#a. longbottom

          Was it possible to forget something you had never known? It was a question Petunia had rolled over in her mind in the quiet of the holding room, as the Magical Court decided her future. There they were, debating if she was a threat or not (stupid; clearly she was), if they should erase her memory or give her to Lily (of course, she didn’t even have a say), and she debated if there was any shred of awareness in any of them. 

Take that bitch who’d had the gall to confront her before she’d been dragged before the panel. Accusing her of thoughtlessness, no concern for the well being of the world -- the magical world. All without ever giving a thought to her hypocrisy, to all of theirs. So concerned with how she’d endangered them with no awareness of the danger they posed. 

No, Petunia hadn’t considered how her actions might hurt Lily. Frankly, Lily was in danger either way; her sister had made her choice, made her bed, and as far as Petunia was concerned, she could lay in it now. No, Petunia’s primary consideration was for all those other Muggles, so oblivious to a war raging behind their backs between living weapons who didn’t give a single shit about any of them. Just like that nameless witch didn’t give a fuck about anyone but her own precious people.

Had the magical population ever really known the fear of being helpless, at the mercy of someone else? Or had they forgotten that, as part of their crusade to reimagine Muggles as inferior and pathetic? Had that witch (Alice, Lily would later tell her, her name was Alice -- like that mattered) ever considered what harm her war was having on people with no defense?