AN: let me know what you think :)
I sat in the Evans' front room, looking about shyly as Professor Dumbledore spoke to Mr and Mrs Evans. It was a cosy room painted in soft creams, deep red curtains open by the window that looked out onto the garden. The small wooden mantlepiece above the fireplace was covered with photos of the beautiful family- Mr Evans, Robert, with his dark hair and brown eyes, tall and fatherly, Mrs Evans, Isabel, with her blonde locks and green eyes, petite frame and kind face, their two girls- Petunia, looking just like her father but with blonde hair and her mothers frame, and Lily, the oddball of the family with her auburn hair and her mothers eyes. I already loved Lily. She sat beside me on the sofa, my hand in hers, as she listened intently to the Professor.
"So you see," I tuned back in to what Professor Dumbledore was saying, "in the interest of Miss Taylor's safety, the best thing would be for the wizarding world to believe her your daughter." Wait what? I looked to Dumbledore with shock and confusion. He wanted me to pretend to be Lily's sister? Before I could voice my confusion, the Evans's were all agreeing enthusiastically (apart from Petunia that is, who had looked at me with a mixture of fear, disgust and admiration since she learned I was a witch like Lily) and Dumbledore was handing them papers to sign and sweeping out of the room, out of the house, and out of sight with a pop.
Lily squeezed my hand tightly and I looked at her with the same shell shocked expression on my face. She quickly enveloped me in a hug, crushing the air out of me until I choked out,
"Lily- can't - breathe!" The rest of the Evans's laughed, obviously Lily's bone crushing hugs were not uncommon, as Lily sheepishly released me. Then Mr and Mrs Evans hugged me just as tightly, while Petunia gave me a tight lipped smile.
"Welcome to the family, sweetheart," Mr Evans said in his deep, booming voice.
"Thank you, Mr Evans," I replied softly, "I hope I'm not too much trouble." Mrs Evans looked just about ready to burst into tears.
"Sophie, darling, it's not Mr and Mrs Evans. Call us Robert and Izzy if you can't manage Mum and Dad okay? I know it's not long since you lost yours," she said with a watery smile and a quick squeeze.
I looked around in wonder at these four strangers who were so willing to accept me into their lives and into their family. I was an Evans now. Sophie Evans. It sounded strange, even in my head. I supposed I'd get used to it eventually.
"Thank you, Robert and Izzy," I smiled. They grinned back at me and Lily grabbed my hand again, yanking me behind her as she ran out of the room and up the stairs. She barrelled into a room, pulled me in after her and slammed the door shut before flopping down the bed. I looked at her in astonishment.
"Well sit down then Soph!" Lily laughed at me. I must've looked like a right prat standing there with my mouth hanging open, staring at my adoptive sister. "Glad that's over, it took forever! I've been waiting for you to arrive since Professor Dumbledore came over last week! It's been so boring here with only Tuney to talk to, she's upset I'm going to Hogwarts and she isn't, although Sev has been fun to hang around I guess but I really wanted another magical sister and now I do, isn't it brilliant?" Once again, I stared at Lily Evans. How did she have enough air to get all that out? I sat down on the bed next to her as she prattled on abut how fantastic it was I was here.
"When's your birthday?" I started as Lily nudged me as she asked the question.
"January 30th" I replied, "Why?" Lily started laughing again and clapped her hands.
"I knew it, oh I just knew it!" Lily giggled, " I knew there was another reason Professor Dumbledore sent you to us- we have the same birthday, Soph! We're twins!" Lily looked so chuffed with that fact, I couldn't help but join in with her laughter. It was the first time I had laughed in months actually. I was a witch with a new family, new name and a twin! How much more could my life change? "We've even got the same hair colour, look!" Lily held a strand of her hair up next to mine, showing it was exactly the same striking shade of auburn. "Non-identical twins! It's brilliant!"
Lily's incessant chatting did the trick eventually. I started chatting back, getting to know my new twin. After all, it wouldn't do to turn up at Hogwarts and not know a thing about my family would it? So I started learning all about the Evans family and my new sister, Lily. We would be sharing a room together, which I was grateful for. I wouldn't like sleeping in a room by myself especially not in an unfamiliar house.
That evening as I lay in the small single bed squeezed in against the wall, I thought back on the past year of my life. It was a sad story really, like something out of a movie. We were happy, Mum, Dad and I. We lived in a small house just out of London and it was perfect. I was ten when Mum and Dad told me I would be a sister. Oh I was so excited, I'd always wanted a sibling! Mum got bigger and bigger and the love in our little house seemed to grow and grow until it seeped into the walls, the floor, the furniture. And then one morning, the house was cold and quiet and the worst had happened. Mum and Dad and Baby were gone and they had all left me behind. I called the police but they couldn't find a cause of death. "Natural causes" they said. So I was shipped off to the orphanage. And then Professor Dumbledore arrived a few months later and whisked me away here, to the Evans's. Maybe the universe made a mistake, and this is my second shot at a family? One with a sister. Two sisters actually. I sighed and for the first time since the Taylor family died, I fell asleep without tears.