Marlene sat on the sofa, surrounded by friends and family as she opened presents excitedly, placing them to one side and then starting onto the next one. She took no care into her chocolate frogs, her liquorice wands (which she specifically told her relatives NOT to get her as she hated the taste of them from a young age). She cast aside the 'toy wand' which was useless and only made small colourful fireworks appear out of the end with every swish and wave of it. She longed for a real wand, which she was soon to get in a few months into the summer when she finally starts at her favourite wizarding school.
"And this is off Great Aunt Gurt," said Marlene's mother, Mrs McKinnon. She handed over an overly neatly wrapped present which was a disgusting shade of green with a bright purple bow on top. Marlene winced in disgust at the present, but opened it excitedly nonetheless. It was another present to add to her many she already had piling up.
"Oh Merlin. Last time I got a present from Great Aunt Gurt it was a badly knitted jumper with a picture of a pixie on it," said Marlene's eldest brother, Michael who shivered at the thought of what Marlene could be receiving.
She teared back the vile coloured wrapping paper and revealed a hat. A black pointed witches hat with a silk red bow wrapped around the base of the point. It was truly beautiful and all of Marlene's brothers muttered angrily at the fact that she had received quite a beautiful gift from their Great Aunt.
"What?! She gets a nice hat and we get horribly knitted jumpers which we are forced to wear every time she visits?!" shouted Robin, the youngest boy out of the three brothers.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Robin, stop whining," snapped Mrs McKinnon who slapped his hand playfully as she glared at her son. "Put it on, sweetie," she said to her only daughter, placing the hat on her head. It was amusing to the relatives that the hat slipped past Marlene's eyes so that she couldn't see, and every time she moved her head from side to side, the hat remained still but her head moved.
"Perhaps it would be something for Marlene to wear when she's older," laughed Mr McKinnon who took off the hat, dusted it a little with his sleeve and placed it to one side.
As the day progressed, Marlene sat on the window sill in the living area as the adults began to drink and gossip, enjoying the marvels of Celestina Warbeck's new hit song 'You charmed the heart right out of me'. The women gossiped about their neighbours, whereas the men played wizards chess and drank merrily. The three brothers sat down and played exploding snap by the fireplace and screamed excitedly when there was an explosion. It was such a common noise, that no one in the room flinched.
"Come on… come on… where's my letter…?" muttered Marlene as she leaned towards the window, watching for an owl hopefully coming by soon.
The three brothers laughed as the eldest, Michael, exploded a card into his face.
"Oi, do you think we should check if Marlene's alright?" said the middle child of the three brothers, Lemaurus. He pushed his glasses up his nose and glanced over at Marlene, his heart filled with the same worry as his brothers had. Her letter had yet to arrive, and the day was getting late.
"Come on," said Michael, getting up and wondering over to Marlene. She barely moved as they approached.
"Marlene?" said Robin softly, placing his hand on her shoulder and she moved and looked up sadly at her beloved brother. "Don't feel down. Perhaps… the owl is lost?"
"You all got yours on your eleventh birthday. It's not meant to be for me." Marlene shrugged off her brother's hand from her shoulder and sat down, her back to the window which she had been staring out of for quite a while.
Lemaurus, the wiser of the three brothers, said "It'll come when you least expect it - "
Suddenly, there was a loud hoot coming from the fireplace. Everyone silenced, apart from Celestina Warbeck who carried on warbling about a long, lost love.
"Yes! FINALLY!" screamed Marlene who rushed over to the fireplace and sat down crossed legged, waiting for the owl to makes its way down.
The owl tumbled in front of Marlene's legs and shimmied the shoot from its feathers and wiggled its head from side to side, a letter placed firmly in his beak.
"Told you," said Lemaurus with pride, his nose high in the air. Robin punched his older brother in the arm and ran over to Marlene who was now the centre of attention. She ripped open the letter and smiled with joy. This would be a feeling she would never forget.