Magic

25: Gone

Petunia rocked the baby's crib back and forth with her hand softly until the child inside closed his eyes. She sighed when Dudley finally fell asleep and stood up, pressing her hands against her aching back. It had been a long day; children had bothered Vernon and herself for candy all day.

Petunia's eye twitched as she passed the wardrobe in her room. She knew it was messy, and being obsessed with cleanliness she couldn't stand that fact. She entered her room, pulled the drawers open, and began to fold her clothes again neatly. As Petunia picked up a blue shirt, a clear orb rolled onto the floor. She picked it up and nearly dropped it again. It was the snow globe Lily had given her 4 Christmases ago—the last time they'd been together with their parents.

"Look, Tuney, I know you don't like magic, but I promise it won't do anything to hurt you. It's just a petunia flower, like you. So you can always remember me."

Petunia frowned deeply at the memory, and almost tossed the snow globe away, but something made her want to keep it. Maybe she would need something to remember her sister by—or, rather, to remember she even had a sister in the first place, even if she didn't want to. It didn't seem like the two would ever cross paths again. Petunia tucked a blonde curl behind her ear. A part of her loved Lily, she knew that. But the rest of her hated her for having what Petunia had always wanted—a perfect husband, happiness, and something that made her unique. And that was something that Petunia could just not let go of.

Petunia sat down on the floor and crossed her legs, the globe between her hands. It began to grow cold in her hands, and she heard a scream. Petunia dropped the snow globe onto the ground in fear, and winced as she heard it crack. The shards of glass disappeared, and for an instant only the flower was left. Petunia gingerly touched it with a single bony finger, but it disappeared into thin air. She sat still for a moment, wondering if that was what Lily had intended it to do all along. But then, she remembered Lily's words the last time she'd seen her and James, when their dinner had gone wrong.

"I'm sorry they couldn't get along. I just wanted to say that...there's someone after me. He wants to kill us. He wants us gone. And I don't know when I'll see you again."

Petunia felt herself grow dizzy. No. It couldn't be. She touched the ground where the glass had cracked and panicked when she realized that it really had disappeared. The globe was gone. And it wasn't the only thing that was gone forever. Petunia nearly jumped up from the ground and walked down the stairs quickly.

"Vernon. Vernon!" she called, her voice echoing around the hall.

"What is it?" Vernon replied, dropping his spoon into the ice cream tub.

"Lily's gone."

"What do you mean gone?"

"She's dead, Vernon. And James and the boy."

~

And so the next morning, when the Dursleys woke up and Petunia rose from her bed to get the milk from outside her door, she screamed when she saw a small boy in a basket. But she didn't scream in surprise. She screamed because she was right. Lily was gone.

A/N - Hi guys! Do you all want me to do a Q & A in celebration of having 10 K reads? Comment questions below! I will also be taking requests on this chapter (I apologize for not being good with these before). Thanks for reading!