A/N: I don't own anything you recognize.
Adara was wearing the green dress she had been bragging about. It came neatly to her knees, had puffy satin sleeves, sparkles woven into the fabric, and a slightly scooped neckline. Around her neck glittered a large emerald necklace I'd never seen before.
"Like it, Rose? Daddy got it for me for today! The rest of the guests are gathering in the gold ballroom," she said to Mom and Father. They nodded leaving me with Adara.
"There's a table for presents set up in the corner," she called after them. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I had spent nearly a month looking for the perfect gift for Adara. What does one get a rich, spoiled eleven year old girl? I had finally found the perfect thing last week and was looking forward to her face when she opened it.
We walked towards the ballroom, Adara babbling about the food her parents had ordered from some caterer I'd never heard of. The sound of the floo filled the air behind us.
"I've got to greet my guests, I'll be along in a minute, Rose. I think James was looking for you to arrive." I nodded joining the throng of guests in the ballroom. I could see my parents talking to Aunt Susan across the room. Uncle Harry had chosen not to come, both because he disliked Adara's father greatly, and because he would rather listen to a horde of screaming children than confront his feelings for Aunt Ginny. Mom didn't know I knew all this, I always had a habit of knowing things I shouldn't.
"Rose, there you are, Fred was betting you weren't going to spend time with us tonight," James said sweeping me over to a group of kids, most of which were Weasleys. I was always glad Mom didn't marry Uncle Ron, and I was actually not related to any of them.
"Hi, Rose," Miranda said with a smile. She'd also gotten the memo and was wearing a blue dress instead of her usual green.
"I see Adara told you not to wear green?" I asked raising one eyebrow.
"Yeah, she owled everyone she could think of, including all the boys. As if any of them were planning to wear a green dress."
"I was!" Fred protested causing us all to roll our eyes. I was never sure if Fred was joking or if he was telling the truth. He could say even most insane things with a completely straight face.
"It would go wonderfully with your hair, Freddy," James commented leaning agaisnst a wall. James always acted like he was in charge of whichever group he was hanging with. This was part of the reason I found him to be an arrogant prick. Thankfully I rarely saw him other than at these family get togethers.
"So, where'd the birthday girl disappear to?" Miranda asked looking around.
"She said something about greeting her latest guests. I got my Hogwarts letter."
"Good, you'll be going with us in the fall. Is it too much to hope Adara's a squib?" I glared at James.
"No, she's not and yes, she did get her letter, and I'm willing to bet your parents are going to tell you to be nice to her, even if she probably will be in Slytherin," I replied daring James to challenge me. I was pretty sure the only reason James didn't like Adara was because their fathers hated each other, or at least they had in school.
"Attention everyone!" Adara's voice echoed through the ballroom. Aunt Ginny was standing next to her holding her wand. She had amplified Adara's voice for everyone to hear.
"First of all, thank you everyone for coming to my eleventh birthday celebration. There is food on the far right wall, drinks as well. We will be opening the up the floor for dancing if anyone wishes to do so." I tried not to laugh. Adara sounded like she was reading off a script. I knew her and Aunt Ginny had practiced this speech for a few weeks.
"Rose, want to go get a drink?" Fred asked.
"Sure." We walked over to the food tables, James trailing behind us. He hated to be left out of anything.
"What did you get her?"
"A diary with a snake on the front, I had no idea what to get her. You?"
"I found this little jewelry case, it's made of jade. I know she was just saying she needed something new for school."
"I got her a whole bunch of sweets," James added. "Some of them are even the normal kind." Fred rolled his eyes.
"So when Adara turns into a giant canary she'll blame me or my siblings?" Fred muttered.
"Of course, isn't it perfect?" Fred and I glared at James who quickly disappeared to annoy one of the other kids.
