Title: Hope
Rating: K
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Lily, Petunia
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.
Word Count: 588
Summary: Hope kept her going.
Notes:
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry: Music Club - (word) bears, (setting) December, (dialogue) "Thinks I almost remember", (genre) family, (word) memory
Hogwarts School o Witchcraft and Wizardry Competition: Xylomancy - Prompts Used - resonant, dramatic, ripe, move, grip, satisfy, sign, death, tenuous, bells
365 Days of Drabbles Challenge: Prompt Used - Holding Hands
It was December once again, and Lily was home for Christmas. There were bells ringing, people singing, and she had a tenuous grip on her sanity.
She remembered how she used to love being home with her family when she had breaks from primary school. Christmas was always a sign that the school year was halfway done, and no matter how much she enjoyed learning, she loved the break and the knowledge that it would be summer in just a few months time.
Her and Petunia would play and tell each other secrets. Some were unimportant and some were life-altering, or at least that was what it seemed like at their young ages. Lily was the person Petunia talked to when she had her first crush. They'd scheme together, trying to figure out a way to find out what presents they were receiving. They'd move in synch, knowing how to distract their parents when they thought they figured out their presents' hiding place that year.
While their mum and dad drank wine that was ripe with age, Lily would distract them with dramatic stories that always had their parents in fits of laughter at their youngest daughter's antics.
Lily remembered one year that Petunia had found out that the two of them were getting stuffed bears, and the two of them had decided the bears would be sisters, just like Lily and Petunia. The best of friends always and forever. When they were given the presents, like always, Petunia and Lily feigned their surprised delight, but neither of them were sure their parents actually believed it anymore. They took the bears to their shared room and set them up on a dresser. They made it look like the two bears were holding hands.
Petunia had tilted her head to the side. "It's a sign of their relationship."
Lily nodded, agreeing with her older sister like she always did. In her eyes, Petunia was never wrong.
The memory seemed to resonant with her in the present time as Petunia glared at her from across the dinner table. "Things I almost remember," Lily murmured mournfully.
"What was that dear?" her mum asked, an eyebrow arched with her inquiry as she lightly gripped her knife and fork.
Petunia crossed her arms as Lily forced a smile on her face. "It's nothing, mum."
"Are you okay?" her dad asked, his eyes showing his worry.
Petunia's glare seemed to intensify and Lily looked at her still full dinner plate. "I'm fine."
Her answers didn't really satisfy her parents' curiosity or worry, but thankfully, they dropped the subject.
Lily silently finished her dinner and escaped to her room. She knew Petunia would do everything she could to avoid coming up before she absolutely had to, so Lily took comfort in being alone.
She thought about the death of their relationship. When Lily received her Hogwarts letter, it was the beginning of the end. Petunia was twisted by jealousy and the non-understanding of something different, and it was no longer Petunia and Lily against the world.
Now, whenever Lily was home, it was Petunia versus Lily. They stood on opposing sides instead of on the same side, no longer defending each other from anything that threatened them.
Lily didn't know if their relationship would ever be repaired, but she knew she missed her sister. She knew she'd always miss her sister. She just hoped that one day, it would be Lily and Petunia on the same side again. That hope was what kept her going.