“Up and at ‘em, boys!” Came Petunia’s unusually cheery voice.

She was not, after all, a morning person. And neither were her boys.

“Mom,” Dudley groaned, dragging out the word and propping himself up on his elbows. “Can’t we wait for a bit?”

“Nope,” she said, popping the ‘p.’

Harry covered his head with a pillow, but it was no use. Petunia waved her wand and gave a whispered ‘accio blankets,’ ripping the covering off the bunk beds.

“I’ll not say it a second time. Get up.” She clicked her tongue at them and then went back to sipping her coffee.

She was already showered and dressed for the day, in a white silk top and deep red skirt flowing freely to her ankles. Her heels were white open back mules and her nails had shifted to be blooming red lilies. Her hair was pulled back in a high pony tail.

The look put the boys on edge.

Petunia was glowing.

“Get showers—unless you want me to scourgify you,” she said simply. The boys each snapped up and began racing for the bathroom.

“Never again, Harry! I’m not getting that stupid spell!” Dudley shouted as he shoved Harry out of the way, causing him to trip and fall to the ground.

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“That wasn’t my fault! And even if it was, I’m not losing to you!” Harry hissed, as he gripped Dudley’s legs, trying to slow him down.

Petunia cleared her throat just as Lloyd came out of the bedroom, already dressed and ready to go, and said pointedly, “There are two bathrooms.”

Looking relieved, Harry rolled away from Dudley and slunk off to the master bathroom. He shot a look at Lloyd as he went.

The boys would never know what went about the night before, not with the vanishing and cleaning charms Petunia and Lloyd spent half an hour casting around the room.

Anyway, Petunia had only ever scourgify-ied them once. And it was when they were in dire straights —about to show up to one of Petunia’s brunch parties with all their mundane friends covered in dirt and mud and rain from playing quidditch in the rain at Central Park. Could she have used a gentler spell? Yes. And usually, she would have. But the boys had looked rather smug that she would clean up their mess. Or, rather, Ursa would clean up their mess. And Petunia hadn’t really appreciated that attitude.

Both boys had grown up with wealth, yes, but that didn’t mean they had grown up without some attitude adjustments. It took both Petunia and Ursula paying attention to keep the children from becoming horrendous. Well, mostly Ursula, if Petunia was being honest, but she did what she could. And those tended to be the lessons that stuck.

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“Load up, boys. We’re not going to be back until this evening.”

It was August 12th, and the boys began school in just three days. So, Petunia wanted them to get to know the area around Hecate’s, as well as tour the school itself.

As they arrived in Salem, Petunia found a parking spot without a daily limit and began ushering the boys down the street.

That was when a patronus arrived.

It was in the shape of an eagle.

It was Lisa’s.