Secrets She Kept » Harry Potter

Part 30

"I'm afraid I have bad news." Was all that was said as Petunia sat in the bright white room, medical charts plastered on the wall with information about different medical conditions. There was a bed positioned in the corner of the office as she sat in a chair next to the doctor who wore casual clothing with a white coat over to protect the dress shirt and black slacks he was wearing while turning his attention to bringing her medical records up on his computer that sat upon his desk. The tone Dr Conners had used meant something was terribly wrong with her as she had requested blood work to be done due to the recent symptoms she was suffering with.

All this was done at the begging of the children who wished for their mother to be well. The twins, now teenagers waited patiently outside the closed office door, both engrossed in their mobile phones as they were now becoming popular in 2001. All their friends had one and didn't want to miss out on texting their friends outside of the classroom.

"What's wrong?" Petunia shot back asking, smoothing out the creases in the long blue skirt she had worn for this appointment.

The doctor sighed, he was afraid of giving bad news. "Well with the latest bloodwork sent to the lab, they finally got back with the results." He explained. Two weeks ago she had gone for more bloodwork after finding small abnormalities and the scans she went through hadn't proven anything as of yet. Her blood was sent to a specialist lab. "I'm afraid to tell you they have found cancer."

Petunia gulped. That horrid word was something she hadn't prepared herself for. It was a topic she saw in newspapers, they were patients in their own wing of the hospital while they went through treatment which made them lose their hair. She was such a busy household she had never witnessed anyone with bandanas covering their heads, this was all odd to her. Dr Conners went on to explain what type of cancer it was. "The good news is, we have caught it early and we're hopeful that you'll be able to go on and live a normal life after treatment." Many things were listed on symptoms for Petunia to look out for and what will happen next for the next booked appointment that would take place at the nearby hospital.

The mother nodded. She was stuck in shock with the horrible news, cancer was something that brought tears to those affected by it.

The medical clinic was busy and Dr Conners needed to work through his many patients with booked appointments quickly. He understood that Petunia was shocked and took extra moments to provide her with valuable information and contact information for centres aims at providing assistance for her and her family. He farewelled the woman who walked out, brushing any evidence that something was affecting her, towards the twins still dressed in their uniform.

George was old enough to have his licence and had been handed down the old car that Harry had driven around before his travelling overseas, so he wasn't present due to afterschool rugby practice.

The twins look up to their mother hoping she got answers. "Everything is fine." She muttered in a tone that the twins knew there was something she was hiding. Due to her exhaustion, it was hard to keep everything together at all hours of the day, and so many small secrets she was keeping from her children were alerted. Although to save her strength they chose to drop the subject until a much later date.

Once in the safety of their home, George had finished his rugby practice early and had chosen to annoy his younger siblings who were lounging on their trampoline, enjoying the heat of the afternoon sun. The season was changing around them and starting to cool as they head towards winter. George was still covered in dirt from tackling his teammates during his practice and Petunia had ordered him outside as he was making a mess on the floor she had just mopped.

George noticed that Millie and Beckham were engaged in a serious conversation. "Discussing your crush on Charlie Weasley...or Justin Timberlake?" George smirked at his sister whom was flabbergasted.

Millie glared at her older brother, she too was a teenager and had matured more than the defenceless little witch that faced the attack on Hogwarts. Her blonde hair was long and she had rid of her chubbiness around her cheeks, looking more like her late aunt in appearance but instead having hazel eyes and light hair. It was a strong opposite of the older boy who had dark-coloured hair cropped back and dark brown eyes to match.

Beckham had a subscription for a series of magazines that covered the adventures of Charlie Weasley, a brave wizard who tamed dragons, being a typical teenage girl with celebrity crushes she had commented that the redhead wizard was handsome. George enjoyed poking fun at the girl who still refused to take part in their tutoring lessons. "Mum's not well." Beckham chimes into the conversation, his blue eyes looking up at his older brother. "She looked upset walking out of her doctor's appointment."

George's eyes averted back towards the home, where he saw his mother working at the kitchen sink that looked out the window. Petunia kept a close eye on her children, hoping they weren't worried about her health. She believed she would be strong enough to get through this diagnosis. She refused to leave her children as orphans in this world, she knew they would be dragged back to England under the care of the wizarding world. That was the law, Harry was the exception to the rule due to his life being in danger.

"She's pretending that everything is okay, but it's not," Millie mentioned sharply.

George sighed, it was his turn to be the one to relay the message that everything would be fine. "If it was serious enough she would tell us." He reasons with his younger siblings. "Perhaps it's something that doesn't concern us." He had been through biology in high school and knew about the female reproductive system, as well as many health factors that affect many.

"Just like our father?" Beckham wondered. Petunia had finally admitted that the Evan's siblings had to same father, never revealing who the man was. Beckham was curious about his education, both ordinary and magical. "Do you think there's a spell that could help mum if she was sick?" He had always been the hopeful one when it came to discovering new spells.

"Don't be ridiculous Beckham, those spells don't work on non-magical people," Millie said, hanging her legs over the edge of the trampoline.

George snorted. "Oh, so you do pay attention then?" He quizzed sarcastically. George usually witnessed his sister sulking in the corner of the classroom, either having her homework out from school or texting her friends on her cell phone, making plans the minute she was free. Her wand had remained untouched unless she was forced to go through with practising spells, their tutor threatening to tattle on her to Petunia about her lack of involvement.

"Fuck off George!" She calls jumping to the ground and stomping towards the house, crossing her arms in rage.

That left her two brothers laughing. "Swearing, that's new." The older boy commented, making Beckham laugh louder.