#99: Trunk

Throwing item after item into the depths of the suitcase, the excited eleven year old surveyed his handiwork in despair.

His cauldron didn’t fit and his robes were overflowing; he couldn’t close the lid, let alone fasten the zip, and he wanted to cry because he didn’t know how he’d get his stuff to school.

“Mummy?” Darwin called, turning at the sound of a person in his doorway.

“Yes, darling?” She was stood there, leaning on an upturned trunk, his initials imprinted on the side and the Hogwarts crest emblazoned on its front, with a massive smile on her face.

#81: Depression

Darwin couldn’t concentrate on his favourite film, and that was saying something. He wandered over to where Oskar was working on his laptop, and sat down next to him, wondering when the weather was going to be sunny again, so that he could go to the park. It was the summer holidays, after all.

“You alright, Dee?” Oskar said, taking his headphones off.

“Yeah, but Mum’s not.” He answered his brother. “What’s wrong with her? Is it because Dad’s gone away again?”

“Yeah. She misses him, that’s all.”

“So why doesn’t she speak to me?”

“She doesn’t speak to anyone.”

#51: Act

Did he care that his sister was performing on the West End again? Not really. Mean as it sounded, Darwin would rather spend the first Christmas at Hogwarts, at Hogwarts.

“I’ve seen it before, why do we have to go again?” He moaned, folding his arms after pulling his woolly hat lower over his ears. His mother ignored him, Oskar gave him a look of agreement and his father bent down next to him.

“Remember when you wanted to act? What would you have done if we’d not come to see you?”

“I wouldn’t care.” The boy continued to sulk.

“DARWIN!”

The house almost shook with the force of Emiline’s shout, as her brothers voice did when he answered her.

“Uh… yes?”

“WHAT IS THIS?” She held up a seemingly purple ball of fluff, anger flashing across her eyes. Darwin was just glad she wasn’t a witch, and therefore couldn’t have accidentally killed him right then.

“It’s a Pyg-”

“I’ll tell you what it is! It’s alive! And it bit me!” she raged, her hands shaking, causing the Pygmy Puff to fall from her grasp. Darwin dove to catch it.

“Paul doesn’t like Mugglies.”

Not strictly true; just mean Muggles.

#56: Fight

“Who would win a fight, Spiderman, or me?”

Darwin looked up as Brooke spoke, and laughed a little. “Spiderman, obviously.” Was his automatic response, before looking back down at his Charms homework.

“Seriously?” His girlfriend’s voice sounded annoyed, exasperated and even a little hurt, but Darwin was still laughing.

“Yes, seriously – when have you ever shown any Superpowers?”

“I’m pretty good at magic,” she said, her voice growing more hurt by the minute.

“Spiderman’s pretty good at being Spiderman.” Still believing she was joking, the fifth year continued down his line of thought.

“Sometimes… you annoy me so much, Dar.”

#2: Muggle Studies

Venturing into Darwin’s room, Oskar picked up the list that lay on the desk and studied it closely. He stared at it for about five minutes, and was about to put it down when his brother entered the room.

“What’re you doing, Oskar?”

“Just lookin’... What’s a Muggle?” Confusion set into the older boys forehead as he eyed the list.

“Like, not a magic person. Like you,” said the younger, fingers itching to tug the parchment away.

“So if you’ve grown up as one, why do you have to study them… us?”

“I don’t know, I don’t make the rules.”

#79: Authors Choice – Mistletoe
Mini Challenge One - Christmas.

Christmas parties were fun, especially the ones at his Mum’s school, Darwin thought. Wrapped up warm in his scarf, he hopped into the hall to look for Brooke as his mum went to do some last minute organising. Her sister was performing, so she had to be here somewhere.

Deciding that she wasn’t in the hall, the thirteen year old ventured outside again, hands in his pockets.

“Brooke?” he called, rounding a corner, steps falling short at the sight before him.

Joel and Brooke.

Joel who went to his brothers school and Brooke his best friend.

Under the mistletoe.

“Erm.”

#61: Kiss

“Brookie…I… I- kinda-sorta-maybe-like-you-a-little-bit-more-than-a-bestie.”

Darwin spoke in one breath to the person he’d known since he was four, the girl he’d been best friends with for as long as he could remember. He half wanted to shout ‘April Fools’ (despite it being June) or run away, expected her response to be nothing more than an awkward mumble and an apology.

He did get an awkward stutter. The fourteen year old girl did mutter an ‘I’m sorry’.

Not until, however, after she had leant forward and kissed him.

Right on the mouth.

#52: Bore
Mini Challenge Five – Breaking the Fourth Wall.

Sitting at the Study tables in the Common Room, the dark brown haired boy opened his bag, pulled his homework towards him, grabbed a pen (still preferring them to quills) and began to answer the questions he’d noted, a confused and almost exasperated expression settling on his face.

“Uh, Laura?”

Yes, Darwin?

“Me doing my homework does for quite a boring story, you know that, right?” Darwin rolled his eyes, both at the paper in front of him, and at the story being told.

You’ve barely let me begin anything!

“Well it looks like you’ve run out of words, now.”