Ready to Start

George and Sydney were sitting in the park. It was midnight, but no one could see them. No one could hear them either, thanks to the charms Sydney had cast.

“I-we, rather-was born here in London. The story was always that we were conceived in Australia, so our parents named us after places there-Sydney and Victoria. Shortly after we were born, Mum and Dad took us to Japan. They were working in the Japanese ministry there. Dad made friends with Mr. Enoki. Hana, his daughter, was our schoolmate.” She started.

George nodded, egging her on.

“Victoria is beautiful. She’s different from anyone else, well, except for me. Everyone thought she was beautiful. We went to an international school, you see, so witches and wizards of all races went to our school. Victoria and Hana were the most popular girls there. She was beautiful, smart, brilliant, and kind. Vic was perfect. I wanted to be like her, but I was just Victoria Lake’s stupid twin sister.” She mumbled.

“So she’s still alive?” George asked curiously.

Sydney held a hand up, to stop him. “There’s more. I was jealous of Vic. She had everything I could’ve ever wanted. She was popular, she was smart, and she had friends. I was just Victoria’s twin sister. People didn’t call me by my name. The only person who did was Charles.”

“Bloody hell, here we go. Who is Charles?” George asked impatiently.

Sydney gulped. “Charles was Victoria’s boyfriend. He was gorgeous…so of course, he and Vic made the perfect couple. They were the most beautiful, popular people in school. Charles didn’t know who I was until he met me at home. He was waiting for Vic to come out when I came into the room and said hi.”

“So what does Charles have to do with anything?” George asked.

“He told me I was prettier than her, that I was smarter. He told me I should’ve been the popular one, and eventually it came to the point where he told me he liked me better than her. Then it became that he loved me more than her.

“Tell me you love me.” Sydney whispered through her hair.

Charles laughed and pushed back a lock of hair. “I love you.” He kissed her and pushed her back.

Sydney rolled out from under him. “Charles, don’t be silly.” She chuckled.

“Silly? I’ve been seeing you for a month now.” He said impatiently.

“You know I don’t want to.” Sydney said sharply.

Charles pounced on her, pinning her down. “Maybe I want to.” He said in a husky voice.

“Stop it! You’re hurting me!” she yelped.

“Shut it.” He said, nipping her neck.

“Stop!” she screamed.

Suddenly, the door whipped open. Victoria’s face said it all. “You!” she screeched. She lunged at the bed. At first, Sydney thought it was at her, but she instead threw herself at Charles. “How dare you try and hurt my sister!”

“Calm the fuck down, Vic!” Charles yelled.

“No! You won’t hurt her.” Victoria said, throwing a spell at him. It hit the wall and caused several picture frames to fall. In retaliation, Charles shot stuns at Vic, which she quickly deflected. They took a chunk out of the wall.

“Stop it!” Sydney screamed, ducking behind the bed.

Victoria wouldn’t have it. She was completely livid. “No one hurts my sister!” she snarled. “Petrificus totalus!”

She missed, which gave Charles the opportunity to shook a particularly strong stun at Victoria. It hit her square in the chest. Gasping, she fell back and hit the wall, slumping down. Her chest started to fall and rise quickly as her eyes fluttered. Victoria’s breath became wheezy.

“Vic?” Charles whispered quietly.

“What have you done?” Sydney asked, horrified. Charles quickly backed up until he apparated out of the room. Sydney screamed and screamed, but no one was coming.

“She died there?” George asked, stunned.

Sydney shook her head. “My parents got there…she was able to get to a healer in time. She was sick for such a long time. Those stuns were powerful and it hit her straight away in the chest. It collapsed in…there was no way they could heal her. All they could do was manage the pain.”

It was Vic’s sixth day in the wizarding hospital. Their parents had given the girls some alone time. Sydney put fresh flowers in the vase next to Vic’s bed and smiled.

“You’re looking stronger.” She said.

Vic fluttered her eyes and coughed out a laugh. “You’re lying.”

Sydney stroked her sister’s hair. “You’re going to be just fine. Everything is going to be just fine.”

Victoria stared at her. “No it’s not. Syd, I’m dying.” She gasped.

Sydney’s smile faltered, and the tears began to roll. “No, it can’t be. Vic, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

Vic grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “Hey, don’t. It’s his fault. Don’t blame yourself.”

“I don’t know if I can make it without you.” Sydney said, her bottom lip trembling.

Vic squeezed her hand again, but softer. “You know I’ll always be around, Syd.” She whispered. “We’re two of a kind. It’s always going to be you and me.” She said.

Sydney stared off into the darkness. “And then she died.”

George didn’t know what to say. There weren’t words to describe what he was trying to say.
After a silent minute, he wrapped his arms around Sydney in a reassuring hug.

She needed it.