Petunia And Lily Evans

Part 2 - Skipping Stones

Bright sunlight shone down onto the hills, making the smooth surface of Johnson Lake sparkle.

Petunia fiddled with the buttons of her ugly blue-and-white pinafore as a gentle breeze blew through her hair. She trudged along across the field near the Evans' house, Lily at her side.

"Lily! Lily!"

Petunia emitted a growling noise from her throat as she recognized the voice of her sister's former friend. Lily did not move, but instead scowled at her light blue canvas shoes.

The Snape boy was leaning against a large tree on the sloping hill nearby; his black hair, which contrasted harshly with his snow-pale skin, blended with the shadows cast by the tall oak. His gaze bore into the older girl, brimming with hatred. Petunia stared straight back until the boy looked away. She thought she felt a twinge, a throb, on her shoulder, where Severus' magically dislodged tree branch had hit her a few days ago. Lily had been close friends with Snape before that, but it seemed that physically harming her sister was over the line.

"C'mon," Lily whispered to her. "Let's look at the lake. It's so pretty in the daylight." 

Petunia allowed herself to be dragged by her skinny arm across the field, past a playground where they had spent a lot of time playing before Lily had met Snape, and approached the glittering surface of the water.

Mr and Mrs. Evans had sent herself and Lily out of the house for a while because they claimed the weather was nice and that children should be doing more than watching television and reading indoors on a beautiful day like this.

The day isn't so beautiful anymore, Petunia thought, glaring up at where Severus was watching  them from atop the hill. As she stared, he seemed to get the message through his stupid greasy-haired skull and he vanished down a side street which must lead to his house in the working-class neighbourhood of Spinner's End.

Her long face fixed into its usual scowl, Petunia stood in silence for a minute on the muddy lakeshore, boredly throwing rocks with her sister, until something happened to snap her attention back to reality.

Having been defeated by Petunia in the length of her throws, Lily swung her skinny arm back and chucked her pebble with all her might. Instead of simply landing in the water as it ought to have done, the pebble flew into the air in a high arc, sailed right over the lake and disappeared into the trees beyond. Petunia's bony jaw dropped in shock.

Lily had just used magic.

Petunia glanced around nervously in case a Muggle stranger had seen, but there was no one in sight. Then she turned on the eleven-year-old.

"What'd you do that for?" she snapped.

"What?" Lily said in a high, indignant tone, retreating a step.

"THAT!" Petunia gesticulated wildly in the direction of the distant trees. "You used magic! Mummy told you not to! Someone could have SEEN!"

Lily narrowed her eyes, but her nervous swallow did not go unnoticed as she turned back and wordlessly started skipping stones again.