Jez walked into the room, and saw that her stuff was already placed by one bed. Her blue-spotted black kitten Rowena was curled up on the pillow, snoring softly.
"Comfortable?" giggled Jez to the cat, scratching Ro's ears just where she liked it. Ro purred and stood up, stretching, to let Jez sit on the bed. Jez unpacked her stuff and placed her wand and a photo of her brothers Keegan and Than on the bedside table. She hesitated, then picked up the photo and stared at it. It showed her and her brothers at the fair, slurping ice cream and looking happy. Jez had cut her other brothers and sisters and her parents out of the photo, and didn't really regret that.
The picture was moving, of course. Keegan was laughing, his violet eyes sparkling like hers did when she was happy. Than's nine-year-old face was open and excited, and he was bouncing up and down on his heels like he did when he wanted to be the centre of attention. Jez's own features were just as carefree as her brothers'. They all had their arms around each other, staying away from the tear in the paper where the rest of her family had been.
Jez couldn't help feeling a twinge of homesickness. She realised that, despite her dislike of the rest of her family, she missed Keegan and Than. She shook herself, and quickly put the photo down, pulled the curtains around her, and got into bed. Rowena curled up next to her head, and Jez buried her face in the kitten's soft fur, letting the silent tears she had promised herself wouldn't fall run down her cheeks. Within seconds, however, the long day and full tummy caught up with her, and she fell asleep.