Prelude to a Love Story

Chapter One: What to do?

The portions of burnt meat were being pushed away into an ever-increasing pile as Petunia slowly ate her way through her breakfast of bacon and eggs. She sighed moodily as she realised that she would never find a piece up to her standards, and grumpily pushed the plate away stating:

"I know you aren't the best of cooks, Mum, but this is just pitiful..."

She didn't get the chance to complain more, as at that moment her mother's shaking hands lost their grip on the frying pan and all came crashing to the floor. Self-consciously, Kathryn pushed the hair away from her puffy eyes and crouched to the floor, not noticing the hot cooking implements burning her hands as she picked them up and roughly placed them in the sink.

"So..." spoke Petunia, drawing out the words as she spoke them to emphasise her sarcasm, "Is there anything you can do about breakfast? Except for burn it, that is."

Kathryn froze and stared at her daughter, unable to believe that a child of her own could be so uncaring. But that's her father's side, she supposed. Not that Gregory Evans was in any way insolent or rude. It was just a well known fact that his mother was the most unsubtle crab in the universe. Kathryn really didn't think much of her mother in law. Looking back to her daughter, she broke off her musing.

"Is that all you have to say?" asked Kathryn, her voice shaking with suppressed emotion. Whether she held back tears or fury, she didn't know.

Petunia pulled an odd expression, apparently thinking. She then stared intently at her mother's face saying soon after, matter of fact, "You've been crying. Is something wrong?"

"Your sister has had an emotional breakdown."

"So?" Petunia looked at Kathryn blankly. At that moment the floral wallpaper had more character than Lily Evans' sister. Kathryn rolled her eyes to the ceiling, frustration at Petunia's bad grace overriding her stress for a moment. Then she drew a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. Unsuccessfully, for she then began to sob, worry for Lily's condition overwhelming her.

Gregory Evans walked in to see his eldest daughter ignoring her sobbing mother, while a large mess of blackened bacon and eggs lay on the floor in a messy heap. Grabbing a dishcloth he bent down and began to wipe the mess off the linoleum, gently comforting his wife as he did so.

"Don't worry, Kath, we'll find out some way to help our Lily - that letter seemed very convincing when it spoke of how she will recover, and they DO seem to know what they're doing. We could take her home if you want, or..." He stopped abruptly as Kathryn interrupted.

"It's not that, Greg!" she cried angrily. "You know what the letter said; 'We ask you that if she has either any history of mental instability or bad relationships...' They mean ME, Greg: I'm her bad history. We know that insanity comes from my side of the family! What if they can't heal her? What if she never recovers? It'll be all my fault." Kathryn broke down, crying desperately into Greg's comforting arms as he wrapped them around her.

"They're magical: they'll be able fix her!" he whispered fiercely. "Of course they will." They have to be, Greg thought silently to himself - if only to save my wife.

At the word 'magical', Petunia slipped from the room.

***//\//\***

Always! That's all they cared about. Lily this and Lily that. Well, Petunia was sick of it. She hated Lily with a passion. It was beyond envy or even jealousy; it was pure anger. Petunia hated magic: she hated the advantage it gave other people, and she hated the extra attention her sister earned for having it.

Lily had been subject to an emotional breakdown? Well whoop-de-doo! Good for her!

She deserved it.

Petunia rolled over on the bed, the plain white quilts matching the white cupboards and curtains. Her carpet was a soft cream, and completely spotless. The bed was beautifully made, all her clothes were folded up and away, while the books in her shelves were all neatly ordered. Not a thing was out of place, not even a hair on her head. It was a perfection thing that Petunia had. She couldn't help it, but everything simply had to be neat and orderly - she hated mess. At the moment her thoughts were a mess, and she hated that, too. There were damp patches on her pillow - apparently she had been crying, yet Petunia couldn't think why. She had nothing to do with people who cried like little children. Why, she was eighteen!

Feeling angry and upset, Petunia decided to call her boyfriend - he'd be able to make everything better. She sighed happily, reaching for her white phone as she searched her memory for the phone number.

***//\//\***

Kathryn didn't notice her daughter's rather abrupt departure - she was too busy fretting over her other daughter. Like all mothers, she blamed herself. Her family had always had the occasional "bad egg", though since having had her youngest child leave for Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardy, she had believed it to simply be her family's wizarding history being misinterpreted. Of course she had never heard of the wizarding world until her daughter Lily was born, yet there had always been that slight twinge to the supernatural. Kathryn didn't know what to do. Should she bring her daughter home? To heal her with a mother's touch? Or leave her with the wizard's school, where she might lack love but have the best of treatment... Oh, Oh! What to do?

In less than a week it would be Christmas. Kathryn had already begun buying up on food and decorated the house. It had all been for Lily. Lily's favourite foods, Lily's favourite colours... Everything for her. Yet now Lily wouldn't be coming. Kathryn couldn't imagine a Christmas with out her baby Lil'. Nothing seemed to be working this year. Nothing at all.

Kathryn didn't realise that she was sitting on the floor crying until her outburst was interrupted. Her husband had cleaned up the spilt mess and apparently been comforting her, though now he was standing, walking towards the door to answer the bell that had just rung. Discreetly, Kathryn wiped at her eyes, at once thankful for the lack of effort she had felt towards putting on her mascara this morning - no dark streaks down her face to betray her.

The deep tones of Vernon Dursley came from the door. Obviously he had come for Petunia - no one else in this house appeared to interest him in the slightest. A dull man, Kathryn honestly didn't know what her eldest daughter could see in him. But then, Kathryn thought bitterly, there were few things that she understood when it came to Petunia. "Perfect Petunia" - how quaint. And correct, for Petunia was a perfectionist to the most extreme degree. Her fashions were always impeccable; her grammar was almost never incorrect; her hair was never out of place; and her bedroom was neat as a pin. Kathryn couldn't understand it: couldn't believe it. Although no one in the family was particularly messy, it was more as though Petunia simply didn't have the imagination to cope with anything un-neat. Perhaps that was why she so despised Lily...

Kathryn broke off her day dreaming to give Vernon a polite nod and greeting. Although she didn't like the boy, she felt it was her place to be polite to him, she was, after all, his girlfriend's mother. He responded to her inquiries as he always did. Was the boy so boring that he could not think of a different reply? Petunia suited him ideally, Kathryn supposed; her perfection went well with his love of routine and constancy. Kathryn still didn't see that there was anything to truly love in the man.

Vernon's nod was a measured up and down of his head. When he spoke his voice was almost militant in its style of confidence.

"Hello, Mrs. Evans. I hope you are well?" He asked, politely, accurately, neatly, smoothly... For the how many hundredth time? Kathryn wondered privately.

Not listening to Kathryn's soft-spoken response of "I've been better" he turned from her and faced the tall girl with very straight blonde hair. Petunia's blue eyes appeared slightly washed out, though they were always like that. Vague.

"Why, Vernon!" Petunia said grandly. "I did not expect you here so soon. I haven't even changed..." She looked down and waved her hands as though to decrease any marks in her unruffled garments. "Come, let us go to my room," she appeared to give a disdainful sniff, "My sister has gone crazy - it seems that witch place finally got to her - and my parents are making all sorts of messes." With that, Petunia flounced down to her bedroom, not caring for the parents she had left behind.

Lacking the wit to contemplate refusing her, Vernon followed willingly.

This time Kathryn did notice her daughter's departure. Looking to Gregory she scowled, wanting to slap him for having such a mild expression on his face. Greg wasn't the most imaginative of men, and he did tend towards the orderly and perfectionist attitude that his daughter shared. However it wasn't quite to the same extent, and at least he had emotions.

Inevitably, Kathryn's mind drifted back towards her youngest daughter. This time when she looked towards her husband it was with despair clouding her eyes. Kathryn's thoughts had turned in a different direction now. Obviously if there were problems with her daughters, then it had to be her fault. She was a failure of a mother - she had done something wrong... Kathryn felt traumatised. It seemed as though everything had been going wrong recently. Everything. Her daughters were either sick or hated her. Yet there was nothing she could do! Nothing. Nothing. Nothing she could do...

Gregory rushed to Kathryn, having intently stared into his wife's eyes and seen the change from despair to blankness as her mind fell into a loop.

To late to stop Kathryn's collapse, he caught her before she reached the ground. Though not soon enough to reach her before she fell into the darkness that consumed her.

***//\//\***

A worried frown creased Vernon Dursley's face as he noticed his hostess began to crumple to the floor. Her vague blue eyes had seemed to grow lighter, and then she had simply fell. Thankfully, Petunia had been by the bed at the time, and her faint was much cushioned by the pillows. There was a slight warmth to the room, so Vernon decided that it must have been heat shock, and decided to watch her. In a few minutes the girl awoke and rose to her former position, continuing their conversation as though nothing had happened. Her manner made Vernon question what he had seen, until he, too, appeared to forget the incident.

--- --- ---

Yet in a castle far away, lying in a hospital bed with a whiteness nearly up to Petunia's standards, a girl drifted back to where she had been for so long now. Around her, five pairs of concerned eyes stared, and pointed at her were three wands of magic.

Lily Evans returned to the darkness that she had come to know so well.