Holly Potter of Number Four Privet Drive lay silent in her bed. Today was her eleventh birthday and her aunt had been acting particularly odd. She seemed to be either keeping a close eye on her or looking up into the sky as if something was about to drop down onto their home.
A knock on her door startled her and she sat up in bed.
"Wake up, Cousin!" Dudley called out through the door.
"I'm up. I'm up," She chuckled. Her cousin was always excited about birthdays. It didn't matter if it was his or not, all that mattered was there was cake.
Holly took her time getting up and dressed for the day. She didn't know why but she felt very nervous. There was a strange anxiety that bubbled in her stomach.
She walked down the stairs and smiled at the sight of the decorations in the living room. There were balloons up everywhere in a variety of colours and a 'Happy Birthday Holly' banner was up over the fireplace.
She walked into the Kitchen and was greeted by her aunt, "Happy Birthday, poppet. Did you sleep alright?"
"I did, thanks, Aunt Petunia."
"Go ahead and have a seat. Breakfast will be ready in just a minute."
Holly nodded and sat down at the table beside her Uncle Vernon who was reading the paper, "Ah, yes. Happy Birthday, Holly," Vernon said over his paper.
"Thanks, Uncle Vernon," Holly responded with a smile.
Petunia walked over with two plates stacked high with pancakes, "Here you are," she said as she placed them in front of Holly and Dudley. She then served herself and Vernon a much more reasonable breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast.
"Can I have some bacon, Mum?" Dudley asked when he spotted the breakfast meat on his mother's plate.
"Are you excited about your party?" Petunia asked as the family dug into their breakfast.
"Yup," Holly said with a nod. Everyone she had invited was coming.
"What kind of cake are we having?" Dudley asked and Petunia and Holly shared an amused look while Vernon just chuckled from behind his paper.
"Chocolate, Dudders."
"Wicked," Dudley hissed under his breath, and he shoved another forkful of pancakes into his mouth.
"What time is the party again?" Holly asked as she eyed the clock above the stove.
"It's not until one, poppet."
Holly nodded and continued to eat their breakfast while the conversation flowed between the family. Holly and Dudley took turns as they told stories about what had happened at school yesterday and Vernon chimed in occasionally about a funny thing that happened at work.
Petunia was just in the middle of her story about their neighbor, Mrs. Figg when Vernon cut in, "is something burning?" he asked. He had finally put his newspaper down and had his nose up in the air as he sniffed.
"Of course not," Petunia said just before she too caught the scent and yelled, "The cake!"
Petunia hopped up from the table and ran to the kitchen. She pulled open the over and billows of smoke poured out. She pulled the cake out of the oven and stood in the kitchen holding a smoking burned cake as she looked bewildered over at the table.
"At least the smoke alarm didn't go off," Holly said to try and cheer her aunt up but unfortunately just as the words left her mouth a sharp, high-pitched beep pierced their ears.
*
The party had been going on for just over an hour. Holly's friends, Jessica and Sophie had arrived along with Dudley's friend, Piers. It was a sunny day, and the kids ran around the yard playing football. All the adrenaline and sugar was now leaving Holly's body and she needed to sit down for a moment. She called a time out to leave the 'field' but told everyone else to keep playing.
Holly walked over to the table that Aunt Petunia had set up in the yard and grabbed a cup of fruit punch. She sat down on the back patio and sipped at her juice and watched her friends and cousin play.
"Are you alright, poppet?" she heard asked and looked up at her aunt.
"I'm good. Just needed a break," Holly said.
"You look just like your mother," Petunia said after a few moments of silence.
Holly looked up at her aunt with eager eyes. Her aunt didn't like talking about her sister since she had died. It caused a lot of pain but every so often it seemed like Petunia got nostalgic and brought her up.
"Yeah?" Holly said softly.
"While she was far more rambunctious than I, she too needed breaks. She would get overwhelmed and would need to sit and decompress. Much like you're doing now. I see so much of Lily in you. I know we don't speak of her, or your father, often but that's just because it hurts. I'm sorry that that means that you don't know much about them. I'll strive to do better."
Holly was silent. Ever since she was old enough to understand that she lived with her aunt and uncle she had longed to know more about her parents. All she knew was that they loved one another and her, and that their time was cut short when they were murdered. It wasn't much but knowing that they loved her and didn't leave her by choice brought her some comfort.
"I think it's time for cake. Why don't you go tell your friends?"
Petunia stood up and went inside the house. Holly took off at a run and yelled, "Cake time!"
Dudley immediately abandoned the ball and ran towards the house. Holly laughed, wrapped her arms around her friends' shoulders and motioned for Piers to follow them back to the house.
When they were finally in the house Holly saw that Dudley was already seated in the living room, on the edge of the couch, impatiently waiting for his slice of cake.