The Parselmouth and the Basilisk {Jade Book 2}

Chapter 4

"That is the end of the tryouts! The six of you, write your name, position and date of birth down on this piece of parchment on this table here.

The six of us got into a line.

I was behind Anja.

I didn't know what she was writing, but when she was done and I bent over to write my own name down, I gasped.

Anja Pansé, Beater, born 3rd of November, 1979.

She had the same birthday as me?

Suddenly, I recalled what Father had told me on the last day of school last year.

I had had a twin sister, but she had died at the age of about 4. He had neglected to mention what her name was.

Maybe that had been on purpose.

I quickly scribbled down my name, position and date of birth.

Jade Evans, Beater, born 3rd November, 1979.

I walked casually over to Anja. "Hey Anja, so is your birthday really the 3rd of November?"

She nodded, looking confused. "Uh, yeah, why?"

"Because mine is too!"

"What?"

I repeated to her what Father had told me.

"So...maybe our godmother lost track of me and thought I'd died?"

I nodded.

"Let's go ask Father what my twin sister's name was," I suggested.

Anja agreed, so as soon as we were allowed to leave, we went up to my father's office.

I knocked.

"Who's there?" he called.

I hoped this wasn't going to be waste of time and her birthday turned out as a mere coincidence.

"It's just me, Father," I replied. "And I brought a friend."

"Come in, then."

I stepped into the room. "Father, I need to ask you a question. What was my twin sister's name?"

He glanced at Anja and I think that that was when he realised why we were there.

"Her name is – was Anja. But she's not this Anja. She looked very different to you, Anja Pansé."

"Be reasonable, Father. The last time you saw my sister, she was probably about two years old," I told him, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. "And her birthday is the same as mine."

His eyes widened a little, but he still shook his head. "No...my daughter's middle name is Lily. Yours is...?"

She smirked a little. "Lily. My middle name is Lily."

Father gasped and leant back in his chair. "No. No...Cissy would never lie to me..."

I remembered seeing my parents in the Mirror of Erised. My mother. She had looked exactly like me, except for her eyes...

I pushed Anja forward. "Father, look at her eyes!"

He got up and looked straight into Anja's green eyes. Then he collapsed back onto his seat. "Lily," he whispered. "Cissy must have lost track of you...but you are alive! Anja Lily Snape."

He smiled.

"Um...Father, who's Cissy?" I asked carefully.

I figured she was my godmother, but that didn't exactly help all that much.

"Oh, Cissy is your godmother. Her full name is Narcissa Malfoy," he explained.

"Thankyou, Professor Snape," Anja said, turning to leave. I whispered something to her and she turned back to Father.

"I mean, thankyou, Father."

Father beamed. "I'm so glad I found you. My two daughters. You found each other."

Yes, we had.

As soon as we were out of our father's office, Anja turned to me.

"So you were right. We're sisters. Twin sisters. Wow."

"I know," I agreed. "My family seems to get larger each year. Father last year. And this year, I just found out that Draco is my godbrother and you're my twin sister."

But I'd just had another thought.

If Anja was my twin sister, then didn't that mean she was an Heir of Slytherin too?