Celebratory Sleepover

[Bridget Riley]

Bridget had woken extremely early that morning to a small pile of neatly wrapped presents. The room was decorated with paper chains and balloons, and her Mother was preparing some party snacks. "Mum, this looks great," Bridget exclaimed, giving her Mother a quick peck on the cheek and pulling her dressing gown around her. She popped a mini sausage roll into her mouth, avoiding her Mother's glare. Bridget began unwrapping her presents - a small pack of Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans, a fancy quill with sheets of parchment paper, a hand knitted grey jumper with a heart on it, and a small trunk for taking her belongings to Hogwarts. Her best present, however, was her Hogwarts acceptance letter. Bridget read it ten times over before it finally sunk in. She was really going to Hogwarts!

The afternoon came and went, and the sun had begun to sink below the horizon. It wasn't long now before her best friend would be here, and Bridget was too excited to eat. With the last of the decorations up (Including some bewitched paper decorations which were flying around the house), there was nothing left to do except wait for the doorbell to ring.

 

[Alison Kingswood]

Alison had left her parents early a small box resting in her hands, she bought the gift early not wanting to forget the party of her best friend. Alison had bought a charm bracelet for Bridget, it was real silver and the first charm was flower with Bridget her name engraved on the back. Alison her name was engraved on another flower. Alison hoped that Bridget would like her gift and would not return it or go berserk, in case she did not like it Alison had kept the receipt. Alison looked at her outfit for the sleep over. She was wearing high black boots with a greyish legging and a grey sweater. Alison brushed a wild hair back and hoped she had packed everything in the backpack on her bag, her parents had put an Undetectable Extension Charm on the bag so Alison could fit a lot in there.

Alison had received her acceptance letter and Alison was happy when she saw it, she was already thinking that the letter was lost in the mail somewhere. Alison had ate her dinner very quickly and was now walking in a fast pace to Bridget her house. It was weird that she was going meet her aunt too, she hoped seen the woman once or twice, but a sleepover was something different. When Alison arrived at Bridget her house something in Alison sparked, she was kind of scared to meet her friend. All possible disasters were running through her head and Alison finally found enough courage to ring the doorbell. With a smirk on her face, she waited for Bridget to open.

 

[Bridget Riley]

Bridget stared out of the small window in her bedroom, waiting for Alison to come down the street. Just as she was beginning to wonder if her friend was about to turn up at all, she spotted her walking towards the house with a small gift in her hands. Bridget blushed. Her friend needn't have bothered getting her anything, but it was a very kind gesture anyway. She raced downstairs and opened the old front door with a huge grin plastered on her rounded face. "Hey! Come in!" Bridget stepped aside from the door, inviting Alison in. She was extremely pleased to see her friend again, though she detected a hint of worry in her eyes. Bridget assumed it was nerves, and smiled even more boldly to make her feel at home. She was bouncing with energy, and didn't know where to begin. "Mum? Mum! Alison's here!" Bridget yelled towards the general direction of the kitchen, closing the door behind her friend.

 

[Alison Kingswood]

Alison was glad that Bridget was so joyful today. Alison her courage shifted from none to too much and happily she stepped inside the house, she was hoping that her dad had already delivered her sleeping bag. Without the sleeping bag, this sleepover was not going to turn out well. Alison followed Bridget to see her aunt, the whole thing was beginning to scare Alison. A faint voice in Alison her head was saying that this was wrong and that she should not bother her aunt with questions. Too make things worse Alison saw that her dad had not delivered her stuff and she was already stressing.

''Hello Bridget'' Alison said with a soft whisper, she could not find the courage to speak up this was all so surreal. Alison wanted to hug Bridget and give the gift to her, but it seemed that she was going to meet her aunt. ''Hello, Bridget her Mother.'' Alison stuttered, it would be a whole deal to say Aunt.

Out of Character:

I forgot we had this o-o Sorry honey.

 

[Bridget Riley]

Bridget couldn't help but notice that Alison was very shy, but she didn't mind one bit. If anything, it made her want to care for the girl even more. Bridget's Mother hurried into the room, her fingers covered in what seemed to be cookie dough. She embraced Alison, inadvertently smearing a little dough onto her clothes before pulling away. Bridget shot a look at Alison that screamed 'Sorry about her'. She loved her Mother more than anything, but she could certainly be a little too friendly. "Lovely to meet you, dear. Bridget's told me so much about you," her Mother said. One thing that Bridget had 'forgotten' to mention, however, was that Alison was her cousin. Upon smelling something burning, her Mother darted back into the kitchen, and Bridget finally had a chance to speak to her friend. "I'm sorry, she's just trying to be friendly," Bridget said sympathetically, brushing cookie dough off her friend's back. "Hey, let's go upstairs. Your dad brought your sleeping bag earlier, everything's set up in my room," She waved a hand in the direction of the creaky wooden stairs, waiting for her to go up so that she could follow.

Out of Character:

It's fine ;D

 

[Alison Kingswood]

Alison could not help to feel a bit excited to meet her aunt, a feeling of happiness crept over her. Bridget her mother or Alison her aunt was covered in mystery dough, the smell told Alison it was cookie dough. When her aunt hugged Paige something clicked inside, it was nice to meet her new learned family. Alison knew that she was covered in cookie dough, but she could not care. ''Has She?'' Alison was looking at Bridget, she had to laugh it was kind of cute. When Alison was clean and all the cookie dough was where it belonged it was time to start this party, but Alison had some questions. ''Does she know?'' Alison whispered in Bridget her ears.

When Bridget said that her dad had delivered her stuff, the stress seemed to go to a lower level. She walked up the stairs and she found Bridget her bedroom. Alison nodded see saw her Red and Gold sleeping bag already on the ground and Alison was glad that her dad was always delivering and giving things on time. Alison hugged Bridget and shook her hand, stuffing the present in Bridget her other hand. ''Happy Birthday, Bridget'' Alison wanted to sing, but she couldn't, it was too scary now. ''So what are we going to do?'' Alison laughed, her dad had packed some makeup and other stuffs.

 

[Bridget Riley]

Bridget blushed a little, hoping Alison didn't mind that she'd told her Mother about her. It was just so wonderful to have a friend that for a while she hadn't stopped talking about her. "Nope," Bridget muttered back, only loud enough for Alison to hear. She had known instantly what she had been asking, as the same thought had crossed her mind when her Mother had spoken. Bridget darted up the stairs behind Alison and into her room, which her friend had already found. "I hope you don't mind sleeping on the floor," Bridget said, "I will be too." She gestured towards her own blue sleeping bag laid out on the floor beside Alison's. She had felt it would have been rude to sleep on the bed whilst she had a guest, and it would mean they could stay up all night chatting, anyway. Suddenly, Bridget found herself being embraced by her friend, and then felt a small package being thrust into her hand. Her cheeks turned scarlet. "Thanks, Alison," she beamed, carefully unwrapping her present to find a small silver bracelet, much like the one Alison had lost in obsidian harbour, with each of their names carved into it. "Wow, it's lovely," she said sincerely, slipping the bracelet onto her wrist and admiring it. "Thanks so much. Well, dinner's in twenty minutes so until then we could just hang out up here. Hey, look what I got from my Mum!" Bridget said, sinking to the floor and opening her new Hogwarts trunk with all her possessions inside. "Have you got everything you need for Hogwarts yet?"

 

[Alison Kingswood]

Alison looked in Bridget her bedroom, it was totally Bridget and a smirk appeared on Alison her face. A hair was stuck between her eyes and was clouding her vision, with a quick sweep the hair stayed back. Alison nodded, she was wondering why Bridget had not told her mother about her. Since it was Bridget her birthday Alison decided to not push the question even farther. ''Sleeping on the floor, is nice.'' Alison did not really mind, they would not sleep so much either way. Alison did not know where the sudden shyness suddenly came from, but it made talking just a bit harder. Alison was glad that Bridget liked her gift, it was not cheap and Alison had bought it with her own money.


''I thought you liked it.'' Alison muttered and her eyes had a sudden glitter in them. Alison looked at Bridget her other gift it was a Hogwarts Trunk, it looked so nice. Alison her posessions were already stuffed in her trunk, her schoolbooks and quill lay with them. ''Yes, you know my dad he never wants to be late.'' Alison her dad was a bit of a controlfreak and they had bought Alison her books in the first semester of the first years. ''I only need my wand though.'' The wand was too special to just buy on a random day and Alison wanted to buy it on a special moment. ''You?'' Alison was curious, she had heard that some families got money from Hogwarts so they could buy books and other supplies they might need. Alison her family was funded pretty well and the books were not that expensive. Bridget her family was not really poor, their house was really cosy, being not the biggest house, but it still felt pretty large.

 

[Bridget Riley]

Bridget tensed up at the sudden mention of her wand. It was the last thing she needed to get, too, and there was a reason she'd been putting it off for so long. She feared that deep down, she was destined to be like her Father; a heartless, cruel being with no sense of what was right or wrong. Or maybe he did know, but simply chose to ignore what his conscience was telling him. Bridget knew that, if the wand that chose her was one best suited for casting dark magic or destructive spells, she would be unable to shake the uneasy feeling that she was in fact like him. She shuddered a little, pushing the thought to the back of her mind. "Yeah," she mumbled unconvincingly. "I still need to get a wand.." Bridget trailed off, though was saved by the sound of her owl Thunder rattling in his cage. She stood up and pushed open the tiny window in her room, releasing him from his cage to let him fly. "He gets really bored here," she said, glad to change the subject. "I bet he's really looking forward to Hogwarts."

A knock on Bridget's bedroom door brought her back to her senses. She leapt over the sleeping bags and opened it, expecting to be told that dinner was ready. Instead, she was pleasantly surprised by her Mother holding two, long thin parcels. "I didn't want you two to get your hopes up, but I managed to persuade your Grandfather to get these.." her Mother smiled, handing one to Bridget and the other to Alison. Her Mother didn't know when Alison's eleventh birthday was, but it was a lovely gesture anyway. "Happy birthday, dears," she whispered before backing out of the room with a sad smile on her face. She was clearly going to miss her daughter when she left. It was the only thing she had that was worth waking up for. Bridget, however, was left speechless for a moment. "I think she knows, you know. She said 'Your Grandfather' to both of us. It's my dad's Father who funds us with the money to live. That makes him your Grandfather as well," she thought aloud, wondering if Ally was keeping up. Bridget turned the long parcel over in her hands, slowly tearing off the wrapping paper. Inside was a brand new Nimbus 2000. "Wow!" Bridget said for the second time this evening, wondering if Alison's was the same. "Open yours!" She said enthusiastically, wondering how her Grandfather had known Bridget wanted to try Quidditch.

 

[Alison Kingswood]

Alison was pretty excited to buy her first wand, she hoped that the wand was not meant for Evil Wizards. Alison had heard that people went mental of getting a wrong wand, or destroying themselves in the process. Setting her worries aside Alison looked at her friend and niece Bridget. Wand buying was excited and scary at the same time, she did not want a wrong one or one that she could not use. ''Ugh, I hope that I get a normal wand.'' Alison muttered to no one in particular. Alison her parents had given her a white kitten named Snow for her Birthday, it was sad that Bridget could not come since they went on a mini holiday with the Kingswoods. ''I think my Kitten will love Hogwarts too.'' Alison herself was so happy when she got the letter, she could not wait to set a foot in the castle.

A knock on the Bedroom door and Alison rose up, no longer sunken in thought. Her aunt or Bridget her mother was standing in the doorway with to parcels in her hands. One was for Bridget and the other one was for Alison, it was polite to let Bridget open hers first since it was her birthday after all. Alison nodded she wished she could met her grandfather, but something inside her told that he already knew that Alison was his granddaughter. Alison looked at the broom that Bridget got from her grandfather and a smile appeared on her face, both the girl liked Quidditch. Alison began to tear down the packaging from the parcel revealing another Nimbus 2000. 'Wow, why would he buy such expensive gifts?'' Alison did not really know all prices on brooms, but she had seen very expensive ones. ''Maybe he knows, my mother has not changed a bit.'' Alison shrugged and looked at Bridget with red puffy eyes from crying, she loved the broom.