Redemption (Dudley Dursley)

VIII. Petunia.

It wasn't actually their spot because the land was technically government property but the two young girls didn't know that and had branded the area lining the small town theirs. They had built swings and made up stories of fighting beasts from their imagination whilst saving the world from a madman. Little did the girls know that in fifteen years this would be reality but not the way they had played it out. Petunia had turned to him and told him to leave because he was trespassing but she hadn't expected Lily to grip onto her shoulder lightly which caused the younger chocolate haired girl to turn to her year older redhead sister.

"It's ok Tuney, I asked him to come."

The slightly taller of the pair had turned to face her and gave her a disgusted look but the shorter knew why. This was their spot, no one else's and she felt betrayed that Lily had told someone about the spot. Petunia said something to her older sister who then looked to the ground in shame, shot a filthy look at the boy whose name she did not know and walked off. She knew that her sister and the mysterious boy thought she had left to go back home but she hadn't. She wanted to know who he was. So she crouched behind a tree and watched from her side view to try and find out the boy's name. He had long midnight black hair that was very oily that came just shy of his shoulders. His skin was extremely pale which contrasted strongly against his dark coloured clothes.

Petunia couldn't take his appearance in for long because he walked over to Lily whom she noted had a bit of a crushed expression on her young features, held his hand out for her. Her eyes grew when a tiny sprout formed in the centre of his palm which turned into a bud before transforming into a daisy. How? That was all she could think and she curiously held her own palm out in an attempt to recreate the boy's movements. She frowned when nothing happened and turned to face them once more. Lily smiled lightly and took the tiny flower and right then Petunia's eyes grew even more. The delicate white petals suddenly grew and soon a rose in a similar shade to blood had taken the space left by the daisy.

//

That was when Petunia first realised that there was something very special about her one-year older sister Lily. She never told her what she saw because she simply put it down to her vivid five-year-old imagination. By now Petunia had stood from her position and had moved into her garden to sit down on a wooden bench, the high fences effectively hiding her from her pesky neighbours. Normalcy. It was something she thrived upon. Before that fateful day with the boy whose name she can't remember except that it began with an 'S' her and Lily had a normal relationship. She had a normal family. She can still remember when the slightly yellowing parchment that was Lily's letter came through the door.

She looked down to her right hand to see the silver band that she always wore on her index finger. Vernon and Dudley had asked her about the jewellery for years but she had never told them where it came from. It was Lily's, her sister gifted it to her on her eighteenth birthday and it was the second last time she ever saw her sister alive. Petunia had wanted to get rid of it but she just couldn't bring herself to do so, it meant far too much to her.

//

She had a feeling, one in which ten-year-old Petunia Evans wasn't sure if it was bad or good. She had it once before but not to the extent that she was feeling currently. No words escaped the brunette's mouth however because despite being very young she knew that any adults would wave the feeling off as simply a figment of an overactive imagination. So she kept her mouth shut and carried on with her day.

She had woken up an hour previously and had just finished getting dressed after a long morning bath before making her way downstairs. Once her small feet hit the carpet with a dull thud the scent of meat filled her nostrils which told her breakfast had been served. She could hear footsteps upstairs too telling her Lily had just gotten out of the bath and she wanted to get as much food as she possibly could- the two sisters constantly fought over their food and it amused everyone.