Chapter 13: At Luisa's House
By dawn, Petunia had reached the Frank residence. At the end of term last year, Luisa had given Petunia her address “just in case.”
Hopefully Luisa's parents wouldn't mind letting her stay with them for the remaining few days of summer vacation. Upon leaving the camping ground, Petunia had been so upset that she had not stopped to think about anything.
Now she stood in front of the door, uncertainly eying the entrance, and deciding whether or not she should knock. But before she had made up her mind, the door swung open, and in the doorway stood a man who appeared to be a St. Mungo's healer. As he left, a thin woman stepped to the door. She had long, dirty blond hair, protruding blue eyes and was so bony that every rib was visible under her tight robe.
Watching the healer go, her eyes silently filled with tears that she dabbed at with a large, pale blue handkerchief. The woman almost didn't see Petunia, and was about to shut the front door, when she noticed her.
Nervously, Petunia looked up at the woman in the doorway, not sure what to say. The woman looked right back at Petunia, and then disappeared into the house, not saying a word. Disheartened, Petunia was about to leave, when she saw Luisa waving out of a window on the upper story. The skinny woman stood next to her. Then the two left the window, and a few minutes later, Luisa was downstairs, hugging Petunia.
But when Petunia tightly embraced her friend, Luisa winced, tears of pain shooting into her eyes.
"What is it?" Petunia asked, concerned, "Are you alright, Luisa?"
Luisa coughed, and the woman rushed over to wrap a shawl around her shoulders.
"I'm fine," Luisa finally managed, "Don't, mum."
"Luisa...," Petunia began, but was interrupted by her friend.
"First you, Petunia. What are you doing here? Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," Petunia replied, giving Luisa a look that clearly said she would tell her all about it later.
"I... I... uh... well, I know it's a lot to ask, but... I... well... the camping trip didn't work out and my parents are somewhere in Spain, and... I... was wondering... if it's not too much trouble... whether I could..." Petunia was highly embarrassed by having to ask to stay with Luisa's family. She was greatly imposing on them, she knew.
"Petunia, if you want to stay here, you're welcome to."
Petunia nodded gratefully, then looked up to see what the strange woman, Luisa's mother, thought of her new houseguest. The woman's face, however, did not reveal anything.
Petunia tried to smile at the woman, but was sure it looked more like a grimace. She was still very upset and confused about James and Lily.
The woman in turn gave what looked like an attempt at a smile, which also ended in a strange, involuntary smirk.
"I guess I should introduce you two,” Luisa finally said breaking the uncomfortable silence, "Mum, this is Petunia, you know, my friend from Hogwarts. Petunia, this is my mum."
Petunia awkwardly waved, and Luisa's mum stated in a barely audible voice: "You may call me Helena or Mrs. Frank, which ever you are more comfortable with."
"Thank you... Mrs. Frank," Petunia answered, not quite sure what the correct response was.
"Come on, Petunia." Once again it was Luisa who lifted the almost ominous silence that had fallen on the room. Slowly, a sense of dread was filling Petunia's consciousness. Something was wrong, she was sure of it.
Luisa took Petunia's hand, and pulled her behind herself up a flight of stairs, into a short hallway, and finally through a bright pink doorway.
The room they entered could not have been anyone's room but Luisa's. Instead of the usual posters of handsome singing sensations, the walls were covered with pictures of magical creatures, both real and imaginary. One wall was completely covered with a mural of a strange looking beast, captioned "Crumplehorned Snorkak." Petunia knew that Luisa loved to paint.
The bits of wall that weren't covered with pictures of strange animals or short articles of The Quibbler (Xeno's father was the editor) were the same bright pink as the door.
Luisa's bed stood by the gigantic mural, and was covered by an assortment of oddly colored covers, mostly pink, orange and yellow. On the bed sat many stuffed toys, all of them magical creatures.
Her desk, which stood under a large window with a view out into the countryside, was littered with magazine cuttings, pictures, half completed assignments, broken quills, balled up bits of parchment and many other oddities, including a pair of earrings with radishes hanging down. Luisa had told Petunia that they, though they might look ridiculous had been passed down by the girls in her family for generations, and they were very important to her.
Next to the desk there seemed to be sort of potions kit set up, and Petunia wondered if Luisa like to experiment with potions. It was one of the subjects they didn't have together.
Despite her confused and hurt feelings, Petunia couldn't help but grin. This room just screamed "Luisa".
For a few minutes, Luisa just let Petunia stand around, gaping at her room. Then she crossed over to her bed, pulling Petunia with her, sat down, and indicated that Petunia should take a seat as well.
“Well? Why are you here? What happened?” Luisa asked sounding worried.
In a few sentences, Petunia told her what had happened with Lily and James. Petunia felt the tears rising to her eyes once again. Luisa patted her back, and she let them flow freely, sobbing about her lost love, vowing never to love again. For almost an hour, the two girls sat there, Petunia giving more and more details on the incident in between her sobs, and Luisa comforting her crying friend.
"Look, Petunia. Forget about it! James was a pompous Gryffinder arse!" Luisa said, looking Petunia right in the eye.
It was more the shock of hearing Luisa put down a Hogwarts house when she usually remained so good-naturedly neutral, than anything else that helped Petunia regain her composure enough to speak coherently. There was something that had slipped her mind up until now, what with the heartbreak and betrayal that had been going on in her life.
"Luisa, earlier last night, I followed Peter away from the campsite. He was meeting with a bunch of people - all the ones I recognized were Slytherins, or at least had been. I think that Bella girl was there, and Malfoy and lots of others. All I heard was "Dark Lord" and... and my last name. What do you think ... Luisa? Are you okay? Are you ill or something?”
Eying her now, Petunia realized that Luisa's condition looked far worse than it had appeared at Kings Cross. Luisa was thinner, her skin was a pale, milky color, and she moved gingerly, as though every move hurt her.
“Petunia, I don't think now is the right time,” she began, but seeing Petunia's determined expression sighed reluctantly and looked at her knees.
“The truth is, I don't know exactly what's wrong with me. We were at St. Mungo's, but they haven't been able to diagnose anything yet. They say the have a pretty good idea, and, well, to tell you the truth, it doesn't look good.”
“What do you mean?” Petunia inquired, worried.
“They say… oh… they say, well, they say that it might be fatal.” Seeing the expression on Petunia's face, Luisa hastily added, “but they're not sure yet.”
Petunia felt like her whole world was falling apart. James didn't love her. She knew her friendships with Sirius and Remus were over; they would stand by James, he had known them longer and was much closer to them. And now this. Luisa was dying. She couldn't stand to lose someone else. Not Luisa. Not her last, her best friend!
Petunia was on the verge of starting to cry again, but just then Luisa was seized by another coughing fit. This time it was worse than it had been downstairs: Luisa was doubled over in pain, clutching her stomach, barely having enough time to breathe in between coughs. A bit of blood spattered out of Luisa’s mouth.
“Luisa?”
Luisa didn't answer. Petunia turned and ran as fast as she could out of the room, calling for Mrs. Frank as loudly as her voice could go. Luisa couldn't die, not now, not ever. At least not in the near future. Luisa just couldn't die! It might be selfish, but Petunia needed her!