Petunia Evans

Bruises bloom against Petunia's skin like flowers in spring, the hues of blue and purple painted by the one and only Vernon Dursley. The first time she kissed him it was because she was lonely, horribly blue as she rotted away in her room day after day. The second time was because he told her he saw her; he's the only person who has ever bothered to do that.

The first time he'd hit her she had screamed and cried and sworn that she would never speak to him again. A week passed, and for the first time in moths she experienced being completely invisible again. He was back in her bed by the start of the next week.

Sometimes she wonders how long it would take anyone to notice if she just stopped talking. She always comes to the same conclusion, nobody would notice at all.

It hurt her at first, when Lily left for Hogwarts and her parents decided to pull her from school in case she let the secret slip, when they began to forget her. But she still had hope that time would pass and things would become normal, a new normal, but normal all the same. What really changed her, what really left her shrivelled and hollow, was when Lily stopped caring too.

The first Christmas Lily had returned had tainted Petunia irrevocably, she wasn't sure what she was expecting but it wasn't for Lily to make an excuse to be somewhere else every time Petunia tried to talk to her, or get angry at her so much. It was like her presence alone was an annoyance to Lily. To this day she wasn't completely sure what she did wrong, why nobody seems to care, why she is such a burden in their house.

Most of the time when Lily is home, they fight, her parents get angry at her and she ends up where she is now, sat at the edge of the cliffs watching the roaring waves crash against each other. Maybe like the sea, love is violent.

It was a warm summer, people are saying it's going to be the hottest one on record. Petunia loves summer, it's an excuse to get out the house. During winter, her parents are more hesitant on letting her wander so she stays locked away in her room. In the summer though, in the summer petunia is free.

Free to walk about their small town in the arse end of Cornwall, free to pretend that Vernon doesn't hit her, free to pretend she has friends, free to pretend her family loves her.

It hurts of course, when she is inevitably dragged back to reality, but those moments when she can pretend have become sacred to Petunia. Without them she doubts she would've managed to pull herself through her pitiful life, she would've taken her chances of a better place long ago.

The only problem about summer is Lily. She is a walking rejection, a painful reminder just like her parents. At least her parents hide their hatred, there is nothing subtle about Lily's feelings. There is nothing subtle about Lily at all. Their fight this morning was due to the fact that apparently Lily's friends were all arriving today to stay for the summer, and everyone had forgotten to tell Petunia.

She wasn't upset that Lily's friends were coming, maybe new people would make the house feel slightly less like a prison. She was upset because nobody thought she deserved to know.

She glanced down at her watch, and with a heavy sigh stood up, and began the long walk home. Her mother had told her she was cooking dinner tonight and with six extra people, it was going to be a nightmare to make, she needed as much time as possible.

As she stepped through the door she could hear loud laughter from the living room. Her heart ached at the sound, she couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed like that. She dared a quick peek into the room; Lily was sat on the floor with two other girls, one had short blonde hair and thick eyeliner that was really quite impressive. Petunia could tell immediately that she was one of those people who are annoyingly likeable. The other girl had dark clear skin, and long curls that were piled on top of her head in a bun. She radiated cool and Petunia couldn't help but look at her own clothes in shame.

The blonde one looked up and as their eyes locked she watched her smile vanish and her eyes narrow in a glare, fabulous, it seems her sisters friends already hated her. Petunia didn't have the energy to glare back, so instead she smiled at the girl before turning around and heading for the kitchen.

As always, Petunia turned on the radio first and couldn't help but smile as Queen blasted out of the old thing. Music was one of her small joys; she turned up the volume to drown out her life.

As she began to cook she heard more people arrive, they were very loud and seemed to find each other very funny. It was quite interesting, listening to the whisps of their conversations, two of them talked an awful lot about quidditch, maybe it was a band?

She couldn't help but feel quite proud of herself as she served up everyone's food, sure it was only pasta, but she'd never made so much of it. Her dad came in to help her bring the food to the dining room, he didn't say anything, not even thank you. He never does, but hope is a cruel thing that Petunia seems unable to shake.

She wants to disappear into the floor the minute she steps into the dining room and all Lily's friends stop talking, the blonde one isn't glaring at her this time so she supposes that's a start.

"Who's that?" One of the boys asks, staring at her like she was some exotic animal in a zoo.

"My sister." Lily admitted looking almost ashamed.

"You have a sister?" Another one of the boys asked. Petunia almost laughed, she was so shameful that Lily never even told her friends she existed. Classic.

"I do, but she's a muggle." The shame was even more prominent now and Petunia could feel her blood boiling, did she speak about their parents like this too?

"Does everyone say muggle like a swear word Lily, or is it just you." Petunia snaps putting her sisters bowl down with a thud, she can feel everyone staring at her but she doesn't care.

"Don't make a scene." Lily hisses and Petunia storms out of the room feeling so angry that she may explode.

Petunia does not eat dinner that night, instead she sits on her bed and wishes to be somewhere very far away. Occasionally she imagines what life would be like if she'd been the magical sister, she's stopped doing it as much as she used to because in the end it just hurts, the knowledge that if one little thing had been different she may of had the chance of happiness.

It is dark by the time Petunia dares to venture from her room, it's late enough that Lily and her friends should be asleep and if she spends another moment in her room she might claw her own eyes out.

She doesn't expect to find a boy sat in her prime smoking spot, the step by the back door. He's got long dark hair tied into a loose ponytail and the kind of face that would fit a Greek God. Despite his scruffy clothes there was almost something regal about him.

"You've stolen my smoking spot." She mutters and can't help but laugh as the boy jumps out of his skin.

"Fucking hell, you've just taken a good few years off my life."

"Didn't Lily tell you, it's one of her evil sisters many skills."

Petunia sat down next to Sirius on the back step, fumbling with a half-crushed pack of cigarettes. Her hands trembled just slightly as she tried to light one.

"After your little spat, Lily said you're a hateful bitch."

A laugh slipped out of her, too quick, too loud.

"For her, that's nice."

The cigarette finally lit, and she took a deep drag, holding it between two fingers like she was trying to prove she'd done it before. As the smoke curled from her lips, her shoulders eased down from her ears. The tension in her arms, her jaw, even behind her eyes, unclenched just a little.

They sat there in silence for a while. Not a heavy one, not the kind that demands to be filled. More like two people who had finally found somewhere to rest without being looked at.

"I don't think you're a hateful bitch, you know," Sirius said eventually.

Petunia turned to him. His grey eyes were striking in the half-light, sharp like cold water, like they could see straight through her. She offered him a smile, small and genuine.

"You're the only one in this house."

"Do you cook dinner every night?"

She nodded, flicking ash off the side of the step. "When I started, I was awful. Eleven-year-old me couldn't cut vegetables to save my life. But I've got the hang of it now. It's... actually kind of fun. It means I'm doing something." She paused, exhaled slowly. "My parents pulled me out of school after Lily got her Hogwarts letter. So most of the time I'm alone. And I've found being busy is better than the alternative."

Her cheeks warmed suddenly, and she glanced away, embarrassed at how much she'd just admitted. But when she looked back, Sirius wasn't smirking. He wasn't bored. He was watching her with that same strange mix of sadness and understanding, like he knew exactly what it felt like to fill time with distractions just to keep from thinking.

"Your pasta was fucking brilliant," he said.

Petunia laughed. "Thanks...?"

He held out his hand, casual. "Sirius. Sirius Black."

She shook it. "Petunia. Petunia Evans."

"Your parents really into gardening or something?"

She barked a laugh. "Yeah. And sex." Sirius choked on his next drag, coughing.

Petunia burst out laughing.

"Tell me you're fucking with me."

"I'm fucking with you."

They stayed out there a while longer, passing the cigarette back and forth, talking about nothing and everything, families, music, London summers, what it meant to feel like the odd one out in your own home.

Eventually, Petunia stood, stubbing out the cigarette under her heel declaring it was well past her bed time.

"You know, for a Muggle, you're not that bad." Sirius grinned, flashing teeth.

"For a wizard, you're not that bad either." Sirius beamed and then winked at her. Petunia flipped him off as she walked back inside.