Anna groaned as she heard her Aunt Petunia bang on the door of the cupboard that she and her brother Harry shared.
"Up!" Petunia said in that shrill voice of hers. "Get up! Now!"
Anna and Harry both dressed, and Petunia rapped on the door again. "Are you up yet?"
"Nearly." Harry responded.
"Well, get a move on! I want you two to look after the bacon and the eggs. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything to be perfect on Duddy's birthday."
Anna and Harry exchanged a look and groaned. Anna sighed as she ran a hand through her unruly red hair. "Better get out there before she throws a fit." She mumbled to Harry, who nodded in response. They opened the cupboard door and went into the kitchen. Harry went to man the bacon frying in the pan while Anna tended to the eggs. She went over to the refrigerator, taking out the tub of butter and the carton of eggs. After melting the butter in a pan she cracked the eggs and proceeded to scramble them. She sighed as she saw the mound of presents that Dudley had received. And yet whenever hers and Harry's birthday rolled around all they got was a hangar or a pair of used socks, if they even got anything at all. Anna and Harry had been living with their Aunt and Uncle for as long as Anna could remember, ever since their parents had both died in a car crash. Anna didn't know anything else about it. Whenever she tried to find out more, Uncle Vernon would hit her and tell her not to ask stupid questions. That was just how it was. While they bullied Harry and such, they almost never hit him. That, unfortunately, always seemed to fall onto Anna's shoulders, even if she had committed the tiniest of infractions. This resulted in her being very fidgety and nervous, but you couldn't exactly blame her. Once breakfast was ready, she and Harry scooped the food onto everyone's plates before feeding themselves. Dudley was currently counting his presents as they sat down. His face fell and Anna inwardly groaned, fearing the temper tantrum that was sure to come.
"Thirty-six." Dudley said as he looked at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."
"Darling..." Cooed Aunt Petunia. "You haven't counted Auntie Marge's present. See, it's right here under this big one from Mommy and Daddy."
"Alright, thirty-seven then." By this point Dudley had gone red in the face, and the Potter twins began wolfing down their food before Dudley could start kicking and screaming. Aunt Petunia seemed to be able to sense oncoming danger as well, because she quickly added, "and we'll buy you another two presents while we're out today. How's that popkin? Two more presents. Is that alright?"
Dudley thought a moment, and Anna thought that he might explode from how hard he was trying. "So I'll have thirty...thirty..."
"Thirty-nine." Anna muttered under her breath, and she quickly looked down at her lap as Uncle Vernon glared at her. His glare changed to a grin as he looked fondly at his son. "Little tyke wants his money's worth, just like his father. 'Atta boy, Dudley!" He chuckled as he ruffled Dudley's hair. While Dudley was opening the presents, the phone rang, and Aunt Petunia went to go answer it. Anna watched as Dudley opened a new racing bike, a camcorder, an RC airplane, sixteen new computer games, and a VCR. Dudley was in the middle of opening a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back, a sour look on her face.
"Bad news, Vernon. Mrs. Figg's broken her leg, she can't take them." She jerked her head in Harry and Anna's direction. Dudley's mouth fell open, but the twins looked at each other excitedly. Every year their Aunt, Uncle, and Dudley went somewhere fun for Dudley's birthday, and every year Anna and Harry were left behind with their neighbor, Mrs. Figg. Mrs. Figg smelled like stale cabbage and always made them look at pictures of her cats.
"We could phone Marge." Uncle Vernon suggested, but Aunt Petunia shook her head. "Don't be silly, Vernon. Marge hates them."
"You could just leave us here." Harry said, and Aunt Petunia gave them a look so foul that Anna wanted to just sink down into the floor and disappear. She nudged Harry to tell him to shut up before he got them both into trouble.
"I suppose that we could take them to the zoo..." Aunt Petunia said slowly. "...and leave them in the car..."
"That car's brand new!"Uncle Vernon exclaimed. "They're not sitting in it alone!"
Anna had to keep from rolling her eyes as Dudley began to cry loudly. Well, it wasn't actually crying, Dudley hadn't cried in years. But that didn't stop Aunt Petunia from wrapping her arms around the boy. "Dinky Duddydums, don't cry, Mummy don't let them ruin your special day!" Just then the doorbell rang and Dudley's best friend, Piers Polkiss, walked in. Piers was a skinny boy who resembled a rat. Whenever he saw Anna, he gave her a look creepy enough that you would hide behind Harry, who would wrap his arms around her.
Half an hour later, The Potters found themselves in the back seat of the Dursley's car. Harry made sure that Anna had a window seat and he sat next to her, so Piers couldn't try anything. Uncle Vernon pulled the car out of the driveway and they were on their way.