(Mentions of drugs and teen drinking)
On January 30th, 1960, Lily and Poppy Evans were born.
Their first year of life revolved around Lily, the youngest and weakest daughter. The complications during the pregnancy and birth had expected a bad outcome for Lily, which made her life so much more important. Petunia and Poppy fell into the background, but Petunia was determined to stay with the group and she ended up helping her parents care for Lily. Then, Poppy was left alone.
Petunia and Lily were very close growing up, until the day Lily's Hogwarts letter arrived. Petunia turned to jealousy and envy and ended up rejecting witchcraft. In a way, Poppy could understand where she came from. It felt like her sister was taken from her, like it's a barrier that separates them, muggle and witch.
Poppy never really had a problem with Petunia. They weren't close or anything, but Poppy was glad to be forgotten when she called Lily a freak. Poppy could hear Lily cry in the middle of night about it, while Poppy would sit and listen. Don't get her wrong, Poppy cares about her sister, but it's just a word. It only has meaning if you let it. Besides, the first time it happened, Poppy went to check on her, but she was pushed away with a murmur. "You wouldn't understand."
In a way, Poppy did and did not understand. She understood that their own sister thought that Lily is a freak, but Lily forgets that Poppy has magic too. However, Petunia has never once said anything like it to Poppy's face. Perhaps it's the perks of being invisible.
Naturally, Poppy learned to learn to face the word alone.
Birthday's included.
*✶⋆*★
"You're a softy." Poppy murmurs, running a gentle hand of the tattooed skin. "It's been two weeks."
Sirius whines, trying to move away from Poppy's kind fingers. "It's still sore." Poppy rolls her eyes. "Does it at least look cool?"
Poppy laughs and looks at the decently sized black dog on the corner of his back. "I've said it looks great for two whole weeks."
Sirius pulls his shirt back down and turns to look at the redhead. "I can't see it, so I'm going to trust your judgment."
"Want to take a look at mine?" As Poppy turns around, Sirius blushes pink. She pulls the back of her chunky yellow sweater over her head and holds it in front of her chest, covering her bra. Sirius, once again, tries to resist staring at her bare back and to only look at the long poppy flower tattoo in the middle. "Unlike you, I can handle a little needle, so I'm not sore." Sirius stays silent. Poppy pulls her sweater back on and turns to find a red Sirius Black.
"Happy Birthday." He blurts out suddenly.
Poppy's smile fades a bit. "Thanks."
Sirius doesn't miss her look. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing."
"It's not nothing if it's bothering you." He counters.
Poppy rolls her eyes and tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. "Isn't it against some rule to interrogate someone on their birthday." She murmurs, before grabbing her bag. "We've got to go."
"What why?" Sirius asks, but follows her lead by picking up his stuff.
Poppy gives him an amused look. "We still have class."
"But it's your birthday!" He exclaims.
Poppy laughs as they make their way down to halls. "I never do anything for it anyway."
The truth is Poppy never does anything, because it makes her sad. She'd always have to spend it alone, so she usually spent it by watching a happy Lily open presents and dance with friends, or wallow in her bed. If anything, her birthday is one of the most depressing times of the year.
"What?" Sirius knows the feeling, his family aren't the kindest. He only learned when he met the Potter's. "You have to do something." He insists.
Poppy shrugs. "Maybe I'll pop by Lily's party." Yeah, go to her party to fall into a black hole called sadness.
"You should! We can arrange it so it's both your parties, not just Lily's."
She shakes her head and pulls the strap of her bag higher on her shoulder. "Please don't. I'm used to not having a party, so please don't go to the trouble." The party doesn't sound so bad, but being overshadowed by her twin doesn't really raise a good mood from Poppy. It's better not to get your hopes up.
"Fine." He huffs.
*✶⋆*★
"Miss Poppy Evans and Mister Nate Allen." Professor Sinter calls out, pointing a boney finger at the Slytherin and redhead, assigning them to be partners for their project. Poppy turns to find a tall lanky boy with light brown hair beginning to walk towards her table. She's never seen him before, even though he's in her year. Poppy's usually pretty observant, but she can't recall him being sorted.
"Hello." He greets with a shy smile and American accent, clumsily setting his things near her desk. Now that he's closer, she can see how handsome this boy really is. His hair curls just the right amount and looks so soft, which gives her the urge to run her fingers through it. She also notices his eyes, a little surprised she didn't see before that they were two completely different colors. One eye is a rich ocean blue while the other is hazel with hints of green and blue. How hadn't she remembered this boy earlier?
Poppy feels her jaw drop slightly. He glances at her, blushing before sticking out his hand. "I'm Nate." She's mesmerized by his soft voice and pretty face that she doesn't move. He laughs awkwardly and pulls his hand away, but Poppy stops him just in time, sticking her tiny hand in his large one.
She blinks and slips her hand out of his as she looks down at her books shyly. "Poppy." She clears her throat softly and opens her book to a random page.
"So, what do you want to do for our project?" He questions with his American accent, making Poppy grin a bit.
She looks up at his face for two seconds, red faced before returning to her book. Why can't she look at him? "I don't know."
"Are you okay?"
Poppy turns to him wide eyed. "Yeah, why?"
He smiles sheepishly. "You won't look at me for more than two seconds."
Poppy turns bright pink. "Sorry, uh- um-"
"So-"
"Patronus." She blurts suddenly.
"What?" He questions, eyes on the nervous Hufflepuff.
Poppy smiles timidly. "We could do the patronus charm for our project?"
"I was thinking non-verbal spells. The patronus charm is really difficult and we learn non-verbal spells next year, so we'll be ahead."
Poppy nods. "Sure."
"So, I was thinking we could meet up in an empty classroom or something to practice?" She nods. "Is tomorrow at ten in the morning a good time?"
Poppy shakes her head. "There's a party tonight, so I'll probably be too tired tomorrow."
"That's okay, we can figure out a time later. We have a month anyway." He says dismissively. Poppy tucks a red lock of hair behind her ear and packs up her stuff as their professor tells everyone to leave.
"Want to go to that birthday party with me?" He asks before he stands up, his bag in his arms.
Poppy blushes, but quirks an eyebrow. "They're letting Slytherins in?" She questions with a small smile.
"No, but I heard a ton of Slytherins are crashing it anyway." He grins and blows a curl out of his face. "Wanna go with me?"
Poppy stands, finally realizing how short she is compared to him. He's a little over a head taller than her. "I don't know. My last party wasn't so great."
"What happened at your last one?"
Poppy looks up at him surprised. "You didn't go to the Christmas Ball?"
"I just transferred here a week ago." He grins.
"Oh, sorry."
"It's fine. You're nicer than a lot of people." He dismisses.
"What do you mean?"
"The people in the red and gold robes give me dirty looks."
Poppy rolls her eyes. "The Gryffindors. Don't worry about them. The Gryffindors and Slytherins never get along."
"I'll take your word for it. Anyway, I'll see you at the party." He calls out before turning a corner and disappearing from view.
*✶⋆*★
Poppy wraps her arms around her middle nervously. Her hair's braided and tucked up with tiny strands of red hair framing her face quite nicely as they fall. Her soft white dress shows off the tattoo on her back as her stomach does flips. Poppy's never really really had a crush, but Nate Allen is too beautiful not to notice. It made her kind of sad that she didn't go to breakfast that day to admire him more.
Speaking of Nate Allen, he'd spent about thirty minutes just to pick an outfit to wear. Everything seemed wrong to see the pretty redhead from DADA. He styled his light brown hair as best as he can, which is just messing it up and hoping it looks good. His cheeks are a bit flushed from thinking about his date. Was it a date? He didn't say it, but she seemed a little adamant about going to the party. He hopes he didn't pressure her into going with him. Although she was quite flustered whenever he spoke to her, which could be a bad or good sign. Ugh! This is so confusing!
Poppy stands awkwardly outside of the room of requirement, where she can hear the beginning of a raving party. She decided to go early, just in case he got there before her and had to wait. However, the downside is that she is waiting and overthinking everything. Her mind spins nervously. What if he doesn't show? What if-
"Hi!" Sirius stands in front of her with a large smile on his face.
"Hey." Poppy greets, returning his smile, forgetting about her nervousness about the different colored eyed boy and focusing on the happy one in front of her.
"You came!" He cheers, before grabbing her arm to drag her inside, just assuming that she didn't go in because she was nervous.
Poppy giggles a bit, but pulls her arm out of his grasp. "Sorry, I'm waiting for.." She trails off for a moment. "A friend."
"Who?" He questions, his smile diminishing a bit as he notices her hesitation on friend
Poppy smiles slightly and pushes back the urge to hide who she's waiting for. "His name is Nate Allen."
Sirius' smile falls completely and furrows his eyebrows. "Isn't he that new snake from America?"
Poppy shakes her head and her grin falls too as she becomes defensive. "He's not a snake."
"He's in Slytherin." He defends.
Poppy crosses her arms. "Not everybody in Slytherin is a snake. Charlie's in Slytherin and he's one of sweetest people." Sirius rolls his eyes, but Poppy continues. "Besides, your brother's in Slytherin too."
Sirius steps back, hurt. His angry look falling and being replaced with a wounded look, Poppy immediately regretting ever bringing his brother into anything. "Sirius." She murmurs looking into his heartbroken face. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to bring him into this. Please-" Poppy tries to grab his arm to stop him from leaving, but he slips away. Poppy feels her eyes prickle with held back tears. She fucked up.
After a minute of standing there trying to gather herself so she can find Sirius and apologize more, she stopped by a gentle hand touching her shoulder. She turns to find Nate Allen, the gorgeous boy in front of her, but it's hard to think of him when she's hurt Sirius. "Are you okay?"
Poppy sniffles. "Yeah." She murmurs softly, trying to keep her voice from cracking. "Let's get a drink."
He grabs her arm gently to stop her and looks into her red rimmed eyes. "Are you sure? We can go to the library if you want. We don't have to be here."
Poppy shakes her head softly. "I'm just thirsty."
*✶⋆*★
Two hours into the party Poppy's already drunk as a skunk and Nate is trying to take care of her. He regrets letting her drink at all. She's obviously not okay. "Poppy!" He yells over the music and crowd, trying to find the redhead. He spots her near the food stand and rushes over to her.
"Poppy, please stop running away!" He pleads, but pauses when the redhead turns around. She looks quite similar to Poppy, but she wearing something completely different. "Poppy?" He questions, tilting his head.
The look-a-like laughs and shakes her head. "Nope. I'm Lily Evans, her sister." Nate furrows his eyebrows. He doesn't remember Poppy mentioning she has a twin, not to mention it's her birthday. "Why are you looking for her?" Lily questions over the obnoxious music. She also can't help but think of how this is the first time she's been mistaken for Poppy. The thought makes her a little sad, but brushes it off for now.
"She drank and now I can't find her." He explains while glancing around the room for Poppy.
Lily looks at him worriedly. "What happened?"
He turns back to her. "I don't know. I walked up and she looked like she was about to cry. Then she wanted a drink and I should've stopped her, but I don't know her that well-"
Lily cuts him off. "Let's split up. We'll find her quicker."
*✶⋆*★
After seeing Sirius snogging with some random girl around twenty minutes into the party, she grabbed a cup of fire whiskey. Thus leading to Poppy sitting on the floor of a soft rug, half passed out. She feels all warm inside and the world spins. It makes her a little nauseous, so she lays her head down for a while, but looks back up to repeat the process. The drinks made her brain fuzzy which was nice for how crappy she was feeling earlier. It makes her forget that she left Nate behind and that she hurt Sirius' feelings, as well as see him kiss another girl. It really shouldn't bother her. She's got the handsome Nate Allen for a date? Was it a date? Oh well. It doesn't matter now, Poppy's floored.
"Poppy!" A feminine voice rings out before a pair of arms pull her up into a sit. Poppy lets her head dangle, tired. "Poppy? Are you okay? How much have you drank?"
"Lily." Poppy slurs, her head rolling as Lily huffs. Lily lifts Poppy's arm over her shoulder and drags her to a bathroom. "Ugh." Poppy groans as a wave of nausea comes.
"Hey, it's okay." Lily murmurs, glancing at her wasted sister. She glances at the large tattoo on Poppy's back, but ignores her own thoughts. Now is not the time to reprimand. Lily locks the door and leans Poppy against the wall. Lily sighs with irritation and sits on the floor with her twin. "Merlin, Poppy. You know better than to drink so much."
"I don't feel well." Poppy slurs, her head between her legs to lessen the nausea.
"I know." Lily murmurs as she pulls Poppy's braids out and runs her fingers through her hair. Lily twists Poppy's locks into a bun on top of her head, using some of the bobby pins to keep back pieces of hair from falling. Just in time too, because Poppy throws up into the toilet bowl. Lilly grimaces, but rubs her sisters back softly.
"Gross." Poppy murmurs before vomiting again.
Twenty minutes after throwing up, Poppy feels a little better, but she's still fairly nauseous, so she sits near the toilet bowl. "I'm sorry." Lily says, breaking the silence.
"What for?" Poppy questions, closing her eyes.
"I'm sorry I forgot your name."
Poppy sighs. "It's okay."
"You forgive me that easily?" Lily asks, surprised.
Poppy scoffs lightly. "No." There's a moment of silence between them, before Poppy continues. "No, because it's not only my name." They sit there in silence for a while.
"Remember when we were younger and you went through a huge Romeo and Juliet phase." Lily laughs softly, falling back into memories. "I used to trip over all the books."
"You remembered that?" Poppy questions turning to look at Lily.
Lily smiles at her. "Of course. You introduced me to Shakespeare."
"I didn't know that." Poppy murmurs.
Lily grins. "You wouldn't. You didn't look up for at least two weeks."
"I'm sorry too." Poppy says back after a moment.
"Why? You have nothing to apologize for. It's completely my fault."
Poppy shakes her head softly. "I should've tried harder to be a part of your life, instead of-"
"Stop." Lily interrupts. "It's my fault. We both know it." She sighs. "I just want us to be friends and maybe sisters again. I hate being at each other's throats all the time."
Poppy grins softly. "Happy Birthday, Lily."
"Happy Birthday, Poppy."
*✶⋆*★