The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix - Part One

Tea To Pass The Time

Petunia Evans did not have the body shape to be wearing a tweed pencil line skirt, but there she was. Ankle socks, loafers, and a button up blouse with actual shoulder pads sewn in rounded out her librarian look - in more ways than one.

When Lily stepped off the muggle bus in London by Piccadilly Square, Petunia's eyes swept her sister top to bottom and back again. She was relieved to see her arrive in such a normal mode of transport. The irrational side of her had half expected Lily to fly up on a broomstick in a full set of witch's robes, pointy hat and all. Instead, Lily looked to be Petunia's exact opposite, dressed in slim fitting denim overalls with colorful daisies embroidered on one thigh, and a t-shirt of red and yellow stripes beneath. Even Lily's bag, which looked like it was just a sack made of patches of different patterned cloth and covered with little badges, was cooler looking than Petunia's. Petunia hugged her smart leather bag closer and held her chin higher, feeling her clothes to be utterly lame compared to her sister's.

"Tuney!" Lily smiled, hurrying over just as she would have done when they were children, running, her long ginger ponytail flapping behind her.

"Oh, don't run like that in public, Lily! Really! You're a grown woman!" Petunia said, but she returned the hug that Lily had caught her up in when the gap between them had closed. Petunia flushed a little, feeling how tiny Lily's waist was compared to her own, and wondering what sort of cruel trick genetics had played on her half of their embryonic eggs. When the hug parted, Petunia said, "I could never wear overalls."

"Sure you could," Lily replied, "They're dead comfortable once you break them in."

"If you've the figure for it," Petunia muttered. She reached up and fixed a flyaway hair over Lily's ear.

"Well you look very nice, Tuney," Lily said, "I love this colour." She indicated the burnt orange of Petunia's blouse, which brought out some of the specks of color in the otherwise plain grey wool skirt.

"I worried it was a bit bright," Petunia replied.

"No, not at all, it's lovely," Lily said.

Not sure what to say, Petunia didn't reply. She was fairly certain Lily was only complimenting the shirt because she, like Petunia herself, knew she had gained quite a bit of weight and it showed about the waist of her skirt. Instead, she consulted her watch - a gold and diamond encrusted thing that Vernon had gotten her in France, which sat upon her bony wrist (the only bit of her that was bony, currently). "The shop doesn't open for another hour," she said, "Shall we go and have a cup of tea?"

"Sure!" Lily smiled, "Or even a late lunch - there's a pub 'round here that James and I went to once and they've got the best roast sandwiches and chips."

Petunia made a face. She imagined a run down rubbish hole that served cheap booze and food to go with which would fit the tiny budget of a man whose roots tied him to Spinner's End.

(Really, the place Lily had suggested was one of the best in London, which Vernon Dursley was having a lunch meeting at that very moment, selling drills to an outfit in Wales.)

Lily laughed, "Never mind, Tuney, let's find a tea room. I'll warn you though I may clear them out of those dainty little sandwiches while we're there! I'm positively famished."

They found a charming little cafe a couple blocks away, overlooking a small garden, and was quite cozy once they'd been served. Lily, true to her word, piled several of the little sandwiches onto her plate and mixed some milk and honey into her tea. Petunia sipped hers black and bitter and watched as Lily excitedly ate a two little salmon and cucumber sandwiches.

"So, have you ideas what sort of gown you'd like to get?" Lily asked, dabbing her lips with her napkin.

Petunia held her cup daintily and sipped in a proper manner, while Lily held her cup in her palms, extracting the warmth from it.