For the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, Round Eleven

Team: Chudley Cannons

Position: Seeker

Prompt: 'Out of the ordinary'

Chudley Cannons Team Challenge: Include a Harry Potter villain (Severus Snape) in your story.

For Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Assignment #3

Prompt: Folklore, Task #1 - Write about two canonical sisters.

Word Count: 2944

Warning: This is a bit of an AU.

Thanks to Queen Bookworm the First and Fire the Canon for beta-ing!

Like Magic

(November 1968)

Petunia winced as she put her foot, once again, on the creakiest step as she tiptoed down the staircase. The sound wasn't loud enough to wake her parents who were asleep in their room at the far end of the corridor. Her sister, though, was in the kitchen, which was right around the corner, and Petunia didn't want to fail yet again e on her mission to catch Lily doing whatever it was she did so early in the morning without letting her in on the secret.

She jumped over the last three steps, landing on the soles of her fuzzy-socked feet, almost as though she were a cat. She tiptoed the rest of her way up to the kitchen door. The neighbour's tabby had a penchant for sneaking in through the permanently open window in the kitchen when everyone in the house was asleep. They had never gotten around to having the window closed somehow, so they had to secure all their china in the wooden cabinets and shut the door before going to bed.

Lily was obviously in there, because the door was open now; Petunia poked her head in to see.

She clapped a hand over her mouth at the sight, stifling a gasp. She couldn't believe her eyes. Her little sister was looking at one of their metal spoons with immense concentration, and she was actually trying to move the spoon up and down before her eyes! She also managed to make the thing do a little cartwheel in mid-air before it dropped to the granite counter with a tiny clang.

Lily grinned to herself, clearly proud of what she had done. Petunia felt her insides squirm — it was all she could do to stop herself from bursting into the kitchen and asking her eight-year-old sister what in the world she was doing, and how. Lily was clever, but was she clever enough to do telekinesis at her age? That sort of stuff only happened in stories, didn't they?

She failed, of course, at trying to remain silent and unseen.

Lily looked up, her bright green eyes widening when they met Petunia's. The older girl tried to look stern, but she was sure she had ended up looking half-curious, half-sheepish.

"Tuney!" cried Lily, her voice a little squeaky. "I — er, what are you doing up so early?"

"I could ask you the same question," Petunia said, fixing Lily with what she hoped was an older-sisterly look.

"I just - uh," the redhead looked nervously around the kitchen, then back at her sister, " — I was thirsty."

Petunia narrowed her eyes at her and said, "What's that spoon for?"

Lily grinned guiltily.

"Nothing!"

"Oh, Lily, you know I don't believe that," Petunia said, then she dropped her stern facade with a sigh. "I saw you making that spoon float around. What were you doing? Please, you can tell me. I promise I won't be a blabbermouth."

Lily bit her lip and glanced once again around the kitchen. "Oh, all right," she sighed. "But you can't tell anyone — not even Mummy and Daddy."

Petunia nodded eagerly. "I won't, I swear!."

Lily seemed to accept Petunia's words, for she returned the nod.

"I — er," she lowered her voice a tad. "I think there's something very strange going on with me lately. You remember, two weeks ago, when Mummy asked me to help her put those fancy saucers and cups back on the shelf?"

"M-hmm."

"Well, I dropped one of the cups — accidentally, of course. I was so scared Mummy was going to be angry, but the cup didn't break. Not a scratch."

"Maybe you didn't drop it from high enough?" Petunia supplied.

"I thought so, too, Tuney," Lily said, her voice going squeakier by the second. "But it happened again. That weird thing. A few days after that, I managed to make a really fat book float down to me from the tallest bookshelf at the library. And you know how I can jump from the swings at the park?"

Petunia nodded.

"I think that's got something to do with this weird thing, too."

It was silent for a few moments after that, as Lily twisted her fingers together and Petunia considered all that her sister just told her.

"Tuney?"

Petunia looked at Lily. "Can you show me that thing again? Whatever you were doing with the spoon?"

Lily did not say anything but turned to look at the spoon. Petunia observed her closely — Lily's eyes were unblinking as they stared at the spoon, and her whole body was still as a rock.

The spoon twitched a little, then slowly lifted itself as Lily's eyes went up. Petunia stared in awe as Lily guided the spoon up and up, until it wiggled a bit and dropped limply, unexpectedly to the counter.

"What happened?" Petunia asked.

"I can't control it always," Lily said. "It just … happens. I don't even see it coming."

"Oh."

"Oh, Tuney, do you think something's wrong with me? Maybe I'm going mad or something?"

Petunia bit her lip, then said, "I don't think you're going mad, Lily. But I don't know what this is either; I think you should speak to Mum and Dad."

"No!" Lily half shouted. "Please, you promised me, Tuney."

Petunia waved her hands. "Ssh," she whispered. "Keep your voice down, Lily. I won't tell anyone, I swear. But you should tell them about it."

Lily chewed her bottom lip.

"I think I'll see if there's any book about this stuff in the library before I tell anyone else."

"Lily? Tuney?"

The two girls gasped and turned around to see their father, tousle-haired and bleary-eyed, standing at the door and looking at them curiously.

"Hi, Daddy! Good morning," Lily said brightly. "What are you doing so early?"

"I thought I heard the cat," he said. "But, oh well, I'll go back to sleep, then. I hope you two aren't getting up to any mischief."

"None at all, Daddy!"

(February 1969)

Lily stared at the flower in her hand.

"Concentrate, Lily. You can do it."

"I'm trying, Sev. I've been trying for the last ten minutes."

Lily huffed in exasperation as she curled her fingers around the flower, mindful not to crush it. Severus sat in front of her, cross-legged and watching her intently.

"Can't you do it?" Lily asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

Severus did not respond, but held out his hand. Lily placed the flower on his palm, sitting back and watching as her new friend stared at his hand. The flower wiggled. He tried again, but the flower wouldn't budge anymore.

Severus smiled wanly. "Maybe there's something wrong with the flower," he said.

"Well, at least you did something," she replied.

"It just happened. We're only nine years old, Lily," Severus said placatingly. "We can only do proper magic when we have wands."

Lily leaned back until she was lying on the grass, and stared up at the sky.

"I can't wait to turn eleven," she said wistfully, her eyes following the trail of one seahorse-shaped cloud.

"I can't wait, either," Severus said, somewhat sadly. Lily knew why he sounded that way. His non-magic father could not stand magic, and more often than not he would fight with Severus' mother, who was a witch. Severus always said he did not look forward to going back home every evening.

"Oh, but don't worry," he said brightly. "We'll be going to Hogwarts before you know it, Lily."

She smiled. "Tell me about Hogsmeade, Sev," she said.

Severus really seemed to like talking about magic, because he launched into a long description of the village in no time.

"It's the only all-wizard village in Britain," he began, "and there are so many shops! Mother took me there a few months back, when Father was away, and she even let me have a sip of her Butterbeer. I promise you, Lily, it's the best drink you'll ever have, but we aren't allowed to have it until we're thirteen. My favourite shop would be Scrivenshafts, because they sell those black quills with gold nibs — they're my favourite. Honeydukes is cool, too. I'll ask Mother if she can bring back some of their chocolate when she goes to Hogsmeade next time, I bet you'll like them."

Lily giggled. "I feel all fuzzy inside just thinking about it. Does it look like a little fairy tale village during Christmas, Sev?"

Severus rolled his eyes. "Yes, if that's how you want to describe it."

Lily sighed, images of twinkling Christmas trees and cosy sweet shops filling her mind.

"By the way, did you try out any of those Drooble's Best Blowing Gum I sent you yesterday? They are from Honeydukes too."

"I haven't, yet," replied Lily. "I didn't get the time. Daddy took me to the library, and I spent the rest of the evening reading books. Also, I have to wait until afternoon today; Mummy's going to take Petunia out for shopping."

Severus frowned at the mention of Petunia.

"I don't like your sister," he said.

"Oh, Sev," Lily sighed, "don't. She's feeling left out. I wish — I wish you'd let me bring her, so we could all be friends."

"But she's a Muggle, Lily," Severus said, trying to explain.

"I'm a Muggle, too." Lily sat up, the grass was poking the back of her neck, and it was feeling itchy. "But you tell me everything."

"You're not a Muggle, Lily. You can do magic. You're a witch. It's OK if I tell you everything."

Lily frowned. "But Tuney'll know everything eventually, when I start Hogwarts."

"What if she runs and tells everyone at your primary school? The Ministry of Magic will be really angry with us."

"But she's seen me doing magic. She hasn't told anyone, not even our parents."

Severus did not respond, but glared at her.

"What?" Lily asked defensively.

"I still don't think it's a good idea," Severus said, his voice even.

Lily felt a sudden wave of anger wash over her. Severus was being annoyingly stubborn.

"Fine," she said brusquely, turning on her heel and making her way home. Severus crossed his own arms and determinedly looked the other way.

Petunia rather thought she was becoming an expert in this secret investigation thing.

The door to Lily's room was, fortunately, open. Petunia walked in. It was, as was expected of her perfect little sister, immaculate. She quickly walked over to the desk in the corner.

She pulled out the first drawer. In contrast to the rest of the room, this drawer was a big mess — an assortment of papers, stationery and other odds and ends. Petunia grinned when she saw that what she was looking for was right on top. She pulled the round glass ball out and sat down on Lily's chair to examine it.

She twisted the ball in her hands. It looked quite plain, to be honest, until it began to spin in her fingers. Then it began to whistle shrilly, and Petunia almost dropped it.

Her eyes widened, and her fingers trembled as she shoved it back into the drawer.

"That's a Sneakoscope."

Ah, well, so much for being stealthy, Petunia thought bitterly. Her sister stood at the door, looking decidedly annoyed.

"It starts spinning and whistling when it detects someone untrustworthy," Lily continued, walking into the room and sitting down on the edge of her bed.

Petunia grimaced, and looked down at her feet.

"I'm sorry," she muttered.

"It's all right," Lily said. "I'd be curious, too, if I were you."

"Where were you?"

"Out with Severus."

"Oh," said Petunia. "We had decided to mow the lawn together today, d'you remember that?"

Lily's eyes widened. "I forgot," she whispered.

"Thought so. You've been spending far too much time chatting with Severus," Petunia said curtly.

"Oh, Tuney, I'm sorry," was all Lily said, and then she hung her head guiltily.

"It's all right. I'm sorry for going through your stuff, too," Petunia said in response.

Lily looked up, biting her lip. "Tuney, there's something else I need to tell you," she said, looking sideways at the door. She stood up and walked over to it, and shut it firmly.

Then she turned around to face her sister, and said, "I'm a witch."

I've heard that one.

Petunia rolled her eyes.

"Lily," she said, laughing disbelievingly. "Just because Snape called you a witch, doesn't mean you are one. You are one of the nicest people I've met, and Snape is just mean."

"No, Tuney, he was right. I am a witch. It explains all of the weird things happening with me lately. I need you to understand."

"What else has Snape been telling you, Lily?" Petunia asked crossly, raising an eyebrow.

"That he's a wizard," Lily replied. "So is his mum — a witch, I mean. And they can do … weird things, as well, like me."

"I don't believe you."

"Oh, but Tuney, how do you explain my — powers, then?"

"What do you mean you're a witch?"

Lily began to shake her leg. It was tic of hers, especially when she started to think.

"See," Lily began slowly. "Tuney, those things I was doing … they were magic. I have magic in me, and there are many people in the world who've got magic in them. Witches and wizards. They live secretly among non-magic people — called Muggles. There's also a school for children with magic. It's called Hogwarts, and it's in Scotland, and Muggles can't see it. Most Muggles don't even know about magic. It's forbidden, actually, so I'd rather you didn't tell anyone about — "

It wasn't every day your little sister started telling you magic, of all things, was real, and Petunia never thought she would see this day. She found maths really confusing, but it wasn't half as confusing as whatever Lily was talking about now.

"You've gone nuts, Lily!" Petunia cried. "You're barking."

Lily shook her head fervently.

"I'm not," she said desperately. "It's the truth, Tuney, you have to believe me. Think about it; why else did I suddenly start moving things around and stopping things from breaking and — ?"

Petunia put the back of her hand against Lily's forehead.

"You're not having a fever," she murmured. "I've got to tell Mum and Dad, Lily, before it's too late."

"Tuney, please — "

"And I'm sorry, Lily," Petunia continued, "but you've got to stop talking to that Snape boy. I don't know what he's telling you, but whatever it is, it isn't good for your sanity." Petunia's voice was rising by the second, and her ears were turning red. That wasn't a good sign — it meant she was getting really angry.

Lily jumped to her feet and began to pace in front of the bed. Why was everyone — Snape, her sister — so intent on being stubborn? She'd always had control over her temper, but this was getting out of hand. Petunia was the only one she could ever fully confide in, what would Lily do if she did not believe her?

"There's nothing wrong with my sanity, Tuney," she said calmly. Am I losing my temper that fast? she wondered, because on her desk, her notebook flew open and the pages began to rustle, even though there wasn't any wind. Petunia's eyes widened as she looked at the desk.

Lily turned pink.

"I-I'm sorry," she muttered. "I lose control when I am nervous. Or really angry. But I'm surprised — I don't think I am angry enough for that to happen."

Petunia looked at her strangely. Somehow, she knew it couldn't be Lily who had done it.

"Sorry," Lily said again. Petunia only half heard her; she was gazing at the desk, then at her hands.

"Tuney?"

It can't be, Petunia told herself firmly. It wasn't me who did that. If it wasn't Lily, then it had to be the wind. Never me.

Yet, somehow, she knew she had felt something — a funny feeling in her stomach; it was something she hadn't felt before. Did Lily feel the same when she started doing weird things?

"Tuney, what are you thinking?"

Petunia shook her head and looked up at Lily.

"I believe you," was all she said.

"You do?" Lily asked in a whisper.

Petunia nodded.

Lily beamed and threw her arms around her sister.

"Thank you," she mumbled into Petunia's neck. The older girl patted Lily's back comfortingly, but her mind was something else.

"Come on," Lily said, pulling back and grabbing Petunia's wrist. "Let's go mow the lawn."

"What?"

"Tuney?" Lily frowned.

Relax, it wasn't you.

"Yeah, all right, let's go," Petunia said, standing up. Lily danced her way out of the room, and with one last look at the desk, Petunia followed.

(2nd September, 1969 — Petunia's birthday)

It was a big surprise when Petunia opened the front door at five that evening, expecting to see her best friend Beth, only to find a tall, stern-looking woman in a long green robe and a pointy hat.

"Good evening, Miss Evans," she said.

Petunia gulped. "Erm — good evening."

"Are your parents home, my dear?"

"Who is it, Tuney?" came Mrs Evans' voice as she appeared behind her daughter.

The stranger smiled, if only a little. "Ah, Mrs Evans," she said.

"Hello," said Petunia's mother, taken aback but smiling nevertheless. "How can we help you?"

"I am Minerva McGonagall, and I have some news, with regard to your elder daughter."

Mrs Evans looked puzzled.

The woman's deep green eyes surveyed Petunia closely.

"Mrs Evans, your daughter is a witch."