Title: Like Lily

Rating: K

Author: the-gothic-furby

Beta: PeachBlossom19

Ever since Petunia could walk, she always wanted to be just like Lily. Unfortunately, they were almost nothing alike, especially in looks. Petunia had beautiful white-blonde hair that fell in waves down her back, as she had grown it long since age 2. Lily, on the other hand, had fiery red curls that Petunia loved to pull on as a baby and watch bounce. Lily's unending kindness to everyone, especially her little sister was opposite to Petunia's sarcastic, almost unkind personality. Petunia's eyes were an ice blue, while Lily's were the essence of emerald green. Petunia wanted to be just like Lily in every way possible, she wanted to walk like Lily, talk like Lily, be beautiful like Lily, strong like Lily, and most of all, brave, and almost magical, like Lily.

She always did things to make herself more like her sister Lily Like once, when Petunia was five, she stuck her hair in a mixture of red paint and water, to make here hair red like Lily's. Her mother made her wash it out. Or, when she was seven, she made a picture of Lily and herself, with herself looking like a miniature Lily. And when she was nine, she found a stick in Lily's room and a vase exploded. As she ducked and covered, she knew she wanted to be magical just like Lily.

However, her eleventh birthday came and went, and no letter came. She waved a stick in the backyard trying to make things happen, but nothing worked like Lily's wand. Once, she sneaked into Lily's room while Lily was away at summer camp and stole the wand. She made lights go on and off and candles fly, and accidentally made a pillow explode, and when her parents came home she told them it had burst from dragging it on a nail in the floor. She had no idea why she wasn't accepted. If Perfect Lily, Wonderful Lily, Talented Lily, Undeserving Lily did magic, why couldn't she? Lily was so undeserving of that magic. She never paid attention to poor Petunia after she left for that school. She would always come home and threaten Petunia with magical harm if she came in her room, or did something bad, and her parents never paid any attention, because Lily, magical Lily, beautiful Lily, better-than-Petunia Lily could do no wrong.

Petunia was sick of it, sick of her parents talking about how perfect and wonderful Lily was. So she tried hard to pretend magic didn't exist. She never talked of her sister to anyone. And when she grew up, she married a CEO of a drill company, and had a beautiful baby boy, and then tragedy struck Lily died, and her baby was given to Petunia to raise. The son of Perfect Lily Evans-Potter. And she knew that perfect Harry, wonderful Harry, and talented Harry, would never be that in her house, for he was Lily's child, and Lily's child would never be perfect.

She continued pretending magic didn't exist, but when Harry got his Hogwarts letter, she pretended to cower in the corner, while wanting to stand up and shout "Take me with you!" Maybe, in reality, she still wanted to be like Lily after all.