This was written for the Moonlight Forgotten Year 7 THC/ The House Competition 2021
Round 6
House: Gryffindor
Class: Muggle Studies
Category: Drabble
Prompt(s) chosen: [Colour] Green
Word Count: 622
Petunia Dursley looked at the green towel in her hand with a frown. The color green always made her feel a tug at her heart. As hard as she tried not to, it always reminded her of Lily and her eyes.
The worst part was seeing that green every time she looked at her nephew Harry. Petunia was grateful that Harry didn't look much like Lily, as it would have reminded her of her sister even more. But yet, his green eyes were undeniably Lily's. She avoided making eye contact with Harry as much as she could. Looking at those eyes only brought back bitter memories. Him getting glasses made it a bit easier as Lily's eyes weren't as prominently visible then.
She and Lily had been close as children, but she had gradually grown resentful of her little sister when their relatives would often shower Lily with praise and attention for how pretty, charming and talented she was, while Petunia herself had received none of it. Lily would also often receive gifts of green dresses and jewelry from their relatives to complement her "pretty eyes". The only attention Petunia had got from their relatives was them asking her "why she wasn't as talented as Lily" or "why she wasn't as delightful as Lily". Her parents hadn't been much different in showering Lily with attention. Petunia's resentment had only increased when Lily started showing signs of having magical powers. The last thing her sister had needed was another talent that Petunia didn't have.
And then, Lily had started hanging out with an awful boy from Spinner's End who told her she was a witch despite Petunia's objections. That had driven a bigger rift between them as Petunia felt Lily had chosen that Snape boy over her. She had thought the boy was out of his mind and Lily was foolish for believing him, but he had turned out to be right when a professor from Hogwarts showed up at their house to inform their family that Lily was a witch. The news had only made her parents delight in Lily even more, and Petunia had felt like more of an outsider, which wasn't fair when Lily was the different one. This had sealed the fate of their relationship which gradually got worse and remained strained till the end.
The sisters had tried making some amends by having a double date dinner with both their partners when Petunia had got engaged, but that hadn't gone well as Vernon and James clashed due to a misunderstanding. A part of Petunia acknowledged that Vernon had at least partly been at fault in provoking James, and she also felt Vernon had overreacted by not accepting James's attempt to apologize and make peace at their wedding, but she had never told this to Vernon.
The last interaction Petunia and Lily had was sending each other Christmas gifts back in 1980. Lily had sent Petunia a tea set with a green floral pattern while Petunia had sent Lily a green vase in return. Sending a gift to her sister had felt like an obligation especially after her sister had sent one, so she had reluctantly picked out a vase without much care except thinking that the green on the vase was a perfect color to send to Lily.
Thinking about Lily still evoked mixed emotions of guilt, jealousy, contempt and affection in Petunia. One part of her was always green with envy over Lily and despised the very memory of her. Another softer part of her felt guilty over her sister's death and how they had never truly made up. Deep down, muddled amidst her resentment, bitterness and jealousy, there was some love in her heart for Lily.