Sarah Potter (Book 4)

Ch2: The Invitation

As soon as I exit my bedroom, the smell of toast fills my nostrils as it wafts up from the kitchen. I head downstairs, hearing the familiar creak from the very last step. I walk into the kitchen to see only Dad, standing by the counter, plating several pieces of crispy, golden toast.

I tap my knuckles on the doorframe to catch his attention. He turns around and smiles at me.

"Morning, Sare," he says, picking up one of the plates. He sits it on the breakfast bar, ready for me to grab. "Have a nice sleep?"

"Mm," I mutter, not wanting to tell him about the dream. He'll only worry, and Dad already has enough to worry about. He raises an eyebrow, but quickly shakes it off.

I grab the plate and slowly much on the toast, skimming over the Muggle newspaper as I eat. Bonnie comes into the kitchen minutes later, her hair a complete mess - she never bothers with her hair.

Within a few moments, conversation starts up. As Dad and Bonnie chat about Merlin-knows-what, I head into the living room to watch the news. The muggles at school always used to complain about the news, but it's actually quite fascinating - talking about the latest car model and fancy kitchen appliance adverts.

Suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, the sound of glass shattering echoes through from the kitchen. I quickly jump up from the sofa and race into the kitchen to see what happened. As soon as I step through the doorway, I notice the window above the sink is smashed. Lying in the glass shards is a large eagle owl. I look over to Dad and Bonnie who are staring gobsmacked at the broken window, before gently picking the the owl, brushing off excess shards stuck in its feathers.

Holding it carefully, I carry it to the dining table an lay it down. I think it's knocked out. Bonnie quickly gets up and leans over the owl. She unites the letter from its leg and looks at the addressee.

"It's for you, Sarah," she says handing it to me.

I take the letter before turning back to the window. We'll have to repair that soon. Well, I'll have to repair that soon, as technically I'm the reason it broke. The owl was for me.

Dad gets up and walks over to the window. Bonnie continues leaning over the owl to inspect it as I sit down. Dad watches me in the corner of his eye as I tear open the letter and smooth it out.

Dear Sarah,

My Dad got tickets to the Quidditch World Cup on Monday night! Better yet, you can come too! He bought an extra ticket and told me I could bring a friend. My first instinct was to ask Blaise or Theo, but they've already got tickets. I asked Dad if I could ask you, and he said yes! At first I thought he would brush you aside, because he knows who you are and all. I was rather shocked when he said you could come (I think he's a bit side-tracked with work). So, if your Dad says you can come, I'll pick you up. It's on the Monday - as you probably know, so I'd get you on the Sunday.

What do you say?

Send me your answer by owl, we don't have one of those Muggle communication device things.

xDraco

I stare at the letter. Draco just asked me to the World Cup!

"Who's the letter from, sweetie?" Dad asks from over at the broken window.

"Um..." I say. I haven't exactly told Dad that I'm friends with Draco yet. He might have noticed last year, but I'm not sure. I don't think he would approve of me being friends with a Malfoy - I don't think he and Mr Malfoy are friendly to each other. "A friend. They've asked me to the Quidditch World Cup."

"Who's your friend?"

Oh no - a trap. Well, at least the worst he will do is not let me go and tell me to discontinue our friendship - which I will not accept. I'm going to be friends with Draco no matter what.