AN: Hey guys! Here's another story for you. It's really almost exactly the same thing that I posted last time, except that there is different wording and I personally think this one is better. It has the same plot line of Petunia being jealous, it's about the same length, but for some reason, it just seems to flow better. I'm sorry if I'm boring you by posting the same story over and over again, but this really is my favorite thing to write. I don't know when I'll post another story after this, but I have a bunch that are half finished, and I have no intention of abandoning my fanfiction account. So look foward to more stories some time in the future, but for now, enjoy!
Petunia Evans sighed.
The sounds of Lily and her friends playing happily could be heard through the closed window, and she hated it. Her younger sister had been the school freak just a year before. Everyone knew not to go near that girl, for strange things might happen to you. Lily had been unpopular and alone.
And though the two were sisters, Petunia had relished it. At home, Lily was the favorite child, beautiful smart, and kind. But school, school was Petunias place. There, she was more popular and better than her dratted sister would ever be.
Of course, that was a year ago.
One year ago, to the day, Lily had gotten the letter. Petunia remembered it all crystal clear. It was a very fantastical letter, talking about a whole different world. A world of magic. Petunia hadn't believed it of course. She was practical Petunia after all. She knew that it all had to be a bad prank from one of Lily's tormenters.
But, for once in her life, she was wrong. The headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had shown up at their doorstep and explained everything to them. Lily and their whole family had gone off to get her school supplies, and Petunia found that the more she was learning about this hidden world, the more she wanted to join it. She would never actually admit it to anyone, but she was—jealous.
So, she came up with an idea. If Lily had been accepted, why, they were sisters! She was the better sister too, so she obviously had what it took to get in to this Hogwash place. So, she wrote a letter. In this letter, she explained all this, and sent it to the headmaster, confident that in under a week, she, too, would have an acceptance letter.
But again, for the second time that summer, she was wrong. She received a Hogwarts letter in the mail, and eagerly tore it open, but she was crushed. The headmaster had rejected her! Though he had done it in the nicest possible way, this didn't placate her at all. She still wasn't going! Lily had, for the first time ever, bested her! Before Petunia knew it, her little sister was off at school, and she was alone at home.
Lily came home for the holidays, happier than she had ever been before, bragging about all she was learning, rubbing the world Petunia could never join in her face. Her friends thought it odd that she was dreading vacations, but only she knew that they were the only time she couldn't pretend her life was perfect again.
But this summer holiday, it was the worst by far. It seemed that Lily couldn't go a day without having one of her freaky little friends over, and there seemed to be at least one new girl every day. It seemed, to Petunia, that Lily was somehow popular! Sometimes she would eavesdrop on their conversations, and they seemed to talk a lot about the stuck up James Potter. It seemed some of her friends were quite taken with him, but Lily was above all that. Apparently, she had a small crush on Remus Lupin, another Gryffindor first year.
"He's smart, sensible, nice, and good looking." Lily had explained to her surprised friends once.
The sound of talking grew too painful for Petunia's dainty ears. She ran across her room, jumped onto her bed, (which ruined the carefully folded sheets, showing how upset she was) and shoved her head under her pillow, hoping to block out the noise. She couldn't hear it anymore, but phrases of conversations she had heard echoed in her head, 'I wonder what sort of potions Professor Slughorn will teach us this year…' 'Do you think the Gryffindor Quidditch team will be any good this time?' 'I can't believe that prank James and his friends pulled on the last day of school!' Those Slytherins' had a dragon! How did they get away with that?" She pushed the pillow harder against her head, but nothing she could do would stop the noise. So she started crying.
At first it was just a few drops. But once she had started, she couldn't stop. The reality crashed on her, like she had just dropped the sky. She was sick with jealousy. Green with envy. Green like Lily's eyes, which she was also jealous of. Her eyes were the flat brown color of dry dirt.
It seemed like all she wanted, was to go to Hogwarts. She wanted to do magic! She wanted to be a part of a hidden world. She would easily leave all her shallow popularity behind to go to Hogwarts and make friends like the ones Lily had. True friends you could tell anything to, that wouldn't turn on you if they thought you were bringing their social rank down.
Her closet was filled with all the latest designer fashions. But if she could go to Hogwarts, she would replace them at once with the uniform robes Lily had, even if they were ugly black sacks people called clothes. It seemed like there was nothing she wouldn't give up for just one change to ride the Hogwarts express to a land where troubles didn't exist. Even if she could only go for one term, she would be the happiest girl in the world.
Secretly though, Petunia knew this was false. She was the kind of girl that would always want more no matter what she had. Once she woke up in a beautiful castle tower dormitory surrounded by friends once, she would never settle for anything less.
But now, just one time sounded like heaven! Lily had described watching the sun rise over distant mountains while reflected in the beautiful Hogwarts Lake. It seemed to Petunia that if she could just live that moment, the rest of her life would either be complete, or pale in comparison. She could live in that moment forever.
But if she could really truly go to Hogwarts, she would want to keep moving. There was so much to see and do around Hogwarts castle that your average Muggle would never even dream of. Again, Lily had described eating meals in the great hall. Banquets of delicious foods would just appear on the tables, and you could eat as much as you wanted under the enchanted ceiling. Petunia could also imagine the long house tables Lily had talked about, where you could claim a section of the bench with your friends.
The classes, too, sounded unbelievable. Petunia really wasn't one for mathematics, or the sciences, but she was all for charms, transfiguration, and defense against the dark arts. There were other subjects too, so many she couldn't remember them all, but she could guarantee that they were all better than the boring Muggle classes she was forced to take. It made her so angry whenever Lily or one of her friends complained about History of Magic being boring, or Professor McGonagall being too strict. Those ungrateful brats didn't deserve to be at that school like she did. She would never take any class for granted. She would never take the powers she had for granted, heck, she would never even take her house scarf for granted!
And with that, Petunia realized what she really wanted. She didn't want to go on exciting magical adventures, or be a hero fighting a villain. She wanted the simple things, and a simple life. She wanted to wake up in the morning, in a beautiful tower dormitory while watching the sun rise. She wanted to eat what normal people would call feasts for breakfast under a ceiling enchanted to look like the sky. She wanted to take amazing magical classes while learning to control extraordinary powers. She wanted to take her breaks on beautiful and extensive green grounds. She wanted to put on a scarf in her house colors and go to a Quidditch match. She wanted to live in a beautiful castle. And she wanted to make true friends who would always be there for you.
But most of all, she wanted to be so much more than normal, so that all this would be in a normal day's work. Just the feeling of knowing you were so blessed with things most people could never imagine would be enough to sustain her for life.
But in this moment, Petunia knew she could never have any of that, and it broke her heart. So right then and there, she vowed that anything abnormal like her sister was freakish. Anything slightly out of the ordinary was to be avoided at all costs. And she? She would always be the epitome of normal.
Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! Reviews are always appreciated!
~Lulu