Today was the day of the Slytherin Quidditch trials.

It was a Saturday afternoon and I was just standing there with the Nimbus Two Thousand I had received the previous year.

Blaise was in one of the seats, preparing to watch the trial.

However, I couldn’t see Anja anywhere. I frowned. That was odd.

Then someone tapped me on the shoulder. I spun around, expecting to see Draco, Sirius or Flint standing there.

To my surprise, it was Anja.

“Hi, Anja,” I greeted her. She nodded in reply. “Are you trying out? And what for?”

“Beater. Hopefully we both get the position, so we can actually work together. Not like you and that other Beater last year,” she explained.

“Fair enough,” I agreed.

Last year, the other Beater had been one of Flint’s closest friends. We hadn’t gotten on at all.

His idea of an interesting conversation was talking about all the achievements he had received while at Hogwarts, even though it was rumoured he had only received two OWLs. I thought that was probably true.

As for his arrogance, well, it should suffice to say that it dwarfed that of Gilderoy Lockhart.

Finally, the tryouts began. The Chaser tryouts were first. The positions were the same as last year. Flint, Sirius and the other sixth-year boy got the position.

Next were the Beater tryouts.We were each given a bat. A Bludger would then be released. We had to hit it as hard as we could and whoever hit it the furthest would win.

I lined up in front of Anja.

After what seemed like forever, it was finally my turn. There were about 15 people trying out.

I hit the Bludger as hard as I could and it flew off, over the towers of Hogwarts, before it finally came back.

According to Flint, it was a ‘good attempt’ and it was Anja’s turn.

She didn’t get it as far as I did, but she came close.

At the end of the Beater tryouts, all of us who’d tried out stood around Flint anxiously.

He was going to be biased, I knew that, but the guy who’d been Beater last year hadn’t tried out this year.

So maybe Anja and I had a chance.

He proceeded to read out a list of everyone who’d tried out and how far they’d gotten their Bludger.

“Jade Evans. Other end of Hogwarts. Impressive. Receives position.”

Everyone applauded.

Flint’s bias luckily hadn’t cost me the position, but then again, I was the daughter of the Head of Slytherin House.

“Anja Pansé. Around Astronomy, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Towers. Quite good. Receives position.”

Anja was the other Beater!

She grinned at me.

He finished reading out the names.

The Keeper tryouts went fine, the position was taken by the same person who had had it last year.

Then came the Seeker tryouts. “The Seeker is Draco Malfoy. We do not need tryouts as we have had private tryouts.”

Some people stirred uneasily and glanced at the seats. Mr Malfoy was seated there, regarding everyone with great superiority.

“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?