At Last//Harry Potter [1]

1

Autumn awoke with a jolt. This morning, like many others, she had awoken out of breath. It wasn't scary or anything, but it freaked her out.

She never was one to dwell on dreams, mainly because they were snatched out of her fingertips just as quickly as she had it -- which could be a good thing. Her nightmares were ones of horror.

But, in the end, she could never remember the nightmares. Just as she slipped out of the comfort of her sheets, the memories were gone.

Autumn sighed as she looked out the window. The sun wasn't shining yet, meaning it must be early. Especially since it's summer. She walked towards the grandfather clock to check the time -- 5:03.

The room that she stayed in, with every other person in the orphanage, was quite large in size. The ceilings were slanted, the smaller children having their beds closer to the lower ceilings.

Autumn was very small. Her figure was very petite and looked unhealthy. Madame Dreace, their caretaker, liked money. So, the money that the government gave them for food and supplies, she kept for herself and bought very little food. Despite that, some of the girls were born large, and they still stayed large.

Autumn silently walked towards the oldest and shook her awake, "Morning, Catherine."

Catherine had bright orange locks that seemed to have no end. If she stood, her hair would just pass her waist. Her freckles were very noticeable and were spread all across her face.

"Ugh," Catherine groaned out as she climbed out of bed. "Is it morning already?"

"Unfortunately," Autumn responded, grinning. "Did you have a good dream?"

"Did I?" Catherine asked, smiling widely. She spun dreamily across the room and clutched her book. "I finished the book last night, I stayed up until one to do it. She got the prince, she got married, and saved the kingdom while she did it."

Autumn chuckled, "So, you're making toast this morning?"

"Yeah, I will."

Autumn walked past Catherine as she stood at the end of the teenagers section, where she slept, and started to shake each person awake.

In total, there was sixteen girls living in the orphanage: four children under the age of ten, and twelve people over the age of ten. Autumn was currently eleven, being the youngest of the older kids, putting her in the middle.

Out of the kids her age, only one was nice to her -- Cassandra. The other three were plain mean, so waking them up was a nightmare.

She shook Vanessa, the meanest of them all, awake first, then shook the other two awake, not shaking Cassandra until everyone else was awake so she could sleep longer.

After the groans from the other pre-teens, they slid out of bed. Autumn shook the teenagers awake. Even though they were only older by a few years, they were used to waking up early, so they dealt with it easier.

Autumn finally made her way to the youngest ones. She found it easiest to tickle them awake.

"Well, it would sure be a shame if someone were to tickle you right now, Cayden," Autumn said, grinning as she heard giggles come from her mouth. "I guess, since you're not awake, I have to tickle you!" Autumn quickly sprinted towards Cayden, tickling her awake.

The other girls giggled as Cayden giggled.

"Maybe we should tickle you!" Kendra laughed as she spoke.

Autumn smirked, "Maybe you should. But only if you can catch me!" Autumn ran from her spot and towards Cassandra, thinking that their footsteps could wake her up. A groan from her direction signalled to Autumn that she was awake.