Wish Upon A Star

End of Summer

That evening, Dawn returned. Ashlyn was reading Standard Book of Spell: Grade 4, by the window, when something collided with the window with a loud thud. Ashlyn jumped almost falling off her seat, dropping the book on the floor. 

"Dawn!" Ashlyn cried as she owned the window and let him in. The moment he entered the room, he dropped to the ground tired, which was expected as he had a huge package tied to his leg.

"Oh, Merlin! Dawn, are you okay?!" Ashlyn cried as she quickly untied the package, which was unusually tight and took Dawn gently in her arms, and taking him to his cage.

"Aguamenti!" Ashlyn whispered, making sure the room was empty....... Hermione was in the washroom, trying on her dress, Ginny had gone down to look for some spello-tape.  

Water filled the water bowl. Dawn who was exhausted, drank the water, as Ashlyn filled his tray with owl treats.

Dawn took a nibble out of the treat and slumped back tired giving a soft hoot.

"Oh, Dawn," Ashlyn said softly as she stroked her owl.

After making sure that Dawn had gone to eating normally, Ashlyn opened her package.

It was a pair of pretty grey heels. There was a letter too. 

'Dear Ashlyn,

I couldn't help you buy your dress, so I thought I would send you shoes. Your owl came to the house one day and I decided to send it with it as you do with your letters. I tied the package tightly, so don't worry. Can it carry the weight?  I hope so.
Anyway, I am sure it'll deliver it to you. Or I hope it will.

You don't have to send a reply. It is really hard, getting the owl to stay still.
Enjoy your time, darling.
Lots of Love,

Mum.

PS,
Do send a photo, dear. 
And tell me when you get a boyfriend! I do have someone in mind. Your father says no boyfriends, but ignore him.'

Ashlyn smiled as she placed both the letter and the heels into her trunk, wondering who her mum had in mind. She hadn't really mentioned many people to her parents, and it was a handful only. There was Harry, Ron...then who else? Of course, she had told about Hermione and Ginny. Maybe a bit of Neville, and Fred and George...There was no one else...

She shook her head with a small sigh, shaking herself from her thoughts and then she went back to reading.

Neither Mr Weasley nor Percy was at home much over the following week. Both left the house each morning before the rest of the family got up, and returned well after dinner every night.

"It's been an absolute uproar," Percy told them importantly the Sunday evening before they were due to return to Hogwarts. 

"I've been putting out fires all week. People keep sending Howlers, and of course, if you don't open a Howler straight away, it explodes. Scorch marks all over my desk and my best quill reduced to cinders."

"Why are they all sending Howlers?" asked Ginny, who was mending her copy of One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi with Spellotape on the rug in front of the living room fire.

"Complaining about security at the World Cup," said Percy. "They want compensation for their ruined property. Mundungus Fletcher's put in a claim for a twelve-bedroomed tent with en-suite Jacuzzi, but I've got his number. I know for a fact he was sleeping under a cloak propped on sticks."

Mrs Weasley glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner. It had nine golden hands, and each of them was engraved with one of the Weasley family's names. There were no numerals around the face, but descriptions of where each family member might be. "Home," "school," and "work" were there, but there was also "traveling," "lost," "hospital," "prison," and, in the position where the number twelve would be on a normal clock, "mortal peril."