A magical love affair - Severus Snape x Petunia Evans

Chapter 18 - Extracting mental images via magic is cool!

Severus' Home, Spinner's End, Cokeworth, July 1978

Petunia was really floored by Severus' trust in her abilities as an interior designer and her aesthetic taste. She couldn't believe that he would entrust her with the task of planning a new design for his living room. Sure, he could change anything he didn't like with a quick swish of his wand after she had left to not hurt her feelings. But she truly trusted him to be honest with her about her new design choices in his living room. Petunia knew that some girls would perhaps be in the sulks about his offer because they would feel like he cemented the gender stereotypes of women being responsible for the house and men focusing on ordering any female around. But Petunia didn't see his behavior as a typical reinforcement of gender roles at all. Although Petunia supported the women's rights movement and fought for change in their men dominated society, she didn't understand the constant talk about challenging men's worldviews, statements or actions. Sure, she didn't want to be labeled as some docile housewife who would have to focus her attention only on her housekeeping, boyfriend, and budget. She would rather be seen as an independent woman with her own career plans, dreams, and ideas. Nonetheless, she didn't see Severus' demand to help her design his living room as an insult or chauvinistic behavior. Rather as a sign of his trust and acknowledgment of her equality.

She wanted to confirm his trust and vowed to design his living room in colors that suited him, and a style that he would like. As Severus was a private and practical person who despised every extravagance Petunia decided to choose a classic, clear and warm ground design for his living room. While Severus was busy vanishing any debris with foreign Latin words or repairing any broken furniture with a quick swish of his wand, Petunia imagined how his new living room should look like inside her head. She decided to color the walls in a light, warm mix of beige and grey colors. Whereas the wall on the window side of the room should be colored in beige, the opposite wall should be covered in a mocha, cream and light-grey stripped stylish wallpaper. The two remaining walls should be painted in light grey. The floor should be a light brown parquet floor and the ceiling painted in beige.

She pictured a huge beech shelf on the left grey wall on which he could store all of his Potions tomes, magical books, and Muggle classics because Severus was an avid reader. In front of the windows on the right side, she wanted to place a comfy, little beech dinner table with four classical, clean designed and cushioned with light-grey pads, beech chairs, so that Severus could host some guests. Besides that, she wanted to place a little, beech sideboard before the right grey wall, in which he could store some of his magical artifacts and dishes. On the striped lengthways wall, she wanted to install a comfy, warm fireplace. For she knew that witches and wizard could travel via it. Although she never actually traveled via Floo, Lily had chatted excitedly about her travels from Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley via the Floo network. Therefore, Petunia thought, that a fireplace would not only heat his living room but also come in handy for his communication with the Magical world. Then Lily had also gushed about the possibility to use your fireplace as a telephone. Before the fireplace, Petunia imagined a comfy, four-seat grey leather sofa resting behind a soft, carefree, cream-colored and rectangular pile rug with a geometrical pattern, on which a classical, clean beech coffee table would stay. The only other missing furniture she pictured inside the room would be an easy, grey leather armchair in the right corner beside the bookshelf, where Severus could chill out and read his books. And a little, beech entertainment cabinet on the left side of the fireplace, where he could store a record player and a TV. The finishing touches would be light mocha-colored curtains down to the floor, framed, colorful pictures of Potions' ingredients and/or Potions. A huge, luminiferous six-flaming ceiling lamp composed of a matt, chrome-colored trestle and six opal white glass screens as well a matt, chrome-colored floor lamp with an opal white glass screen besides the armchair and beige and cream-colored sofa cushions.