She Had the Perfect Life

Part Two

It was three years later - Lily and Rose had received their Hogwarts acceptance letters (no surprise to anyone) and they, accompanied by Mary and Anetka, were walking down Diagon Alley, Mary with a wistful expression on her face. Even though Anetka was not technically a Hogwarts graduate, she liked Diagon Alley very much, and she often got her supplies for Practical Magic potions there.

Anetka glanced at her wristwatch. "Okay, girls, how about I meet you at Florean Fortescues's in an hour? I need to visit the Apothecary. Have fun, but be sure you get all you need." The Evans daughters quickly agreed to this, and after Lily and Anetka synchronized their watches, they separated - Anetka one way, Lily, Rose, and Mary another.

Lily, Rose, and Mary had not gone far when they came upon a scene of sorts. They heard the shouting first - then, as they turned the corner, they saw what was going on. It was three against one - that was evident. The larger side consisted of two boys, identical in every way, down to the scowls on their faces, and one other boy who seemed to be leading the argument. He, like the evident twins, had black hair, but unlike the twins' hazel eyes, his were a dark grey.

Their opponent had longer black hair, with glittering black eyes. Even though he was outnumbered, he seemed to be unafraid and holding his own.

The boy with the grey eyes was speaking - or, more accurately, shouting - when the girls walked up.

"Oh you better watch it once we get into Hogwarts, Snape!" he threatened. "You'll wish you had never met us!"

The threatened one gave a smirk. "Oh, I already wish that, Black, though probably for different reasons than you're thinking of. But I believe it's you who should watch it - though if I were you - thank God I'm not - I wouldn't wait for Hogwarts to start being careful around me."

"That's rubbish!" exclaimed one of the duplicates. "You can't do anything yet!"

"Oh?" said Snape, his black eyes glittering more than ever. "Can't I?" He slowly pulled a wand out of his pocket and stood there, smiling evilly, rolling his wand between his thumb and first finger. "Do you want me to disprove that?"

The aggressive, angry look in the boy's grey eyes flickered uncertainly. The twins looked at each other. Black scowled, obviously more annoyed at his hesitation than his opponent.

"No?" inquired Snape, raising his eyebrows. When no boy ventured a response, he said softly, "I thought not." Turning, he sauntered off, still holding his wand.

Meanwhile, the sisters had moved to the side of the road to watch the fight. Lily and Rose had both studied all the characters equally, and Mary had begun to - until she saw the boy with grey eyes. If Lily had been watching Mary at that moment, she would have been very much alarmed. Mary's face went a deathly white, her eyes widened, and she stumbled back against the wall of Flourish and Blotts. For a moment she felt like she was going to faint. Her heart was pounding, and all she could think was It wasn't supposed to work! It wasn't supposed to happen! She saw a flash of herself three years ago, whispering as she plucked a flower, "I'll know when I see him that he's the one I wished for-". And here she was now, staring at him. "You can't beguile Practical Magic, Mary." a voice whispered in her ear. "You should have known that."

Mary glanced at Lily, who was watching with interest the scene before her. I won't fall for him, she silently vowed. I won't let myself.

But now Snape was walking away, leaving Black and the two clones behind, looking like cowards, which is exactly what Snape wanted, of course. Furious, Black kicked at the ground.

"Why didn't you do something?" he turned on his companions. Lily and Rose rolled their eyes. Mary was still recovering from her shock.

"We," corrected the clone who had not yet spoken. "Why didn't we do something. And because we know he can kick our arses if he wanted to, that's why." As his friends glared at him, he protested, "Hey, I hate admitting it as much as you do!"

"Which is why we need to go to Hogwarts," his brother muttered, smacking his palm with his fist as he stared off. "So we can actually fulfill all the threats we make."

"There's actually some pretty good books in Flourish and Blotts if you want some starters," called Mary helpfully. The three boys turned to stare at the speaker.

"Mary!" whispered Lily, shocked - after all, they were perfect strangers. But Rose spoke up.

"Hi! We, er, noticed your conversation."

The boys looked at each other, smiled, and then walked over to where the girls were standing.

"I guess it was pretty noticeable," said one clone. He stuck out his hand. "I'm James Potter. That's my brother, David, and my best friend, Sirius Black."

"Pleased to meet you," Lily responded. "I'm Lily Evans, and these are my two younger sisters, Rose and Mary." The said sisters smiled and said hello.

"Who was that boy you were arguing with?" Lily inquired.

"Oh - that was Severus Snape," James said, scowling again. "You're better off not knowing him."

Not knowing that side, anyway, Lily thought, staring down the road where Severus Snape had disappeared. She wondered what he was really like, when he was away from his enemies and around his own friends. Sirius's voice broke through her wondering.

"So, are you first years too?"

"Lily and I are," Rose answered. "Mary will be next year."

Mary nodded mutely. David opened his mouth to say something, but a voice behind him stopped him.

"Hey, who are you talking to?" A boy with brown hair and brown eyes who looked about their age walked up. He was holding a bag that announced "Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions".

"Oh," said David quickly. "This is Remus Lupin, my best friend. Remus, this is Lily, Rose, and Mary. The redheads are first years too. Mary still has to wait another year."

"Really?" said Remus, interested. "Excited about Hogwarts?" The two smiled and nodded nervously.

David spoke up. "Listen, how about we buy you three a sundae? Each."

Lily glanced at her sisters, and when neither of them showed any signs of dissent, she turned back to David, answering, "All right then, we'd love to."

The group headed back to the ice cream parlor, talking and laughing. Rose told them about their fourth sister, and Mary ended up explaining their entire family history. All in all it was a very good time, and after they all licked their spoons clean, the boys helped Lily and Rose buy their school supplies. Later they visited a pet shop, and despite Sirius and James's insistence that owls were the only decent pet, Lily and Rose each bought a black cat.

They were walking out of Quality Quidditch Supplies (after what felt like a century or two; Sirius and Remus had to literally drag James and David away from the brooms) when Lily glanced at her watch.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed. Everyone stopped and looked at her.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked.

"I promised Anetka that I would meet her at Fortescues' twenty minutes ago!" Lily wailed.

They raced down the street back towards the ice cream parlor. James and David were the fastest, and would have soon outdistanced Lily and Rose, who were weighed down with packages, not to mention frantic cats with razor-sharp claws, if they had not slowed down for them. Sirius tried to help by relieving Rose of her living burden, but it objected, and Sirius soon regretted he had ever had the idea.

But they did eventually arrive at the meeting place to find Anetka eating an ice cream cone at one of the outside tables.

"You're late," she announced as they approached her, panting (and, in Sirius's case, bleeding).

"I'm so sorry!" Lily said earnestly. "I was having so much fun, I didn't even think about the time at all."

"Well, that's the best excuse in the world," she said, standing up. "And who are these criminals?" Anetka added, scrutinizing the surprised boys.

"She always calls all our male friends that," Rose whispered.

"This is Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter - no, wait, you're David - no, you are James-" -the twins were clearly enjoying seeing Lily struggle- "ahhh, well one of them is James and the other one is David Potter."

"Are you related?" asked Anetka innocently.

They talked a few minutes, and then Anetka proclaimed it time to leave. So James, David, Sirius, and Remus accompanied them to the Leaky Cauldron. Lily and Rose promised to try to find them on the Hogwarts Express. Then they all said goodbye, and they parted.

A few months earlier Nicki had bought a house in the suburbs, and the family had subsequently moved. Their new home wasn't as stately or as Victorian as their old one, but it was still very nice. It finally gave Petunia something she had been longing for since Mary had been born - a room of her own. Mary was given the option of her own four walls, but she chose to reside with her two redheaded sisters. It was correctly assumed the latter would stay together. They would have continued to share the same double bed (minus Petunia) except that Mary discovered from her oldest sister (who had told with great relish and without any kind of softening phrases) that the former had a tendency to kick as she slept. She did not mention that she herself had that same tendency. Lily and Rose were too good-natured to mention it. So Mary insisted on moving to a single bed, and Lily and Rose were reduced to a double bed, and both beds were stationed in one room.

The morning of September the first found three sisters lying side by side asleep, a brunette between two redheads. They had all been up very late last night, having invited Mary onto their mattress, and whispered together for several hours, mainly about their separation for four months, then three months, followed by two months. Both Lily and Rose had shed tears over this prospect, and it was all Mary could do not to join them. It was the first time since the youngest's birth that they would be apart.

And so, the light began to filter weakly through the curtain, slowly illuminating the room and its occupants. Rose was the first to awaken. Her eyes opened, and for a moment she was completely motionless as she collected her memory and thoughts. Then she slowly sat up, careful not to disturb the sleeping girls beside her. Her eyes brightened with excitement as they landed on two almost-packed trunks waiting against the wall. All they wanted were the things the sisters needed that morning and during the night. Rose cautiously slid out of bed and tiptoed across the room to the giant armoire she and Lily shared. Noiselessly she opened the doors and removed one of the two pairs of clothes that remained - everything else was packed. Rose silently dressed into a green tank shirt with gold glitter dots splashed across it and pure white pants with the same gold dots scattered around the ankles. She was surveying herself in the full-length mirror on one of the doors of the armoire when Lily began to stir.

The next-to-oldest sister, just as quietly as her younger one had, eased off the mattress and crept across the thick carpet to Rose.

"What do you think?" whispered Rose, turning to face her sister. The judge smiled.

"Perfect," she pronounced. Rose, pleased, handed the other outfit to Lily, who swiftly donned another green shirt and white skirt - the same shades as Rose's. They were matching, in a way.

Next Lily dutifully sat down on the stool in front of their vanity, and Rose, taking a brush, began to run it through Lily's hair. It was a ritual of old, started when they had first learned to use a brush. Lily had learned years ago that it was useless to object.

Rose was nearly done when she happened to glance in the mirror. Lily's eyes stared, via the mirror, back into her own. For a moment, the two sisters were motionless as they stared at their reflection.

They were very much alike, Lily and Rose. They always had been. One could mistake them for twins, if Rose weren't a few inches taller than Lily, despite Lily's seniority. The only other difference was the shade of their hair. Lily's was a dark auburn, thick and full, falling a few inches short of her elbow. Rose's was much lighter, a soft red, thin and curling near at the ends her hips. Other than that, their features were equivalent. They both had the same shade of bright green eyes, the same small nose, the same ready-to-smile mouth.

Behind them, Mary rolled over and slowly opened her eyes. She was always the last to regain full consciousness. Lily turned her head to face Mary. Rose went back to the task at hand.

"Good morning," said Lily cheerfully. Mary yawned, and sluggishly pulled her legs out from under the covers and onto the floor. Her sisters knew it would be a few minutes for Lily's greeting to reach Mary's brain.

Sure enough, just as Rose was finishing plaiting the top half of Lily's hair, and fastening it with a velvet green scrunchi, she turned from her blank stare at her drawer of clothes, and responded,

"Oh - good morning."

Eventually Mary's eyes conveyed to her brain what it was seeing, and she managed to choose an outfit - a navy blue shirt and jeans. She had just completed unplaiting, brushing, and replaiting her black hair into its usual pigtails when the door burst open and an unsightly blond mess flounced into the room.

"Good morning, Petunia!" Lily greeted, with the same enthusiasm she had used with Mary. Petunia tossed her hair back and scowled at her sisters. Even though her hair had been as dark as Mary's when she was a baby, it had lightened into blond in primary school.

"Oh, I'm sure it's a very good morning for you," the eldest sister retorted sarcastically. "You're going to that freak school today. I'm sure you're very excited." She nodded toward her redheaded sisters.

"We are excited," said Lily before either of her worshippers could shoot back an answer. "We're the first Practical Magic witches to enter Hogwarts." Mary, who was tying the shoelaces of her trainers, looked up with interest to see her oldest sister's reaction.

Petunia slitted her eyes. "Well, isn't that wonderful? I'm sure you're very pleased with yourselves." Rose was beginning to get tired of the phrase, "I'm sure you're very...." But Petunia was continuing. "Personally, I can't understand why you can't wait to leave your precious sister" -she jerked her head contemptuously toward her youngest sister- "just to learn how to change teapots into rats."

"Well, of course Rose and I will miss you and Mary terribly," responded Lily, putting emphasis on the "you." "But Transfiguration isn't the only subject taught at Hogwarts, Petunia. Nicki says you also learn Charms, Potions, Herbology, Astrology, and lots of other things too."

"It's all the same rubbish to me!" snapped the twelve-year-old. Mary could take it no longer.

"It's not rubbish," she said between clenched teeth. "It's a gift."

"Mary," said Lily warningly. That was all it took. Mary pressed her lips together and didn't say another word.

"Call it whatever you want, I couldn't care less," replied Petunia, waving an indifferent hand. "But I'm counting the days until you" -she pointed at Mary- "get out of here too. By then I'll be settled in secondary school, and I'll have a much better chance of convincing everyone that I'm an only child. And with you three gone, I can pretend I'm one much easier."

There was genuine sympathy mingled with pity in Lily's eyes as she looked at her oldest sister, and the compassion was just as real in her tone as she said quietly, "I hope it makes you happy."

Petunia, for once in her life, couldn't think of a sharp reply. For a moment she stood there uncertainly, and then announced, "I'm going to get dressed." And with a slam of the door, she was gone.

Rose shook her head. Lily sighed, and then stood up. With a wave of her hand, their nightgowns folded themselves and flew, along with their brushes and mirrors, into the trunks, which promptly locked themselves.

"Are you sure this looks okay, Lily?" Rose questioned doubtfully, gesturing toward her hair. She had pulled back two locks of hair on either side of her head, pinning them down with two sparkly green clips. It was simple, but attractive - especially for Rose's hair.

"Terrific, Rose," Lily assured. Mary sat on the edge of the bed, watching her older sisters with a lump in her throat, fighting the tears that threatened to spill onto her cheeks. It was going to be a hard autumn for the ten-year-old.

At that moment there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," called Lily and Rose simultaneously. Nicki entered cheerfully.

"How are my girls?" he asked, kissing all three on the top of the head. They responded with a smile and "good morning." Nicki picked up the trunks and informed them, "Anetka's ready with breakfast."

Nicki at the lead, they descended down the stairs into the living room. The father set the luggage near the door, and then joined his daughters in the kitchen. Anetka was setting the milk jug on the table. Everything else was ready.

"Where's Petunia?" the mother asked, straightening.

"Most likely she's still getting dressed," answered Mary truthfully. Anetka sighed.

"Put a Warming Spell on her food, will you, dear?" she asked of Nicki. He complied.

Five minutes later, the eldest daughter made her appearance at the table. Without a word she grabbed her plate of toast and fell into the chair.

"Nice you could join us," Nicki said dryly. Petunia scowled.

"It does take a while to do your hair, you know." Anetka, Lily, Rose, and Mary wondered at this statement. All she had done was pull it into a ponytail.

Breakfast was a relatively silent affair. Petunia occasionally broke it with snaps at anyone who made the slightest mess. No one minded her, though.

Lily's mind was filled with thoughts of Mary, punctured with thoughts of Hogwarts. Rose's mind was filled with thoughts of Hogwarts, punctured with thoughts of Mary. All Mary could think of was that in a few hours she wouldn't see Lily and Rose again for four months.

It seemed like only a few seconds before the meal was over, and Petunia escaped to the living room, slipping on her headphones and grabbing a book. The other three sisters went to the backyard.

Their tree house had been established - overnight, with the help of Nicki's wand - on Petunia's 9th Christmas, and was technically given to all four girls, even though the younger three primarily used it. Petunia considered it beneath her.

But on this morning, Lily ascended the rope ladder first, followed by Rose and Mary. Inside, there was a love seat, two chairs, a desk, and a bookshelf completely filled.

Lily sat down in the chair in front of the open window. Rose restlessly fingered the spines of the books. Mary flung herself in the love seat. For several minutes none of them spoke.

Then, Lily said with a bit of a tremble in her voice, "It's only a few months. Then we'll be back together."

Mary rolled over from where she was spread on the loveseat, trying to keep her attitude casual.

"Don't worry about me, Lily. I'm not going to die or anything. You two are going to have a lot of fun there. And it's really best this way, because by the time I get there, you'll know the grounds and rules up and down, so you can show me around. Hey," -now she propped herself up on her elbows, looking seriously at her older sisters- "don't let me being gone bother you."

Lily stood up, tears in her eyes. She walked over to her youngest sister and put her arms around her. Rose kneeled by Mary's other side, kissing her on the top of her head.

And that's how they were when Petunia's voice rose up to them, demanding that they come down - Nicki's order.

A few minutes later the entire family and Midnight and Twilight, Lily and Rose's cats, found themselves in the van, heading toward King's Cross Station. Petunia still had her headphones and book. Lily, Rose, and Mary sat in the back, Mary between them. The entire trip was silent.

"Are you sure you have everything?" Anetka interrogated, as they walked past platforms four, five, and six. Lily and Rose checked their purses. All they were going to have with them during the trip were a couple of books, Midnight, Twilight, and their trunks.

"Yes, Anetka," Lily answered.

"Well," her mother said breathlessly, "this is it." She stopped three quarters of the way between platforms nine and ten. "Isn't it?" she added uncertainly, turning to Nicki. He nodded.

"Now remember," he coached, turning to his two middle daughters. "Don't be nervous. Thousands of students have done this before you, and I guarantee it will work for you too." They nodded. Lily reached forward and pressed her fingertips against the wall. Or at least tried to. Her fingers went right through the brick as though it weren't even there. Surprised, she pulled her hand back.

Petunia, apart from the others, saw the movement. After glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she cautiously touched the wall, willing the brick to become nothing. It was just a test, to see if she could do something her sister could. But the brick remained brick under her Muggle fingertips. Furious at the wall and herself, Petunia stormed away, stopping to call to Nicki, "Can I go to the van now?"

"No, Petunia," snapped Nicki. "Say goodbye to your sisters."

Scowling, Petunia walked back over.

Lily and Rose stood awkwardly in front of the wall, not wanting to say goodbye, but knowing they had to. Nicki helped.

"Remember," he said, placing a hand on each of their shoulders, "be sure to send lots of owls. Stay out of trouble" -that was unnecessary- "and make lots of friends. Do your homework, too."

"We will," whispered Lily. Rose just nodded. The boulder in her throat obstructed her vocal chords. Nicki embraced them.

Anetka was already crying. "My babies!" she whispered, hugging Lily and Rose tightly.

Nicki gave Petunia a look. Sighing, she stepped forward.

"Goodbye, Petunia," Lily said quietly.

"Goodbye," Rose echoed.

"Good riddance," Petunia said sweetly.

"Petunia!"

"Okay, okay. Goodbye."

Lily and Rose turned at last to Mary. She was biting her lip to keep it from trembling. Even now she wouldn't let herself cry. Lily put her hand on Mary's cheek.

"Try not to let it bother you," she whispered.

Impossible, Mary thought.

"Four months. That's all it is," she pleaded. "Just a few months!"

Finally Mary nodded, and they hugged. Rose and Mary hugged next. Both were unable to speak.

"Goodbye!" cried Lily one last time, and they stepped through the barrier, pulling the trolley behind them.

Petunia was already walking away.