It was midnight at Parkinson Manor. Lavender was tossing and turning in her bed. She could hear someone bustling about in the corridor outside her room. Sitting up hurriedly she swore under her breathe.
"What is that?" She muttered, clambering out of bed and grabbing her new wand from the bedside table. On reaching the door she pressed her ear against it, still not being able to make out the noise she pushed the door open. It was almost pitch black, the only light coming from two windows at each end of the corridor and even those had curtains drawn.
"Who's there?" A sudden voice spoke from the darkness. Lavender froze, she knew that voice.
"Excalibur? What the hell are you doing? It's midnight!" She hissed angrily at her brother's shadow which had just appeared in the light from the windows. There was the sound of a snigger before her brother's voice broke the silence.
"Sorry sis. I just thought you could do with a little lesson," He made his way towards her, his shadow getting bigger.
"At midnight?" Lavender crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, she could tell he probably had a smirk on his face.
"Yep. I want to teach you Lumos," He arrived by her side and poked her shoulder with his wand. Lavender stepped away from him.
"Lumos?" She paused for thought. "Ok. Go ahead, teach me," Lavender held her wand firmly and waited for his instructions.
"Right. Lumos." Light erupted from the end of his wand and lit almost the whole corridor. "See, it's easy really. Hold your wand out and say 'Lumos'." With that he whispered something and his light went out.
"Ok." Lavender breathed in. "Lumos," She could feel her wand doing something between her fingers, but nothing happened.
"Again," Excalibur nodded, he knew she wouldn't get it straight away, he hadn't either.
"Lumos!" This time a ball of light appeared at the end of her wand, but it was tiny and still didn't shed light on anything more than the end of her wand. Lavender sighed and rubbed a hand across her forehead.
"Concentrate. I know what you're like," Her brother advised. "Think of exactly what you want it to do, what you want to be able to see with the light. Say the word with proper conviction." Excalibur nodded in the darkness, which she guessed meant try again.
"I'm trying," She complained. "Lumos!" The light at the end of her wand this time was bigger, much bigger. It lit the area around, just a little less than Excalibur's had. Which was to be expected. Lavender grinned with triumph.
"There you go!" Her brother also grinned in the new conjured light. "Lesson finished," He went to leave when Lavender muttered.
"Erm, Ex. How do I turn it off?" Excalibur turned back to her with a small laugh.
"Ah. That's another lesson altogether. I'll do it for now. Nox." The light went out. "Good night, Lavender." With that he descended the stairs. Leaving Lavender in the darkness on her own. She grinned to herself before closing her bedroom door.
