I'm sorry for the wait… it took me ages to figure out what was going to happen next. Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed, I love hearing from everyone! Well, since I know no one really reads these notes at the beginning I might as well just shut up and let you get on with reading the chapter… Have fun!
Chapter 15
Running Away
The next few days passed as near to uneventful as any of the Marauders could have hoped. James had pretty much managed to steer clear of Sirius' family during his stay, and had returned to his own home virtually unscathed.
Peter had attempted to steer clear of his own family, but it hadn't quite worked the way he had planned, it being Christmas and all. But even that hadn't turned out too terribly. They had made up, and although his mother was still worried, she was sensibly keeping her mouth shut.
Remus had a wonderful time with his family, having never made any sort of slip-up about his friends like Peter had, but he was still happy to be returning to Hogwarts.
Lily, however, was not so lucky. She had had a wonderful time with Marlene, of course, but Petunia had become pretty much nonexistent for the entire time Marlene was in her house. She was becoming increasingly distant from Lily, and Lily knew that if something wasn't done soon, the girls' friendship would be irreparably damaged. But it seemed too late. Lily would be leaving for Hogwarts in another day, and Petunia wasn't even speaking to her. Another few months at Hogwarts with no contact between the sisters was likely to cause a huge rift in their relationship unless things were resolved. Fast.
*
"Petunia?" Lily called cautiously. Her room was dark, and Lily couldn't see anything inside. She cautiously opened the door a little wider, but still only a crack.
"Petunia, I don't want us to be enemies," she began hesitantly, watching in the darkness for some indication that her sister was listening. She heard nothing. "Tunia, please listen to me," she pleaded softly. Still nothing.
Lily could feel tears of frustration welling up in her eyes. She pushed the door all the way open, hearing it hitting the wall violently. "Petunia, this is serious!" she shouted, bursting into the room, but then she stopped. Something wasn't right. The light from the hallway filtered past Lily into the room, showing no sign of her sister.
*
Her mother was crying. Her father was looking tired and upset, though he was trying to be strong for his wife. Lily was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest as she watched her mother answer a police officer's questions hysterically. ("We really have no idea where she is, Sir!" she sobbed.)
They had spent nearly an hour calling all of Petunia's friends, and had gotten nowhere, so eventually, her father had called the police, who were now out scouring the streets for her sister.
Lily sighed as the police officer left and her mother resumed her sobbing. She really was too tired for this. And besides, she had packing to do. It wasn't that she didn't care… well, no, it was.
*
Sirius wasn't so much packing as shoving random things into his trunk. He hadn't really unpacked to begin with, so as to save time in the repacking, but as it turned out, trying to make everything fit while absolutely refusing to fold a single thing was taking as much time as it would have if he'd just done it right.
He heard the door open behind him, and attempted not to cringe too visibly. He knew what was coming, and wasn't looking forward to it.
He looked behind him and stared defiantly as his mother walked in, her yellowy skin stretched into a glare, followed by his father, whose tired face was set, and staring resolutely at the floor.
"Your father and I have made a decision concerning your future schooling," his mother said, her voice sounding a lot like nails on a chalkboard.
"Oh, have you really?" Sirius said enthusiastically. "How lucky of me to have parents who care enough about me to rip me out of a perfectly good school, take me away from my friends, and stick me in some place where everyone walks around like you lot do-with their noses in the air."
A strange noise seemed to come out of his mother's throat, like she was considering whether or not she wanted to hurl him straight out of the window. But it seemed his father stopped her thoughts when he placed a hand on her shoulder, and said softly, "We've decided to let you stay at Hogwarts."
"FOR THE TIME BEING!" his mother interrupted, but Sirius was busy trying to resist the urge to jump in the air.
His father sighed, and continued, "But if we find out anything about your being friends with Mudbloods or the like ("AND WE WILL FIND OUT!" his mother shouted), you'll be out of there before you can blink."
And with that, his parents left the room, leaving Sirius smiling behind them.
*
It was dark outside. And mildly frightening. Not that Petunia couldn't handle it. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She didn't need anyone to take care of her. And if it took running away to make her Lily and her parents see her, then she wasn't afraid of anything that might happen.
She saw a shadow move out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned there was no one there. Ok, maybe this was remotely frightening, but still nothing she couldn't handle. There was no way Petunia was going to go home just because of a stupid shadow.
And then it moved again. Well, she still wasn't going home, but it couldn't hurt to walk a little faster, could it? She sped up, turning her head slowly to look into the shadows, and saw a boy standing there. He was standing with a group of boys, who were just dumping another boy, a smaller one, into a trashcan. He was leaning against the wall, a cigarette hanging loosely out of his mouth, and he was watching her.
Despite her better instincts, Petunia stopped walking, and stood staring at the boy. He left the gang of boys behind him, and began moving toward her.
"What's a nice girl like you doing out all by yourself?" the boy said suavely.
"I- I ran away," she said slowly, not entirely trusting the boy.
"Oh," he said, chuckling. "And why's that?"
Petunia stuck her nose in the air. "It's not any of your business why I ran away," she said, turning away.
"Wait," he called. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." He smiled. And she smiled. She walked back slowly.
"What's your name, anyway?"
"Vernon. Vernon Dursley."
*
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