Fic: Solid
Jun. 1st, 2012 03:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
omi_ohmyUm, so this is reposted from the First Time Fest started by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
marguerite_26. I saw the prompt, left it, came back to it, and wrote this. Don't be put off by the pairing - I promise, you'll like this.
Title: Solid
marguerite_26. I saw the prompt, left it, came back to it, and wrote this. Don't be put off by the pairing - I promise, you'll like this.Title: Solid
Author: omi_ohmy
omi_ohmyPairings/Characters: Petunia/Vernon (yes, really)
Rating: G
Word count: 750
Warning(s): unbetaed Comment Fic.
Prompt: 'Petunia/Vernon, first time regretting their marriage,' by lordhellebore
lordhelleboreDisclaimer: Characters are the property of JK Rowling, et al. This ficlet was written for fun, not for profit.
Solid
When they'd met, he was strong, dependable. Petunia was still reeling from the way magic had stolen her sister away: first, by taking her away to that school, then by changing how she saw the world. Petunia would never forget or forgive that loss; Lily's death had been the final stage of something that had started years before.
Vernon had been everything that Lily wasn't. He was honest, brutally so; he liked the things around him to be solid, to be real. He'd given her what she needed, including her son, who she was determined would live in their world: Dudley would never leave them the way Lily had.
And then the Boy had arrived, unannounced and unwanted. A small part of Petunia longed to hold him tight, to whisper her secrets to him as she had to Lily. But when she saw his scar she knew that he lived, somehow, in that traitorous world of magic. She feared it infecting her life, her son. So when Vernon sneered, when he shoved Harry into the cupboard suggesting that it was the right size for a baby, 'and his crying won't wake us up at night,' she agreed and shut the door.
The years passed, and Vernon grew ever more solid, until his flesh became more him than his name. She decided that solid was good. He was her rock, and when she clung to him she didn't have to see out to the wild seas beyond.
When magic came to take Harry, it was a relief in some ways. He left, and their lives became exactly what she had always wanted: safe and dependable.
Her life would have been perfect, if magic hadn't come back into it again, ugly and unpredictable. Fleeing her home with a witch and a wizard, she glanced back at Harry. She didn't know him, just as she hadn't known Lily. There was no point in saying goodbye to a stranger.
Later, they stood in a forest and shook with shock at their instant arrival. Dudley vomited noisily onto the forest floor. Vernon was standing still, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly. He looked, she thought, rather like a fat fish, dangling on a hook.
"We can take you to the safe house now," said the witch.
Petunia waited for Vernon to say something. After a long minute, she realised both that he wasn't going to say anything, and that she'd been waiting for permission to move.
"OK," she said, uncertain. Dudley moved, but she had to prod Vernon in his side to get him to budge. As they walked to a house hidden in the trees, Petunia stumbled on a tree root, and held onto Vernon to regain her balance. His solidity kept her upright, but he did not ask her if she was OK.
After everyone had gone, leaving food and instructions to stay put, Vernon turned to Petunia.
"I don't trust this lot, not at all. Safe? Rushed out of our home, taken to the middle of nowhere – kidnapped, more like."
He grumbled for a while, but then Petunia fixed them all sandwiches and he calmed a little. She suggested that they explore the house. Vernon didn't answer; he was staring out of the window. Petunia realised that she was waiting for permission again. She went upstairs.
Light danced across the bedroom, the shadows of hundreds of leaves moving on the walls. Everything seemed so peaceful, and suddenly Petunia couldn't bear the thought of solidity. She wanted air, sky, and quiet. She closed her eyes and remembered lying in the garden as a child, looking at the clouds with her sister.
Later, when Dudley asked if Harry was OK, Vernon muttered that he didn't really care.
"Don't," said Petunia. "He's just a boy."
"A damned nuisance of a boy!"
"My sister's boy! Just... leave it, this once. Please."
"Leave it, like we just left our home? No, I won't leave it. I should have started running the moment I found out about your crazy sister. I knew it would end like this."
Petunia stared at him. Suddenly, all she could see was how he blocked out the light. She couldn't see past him. So for the first time she really looked at him. He was a solid block of indifference. She blinked, and he stared past her, through her. She sat back, uncertain of what to do next.
But when she closed her eyes she saw the sky, and green eyes. Freedom.
Solid
When they'd met, he was strong, dependable. Petunia was still reeling from the way magic had stolen her sister away: first, by taking her away to that school, then by changing how she saw the world. Petunia would never forget or forgive that loss; Lily's death had been the final stage of something that had started years before.
Vernon had been everything that Lily wasn't. He was honest, brutally so; he liked the things around him to be solid, to be real. He'd given her what she needed, including her son, who she was determined would live in their world: Dudley would never leave them the way Lily had.
And then the Boy had arrived, unannounced and unwanted. A small part of Petunia longed to hold him tight, to whisper her secrets to him as she had to Lily. But when she saw his scar she knew that he lived, somehow, in that traitorous world of magic. She feared it infecting her life, her son. So when Vernon sneered, when he shoved Harry into the cupboard suggesting that it was the right size for a baby, 'and his crying won't wake us up at night,' she agreed and shut the door.
The years passed, and Vernon grew ever more solid, until his flesh became more him than his name. She decided that solid was good. He was her rock, and when she clung to him she didn't have to see out to the wild seas beyond.
When magic came to take Harry, it was a relief in some ways. He left, and their lives became exactly what she had always wanted: safe and dependable.
Her life would have been perfect, if magic hadn't come back into it again, ugly and unpredictable. Fleeing her home with a witch and a wizard, she glanced back at Harry. She didn't know him, just as she hadn't known Lily. There was no point in saying goodbye to a stranger.
Later, they stood in a forest and shook with shock at their instant arrival. Dudley vomited noisily onto the forest floor. Vernon was standing still, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly. He looked, she thought, rather like a fat fish, dangling on a hook.
"We can take you to the safe house now," said the witch.
Petunia waited for Vernon to say something. After a long minute, she realised both that he wasn't going to say anything, and that she'd been waiting for permission to move.
"OK," she said, uncertain. Dudley moved, but she had to prod Vernon in his side to get him to budge. As they walked to a house hidden in the trees, Petunia stumbled on a tree root, and held onto Vernon to regain her balance. His solidity kept her upright, but he did not ask her if she was OK.
After everyone had gone, leaving food and instructions to stay put, Vernon turned to Petunia.
"I don't trust this lot, not at all. Safe? Rushed out of our home, taken to the middle of nowhere – kidnapped, more like."
He grumbled for a while, but then Petunia fixed them all sandwiches and he calmed a little. She suggested that they explore the house. Vernon didn't answer; he was staring out of the window. Petunia realised that she was waiting for permission again. She went upstairs.
Light danced across the bedroom, the shadows of hundreds of leaves moving on the walls. Everything seemed so peaceful, and suddenly Petunia couldn't bear the thought of solidity. She wanted air, sky, and quiet. She closed her eyes and remembered lying in the garden as a child, looking at the clouds with her sister.
Later, when Dudley asked if Harry was OK, Vernon muttered that he didn't really care.
"Don't," said Petunia. "He's just a boy."
"A damned nuisance of a boy!"
"My sister's boy! Just... leave it, this once. Please."
"Leave it, like we just left our home? No, I won't leave it. I should have started running the moment I found out about your crazy sister. I knew it would end like this."
Petunia stared at him. Suddenly, all she could see was how he blocked out the light. She couldn't see past him. So for the first time she really looked at him. He was a solid block of indifference. She blinked, and he stared past her, through her. She sat back, uncertain of what to do next.
But when she closed her eyes she saw the sky, and green eyes. Freedom.
