The Marauders: Year Four

Petunia's Neck

Petunia's Neck

"My neck!! My neck!!" Petunia was crying out as her neck lengthened, her head shooting up from her shoulders. James, who hadn't fully expected the spell to work at all, had wide eyes as he jumped back from her wildly swinging arms and Frank ran forward to catch Petunia's arm to keep her from toppling over as her neck sprouted at least three feet long.

Lily and Ali were staring on in horror.

"MERLIN'S BEARD!" Frank cried out as looked at James, "Oh bloody hell, you're going to be in a good lot of trouble..." He looked around. Luckily, the nasty weather had deposited a fair amount of slush on the streets and so there were few muggles out and about. There were probably ten people on the street, gawking at the girl with the long neck, screaming and crying out.

James still didn't give a damn about the trouble. He stared up at Petunia, whose giraffe-like appearance was nothing short of astonishing, "Are you ready to take it back yet?" he demanded.

"I take it back! I take it back!" Petunia wailed, "Just... just make me normal! Make me normal!!" Tears streamed down her face.

James waved his wand, "Finite incantantum!" he called out and Petunia's neck strank down to something near to its normal size - though it was still a bit longer than the average neck (nearly twice the usual amount of neck), it was something for her to remember James by, he thought, so that maybe next time she went to call Lily a freak she would think twice and remember to mind her manners instead.

Suddenly there was a pair of loud cracking sounds as Gideon and Fabian Prewett appeared in the street before them. Petunia cowered, afraid she was about to be hexed again when the noise sounded and she continued on crying, even as Frank offered her a handkerchief, which she turned down by completely ignoring his every attempt to hand it to her, no matter how hearty he was about it.

"What's going on here?" Gideon asked as the twins walked over, their wands out. Fabian looked around the square and waved his wand to modify the memory of the muggles present, wiping away their thoughts of the little girl with the giraffe neck they'd seen. "Got a report of illegal magic," he looked between the motley collection of witches and wizards and Petunia. "Who's done it, then?" he asked.

Petunia looked too afraid to speak, her hands clung about her neck.

Frank thought quick, "Unauthorized magic? Blimey, not from us."

Gideon was staring right at James, though, and James's eyes were as guilty as could be. "Potter?" Gideon pressed.

James hesitated, looking from the horrified Petunia to Lily's tear stained face, and he said, "Yeah I've done it, so what, it was earned. She called us all freaks for being magic. You're just as bad as any pureblood Slytherin is," he said, looking at Petunia for that last bit. She had no idea what he was talking about, not having any reason to know what a Slytherin even was. He looked back at Gideon and Fabian and scoffed, "Bloody hell, it's no different, is it? Being a muggle just means you judge the magic for being magic and being magic just means you judge the muggles for being muggles and where the bloody hell does it all end, 'ey? Where does it end? When Voldemort blasts us all to smithereens? Well that's dandy, inn'it?" He shook his head, "Take me off to the Minister, I don't care. She was keeping her bloody eyes on me anyway, ever since that blast Dragon Bomb I set off. At least somebody is noticing all the things I do!" He looked at Lily pointedly, then stuck out his arms to the twin aurors before him, expecting them to slap a pair of handcuffs 'round his wrists.

Fabian looked at Gideon pointedly, "I mean, I already cleared it up..." he murmured. "There were only a couple muggles about... she'll never know... We owe it to Charlus..."