Chapter 9: O.W.L.s
"Oh god! I'm so nervous! What if I fail? Then what?"
"You know that you won't fail, Petunia."
Petunia and Luisa were standing in a small waiting room outside of the Great Hall, waiting to be called in for their Charms practical exam. If it hadn't been for Luisa's calming presence and quiet reassurances, Petunia was sure she would have had a nervous break down already.
"Evans, Petunia; Frank, Luisa; Gad, Samuel; Grant, Morris," called the tall professor holding a list of names.
"Good luck, Petunia!"
"Thanks. Good luck to you, too!"
Petunia's examiner was an elderly man, perhaps 60, with a mane of dark gray hair and veined hands.
"I am Professor Tofty," he wheezed, before asking Petunia to do all manner of things involving charms, including everything from making eggcups perform cartwheels to making a rather heavy anvil float in the air.
"I think it went all right, you?" Petunia asked afterwards, looking at Luisa, who seemed more distraught than Petunia had ever seen her before.
"Well... I think I destroyed some of the equipment. One of the dinner plates. I accidentally said something about mushrooms, I’m not sure… I was pretty nervous. The examiner seemed not to have noticed, but I think might be permanent!"
"Don't worry, Luisa. I’m sure it’s fine. Plus, now the exams are almost over."
"Yeah... Yeah, I guess so. Care of Magical Creatures tomorrow. Then Transfiguration on Friday. I'm sure we'll be fine."
"And Divination for you,” Petunia reminded her, then added happily, "and then we can just relax until summer break."
Luisa nodded, restored to her serene self.
"Two for me. But you're right. We should do some more studying,” Petunia sighed.
"I suppose," Luisa said reluctantly, looking out onto the sunlit grounds.<
Just then, the four Marauders walked over to the two girls.
"What's up, girls? That wasn’t so bad, was it?" James asked, laying an arm around each of them. Petunia wished he had only draped his arm around her shoulders, but tried to ignore the resentful feeling.
"It was!" Petunia exclaimed at once, "And we still have a lot of studying to do!" she added, throwing James' arm from her shoulder.
Sirius looked incredulously at her.
"You're kidding, right? You have only two more subjects left, right? Don't you have some time for your old buddies? Come on 'Tunia!"
That was the final straw for Petunia, whose nerves were already beyond raw.
"One, NO! Two, Luisa still has three subjects. Three, we have to study! Don't you want me to pass my exams? And four, DO NOT call me ‘Tunia!" Petunia stomped off, pulling a still calm looking Luisa behind her.
"What was that all about?" inquired James, looking surprised.
Remus chuckled. " Padfoot, it really ticks her off when you call her 'Tunia,” was all he was willing to share.
"What would we do without you, Moony?” Sirius asked, sarcastically.
“Oh, you’d get by,” Remus answered with a grin, “Peter would just have to explain all these things to you.”
He nudged Peter, who looked rather alarmed, and all four boys reluctantly burst out laughing. No matter what, they were the Marauders.
Meanwhile, Petunia was sitting in the library, poring over her Care of Magical Creatures textbook with Luisa next to her, sighing over Petunia's complicated Transfiguration notes from last year.
Next day the Care of Magical Creatures exams went extraordinarily well. Petunia was sure Luisa had done everything perfectly, both in the written and practical exams, and knew that she herself had done alright too.
Transfiguration also went rather well, not as well as Care of Magical Creatures in Luisa's case, but both girls were sure to have passed.
That weekend, Petunia decided she had better go spend some quality time with the Marauders. She had been neglecting their friendship for a while, preoccupied with her O.W.L.s and her new friend, Luisa.
The friendship she had with Luisa was a very special friendship, after all, the kind of friendship that can only be formed between two girls. And she had been enjoying it immensely.
For, while her friendship with the Marauders was also a very special and rich friendship, the closeness that was between her and Luisa could never exist between boys and girls, she was sure. Besides, the Marauders had been close since First Year - Petunia felt she would never really belong, no matter how much they cared about each other. Luisa, on the other hand, was already like a sister to Petunia, though Petunia hated to compare someone so nice to Lily.
So, on Saturday morning, Luisa went off with her boyfriend Xeno, leaving Petunia with James, Sirius, Remus and Peter to spend some time with the boys.
"So, got some time for us again?" James joked as Petunia kissed him good morning at the breakfast table.
"Finally," Sirius threw in, pretending to reproof Petunia, while he clapped her heartily on the shoulder.
Content, Petunia began tucking into her eggs and bacon just as the morning owl post arrived.
In all her time at Hogwarts, Petunia had not received a single letter. She had never even bothered to buy herself an owl. However, this morning, an owl that Petunia recognized as Lily's fluttered down in front of her.
James looked up, surprised, as did Petunia.
"Isn't that Lily's bird?" James asked, looking over towards Lily for a split second before hastily returning to his breakfast.
"Yeah. Hey look, it's a letter from mum," Petunia exclaimed, holding the letter up and reading it:
Dear Petunia,
Your father and I have been missing you a great deal and can't wait for you to come home over summer. However, that is not why I am writing. This letter is to tell you that your father and I wanted to let you know that you are welcome to invite some friends over the summer, to go camping, as none of Lily's friends seem to have time to come.
Missing you greatly and looking forward to seeing you come summer,
Mum
P.s. Could you please return this bird to your sister, it is hers, and she kindly let us borrow it.
"Wow!" Petunia said under her breath. She didn’t even stop to be jealous that her mum was obviously in more contact with Lily than with her. Nor did Petunia consider that her mum really didn’t have a way to reach her younger daughter, even if she wanted to. Petunia had a certain knack for ignoring things that were right under her nose, sometimes.
"Hey, guys, how would you like to come camping with me, at the end of the summer holiday?" Petunia asked excitedly.
"I for one will come!" Sirius said nodding vigorously.
"Me, too!" James agreed.
"Count me in!" Remus said, nodding, "Peter?"
"Yeah, yeah... I could make it," he replied.
"Great!" Petunia said, patting the owl and whispering it should fly back to Lily. She didn’t notice James’s eyes following the bird.