Elliot clutched a crinkled letter in her hand. She had another in her pocket...finally, she had received a birthday card from her parents. At the end of the day, after being upset AN ENTIRE DAY they had sent it. Along with a picture of Darius...he looked different just after a month! It was weird...She stopped, the swamp in the corner of the corridor catching her eye.

She stared intently at it...it was pretty cool...she turned her back to it, however, when she unwrapped the crinkled letter and read it for the hundredth time. They had sent a crown that said "Birthday Princess" on it, and Elliot refused to wear it. Not that she disliked birthdays, or that she wasn't a princess because she definitely was...she just didn't want random people wishing her happy birthday...it was weird to her.

So she held the crown in her left hand, and the crinkled letter in her right. Her eyes traveled across the words...and she felt her face fall, again. Her father wouldn't be home all summer...again. It made the Ravenclaw very sad, indeed. She felt a few tears threatening to let loose...but she kept them at bay. Definitely not crying...