..........................................THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS................................................
Jessica Dumbledore had just woken up and was getting dressed. It was getting closer and closer to Christmas every day and the castle was definitely showing it especially helped by her fraternal twin brother Oliver and herself. Snow was falling heavily outside blanketing the grounds and making the castle shine and sparkle. Christmas was one of Jessica's favorite times of the year and her dorm was completely empty except for Hermione of course. They had also told Ginny she could stay in their dorm until their dorm mates came back because all of Ginny's dorm mates had decided to stay and they were driving her crazy. Jessica usually woke up early around the holidays so she wouldn't miss anything good.
She pulled on a Weasley jumper that Mrs. Weasley had made for her. It was emerald green with gold trimming around the collar and cuffs along with her dark boot leg jeans and her black boots with the curved toes. Just when she fastened her gold hoop earrings in her ears, a black owl with silver on the edge of it's feathers and black eyes with silver specks in them that looked like stars flew in carrying a red envelope with gold ornaments on it. She was surprised to see it. She'd forgotten that she had opened the window so she went and closed it to prevent any more snow from coming in. The owl shook the snow off of it's glossy feathers and waited patiently for her to reach for the envelope. She stared at it curiously. It was a bit early for anyone to be sending her Christmas cards and there was no name on it so she slowly picked it up and examined it.
It was a beautiful envelope but not very expensive looking. Eagerly wanting to know what was in it, she opened it carefully and a bit of parchment fell out. She picked it up and read it. It emerald green ink it read:
On the first day of Christmas,
your true love gave to you,
A beautiful black owl just for you.
Jessica turned over the parchment hoping for more or perhaps a name but there was none. "Hmmm....that's odd yet interesting." She re-read the short verse recognizing it at once. It was from the popular Christmas carol 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' but the lyrics had been altered. She looked at the owl again and it was trying to get something off it's neck. She realized it was a red collar. She put the note down and walked over to it, removing the collar. The owl hooted gratefully. She studied the tag which in the same writing read: Starlight.
"Is that your name girl?" she asked the owl.
It hooted softly, it's eyes twinkling at her.
She studied her. Her glossy black feathers were shining even in the dim light of the day and the silver on the edges was reflecting the beauty of the day. It was not completely black and silver though. On it's stomach the color went from black at it's neck and as the feathers went down they got lighter until they were a light gray almost white. It's eyes were black but with the silver specks in them, making them twinkle in the light, it reminded Jessica of the stars twinkling in the sky on a clear night.
My, aren't you a beautiful owl?" Jessica asked it. Starlight looked like she was smiling at Jessica.
Jessica picked up the letter again, hoping there was something she had missed but there wasn't.
Maybe I should get a second opinion on this...she thought. She walked back over to her four poster and pulled back the curtains. There resting on her pillow was her miniature dragon, Nicholas or Nick for short. He looked exactly like Mushu from the movie Mulan. He was as big as a small skinny lizard, was gold and red and basically looked exactly like Mushu. He also talked exactly like Mushu.
She poked him again and again until he woke up. "WHAT?!?" he shouted.
"Calm down Nick, I need your opinion on something." she told him quietly.
She explained to him all about the letter and Starlight and showed him the note.
"Well Jess, I think you should show it to Oliver." he told her handing her back the note.
"No, not until I find out more about who it is." she replied running a hand through her slightly-past-waist-length dark brown curls.
Jessica thought, trying to come up with a reason someone would do this. Not many boys in the school wanted to get to know the real her, they all wanted her for other reasons...
She was tired of it. Now it appeared that someone actually did care for her. The real question now was who?
The thought that someone might actually care for her(besides family love like her brother and grandfather) made her heart flutter and it made her smile. She walked down to the Great Hall to meet up with Oliver, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, the smile on her face getting wider as she walked.