CHAPTER ONE

Lilac Evans had hair a brighter shade of red than her twin sister Lily Evans. That, and her bottle green eyes, were the only way people would distinct one Evans twin from the other. Lilac's hair was a bright blood red which fell in long loose curls. Her eyes were a bright bottle green which shimmered with mischief unlike her sister's emerald green ones. Despite her striking looks and energetic personality, no one ever remembered the younger twin. Lily Evans was the perfect child and Lilac was left in the shadow.

Petunia Evans had blonde hair and pale ice-blue eyes. She looked nothing like her younger sisters and she hated how she seemed plain and less attractive next to the two of them. She hated Lily, but prefered Lilac over anyone else. They both knew what it felt like to be nothing special.

At least, Lilac thought she was nothing special until August, when a strange woman knocked on their door one afternoon. She looked quite old and wore glasses that hung on the bridge of her nose.

"Good afternoon, Mr and Mrs. Evans. I am Professor McGonagall from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to inform you that your daughters Lily and Lilac Evans are witches," said the old lady. Lilac gawked at her and shot Petunia a look.

"She must be mad," whispered Lilac much to Petunia's agreement.

"I assure you, I am not," said McGonagall seemingly overhearing Lilac's comment. The youngest Evans shrank where she sat and marveled at how extraordinary the old woman's hearing must've been. "I presume that the two of you have done something out of the ordinary before? Made something move by itself when you were angry or upset?"

"Why yes, that happens to me all the time! Sev told me all about Hogwarts!" Lily exclaimed cheerily. Lilac and Petunia shot each other disgusted looks. Ever since Lily had met Severus Snape she'd been talking nonsense about magic. Severus treated Lilac and Petunia horribly and was only nice to Lily.

"Here is your letter, Miss Lily Evans," said McGonagall with a smile. She handed Lily a cream colored envelope before facing Lilac. "And here is yours, Miss Lilac Evans."

"I'm sorry, you must be mistaken. I've never done anything remotely strange," said Lilac looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"No need to worry, you are most certainly a witch."

"I'm going to miss you so much, Tuney," cried Lilac as she clung to her eldest sibling. "What am I going to do without you? I don't want to go!"

"Shush, Lilac, you're a witch, just like Lily! You're special, just like Lily!" Petunia exclaimed trying to cheer up the panicking girl. For the past couple days Lilac had been talking about how excited she was but on the day she actually had to leave, she found herself unable to do so.

"I don't want to be special," lied Lilac. Petunia, of course, saw right through her. For years Petunia comforted Lilac whenever Lily came home from school with awards and good grades. Her parents practically worshipped Lily but never noticed her twin, who held just as many awards and good grades.

"You'll write to me, right? I don't mind if you send your letters with your owl," said Petunia stroking the top of her head.

"B-but you told Lily not to send her owl," stuttered Lilac with pathetic sniffles.

"You're my favorite sister, Lilac. I don't know what I would do if you didn't write to me. I couldn't live without letter from you," said Petunia comfortingly, "now go and get on the train before you make me cry."

Lilac nodded and she boarded the train. Her parents were talking to Lily, forgetting about the two other daughters they had. When Lily looked to Petunia, she found her older sister watching Lilac walk through the train, a tear sliding down her face.

"Goodbye, Tuney," said Lily softly. She tried to hug her but Petunia flinched away. Lily's heart twisted painfully and she ran into the train. Petunia was forgotten however as she saw her childhood best friend. "Sev!"

Meanwhile, Lilac was having trouble finding a place to sit. All the compartments were full and she was too scared to sit with strangers. She never had any friends other than Petunia before. Someone bumped into her and she toppled onto the ground.

"Ow!" Lilac exclaimed noticing blood slowly trickle out from her arm. She looked up to see two guilty boys. One had hazel colored eyes and the other had silver ones. Both had black hair.

"Sorry, didn't see you there," said the hazel-eyed boy. Lilac bit her lip and stood up, straightening up her clothes. "Hold on."

He took out his wand and pointed it at her cut.

"Episkey."

The wound closed immediately much to her amazement. The boys grinned at her dumbfounded expression and she immediately felt embarrassed for her lack of knowledge in the magical world.

"H-How did you do that?" Lilac asked shyly.

"Just do this and say Episkey clearly," explained the hazel-eyed boy making a strange motion with his wand. Lilac repeated after him and he nodded. "I'm James Potter, I'm guessing you're a muggleborn?"

"A what?"

"Your parents weren't wizards, right?" the other boy asked. Lilac shook her head. "You're a muggleborn, a witch born from non-magical folks. I'm Sirius Black."

"I'm Lilac Evans. I'm guessing you're not...muggleborns?" Lilac questioned confused.

"Nope! Sirius and I are purebloods. Everyone in our entire family were wizards," said James proudly.

"Does it matter if I'm a muggleborn?"

Sirius and James shared glances with each other before turning back to her.

"Yeah. Only if you're around the wrong people though," said Sirius frowning, "like my family. They're blood purists but I don't want to be like them."

"My family accepts anybody," declared James proudly. He opened a compartment door and they looked in to see Lily and Severus.

"Lilac!" Lily exclaimed happily. Severus made a face and gave Lilac a look of confusion and disgust. Lilac smiled weakly at her twin. "Sev was telling me about the different houses in Hogwarts."

"The what?" Lilac asked slowly sitting down. She didn't want to be in the same compartment with Lily. She'd prefer sitting with strangers than her sister.

"There's four houses in Hogwarts. I want to get into Gryffindor, like my father, the home of the brave and courageous," said James proudly.

"That's if you prefer brawn over brains," snapped Severus with a glare, "now Slytherin, is the house for the brains—"

"Where do you think you ought to go, seeing as you're neither?" James interjected. Lily and Lilac's expressions matched each other, their mouths both agape in shock. The younger one couldn't help herself however, and soft giggles escaped her. James grinned at her, glad to make her laugh. Sirius joined her with his bark-like laughter and Lily glared at them.

"Come on, Sev. Let's find somewhere else to sit," said Lily getting up. The two quickly walked out, leaving the three to the compartment themselves. Lilac felt a lot more awkward now that Lily was gone.

"You mentioned four houses, what are the other two?" Lilac asked softly.

"There's Ravenclaw, the house for the intelligent, and Hufflepuff. It's the house of the righteous and friendly I guess. It's more like the house of rejects," said Sirius shrugging.

"I'd be alright with getting into Hufflepuff," admitted Lilac.

"What?" James gasped as if it was the most outrageous thing he had ever heard. "You have to get into Gryffindor! It's the best house!"

"I-I'm not that brave," said Lilac blushing.

"You might be a lot braver than you think," said Sirius grinning at her, "just ask the hat to place you in Gryffindor."

"The hat?"

"We've got a lot to teach you about. Do you want to get something to eat first?" Sirius asked jumping up. The trolley lady was a couple compartments away.

"I don't have any wizarding money with me," she said shaking her head.

"That's fine, we're both swimming in galleons," James said taking a couple gold pieces out of his pocket. He tossed two at her and she looked at him unsurely.

"Hello, would you three like anything from the trolley?" asked a lady stopping in front of their compartment. The two boys looked at her and she shook her head, giving the coins back to James.

"I really shouldn't use your money," she said turning the color of her hair. Sirius and James frowned at her before looking at each other.

"We'll take six of everything," announced Sirius. Lilac's eyes widened when they dropped a pile of sweets right next to her.

"Those are yours," said James smirking, "you should've bought something but since you didn't I bought some for you."

"I can't eat all of this!" Lilac protested. She couldn't understand why the two were being so nice to her.

"You can save some for another time. Here, we can teach you all the different sweets. It's a more fun way of learning about the wizarding world," said Sirius tossing her a purple packet. Her eyebrows furrowed when she looked at the label.

"Lesson one," announced James seeing her expression, "chocolate frogs."

The boys were incredibly nice to her. They had healed her arm, taught her a spell, bought her a mountain of candy, and was teaching her everything she needed to know about being a witch. In the boats, she learned their mischievous side as they used a long stick to rock other people's boats.

"What's that boy's name again?" Sirius asked pointing at Severus who was sitting in the same boat as Lily.

"That's Severus Snape," said Lilac eyeing the wand he had drawn. Sirius grinned and winked at her before pointing at the greasy haired boy.

"Hey Snivellus!" Sirius shouted. Lilac's eyebrows raised and he sniggered at Snape's offended expression. "Finally taking a much needed shower?"

A blast of water hit Snape right in the face. James and Sirius burst into laughter and Lilac couldn't help joining in. Lily, of course, was livid. All the anger was forgotten however, when the castle slowly came into view.

"It's beautiful!" Lilac exclaimed in awe. The boat started to tip over towards where she was leaning and James grabbed her arms, pulling her back into the middle of the boat.

"Careful," he warned with a smile, "we can't exactly live here for seven years of you're in the bottom of the Black Lake."

"Thanks," said Lilac gratefully, "and for the candy too."

"It's nothing," he said getting out of the boat. Sirius pat her head as he stepped out.

"What are friends for?"

Lilac watched them in awe, surprised by the new label. They were friends. She never had friends before so now she was feeling over the moon. They were escorted into the school by a half-giant named Hagrid. Once they reached two double doors, they stopped and an old woman she recognized as McGonagall spoke to them.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you can take your seats you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Now, while you are here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you house points. Any rule breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup," said the woman looking over the group of first years. There weren't many of them. "The sorting will begin momentarily."

When McGonagall went into the room, everyone burst into chatter. Lilac found herself wedged in between Sirius and James.

"I can't wait for flying lessons," said James excitedly.

"Flying?" Lilac gasped. They had gone over changing the colors of things and potions but never once had they mentioned flying.

"Yeah. On broomsticks," said James pretending to be perched on one. He ran around her in a comical manner. Lilac laughed along with Sirius. "If you're any good, you'll get to join the Quidditch team."

"What's Quidditch?"

"What's Quidditch?" James wailed. Lilac was startled by his outburst and Sirius chuckled at her terrified expression. "How do you not know what Quidditch is? It's the best sport of all time!"

"Mr. Potter, if you would refrain from yelling on the top of your lungs it'd certainly do the rest of the student body some good," said McGonagall suddenly appearing behind James. "Now, if you all would follow me."

They filed into the Great Hall, all in awe of the magic ceiling. It looked exactly like the night sky they had just been looking at when they were in the boats. As she gazed around the room, she didn't notice how her foot occasionally stepped on her robes. She let out a squeak of surprise as she tripped. An arm grabbed her and she looked up expecting to see James or Sirius but found a different boy instead. He had light brown hair - almost blonde - and blue eyes. There was a band-aid over the bridge of his nose and a scar under his chin.

"Are you alright?" the boy asked softly.

"Y-Yes, thank you," stuttered Lilac with a blush. James pulled her forwards so she'd get a good look at the hat which was sitting on a stool. It was old looking and had many tears and scratches on it. Much to her surprise, the hat started singing.

"Wicked," whispered Sirius appearing on the other side of her. Once again, she was stuck in between the two boys. The hat had a nice voice, she noticed, as it sang about the four different houses.

"Alright, when I call your name, please come up," said McGonagall looking at a list, "Polly Aubush."

Lilac watched in awe as the hat was placed on the blonde girl's head. After a few moments it came to a decision, screaming, "Ravenclaw!"

"Sirius Black!"

She watched her friend strut up to the stool confidently. He sat down and grinned at the Slytherins who watched expectantly. She frowned and looked at James who smirked at her and mirthfully shook his head.

"Everyone in his family was a Slytherin," he whispered. The hat was placed on Sirius's head and not a moment later, he was placed in Gryffindor. Her eyes widened as the Slytherins immediately started shouting nasty things.

"Blood traitor!" yelled an older boy with long white blonde hair. The Gryffindors didn't know how to react either, some of them were happy while some of them were confused and wary. Sirius wasn't affected at all however, and shot James and Lilac a grin. A couple more people were sorted before she was called.

"Lilac Evans!"

When she didn't move, James gave her a light nudge. She shyly walked up to the stool and sat down awkwardly. She didn't like how everyone's eyes were on her.

"There's another Hufflepuff," she heard a boy chuckle, "she looks scared out of her mind."

The hat was placed on her head and she wondered how the hat worked. How did it decide where to place her? Slytherin would not be a suitable house for you. Lilac's eyes widened. Was the hat talking to her? Perhaps Ravenclaw? You are a curious child who has a promising future ahead of you. Hufflepuff would never be right for you, no matter how well you fit it's values. No, you would do well and rise in the house no one would expect.

"Gryffindor!" the hat yelled. Fear, relief, shock, and happiness shot through her all at once and she hopped of the stool, rushing over to where Sirius was waiting for her. He laughed at her embarrassed expression and moved over so she could sit. Lily was called up after.

"Lily wants to be sorted into Slytherin," whispered Lilac watching as the hat was placed on the girl's auburn head.

"Not bloody likely," scoffed Sirius frowning, "she's a muggleborn. Slytherin rarely takes muggleborns."

Lilac fell silent and watched as Lily was placed into her house. She bounded over towards them and sat in front of her without a single glance at her. Lily was mad at her, she could tell. James was sorted into Gryffindor without hesitation, the hat was barely even touching a hair on his head. The brown haired boy would had caught her was also sorted into Gryffindor, his name was Remus Lupin.

"There's only four first year boys in Gryffindor," said James once the sorting ended, "you, me, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew."

"There's Marlene McKinnon, Mary MacDonald, and Lily Evans for the girls. Is Lily Evans your sister?" Sirius asked glancing at the redhead in front of them. She was busy talking to Marlene McKinnon.

"Yeah. She's my twin," said Lilac with a nod. James furrowed his eyebrows and looked between Lilac and Lily, obviously trying to see the similarities between the two. They looked similar, but they were vastly different. After dinner, they were led to the Gryffindor common room by a prefect.

"Boys are up there, girls are over there," said the prefect before leaving. James and Sirius ran up to their room and Lilac followed the other girls in her year up. There were four beds in the room with a golden first year plate on the door. Their trunks were all placed in front of their beds. Lilac was relieved to not be placed in the bed next to Lily's.

"What you did to Sev was mean," said Lily quietly as they unpacked.

"I didn't do anything," said Lilac frowning.

"You let Potter and Black make fun of him! That was awful of you!" Lily hissed lowly. The younger twin scowled at her.

"That was awful of me? I don't think you realize what you've done to Petunia. Plus, Snape hasn't been anything but cold to me. He's been a lot more awful to me than you think," shot Lilac as she climbed into her bed and shut the curtains close. Living with Lily in the same room for seven years was going to be hard.