting someone getting tortured in different ways, burning, cutting limbs, being torn to pieces by being tied to four different horses.

“Criminals?” the questioning voice snapped Petunia back to where she was.

“Like bad people… who would abduct you and do bad things.” said Petunia, her voice becoming lower with each word.

The boy laughed quietly. “You have quite a way with words…”

Petunia noticed the sarcasm in his voice and she started to get annoyed even more when she’s already starting to panic. But before she could open her mouth to argue back at him, she noticed movements outside through the cracked window behind the boy.

Outside, she could see a familiar dark cloaked man heading their way, Petunia froze for a moment before she quickly stuffed her key to her pocket, opened the cabinet door, hopped inside and held her hand out to the boy.

“Quickly! Before they see us!”

“Why would I-” the boy’s unbothered expression made Petunia speak faster than usual.

“That man! He might be one of those dark wizards! Hurry up!”

The boy now looked amused, he pondered for a bit while staring at Petunia’s hand, smiled, then grabbed it and went inside the cramped space. The door slightly left ajar for the two to peek outside.

The dark cloaked man had entered the shop alongside a couple of other people, Petunia could hear her heart beating faster and faster as she gripped the hand she was holding. She could see the boy beside her open his mouth but she immediately covered it with her free hand. The boy didn’t protest, but continued to stare at her intently. Petunia had only glanced at his grey eyes before staring back at what was happening outside.

The dark cloaked man scanned the room with his hood covered face, Petunia couldn’t help but think that his eyes lingered towards the cabinet they were in but then he rang the bell on the counter, Petunia had to force her sigh of relief back towards her throat with a loud gulp.

Immediately right after the bell rang, a man with oily hair greeted him. Petunia thought he was very untidy, she could barely see them exchanging something, a leather bound object that started to move on its own.

“My, what a pleasure to have your business, Mr.-”

“Cut it, Borgin. You know why I’m here.”

The man’s voice was undeniably the same as the man from the playground, it was quite deep but not enough to make a drumming noise in her ears. The man started tapping his finger on the counter, Petunia could see the sweat on Mr. Borgin’s forehead, forming and falling down from his hair to his similarly greasy face.

“I won’t be an Auror for a while Mr. Borgin. I have to do professor Dumbledore a favour after all… So I'd like this case to be finished as quickly as possible.”

The man drawled while continuously tapping his finger on the countertop, he sounded bored as he continued to tap his finger on the counter. Petunia could see his reflection on one of the cracked glass cases behind Mr. Borgin. His bright green eyes were flashing brightly underneath the candlelight.

“I suggest you start talking-”

“Urgh!” Sirius grunted, Petunia snapped away from the cloaked man and glared at the boy's direction. His fingers were now in between the doors, sticking out and preventing it from closing, one of the cloaked people had leaned on it.

“What are you doing!?” Petunia quietly yelped, trying to pull back his fingers, he grabbed her hand that was trying to pull out his fingers and shook his head.

“This is a vanishing cabinet. If it closes we’re doomed to go to the other side. If the other side is broken, we’d be trapped.”

The boy’s tight grip on her hand wasn’t as noticeable as Petunia’s even faster heart rate, she was starting to get nauseous as more predicaments seemed to greet her from all directions.

“What!? Why is such a dangerous object just laying around!”

“I’ve told you! People like you shouldn’t be here in the first place!”

The two’s arguing voices became louder, Petunia was about to speak again when the door slammed open, revealing the two of them to the cloaked individuals.

Petunia looked up, she was now face to face with the man she wanted to avoid. His bright green eyes glared at the two of them sitting crouched inside the cabinet. The man sighed and looked quite defeated, he removed the hood of his cloak, revealing his face.

The man looked different than Petunia had imagined, he had silky jet black hair that was tied in a messy ponytail. His face was quite remarkable, a tall nose, and sharp features, even the dark circles under his eyes failed to mask his handsome appearance. Though, he did look a bit snobbish.

But what gained Petunia’s attention the most were his almond-shaped bright green eyes that were undeniably familiar to her. Eyes that she had seen almost everyday.

Lily’s eyes…

The man flinched, his eyes widened. Petunia was quite sure he had heard what she was thinking and she wondered if she had said it out loud. The man avoided her eyes and it landed on the boy Petunia was with. He furrowed his eyebrows at the sight and started to speak.

“Sirius, what are you doing here?”

Sirius didn’t reply, instead he glanced at Petunia and examined her confused face with a blank expression, he sighed, hopped out of the cabinet, lifted his hand and offered it up to Petunia.

“Come on, get out.”

Petunia stared at his hand for a while before she took it, she then glanced at the man then at the boy holding her hand who was named Sirius. She also took note of the two other cloaked people standing by the side.

The man raised his eyebrow and started to open his mouth. But Sirius was faster and he spoke in a drawl once again, as if unamused by the current situation.

“She was lost and got scared of you.” he said matter-of-factly, swatting his hand around as if this had happened before.

Petunia glared at the boy, these two seem to know each other quite well. She tightened the grip on his hand till he looked back at her.

“Ouch! Hey-”

They met each other's eyes and he flinched at the sight of her staring daggers at him. He had a very stupid look on his face, as if he couldn’t quite comprehend what she’s mad about, Petunia clicked her tongue then stared up at the man.

The tall man sighed at the two of them again. He shook his head then leaned down at their level. Now that Petunia had a good look at his face, he very much looked quite concerned. Petunia couldn’t read this man, why does he look so worried?

“Why don’t you go and take your friend back to where her family is?”

“I was going to… She’s also holding on quite tightly to my hand.”

It seemed like Sirius couldn’t quite get a hint. Petunia held onto his hand even tighter, there was nothing she ever wanted than to leave this place and this weird man who tried to speak with kids who were alone on a playground. But at the same time, she was curious, who was this man? And how did he know her name?

“Ouch!” Sirius tried to take his hand away but Petunia’s grip was even tighter than before. “Hey, it's starting to really hurt-”

Sirius flinched, he started fussing over her. Petunia didn’t know why, maybe it's because of the tears that had started flowing from her eyes. The scenery started to become hazy, cloudy, covered in tears.

“Hey! Why are you crying!? This man- he’s not a dark wizard! He’s a friend of my uncle! He’s an Auror!”

“A dark wizard?”

“Yeah- she thinks you’re a dark wizard.”

“You!” Petunia gritted her teeth, glaring up at the man she wiped the tears off her face and continued. “Why were you spying on us back at the playground!”

The man looked away, as if caught with a secret. Petunia, with tears still trickling down her face, now looked more angry than afraid. The other two cloaked people moved closer to them. The shorter one took off their hoodie, it was a familiar round face that Petunia had seen before. It was the girl who was flirting with a man from the leaky cauldron, she smiled but Petunia could see that she was flustered. The taller one beside her did the same, and it was the boy with sharp features that she was with.

“Hey kid! Look here! I have some fudge flies! Please stop crying!” the girl fussed over, trying to hand the sweets to Petunia.

“I don’t think a kid would just stop crying because of sweets.” the boy crossed his arm, stooping down at Petunia and Sirius’s level. “Sir, what is this spying on them that she’s talking about?”

Petunias tears didn’t stop, but she gritted her teeth and forced them to, now three strangers were leaning down and staring at her. She doubts that they meant any harm but she needed answers to calm her nerves. She was glad that Lily and Sev weren't here to see her this way.

“Okay, okay! You three! Can you move away!” Sirius started pushing them back with his one free hand. “Just move over!”

The man nodded at the other two and walked off into the far corner, dragging Mr. Borgin alongside him, the other two followed. Soon, the whispering between them started, it seemed like they just went back on trying to interrogate Mr. Borgin.

“They’re not here for you, you know?” Sirius awkwardly stood there, fidgeting, he waited until Petunia had wiped her tears off her face, slightly reddened than usual.

“That man.” Petunia pointed at the man with bright green eyes, he stopped speaking and stared back at the two. “I’ve seen him before… He knew my name. He was spying on us.”

“Thats-”

The man sighed, pinching his temple, he walked back from the corner towards the two children. He knelt down with one knee and the bright green eyes met the pale violet eyes. Petunia didn’t want to stare back but she couldn’t help but get lost in them.

There was something off by the way he looked at her…As if he wanted to say something, he bit his lips and frowned even deeper than before. His eyes stared back, he then shook his head and sighed.

The man’s voice sounded like a clear tired murmur. “My name is Tom Riddle, I’m an auror… A dark wizard catcher.” Mr. Tom was staring straight at her, his eyes seemingly filled with something else. “I meant you no harm.”

Petunia glared at the man, Mr. Riddle. She could see the dark puffiness under his eyes and the lines on the skin of his face, the only uncovered part of his body. Petunia could peek through the man's cloak, he was wearing a black suit under, his hands holding onto a wand covered in leather gloves. Mr. Riddle was staring deep into Petunia’s eyes. In his eyes, Petunia thought she could see a sense of defeat

“You’re right, I was that person you met at the playground.”

“Met at the playground? What do you mean, uncle?” asked Sirius, who stared back and forth between the two.

“I was working at that time… Investigating the increase of missing children.”

“But-”

“I knew your name because I saw you through the mind of that boy… I was merely curious about the two muggleborns who’ve befriended a wizard boy…”

Mr. Riddle drawled, his eyes glossed over, as if he was looking at somewhere far away. Petunia thought that the man looked very tired, he now started to pinch his eyebrows with his gloved fingers. He gestured back towards one of his colleagues.

The tall, sharp looking man immediately ran to his side while the round-faced girl stood beside Mr. Borgin. With his glasses slightly crooked and his cloak dishevelled, Petunia could now see a similar looking black suit inside his cloak.

“Take these children back to their parents.” said Mr. Riddle, who immediately turned his back on them without another word.

“Ah- Wait!” Petunia wanted to ask more questions but he, the girl and Mr. Borgin had disappeared towards the backroom of this shop.

“Hey! Why is he taking me away too? I’m here waiting for someone!” Sirius gritted his teeth, he was glaring at the door Mr. Riddle was standing by.

The sharp-looking boy knelt down to their level and started to ruffle their hair, Sirius had slapped his hand away but he was unbothered. Petunia thought that he looked like a man petting some stray kittens, he looked quite pleased.

“Come on children… Let’s get you out of here.” The man stood up, guiding the two towards the door of the shop. “By the way… My name is Frank Longbottom, I’m a newly assigned Auror, being trained under that grumpy man.”

Petunia looked up at him, he had a rather comfortable expression, a small smile and a hum in his words, she liked this man, he reminded her of her father. She didn’t struggle like Sirius did as they were pushed out of the shop. The three now stood in the dark, decrepit alley. Sirius had stopped struggling and just stared back at the shop, Petunia also stared back, she could see Mr. Riddle glancing towards them, there was a conflicted look on his face that made Petunia confused.

He’s lying. Petunia had thought to herself. The man was not to be trusted, it felt like he knew her, not just because of a memory he read from others.

There were now multiple other witches and wizards standing in this tight alley, all of them scurried away at the sight of the man guiding them. Petunia looked behind her, she could clearly see an insignia etched at the exposed black suit of the man. A large M with a wand in the middle of it.

“You’re an Auror?” asked Petunia, remembering what Severus had said. “You’re the wizard police?”

“That’s right! We catch all the bad guys!” Mr. Longbottom smiled, noticing the still wary look on Petunia’s eyes, he leaned down and rumpled up Petunia’s hair. “That man might look scary but he’s not a bad person.”

Petunia thought he might be right, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t suspicious. For now, Petunia decided to ignore the problem. She glanced beside her, the boy, Sirius, had a scowl on his face. Maybe she’ll ask him later, they’ll surely meet at Hogwarts after all.

~

The three were now back at the buzzling street of Diagon Alley and Petunia immediately spotted her father, he was sticking out from the crowd with his dishevelled muggle clothes among these robed individuals, his eyes was glistening, as if he was about to cry, he spoke towards a plump looking witch and a tall slightly balding man.

“Have you seen a young girl? She’s eleven and around this tall! She had pale blonde hair and was wearing a purple dress! Please-”

While speaking, Mr. Evans’s eyes fell towards Petunia, his eyes widened and ran towards her, he let out a huge sigh of relief and hugged her tightly. Tears had started to fall out of Petunia’s eyes again, she could hear her own voice cracking as she tried to speak.

“I- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to run off!”

“You stupid girl! How could you suddenly disappear like that!”

Petunia had never seen her father this emotional before. He was hugging her tightly, words merely came out as muffled sounds.

Petunia couldn’t quite remember what happened after that, her memories were fuzzy or maybe it was because of the tears that constantly fell from her eyes that made the memory blurry. She could remember the face of the awkward tall man explaining everything to her parents, the face of a young boy who was awkwardly standing by the side, a hooting of an owl, Lily and their mothers muffled tears and Severus consoling Lily.

Lily’s clear whisper amongst the quiet rain made Petunia open her eyes. It was the next morning.

“This spell! Scourgify was it? Petunia would like this spell!”

“Heh- she would.” Severus replied. “How about this spell? Accio? A bit advanced but it would be nice to learn.”

Petunia sat up on her bed, glaring down at the two who had decided to use her room as a meeting ground. Books were scattered on the ground, all lay open, having their contents skimmed through.

“Already?” Asks Petunia, lifting up one of the books, crumbs of food seemed to have smeared at some of its pages. “Why in my room?”

“Tuney!” Lily stood up and hugged Petunia tightly, the scent of pancakes lingered on her dark red hair. “You wouldn’t wake up! Mum said you were too tired and we can wait here!”

“As long as we aren’t too noisy, that is.” Severus chimed in, glaring at Lily.

“I was whispering!”

Petunia sighed, prying herself away from Lily’s hug. She stood up and walked to her desk where her books were neatly placed in a stack at the far right corner of the desk, her ring atop of it. Petunia examined it, it must’ve turned back on her pocket. She looked down, she was wearing a white frilly nightgown.

Mum must’ve placed it here.

Beside it, taking up much space was an opened birdcage. Sleeping upon its perch, its yellow eyes opening and closing was a spectacled owl, Lily’s new owl.

While Petunia was having her little adventure, Lily was festering their father to buy them an owl. She had convinced him by stating that it would be easier to send letters back at home if they had their own owl, that she would really want to have an easy way to talk to him and their mum the entire school year, that she would miss them too much. Father caved in rather easily, which Petunia thought was quite amusing and clever.

“Lily, don’t put this here.”

“Ah! That! I wanted to discuss it with everyone! A name! I need a name for him!”

Petunia sighed and stared back at Lily, her eyes expectant. “It's your pet, you should name it.”

“But dad said we should share-”

“I don’t really like naming things, you should choose.”

“Okay! I’ll look through these books first and look for a magical name!”

“Let’s read this one.” Severus chimed in, holding out a thick, leather bound book which read A History of Magic.

Petunia then sat down at her desk and opened one of her books, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi. She was at most curious at how these plants grew until suddenly she remembered.

“Ah-! By the way… That man at the playground, I saw him back there at the odd shop I ended up in.”

“What!?” screamed both Lily and Severus, standing up and quick as a breeze, the both of them stood at Petunia’s side.

Petunia closed her book and started to explain everything that had happened on that day. Lily looked terrified while Severus was deep in his own thoughts.

“Either way… I think he’s hiding something.” Petunia finished her words, then examined their expressions.

“That was really dangerous! What would have happened if he was actually a bad man?” Lily looked torn, whether she should be terrified or curious.

“You were lucky… Well, I’m glad he was an Auror.” Severus sighed out of relief. “I don’t think he’ll do anything… Bad.” he looked conflicted.

Maybe being an Auror held some sort of prestige in his eyes?

“I know… I don’t think he’s a bad person anymore. But I think he’s hiding something.” Petunia added.

Severus sighed, “Well, there’s no use thinking about it now. It’s not like we’ll meet him again anytime soon.” he said, sitting back down, book in his hands.

“Right! Let’s not think about it! We’ll go to Hogwarts soon! We need to read all these books.” Lily sat down beside Severus, book in hand, she started reading through the pages.

Petunia sighed, they were right, it's not a problem right now. She then sat down and started reading through her own book.

Time passed faster after that day, maybe it was because of the mountain of extra books that the three had gotten. Reading was all they did the entire month, it was easier to do so since Petunia had been grounded at home ever since their trip, no one liked her disappearance act, especially Mrs. Evans who was quite hysterical and inconsolable, Petunia had heard from Lily since she was quite deep in sleep at that time.

“It's tomorrow.”

Just one night left, Petunia thought. She was sitting at her desk, admiring the night sky clad in bright stars when she felt her throat dried up. Petunia left her room and quietly went down the stairs, not wanting to wake someone up. But then, she heard quiet whispers that made her stop on her feet.

“I can’t believe they’re leaving tomorrow. I don’t know what we should do.” Mrs. Evans had sobbed, Mr. Evans right beside her, soothing her with a hug.

“It’ll be alright. They’ll be alright.” Mr. Evans hummed, rubbing his wife's back.

Petunia stood at the stairs, unmoving, she didn’t know what to do. She had been so excited to leave, to go and learn magic that she had barely thought about leaving her parents, she wouldn't be seeing them for months, she’d barely be seeing them for years to come.

Suddenly, Petunia was overwhelmed with emotions, torn between wanting to stay with mum and dad, or wanting to go and learn magic, learn to control what she could do. Petunia then wiped the tears that were starting to fall off her face and then continued down the plight of stairs.

“Mum, dad.”

Mr. and Mrs. Evans whipped around, Mrs. Evans immediately wiped the tears off her face, trying to hide the fact that she was crying. While Mr. Evans was quickly at Petunia’s side.

“Petunia, my dear. What are you doing out of bed?” asked Mr. Evans, Petunia could see his slightly reddened eyes behind his reading glasses.

“I was thirsty.”

“Okay, let’s go grab some water.”

Mr. Evans had started to guide Petunia towards the kitchen but Petunia stood her ground. She looked towards her mother and walked up to her. Petunia could now clearly see her face, her puffy red eyes couldn’t hide her tears.

Petunia smiled and held up her hands, Mrs. Evans leaned down, Petunia then hugged her tightly. She gestured towards her father to join their hug and he immediately obliged. Petunia then started rubbing their backs just like Mr. Evans had always done to comfort someone.

“We’ll be fine…” Petunia whispered. “And I’ll protect Lily too… We’ll always write and come home every holiday so don’t worry too much.”

With those words, both Mr. and Mrs. Evans sniffled a little. A quiet yes and I know came out of their mouths alongside a silent sob.

Suddenly, a small red headed girl joined in on their hug, wiggling her way in the middle. Lily had woken up, tears in her eyes that were as puffy as their mother, Petunia giggled at the sight and kissed her on her forehead.

The Evans’s stayed there for a while, soothing each other with pecks on the cheeks. Soon, the quiet sobs were replaced with gleeful laughs.