Lavender Brown
Knit, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, turn.
Knit, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, turn.
Knit, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8… Eight! Curse it, I've dropped two stitches!
I hurl the lavender-coloured ball of wool across the dormitory, closely followed by the small amount of knitting I had finished and the two needles. How can Miss Know-it-all sit in the noisy common-room and chat, and still manage to make scarves and hats with no problems, and I can't do it while sitting alone in a quiet room? It's not fair!
Sighing, I scramble off my bed and collect the knitting and ball of wool from underneath Parvati's bed. I would hat it if she knew I was trying to make something for Ron for Christmas, instead of buying him a gift from one of the catalogues that litter our side of the room.
But I know that he likes the jumpers his Mum gives him every year; they're always maroon, so I picked the colour of the wool so it will look good against it. The fact it's my namesake colour is just a coincidence…
I undo the rows until I can pick up the dropped stitches – I'm becoming an expert at this part of knitting! – and start again.
Knit, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, turn
Knit, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, turn
As the scarf lengthens under my inexpert hands, I wonder what Ron will give me for Christmas? He bought Hermione perfume last year, but they're only friends, as they both keep insisting. And they're not even that at the moment, after Hermione attacked him with those birds after the Quidditch match.
I can hear footsteps running up the stairs, and I hastily push the knitting under my bed out of sight. It may not be Parvati or Hermione, but I don't want to take any chances.
Glancing at the clock on my bedside table, I'm surprised to see that I'm nearly late for dinner. If I don't find Ron before he gets to the Great Hall, I'll be stuck sitting opposite Hermione, who'll spend the entire meal scowling at me. She tries to pretend she's not, but she is. And Parvati has noticed it too, so it's not just me being extra-sensitive about it.
Dinner – and a lovely hour with Ron in an empty classroom – is over, and I'm determined to finish the scarf tonight so I can send it by last parcel-post owl tomorrow.
I give Parvati a lame excuse about needing my beauty-sleep, and dash up the stairs to the dormitory. Flinging open the door, I'm confronted with a tangled web of lavender wool twisted around every piece of furniture in the room.
And in the middle of it is Hermione's damned cat, looking at me smugly from the tattered remnants of Ron's lovely scarf.
I can feel the tears prickling at the backs of my eyes – all my hard work is ruined, and there is no way I can fix it by tomorrow. I resist the urge to pull out my wand and hex Crookshanks – he's only a dumb animal, and Hermione adores him for some reason, ugly creature that he is. Instead I drop him into the corridor and firmly shut the door in his squashed face.
Waving my wand around the room, I utter, "Untorqeo wool!" and in a few moments the wool is back into a neat ball. I push the needles through the centre of the ball and throw it into my trunk, annoyed now that all my hard work was wasted.
I'm going to have to buy something for Ron now, and I have only tonight to find something. I collect all the magazine I can find in the room, and start flicking through them.
There's nothing suitable for him in Teen Witch, but I see a gold eyeshadow that Parvati would adore, so I make a note of it for her birthday. I turn next to Hope for the Best, a weekly magazine about the Chudley Cannons, hoping to find something perfect for Ron, as he loves the team so much. I shudder at the violent orange that screams at my from every page – it clashes dreadfully with Ron's hair, and makes me look positively sallow. Why can't he follow one of the green or blue teams? They would go so much better with my skin tone.
Turning to the last page, I see the perfect gift! A large, glittery heart with the words "My Sweetheart" written across it. I check that I have enough money with me to pay for it – I do – and write out the order to be delivered to the Burrow for Christmas Day.
It wasn't my first choice as a present, but I think it's better than the scarf now. I know he'll love it!