Lily loved Halloween at Hogwarts.
It was extremely different to the celebrations she used to celebrate with Petunia as they plotted along their road, wandering from house to house for sweets they would eat for weeks afterwards.
There was very little of that here at Hogwarts. Everything was simply more enchanting.
The pumpkins were spelled with a fire lit within them, casting their facing menacingly in a way Petunia and Lily had never quite managed to achieve, no matter how hard they tried or how precisely they added the candles. They also never started to rot, even if they hung in mid-air for a while, because of the preserving charms. The pumpkins also all looked different, despite there being what seemed like hundreds of them.
The candles that floated among the grinning pumpkins gave the hall an eerie look that she had always associated with Halloween. The ghost's pearly white bodies glistened within the darkened hall as they sat randomly among the students. Only Peeves wasn't within the Great Hall for the feast, probably because he was planning some prank along some corridor. Had Peeves been human, Lily would have been certain of him being a part of the mysterious Marauders. As it was she suspected Potter and his group, they always looked far too smug just before a prank went off.
The suits of armour would randomly remove their helmets at students as they passed by, something that could never be replicated within the muggle world, within her old world. Lily was part of the wizarding world now, and she doubted she would ever truly manage to stay within the muggle one when she was finished with Hogwarts. The wizarding world was simply too exciting. Magic had become something that was a natural part of Lily's life now. Each summer without magic had become more and more difficult; the wait felt longer and longer.
The only thing Lily wished was that Petunia was with her. Petunia was the only reason she didn't visit friends during the holidays, the only reason she remained with her family every single holiday. Despite the fight they had had when Lily had received her Hogwarts letter, Lily still missed Petunia. She knew Petunia would love Diagon Alley if she were ever to really visit it, and not simply see it as something she was not welcome to. There were so many things Petunia could use without magic.
Lily almost wished she could enchant one of the pumpkins at home simply to watch Petunia's eyes light up in wonder, except she knew it wouldn't happen. Petunia would probably shriek and shout about freaks instead of enjoying the wonders of what magic had to offer. All Lily would see was the dislike that seemed to fill Petunia's eyes every time they lay on her. Dislike for something Lily couldn't even control being.
It hurt. It really did when your older sister seemed to hate everything about you. It hurt that someone that Lily used to trust with everything would put her jealousy before their relationship. It hurt that it was Petunia, and not someone else.
Lily wished she could go back to the time before she had gotten her Hogwarts letter. She didn't know what she would do, but she would try anything to change Petunia's view on magic. She wished there was a spell or something that could take her back, something that could give Lily her sister back.
It didn't matter. Lily would find a way to rekindle her relationship with Petunia. She was determined to. Time would help mend their relationship, but Lily knew that she would also take any opportunity that managed to open up to her. Maybe Lily could find something to prove how useful magic was to Petunia too, not to mention the things that would help Petunia. Lily had seen many things that worked off magic, but didn't need magic to be used. Petunia could use any of those.
Lily was in Hogwarts now though. There was nothing she could do except enjoy the castle and learn as much as she possibly could. Perhaps she could learn to create things especially for Petunia's use when they became close again.
AN:
Arithmacy Assignment 6: Write in a future or past.