The Alderman Household

When Hester arrived home from Diagon Alley she charged straight up the stairs with her parcels, leaving her dad to sort out her drunken mum.

"Jeanie! Jeanie! Hannah!" she yelled, searching for her sisters. They poked their heads out of their respective rooms.
"What do you want?" asked Jeanie, looking annoyed at being disturbed.
"Hester's home," said Hope, toddling along the hallway. Hester picked up Hope and swung her around in her arms.
"I've got you all a present, just to share," she told her sisters.

They all leaned over the cage.
"He's in there," said Hester. She put her hand into the straw and pulled out the purple pygmy puff.
"Oh my god!" screamed Jeanie. She reached out her hand. "Oh, can I hold him? Please?!" Hester dropped the tiny animal into her sister's palm.
"Take it in turns," she said, smiling. "He's yours. Oh, and he needs a name, by the way."
"Pete!" said Hannah.
"Pete?" asked Hester and Jeanie.
"Yeah," said Hannah. "Because he's purple, and that begins with a P, and so does Pete."
"Hello, Pete," said Hope.

And from then on, the pygmy puff was called Pete.

--

Hester sat in her bedroom. It was painted turquoise, a colour she had loved since she was little. The curtains were navy blue and the bedspread was white.

She sat at her desk, on the old computer chair she had been given when she had first got the desk. She turned on the laptop, knowing that she wouldn't be able to access facebook or email anyone once she went to Hogwarts.

At least she now had a reason why technology always failed for her, she thought with a grin, when the screen went black and then began rebooting. It had always happened, and it had driven her mad with frustration. Now when the computer crashed it made her happy because she was magical, and that was why it didn't work.

When it finally did as it was told she logged onto facebook and left a message.
Going to boarding school soon
She didn't stay to see people's responses. She had never really had many friends (although it wasn't for lack of trying), and her internet friends would probably be glad to see her go.

She hoped that she would make some friends at Hogwarts.

She shut down the laptop and curled up on the bed, opening the book she was currently reading.

He polished the outside of the moving turtle
She loved Terry Pratchett books. She pulled the blanket over herself and read more, waiting for the call that it was dinner time.

--

"Dinner!" called Hester's dad. The hallway filled with the sound of stamping feet as all four Alderman children charged down the stairs to grab first dibs of whatever would be on the table tonight. Hester was the last to arrive in the kitchen, but no one admonished her for being late, unlike usual.

Her mother wasn't at dinner. She was nursing a hangover in the bedroom.

The table was silent. The casserole was served in silence, the dumplings were divided in silence and the water was poured in silence.

Then Hannah blurted out "Hester bought us a pygmy puff called Pete!"
"What's a pygmy puff?" asked her dad, curiously.
"It's small and purple and fluffy and absolutely adorable!" chipped in Jeanie excitedly. "And we get to keep him!"
"Pete," said Hope. "He's called Pete."
"Pete?" asked their father, looking at the three year old.
"Yeah," said Hester quietly. "I got him at Diagon Alley, I though the others might like him."
"How do you look after him?" asked her dad.
"A bit of straw, some vegetables and a clean water bottle each day," said Hester. "It's easy."
Her father smiled, and the whole table lightened up.
"So long as you girls look after him," he said to his daughters.

After dinner, Hester helped clear up.

"So are you looking forward to going away?" her father asked gruffly.
"I guess, a bit," said Hester. "I'm a little scared, but I hope it'll be fun."
"Magic..." said her father. "In my family... It's amazing..."

Hester was glad that he didn't mind the fact that she was magic. It made it all slightly easier.

She dried the last dish and then ran up the stairs. She was gonna get in the bathroom before Jeanie, because if Jeanie got there first then Hester wouldn't get in until gone midnight.

--

Hester stood outside the house, looking back for the last time before she went away. She had hugged goodbye to her sisters, and kissed Pete the pygmy puff. Her mother had cried and even Jeanie had looked sad.

Now she watched as her dad loaded her trunk into the back of their silver vaxhaull zaphira. She climbed into the front passenger seat. Her dad looked at her.
"You ready?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said. "Let's go."

--

"I'm home!" Hester yelled as she barged into the house. Her mother leapt out of a doorway and engulfed her in a huge hug.

"You didn't write nearly enough!" she scolded.

"I'll write more next year," Hester promised. "Did you all miss me?"

Matilda knocked on her cousin's front door. Hester wasn't expecting her, but she had had to get away from her father, and so she had got the train from London to Newcastle, and here she was.

She waited for Hester, or one of her family, to open the door, feeling particularly vulnerable in the strange city.

"Hester! Matilda's here!"

Hester charged down the stairs when she heard her father calling. Her cousin stood in the doorway.

"Hi," she said, happy to see her cousin. "What brings you here?"

She smiled.

"Come on in," she said, holding the door open for Matilda.

She wondered what could have brought her cousin here, since she lived all the way in London, which was about a four hour train journey away. She hoped nothing bad had happened at home for her.

Matilda stepped inside.
"Nothing really bad's happened" she said. "Just the usual stuff, you know?"
She waited for Hester to decide where they would go. She hoped she would pick her bedroom, because she didn't really feel like chatting with the rest of the family. Not yet, not until she had told Hester her amazing news, anyway.

Hester smiled, although she felt sad on the inside. For her cousin, the usual stuff was horrible.

"Do you wanna sit somewhere?" she asked. "My room?"

She charged up the stairs and waited for Matt to follow her. She could tell from her tone of voice that she had something exciting to say, something good, hopefully, and she couldn't wait to find out what.

"Come on up!" she called.

Matt sat down in Hester's room.
"I got my Hogwarts letter!" she blurted out. "Although dad is royally annoyed. He though you were freaky enough, getting a letter, but now I've got one. So I came straight here, so he didn't do anything."
She watched Hester's expression carefully.
"Is that alright?" she asked nervously.

"That's wonderful!" exclaimed Hester, falling back onto the bed. She hugged her cousin tightly and then grinned at her.

"Although the bit about your dad is terrible."

She thought for a moment.

"You could probably stay here for a bit. I'll go ask dad."

Hester left the room. Two minutes later she returned.

"Dad says it's fine! Although we're heading off camping tomorrow, so you'll have to come with us. Oh, and we can go to Diagon Alley together!"

Matt sighed with relief. She was so pleased that Hester had been nice about her getting a letter. She had been worried that her cousin would have thought that she was trying to get attention.

"I'll come camping with you," she said happily. "I've got some clothes and stuff in my rucksack, so that'll be great!"

"Wicked!" said Hester. She was so pleased that Matt would be coming on holiday with her and her family. It was going to be loads of fun. And showing someone else around Diagon Alley would be great as well. She was thrilled.

"I'll need to pack now," she said. "Is there anything you need to borrow off me for camping? I think we have a spare sleeping bag in the attic."

"I have all I need, except the sleeping bag," said Matt, gratefully.

She looked at the clock on the wall. It was nearly ten o'clock and she was quite tired from all of the travelling.
"Can we go to sleep after you've packed?" she asked. "Where should I sleep?"
She hoped that Hester wouldn't want to stay up really late because Matt was almost dropping off sitting up.

Hester grabbed some clothes and stuffed them into her rucksack, as well as a book to read and her mp3 player.

"I'll get you the spare mattress," she told Matt, and then went to get it.

She brought it back into the room and set it up with a pillow and a duvet, next to her bed.

"Here you go," she said. "Come clean your teeth."

Matt followed Hester into the bathroom and cleaned her teeth. Then she got into her pyjamas and curled up on the mattress.
"Goodnight," she said to Hester, and then tried to get some sleep. She was excited about tomorrow, and also about going to Diagon Alley. She was just generally excited all round. She was magical! She was actually magical!
She drifted off to sleep really quickly.

Hester fell asleep, glad that her cousin was sleeping easy. She was excited about the next day, excited about going on holiday. It would be so much fun. She fell asleep and dreamt about the beach, the tent, the horses, the bonfire... She couldn't wait. She really couldn't.

She rolled over in her sleep and drifted off even deeper.

((OOC: New thread is in the 'other places' section, and is labelled. Come and join it, Matt!))