A Break from Monotony, or, How That Idiot Sirius Black Managed to Charm Me
Disclaimer: The fabulous Ms. Rowling is the owner of all characters from the Harry Potter series. Credit is given where credit is due.
Chapter 7
Birthday Gifts
September ended as soon as it came, and before Morgana knew it, it was the middle of October. The school grounds had become soggy with rain and unrelenting wind, making outdoor excursions nearly impossible. The weather was so terrible, in fact, Professor Kettleburn, who taught Care of Magical Creatures to third years and up, cancelled most classes until the weather turned around.
Herbology was also quite unpleasant most days, but because the classes were taught under the safety of the greenhouses, Professor Sprout did not cancel classes, much to the dismay of the first years, who were not quite accustomed to walking through mud and rain to get to class.
Quidditch had started up at the beginning of October, and as Morgana looked out of the window next to her four poster bed, she was grateful she was not on the team. The first match was to be due in a few days, and Morgana doubted the dreadful weather would clear up by then.
Morgana, who had now been awake for ten minutes, decided to get ready for class rather than lay around all morning, watching the rain streak the windows of the tower dormitory. The other girls were still sleeping, though Morgana knew that Lily's Muggle alarm clock was set to go off at any time now. Morgana lit the candle on her bedside table and referred to the calendar pinned up next to the window. Holding the candle out, she checked the date. Seeing as the14th had been crossed out the previous night, Morgana registered that it was October 15th.
Morgana smiled to herself. It was her birthday.
She was twelve years old now, practically a lady. And this lady wanted to shower before the bathroom got too crowded.
Morgana tried to remained as silent as possible as she got out of bed and walked around the four-poster. Alas, she tripped over something, causing a large amount of noise and the candle to fall out of her hand and roll underneath Judy's bed.
"Shit!" Morgana hissed, scrambling around in the dark. Lily, Susie, and Judy each lit the candles on their bedside tables, illuminating the room. Morgana barely had time to register that she had stumbled over a pile of presents in front of her bed before she was forced to dive underneath Judy's bed to stamp out the lit candle that was threatening to light the bed skirt on fire.
She crawled out from underneath the bed and sighed. At that precise moment, Lily's alarm clock went off. All five girls groaned; Judy pressed her face into her mattress and flopped her pillow over her head to block out the ringing.
"What's going on?" Geraldine asked sleepily.
"Morgana's just tripped over her birthday presents, that's all," Lily answered, turning off the alarm clock. "Happy birthday, Morgana!"
"Thanks, Lily," Morgana said, feeling slightly guilty that she had caused such a commotion so early in the morning.
Morgana proceeded to the bathroom, but stopped at the sound of her name being called. "Aren't you going to open your presents?" Susie asked.
"After I get out of the shower, I suppose," Morgana answered, shrugging her shoulders.
"Oh," Susie said, looking somewhat crestfallen.
"Why?" Morgana asked, confused at Susie's less than happy demeanor.
"I just like watching people open their presents, that's all," Susie said, smiling slightly at Morgana.
Morgana returned the smile, though she had to force it. Before she could be stopped again, Morgana hurried to the bathroom to start a shower.
X
Morgana, now dressed in her school robes and allowing her hair to air dry, piled her presents on her bed and set to opening them.
Susie and Geraldine were in the bathroom, magically trying to curl their hair. They did this every morning, and Morgana had to admit that they were getting quite good. Their make-up, however, seemed to be suffering increasingly every day.
Judy had already gone off the breakfast, seemingly still angry with Morgana about the comment she made about her non-stop complaining.
Lily and Morgana sat alone in the dormitory, chatting quietly as Morgana opened her presents.
Morgana came across a package wrapped in red paper and tied with a gold bow. "This one must be from dad," Morgana said aloud, though more to herself than to Lily.
She carefully removed the paper to reveal a golden box. When Morgana opened the box, she found a small, but very intricately designed silver locket. It was oval shaped and had a single red ruby in the center, surrounded by tiny etchings. "Wow," She murmured, picking up the locket gingerly and opening it.
From the locket fell a piece of parchment. When Morgana went to retrieve it from the folds of her sheets, it rose gracefully from her palm and unfolded itself in midair. Both Lily and Morgana stared at it, very intrigued.
Morgana recognized her father's handwriting on the parchment, and plucked it from the air to read it.
Dearest Morgana,
Happy birthday, my love! I cannot believe you are twelve already. It seems like only yesterday you were born and I held you in my arms, though I hardly doubt that interests you.
This locket will only open to your touch – and therefore, it can hide your secrets on pieces of parchment like this (of course, I had to Confund the locket first to open it and put this and the pictures in it). It can store a multitude of capacities, meaning a multitude of treasures.
You are very special to me, Morgana. I love you more than anything in the entire world.
Again, happy birthday!
Love,
Dad
Morgana set the letter aside, making sure to place it upside down so Lily would not be tempted to read in from Judy's bed. Morgana went back to the locket, which was open in the golden box. On the left was a family portrait. The five people in the picture were smiling jovially up at Morgana, but she knew they were fake smiles. The other picture, however, was of Morgana and her father. This picture was taken when the pair went hiking three years ago. These smiles were genuine, and she was soon swept away in a whirlwind of memories.
Morgana closed the locket and strung it around her neck. She placed it gently underneath her robes, keeping it a secret from the rest of the world.
The second present she grabbed was wrapped unceremoniously in brown paper and tied with a brown string. Written hastily on the paper was "Happy birthday, Morgana. Love, Mum". Morgana rolled her eyes and tore off the paper, not caring to preserve it.
Her mum had given her a black, leather-bound homework planner.
Morgana blinked a few times while flicking through the pages. I suppose this will be useful, Morgana thought while frowning slightly at the thoughtlessness of the gift.
She threw the book aside and reached for a third gift. This box was flat and somewhat long, and wrapped in gold paper. A small card inside that read "Happy birthday, little sister! Love, Max." indicated that this gift was from Maxwell, who always seemed like Morgana a little more than Malcolm.
Under the card was a very handsome peacock feather quill. Morgana picked it up and eyed it.
"That's really pretty!" Lily said.
Morgana jumped slightly, having forgotten that Lily was still in the dormitory with her.
"It's a lot better than the ragged old quill I've been using," Morgana said, placing the quill on the bedside table. She mentally reminded herself to put it in her bag before she went down for breakfast.
She reached for a third gift, which was a rather heavy velvet pouch. There was a small tag attached to the drawstrings of the bag, which read, "Happy birthday, Morgana, Love your older brother, Malcolm." Morgana rolled her eyes at the haughtiness of her brother's signature, but opened the bag nonetheless. She pulled out a few ruby colored marbles.
"Gobstones," Morgana said flatly, letting the marbles fall back into the bag. "He knows I don't like Gobstones. Idiot…"
Lily chuckled, which made Morgana smile.
There was a final present on her bed. It was a very large box that was wrapped in gold and red paper. Morgana had saved this one for last on purpose, assuming its size had to mean it was the best of the presents.
She tore off the wrapping paper and opened the box. From the box, she pulled a large, ornate, brass...
"An owl cage?" Morgana asked, thoroughly confused. "What do I need an owl cage for?" Morgana sighed impatiently and got up from her bed. "I don't even have an owl, Lily!"
Lily and Morgana grabbed their school bags and headed down to breakfast, leaving Susie and Geraldine to apply their blue eye shadow in peace.
Morgana was putting a fat sausage on her plate when the mail came in. Morgana did not even bother looking up; she had never received mail in the two and a half months she had been at Hogwarts. Morgana proceeded to reach for a piece of toast when a large Tawny owl landed on her arm, a letter in his beak.
Morgana stared into the owl's amber eyes. "I think you've got the wrong arm, buddy," Morgana said, attempting to get the owl off of her arm.
The owl did not move.
Morgana sighed and took the letter from its beak. The owl hopped off her arm and nibbled on the piece of toast Morgana had picked for herself.
Morgana slid the envelope open and saw her father's handwriting once more.
Surprise!
Your mum and I thought it prudent to get you an owl, now that you're away at school. We thought this one was rather handsome.
Now, you have no excuse to not write us!
Love,
Mum & Dad
Morgana set the letter down and returned her gaze to the owl. It hooted at her and bounced happily to her hand, nibbling her finger affectionately. She raised her other hand and pet the owl between its eyes.
The owl closed its eyes and hooted once more.
"So you're really mine, aren't you?" She asked the owl, who blinked at her in reply. "I guess you need a name, then."
Morgana sat and considered the owl before her. Although handsome, he did look somewhat like an angry, old man. She tapped her chin contemplatively.
She did not notice that Remus, Sirius, James, and Peter had sat across from her and started eating breakfast loudly and messily.
"Nice owl," James commented, his mouth full of toast. "What's its name?"
"Eustace," Morgana answered. "His name is Eustace."