The Twin Who Wasn't Told

Lily was trapped in a bedroom. Toys were sprawled across the floor, and there was a medium-sized cot which sat against the wall. The room felt eerie. The lights flickered, the windows wide open, inviting in the cold whispers of wind, shadows creeping up the walls and loud screams echoed from outside. Was there a fight?

Then appeared a baby boy and a woman, who Lily assumed was his mother, hugging the boy tightly to her chest and frantically walking around the room calling out a name, though she couldn't hear it too well "...unia my darling where are you? Please! we can play later..."

She wondered who the woman was looking for, but Lily hoped she would find them soon. For some reason, there was a pit of unease forming in her stomach, a growing sense of dread which informed her something awful was about to happen.

The door then slammed open, a shrill cackle of laughter coming from the person who stormed in. Lily didn't know why, but she could tell that the person.. or should she say monster, since they reeked of abnormality and danger, was no good. She feared for the boy and mother.

"No! Get away from them, you freak. Why on earth are you bothering them-"

Before she could scream any further, a bright light of green flooded the room, blinding her and cries from the baby boy echoed from the room. Lily's heart sank, her eyes stung. She ran up to the boy-

"Up you get, dear! Breakfast is ready".

Lily groaned, yelling an "I'm awake!" In response, groggily pulling herself out of bed and heading to the bathroom. She wished she could sleep in just a little longer, but she knew her mother would just end up singing her 'wake up' song to annoy her into getting up.

As she sluggishly walked out of her room, Lily wondered why she was feeling slightly out of it. She knew she had just had a strange dream, but couldn't remember it well. When she tried recalling the details, it just slipped through her mind, like a slippery bar of soap.

After having freshened up, Lily rushed down the stairs, following the scent of sweet pancakes wafting in the air and plopping herself down on a chair in the dining room, her mouth watering in anticipation.

"Oh my, looks like our Princess Lily finally decided to grace us with her presence! What an honour!" Her dad exclaimed, looking up from his newspaper and dramatically clutching his hand to his chest.

"Haha, very funny." Lily shook her head, though her eyes lit up, seeing the plate of dripping chocolate pancakes being placed in front of her by her mother. She immediately forgot about the unsettling feeling that was overwhelming her a moment ago.

"What an honour it is indeed," her mother joined in, chuckling. Though, her laughter died down after seeing the way her daughter was eating like a starved animal.

"Calm down Lily you're scarfing it down as though you've never eaten a meal in your life. You'll end up choking!"

"At least I'll suffocate in happiness!" She grinned playfully at her mother and continued nomming on her pancakes.

Her mother sighed in bemusement and joined the two at the table. She sipped on her tea for a bit before turning her attention back to Lily.

"So... Lily. There is something your father and I must speak to you about"

"Sure. What is it?" Lily asked, putting her fork down.

"My darling, I know your birthday is in a week, but.. we were asked to go on a business trip to Canada, "

Lily's smile turned into a frown. "Mum! This is so unfair you can't do this to me!" She whined. "You both had to go off on a business trip last year during my birthday, too! You promised you would take me to the fair this year!"

"We know flower, and we are sorry. We'll bring you back anything you want as a gift-" her father tried comforting her, but she cut him off.

"You're just going to ship me off to Uncle Gerald and Aunt Samantha again! Last year they didn't even wish me a happy birthday! And the worse thing? The worst thing was they went to a restaurant as a gift to Alice just because she tidied her room- they didn't even take me!"

Alice was Lily's cousin on her father's side. Lily was never fond of her or her family because whenever she would visit them, she could just tell she wasn't welcome. They would avoid her gaze and barely even talk to her unless it was absolutely necessary. One time, Alice had even told Lily that she wasn't her real cousin. Lily convinced herself that she didn't mind what she said. But it still hurt. Strangely enough, after Alice had made that comment, her favourite dolls went missing. Lily didn't care though. She believed Alice deserved it.

Her parents sighed.

"Dear, we know they can be... difficult at times but there is no one else we can trust to take care of you".

"Well they sure don't treat me like family. Can't we just buy a new one?" She grumbled.

"Don't be silly now" her father said sternly. "We really are sorry Lily but there are no other arrangements that can be made"

"Oh is that so? How about.. I don't know.. a babysitter? You guys do know they exist right?"

Her father shook his head and took a bite of his toast.

"Lily. We told you. We do not trust any strangers in our home".

Before Lily could argue back, her mother grasped her hand gently.

"We'll make it up to you, my sweet. How about this? when we return, not only will we bring you back some lovely presents, we'll also take you wherever you want!"

"I don't care about presents! I want you both to stay" she pleaded, squeezing her mother's hand tightly. "I don't want to be around those people!"

"I'll have a word with them Lily I promise. I'll tell them not to leave you out alright? But our decision is final. You will be staying with them" her father replied gently, his eyes softening. "Please understand. We want you to be safe".

Lily groaned and stood up, letting go of her mother's hand. She couldn't believe them. She knew her parents loved her, but why were they so obsessed with keeping her safe? They knew she felt uncomfortable around her relatives.

"You guys don't understand! You don't understand at all! I hate being there! Why did your stupid boss have to send you off on another trip? It's like he knows my birthday is around the corner and wants to make me miserable!".

Lily stomped her foot and prepared to storm off. Just as she did, the dining table suddenly collapsed, turning the floor into some breakfast canvas, with the plates crashed and the tea and syrup spilt all over the floor.

Lily was shocked to see it happen. Her parents looked at her and gasped, completely stunned by what happened. But still furious, Lily marched to her room, locked the door, and flung herself onto her bed.

This was the perfect way to start off her morning. With arguing and the house falling apart.

A few days later

The day of her parents' departure arrived. Lily had once again begged them to stay and even tried to convince them to let her come along. But of course, they stood their ground and made sure she was dropped off at her uncle and aunt's place before heading off to the airport.

Lily took a big, deep breath before knocking on the door. A few seconds later, she could hear quiet footsteps slowly approaching, and the door swung open.

"Hello, Uncle Gerald," she muttered.

"Yes. Hello.. what was your name again? Daisy?"

Was he doing this on purpose? Or did he genuinely forget her name? Either way, Lily was greatly annoyed.

"Very close uncle," she replied sarcastically, "but it's Lily."

"Same thing," he shrugged, pulling the door open wider. "I suppose I should let you in." He then walked off, not bothering to wait for her, not offering to carry her suitcase. Nothing. But Lily wasn't surprised. She had always been treated like this by them after all.

She scoffed and entered the house, dragging the suitcase along.

Her relative's house was the opposite of Lily's. At home, it was orderly and clean. Their house looked as though they were living with wild animals.

Not to mention, there was purple glitter scattered all over the floor. Lily knew this was Alice's work. As though summoned by the thought, Alice popped up in front of her.

"Hm. You're here. Again. Just when I thought I wouldn't have to see your slime coloured eyes or your tomato head." Alice then began to attempt to mimic a posh person's laugh but ended up coughing in the process.

Lily pressed her lips together. She always adored her dark auburn hair. It reminded her of the crisp, red leaves in autumn. And she saw her so-called "slime coloured eyes" as shining emeralds. She loved everything about herself. Lily reckoned Alice was simply jealous.

"Well, at least I'm not dumb enough to believe I'm the sugar plum fairy just because my parents tell me I am," she snickered.

At first, Alice seemed offended, but her frown then curled into a smirk.

"Well, at least my parents didn't ditch me and drop me off at my cousin's house. And for the record, I am the sugar plum fairy. Otherwise, I wouldn't have this special fairy glitter". She then flung her 'fairy glitter' on Lily's face and skipped away.

Lily huffed, wiping it off her face. This stay was certainly going to drag.

The next day, Lily was rudely awoken by Alice jumping up and down on the bed. Alice had suddenly decided that the bed Lily was using in their guest room would be a perfect bouncy castle.

Lily hissed at her, telling her to go away, only for her Aunt Samantha to walk in just at that moment, looking unimpressed.

"How rude. Alice is being kind enough to play with you, and this is how you treat her?" She folded her arms, tutting at Lily before dragging Alice away with her, muttering something under her breath that suspiciously sounded like 'brat'. Or it could have been 'rat'.

After she ate breakfast, Lily spent an hour in the guest room. She was plotting in her head the different ways she could escape from the dreadful house, like feigning amnesia and using a parachute, only to be suddenly called downstairs by her uncle and aunt. They were both standing by the front door, looking at Lily with annoyed expressions. Lily almost wondered if they had read her mind and were about to lecture her about gratefulness.

However, that was when she noticed her uncle holding a brown envelope.

"Daisy." He huffed.

"Why is it this letter has been posted to our address with your name on it? Did you ask your friends to do this? To send you a ridiculous letter to your relative's house to annoy them? This is, in no way, amusing. " He glared at her, throwing the letter which she only just managed to catch because of the confusion that was washing over her.

Indeed, it had her name.

{ Miss L. Oakwood

The guest room

12 Foresstone Way

Silverlake Town

Kent }

At the back, there was a seal with some sort of symbol, a crest? etched on it that Lily had never seen before. There were four different animals; a lion, a badger, an eagle, and a serpent. Above it, written in bold, curved writing was....

Hogwarts