Sibling's Love

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling. I do not make any money with the story.

Summary: 'This story is about Lily the witch! Lily the witch, who put magic before her sister. I could never truly bring back the Lily of my childhood. Magic destroyed my life, it took away everything: my friend and my sister and my parents.

The boy stares at me with those emerald green eyes that seem to look into the depths of my soul, just like Lily's had always done! How they remind me of Lily, my beloved sister, my friend of younger days and later my rival. 'How did it come to this?' I ask myself. Oh, how long I have denied myself any thought of her. Now it all comes back to haunt me, to remind me. Long forgotten memories flood my brain, like water floods into a pond, watering the drought of memories in there.

Very distantly I hear the roar of my husband Vernon, as he sees the boy. My body is standing next to him, but my mind is in the past.

She is dead, and the only things that remain are memories, lost hopes, and dreams we once shared. I well remember the powerlessness we felt as we watched while the world as we knew it broke apart.

I will go back to tell you how it all began. How the two of us were driven apart.

As long as I can remember Lily had been there. It did not matter, that I was two years older then she. We were like twins. Never were we parted. Neither one of us was seen without the other. We were like one half of a whole. We told each other every secret, we had the same friends, and we went to the same school. We did everything together. At that time, it did not matter to me that I did not have my own identity that everyone just referred to me as Lily's sister. We were truly happy. We neither thought nor cared about what the future would bring. We were blind to the truth… But maybe, just maybe, we needed this blindness. It was what held us together, what made us strong.

Our carefree world was shaken for the first time the day the Hogwarts owl arrived. It had been a day like any other, except that it was Lily's eleventh birthday. When I woke up, I had a funny feeling in my stomach, as if something unexpected would happen that day. When I went down to breakfast, the table was already laden with presents for Lily.

When Lily came down the stairs, her red hair as usual fluttering behind her, everyone stood up to congratulate her. Not much later, we sat all down for breakfast. The day went by fast and we had a great time and shared a lot of laughter.

During breakfast the next day, something happened that I will never forget. Out of the blue, an owl swooped over our heads and dropped a letter in Lily's lap. Everyone was frozen with amazement and fear. Lily carefully opened the letter, while the rest of the family still stared at the window, where the owl had left.

Lily's look became more and more confused as she read the letter, which she then handed to me. It read:

HOGWARTS/SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY


Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Ms Evans,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
The term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

PS. a guide will accompany you to Diagon Alley to buy your Hogwarts materials.

At fist we dismissed the letter as a practical joke and laughed about it. However, only half an hour later a man suddenly appeared out of thin air. He wore black robes and pointed hat. All of us were startled and my father looked as if he was going to call the police. The man in the strange clothing explained to us that he was a wizard. In the beginning we did not believe him, until he pulled out a wooden stick and suddenly a teacup started to float in mid air. Afterwards we sat down and the man, who turned out to be one of the Professors at Hogwarts, told us about the wizarding world. He also told us about a dark wizard, who tried to enslave the Wizarding community. The man refused to say the wizard's name, instead he wrote it on a piece of paper. Of cause my parents were reluctant to let Lily go after this particular piece of information, but the man assured us that Hogwarts was one of the safest places in England and that Voldemord would not attack as long as Dumbledore was headmaster. After all our questions were answered, we all went to London to buy Lily's school materials.

That was when I knew, I had been replaced. Lily still loved me, but I firmly believed that magic had taken my place in Lily's heart. A feeling that I had never felt before, which I later identified as jealousy cut the air out of my lungs, making me unable to reply when Lily asked me what was wrong. During this time of our lives we were still very conscious about each other's feelings. Lily always knew if something was bothering me.

Now, when she came back from Diagon Alley, it was already as if she had been replaced with another girl. This was not the Lily I had grown up with, the Lily I had shared my secrets with. This was Lily the witch, who put magic before her sister. I felt scared to lose my sister, whom I loved dearly, to a mystic power none of us understood. I would never be able to bring back the Lily of my childhood.

I went with the rest of the family to take her to the train station. There were many children of Lily's age, wearing strange robes and carrying toads, owls or cats.

Lily sent us many letters. She seemed to be truly happy at this school. I always tried to tell myself that this was the most important thing. However, the feeling I had first had when I saw her face after reading the letter did not go away.

When Lily came home for the first time, I went up to greet her at the station. Another thing had changed; it had never bothered me before that I had stood in my sister's shadow. Now, however, I felt ignored and betrayed whenever my parents talked about Lily's achievements. Never before had I even dared to think that my parents might prefer her over me, but now that thought pushed itself deeper and deeper into my brain, poisoning my thoughts. When I told her that, while she was home for summer break, she sounded hurt and angry.

"How can you say such things?" she shouted at me.

But the worst was the knowing look she gave me, as if she knew something about me that I did not know. The thought that someone understood more about me than I did myself, even if it was my own sister, was unbearable.

The silence following the fight was frightening. Eventually we spoke to each other again, the day she departed. There was, however, not the same atmosphere between us, as there had been during our childhood; it was cool and deliberate. It was the way our parents, who were blind to the truth, wanted us to act.

So the years passed by, and the wall separating me and Lily grew higher and higher. The insults we shouted at each other went deep. Our relationship was ruined. When I called her a freak one day, she ran into her room crying. I knew she would forgive me, if I just apologized, but I stayed distant.

Two years later I graduated from school. I was one of the best students of the class. That was the last time I saw Lily.

During my time at the University I had met Vernon Dursley. He was starting at Grunnings, a company which made drills. Back then he seemed good-natured, and he was an excellent soccer player. I fell in love with him at first sight.

Half a year later we married, shortly after our parents' death. They had been attacked by wizards. The neighbors were told that they had died in a shooting, but I knew the truth (or what I thought was the truth.) In my grief I blamed Lily for our parents' deaths (My sweet tempered Lily--how I could ever say such a thing is a mystery to me today.) Lily just stared at me in disbelief. She said nothing, but I will never forget the hurt in her voice when she wished me goodbye. The seeds of mistrust and anger between the two of us had been planted from the moment Lily had set foot on the Hogwarts train. Unbeknownst to both of us it had grown deeper and deeper, estranging us. This conflict was only the last straw. We had chosen different paths in life, and we were already so estranged that we could not find common ground any longer. I had to let her go. I could not hold on any longer. The Lily of my childhood days was gone once and for all.

For many years I did not hear anything from my sister until she got married. I had of course told my husband what my sister was. He did not believe me at first, and when he believed it, he told me to stay quiet about it. I was happy with that solution, because it made it so that I didn't have to think about the pain I had caused her. On the outside I pretended to hate her, but inside I loved her like none other. When the wedding invitation came, Vernon ripped it apart and threw it in the fire. That night I cried myself to sleep.

The news of her death shocked me more then I wanted to admit, even to myself. I knew magic could bring nothing good. In the end, it brought her death.

Listen to me, Lily, if you can hear me up there in heaven. I will take care of Harry, for your sake. I will not let him fall into the same trap as you did. Magic destroyed my life and yours. It took away everything: my friend and my sister and my parents. Magic is only an illusion. I will protect Harry from it, at all costs. This I promise to you, Lily.

A/N: When I sat in my history class this plot bunny hit me and has been nagging on me ever since. I know there are many Lily/ Petunia fics out there, but please give it a try. I wish to thank all my Beta readers from Wizard Tales and Perfect Imagination , without whom this story would have been impossible.