It took me an absolute age to get to sleep. Along with the snores of my dorm mates and occasional uproar from downstairs, My head was absolutely full of thoughts. ‘What does he mean don’t be late for breakfast? I mean, how cryptic can you get? I hate him, I hate him!...ok, no I don’t but HOW FLIPPING CRYPTIC CAN YOU GET?’ By the time twelve am flashed on my alarm clock I had worked myself up so much so that I wasn’t even remotely tired but I was because I was asleep before twelve oh one...
I walked down to breakfast the next morning alone and I had actually forgotten what dad had said until Harry and Ron sat down beside me and said “so…?”
I blinked at them blearily “what?”
“God, you look knackered” Harry grinned
“Hmph” I mumbled as I pried my eyes open to prevent myself falling asleep in my cornflakes.
“So…?” Ron said again
I groaned “so what Ron? I can’t read your mind you know”
“Has anything happened yet? Your dad said not to be late for brekky didn’t he.”
“Oh yeah” I turned toward the staff table and found dad deeply emerged in the newspaper “no, nothing has happened”
“What do you think it is?” Hermione asked
I shrugged “knowing dad he was probably just trying to piss me off”
“Maybe” Hermione smiled as if she knew something
“What?” I frowned at her “what are you smiling about? Do you know something?”
“Nope” she popped the p and busied herself with buttering her toast
I glanced at Ron and Harry who just shrugged.
“Harry Potter!” Little Collin Creevey was back again “can I have a picture with you and your girlfriend?”
“What?” I looked at Harry and he looked at me “I’m not his…”
“She’s not my…” but Collin had already taken the picture and by the time our eyes had recovered from the flash all of the little first years were pointing excitedly up at the ceiling…
“Post” Ron muttered, not even looking up from his plate
“You would think that it would get old wouldn’t you?” I said to no one imparticular as I watched Collin get so excited he just fell off his chair. “I mean, were we like that?”
“Maybe for the first day” Harry said “but yeah, I know what you mean”
“Hey” Ron said as he squinted up to look at the ceiling “why is that owl flying lopsided?”
We all looked up at this strange own and then gasped. “What is it?” I heard someone say “Has Harry Potter ordered another broom?”
“Oh my god, it’s a broom!” I gasped as two Hogwarts owls delivered the long parcel to me
“Open it!” Harry and Ron told me and then helped me to rip of the packaging
“Nimbus two thousand and one!” I gasped as I stroked the handle “isn’t it beautiful?”
“Beautiful?” Ron frowned “I wouldn’t say that but it is pretty sleek”
I looked up at the staff table to mouth a thank you at dad but he wasn’t there “I’m going to put it back in the tower” I told them and rushed out of the hall. Dad was standing just outside the doors and I flung myself at him “Thank you!” I breathed into his robes
“So it’s ok then?” He answered stiffly
“It’s perfect! Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“I wanted to surprise you”
I grinned up at him “well you did”
“Think of it as twelve years worth of apologies” he told me when I let him go “and Lilly…”
I stepped back and looked at him “yeah?”
He looked around nervously and eyed a few students who were watching us from the grand staircase “I do…I do love you…ok?” A slight red tinge crept up his face as two little first year girls who were passing went “awwhh…see Millie, I told you he was a sweetie really”
I chuckled and nodded “love you too dad” and ran up to the Gryffindor common room feeling as though I was floating.