Lily was always the favourite, ever since we were little girls. I suppose it shouldn't have come as a surprise when she got selected to a special school. To be honest, that wasn't the part that had surprised me. A magical school, though? Admittedly, as a child, I used to be curious about whether magic did really exist. I blocked these stupid ideas out, because I knew, like all my other dreams there was no chance of them being true. Not for me, anyway! So one day, in the middle of the summer, I think it was July or August, this strange letter arrived in the post. It had no stamp, but I assumed it was hand delivered. Unsuspectingly I shuffled along the thick carpeted corridor in my fluffy slippers to the kitchen where my father was waiting for me to get the post. 'Ah, Petunia,' he said breaking into a smile. 'The post! Anything for me?' 'Actually there's just this one big package...' I turned it over to see who it was for. 'For Lily, apparently.' Lily squealed and rushed to open it. I thought she was expecting something from one of her many boyfriends – Ok, she was ten, but that never stopped her, so she informed me anyway. She ripped open the paper, and I helplessly watched her change all of our lives forever. 'Hogwarts!?' she exclaimed, confused. Reading the letter out loud, it revealed that she had been discovered as gifted (what a surprise) and was being offered a place at an academy of Magic. At first I laughed and thought it was a joke, but my parents looked very serious, and of course very proud. 'Hogwarts...' my father breathed. 'Well Lily, you must be more special than we thought you were. My great-grandfather told me all about that school – well through his journal. It's a very real place, don't get me wrong! We'll have to find out more about it immediately!' She giggled happily and sprang onto my father's lap, as my mother came over and began making a fuss about her 'wonderful talented daughter.' I sat and watched the family picture, left out of it. Poor, unsuccessful Petunia. Nothing ever happens to her. And that was how my life changed. Every summer Lily would come home, telling us about all the exciting things she did, while I was left to go to the local girls' school. Even her social life was better than mine, at what I came to call the 'school of freaks'. And of course I couldn't tell anyone where she was – I had to pretend she had a scholarship to go to an expensive boarding school in the country somewhere. It was all right with me- I had assumed I would at last get the attention of my parents, who had always made a fuss of my superior sister. No such luck – they were ever the doting parents to her. They even bought her an owl to send them letters; though these rarely came of course. 'Oh well, at least I can try and live a normal life I suppose,' I thought miserably.

Time flew by, and before I knew it I was looking at universities. My sister had left the seventh year at Hogwarts a few years before of course, along with her boyfriend James. Now, I know that he's my sister's boyfriend, but I could' help but think that his scruffy hair, wicked sense of humour and amazing magic capabilities were... well they were kind of sexy I suppose. And Lily had achieved some of the best grades Hogwarts had ever seen – surprise, surprise. A vast quantity of OWLS and NEWTS (the wizarding world's answer to GCSEs and A level I was told), all excellent grades. The world was open to her. I, meanwhile, had managed to get an acceptance to Oxford, for all of the hard work I had managed during my A levels. My parents barely noticed. I remember lying on my bed sobbing hard looking at this form telling me of all the wonderful opportunities I had because I was special. Yeah right I was special! I wasn't Lily, so I wasn't good enough. I would have tried to quit everything then – just run away from it all. But I had no way; there's no escape from being the untalented little sister.

Lily became an Auror in the end, along with James. They had to endure terrible training for it, but of course they sailed through with flying colours. They were superior in the wizarding world, fighting evil, so I was told. Lily never said much about it in case there were spies around. Personally, I think she wanted me to stay out of her world; out of the bubble she had made herself where everyone worshipped the ground she walked upon. Me? Well I turned down my place at Oxford – how could I face going there where everyone else was so bright, and so supported at home? I decided to go to a smaller university on the coast. I did well, and that's where I met Vernon. OK, he wasn't James (who, I confess I fell a little bit in love with), but he was kind and very athletic. He was also the first person who met my sister and found me special.

Meanwhile life in Lily-land was just peachy. She had just got married to James in a beautiful church, filled with white, pink and blue flowers. And her dress! Oh, even though I have spent my entire life being jealous of her, I couldn't help but be proud to be her sister. Similar blood runs in our veins, and if she can be so happy, so radiant, so beautiful... Well there was surely hope for me as yet! If only my mother could have seen her on that day. She passed away just after I went to university. She was killed in a freak accident in a supermarket near our home. Lily wasn't shocked by the news, but was very upset. Though slightly curious about this, I couldn't cope with the grief, so I have suppressed it, the way I let everything lie in the very pits of my being, waiting to strike out in rage one day.

Two years after that I too got married. Vernon and I were wed in a small church near Brighton in the winter of 1985. Not long afterwards I got pregnant, and I was overjoyed! Lily of course stole my thunder and admitted that she too was pregnant, and had been for a little while. She had to step aside with her work as an Auror as she became more and more pregnant, and James had to move into a smaller job linked to a man called Dumbledore. I of course, was oblivious to this. I had no idea about what they were supposed to be fighting. Their son, who they called Harry, was born just before I gave birth to our beautiful son Dudley.

Then... I lost contact with my sister, as did my parents. She had to go into hiding away from some sort of evil genius. I couldn't help but think it was like some poor cartoon. This was until about 14 years ago. I remember my husband collapsing into his chair in front of the news after struggling with Dudley. Oh he was a restless one, he never seemed to want to be on his own. Well, I could understand that. Oh this boy was going to get all the love a child could hope for, I could depend on that. The news was strange that night. An outburst of owls, strange weather, strangely dressed people rejoicing in the streets. He asked if they were any of my 'sisters people'. I shuddered – I hadn't talked about Lily any more. Her existence had been constant torment to me. I never told anyone the things she said to me, not even Vernon. How could he understand the bitchy comments of 8 year old girls? I sighed to myself, as he became more absorbed in the news. Him mentioning her had stirred up old suppressed feelings. I never knew if she had meant things she said to me when we were children. She'd never made an effort to say 'Sorry Petunia, I was only kidding when I repetitively told you that you were worthless'. As I was about to discover, I would never know.