Melanie watched the digital clock on her bedside table. The red numbers read 11:58. She smiled. So close, so close. In just one minute and fifteen seconds, she'd be eleven. She had been waiting to turn eleven for as long as she could remember. Being eleven meant going off to Hogwarts and learning magic. She had gotten her Hogwarts letter a few days before and her parents had promised her that on her birthday-July 31st- they would take her to Diagon Alley to get her supplies.
Her heart beat fast with anticipation and she knew she'd never be able to sleep tonight. She was too anxious and excited. 11: 59. She breathed in and out just before the new day began. My last breath of being ten years old, she thought.
12:00 AM.
She was eleven, officially! She wanted to giggle and squeal but she had to be quiet so not to wake up Marie on the top-bunk. She would be getting all of her stuff for Hogwarts today. Today! A wand, robes, books, maybe even an owl or a cat. She closed her eyes and reveled in the moment, eventually drifting off into a sleep filled with dreams of Diagon Alley and Hogwarts. She had no idea that her twin brother- across England, in a hut on the rock, in the middle of the sea- was learning of his own story and celebrating what was to be one of his best birthdays ever.