Chapter 05

Living the "good life" was not as easy as it seemed, at least financially as reflected in her accounts. Eleanor became careless with her spending, confident in her "small fortune", she could no longer depend on the interest on her bank account and investment, which was not what she expected, neglecting her future financial stability was bad. She got used to not having to watch how much she spent, shopping carefree was a dream.

She had been taking courses so as not to get bored (all interesting to her), but also shopping to indulge herself, cooking at home is more thrifty than eating out, yet she went through a time of gourmet palate going to restaurants and tea rooms. So, even if she was paranoid about running out of money, she should at least secure her housing, she had been putting off buying one by the time of her graduation, because she planned to live in university accommodation. At least she had reserved her share of the sale of the Evans' house; that would help with the purchase.

It took him a month to find a place she liked and agreed on the price. She got a flat with 3 bedrooms and a terrace on the top floor of a converted 4-story property near the center of London. It was unexpected to discover this architectural gem, each flat had a balcony facing the front, except for the last one which had an exclusive terrace. The façade was elegant, the neighbors were apparently friendly and not at all gossipy, and the property allowed animals, children, and plants.

The first time she went to see the property she fell in love with the place and its spacious rooms, in addition, the bathroom had plug sockets, something she had not seen before in any of the properties she had visited, and according to one of the real estate consultants it was not customary in English homes, whether it was true or not, up to that moment it seemed to be as it was.

She moved in straight away after painting and bringing in the basic furniture, she took her time to decorate and make the place her own.

She worked for Severus for a while, the wizard opened a business where he sold ingredients for potions and preparations on demand, the Apothecary was at a distance from his competitors but close to Gringotts bank.

To avoid suspicion and facilitate her performance, she acquired a 27 cm applewood wand with a dragonheart fiber core made by Garrick Ollivander, as well as a case to carry it in, which surprised the manufacturer when she enquired about its price and quality. She left her position when she joined the public university located in the small town of St Andrews, in the county of Fife, Scotland. It was the oldest university in Scotland and one of the oldest in the UK, over 8 hours from London, but Eleanor could get there in less time using the vehicle that transported wizards and witches, whose speed was astonishing. This vehicle had 3 floors, was purple, and had "Night Bus" written on it in visible letters.

Eleanor's friends or acquaintances were few, and her level of sociability was returning to the original, as she adapted to her new life she stopped pretending to be someone else. She missed her loved ones, she was homesick and withdrew from the world to let off steam, she also went through complex moments in front of her mirror image, getting used to a new face, and another body was honestly a challenge overcome with mental effort.

One concern she had was that her memories were fading, and that was possibly what was helping her to adapt. She wasn't losing them, but they were becoming "frames from a movie", for lack of a better definition. She could remember if she thought about it, otherwise, it wasn't part of her daily routine.

Because Severus didn't become a Death Eater, Eleanor assumed that Voldemort wouldn't know about the prophecy. It was foolish to think that the plot wouldn't run its course just because everything seemed different.

She spat out her tea when she read the notice in the paper, theoretically, they were supposed to be looking for staff before school started. Sadly, everything went according to plan, but a year before the canon, she was too late to prevent Sybil Trelawney from passing on her prophecy. Eleanor was unable to find the witch before her interview. On an impulse, perhaps a "magical hunch", she went to Headmaster Dumbledore's brother's pub, for lack of a better idea, the plan was to knock the witch out, place her in an enchanted potato sack and carry her away until she finished her vision or whatever it was that caused the prophecies, then set her free to go on her way. But she stood with the bag in her hand watching as the witch looked stunned and a man in a black hooded cloak fled followed by the Dumbledore brothers.

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Lily proudly announced her pregnancy at Christmas, Eleanor attended the Potter house intending to celebrate with them but withdrew when a bowl of soufflé exploded in front of her and everyone laughed, it would have been funny to her except it wasn't the first joke since she arrived, and being the only white person indicated that maybe she wasn't as welcome as they said she was.

- "Wait Tuney, don't get mad, it was just a silly joke from James."

- "I don't care, I've already come to say hello and now I'm leaving, I have to go and wash and change my clothes to go and say hello to other friends," - Said Eleanor calmly.

- "Sister you can bathe here and I can lend you some clothes, some incantations and I can adjust them to fit you."

- "Thank you but I don't want to intrude."

Lily didn't reply and bit her lip before talking to her sister in the hall.

- "Are you uncomfortable with my pregnancy? Tuney I understand, you're single, without a partner, your younger sister got married before you and is having her first child, unlike you my life is more stable," - Said the hostess condescendingly to her sister.

Eleanor began to laugh, far from being offended she was amused that Lily was not the perfect pure-hearted heroine she pretended to be. Besides, her secret would cause an explosion in Lily's mind, because she too was pregnant, and by the person the redhead least expected.

- "Don't worry, you can rest assured that none of that affects me. I'm glad you're enjoying your life, don't think strange things about me," - Eleanor said, wiping away a tear.

- "Oh, that's good. I'm relieved," - Replied the redhead with a strained smile, - "Let someone walk you home."

- "Thanks, but that's not necessary."

Remus approached, holding Eleanor's cloak.

- "I'll walk you home, it's not good for a woman to walk around the village alone... Lily, I'll be back tomorrow, I had a great time."

- "Thanks, Remus. Say hello to your parents," - Lily replied, looking relieved.

The wizard said goodbye and didn't hear Eleanor's refusal.

They made an appearance, had a little conversation, a few comments about the meeting and Remus apologized for taking part in the banter. The wizard said goodbye a few yards from their destination, the relationship between the marauders and her was not close, although they could talk about trifles fluently they were not "friends". Maybe it was because she was Petunia to them, but the quartet was distant with her, and that somehow disillusioned her with the characters. She was attracted to meet them, however, something inexplicable prevented her from getting close, she was meditating about it and she couldn't come up with an answer, maybe it was her personality? or her favoritism for Severus? Or probably it wasn't time or her destiny, there was also the possibility that it was an unconscious hindrance from her main idea of not getting involved in the plot of the story.

Petunia was about 2 months pregnant, it was unexpected and disturbing because it was as if fate imposed its plan that "Petunia Evans" would be a mother at that age and her child would be born close to Harry's due date.

It was Halloween, Diagon Alley hosted a Halloween event, with entertainers entertaining the public and shops offering unique limited-time offers, a proposal by the Ministry to lift the spirits of the citizens. The Minister of Magic Harold Mitchum was being overwhelmed despite his best efforts to fight Voldemort, the candidate to replace him, Millicent Bagnold, was gaining popularity, the Minister needed to strengthen his image in the community and thought that using one of Bagnold's festive ideas would help. At this event Snape's apothecary offered a 5% discount on stomach potions, among others, Eleanor was to help because Snape had little patience and the clerk would not attend, it was not a free gesture but the wizard agreed, thanking her for her presence.

The Potter couple attended the event, demonstrating their good relationship and happiness, Severus watched them while they were in sight of his business, looking sad. After the event was over, Severus checked the shop before closing and found a bag with a medium-sized bar of chocolate in it on the counter, thinking that one of the children had forgotten it and taken it with him.

Severus didn't want to be alone, so he went with Eleanor to her flat, so far he didn't understand why they were friends, and how such a sudden trust came about for a distrustful man like him. The point was that Eleanor commented on her university life, complained about this or that person and praised such and such others, talked about what she read for a class and Severus gave his point of view, which kept him from thinking about how beautiful Lily looked. That was how he shared the chocolate, knowing how addicted "Petunia" was to sweets or desserts, not knowing that she had a strong lust potion that Severus belatedly detected and so it turned out that a night of friends turned into a meeting of passionate lovers.

In the morning, both were silent, each used the bathroom and Severus looked embarrassed, leaving quickly while Eleanor finished bathing. She had breakfast calmly and tended to her pets, not knowing how to react because she didn't regret what happened, it could have been the effect of a potion but she enjoyed sex with Severus very much, maybe because she liked the man. It was never her intention to go beyond a friendship with Severus, in fact, she never had any concrete interest in forming a couple, even when someone seemed interested in her. As she came to terms with being Petunia, she went with the flow, dealing with each situation as it arose.

Belatedly she remembered that she took no precautions, no spells, potions, or birth control pills, she worried but decided to leave it to chance, a selfish decision that might not have consequences. Severus apologized, he was uncomfortable for a while but he got over it when he saw that she didn't change her treatment towards him.

Sometime later, the first symptoms appeared and after a pregnancy test, she knew she was going to be a mother. The first reaction was fear because she didn't know if she was ready, although she was never ready for that, then it was joy because she would have a child, she had to plan well the steps to follow and what to do with Severus, who had the right to know but maybe he didn't want to be the father of a child that wasn't his and Lily's.

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She entered her house, leaving her shoes in place on a small piece of furniture right by the door, slipping on her slippers in seconds, she was greeted by her puppies that peeked out of their toy box, which she bought for its book-like appearance and secured the lid to the wall to avoid accidents, she also placed as many locks as she could think of to prevent it from closing. It seems they had made a mess of things, leaving their toys everywhere.

- "Hello my naughty ones, did you miss me?" - Eleanor asked her puppies Marco and Polo.

She adopted 2 adorable cavalier king Charles spaniel puppies, sons of her first-floor neighbor's pet, the puppy had tender eyes and a loving temperament, every time they passed each other Eleanor made cuddles, then her neighbor offered to give her a puppy when they were born.

Eleanor thought it would be best to have 2 so they could play and not get bored, she offered to pay for them, and the neighbor finally agreed to pay for 1.

They cuddled with her while she read or watched TV, and they enjoyed a daily walk. They were not very barky, but they did alert to the presence of strangers.

She made her way to her bedroom, followed by her playful puppies, and on the way she came across an owl nibbling at the fruit on the table. Watched reluctantly by a pair of cats, they were attentively greeted by Eleanor meowing as if to accuse the bird.

- "Dona? Girl, I don't know how you get in. You have your place on the terrace, I left you food and water for when you come" - She approached and stroked its feathers.

The bird howled and stretched out its leg. When she read the note it was from Severus asking for "shelter", Eleanor thought that Narcissa Malfoy must once again be arranging "chance meetings" with Mrs. Snape's candidates.

She replied that he was welcome and to bring some prepared food from Malfoy Manor, she knew that they usually gave Severus a packet of sweets or food to warm up, mainly because they understood that the wizard about to get his Master's degree, lacked the time to take care of the cooking and did not have a house elf of his own, as the Prince elves were dying in the absence of Severus' grandfather, their existence was linked to the previous owner of the manor, it was only a matter of time before the natural magic of the elves would end.

An hour later, Severus appeared at Eleanor's home dressed in one of his best robes, and tired, he was greeted warmly by the puppies. By then she was bathed and comfortably dressed, her friends were with their respective families and had exchanged greetings beforehand, so she was planning a movie marathon with snacks.

- "Petunia? I thought you'd be with Lily, I thought I'd be alone here with them."

- "Hello to you too. I didn't stay because I felt a bit awkward. Do you know how most of Lily's friends think I'm a muggle? Except for the marauders, people whispered around me, Alice Longbottom asked me more than once if I didn't feel uncomfortable around magic. I don't think Lily told anyone the 'news' of my 'magical status'."

- "It must be a mistake, if she hid it, it must have been to protect you, but, Alice was never one of the 'brightest' of Lily's friends. She would never act like that, Lily loves you and it's not her fault that your case is unusual. I'm going to the kitchen to put the food away."

- "Okay, there's tea and coffee ready if you like. Do you want to eat or wait? I thought I'd make pizza with whatever I can find, there's some salad, I've got cheese and cold meat, I don't know, what do you think?" - Eleanor asked.

- "That you stick to the classics."

Severus set his bag on a chair followed by Eleanor, and placed the food container in the fridge. Then he poured himself a cup of tea. - "I see your cats are wearing new clothes... I don't know how you kept them," - The wizard said of the hairless cats, which he thought were ugly.

The attentive felines watched him from their "vantage point", a round table in the corner.

- "Stripes are the cat fashion. They look very nice," - She replied, cuddling the kittens.

The cats were wearing a kind of T-shirt with a high collar and short sleeves, in green and yellow, one was yellow with horizontal lines in green, and the other was green with horizontal lines in yellow. Ludo and Vico were two "adolescent" sphynx cats, very smart, playful, and cuddly, according to Eleanor. She adopted them from a classmate who moved abroad and couldn't take them with her, their names together formed "Ludovico", an idea she took when she named her puppies "Marcopolo".

The Malfoys, despite being pro-Voldemort, continued their friendship with Severus. Lucius was Severus' "advocate" before the dark lord, getting them to stop harassing him, he used Severus' "lack of experience" and his "naivety" that prevented him from being a "soldier" of such a great lord, besides, Severus had to achieve his goal of becoming a potions master, a dream that could be useful to the cause if Severus Snape was not related to Voldemort before Dumbledore. It was a difficult task but it bought time for his friend, Voldemort pretended to accept his arguments because he had important things to deal with, besides few knew that Snape ended up rejecting his invitation to serve him, and then he would assess whether Severus Snape was worth his interest.

- "My visit was brief because Narcissa invited one of her friends from the bridge, she studied at Beauxbatons and was sorted into Ombrelune, the equivalent of Slytherin in that French school."

- "Was she pretty?"

- "Somewhat, but not her personality, for a classicist I have Lucius. It's not my ideal to spend my days with the female version of my friend. Narcissa introduced me as Severus Prince Snape, so you can imagine what that witch's expectations were," - Explained the wizard leaning against the counter.

Eleanor, who was leaning against the doorframe, made a dismissive gesture.

- "Lady Prince, if such a position existed. Besides, being the wife of the youngest Potions master in history must have its honors to boast about as well."

Severus nodded.

A while later, they were both in front of the television watching a sitcom, absentmindedly playing with the pets, and occasionally commenting on the film. 

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He didn't know why he orbited around Petunia, lately, he felt like being close to her. If he compared the Petunia of his childhood and the Petunia of now he didn't know what to think, he stopped seeing her at the age of 13 when she avoided being in the house when he visited Lily during the holidays, in fact, they started meeting in the park because according to Lily his sister hated her. During the time he and Lily were friends, she always described a different Petunia to the one he knew now. No one changes overnight, everything takes a process and he was beginning to believe that Lily had been distorting the anecdotes about her older sister.

Lily was his everything for years, and falling in love with her was logical, she was beautiful, her silky red hair, her captivating green eyes, that determined way of being, so commendable, so her. If only he had been different if only he had dared to confess his feelings in time, if only the Marauders hadn't brought out and exposed the worst in him to Lily, if only Potter hadn't obsessed over her.... Losing her was as painful as the hope of getting her back, Lily became a yearning, a possibility of what could have been and his strength to overcome himself, but she was also the cause that almost ruined his life, considering joining the Death Eaters was a bad idea.

It was inevitable to compare the Evans sisters, similar and different at the same time, in retrospect the relationship with Lily began to deteriorate because of their desire to fit in with the rest of the members of their respective Houses, they failed to maintain a middle ground. He could blame Potter for Lily's changes and distance, but he was currently more compatible with Petunia than with Lily.

Being with Petunia was comfortable, fun, friendly, and welcoming, he could be himself without feeling judged, she might disagree and tell him so, but he never felt that she was imposing her point of view. Being with her was like breathing, confused if he tried to explain it, he gave up trying because of the futility of it.

At first, he thought of using her to get closer to Lily, that was the only interest that encouraged him to get close to Petunia, but their friendship ended up being real, and whether or not he got to talk to Lily again became a secondary issue.

Spending time with Petunia was special.

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