QL, Pride, Beater 2. Burn: Write about someone cutting someone else out of their life.

Lyrics used: I saved every letter you wrote to me.

I'm re-reading the letters you wrote to me

I'm searching and scanning for answers in every line

For some kind of sign.

Prompts: [Restriction] Female Characters Only. [Relationship] Sisters. [Action] Arguing.

WC: 1574

Beta'ed by: AccioAlina (CupCakeyyy), Queen Empath, CypressWand, secretfanficlover, MournfulSeverity.

Lily decided to take the whole day to herself. It was the anniversary of her parents' death. Two years had passed since the dreadful car accident. To Lily, it felt like she had lost more than just her parents, but Petunia too.

The relationship between the sisters had grown further and further apart as the years went on. Lily had fond memories of when they were both young children.

Their mother used to take them to the park weekly, come sun or rain, and watched as they placed themselves dependent on each other. The two of them were just a year apart in age so they shared a lot of interests. When the sisters were slightly older, they were allowed to go to the park without parental supervision - the only condition was that they had to stay together.

Once again, the two would play.

That was until Lily discovered she was a witch. Then she would go to the park with Petunia, but they would separate for a while before going home together. A little secret that wouldn't be revealed to their parents.

That was the start of the growing distance between the two Evans sisters.

As Lily thought back, it became clear to her that this all started when she discovered her magical abilities. That caused her sister to turn on her.

At the start, it was barely noticeable: small comments or remarks, a shove, stealing her things. But Lily just knew that Petunia was upset. The two of them used to do nearly everything together. They were close.

But as the years went on, things became more toxic and the distance between them became more than just space.

Lily remembered a particularly hurtful moment when she returned after her fifth year at Hogwarts to find all of her belongings thrown to one side of the room. Petunia had been grounded and refused to talk to Lily for weeks. When she did speak afterward, every other sentence included an insult. The most common insult was freak. It pained Lily to remember such times.

Even in her final year of Hogwarts, Lily had sent Petunia letters. They were usually not responded to. Perhaps not even acknowledged. That hurt. The fact that their sisterly relationship had fallen apart over the years and Lily couldn't do anything about it. What was she to do? Surely she couldn't keep such a toxic person in her life? Maybe it was time to cut ties.

Finally, after all of these thoughts reeling through her mind, she made her way to her parents' gravestones. It was risky being out and about with the Wizarding War going on but this was one risk she was prepared to take. Paying respect to her parents was important to her.

As she approached, she saw her sister. Lily wondered why she was alone but wouldn't bring that up. The second Petunia's eyes met her, she sent a look of hatred and turned her back, walking off.

"Petunia!" the red-head called. No response. "Petunia!" she repeated in a shout.

With a clear huff, the older one of the two turned around. She was clearly annoyed at being spoken to in that manner. "What?" she demanded.

Lily took a sharp intake of breath. She was a Gryffindor, so she could stand up to her sister. "I'm tired of you constantly ignoring me!"

"Is now really the time?" she replied with a snide look.

"Why not?" Lily retorted, catching her sister's surprised look. She usually didn't really talk in this manner.

It was time to cut ties.

There was no time like the present.

When they lost their parents, there was nothing left to save. That was clear now.

"What is going to change if we talk now, tomorrow, or even a year from now? You're always going to be rude."

Petunia looked frustrated. "Rude? Is that what you think? Maybe you should look in the mirror?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me? You self-absorbed little bitch!"

Lily's hand twitched for her wand; she hadn't been verbally attacked like this in a while and it took her a split second to realise this wasn't a wand fight. But with the war going on in the magical world, it was difficult to not be on edge. "I'm the bitch?" she repeated rhetorically. "That is some nerve coming from the likes of you!"

Petunia moved forward. "Likes of me? You mean not a freak?"

"I am not a freak!"

Her older sister scoffed. "If you say so."

They were now close enough that they didn't need to shout. Petunia's words were being spoken now, but that didn't stop the cruel tone.

This was all getting a bit much for Lily. She knew she should walk away. The witch wasn't thinking straight. With a breath, her voice lowered too. "You have always been toxic to me and others around you. A bully. Condescending. I've had enough of it! If you can't accept me for who I am then maybe we shouldn't see each other anymore. Maybe we're no longer sisters. After all, right now, you're a stranger to me."

Petunia seemed to be taken aback by her sister's words and stared at her for a few moments. A light shake of the head of the placid older of the two. "When did you change?"

"Change? I haven't changed!"

"My sister wouldn't act like this."

Lily scoffed, which wasn't very much like her. But did Petunia really think she could play the innocent card here? "Maybe if you replied to my letters instead of binning them, you might see that I'm exactly the same!"

An insulted expression instantly formed on her face. "I saved every letter you wrote to me."

"What?" Lily muttered dumbfounded.

"I would read them constantly. But could never reply to half of them. I'm-I-In my head… I'm re-reading the letters you wrote to me. I'm searching and scanning for answers in every line for some kind of sign… A sign of when you turned from my sister to being this stranger."

Lily stepped back at the words. Stranger. "Why didn't you reply?"

A humourless laugh left Petunia's lips. "Because you didn't care about what I was doing. You might have asked how I was but never what I was up to. Every letter would talk and talk about your new friends and school. Everything was so perfect for you. But not once did you ask what I did with my time when you were away." A sigh left her lips. "And you didn't even care that I stopped replying to your letters. You kept sending them. More updates about your perfect freakish life."

"Petunia…"

The older sister raised her hand to stop Lily from talking. "You would come back every holiday, every summer, and spent the first days simply talking about your new life. Even though it was just a repeat of what you had written in the letters, our parents were so absorbed in you that I was forgotten. They didn't need me as a daughter when you were around. You barely even needed me as a sister. So I guess you were right - we're not sisters, we're not even friends."

Petunia sighed with a shake of her head and turned to walk away.

Lily instantly grabbed her arm.

"No!" Petunia harshly stated. "We're done. I do not associate with freaks."

Allowing her sister to pull out of her grip, Lily found herself standing still. Her parents' gravestones were still within view. It was the two-year anniversary of their death.

Slowly, Lily walked back and sat in front of them. Maybe she hadn't made the right decision. Was Petunia right? Had she changed more than she thought she had?

Tears threatened to fall. The war was taking its toll on her, it did on everybody. But she had to stay strong and keep ongoing.

It wasn't difficult to realise that she and Petunia would likely never reconnect. And when Lily had brought up taking some space, she hadn't expected her words to be as harsh as they were, nor did she think her sister would turn the table on her.

Petunia had saved every letter. Nothing could have prepared Lily for that. Though, the red-head could remember writing everything about what she was doing. Did she really neglect to check on her sister in that manner? Petunia had always spoken her thoughts, perhaps writing them was different.

If she could turn back time, she would have ensured to take extra care in not forgetting her sister's feelings. Maybe things could have been different. But she'd never know. Even time-turners couldn't go back that far.

Lily hadn't noticed how long she had been sitting there until the sun had set and left her in darkness. It wasn't good for witches to be out this late - though, perhaps that was only in the Wizarding World. Maybe the Muggle World was safe.

Lily looked down in shame as a particular thought crossed her mind: If she hadn't been a witch, she and Petunia wouldn't have fallen out. If she had been a Muggle, she would not be a target of the Dark Lord and would be safer.

But she was a witch. A Muggleborn. That came with challenges but Lily wouldn't have it any other way.

Wiping away the tears that had fallen, the witch stood up and took a gentle stroll out of sight before Apparating to her home.