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An Endless Night

Summary:

Small one-shot character study of Petunia and her relationship with Lily.

"That day, she figured out three things ; Newborns were disgusting. Doctor helped people to feel better. She was a big sister. The sister thing was a job, a very special assignment made just for her : Lily, small and disgusting baby Lily was hers to protect, hers to guard and hers to love. "

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

Petunia Evans always thought she was made to be a big sister. Or maybe not. But her parents made her one. On one cold winter night in the beginning of the year 1960, Cokeworth recorded one of the worst snowstorms of the century. But when the clock hit 10:13 and a small baby let out her first cry the sun shone once more. The storms ended right there with her. 

Lily Evans was born and she became the sun in Petunia's life. Because in truth there was no snow or shiny sun that day. No, everything happened in the little mind of the three-year-old. What an imaginative bunch, toddler. 

That day, she figured out three things ; Newborns were disgusting. Doctor helped people to feel better. She was a big sister. The sister thing was a job, a very special assignment made just for her : Lily, small and disgusting baby Lily was hers to protect, hers to guard and hers to love.

 

Always and forever.

The redhead was her shadow, she was a little duckling and like a little duckling, Lily followed Petunia everywhere she went. Lily's first word was Tuni, even before Mama and Dada. Petunia was the perfect example to follow of course, and baby Lily at that point in time had the decency to acknowledge that. Petunia had the honour to teach her about pratically everything.

They loved each other so fiercely that they tough that no mountain and no ocean could crush what they had. What they didn't realize was that the earth was made of ocean and mountain.

And as Lily was the sun, Petunia was the earth. She was certainly a little bit rough sometimes, nothing much of course ! But she was not as polished as the sun seemed to be.

These imperfection, were really not that visible in the sun's vision.

For example, in the Earth's core, fire burns. So much repressed that everyone seems to forget about it. Petunia didn't wear it on her sleeve, Lily did though, emotion as hot as the sun. But fire you could not keep away. Only a spark could set everything on fire. Magic was Petunia's one.

You could imagine that, Yes of course magic is horrible ! It's the answer to all problems in the universe !

Dead wrong.

 

Magic was not their mountain. The earth doesn't possess it of course, it wasn't that. It was never their impediment to surpass. Jealousy on the other hand. The earth had it plenty….

Technically when you are the older one, it's only natural that things happen to you first. But, nothing could change that she wouldn’t experience magic (Such a putrid word). She was falling behind, when she was meant to be ahead to make sure that the path was safe. 

That changed everything.

Sometimes you don’t realize you could lose something until it’s ripped away from you. A relationship between sisters was meant to last forever and ever. That was the plan, pinky promise and everything.

But what could she have done against herself and her own mountain ?

And more importantly, what could a mere planet do when your sun decided to shine elsewhere ? When your whole existence was linked to the mere fact that under its touch life could flourish.

Nothing, you could do nothing. 

Petunia Evans was a sister before everything else. That was the core of her identity. Hogwarts mean distance, magic meant separation. And above all else, she was jealous. So freaking jealous. Why her and not me ? 

A simple answer;  Lily was golden and Petunia was rotting away.

She truly learned a lesson the day that a flower bloomed under the sun: life was never fair, not to Petunia Evans. Never to her.

 

Nonetheless, a system she could acquire once more. She didn’t need that family, she absolutely didn’t need magic to be something. It was a naive and childish view of life, anyway. She got a degree in a normal school, took typing courses after her graduation. Then, she met a very nice young man, Vernon, when she was at her very normal clerical job. This man was a wonder of normalcy; yes, maybe a bit full of himself, but very normal. 

Eventually she told him about magic, he didn't like it one bit. What a delight !

In 1977, she got married. Petunia Evans was no more, she wholeheartedly welcomed Petunia Dursley. Dursley was the good version. She was a married woman before everything else, no more a sister. 

Her marriage was in the small town of Privet Drive, the place where she and Vernon just moved in. And what a beautiful bride she made. But of course, Lily, always perfect Lily, outshone her once again! She thought the women of Privet Drive would only talk about her floral arrangements, how the food was a delicacy, and how she and Vernon made the perfect couple. But no. They spoke of Lily’s ginger hair, her perfect body, and even her little good-for-nothing boyfriend. Always her.

And never once did Lily see what her presence did to Petunia. 

She realized one more hard truth that day : Even if Lily decided to jump from a cliff to prove her love to Petunia, it would never change the truth.

Lily never once saw the real Petunia, never acknowledged her feelings. She was maybe jealous of the magic, and everything Lily had more of. But what truly made her jealous was that not once had Lily loved her the way she loved others. 

Her sister was kind, kinder than anyone she knew. She worked small jobs for the neighbor and donated fifty pour-cent to association ! Who does that ?

One day, she saw other boys bully the greasy git and knocked them so badly that they never approached him again.

 

With them and not her?

Never her.

 

So, this time, it was Petunia that got away. She cut every contact with her sister (by that time both her mother and father had already passed away). And then had her perfect family just like she had imagined. A beautiful baby boy. That would never ever experience what she had to live through. And she really mean never.

Life was fair to Petunia Dursley. 

Then, one morning, she found a baby on her doorstep. 

That was when everything changed once again. Even in her grave Lily Evans always ruined everything.

 

The night of the 31 October 1981, The sun bowed out one last time, leaving the earth to an endless night. 

Notes:

Hellooooo, thank you so much for reading my work! I really enjoyed trying to get into Petunia’s mindset and sharing some of my own thoughts on their relationship. I feel like Petunia and Lily parallel Sirius and Regulus in a lot of ways, although there are, of course, some differences. Their beginnings, their endings, and the way one of the siblings “escapes” are especially similar. Regulus and Petunia then try everything to be different from them.

Again, I really love working with an unreliable narrator, so not everything about Lily is necessarily the factual truth. Petunia demonizes her and idolizes her at the same time, which I think makes her perception of Lily especially interesting.

It’s almost like a parent who adores their child when they’re a baby or a toddler, because they’re exactly what they want them to be, and then suddenly, BOOM, they grow up and develop their own personality and attitude, and the parent doesn’t like them anymore. That’s kind of how I see Petunia’s relationship with Lily. She loved the little girl Lily was, but struggled to accept the person she became.

And her parents are absolutely not abusive, BUT they had a lot to do with the situation. I feel like they loved both of them, but Lily was still the golden child. And Petunia was just not as interesting to them.

I hope the whole metaphor of the Sun and the Earth is comprehensible :).

BYEEEE