Petunia had felt this burning jealousy in her chest since the first moment she found out her siblings were magic, and that jealousy turned into resentment as they grew, maybe it could have even grown into a hatred that would have consumed her. But when her siblings came into the house separately, Willow avoiding touching anyone, it reminded her that they only had each other.

Her father had tried to change, to go back to the way he was before they got Willow, but even he fell back into the bottle in times of hardships. She had talked to him before the twins went off to Hogwarts, had reminded him that they were a family, that they only had each other, and then promptly forgot and let her own petty envy cloud her actions.

Little Willow had been glaring at everyone from the moment he entered the house and continued up till now, when Petunia set dinner out before them.

"Am I adopted?" Willow asked quietly, his eyes averting to his plate, hands clenched into tight fists on his lap. Petunia froze, her father dropping his bottle onto the table with a loud thunk.

"I am aren't I?" Willow's voice cracked slightly at the end, exposing the betrayal he felt, though there was the slight hope in his voice that told her that he wanted nothing more than to be wrong. Petunia looked at her father with wide eyes, her gaze pausing briefly on the wide pleading eyes of her sister.

"Yes." The simple word was filled with such emotion, accompanied by an unreadable look on her father's face. Both twins stopped breathing for a second before Willow spoke up.

"Do you know-" he stopped himself, biting his lip before looking up with wide blue eyes that were just a shade off from Petunia's own, his bright red hair hanging limply on either side of his face. He looked heartbroken, his eyes much older than Petunia thought they could be at his age.

"You were left on our doorstep. I found you wrapped in a blanket," Petunia told him gently, placing a hand on his clenched fists. She hadn't expected the boy to hiss, pull out of her light grasp, stand quickly, and growl at her in quick succession. She would never have been ready for the words he screamed.

"Why didn't you tell me?! Were you ever planning on telling me!? I could have been looking for my parents! I HATE YOU!" Willow gasped as if he was in pain at the end of his tirade, tears starting to steadily flow down his cheeks. Willow stood a moment more, heart-wrenching sounds choking in his throat, before taking off in the direction of his room.

Petunia could only watch as the boy ran off, her heart filling with a hurt that was a mix of guilt and something else.

"Let him go," Petunia heard her father say. She glanced at her father and sister and noted her father's hand wrapped around Lily's wrist.

"I need-" Lily started, only to be cut off by their father. "He needs some time alone," he told her softly, his face turned to her brother's room.

Petunia only hoped that he would allow them to explain, to let them apologize for keeping it from him. In time she hoped he could.

Willow tried to scream into his pillow, but his voice came out hoarse and quiet, tears soaking the fabric as they continued a heavy flow.

Some things made more sense now that he knew he was adopted. Things like the reason he didn't really look like his 'twin'. The 'twins' only shared the color of their hair, and even that was off, Willow's hair a few shades lighter than Lily's. Willow had freckles, his sister did not, neither of them; his nose was large, Lily's was button shaped and tiny while Petunia and their father's were pointy and narrow; his face shape was square, the rest of his family had heart-shaped faces.

The revelation also helped him understand his urge to correct people when they called him a muggle-born. He must be a pureblood. Willow frowned as he sat up straight on his bed, tears stopping briefly as his thoughts moved rapid fire through his brain.

It didn't make sense. If he was a pureblood, wouldn't he be living with his family? Or at least another pureblood family? The impression he got from the other purebloods in his house was that even orphan purebloods were taken care of by other purebloods: something about keeping them from being tainted.

Did his family really not want him? Was that why he was given to the Evans?

Being adopted also didn't explain why he would get different feelings toward different people, like the almost instant dislike for someone he had only ever heard of, Lucius Malfoy, or why he continuously had to correct himself from walking to the Gryffindor common room even two years after being sorted into Slytherin. He wanted to know why he would get the urge to talk to someone named Harry, or Hermione, or to sometimes call Severus 'professor'.

Willow curled up into a ball at the head of his bed, his arms circling his knees to keep him as small as possible, tears building again as his thoughts continued to haunt him. He hadn't figured much out. Only two mysteries were answered, and with those answered, many more came to the front.

Willow used Lily's distraction of looking for Severus to enter the train and lose her, finding and claiming an empty compartment. He hoped the two would leave him alone for the ride, he didn't want company.

He didn't think Severus would try, the boy would be happy to have time alone with his crush.

Anyone who tried to enter Willow's cabin was glared at until they went away. Students of all ages came by his cabin, from first and second-years who scampered off immediately to seventh-years who gave him either amused smiles or disgusted sneers. He didn't care.

It didn't take long for Bilius to find him, the stories of a terrifying redhead coming from many of the first years. And Bilius couldn't let those poor firsties live in fear of the 'random redhaired devil's rath.

"You okay?" Bilius asked, ignoring the death glare sent his way and sitting opposite to the boy who could have been his brother if he was ten years older.

"You don't want to talk, that's okay, we can just sit here, in silence…"

Willow continued to glare at the older boy, his mouth downturned and his fists clenched.

"Or, you can tell me what's wrong, that always helps," Bilius continued after a minute of silence. Willow said nothing, willing to wait the older boy out.

It wasn't long before another Gryffindor came in and pulled Bilius away, some kind of meeting requiring his presence. Willow didn't complain, letting out a low growl as the door was all but slammed shut by the Gryffindor girl.

He was undisturbed for the rest of the ride.

Severus and Willow were distant for the first two weeks of class, barely talking and keeping physical touch to a minimum. Potter and his gang had sensed the dark aura surrounding the two and were somewhat relaxed in their taunting for those two weeks.

Willow couldn't help the feelings that bubbled up when he was in Severus' presence, or the burning squeezing feeling he gets when Severus talks about his sister, or when Severus leaves Willow to meet up with his sister, whom he was still avoiding.

Willow thought it was guilt that kept constricting his gut when Severus talked about Lily, but he didn't get the same feeling when he caught glimpses of her across the Great Hall or when they shared a class, nor did he feel it when he was being compared to her by Potter or a teacher.

In the end, Willow deduced that it was Severus himself that was inducing the feelings, but the reason why was eluding him.

On a sunny day, two weeks into the year, Willow and Severus were sitting quietly together under the shade of a tree by the lake, both absorbed in their books. An offhand comment by Severus earlier that day, about how Lily looked especially happy, made Willow sick to his stomach. He had avoided talking to Severus since, and as far as Willow has figured, Severus hasn't noticed his turmoil.

"See, told you they're on a date, you owe me 5 galleons!" Potter's annoying voice crowed from Willow's right. Willow felt his heart flutter at the comment, which in turn filled him with dread and understanding in an instant.

Severus didn't look up, either ignoring Potter or genuinely unable to hear him. It was hard to tell: Potter wasn't anywhere close to them, closer to Willow, and he only barely heard the black haired boy.

Glancing to the right, Willow noticed Potter laughing with Black's arm around his neck, a blushing girl standing next to Lupin and Pettigrew. He had not been speaking about them. Willow felt a burning resentment build up in his chest, how could Potter have been an unknowing aid in his search for answers?

A stray thought flashed through his mind, a picture of an older woman and man hanging off each other, waving happily at him. Willow looked back at Potter—he looked just as familiar as he had that first day, almost like he resembled someone Willow knew and cared about; the feeling that Potter was only a poor copy filtered through his mind.

"Willow?" A hand clamped down on his shoulder, startling him out of his mind.

"Lily, what the bloody hell!" Willow exclaimed, jumping back and placing a fisted hand over his heart, his breath coming out in pained gasps.

"You weren't answering," Lily said weakly, biting her lip, a clear sing that she was mulling something over. Willow recognized the gesture from years as her twin. Because of this, he was ready for her when her eyes hardened.

"You were having one of those daydreams again weren't you," she asked boldly. It wasn't a question. Her green eyes, again, so familiar and yet poorly imitated, stared up at him dangerously, red brows cocked down in disappointment. He thought he was ready for her.

"What do you want?" Willow growled out, his eyes flicking to Severus, who had his eyes on Lily with a look that made Willow jealous. That had to be the feeling he had been consumed with every time the other boy brought up his sister. Willow quickly looked back to Lily, an irrational anger overtaking him.

"You said the dreams stopped," Lily prompted, taking a step toward him. Willow huffed angrily, wishing she would leave him alone.

"If you have nothing important to say, I'd appreciate solitude," Willow ground out, collecting his books quickly. A glance at Severus told him that the other boy would not be joining him. That all-consuming jealousy was back, but he ignored it.

"You can't keep avoiding me Willow, you aren't the only one who was lied to," Lily called out, her fingers catching the end of his sleeve before he could leave.

It took a second before her words registered, and once they did, the guilt took over. It hadn't actually occurred to him that Lily was hurt just as bad as he was, but she must have felt like she lost a brother, or like her life had all been a lie, just as he did.

"I hadn't known until dad and Petunia confirmed it, I'd have never kept something like that from you, Willow, you're my twin, blood be damned," the redhead declared, her fingers still caught in his sleeve, clenched tight enough to turn her knuckles white.

"I miss you, I don't want us to lose all those years," Lily's lip wavered again, her green eyes glazing over with tears, "we were so close," she finished, biting her lip and forcing her hand open. She turned her head and made to step back. Willow wanted to stop her from taking that step, but he was frozen in place. An overlay of a brown haired girl seemed to plant itself on Lily, soft brown eyes looking at him sadly only to disappear and present the glassy green eyes of his sister.

"I," Willow started unintelligently, his arms loosening so much his books fell from numb fingers.

"Lily," he choked out before his arms were filled with thirteen-year-old girl. Soft red hair tickled his nose as she buried her head in his neck, his face turning to look down her back, phantom fingers clutching in his robes as Lily held him tight. He had the sudden feeling of incomplete, as if there should have been one more person hugging him.

Looking to his left, Willow saw Severus looking away, his head bent.

Lily looked up at him then, her eyes watching Severus with him.

"Hey," she said softly, gaining Severus' attention. The boy smiled softly as he was beaconed over to their hug. It didn't feel complete, but it was damn near perfect.

The year was uneventful from then on. Potter and his gang would harass them, still, but it was never a big deal since Severus and Willow gave as good as they got.

The twins, in nothing but choice, waved at their friend as they exited the train, unsure if they'd see him that summer.

"I'm glad we didn't let anything get between us," Lily whispered to him as they made their way to their father's car, their luggage in hand.

"I am too, it was terrible those first two weeks avoiding you," Willow whispered back.

"Let's not do that again, promise?" Lily looked up at him, stopping him in the middle of the platform. Willow looked down at her and smiled sadly.

"Promise."