Wish Upon A Star

Summer

Ashlyn ran downstairs for breakfast. Her black hair flew behind her and her amber eyes shone with excitement.  She had obviously grown. She had grown taller, her hair was longer, and fell beyond her shoulders. 

"Morning, mum!" She said as she grabbed a toast.

"Sit down, Ashlyn," her mother chided.

"Kay. Where's papa?" she asked as she sat on the table. 

"He's getting ready."

"Yeah!" Ashlyn threw her hands in the air, almost knocking her eggs over. 

She was going to meet her best friend, Hermione Granger, to go muggle shopping, before Hermione went on a trip with her parents to France. The girls had decided that they didn't get to spend much time together last year, due to certain circumstances.

They had written numerous letters to each other and even Ron. Ashlyn had sent a few letters to Harry, giving him regards from both Hermione and Ron. Ashlyn would spend hours on the phone, talking to Hermione. Ashlyn would have called Harry too, but Ron had informed her of his disastrous attempt.

"Vernon Dursley speaking."

Harry, who happened to be in the room at the time, froze as he heard Ron's voice answer.

"HELLO? HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? I — WANT — TO — TALK — TO — HARRY — POTTER!"

Ron was yelling so loudly that Uncle Vernon jumped and held the receiver a foot away from his ear, staring at it with an expression of mingled fury and alarm.

"WHO IS THIS?" he roared in the direction of the mouthpiece. "WHO ARE YOU?"

"RON — WEASLEY!" Ron bellowed back, as though he and Uncle Vernon were speaking from opposite ends of a football field. "I'M — A — FRIEND — OF — HARRY'S — FROM — SCHOOL —"

Uncle Vernon's small eyes swivelled around to Harry, who was rooted to the spot.

"THERE IS NO HARRY POTTER HERE!" he roared, now holding the receiver at arm's length, as though frightened it might explode. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT SCHOOL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! NEVER CONTACT ME AGAIN! DON'T YOU COME NEAR MY FAMILY!"

And he threw the receiver back onto the telephone as if dropping a poisonous spider.

 The girls had decided to meet. 

"Now, your father will drop you at the shopping centre and he will be back to pick you up in the evening. Okay? "

Ashlyn nodded. 

"Let's go, munchkin." Her father called from outside. Dropping her fork on the plate with a clatter, she ran out. 

"Finish your breakfast, sweetie" her mother called after her. She ran back, chugged her orange juice, and ran out again. She did not miss her mother's exasperated sigh.

"Hermione!" Ashlyn cried as she ran up to hug the brunette.

"Good to see you, Ashlyn. I missed you." Hermione said hugging her back.

The girls skipped into the distance, as their parents conversed with each other. 

"So what did you do yesterday?"

The girls ran from store to store. Buying dresses, trying on shoes, and accessories, window shopping, trying on make up for the first time. They would pick something, Ashlyn would make a joke and both of them would burst into giggling, making the people around them stare, but they wouldn't care. They visited book stores and read a few books in the corner without actually buying them. This, as far as they were considered, was one of the most notorious things they could do; reading books at a bookstore without purchasing them.