And spring came.

The spring came with Aunt Petunia attempting to bond with her, which had been awkward before—as uncomfortable as the interactions at school with the girls who knew her only to find out she didn't recognize them anymore when the term started, to which they, in turn, decided to be distant from her, thus leaving her interactions with Petunia Dursley practically the only person she ended up interacting with.

And she seemed to be trying to make up for all the pink in the room, suddenly suggesting blue curtains out of the blue that she'd picked up while out and about. Alisha decided that the blue curtains instead of the frilly pink were a nice change, even though said blue curtains weren't that much less frilly.

Spring came, with the only letter from Harry saying he'd won his match versus Hufflepuff. She reminded him he had missed Christmas and that everyone wanted much more information than what he was sending.

"Alright, Lily. Tell Aunt Petunia I apologize for not thanking her for her gift of socks. I thought saying my feet were nice and warm during my Quidditch match would have clarified that, but it went over your silly head, didn't it? So do clarify to Aunt Petunia that the socks are appreciated. And it was hilarious, Dudley's gift, as my friends got a kick out of what he sent. And no, I'm not going to tell you what it was. Ask Dudley."

"It was a coin. A Muggle coin," Dudley wrote. "I figured someone might be interested in that."

It was the following letter that contained some details. "Got in trouble at school, but don't tell Aunt Petunia. Let Dudley know that the Keeper of the Keys, Hagrid, who you met during the summer, hatched a dragon egg, which is illegal, and we passed the dragon off, but then we got caught and had to go out to the spooky woods. Something was killing unicorns. Scared yet, Lily?"

"Good grief. I'm not the one who got detention and had to go into the spooky woods. And I decided to go ahead and tell Aunt Petunia. She is livid and says she will have words with you when you come home for summer but that you'd better come. She's still upset you didn't come home for Christmas."

Then there was nothing. There was nothing in any letter. There was nothing about Ron getting bit by a dragon—which didn't happen in the movies, or even what Aunt Marge got Harry for Christmas, as she'd taken the time to send the gift even though she had the feeling that Harry wouldn't appreciate whatever she called him.

"Unless, of course, she didn't guess right like mine. But it's getting close. It's getting close to when Harry is to face Voldemort for the first time, at the back of his professor's head."

And there she was, going clothes shopping whenever Aunt Petunia found the whim to go clothes shopping. She understood what Petunia meant by an older sister who didn't know anything about fashion and how Lily ended up helping her out. The clothes Petunia wanted to buy her, she at first was unsure about whether, to be honest, or not.

It didn't help she didn't know what was fashionable for the period either, leaving her feeling clueless looking at the clothing while knowing her brother was going to be going and doing something dangerous as she stood there looking at herself in the mirror in the changing room, holding the clothes up to her.

"Except he's not your brother. You shouldn't feel that way. Those Harry Potter books are just a story, so..."

Alisha frowned, frowned at Lily in the mirror, knowing Lily would be bothered by what she knew, yet—

"Is almost a year enough for me to have become attached to Harry and everyone, though this has got to be the most awkward of families, as the Dursley family wants to be normal to the point they're boring."

There were also certainly no hand-me-downs for her, yet picking clothes was—

"Do you like the outfit?" Petunia asked. "We can't just keep buying underwear, and rather plain underwear. I may be clueless, Lily, but even that..."

"What happened to want to be normal?" Lily—no, Alisha asked.

"What was normal for Aunt Marge and even myself isn't normal for your time frame. And you don't have any friends at school who can let you know what the current style is?"

"Well, no." Alisha frowned, telling herself she wasn't Lily. "I don't have any memories before last summer."

"That means you have to make new memories. Better memories," Petunia stated. "Sometimes, people just need a second chance."

Alisha frowned. "Wait. Did I do something wrong? Before summer started."

"Oh!" Petunia started. "No. That's not—I'm sorry. It's me who needs a second chance. I didn't embrace this whole magic thing exactly, but I'm glad Dudley is because..."

Alisha heard Petunia pause. "But this isn't normal. You like being normal."

"I didn't want to be normal," Petunia said. "But don't tell anyone that. Dudley is accepting it in a way I could never, and you say what you did at Christmas about how Aunt Marge didn't like the fact I was raising children who weren't my own. Being normal to pretend that one's family isn't normal can make you lose sight of what's important."

"What about Uncle Vernon?"

"He'll come around."

Alisha wasn't sure, yet it felt strange that Petunia was starting to side more and more on Harry and her side.

"And, despite him saying you may not turn out to be magical, I don't think that will be the case. And you should be the best-dressed witch in your year, don't you think?"

"So there is an alternate reason for this so that they don't look bad once we go to Hogwarts. And what will she think about what Harry's doing, given she was livid about the whole dragon thing." Alisha frowned. "I was thinking about how Harry was messing around with dragons."

"That..." Petunia's voice—she was not happy Alisha brought that up. "That boy. I don't like that. That magic is dangerous. And I still don't like it, but I remembered something. This last year, when it's been you and me, while Harry's been away. I remember what the teacher from that school said when he brought Lily's letter, that hindering the magic can also be a dangerous thing for everyone involved. I can't believe I forgot that."

"I don't know what's fashionable, though," Alisha said.

"Then pick something you like. Goodness knows we can afford it."

"Do you think, if I do turn out to be magical, I might pay for some of my clothes on my own?"

"Oh. They did say. Something about money: don't go spending everything from your parent's vaults, though I doubt that would be possible. But until you enter that world, when you're here, it is my task to care for you. That, I think, would make my sister happy."

"Alright," Alisha said. "I think I'll pick this one."

Because it was cute, it looked like it would fit, though it wasn't someone an adult would wear. Alisha had to continue pretending to be Lily.

And it was starting to drive her nuts, not knowing what the future held in store for her.