For the Two of Us

by Lyra124

My name is Minerva, from the roman goddess. When I was born, I was expected to live up to the name. And I tried, I truly did. Athena was my sister, and when she died, I did not mope around and grieve, no, I lived my life. I lived it for the both of us.

My name Minerva is derived from the Roman goddess of Wisdom. Ever since I was born, I was expected to live up to my name. I was meant to be wise, like the goddess. Clever, like the goddess. Graceful, like the goddess…

And I tried my best, I truly did.

I always did as I was told, I always spoke only when I was spoken to, I always dressed in these horrible long robes, and I never complained, not once, however much I wanted to.

The same cannot be said for my older sister, Athena. Her name was derived from the Greek goddess of wisdom. The two of us, although we were twins, were polar opposites. Her hair was fair as mine was dark. My skin was pale and hers tanned. Even our bodies were different; she was small, petite and curvy, while I was tall, angular and bony. Our personalities varied drastically as well. Athena was more likely to be a social person, playing Quidditch, running, playing and generally, having a good time.

I was more likely to be seen clutching a heavy book with my nose buried deep in it, with a quill tucked behind my ear and sitting quietly in the corner.

She was the popular one. I was the quiet one. She was the fair one. I was the dark one. She was the beautiful one. I was the nerdy one.

She was always the stronger one. I always depended on her. I still do.

Despite our differences, we were the best of friends. People called us Athena and Minerva or Minerva and Athena. We were inseparable. You wouldn't see one of us without the other nearby.

We had our lives all planned out for us. We would both be sorted into Gryffindor, be top of our classes, and beat everybody. When we were older, Athena would start to date boys, but she would always put our friendship first. When we grew up, we would get jobs. She would be a famous Quidditch player for England, and I would be an Auror for the Ministry. It was all planned out so carefully… So why didn't things work out as well as they should've?

We turned eleven together. Acceptance letters to Hogwarts came as expected. We went to Diagon Alley like we planned. We got our books, our quills and supplies we would need for Hogwarts, then in a blink of an eye, we were already boarding the Hogwarts Express, ready to start our new lives as students.

When we got off, we boarded the boats that took us across the Black Lake. This was when I had my first glimpse of it. Hogwarts was simply breathtaking. I remember Athena whispering excitedly in my ear: "Look at that, and remember it. Treasure this picture forever. We'll spend seven years here, and who knows what could happen. But remember, Min," She took my hand and squeezed it tight, "We'll stick together, through thick and thin, alright?"

I nodded my head. I didn't trust my voice.

The rest of the boat trip was rather uneventful. We landed on the shores like the thousands of other students had before us and were shepherded into a chamber off the entrance hall where a man named Albus Dumbledore was waiting for us. He bid us a warm welcome, and explained the Sorting Ceremony to us. Then he asked us to wait in the chamber, until the older students were ready, then he would come to collect us.

"This is it!" Athena whispered to me. "You afraid, Min?"

"Of course not!" I answered. She just looked at me, and nodded.

"Whatever you say, Min. You just don't look it, that's all."

"All right. Fine. You win. I'm absolutely terrified. What if I get chosen to be a Slytherin?"

Athena turned me and looked me straight in the eye, despite my height. I looked at back at her. Of all of the differences we had, only our eyes were the same.

"Listen to me, Min. You WILL be a Gryffindor, not a Slytherin. Those stupid snakes are not worthy of you! Look, even if you do get into Slytherin - "

"Just say I won't!"

"Even if you do," She continued "It wouldn't matter. The snakes would've gained a very brilliant student, wouldn't they? And besides," Athena reached out and squeezed my hand. "It wouldn't matter to me."

Then the doors opened and Professor Dumbledore came back and led us into the Great Hall to be sorted.

It flew by relatively quickly. It began with "Abbott, Rose!" Then "Anderson, Justin!" which quickly progressed into "Eggleton, Michael!" and all too soon for my liking: "McGonagall, Athena!"

"See you at the Gryffindor table!" She said to me, grinning. And then she was sitting on the old, rickety stool with the sorting hat over her head…

"SLYTHERIN!" cried the hat.

I was too shocked to speak. Slytherin? Athena? The words rung in my head, as loud as church bells…

"McGonagall, Minerva!"

I stumbled toward the stool and sat down, the words still ringing loudly. The last thing I saw was Athena. She looked a mixture of things. Mostly shock, like me. When she saw me looking, she cast me a pleading look. Whether it was telling me to go on and get into Gryffindor, or it was pleading me to get into Slytherin with her, I was never sure. Then the hat closed over my eyes and ears.

"Hello…. You are another McGonagall? My, my, this is interesting…" Said a small, quiet voice in my head. I figured this was the Sorting Hat.

"Excuse me, but pray tell, what exactly is interesting?" I asked cautiously.

The hat ignored me. "Mmmm…. You're like your sister. So I take it you want Gryffindor, yes?"

"Yes," I thought "But I was wondering… Could I be a Slytherin?"

"Ha! If I could laugh, I would. Don't take this the wrong way, but what makes you think you can just be a Slytherin?"

"Er…" I thought, not entirely sure how to say it.

"Oh, of course. It's because of your sister, right?"

"Yes!" I thought back frantically. "Please, if I could just-"

"Are you quite sure?" The hat asked again, cutting over my thoughts. "You can never go back. Is it just for your sister, or is it what you truly want?"

"I want Gryffindor…" I began "But Athena-"

"Doesn't matter. It's your life, and you will live it, not her. You have intelligence, wit and most importantly, bravery. This choice will help you, I know it. And so you belong in GRYFFINDOR!"

The last word he shouted to the whole school.

I cast an I'm sorry look at Athena, but instead of an I understand look I usually got in return, I got a look that I have never forgotten, even all these years after. It was a look of pure hatred and disgust. It seemed to very plainly say: Don't ever look at me again.

I knew my sister better than anyone else, and we could read each other's expressions like a book. But this one time… surely I had to be mistaken? My sister, my dear, dear, sister not want to talk to me? The thought was unbearable.

I turned back to the Gryffindor table and pushed all thoughts of my sister from my head.

Once school started, I was anxious to see my sister. But the opportunity was scarce because of our different houses and schedules. The only classes we had together were Charms, Transfigurations and Flying. We had Transfigurations first, and I was looking forward to it desperately to see my sister.

I think it is fair to say that class had gone rather well. I had managed to transfigure my match into a needle on the first try. I could have sworn that Athena had shot me a hateful and jealous look when I managed it, but when she saw me looking, she quickly turned away. She managed it a second after I did mine.

After class, I decided that I had only imagined the look from Athena and I went to go talk to her. When she saw me coming, she walked away from me with her new-found Slytherin friends.

"Athena! Wait up, please!" I had called. I grabbed her hand and she stopped walking. Then she said in the unfathomably cold voice: "What do you want?"

I remember my eyes widening, and I must have blushed, because then she said "Oh look. The little Gryffindor's blushing. Did I embarrass you, Min?" She asked. "Oh, I'm so sorry." She said with a look that clearly stated otherwise.

This squat girl to my sister's right sniggered. Then she tugged Athena's arm and said: "Oh, come on, Athena. The Gryffindor is wasting our time. Let's go."

I raised my eyebrows. The girl was unbelievably short and squat. Her hair was a mousy brown shade, held off her forehead by more than a dozen pink ribbon hair clips. She had a wide, slack mouth and short, stubby fingers, adorned with these hideous rings. To me, she resembled a old toad. She still does.

Athena raised her eyebrow at the squat girl like I had done. She did it, but only for a second before her face rearranged itself into an indifferent sneer. She considered me for a moment, then said "No, Dolores. We will hear the Gryffindor out. Maybe she'll come out with something intelligent for a change."

Athena's sneer curved up, and the Girl's slack mouth widened into a gruesome smile. "Of course she's not so bright," She said. I bet I'm brighter than you! I thought. The girl continued. "I doubt she's even pureblood." She looked me up and down. I felt as though she was scrutinizing my body for any wrong. Apparently she could find no fault, for then she said: "Speak, child. What is your name?"

My eyes widened and I pressed my lips together in annoyance.

"Minerva."

"No, no! You insolent child! You last name! Or unless you are a Mudblood? Or even a filthy Half-blood?" The toad glanced sideways at my sister, as though she had just explained the concept of breathing to an extremely dim-witted 6 year old.

My sister didn't quite meet her gaze.

Mudblood? I thought. That's a horrid thing to call someone. I jutted my chin. "I'm a pureblood for that matter," I said proudly "A McGonagall."

The squat girl's eyes bulged. I could practically see the wires connecting and sparking in her head. I could have smiled, but I held it in. "And besides, I couldn't care more for what blood flows in a person's veins. I believe it is more important to have a pure soul, rather than pure blood."

The squat one was clearly ticked off, because a vein in her temple started throbbing. I smiled inwardly with pride at being the cause of it.

Athena's eyes widened with her friend's continuing silence. She glared daggers at me and for the first time, I glared back. She was quite shocked. Her eyes had widened, but she covered it up as fact I could.

"Leave me alone! Don't ever speak to me again!" She said.

I was the one who was shocked this time. Athena never told me that. Ever. And it hurt, like someone had just ripped out my heart and stuffed it back in haphazardly. And what was more curious was that Athena herself looked shocked. I noticed as her eyes welled with tears, that she angrily brushed away, and she glared at me and said: "Well, go on! Get out of here!"

And I fled out of the corridor, my eyes streaming.

This marked the start of the rivalry between the McGonagall twins. Our parents simply thought we were more competitive because of school. Those poor, misguided fools.

I've never had much patience toward my parents, and they me. They were always more fond of Athena, always doting on her, so much, it made me feel sick at times.

My mother, who was always dotty with Athena, thought our hostility with each other was good. She actually encouraged it. So whenever we got into a fight, she would take Athena's side always, and drag father into taking her side as well.

It made me sick.

Our rivalry lasted all the time from our first day at Hogwarts, to the end of our sixth year.

Athena, always having to be better than me, turned her attention to Quidditch, and as soon as her second year, she became a chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team.

I turned my attentions towards the academic world. I was always top, even better than the Ravenclaws in my year, and that was saying something. I was so good, Athena couldn't catch up to me, no matter how hard she would try. But she would try hard to best me at my only flaw:

Divination.

I loathed divination on principal. It was all wooly and fuzzy, and all imprecise. I felt there was no point in learning the subject at all.

Naturally, noticing my distaste for the subject, Athena began to work furiously at it, and within a month, she was top of the class.

And she couldn't help but boast to anyone and everyone that would listen to her.

Thus, I began working furiously at my all my other studies. My grades had never been better. I flew through my examinations at the end of the year with flying colors. I had an 'E' in Herbology, History of Magic, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creature and Charms. I got an 'A' in Potions and I had gotten an 'O' in Defense against the Dark Arts and Transfigurations, naturally.

I didn't bother with Divination at all, and I got a 'D'.

When mother saw my results, I expected her to be pleased and happy for me, at least satisfied. But they were far from that.

She was angry that I had failed Divination, when it was such a useful subject for later in life.

Useful, my left buttock, I had thought. Apparently, my parents hadn't agreed with me on that account. And that was not all. They were furious that I had gotten better grades then my more-than-perfect sister. They were peeved that their small, scrawny, introverted child daughter scored higher on a test than their little darling angel.

And when they were yelling at me, My sister stood in the background, frowning and nodding her insufferably cute head in agreement to mother and father's harsh words. She had gotten 'A's in most subjects, barely scraping through Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures. She had gotten 'E's in Potions and Charms. She had failed Astronomy and History of Magic. "But who cares?" She had said. "It's only History and Astronomy. And who needs those in real life?"

"A lot of people do," I said. "We need astronomy to know what's going on in the skies! We need history so we know not to repeat our mistakes-"

"Repeat our mistakes? Only you do that, Minnie." She sneered "Only someone that idiotic, and stupid would do that."

I was always compared to my sister. Everybody loved her. I swear one day I heard mother talking to her friend about us and her friend said: "Who's this Minerva? I haven't heard of her before…"

And Mother had responded: "Oh, that's Athena's sister. Good for nothing she is, I have no idea what is wrong with her."

Life was always like this. Always compared, always scrutinized under a magnifying glass. It was always: Athena this, and, Athena that, and Minerva, her sister, is never good enough, Minerva, why can't you be as good as your sister?

I'd like to know that too. I thought.

In our sixth year, a deadly disease called Domalax Septum came to the wizarding world. It was an unheard of disease from the Muggle world. Many people fell ill, and thousands died. Athena and I both fell very ill. So ill in fact, that we had to be removed from school and be taken to Saint Mungo's. We weren't the only ones – many other people from Hogwarts were with us in the hospital, and we met a lot of people who were just as sick as us.

It was horrible there, though. People were dying everywhere we looked, and we were trapped in a small ward with depressingly cheerful orange painted walls.

Being kept in such close proximity with my sister was one of the worst experiences of my long life. Athena and I were still hostile toward one another, but there was always a fear. A very small, very concentrated fear that one of us wouldn't make it. But the worst mistake we made then was the choice not to show our concern and make up, while we still could.

One night, I was woken up by Athena. She looked anxious and frantic, and so, so, scared. She was shaking really badly from head to toe in her night gown.

"Athena, what's the matter?"

"Minerva, you have to listen to me."

"What? Athena, it's two in the morning, are you mad?"

"You have to listen to me, alright? This is important."

I said nothing. I raised an eyebrow, an indication for her to continue.

"Good. I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry for how I acted at school. Umbridge, and all those stupid Slytherins, they were all just so, so annoying and all, but I wanted to show you I was fine by myself."

"But what..?"

"Can you forgive me?"

This question surprised me. Eventually, I snapped out of it. Athena was begging for forgiveness after five years of hatred. She was begging me. She had never done that before….

"Minerva, can you-"

"What? Forgive you?" I exploded on her. "After five years of pain? How could you have gone off with those pig-ignorant Slytherins?"

"Minerva, I-"

"'I' nothing! Don't you get it? I was happy for the first time. And here you are, asking me to forgive you. When you stopped speaking to me in our first year, I was hurt! And it hurt. It hurt not to have your sister ignore you, no different than a cockroach."

"Minerva, please listen. It hurt too-"

"Oh yeah? Well, keep it to yourself, because I don't want to hear it!" I jumped back into bed, and covered myself with the blanket. Suddenly, a wave of guilt swept over me. I looked back up at Athena to apologize, but she was already back in bed.

I planned to talk to her tomorrow, and apologize, and we could go back to hating each other in peace like before.

I snuggled back down and fell asleep, waiting for tomorrow to tell Athena that I was sorry. Heck, we could even become friends again like before. Best friends maybe.

Little did I know that it would be the last time I saw Athena again.

When I woke up the next morning, I wanted to wake Athena and tell her I was sorry and we could be friends again if she wanted, but a Healer rushed over to my bed the moment she saw that I was awake. She started blubbing on and in about random topics, basically trying to stop me from talking to Athena.

When I asked her what she was doing, she said she was making friendly conversation.

When I asked her to let me see Athena, she froze for a moment, then began rambling on about the latest victory by the Appleby Arrows over the Wimbourine Wasps. It was almost as though she was trying to divert me from the idea of talking to Athena at all.

I asked her very calmly where Athena was, and she told me she couldn't tell me. I asked her when I could see her, and she went all quiet again.

My heart froze right then and there. It wasn't possible, it couldn't be…

"She's alright, right? Please say she's all fine."

"Minerva, your sister… she's gone, dear."

Those words only confirmed my fears.

Athena. Dear sweet, Athena, gone?

"What do you mean, gone? Can't you do something?"

"She's dead dear. And there's nothing that can be done for her."

Those were the last words I heard before I blacked out.

When Athena died, I felt empty. Empty, empty, empty. That's how I felt inside. When she died, I felt like a bit of me had died too.

And now everything was empty. Empty words and condolences at her funeral. Empty feelings walking down the corridor in Hogwarts where Athena had once walked too. Empty of glee when someone bested a Slytherin…. It was all empty to me.

Even lessons, which used to be my pride and joy. Now, what was the point of learning and studying for tests if your sister isn't around to be secretly happy for you?

I graduated without feeling the exhilaration I normally would have. I got a job as a bartender in a run-down old pub in Hogmeade, later becoming a professor at Hogwarts. You could say I had a happy life. I got the best job, good house, enough money, but it was all empty. Just like I was forty years ago.

When people ask me what I see in the mirror of the Erised, they expect me to say good students, or all students safe and sound. Or possibly even Voldemort's death.

Ha. They really think that? I see my sister and I together, friends forever.

But I've been thinking on that for a while now….

So I'm not so sure anymore about what I would see.

When I was still a child, I was known as Minerva McGonagall, Athena's little sister. But now, I am known a Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, accomplished Transfigurationist, Registered Animagus. Those titles come without the single mention of my sister.

Back then, I would have given practically anything just to be Minerva, no one's sister. But now, I'm not so sure.

Drop all the extravagant titles and awards, and you're still left with Minerva, Athena's sister. The little sister part being buried away long ago with Athena herself. I wish I could go back to then, where I was the back, and she took the front. It represented happier times.

How I wish it was possible.

But alas, it is not.

And I have never spent much time moping on it. That's not what Athena would have wanted. She would have wanted me to live my life, and succeed at everything I try.

And that's what I did. I lived my life, I got the top grades, I got into the best house, I had what Athena lacked and she made up for what I lacked. I lived my life, and you know what? I always missed my sister, I always regret not making up with her, and our last conversation still haunts me, but I was never really alone. Whatever I did, she was there. Teaching a class, she would be sitting at the back, correcting my wand movements. Eating in the great hall, she would be sitting at the Gryffindor table laughing and enjoying herself like she had never at that table. Telling off the Weasley twins, she would be standing behind me, laughing herself silly at their antics.

And that's what made the pain loosen. I lived my life, I lived it for Athena.

I lived it for the two of us.

That was fun… in fact, that took me about 2 weeks to write. Pathetic, isn't it? Please read and review… And you will make me a happy happy person… You do want that, right?