20

The Girl Who Lived

By: Sophia

1

"Lillian and Harry! Make breakfast! Now!" came a shrill voice.

"Yes Aunt Petunia," I heard my twin brother Harry mutter from the other side of the stairs.

"Don't call me Lillian! It's Lily!" I shout. No answer. I lifted my head up only to bang it on the ceiling of my room. Well not really a room. More of an empty space where a washer used to be in a dusty old laundry room filled with cobwebs. I slip a sweatshirt on that is about 4 sizes too big for me and some baggy jeans and make my way out into the kitchen. The Dursley's are in the living room obsessing over how old Dudley is getting. Pinching his cheeks, planting kisses on his forehead. It's kind of funny to watch. Dudley is trying to count how many presents are in the giant stack, waiting to be opened.

"36! LAST YEAR I GOT 37!" Dudley screeched, about ready to throw a fit.

"But some are bigger than last year," Uncle Vernon says, trying to help Aunt Petunia calm him down,

"I DON'T CARE HOW BIG THEY ARE, LAST YEAR I GOT 37!" he wailed. I bite back a laugh.

"It's okay Duddykins, I'll go buy you 2 more presents at the store ok?" Aunt Petunia said. Dudley agreed but didn't look too pleased about it. I walked into the kitchen and found Harry already starting on breakfast.

"Morning Lily."

"Good morning Harry," I said, yawning, getting started on the bacon. I hear the phone ring and walk over to listen through the door, Harry following behind me. I hear Aunt Petunia go and answer it.

"Hello? Yes. Mhmm. Oh that's too bad. Well, I hope you feel better. Yep. Bye." She sets the phone down.

"Vernon, Mrs Figg broke her leg and can't watch them." She lets out a sigh. Harry and I exchange an excited look. Mrs Figg teaches us all about her cats and doesn't let us do anything.

"How about we call Marge?" Uncle Vernon asked. Aunt Petunia shakes her head.

"No! She despises the children."

"How about that one lady, Yvonne or something?" Uncle Vernon asks desperately.

"On vacation." Aunt Petunia lets out an exasperated sigh. "What if we leave them here?" she suggests. Me and Harry grinned at the idea.

"Absolutely not! They will cause havoc!" Uncle Vernon hissed.

"Well then we might just have to bring them with us," Aunt Petunia says. Uncle Vernon sighed. We heard it quiet down and footsteps coming over. I put the bacon on the plates, Harry the pancakes.

We waited until the Dursleys had stuffed themselves before grabbing the left-overs. I snatch a piece of bacon out of Harry's hand, when the doorbell rings.

"PIERS!" Dudley screeched. I rolled my eyes and shared a look with Harry. Dudley threw the door open and wrapped his plump arms around Piers. He looked around and his eyes landed on me. He grinned.

"Lily Pad!" He ran over to me trying to throw his arms around me. I dodged. It's disgusting. He has the biggest crush on me and I feel the complete opposite. I wish he would disappear, never to be seen again. One day he might just do that, and I may or may not have something to do with it.

"Let's go," Uncle Vernon said. Dudley, Aunt Petunia, and Piers got into the car and me and Harry started to go in until Uncle Vernon yanks us by the scruff of the neck backwards, slamming the car door shut so Aunt Petunia and the boys couldn't hear our conversation. I wince, rubbing my neck, running my finger over my lightning bolt scar.

"You two must behave yourself. If I find out you do something there will be major consequences," he snarls. I give a slight nod, seeing Harry do the same. We get into the car and Harry makes me sit next to Piers who is in the middle of me and Dudley. I glare at him and he just grins.

We arrive at the zoo and walk around for a while, watching Dudley and Piers try to make the animals do something interesting. After lunch, we head to the reptile enclosure. There are lizards and toads and snakes being gawked at by other people visiting the zoo.

"MAKE IT MOVE DADDY!" Dudley screams, banging his fist on the enclosure of the biggest snake in the zoo. Uncle Vernon comes over and knocks on the glass. The snake doesn't budge. He raps on the glass once more before giving up. Harry and I walk over and lean down to the snake's height.

"We're sorry about them," Harry says. I nod. The snake lifts his head up and does the oddest thing. He winks at us.

"You saw that right?" I whisper under my breath. Harry doesn't answer.

"Where are you from?" I ask. Harry gives me a weird look.

"What? So you can give him an apology but I can't ask where he's from?" I say rolling my eyes. The snake jabs his tail towards a sign next to his glass prison.

Boa Constrictor, Brazil

"Brazil! Woah, is it nice there?" Harry asks. The snake jabs his tail once again at the sign.

This snake was bred into captivity

"Oh I'm sorry," I apologize.

"DADDY! LOOK WHAT THE SNAKE IS DOING NOW!" Dudley screams. He runs over to get a closer look, knocking me and Harry over in the process. I grimace, rubbing the back of my head. Dudley leans on the glass, gawking at the Boa Constrictor. I glare at him. Suddenly, the glass disappears, making Dudley fall into the snake enclosure. Everyone starts to scream. The snake slithers away and I swear I hear him say something like, Brazzzzil, here I come. Thanksss amigo. And then it's gone. The glass reappears, trapping Dudley inside. Dudley is banging on the window, yelling for help while Piers is crying next to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, who are trying to help their son escape.

When we get home Harry gets tossed into his cupboard and I get thrown into my... room. I hear Dudley screaming and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, talking in harsh whispers. Every now and then some food scraps get left outside my door but I only think it's to keep me alive.

2

It's the beginning of summer holiday when we get let out again. I'm glad to have missed school. Everyone at our public school that knows Dudley and his gang, hate us.

"Get the mail, Lily," Uncle Vernon grunts, from behind his newspaper. I get up and grab the mail and take a look at it. Bills, Healthcare letters, letters from Aunt Marge. The usual stuff. However, at the bottom of the pile are two envelopes made of yellow, worn out, parchment addressed in bright green ink. The top one reads,

Mr H Potter

The Cupboard Under the Stairs

4. Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

The one under it, looks exactly like the first one, but with different writing,

Ms L Potter

The Old Laundry Room

4. Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

I gasp.

"Harry," I yell. "Come help me grab the mail." He comes around the corner and looks at me funny, saying there are only a couple of letters.

"We got mail!" I whisper excitedly.

"Sweet," he says. He grabs the letter and walks over to the kitchen.

"No! Come back Harry!" I hiss. It's too late.

"DADDY! HARRY'S GOT SOMETHING!" Dudley screams. I roll my eyes.

"Hey, give it back!" I hear Harry yell.

"Petunia....," Uncle Vernon says, his voice as soft as a whisper. No one talks for a while.

"Lillian, come here," Aunt Petunia says. Her voice cracks. I shove the letter in my pocket and walk towards the kitchen.

"Do you have something you'd like to show us?" she questions, once I enter the room.

"No," I lie. She looks at me for a moment. Uncle Vernon comes over and reaches his hands in my pocket. I flinch away.

"Get off!" I screech. He snatches the letter out of my pocket and takes Harry's from Aunt Petunia and holds them next to each other.

"I WANNA SEE!!!!" Dudley wails.

"Give them back," Harry says, lunging for it. Uncle Vernon holds it out of his reach.

"Dudley, go to your room, Harry, your cupboard, Lillian, your... thing," Aunt Petunia says, her face pale.

"How many times do I have to tell you? DON'T CALL ME LILLIAN!" I yell.

"SHE SAID GO TO YOUR ROOMS" Uncle Vernon yells, louder than I did. I sigh and follow Harry and Dudley out of the kitchen. We get out, close the door and get into a huge fight about who can listen through the peephole. Dudley wins, leaving me and Harry to strain our ears and try to listen under the door.

"Oh Vernon, what do we do?" Aunt Petunia sighs.

"Petunia. We swore when we took them in, we would put a stop to all this rubbish," Uncle Vernon says.

"Well, do we send them a letter back? Tell them they aren't going?" Aunt Petunia suggests. Going where?

"No, let's just do this." I hear ripping sounds and instantly know our letters have been ripped to shreds. I bit my lip to keep from yelling out.

"He has no right to do that," I hissed. Harry grunts in agreement. I trudge over to my "bedroom" and grab one of my favorite books. The next thing I know, I have fallen asleep with the book laying across my face.

The next day I get up, banging my head on the "ceiling" and I brush my hair, throw on my sweatshirt and l head out into the living room. As I walk past the front door I hear a grunt as I trip over something large in front of the doorway, nearly falling flat on my face. I look down to find Uncle Vernon laying there grinning evilly at me.

"Nice try, little girl. You aren't collecting your mail today," he sneers.

"I wasn't trying to- you know what, whatever," I huff exasperatedly, moving into the living room. I grab my favorite book from the worn out shelf and make myself comfortable in the small red chair in the corner of the room.