Chapter Two

Sirius and I found the boys playing with the few toys of Dudley's I'd unpacked already. Dudley was surprisingly being quite gentle with his smaller cousin, which had never happened with any other younger child before. He wasn't mean, per se, he just didn't realize that he happened to be rather larger than others. Unfortunately, he took after his father in that regard.

Sirius walked in the room towards Harry, and both boys looked to him. Harry was instantly enthralled and demanded to be picked up, while Dudley looked on in confusion. I picked up my son and turned to my friend. "Dudley, this is Sirius. He's a friend of Mummy's. Can you say hello?"

Dudley looked at him quizzically for a moment. Harry chose that moment to break in. "Pa-foo, Ah-ie Pet," he said firmly.

Sirius chuckled briefly. "Yes, Mischief, he can call me Padfoot, too. I suppose you can share that with your cousin."

"Pa-foo, Duh," Harry repeated, looking to Dudley this time.

"Pa-foot," Dudley said, trying out the new word. "Pa-foot."

"Good job, Dudley. You are such a big boy," Sirius praised him, grinning for a small moment.

Hearing Sirius cheering on my son almost sent me into tears again. Vernon had never once shown any interest in Dudley's achievements, merely patting him on the head with a vague "Well done." And here was my old friend, who had never met my son before the night previously, admiring my son's vocabulary like it was something worthy of the Order of Merlin. It hurt to see the shocking difference.

But rather than dwell on it, and have Sirius possibly notice my discontent, I turned toward the dresser. "Why don't we get you boys changed out of those nappies, then we'll have some breakfast, hm? I think we all could use something to eat."

All three males cheered, Dudley louder than the other two combined. He loved to eat. I was almost concerned about it, but that was most definitely something to worry about another day.

Sirius helped me change the boys, showing an adeptness that surprised me. "I watched Harry quite a few times before- well, before October," he explained, a near smile lifting his lips at my querying eyebrow. "We get along rather well, don't we, Mischief?" he asked the little boy, before blowing a raspberry on his tummy. Dudley immediately turned to me, shirt lifted, demanding a raspberry, as well. Soon, shrieks of delight from both children filled the room, lifting my mood for a short while.

Breakfast was an ordeal made easier by having Sirius there. Feeding both boys by myself had been rather stressful the night before, so when he took Harry's cereal from me and began feeding him with sound effects, I nearly cried in relief. Until Dudley decided he needed the sounds, too. "I feel like you're spoiling both boys for my boring routines," I said dryly.

"That's the beauty of being the cool uncle," he smirked back at me.

Cleaning up was so much easier that it had been without magic. For the first time in his life, Dudley had a cloth wipe away the food smeared across his face without Mummy's hand behind it. And I may have made it dance unnecessarily, as well, simply because I could. My heart felt a little bit lighter to not have to hide a part of myself.

Until I caught sight of myself in the reflecting kitchen window. "Oh, Merlin," I whispered, horrified.

"What? What is it?" Sirius demanded, suddenly in front of both boys like he would protect them to the last breath.

"I am still in my pyjamas. From two nights ago." That meant that not only had Sirius seen me all morning in them, but so had Dumbledore the day before. And I hadn't brushed my teeth or hair in all that time, either.

Sirius sagged with relief. "I thought something was wrong," he sighed.

"There is! I've never spent so much time in pyjamas at one time at once! And that includes the time I had pneumonia."

He still looked like he didn't understand, but at least he was kind about it. "Why don't you go take a shower, then, and I'll watch the boys."

"Are you sure?" His offer was very tempting.

"Of course. We boys have to stick together, don't we?" he asked, looking to the boys in question, who simply giggled at him.

That was what pushed me over. And I desperately needed a shower. "Alright, but I won't take long," I caved.

"Take as long as you need," Sirius told me, smiling gently.

That shower was probably the longest I had ever taken in my life. I meant for it to be quick, I really had, but once I was under the hot water, the tears started coming again. It seemed that every memory I had of Lily and James flashed through my mind. And each one hurt more than the last.

After more than an hour under the water, I knew I had to get out. I quickly dried off, once again exulting that I could use magic again, and found clothes. I was at the top of the stairs when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it, Petunia," Sirius told me from the living room.

I had an idea of who it could have been, or at least narrowed it down to three possible people. And I was proved right when I heard Sirius say, "Selwyn."

"What are you doing here, Black? Expelliarmus!"

I ran down the stairs faster than I had even as a child, trying to keep my best friend from killing Sirius. "Nic, no! It wasn't him!" I screeched, coming around the corner to see Sirius dodging another spell.

"What?" The look on Nic's face would have been priceless, if it had been under other circumstances. My distraction allowed Sirius to disarm Nic, who then turned to glare at the other man. I was fairly certain physical violence was about to erupt, so I threw myself in between the two.

"Nic, it wasn't Sirius. I swear it. Do you really think I would allow him here with Dudley and Harry if I thought otherwise?"

Nic studied my face carefully, then subtly relaxed a bit. He held his hand out to Sirius for his wand, who looked wary still, to say the least. "I'm not going to curse you anymore, at least not until you give me another reason."

Sirius made a sound that sounded rather like a growl, but then handed over the wand in question. I ignored this exchange and hugged my friend. "How did you know I was here?"

"I didn't," he laughed. "I went to Little Whinging, and your daft excuse of a husband yelled at me when I knocked on the door, going on about how he didn't want anything more to do with my kind and if I saw you, to tell you he wants a divorce."

"Well, he's just going to have to wait. I've far too many things on my plate to worry about that," I sighed.

"I know, that's why I'm here," he said gently.

"I'm going to go check on the boys," Sirius said, obviously trying to give us some space.

But I felt bad. After all, he had watched them so I could take my hour-long shower. "Oh, you can just bring them in here, Sirius. I can take care of them."

He looked at me with a wry look. "I think I can handle watching my godson and his cousin for a bit longer. Don't worry, Petunia." He then went back to the study. "C'mon, boys. Who wants to go outside?"

I smiled briefly when I heard the resulting squeals. "Don't forget-" I started, but Sirius cut me off.

"Don't worry, Petunia, I've got their jumpers!"

After a bit of scurrying, the door to the back garden closed. And Nic was suddenly next to me again. "Now, how are you doing?"

And I burst into tears again. "She's gone, Nic! My Lily's gone! I was supposed to be there and protect her, and I wasn't there! And she's gone!"

Nic guided me toward the sofa, wrapped his arms around me, and simply held me. He smoothed my hair and whispered kind things to me, but never once told me that it would be alright. He never lied to me and said all the drivel that people tend to say when one is grieving. He merely held me and let me know that I wasn't alone.

Once I was a bit more composed, and after I had gone through five conjured tissues, I started to apologize for crying on him, but Nic cut me off. "Pet, I am your friend. There is absolutely no reason to apologize for crying because your sister died. I don't care. I don't want to see Petunia, the perfect hostess. I want Pet, my best friend, the one who helped me get through leaving my family. And I want to be there for you, just like you have always been for me."

That made me cry even more. And he just held me, rubbing my back and making shushing noises. And then, to my horror, in the midst of my sobbing, there came yet another knock at the door. "I'll see who it is," Nic assured. "Just sit tight, and I'll try to send them away."

But it was not meant to be. Once Nic opened the door, I heard a deep voice saying, "I should have known I'd be seeing you here, Mr. Selwyn."

"Of course, Sir. There's nowhere I'd rather be today," Nic said sincerely.

"Well, I came to check up on Petunia and the boys," Professor Dumbledore started. "May I come in?"

Nic looked back to me, and I nodded, getting up and going to the door, as well. "Please forgive my appearance; I'm a bit of a mess today-"

"My dear, you look lovely, as always." I flushed at the Professor's words, mostly because I knew they were entirely false. "How have you and the boys been faring?"

"Mummy! I haf wan too!" Dudley came charging in the living room, brandishing a three-inch stick. "Pa-foot gave me wan!"

Sirius came after him, carrying Harry and laughing. Then he froze when he saw who else was in the room. "Sir-"

Whatever Sirius had been about to say was cut off by his wand flying out of his hand. "Petunia, why is he here?" Dumbledore's voice, which seconds before had been warm and comforting, was now cold as ice.

"Professor, he didn't do it," I said quickly, trying to keep my friend from trouble. Again. "He wasn't the Secret Keeper. It was Pet- Pettigrew."

"Pettigrew?" Dumbledore's confusion was apparent, but he lowered his wand, at least.

"Yes, sir, we switched at the last minute. I thought it was the perfect bluff, but apparently Peter was the traitor we were trying to find," Sirius said, jaw twitching.

"Mummy, wan!" Dudley insisted, jabbing me with the small stick.

"Yes, darling, it's a lovely wand," I told him, gathering him in my arms. "You can show me your wand in a moment, but can you wait for Mummy? I need to talk to Padfoot and Dumby," I added with a smile, referring to the Professor with the name he'd been christened with the day before.

Dudley pouted, but acquiesced grumpily. "Thank you, darling," I whispered into his hair.

"So you were not the Potters' Secret Keeper," Dumbledore stated, bringing us all back to the conversation. "Why didn't you tell anyone else?"

"Partly to help keep the Potters safer, and partly because we didn't really have time," Sirius explained. "And partly because it all happened so fast. We only decided to change Secret Keepers on Wednesday, and we all went into hiding on Friday. And now, it's all over," he ended bitterly.

Harry, who'd been strangely silent for the whole exchange, decided now would be a good time to start talking again. "Pa-foo, wan Da." His words instantly sent us all into tears again.

AN: And here is the second chapter. And a little bit of our favorite Slytherin, which is why the last chapter of What Might Have Been had to come out first. Thanks for all the reviews/follows/favorites. They totally make my day!