Number 4 privet drive did not change much in the 10 years after a girl was left on the doorstep. The pictures on the walls favored a blonde cubby baby that grew into a young girl. Occasionally a skinny raven-haired girl joined the blonde girl in the later photos. If one considered the raven-headed girl shy, this would not seem out of place. However, the girl was not shy but Mrs. Evans quite favored her own daughter and loathed to let her daughter drag the girl into the family photos. Mr. Evans did not mind the occasional picture of his niece and put up 1 or 2 including his her to the dozens containing his girl. This he thought was fair.
Daisy Evans awoke on the morning of her 11th birthday ecstatic for the day ahead. She sprung from her bed with her blonde curls bouncing as she raced to her cousin's room, almost tripping on the bottom of her pajama pants. "Hera! It's my birthday! Get up! Get up!" she yelled pounding on the door. This day just had to be perfect. She got dressed in her new carnation colored dress and matching shoes that her mom had picked out before going down to breakfast. The smell of strawberry French toast overwhelmed her as she made it down the stairs. The first thing she saw as she rounded the corner was her mother and father sitting at the kitchen table reading various magazines and her cousin, Hera, making breakfast in her pajamas. The second was a mound of presents sitting in the living room. She did a quick count to make sure she had exactly 32 presents and found she was missing 2 gifts.
"Mom! Dad! There are two presents missing! Where are my presents?" she demanded strutting into the kitchen.
" Daisydoodle, we just got you that new dress for you and the charm bracelet you got from uncle Marcus came early," Daisy's mother explained. She glared at her for a good minute before her father broke.
"We will get you two more while we are out today." Daisy smiled brightly before taking a plate and sitting down between Hera and her father.
"Hera, you must wear the orange dress Mother bought you for the party today," Daisy said to her unfortunately skinny cousin. The poor girl was rather sticky with abnormal green eyes and unruly black hair. Daisy's mother insisted Hera keep her hair long and her bangs short to cover a hideous lightning shaped scar on her forehead. Worst of all, Hera had to wear glasses. The hideous things were not allowed at Daisy's tea parties or in any pictures. Hera gave a slight nod in agreement.
"Are you sure you want Hera to come to your party? We can always leave her with Mr. Figg," her mom asked.
"Of course she has to come, Mom. We need someone to try makeup on and she promised to paint pictures of the party for any of the girls who want them."
"Well, if you are sure. Girl, go get dressed and do something with that nasty hair of yours. We can not have you around the other girls at the tea party if you look like you usually do."
"Yes, Aunt Vera," the raven-haired girl replied taking her plate to the sink before going up the stairs. Daisy finished her second helping of breakfast before going upstairs to help Hera with her hair.
Hera sat in the back of the car next to her cousin drowning in neon orange puffs. She kept scratching at the bobby pins in her hair until Daisy caught her hand and told her to stop. She sighed and looked out the window and remembered the oddest dream she had the night before. The dream was of a flying motorbike and the same bright green light that usually plagued her nightmares. She knew better than to tell her family. Her uncle had a no nonsense attitude and did not like anything abnormal, her aunt would berate her for dreaming for something as un-lady like as a motorbike, and Daisy would just be frustrated the spotlight wasn't on her. She would have much rather had stayed home than gone to the party. She hated dresses and all of Daisy's friends that were more stuck up and spoiled as she was.
It wasn't that Hera hated her cousin. In fact, she was Hera's favorite family member. It was just they liked very different things and had very different friends. Daisy liked dolls, dresses, and playing house. Hera liked to draw, to go on adventures and, if she made absolutely sure no one was watching her, to play like she had magic. Her uncle had caught her once and had told her off something good. He said something about foolish people who believe in magic getting caught with their heads in the clouds. Uncle Peter and Aunt Vera had explained to her when she was very young that her parents were foolish unemployed magicians that were killed because they stuck their nose in other people's business. They expressly forbade her from playing at magic, but it made her feel close to her parents. There were even a few times when Hera almost believed she had done actual magic. Once, when a mean neighborhood boy tore up one of her drawings, she came home to find the drawing as good as new on her bed. Or when an older girl had picked on Daisy's outfit and made her cry, the girl's hair turned blue. Another time Aunt Vera tried to force a revolting yellow dress on her (one that Uncle Marcus had sent Daisy but Daisy had refused to wear.) As her aunt tried to force in on, it shrunk and shrunk till it would have fit one of Daisy's dolls. Aunt Vera said it shrunk in the dryer but Hera liked to pretend otherwise.
When they finally arrived at the gazebo, the Evans went to set up all the tea sets and decorations, including balloons and streamers all in pink. Hera went to find a nice spot in the garden to set up her easel and paints. She found a spot a nice distance away but close enough to see everyone. Art was the one thing she did right in the eyes of her family. Having good grades was alright, but true ladies had a fine art they did well, for Daisy, it was singing and for Hera, it was painting and drawing.
As the girls started to arrive, Hera began to sketch the girls in their dresses and look for any of the girls that tolerated her presence. Deanne Thomas was the only girl she saw that she vaguely got along with so she stayed in her seclusion. About half way though the party a pack of some of her tormentors, whom she had named the plastics, decided to pay her a visit. Daisy had invited them to again attempt to worm her way into their good graces.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't poor pathetic Potter," the leader, Regina, sneered as the group of 3 approached.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the wicked witch of the west and her flying monkeys, " Hera mocked the other girl with a smirk. Regina took a moment to process her comment before giving her a rather malicious smile.
" You are looking a little pale, dear. You could use some color," Regina said sharing a look with her goons before picking up Hera's paints and pouring them on Hera. She sat there for a minute with a stunned look on her face. Then, several things happened at once; Hera took off in the opposite direction; the plastics' hair knotted itself and turned bright blue, and all the balloons the Evans had set up popped.
Hera ran until the sound of the girls' screams died out. She plopped down in a most unladylike fashion and tried (and failed) hold back tears. She was just so mad! Why couldn't they leave her alone? It was so unfair. Was her Aunt right? Was she just a good-for-nothing ugly little freak? A waste of space? An insignificant spec in the universe?
"Move." Hera heard from the grass beside her. She gasped and jumped up looking around for the source of the voice.
"Stupid Human," the same voice spoke again. She found a little snake in the grass. The snake was gray with dark patches on it. It was fairly small as well.
"Are you talking to me?" She felt very silly trying to talk to a snake but she felt she had nothing to loose.
"Ah, a speaker. It is an honor to meet you. My name is Aue. Why are you so far from your nest mates, hatchling? The loud creatures drove me from my house."
"I am, I am going crazy. If you really must know, they poured paint on me and made fun of me, so I ran away. I suppose I should be getting back," Hera sighed and looked back at the snake. "Would you like me to take you somewhere? My name is Hera, by the way."
"I would love a ride back to the great white structure, but, if you could take me farther, it would be much appreciated. I am always looking for a new adventure."
"I could possibly sneak you back to my house but you must stay very still."
Once Aue agreed, Hera picked the snake up and carried her back to her art box. When she got back to the gazebo, she was harshly grabbed by her Aunt and hauled to the car.
"I don't know what you did but, if you ever think about ruining anything for Daisy again, I don't care what Peter says you will be sorry," Aunt Vera threatened with a sickening grin. "Oh and you are grounded for a month; no book, no art, no leaving your room, except for your now triple chores." The whole way home Daisy complained about how the plastics hated her, Uncle Peter kept giving Hera strange questioning looks, and Aunt Vera alternated between glaring at Hera and glaring at her husband. Hera, with an art box with a snake in it on her lap, spent the whole ride home imagining just to herself that she had done magic and she was special.