Thump. Thump. Thump.
Joanna Potter heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. She peeked her head up and saw the hallway light turn off from under crack of her bedroom door. The footsteps continued to shuffle down the hall and then there was the click of a door closing. Jo counted off one more minute in head and then turned to face her brother, Harry Potter, from across the small bedroom. His faced mirrored her own with a big grin plastered across his face.
As soon as the coast was clear, Jo ripped her covers off of her and stood in the middle of the their tiny bedroom. After giving Harry a quick smile, she bent down and removed a small slab of wood from the floor quietly to reveal a hole. Jo stuck her hand inside, moving it around quietly until she found what she was searching for. When she pulled her hand away, Jo held up a book.
"Oh, that one's mine," Harry whispered to her, holding his hands out. "I haven't finished that assignment yet."
Jo handed her brother the book. Since they came back for the summer holiday, Uncle Vernon made the twins store all their Hogwarts belongings in their trunks and then locked them away in the cupboard under the stairs. As the weeks went by, Harry, very stealthily snuck down the stairs and picked the lock of the cupboard. He then would take any books and supplies needed for the twins to work on their summer assignments for school. There was no way Jo would go back to school from the holiday with zero work completed. "You should be finished that one by tonight," she told Harry. "You've been working on that one for ages."
Harry rolled his eyes. He was slightly annoyed with Jo for having finished her assignments already. She shrugged. She couldn't help it if she enjoyed doing school work more than Harry did.
Jo reached down into the floors again and pulled out another book for herself. It was one of her old potions books. She must of read it a dozen times already, but she didn't mind, it was her passion. "If you need help, you only have to ask." Harry then proceeded to hand her his paper and book. Jo chuckled, "I'm not going to write it for you, Harry."
"Worth a shot," Harry muttered, opening his book.
And the two sat like this for the rest of the night. Harry worked on his assignment while Jo read her book. Before Jo knew it, her watch started beeping. She looked down and saw that it was now midnight. "Happy Birthday, Harry!" Jo said happily.
"Happy Birthday, JoJo."
"Can you believe we made it to 13?" she asked excitedly.
Harry gave a quiet laugh. "No, not really. Not after you consider the last two years of school with Voldemort trying to kill us." Harry paused, then added. "What do you think he'll try this year?"
Now it was Jo's turn to laugh. "Come on, Harry. You can't think that way. Besides, we've already fought him off 3 times now, I think we're doing alright." Although after last year, Jo had barely survived Voldemort's attack. She really hoped to not have a repeat of that anytime soon.
"Well at least this years' birthday isn't as depressing as last year. I mean sure, we're still locked in our bedroom and can't talk to our friends," said Harry, "but at least theres no bars on our windows and we can let Hedwig loose."
Harry had a point, Jo thought. Two weeks into the beginning of the summer, Ron Weasley had called for Harry and Jo. It was his first time using a Muggle phone, and lets just say, it did not go well. Uncle Vernon was furious that the twins had given out the Dursleys number to their friends. Ron did not call again after that incident, and the twins never heard from Hermione. Ron must have warned her. And since then, the twins hadn't heard from their friends at all. Uncle Vernon did agree for them to let Hedwig out at night only that they swore that they would not send letters to their friends. If they did and he caught them, well, they would be "punished severely." Neither Jo nor Harry wanted to risk the nice calm summer they've been having thus far and go back to the days when Uncle Vernon was relentless. Luckily the Dursleys had no idea about the loose floor board and the twins were also lucky enough to get away with doing their school assignments.
Jo stood up and walked over to the window. "I miss Hedwig," she mused, looking out into the night. Hedwig was like their other sibling, she was their family. She was always there for the twins. But, Jo was happy that she could fly at night instead of being locked away in her cage like the previous summer.
Harry's face darkened. "She can come back as long as she doesn't put a dead rat on my pillow again."
Jo chuckled and then stopped dead. A cough was heard from the bedroom next to them. Uncle Vernon. Moments later, they heard him snoring again. Jo let out a sigh of relief. "Well, I would have gotten you something, if we weren't on house arrest," she turned to Harry.
He smiled back at her. "And I would have too. It's okay though. Our birthday gift to each other is staying out of trouble."
Jo arched an eyebrow. "Did you really just say that? You're the one that always gets into the trouble!"
Harry was about to argue with her, but something past Jo into the night caught his eye. He stood up and came over to the window besides Jo. "Do you see that?" he asked.
Jo followed Harry's gaze. She did see it. Far in the distance was a dark mass in the sky. As it got closer, Jo could see wings flapping and that it looked slightly lopsided. "Are those owls?" she asked out loud.
The twins watched as the figures descended lower and lower before they finally realized the flying object was heading straight for their bedroom window. The two leaped aside as three owls came soaring into their room, landing on Jo's bed. One owl had a very large package tied to its legs and it was being supported by the other two. Jo realized that it was Errol, the Weasley's owl. The other two owls were, Hedwig, who also had a package with her, and a brown owl whom the twins did not know, had something from Hogwarts.
Jo ran over quickly and untied the large package from Errol, who looked thrilled to have it gone, collapsing on her bed. Then Jo untied the package from Hedwig, who hooted happily. Harry took the Hogwarts letter from the third owl, who flew immediately out of the twins' room and back into the night. Harry brought water and food over to Errol and Hedwig while Jo began opening the packages.
"It's a birthday card!" Jo exclaimed, opening it quickly. Harry stood next to her watching. Two pieces of paper fell out of the envelope Jo opened, one a letter and the other a newspaper article.
It was a piece from the Daily Prophet. "Look at the Weasley's!" Jo said, pointing to the picture in the paper of the entire Weasley family. It was a black and white photo of the family smiling and waving excitedly with the Egyptian Pyramids behind them. They all looked like they were enjoying themselves. Apparently, Mr. Weasley had won the grand prize at the Ministry and now the Weasley's were vacationing in Egypt where they were visiting Ron's oldest brother, Bill, who works there. Jo couldn't help but smile at the photograph. "Look how happy they are," she said, especially Ginny. Ginny had a rough first year at Hogwarts, and after how it ended, Jo had worried about her a great deal. Jo couldn't think of a better family who deserved this trip.
Harry took Ron's letter out of Jo's hand and started reading it. "Dear, Harry and JoJo. Happy birthday! I know I probably got you in trouble after that phone call... sorry about that. I hope the Muggles aren't treating you too badly. I'm in Egypt now with the family and it's amazing. Crazy how Dad won the grand prize! Bill has given us tours of the old tombs. The old Egyptian wizards were some interesting folks. Oh! I almost forgot! Mum and Dad are going to buy me a new wand with the money we won as well. No more slugs..." Jo and Harry both laughed, remembering how Ron had broken his wand and any magic he attempted with the broken wand had some consequences. "We're going to London about a week before terms begins. Maybe we can meet you two there? Try and come if you can. Don't let the Muggles get you down! P.S your gift is in the package. Bill think its a scam, but I thought if anyone needs its, it's the two of you. Happy birthday again! Bye - Ron."
Jo bent down and picked up the present and unwrapped what looked like a spinning top. Attached was another note from Ron. She read, "This is a Pocket Sneakoscope. It's supposed to light up and spin around when someone untrustworthy is around. Definitely something the two of you need." Jo smiled and looked over at Harry. "He has a point, given our history." Harry smirked and shook his head. Leave it to Ron. "What did Hedwig bring?" Jo asked her brother.
Harry picked up the parcel from Hedwig. "It's from Hermione. Dear Jo and Harry, Happy Birthday! I wanted to call, but Ron wrote me and told me about his phone call to your uncle. It didn't sound like it went okay. I hope you're both alright. I'm currently in France right now with my parents and Hedwig showed up! It was quite the surprise. I think she wanted the two of you to really have a birthday. She showed up at the perfect time! I was having a hard time figuring out how to send you your gift. Anyway, Ron is Egypt now with his family and I am beyond jealous. He's probably learning so much right now. I hope I'll be able to see you two in London when Ron is going. Hopefully your aunt and uncle will let you come. But if not, I will see you on the Hogwarts Express. Happy Birthday! Love, Hermione."
Jo picked up the present from Hermione. It was heavy. Harry arched an eyebrow, "Books?" he asked. Jo ripped the paper off and immediately gasped. It was a black leather case with the words 'Broomstick Servicing Kit,' written across it. "Wow, this is amazing!" Jo opened the case slowly. Everything you needed to take care of your broomstick was in the case. "Now you can keep your Nimbus 2000 is shape," Jo told her brother.
"And your broom too when we get it," said Harry seriously. "You need a proper broom this year, not the old storage ones. Wood would not be happy if one of his star players is on an old broomstick again."
Jo smiled. Harry was right. She needed a decent broom to keep up with all the other teams and her own if they were to have a shot at winning the cup. She put down Hermione's gift. All that was left was the letter from Hogwarts. There was on for each of them.
Jo read through her letter quickly. It was their standard letter from Hogwarts informing them when the Hogwarts Express will be leaving and their list of books for third year. Then she read the slip that came with the letter. "Hogsmeade trip: Third years are permitted to leave Hogwarts on weekends to the village of Hogsmeade. Permission form must be signed by your parent/guardian."
Jo felt her heart sink a little bit. In order for them to go to Hogsmeade, Uncle Vernon has to sign a permission slip. Their chances of that actually happening were very slim. "We're not going to be able to go to Hogsmeade, are we?" Jo said sadly.
Harry walked over to Jo and gave her a hug. "Hey, we've been good this summer so far. If we keep this up, Uncle Vernon will have to sign for us. But let's not worry about this now," he said, pulling away, but leaving his hands on her shoulders.
It was just then that Jo realized how much taller her brother was becoming. He was beginning to tower over her. Aside from their bright green eyes, they looked nothing alike. They had been told over the past two years that Jo looked very much like their mother, and Harry their father. Thinking about her parents made her sad, knowing that another birthday is here and their parents are not. But, looking up at her brother, Jo couldn't imagine him not being by her side always. For the first time in her life, Jo felt like she and Harry actually had a real birthday. She pulled Harry in for another hug and whispered, "Happy birthday, Harry."