I
Lily, Cokeworth, 1968.
Lily was eight when she saw a photograph of a little baby inside her dad's old wallet. The wallet was old but well taken care of, hidden inside his closet beneath the old clothes he no longer used.
Usually, Lily would brush it off, thinking it might be her baby photograph that Daddy forgot to move from his old wallet. But looking at it closely, the baby was different from what Lily knew she looked like.
The photograph was in black and white, but the baby's hair was undoubtedly not red like hers; it was more golden in colour.
And on the back of it was Daddy's handwritten that read: Petunia, September 1959.
Lily had never heard the name Petunia before. Lily was an only child, born from only-child parents.
So she took the photograph and showed it to her dad, asking who the baby was.
Daddy broke into tears then, in the living room.
Daddy was the strongest person Lily knew, so when Daddy cried, Lily followed suit.
Mummy came to the living room and asked what had happened, but Daddy told her it was nothing. The photograph was in Lily's pocket, safely tucked between the marbles and flowers she had picked earlier.
By dinner, Daddy was back to normal. He laughed, praised Mummy's cooking, and asked how Lily's day went.
Lily went to bed with more questions than ever.
She tossed and turned when Daddy came to her room quietly. Lily watched as Daddy sat on the edge of her bed.
"Do you still have the photograph, Lils?" Daddy asked, and Lily nodded. She took it from under her pillow and gave it to Daddy.
Daddy took the photograph from her hand, and his eyes started to red again.
"It was Petunia," Daddy said. "It had been years since I saw this photograph."
"Who is it, Daddy?" Lily asked. "Who is Petunia?"
Both of them had flower names, so they might be related. Her cousin, perhaps?
"She was your sister, Lils," Daddy said, his hand caressing the photograph lovingly. "She was my firstborn, my first daughter."
"My sister?" Lily's eyes went wide. She never knew this! "Where is she now?"
"That I do not know, sweetpea." Daddy sighed. "You see... Petunia was my daughter from another woman. She was your half-sister."
Lily might be small, but even she knew what that meant. Daddy was with someone that was not her mother. "Did Mummy know about this?"
"She did." Silence filled the room like there was so much Daddy wanted to say but couldn't. "Please don't say this to your mother; she gets distraught when I talk about this."
Lily just nodded and listened to Daddy. Her sister's name was Petunia; she had blonde hair and very blue eyes.
Daddy said Petunia's eyes were the bluest he had ever seen, like the ocean. She was a chubby baby as well.
Daddy gave the photograph to Lily, asking her to take good care of it.
After that night, Lily was searching for her parent's marriage certificate. Daddy was at work, and Mummy was at the market. Lily had the whole day for herself.
Then Lily found it inside a manila envelope in her parent's bedroom. She read it slowly, trying to find the answer.
Her parents were married in May 1960. Lily was born on January 1960. Petunia had been born months before her parents were married.
She took great care to put all the documents in the last place so Daddy and Mummy wouldn't suspect a thing before running to the park, tears trailing down her cheeks.
Lily cried when she saw Severus was already at the park.
She was not an elegant crier; she cried with tears, snot and hitched breath. Severus panicked when he saw Lily crying like that, and it was not fair for him, but Lily was in pain.
He ushered her to the small creek behind the trees, and it took more than ten minutes before she could say something.
"I just found out my parents married after I was born," She started.
Severus tried to console her, saying it was a modern time where it could happen. "The most important thing is they were married now, right?"
Lily shook her head and took out the photograph. "I just found out I had a sister, Sev. Look."
"Are you sure it was not you?" Severus looked at the photograph.
"Daddy told me last night. Petunia was his daughter from another woman. I had a sister, Sev, and I didn't even know about her."
Severus didn't know what to say, so he patted her shoulder.
"It was more reason you should go to Hogwarts, Lils." He reasoned. "You could track your sister with magic."
"Can I really find someone with magic?"
Severus shrugged his shoulders. "My mum lost things often and always found them with her wand when dad was not around. So I think it was possible."
Hope bloomed inside her. "Three years seemed so long."
"Three years seemed so long, but our letters will be here in a blink of an eye."
Lily nodded. "I couldn't wait."
As it turned out, being an adult never meant that they were always right. Adults were more likely to do stupid things, as Severus said.
Daddy was a flawed man; Lily realised that now. As did Mummy.
Lily didn't know what happened in his parents' past but knew it was not flowers and rainbows.
Daddy looked like he loved Petunia but never talked about her after that night. Lily knew Petunia was older by mere months, but they were the same age, and Petunia had blonde hair and blue eyes.
She might live in London or any part of Britain.
Petunia might be a muggle.
It broadened her search, but Lily was nothing if not determined.
She will find her sister, and they will be the bestest sister ever.