Ravenclaw's Shadow

Chapter 14

I wake up in the morning and walk downstairs. There's a bunch of black and silver balloons tied to the table with a note.

Darling Aurelia,
Happy Birthday! Your father and I are already asleep, but we'll wake up early to prepare your party. Have a good day, my precious girl. I love you.
P.s. There's some money for the bus on the mantle piece.
P.s.2. Aunt Nathalie and Aunt Arenaude will be here to get you ready.

I groan. Aunt Natty and Aunt Naudie love treating me like a doll. Neither of them have any daughters, so whenever they get the chance, they dress me up, do my hair and make up and parade me around. I love them, but... I check the time. I'd better head off if I want to get to the office on time.

“Happy birthday,” Mr Weasley greets me with a smile.

“Thanks,” I say, sitting down at the desk, “anything interesting for my last day?”

“What do you make of this?” he asks, holding out a rubber duck. I take it and look it over.

“It's a duck,” I say. I squeeze it and it squeaks.

“Ingenious, isn't it?” Mr Weasley says, “I've taken many of them apart, but I still don't know how they make it squeak.”

I repress a laugh. Mr Weasley is so easily excited by muggle things. I squeeze the duck again.

“These are just toys, right?” I ask, “I mean, they don't exactly have a function.”

“It's a bath toy,” he says, “it floats, like it's swimming! Like a real duck!”

I laugh out loud.

“That's pretty cool,” I say, holding it out to him. He smiles, shaking his head.

“You keep that,” he says, “as a birthday present.”

“Thanks,” I say, tucking it into my cloak pocket, “do we have any missions today?”

“Nope, just have to write up some reports and fill out your paper work,” he says, “Perkins isn't even coming in today.”

He slides the report over to me.

“If you're interested in a summer job,” he says, “you're getting pretty good at writing those up.”

I laugh and start writing.

Mr Weasley has ducked out when I finish writing up the report. I lean back in the chair and look at the roof. There are memos flying back and forth. I cross my fingers that one of them will land on the desk, but none of them do.

“You still here?”

I look around to see the dark skinned man who helped me on my first day leaning against the cubicle. I sit up and smile at him.

“It's my last day,” I tell him. He nods slowly.

“Will you be back in the summer?” he asks. I sigh.

“Probably,” I say, “my parents think the more work experience I get, the more likely I'll be able to get a good job right out of school.”

“They sound smart,” he says, “I'm Kingsley Shacklebolt, by the way.”

“Aurelia Dunmore,” I say, standing up and shaking his hand.

“Uh, Ste-”

“Stephan's daughter, yeah,” I say. Mr Shacklebolt chuckles.

“Well, tell Stephan I said hello,” he says, “and if you're interested in working with me next summer, you're more than welcome. Arthur speaks highly of your report writing skills.”