"Now, Pet, don't pester Lily when she gets home. It's a long trip, and I'm sure she'll want to rest."

"Yes, Mum."

"And you know she can't teach you magic. They sent a letter saying she couldn't do magic over the summer, so don't pester her as you did before she left."

"Yes, Mum."

"And you can't play with her things."

"Yes, Mum." Petunia bit her lower lip. "Mum?"

"What is it?"

"How come I haven't got a letter from an owl yet? When do I get to go and buy robes? I want a wand like Lily's that shoots stars and all, like it did when we saw it in Mr. Ollivander's shop."

Mum had been frantically putting things into the cupboard to get things ready for Lily's homecoming—everything would have to be neatened up specially—but she stopped still and turned around. "Oh, Pet... You know that... Oh, dear." She climbed down from her step stool and sat across the kitchen table from Petunia, reaching across to take her hands. Her fingers were still warm and moist from the dishwater. "You know that Lily has a very special talent, don't you?"

"Yes. But she's my sister. Beatrice and Miranda down the lane go to school with their sisters. I want to go with Lily."

"Lily's school is... only for children who have that very special talent."

"Maybe I have it."

Mum sighed. "Pet, do you remember before Lily left, the way odd things happened around her sometimes?"

"Like when my doll broke, then it was suddenly all right again?"

"Just like that. Darling, you've never done anything of that sort, and that's what Lily's school is looking for. Oh, don't look so glum. You shall go to a fine school. And lucky us! You can stay home and come and be with us at night instead of so very far away."

Petunia looked glumly at the table, which was set with the best china. All of Lily's favorite foods were in various stages of preparation. Mum had been going on for days getting ready, and Lily's whole room had been re-done so that she would have room for all her school things. And her owl. A boy she knew had given her an owl all her own, so they could send letters back and forth.

"I'll never get to come home," she muttered.

Mum looked confused, but didn't ask what she meant by it. There was still much work to be done.

Well, it wasn't all bad. Petunia wanted very much to see Lily again. She'd gotten the first letter by the owl, and Lily had told her all about the boy—James—and written down how to send a letter back. There had been three letters that way during the year. It was much more fun that stamps and post, and it was like having a sister-secret, the way they used to when they had a club in the little nook in the back of the closet.

An idea struck Petunia, and she jumped up. "Mum, I'm going to clean something for Lily, too."

"All right, dear," Mum said. "Just don't make a mess while you're cleaning it."

Petunia skipped back to the coat closet and pushed apart the old winter coats. They smelled of fireplaces and the ghost of hot chocolate. Behind them, the closet opened out. She and Lily had made this their special place when they were very small, because the stairs sloped down back here and the grownups couldn't fit standing up. They sometimes brought their sleeping bags down here and whispered to one another about what they would do when they were famous and wealthy. Lily used to want to be a famous brain surgeon. Now, maybe she'd be a famous witch, although Petunia thought that witches weren't supposed to make themselves famous. Maybe she'd be a brain surgeon who was just also a witch. For Petunia's part, she wanted to be a professional disco dancer. She knew how to do the Bump and the Bus Stop really well, and she was saving her money to buy up all the Bee Gees albums so she could practice her steps.

There was a little door in the side of the closet that led under the very bottom part of the stairs. Petunia hid in this room sometimes, but mostly it was just the place where she and Lily kept their sleeping bags. She pulled these out, and rolled them out carefully, making sure that they were perfectly straight and had enough room between for a bowl of candy and a game of cards. There were some cobwebs that needed removing and the little lamp on the battered end table would definitely need dusting if they were to stay up late at night reading Mum's tattered paperback romances to one another.

Petunia settled into the job, and found the work a rather pleasant way to spend the afternoon, and it seemed to be very soon when Mum knocked on the door. Petunia parted the coats and poked her head out. "Yes, Mum?"

"Are you going to come with us to pick up your sister?"

"No, I'll finish my surprise instead."

"All right. We'll be back in an hour or so, if her train is on time."

Petunia went out onto the porch and watched them go. She was turning to go in when she noticed Beatrice and Miranda looking over Miranda's fence. She waved to them. "All right, then?"

They giggled.

"What is it?"

"Your face is covered with dust," Miranda said. "And you've cobwebs in your hair."

Petunia reached up her hand and it came down covered with gray grime. "Been cleaning," she said, but she felt herself blush.

"Cleaning what?"

"The closet, is all. My sister is coming home from school."

They giggled again. Beatrice covered her mouth to hide it, then ruined the effort by saying, "Really, Pet, do you suppose she'll be walking down the street and suddenly jumping up into trees again?"

Petunia managed a smile. Beatrice and Miranda wouldn't be caught dead climbing trees. It would spoil their knees. They didn't exactly understand Lily, but that was all right. They were very popular, and their families were very good. Petunia's parents were a bit odd—Mum grew organic vegetables and Daddy was a professor—so there was always a bit of strain with the neighbors. Petunia thought the best way to end it was to simply smile and hope they would come round.

She went back inside and fussed a bit more at the closet, then went up to the bathroom to shower and clean up. The hour passed, and there was no sign of the car. Perhaps the train was late. Petunia slipped back into the closet and opened one of the paperbacks to pass the time.

She was a few chapters in—the spunky heroine had just told the taciturn hero that she would rather marry Count Dracula—when she heard the door open. She heard Mum's voice and Daddy's, then, above them, "Oh, it's so lovely to be back. You would just love the castle though, really. It's all natural light and grand scenery. And I've learned so much!"

Petunia stood up. Her feet were both asleep from being crossed, so she wobbled as she came forward and pushed the coats apart. She was about to open the door when she heard a fourth voice.

"It's very kind of you to have me to visit on such short notice," a boy said. "I hope it's not an imposition."

Petunia froze with her hand on the knob, then cracked the door just a bit.

Lily was putting her boxes down and smelling the good smells of dinner. She was smiling and looked very happy. The boy was skinny and had messy hair. He wore glasses, and looked quite... well, he seemed a bit bookish. He tilted his head and looked toward the closet. "Goodness, Lily, do you keep your sister in the closet?"

Lily laughed lightly. She pulled open the door. Petunia's sleeping feet wobbled, and she lost her balance, tripping out in front of them. "Pet!" she said. "What the devil are you doing under the stairs?"

"I thought we could camp in our old place tonight," she said.

Lily's smile faltered. "I... eh... I'm sorry, Pet, really. This is James. He gave me Zizza, you know, my owl. He's visiting for a few days, to see London. Our London, you know, not Diagon Alley. He's never seen it the way we do."

Petunia nodded. "Okay."

"You could come with us," James said. "Lily is a very good friend of mine, and I'd love to know her sister."

"But I'm nothing like Lily," Petunia whispered. She wobbled past them and started up the stairs.

"Pet, we can camp after James leaves," Lily called after her.

"Sure. Whatever you say. Mum, can I go over to Miranda's after dinner? Beatrice is there, and they're going to have a party this summer, and I was hoping I could help them plan it."

Mum gave her permission.

Dinner was a quiet affair for Petunia, though Lily and James talked quite a lot about school and their friends there, and their classes. James had other friends who were all wizards. They had names like Remus and Sirius, though one at least had a normal name, Peter. Petunia gathered that none of them had ever visited the Muggle world much.

Muggle.

It was an ugly word, and Petunia decided that she didn't like it much.

Lily had friends, too, of course. A girl from Ireland and one from Scotland, and a few other classmates. They talked about their house—Gryffindor—and about some other house they didn't like, and a boy with greasy hair who was always trying to curse people. Petunia thought it a bit rich to hear James making fun of someone else's hair, however bad it might be.

She excused herself before dessert and slipped over to Miranda's. The girls were out in the garden house, and Petunia went to join them.

"So I saw your sister come back," Miranda said without preliminaries. "And who is that... boy... with her?"

"A friend from school."

"He's certainly queer-looking," Beatrice said. "Those glasses, and that hair... "

"He's awful!" Petunia cried out, surprising herself. "He's... oh, he just... why he has the nerve to complain about someone else's hair!"

"Really!"

And with that, Petunia had an audience. She couldn't mention what sort of school Lily really went to, but she allowed that it was a special school, and let Beatrice and Miranda draw their own conclusions. And she talked about James, the awful boy. Some of what she said wasn't precisely from experience, more from guesses, but what kind of boy would get in the way of a girl's sister coming home, anyway? How far off could she be?

Beatrice and Miranda listened attentively and made commiserating noises, and Petunia ended up staying very late indeed, until Mum came to collect her.

"Could you bring out one of the sleeping bags for James?" she asked as they came up on their own front porch. "He can sleep in the living room."

"It's all right," Petunia said. "Why not just give him my room? I'll stay in the closet."

She didn't wait for Mum's answer. She just stormed back to the closet nook and slammed the door behind her. The dark in here was perfect for brooding, but brooding got boring after awhile. She turned on the light to read, and she read for a long while before she heard a tentative knock on the door.

She looked up and saw the shadows of two feet. "Petunia?"

The voice was James'.

Petunia turned off the light.

"You don't have to sleep in there."

"Go away."

"I'm sorry."

"Good night."

"I didn't mean to—"

"I'm going to sleep now. Good night."

Petunia stretched out on Lily's sleeping bag and didn't say any more. The foot-shadows stayed a moment longer, then padded off. A moment later, Petunia heard him climbing the stairs.

She wasn't sure how long it was before she fell asleep in the total darkness of the closet, but it seemed very soon when she woke up to the sound of feet skipping happily down the stairs above. "I'll show you everything!" Lily was whispering excitedly. "It will be such fun. And I owe you for showing me around the wizarding world. I'd have been so lost without you this year! I'd no idea all those creatures were around Britain."

"You'd have no reason to know, now would you? Oughtn't we wake your sister and ask her to come along."

The footsteps stopped partway down. "Pet's throwing a snit," Lily said. "When she comes around, she'll come with us."

"That's not very nice, Lily."

"You don't have a sister, do you, James?"

"No."

"Trust me. This is normal."

"If you're sure... "

Petunia clenched her teeth. She wouldn't go anywhere with them. A snit, indeed.

"I'm sure. Oh, don't look at me like that." A pause. "Oh, all right, all right."

The footsteps resumed, and a moment later, the closet door opened. The coats parted and Lily bent down. "You're awake?"

"You're noisy."

"Oh. Sorry. I just wanted to... "

"Don't worry. I won't be anywhere near you with my snit." Petunia rolled over and faced the back of the closet. She heard the coats rustle as Lily stood up.

"Oh, fine. Have it your way. Why are you being like this?"

"Because."

"There's a good reason."

Petunia rolled over again and propped herself up on an elbow. "You know, they think he's funny looking."

"What... ?"

"The normal people."

"He heard you say that. You come out and apologize right now."

"Will not."

The voice, from further on: "It's all right, Lily, honestly."

"It most certainly is not."

"Yes, it is. Come on. Petunia, I'm sorry if I've caused you some sort of trouble."

"You didn't," Lily spat, and stormed out of the closet, slamming the door.

Petunia sat and brooded.

When Petunia finally came out of the closet, Mum and Daddy were both at work, and Lily had apparently decided not to come home for lunch. She stalked through the house, glaring at the fresh cleaning.

This is stupid.

The voice was refreshing but unpleasant, like a splash of cold water drawing her up from a warm dream.

This is stupid, you know Lily is doing nothing to hurt you, and the boy is going out of his way to be kind. You were awfully rude to him, you know.

Petunia frowned. She supposed she ought to lecture herself on her own behavior—after all, she could be out at the zoo or perhaps shopping if she hadn't been nasty to Lily's friend—but she didn't want to. Lily spent the whole school year with James; what was she bringing him home for, too?

But still, Pet, you know perfectly well that this is silly.

"Shut up."

"Who are you talking to, Petunia?" someone said through the back screen door.

Petunia looked up. Miranda was standing there in a smart outfit, her hair tied back with hanks of oversized yarn. "Myself," she muttered.

"People will think you're a bit strange if you do that. May I come in?"

"I suppose."

Miranda pushed open the door and came into the kitchen. "Your sister is gone?"

"Yes. She went to see London with James."

"Where's he from, anyway?"

"I don't know."

Miranda accepted this without comment. "Well, are you going to come to my party next week?"

"Of course."

"Splendid! What are you wearing?"

"I haven't decided."

"Well, let me see. I'll help you pick."

Glad of the distraction, Petunia led Miranda upstairs to her room. She opened the door and nearly tripped over the trunk that was sitting just inside.

"Er... James is staying in here. I'm sleeping downstairs. This is his stuff."

Miranda was looking at the trunk with something like horror, and Petunia realized with a sinking heart that when she'd knocked it, something attached to the side had spilled noxious fluid over the rug. Worse than that, things appeared to live in this fluid.

"Must be for their science class," she said quickly.

Miranda picked her way around it gingerly, and went to sit down at the desk, only to jump up suddenly as something crumpled beneath her. It was a sheet of parchment, partly covered with feather-quill writing. "What, does he do calligraphy?"

"Maybe."

"Not very many boys do that," she said disapprovingly. "It's very odd."

"Well, he's Lily's friend, not mine." Petunia flung her wardrobe door open. "Do you think the blue or the green?"

But Miranda's eyes had drifted to the black robe folded over the trunk. She was reaching for it when Petunia realized that it would have the name of the school on it, and made a mad grab for it before it would show.

Miranda looked at her narrowly. "What is that, his choir robe?"

"Maybe. I don't know what it is. Their school, you know. Very strange place."

"I should say so."

"So, would you say the blue or the green?" Petunia held both dresses up in front of her, not really noticing that she'd pulled out a yellow one and a pink one.

"Purple," Miranda said dryly. "I've been thinking. I need to change the date of that party. Perhaps to mid-July."

"But we'll be on holiday then!"

"Yes, I'm sorry and all. But really, your sister seems to be keeping your life... " She looked again at the trunk. "... Interesting. Without any assistance from me."

"But—"

"Well, ta, I suppose. I'll see you when you come outside."

With that, Miranda left. Petunia sat down on her bed, a bit too dazed to walk her to the door, which would only make matters worse, of course.

She glared at the mess on the rug beside the trunk, then at the robe that was still in her hands. Then she tossed the robe onto the mess, and starting stomping on it in little circles, until the dampness came up through. Then she kicked it, and ran back to the closet.

Whispers from behind the veil of sleep.

"...but did she get any on her feet? It could make blisters, and we can't do anything about it."

"I'm mad enough to let her have the blisters."

"And she's mad enough to wreck my robes. You two would waste a lot less time if you just had a conversation, you know."

"She was never like this before!"

Petunia didn't wake up all the way, even when the lamp was turned on and her socks were pulled off gently. It felt like a dream, and she let it stay that way.

"Just one or two little blisters," James said. "I don't think we need to call for a Reversal or an antidote."

"Is it what's keeping her asleep?"

"Maybe. I don't know, Lily, I just took the same Potions class you did, and you did better in it."

A heavy sigh from Lily. "I just don't understand. She was happy when she wrote to me and we always got on well before. Mum said she was looking forward to seeing me. I was looking forward to seeing her, too. School friends are nice, but sisters are sisters."

Petunia curled up in a tighter ball, trying to decide whether or not to wake up.

"You've been away for a year," James said. "Perhaps she didn't know what to expect."

"I'll thank you to leave my sister to me, James."

"Yes, of course."

Petunia pulled the blanket over her head, manufacturing a snore as she did it.

"She's awake," Lily said.

Petunia snored again.

A hand tugged at her hair. "Oh, fine," Lily said. "Have it your way, Pet. Come out when you're ready."

Petunia lay awake for only a little while longer, then the drowsiness took her again.

Mum woke her up the next morning. "All right, Pet. This has gone on quite long enough. You will come out of there and you will be polite to our guest."

"Mum... "

"This was not given as an option." Mum pulled aside all the coats and waited until Petunia was out of the closet and on her way to the kitchen. The door slammed somewhere behind her.

James and Lily were both at the table, pouring syrup on waffles. James smiled. Lily raised an eyebrow. "Morning, Pet."

Mother jabbed a hand at her back, and Petunia forced a smile. "Good morning, Lily. James."

"Will you be joining us today?" James asked, passing her a plate stacked with waffles. "Lily has promised to take me to a... what d'you call them, Lily?"

"Movie."

"What are you seeing?" Petunia asked.

"The matinee is playing The Wizard of Oz," Lily answered with a grin. "I couldn’t resist."

"What sort of wizard is he?" James asked.

"A muggle," Lily said. "The only muggle in a magical world." She laughed. "It's very funny. What do you say, Pet? You used to like that one on the telly."

"No, thanks. The muggle would like to stay at home and watch the stories. But I'm sure you'll both enjoy it."

The smiles were forced all around, but breakfast managed to go on without an argument. Mum and Daddy left for work, and James and Lily prepared for their outing. "Are you sure you won't come?" James asked her again as they were going out the door. "I don't want you to feel that I'm stealing your sister from you."

Then please refrain from doing so.

"Enjoy the movie," Petunia said dully, and watched them go off. Halfway down the block, James, to her horror, decided to climb a tree, and Lily followed him. Lily hung upside down from her knees and laughed, then James jumped down, and pulled her from the limb, laughing. She went on ahead, sticking her nose into the air melodramatically. James followed her, and they disappeared around the corner.

Petunia shook her head, and in the action, caught sight of motion next door. Miranda and Beatrice were giggling in the doorway. They slipped back inside before Petunia could talk to them.

Petunia put up with the week of James' visit as well as she could, though Lily grew increasingly irritated with her. James joined them all for dinner one night at a nice restaurant, and managed to embarrass himself by not knowing a thing about money and trying to hand out a large gold coin that no one recognized. He also became utterly silly about Daddy's car, and insister on seeing how it worked, so he became greasy and filthy as well as skinny and unkempt. Lily took to singing odd songs and deliberately annoying Miranda and Beatrice whenever she caught them looking over.

"Heaven's sake, Pet," she said, "why would you be in the least interested in that sort of friend?"

"I'll pick my friends. You pick yours."

All in all, it remained quite uncomfortable. Petunia thought that it might end when they took James to King's Cross to go home, that Lily might start to be quite herself again, but it didn't. Lily continued to be furious with her, and they didn't speak more than they had to throughout the family's summer holiday in Kent.

Petunia continued to stay in the closet when they returned, not entirely sure why. She simply felt more comfortable being able to shut herself away from the family entirely.

The night before Lily was set to go back to school, Petunia was reading a Harlequin with a blonde woman on the cover. She was an heiress who had an unhealthy obsession with a rogueish cowboy. Petunia hoped she would come to her senses and marry the nice banker who adored her so.

There was a tentative knock on the door. Petunia looked up and saw foot shadows, shifting uncomfortably in the bar of light. "Pet?"

"What?"

"Oh, come now. Let's not be silly anymore. I don't want to go back to school with all this nonsense still going on. May I come in?"

Petunia sighed. "I suppose."

The door creaked open, and Lily came in, ducking through the coats and sitting down on the second sleeping back (which Petunia had never thought to put back in the secret room). "You've got it nice in here," she said. "Thank you for doing it. I should have come to stay with you some night. Could I stay tonight?"

"Bit late, don't you think?"

"Pet, I'm sorry. I wanted you to like James, and I was angry that you didn't. That's not fair. I can't expect you to like everyone."

Petunia frowned and put her book down on the floor, tenting it to keep her page. "My friends think you were odd."

"I'm sorry. I can't help who I am. You could do with a bit of oddness."

"I don't want it. I just want to go to a nice party from time to time and know what's coming next."

"Ah. To me, that sounds odd." Lily smiled, and picked up the book. She scanned the page. "Goodness, our heroine's in trouble, isn't she? Who is this man?"

"Well... he's actually her mother's brother's stepson. But she's completely in love with him."

"Shocking. Do you suppose they'll get together?"

"They do. I checked ahead. The good part's on page one-eighteen."

Lily flipped forward eagerly and read the scene in question. "Oh, my." She fanned herself with the book. "Well, we'd best get going if we're going to finish this tonight... "

Petunia let Lily take it away, let herself fall into enjoyment of the old routine. It was good to have a sister, good to have her be normal sometimes, good to giggle at the novel with her. But she couldn't forget that all the people she valued thought Lily was strange and unwelcome... and that Lily didn't care one bit how difficult it would make her life for the whole school year. Lily had somewhere else to go.

They took her to the station the next morning, and watched her disappear through the barrier, her trunk and her owl piled onto a dolly. She promised that she would send Zizza with letters for Lily again, and she did for the first month or so, but Petunia didn't answer them, and after a bit, the letters stopped coming.