Priori Incantatem - 2
Part 1: Full Moon Nights (contd.)
Petunia
Petunia walked into the garden, where Lily sat gazing at the full moon, clearly lost in thought.
“Lil, there you are. I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Those Dursleys aren’t even acting like their usual selves today, they’re in our bedroom jumping on the beds. They’re out of control. They’re making a mess. I hate mess,” Petunia finished in a screech.
Lily looked up, jerked out of her reverie. “I’m just coming, Tuney.”
Petunia looked at her. Then she sat down on the stone beside her. “I know what you’re thinking, Lily. I know you’re thinking about what that boy said to you. Listen to me, forget what he said. It’s not true.”
Lily gazed at Petunia through her bright green eyes. “How do you know, Tuney? How could you know?”
“Because,” started Petunia, but Lily interrupted her.
“What if I am a witch? What if it’s magic, all the stuff I can do? It makes sense.” Her voice rose excitedly, and her eyes glowed.
“No, it doesn’t. I’m sorry, it doesn’t make any sense.” Lily started to look indignant, but Petunia went on, “There is no such thing as magic. Surely you don’t believe all these fairy-tales now? They’re for little children,” she finished scornfully.
Lily was looking indignant now, but she spoke in little more than a whisper. “How do you explain it, then? All the things I can do?”
Petunia opened her mouth, then closed it.
“It does make sense,” Lily went on, “That’s why no one else can do it, even you. I’ve seen you try. It does make sense.”
Petunia was beginning to feel angry. Her room would probably be totally wrecked by now, and Lily was being so difficult.
“You listen to me. That Snape boy…is weird. Didn’t you see the kind of clothes he wore? They say he doesn’t even go to school. And his parents…I’ve heard…” Petunia hesitated.
“What about them?” asked Lily, suddenly looking interested.
Petunia felt a twinge of annoyance. “They argue and fight all the time. Even in public. I’ve heard people say it. And I’m sure it’s true,” she added confidently, seeing Lily open her mouth to say something.
A shriek of mirth was heard from upstairs, followed by a crash. Petunia said quickly, with a note of finality in her voice, “He’s lying, Lily. Just forget what he said.” And she ran upstairs to investigate the source of the noise, but not before she’d seen the unconvinced look on Lily’s face. She knew Lily wouldn’t forget so easily. And a small voice in her head told her that it did make sense.
***
Lily
Lily stared after her sister’s retreating back. She didn’t believe what Petunia had said, though she had to agree that that Snape boy was weird. But…well…just because he didn’t dress well or his parents didn’t get along wasn’t really a reason not to believe him, was it?
Besides, what he had said had made her think. All these years, Lily had never wondered about her ‘abnormality’. Loved by parents and friends alike, she had believed she was ‘special’ and these were simply accidents, or, in the case of the swings, some special talent that would perhaps someday make her famous.
But today, for the first time, she began to wonder. They couldn’t all have been coincidences. Especially because no one else could do them. She had often observed Tuney stretching out her arm as far as it would go, and while this would seem strange to the casual observer, Lily knew she was desperately focusing her attention on some object, willing it to zoom into her hand. A boy at school had seen her fly off the swing and, not believing a girl could do something he couldn’t, tried it as well. He had lain in hospital for weeks afterwards, and from then on Lily had been forbidden to ‘fly’.
“YOU BROKE THE MERMAID?” she distinctly heard Petunia shriek.
“Oh no,” she thought, and ran upstairs.
The Dursley boy, it transpired, had picked up Ariel, Petunia’s beloved glass mermaid, from a shelf because he thought she was “real pretty” and wanted to examine her closely. His sister wanted to see it too but he wouldn’t let her, and in the scuffle that followed, poor Ariel had her limbs and head smashed to smithereens.
The Dursleys stood stock still and, indeed, managed to look rather scared as Petunia berated them. Then they apologized profusely and said they hadn’t meant it, which did nothing to improve Petunia’s temper, and trooped down for dinner.
Later that night, after the guests had left, Lily sat on her bed, thinking. Petunia was mopping up the floor and occasionally muttering about ‘messy’ and ‘badly-brought-up’ children. Normally Lily would have laughed at her for being so obsessed with cleanliness, but not tonight.
She was making up her mind. She was determined to know more about what that Snape boy had said, and she planned to ask him. “Tuney’s going to spend the day with Leslie tomorrow. The coast will be clear,” she thought. She glanced at her sister, and felt a little pang of guilt. She had never hidden anything from her before. But she knew Tuney wouldn’t approve of what she was going to do. She just didn’t understand.
Nevertheless, there was a slight tremor in her voice as she said “Goodnight, Tuney,” and quickly hid her face in her bedclothes lest it betray her.
***
