Sentimental Reasons

15. Holidays

"Allez Audrey réveille toi (Come on, wake up)." My mother barged into my room. It had already been three days since we left school for Christmas break. I was back in my hometown, Monaco, in the south of France, at the border of Italy. Despite the cold weather, the sun was still shining through my curtains. My mother opened them, which resulted in a groan escaping my mouth.

"Maman s'te plait, c'est les vacances (Mom please, it's the holidays)." I buried my face in my sheets to cover myself from the bright light.

"Come on, Audrey, get out of bed. We have a surprise for you." My father shouted from the living room. My mother looked back at me with her eyebrows raised and a sweet smile before leaving my room. I sighed loudly before jumping out of my queen-sized bed. My room was fairly big. I had a balcony that looked over the sea and our garden. My own walking closet was a complete mess. It was the only part of my room that was chaotic. The rest of my room was fairly organized. I also had my bathroom equipped with a bathtub, a shower, and a commode—the essentials. I didn't bother changing clothes. After all, I was home. I didn't have to be necessarily presentable for my parents. I went downstairs to meet my parents in the dining room, rubbing my eyes. 

When I opened my eyes, I met my favourite person worldwide. "Noa!" I exclaimed loudly, meeting her eyes. I rushed over to her without any precaution. She braced herself before colliding with me. "I missed you so much," I said in my mother tongue over her shoulder, my eyes watering. She giggled slightly before squeezing me even more. 

"Surprise!" My father let out from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to give him a thank you smile. "You girls have fun. We have... a business meeting to attend to." His voice suddenly became serious. He exchanged looks with my mother before heading towards the garage. "We'll be back in three days. I trust you, Audrey." He raised his brows as I answered him with an innocent smile.

"Goodbye, Mister. Au revoir Céline (Goodbye Céline)." Noa said from beside me. For some strange reason, she was never comfortable calling my father by his first name, even though she knew both of them very well. 

"Bye-bye!" I exclaimed before turning back to face my dear friend. "We have the home for ourselves," I said with a mischievous smile. "Do you know what that means?" I grinned even more. 

"Partayyy." She shouted and raised her arms. I joined her acclamations. 

"Is Elijah coming?" I asked her.

"No. His mother didn't want him to come." She answered. Elijah's mother was known to be very harsh on the poor boy. He didn't get to say anything when she talked to him. She didn't let the boy live. I felt terrible for him but felt grateful to have such amazing parents. 

"Shit." I sighed. "I can always ask my new friends in Hogwarts, but it's pretty short notice so it could be better to do the party tomorrow night." She nodded in validation. "I'll send them an owl." 

"I'll ask Mia, Thora, Amy, Cindy, Alexis, Nate, and Oscar." She said. 

We both sent out each letter, which took a while, but thankfully, we were together, so it went fast.

~~~~~~~~~~

We were waiting by the fireplace in the living room, talking about everything that had happened to us without leaving out any details. Suddenly, Dity, one of our house elves, interrupted us presenting letters. I thanked Dity and placed myself on the couch next to Noa. They had all responded, which was a surprise because they lived far away from here. However, my family owned the fastest owls, which was understandable. 

I handed all the letters from England to Noa and took care of the letters from my old friends, reversing our roles. We both started opening the letters one by one.