Petunia was always the worse sister - not as pretty, not as kind and especially not as magical as Lily. Jealousy and bitterness rule her life, until one fateful encounter changes her destiny ...
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Petunia was always the lesser out of the two Evaness...
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The landscape unfurling beyond her window changed slowly, from urban greyness and honking horns to sprawling fields of waving gold, sparse forests, low hills with sheep dotted onto them like drops of white paint onto a green canvas, through echoing tunnels and across high bridges.
As time passed and her view changed, a few students - Prefects - started trickling back into the compartment. Most were in pairs or groups, finding seats while caught up in their talks but Petunia wasn't fooled. Whenever she turned her head they looked away too quickly and conversations stuttered strangely.
They were talking about her. Probably wondering what she was doing here, though someone must have informed them of her presence as no one challenged her right to sit here in their fancy compartment.
Most of them got up from time to time, some disappearing for minutes, others for hours, but they always returned in the end, reporting to a boy with a high forehead and the most pompous badge pinned to his chest, notably different from those the other students were wearing.
There was one exception to the pattern; a tall boy with neatly combed, light brown hair and too-short sleeves only ghosted into the compartment for a few moments each time, quickly talked to the pompous boy and then disappeared again, not in the least tempted by the plush seats, space or quiet the compartment could offer him.
That was until hours into the ride. Petunia had started eating her Welsh cakes, glad that she brought them when she saw that all the snacks being sold were funny sweets - though her heart did constrict strangely when she spotted the familiar, colourful packaging of Bertie Bott's Beans on the trolley. The sky outside her window had changed, the clouds tinted dark blue and rosette, the horizon flooded with orange as dusk settled.
The boy entered the compartment and instead of looking for the Head Boy (Petunia had managed to read the fine script on the fancy badge) he sat down on the seats right across from her, his face clouded and his gaze glued to the darkened landscape rattling past without really watching it.
Now that he sat so close Petunia was startled to see the scars on his face. They weren't deep or fresh but noticeable enough that Petunia wondered how she had missed them before, silver lines running over the bridge of his nose, through his eyebrow and across his cheek.
They looked brutal.
Maybe the boy felt her stare because suddenly brown eyes turned away from the window, meeting hers.
Petunia was just a tad too slow in looking away and embarrassment washed through her but then he smiled. It looked a bit tired, the edges worn away, but appeared honest enough.
Though Petunia was still surprised when he actually addressed her.
"Excuse my manners. You must be the new teaching assistant Dumbledore told us about - my name is Remus."
"Apprentice groundskeeper," Petunia corrected reflexively before clearing her throat. "I'm Petunia."
For reasons she didn't want to examine but was all too aware of she didn't mention her last name. She had no doubt that her relation to the most popular girl at school wouldn't stay a secret for long but she was in no hurry to let herself be compared right from the start.
