"Do another one!" Lily squeaked with giddiness.
Across her from the table, Petunia felt a sense of triumph after successfully managing to amuse both her parents and sister with a complex card trick she had learned from a book about magic tricks, which was given to her by her parents. It was hard for her to understand it at first, but upon reading it more intently. The basic concept of the trick became clearer, and soon enough, Petunia performed the trick flawlessly. She set the cards down on the table and shuffled them with such precise sleight of hand that it prompted showers of praise from both her parents. "Marvellous! Looks like we have a magician in the family" her dad chuckled. "Indeed, and at such a young age she has the shuffling skills of a swindler from the streets", said her mum.
Unable to control her excitement, Lily shouted, "Do another one!"
"I don't know any more card tricks", but Petunia wasn't entirely out of regular tricks yet. She thought of doing her favourite one. It was very simple, but it was sure to get Lily even more riled up. Petunia went up to her father, and whispered a request to his ear. Being careful not to show Lily, Mr. Evans discreetly gave Petunia a coin. She clipped it between her ring finger and middle finger, making sure majority of the coin was behind her palms as to give it the impression that it were not there. Then she placed her hand behind Lily's ear, and moved the coin to the centre of her palm. She pulled out her enclosed hand and showed Lily the "magic" coin that mysteriously manifested in her palm.
Lily smiled and giggled in delight. "How did you do that?" She asked.
"I can't tell you, Lily. It's a secret."
Lily asked, "But, why?"
Mr. Evans scooped her up into his arms, and patted her in the back. "Alright, sweetheart it's time for bed. I'm sure Petunia can show you her book tomorrow, and then you'll be able to perform tricks of your own."
"Dad, she'll never understand them. She's still a baby", Petunia protested.
"Oh Petunia, Lily maybe no older than you, but she's very intelligent for her age", Mrs. Evans spoke out. She turned towards Mr. Evans, "You should hear how praises her every time I pick her up from pre-school. She even said Lily might get accepted in one of the best schools in the country."
It had happened quickly, that all of a sudden, Petunia felt her parent's adoration shift from her to her younger sister yet again. Now, Petunia loved Lily dearly, and was about as excited at her accomplishments as Mr. and Mrs. Evans were. Earlier today, Lily drew a beautiful picture of a field of tulips; her favourite flower for arts and crafts, and Mrs. Evans liked it so much she hung it in front of her floral shop window. Meanwhile all Petunia had accomplished was to study a bunch of magic tricks, and that had only put her in the spotlight for a short period of time.
As soon as Mr. Evans brought Lily upstairs, Petunia decided she would keep her magic book up in the attic. If Lily ever asked for it, she would just lie and tell her it got misplaced. It probably wouldn't upset her much anyway; she would just find a new hobby to master.
After Mr. Evans and Lily, Mrs. Evans followed. She climbed up the stairs and gave a long yawn. "It's also time for you to tuck in to bed, dear. Just fix up your cards then, go to sleep", she said sternly. Her footsteps became fainter and fainter until she entered her room and closed the doors, leaving Petunia on the first floor, all by herself.
That night, the girls slept peacefully in their respective beds, but Lily was the only one blessed with a dream. Her subconscious brought her out in to a simple wheat field, all by herself. A gentle wind blew on her, messing up her hair. The atmosphere given by the field was a pleasant one which filled Lily Evans with happiness and comfort. Yet she could not explain why something feels missing. She looked around her and saw nothing but tall grass and wheat. Every scene in every direction was but the same thing, and no matter how long she walked the field, there was no end in sight.
Lily couldn't think of anything to do, there were really just two options to keep walking or sit down. She chose the latter, deciding to save her feet from any unnecessary exhaustion. As she took a seat on the field, the bristles of the grass tickled her gently, and the soft soil felt like a cushion as she sat down. Taking in the environment didn't feel so wrong, it actually felt great to just sit there and absorb the world around her, but she knew something was amiss, a feeling inside spoke to her, prompting her to do something.
Lily placed her hands on the soft soil, her nails digging on into the dirt. She felt something build up inside her, a powerful surge of energy, reverberating within her so strongly that it eventually had to be released. Once it did, the field changed, all the wheat shrivelled up and died, but in its place new flowers bloomed, lilies. The majestic little flowers grew everywhere until the field became a huge garden. The same one, Lily had realized looked exactly like he one which belonged to their grandmother's.
The vivid dream had shattered with a shrill scream. "Eeek!" shrieked Petunia across the bed from Lily. The terrified girl had woken up finding herself covered in flowers, most of which she could identify were lilies and tulips. The flowers were littered all over her bed, and there were vines clung themselves to the ceiling and walls. The source of it all stemmed from none other than the back of Lily's bed frame, which looked as if a plant had grew there, branching out all over the room.
Lily was awestruck at what was right in front of her own eyes. While Petunia, continued to scream over having been assaulted with flowers. She yelled for her parents, who later barged in to a scene incomprehensible to them at first, but without further pause for hesitation they rushed over to their daughter, freeing her form what was once her bed now turned into a garden patch.
After that they snatched up Lily and anxiously brought both girls downstairs.
Mr. Evans paced around the living room five times, scratching his head in confusion. Mrs. Evans, however, being the calm calculating figure in the family sat in a chair both her eyes locked on the children. "Dear, please sit down. Wandering aimlessly is not going to solve anything", she requested gently.
"Why, yes I know that, but it does calm the nerves"
"Sit down, and I'll make you a pot of tea."
Mrs. Evans walked into the kitchen, and came out with a steaming pot of Earl Grey tea and four cups. She placed them gently on the coffee table in front of her husband whose nerves remained frazzled. Mrs. Evans sat down beside him, poured herself a cup and drained it. "Honestly, those boys of Mrs. Thompson have become quite a handful, sneaking in to Lily and Petunia's room like that, doing God knows what."
"Love, I'm sorry, but I think we both know that this was not their doing, no matter how you badly you want those boys sent somewhere far far away from you."
heaved a sigh, "I suppose you're right. But, still bedrooms do not become gardens overnight. How? How do you explain that?"
Mr. Evans ruffled his own hair again, one of his nervous tics. He stared at both his daughters anxiously, trying his best to keep a straight face in front them, but Mr. Evans had never been the strong and tough parent. "Lily, perhaps you saw something about what happened while you were asleep." Lily knew that she was to blame for the incident. The dream had definitely been something more, but she saw how Petunia reacted, and how her parents were nerve racked at the ordeal. Lily was about to decline any involvement, but she was cut off by Petunia. "It was Lily's fault; I saw her squirming in her sleep, the all of a sudden there were vines and leaves, then flowers everywhere". The harshness of her accusatory tone stunned both her parents into silence.
Mr. and Mrs. Evans' stares were locked on Lily. They examined her as if she was a complex puzzle published in the Sunday edition of the newspapers. Lily's heart was pounding, the questions were racing in her head as well, but everyone was still scrambling for the answers.
After Petunia said her piece she stormed upstairs, meanwhile everyone else had an uncomfortable silence, which was broken by Mrs. Evans. "I think we should get her away from here first", she said. "Are you crazy, woman? We're not going to abandon her", protested Mr. Evans. Lily smiled at her father for that statement. "Of course not you idiot. What I mean is let's take her and Petunia with us and get the bloody hell out here for a while."
"What good would that accomplish?" Mr. Evans asked.
"I don't know", she sighed. "But if we keep her here, she might perform God-knows-what stunts in front of the neighbours, and maybe we can find someone who isn't particularly new to this situation to help us out."
Mr. Evans thought about this proposal for a second, eventually agreeing it was the best course of action. "Alright, you take care of Lily, and I'll grab Petunia. She is not going to be happy about this."