Expecto Patronum

Witches

Tick tock tick tock tick tock.

We stared at the giant mahogany grandfather clock as its hand slowly reached 4.

"I don't think it's worth the try, you know how she is. No way she will say yes. We have asked so many times." I said in a low whisper, not that it mattered we were the only ones at home but I was nervous.

"Come on Eve have some faith she might say yes. After all, it's their birthday today," Mika reassured.

By "they," Mika meant her and my mom, who passed away in a car accident along with our dads when we were just babies. Since that day, our grandmother, whom we call "Nana," has been raising us. No matter how much we pestered, she refused to talk about her daughters. She always repeated the same thing, "Not today kids, some other day, maybe when you are older?". Who knows? Mika might be right. After all, it's the Hawkins twins, and our beloved Grandma Elizabeth Hawkins can't say no to that now.

I just nodded in response. Seeing that I was on board with this plan, Mika grabbed my shoulders.

"Okay, don't forget to do your puppy eyes Nana can never resist those," 

At hearing this, I giggled a bit. Indeed, Nana never says no to me, maybe because I am too shy to ask something or I just don't in general, unlike Mika. She had always been the more vocal and outspoken of us two, which makes sense as to why Nana and Mika fight so very often. 

Our family owns a chain of interior decor shops. Nana would look after the branch in Chelsea, which was the closest to our house. She would be back home no later than 5 p.m., which gave us enough time to change, finish our homework, and act like the angels we were.

Dinner was always loud in this household. Not that we had a lot of people living under this roof—just me, Mika, Nana, and our housekeeper, Miss Margaret—but somehow, Mika and Nana always managed to bicker over small things. To be honest, I found it quite entertaining, as did Miss Margaret, or else the unusually large, old house would have felt pretty dead. Thank God it was just the four of us in the house; anyone else would have thought that this family was completely mental.

"Nana, you look so nice today. I wonder what's the secret behind your beauty. You work so hard every day, Nana; that's why I asked Miss Margaret if she could make your favorite caramel pudding." Mika said to her in the most sickly sweet voice one could ever make.

Maybe it was her voice that gave it away or the look on my face after choking on the caramel pudding, but Nana knew something was up. She looked up from her book through her half-moon glasses at Mika.

"Young lady, I know you are up to something; better you spit it out," she said in a stern tone.

As if on cue, Mika kicked me under the table as a sign that it was "time." I bet I looked pathetic, making my so-called puppy eyes on the verge of tears because that kick was so hard.

"So Nana, you know it's Mum's and Aunt Zenith's birthday, so I was wondering if you could tell us stories about them, like which school they went to, what they liked, and..."

"I will stop you right there, Evelynn; we went through this a million times. I will tell you about them when it's time, and now is not the time," she replied calmly.

"But Nana, we know nothing about our parents; all we know is that Mum was the older twin and Aunt Edith was the younger one, and our dad's names are just about it," Mika protested.

"No, 'buts' Mikaylah Bazin. We are done with this conversation. Go to bed right now." Nana replied.

It was hopeless; I figured this would happen, but what I couldn't predict was Mika's reaction. I have never seen Mika fume so much. She does have a temper, but never so angry that her face turns red, and I think I almost saw steam coming out of her ears. An exciting night, for sure.