Sunburned Country

Sunburned Country

In a sunburned country

Her magic and her mystery

In a sunburned country

Forever will be home to me

Oh that's where my heart is truly free

Sunburned Country - Olivia Newton-John and Keith Urban

Chapter 1

"Lumos," I muttered listlessly, and a subdued light flared into life at the tip of my wand. Above where I lay in bed, my covers spilling onto the floor, my ceiling fan circulated overheated air around my attic bedroom. Not only that, but the Cooling Charms that my father had cast upon my return from school were beginning to wear off. Again. Neither was doing much to alleviate my rather sour mood.

I looked over at the alarm clock that sat on my night table and groaned. It was far too early to be getting up - it was six-thirty in the morning. It was just one reason why I despised summer - no matter when I went to bed the previous night, I never slept past six-thirty. The six weeks that I got for summer break were, in my mind, reserved solely for sleeping late, and lazing around in the sun on Wollongong Beach with a trashy Muggle romance novel. Of course, that was just me. Other people had marginally differing ideas about how I, Morgan Braddock, should be spending my precious time at home.

Like my mother, for instance.

"Morgan! Get up sleepy head, you're missing the best part of the day!"

Right on schedule. I let out a sleepy moan, hopefully one that was loud enough to penetrate my bedroom door. Either she didn't hear it, or she ignored it, because the next thing I heard was the clicking of the lock.

"I'm not decent!" I yelled, now completely awake. I scrambled for my pillow and hugged it to myself to hide my rather skimpy pyjamas.

"Oh Morgan, it's not like I've never seen you naked before..." My mother pushed my bedroom door open and stepped into my room. "My goodness, it's hot in here."

"No shit," I muttered sourly. "And I'm not naked."

"Mouth, Morgan," Mum warned. "Get dressed and come have some breakfast, all right?"

"Oh, all right," I acquiesced. "D'you think you could get Dad to fix the charms in here? They're wearing off again."

"Don't you think it's time you learned to cast them yourself? You are going into Grade Eleven, after all." I rolled my eyes. "Morgan," Mum said warningly. "Breakfast, then you can tidy up this room of yours."

"When are we going to Sydney?" I asked as I unhooked an elastic band from around one of the bedposts of my bed. I gathered my long hair back into a ponytail and tied it back.

"Next week, if you get this room tidy. You and Riley go back in two weeks, in case you had forgotten."

Once Mum had left, I quickly dressed and opened the window above my desk, with the intention of cooling my room down. Instead, I was hit with a blast of warm air, and I scowled. "I fucking hate summer," I muttered as I closed the window again.

Upon my arrival downstairs, I headed straight into the kitchen. The room also served as our dining room, and was currently the epicentre of what looked like World War Three. Riley and Selena, my brother and sister, had their wands out, and were sending food hurtling back and forth across the jarrah dining table. Candace, my youngest sister, sat next to Selena, passing our oldest sister pieces of toast to use as ammunition. I took my usual place at the table next to Riley and reached for the box of cornflakes.

"Accio toast!" a voice shouted, and every single piece of toast on the table shot into the air and across the kitchen; the piece that Candace was currently holding yanked itself out of my sister's hand and pelted after its brothers. "Now, are you going to act your ages and eat, or are you going to continue acting your shoe sizes?" our father asked.

Selena, Riley, Candace and I looked over at our father; he stood in the middle of the kitchen, wand in one hand, a yellow china plate holding all the Summoned pieces of toast in his other. He raised an eyebrow at us.

"We'll behave," Riley said hurriedly, and Dad nodded; he walked over to the table and set the plate down in the centre.

I had just finished chasing the last cornflakes around my bowl with my spoon, and was draining the milk, when a boobook owl swooped in through the window above the kitchen sink and alighted on the perch that belonged to our family owl, an Eastern grass owl named Erelah. In its beak was clamped two parchment envelopes.

"Mail's here," Selena said needlessly.

"Yes, we can see that," Mum said as she entered the kitchen. She approached the owl with a piece of toast, and the owl relinquished the post as it took the toast in its talons. Mum glanced at the front of each envelope, then tossed one to me and the other to Riley. I gave it a glance of my own before drawing the tip of my wand across the flap, slitting it open.

Miss Morgan Braddock

The dining room

29 Holmden Avenue

Mangerton
New South Wales

The envelope was slightly thicker than it usually was, and it wasn't long before I discovered why.

Australian Ministry of Magic

Department of Magical Education

1999 SNAKE Examination Results

Candidate name: Morgan Michelle Braddock

School: Twofold Bay School of Magical Arts

Miss Braddock has achieved the following results:

I let out a sigh of relief. One A, four E's, and three O's - I'd done pretty well for myself. I'd managed all passing grades, which was more than I'd dared to hope for. "I passed everything," I said, handing my results letter off to my mother.

"Oh, well done!" Mum said. "See? I told you that you had nothing to worry about."

I ignored her and continued pulling parchment from the envelope - it looked as if my exam results had come through the school rather than straight from the Ministry, because the envelope also contained the usual instructions for the beginning of term and my booklist. I went down the list of books, tapping the books that I would be needing with the tip of my wand. A glowing dot appeared next to each title. I had opted to drop History Of Magic and Care Of Magical Creatures for my senior studies, which would lighten my workload somewhat.

After I had rinsed out my cereal bowl and put it and my spoon in the kitchen sink, I went up to my room to tidy up, as I'd been told to. I also needed to pack for school, but that could wait until I had done my school shopping. In retrospect, it had been a mistake of sorts to claim the attic as my room, being that any intelligent person knows that heat rises.

The contents of my room were a combination of magical and Muggle. I had a ceiling fan, a digital alarm clock, a television and VCR, a portable CD player, and even a few lamps scattered around, mostly on my desk, bookshelves and night table. I even had a collection of Muggle magazines and books by Muggle authors stacked on my bookshelves, and posters of Muggle musicians and film stars were dotted across my walls. In addition, I owned quite an extensive video and CD library, all of which were stored in two stacked wooden crates next to my desk.

But that was where the Muggle world gave way to the magical. Most of my posters were animated, spell books were mixed in with my romance novels and magazines, a broomstick was propped up on brackets above the head of my bed, a heavy woollen cloak hung off of a hook on the back of my bedroom door, and all the framed photographs that had been hung on my walls were, like my posters, animated. Robes and other wizarding attire were hung in my wardrobe, mingling with my Muggle clothing. I wrote with a quill and ink rather than a ballpoint pen.

I picked my wand out of the bun I'd twisted my hair into and started tidying my room the easy way. With magic. Doing it the Muggle way would have invariably involved getting down on my hands and knees - not something I wanted to do any time soon, due in part to the knee injury that I had 'received' during the previous year's inter-school Quidditch tournament, one that had not completely healed even despite the efforts of the school nurse. I supposed that a visit to St. Althea's was in order in the near future if it didn't stop playing up on me.

My mother's voice drifted upstairs just as I finished polishing my broomstick. "Morgan, you have a letter!" she called.

"Okay!" I yelled back. I put my broomstick back where it belonged and hurtled downstairs. The masked owl belonging to my friend and roommate Melania St. Clare, Lina, was perched on Erelah's perch, an envelope clamped in her beak. "Hey girl," I said quietly. "Got a letter for me?" The owl blinked once. "Sorry I don't have anything to give you," I said apologetically as I took my letter. I drew the tip of my wand across the flap of the envelope and pulled out the folded sheet of parchment inside.

Hey Mor,

How's your summer so far? Mine's been awesome - I just got back from Thailand last night, and I have so much to tell you! And how's your knee? If it's still giving you the shits when we get together next week, I'll get Mum to have a squiz at it for you.

How'd you go in the exams? I passed everything - got two O's, four E's and two A's, so not bad! Knowing you, of course, you got all O's. I'm dropping Potions and Transfiguration, seeing as they were the exams I didn't do so well in. I never liked those subjects anyway.

Anyway, I will see you very soon. Talk to you then.

Peace,

Mel

"Can you wait a little while?" I asked Melania's owl, and she blinked again. "I'll take that as a yes." Leaving Melania's letter on the kitchen bench, I raced up to my room and found a spare sheet of parchment, my favourite quill and my inkbottle, and ran back down to the kitchen.

Hey Mel,

Summer's been pretty good - it's been hot, though. It's even hotter in my room because I just had to set myself up in the attic, didn't I?

My knee's still hurting a bit, but it's bearable. It hurts a lot less if I don't lean on it. I'm dreading the first time it rains, though - Mum's ankles ache like crazy when rain's on the way, so I'm guessing the same thing will probably happen to me. Those idiotic Rathane Beaters need to learn how to control the Bludgers better.

I did okay in the exams - better than I expected to, really. I got one A, four E's, and three O's, so at least I passed. I'm dropping History Of Magic and Care Of Magical Creatures - my A was in COMC, and one of my E's was in HOM. Mr. Delaney and Miss Cotterill will be disappointed that I'm not continuing with their classes, but I'd rather retain what little sanity I have left!

Anyway, I'll see you in Sydney soon.

Peace,

Mor

I checked my letter over for spelling errors and the like; finding none, I dug around in the kitchen drawers for an envelope, folded the letter and shoved it into the envelope, which I sealed and handed to Melania's owl. It took the letter in its talons, gave a hoot and spread its wings, and swooped out of the kitchen window.

* * *

A week later, I stumbled out of one of the fireplaces at the Absconditus Plaza Floo station, wincing at the ache in my left knee. My sisters, parents and brother followed in quick succession.

"Where to first?" Selena asked as she dusted herself down.

"Well, your father and I are going to Gringotts first," Mum said. "The three of you can do what you like for the next hour or so. We'll meet at Zephyr for lunch." She looked at me. "Morgan, if you have enough money, you can do your school shopping now if you want to."

I dug around in my shoulder bag and pulled out my wallet, thumbing through it to check how much money I had with me. "I have enough money for my books and potions ingredients, but that's all. And I need to get new school and dress robes as well."

"That will have to wait until after lunch, I'm afraid."

I nodded and put my wallet away. "I'll have a look anyway."

No sooner had Mum and Dad left for the bank, and my siblings had wandered off to look around the Plaza, that I heard footsteps coming up behind me, and a hand was slapped over my eyes. "Guess who?" said a voice in my ear.

"Morgan le Fay?" I asked.

"Funny." The hand dropped away, and I came face to face with one Melania St. Clare. "Do I look like Morgan le Fay to you?" she asked, sounding a little ticked off.

I merely cocked an eyebrow, and she grinned. "Oh, I can't stay mad at you," she laughed, and she grabbed me, pulling me into a tight hug. "How've you been?" she asked as she released me.

I shrugged. "Not bad, to be honest. So how was Thailand?" I asked as we left the station, heading out into the sunlit, glass-ceilinged Plaza.

As we browsed the stores that populated the Plaza, we talked about what we'd done over the summer. Before long, we had arrived at Ancient Wisdom, and I pulled my booklist from my pocket. "This is going to cost a bloody packet," I muttered as we entered the lamplit store.

I found my books quickly and took them to the front counter, picking at the right sleeve of my T-shirt while I waited for Melania to finish getting her books. She hurried up to the counter minutes later, carrying her new schoolbooks; a book that looked suspiciously like the newest Quidditch annual was slipped between her copies of Advanced Spellcasting and A Runic Syllabary. "I hope this isn't going to cost too much," she said, sounding a little worried. "I still have to buy my new school robes and my lunch, and Mum only gave me seventy Galleons..."

"I'm sure you'll have enough," I said as I pulled out my wallet again. "And anyway, I'm pretty sure Mum and Dad won't mind shouting you lunch."

The witch behind the counter finished ringing up my purchases, and started packing my new books into a box. "That will be fifty-nine Galleons, fifteen Sickles and eight Knuts, please," she said. I handed over sixty Galleons, not having anything smaller, and took the box containing my books and my change off of the counter.

After I had restocked my potions supplies, Melania and I met my parents and siblings in Zephyr for lunch, taking a table near the back of the restaurant. "How has your summer been, Melania?" Mum asked after our orders had been taken.

"It's been pretty good, Mrs. Braddock," Melania replied. "I went to Thailand after Christmas; that was really nice. Got a nice tan while I was over there."

"Well, as long as you didn't get sunburned," Mum said, and Melania and I both smothered snorts of laughter. It would have been far less amusing if my mother was a witch - she was a Muggle, and even after twenty years of marriage to my father she still displayed a medium level of ignorance of magic.

"That's what sunblocking charms are for, Mum," I said.

"Morgan, be nice to your mother," Dad warned.

"Sorry."

After lunch, Mum took Melania and I to Aether Designs to buy our new school robes. I loved poking around in Aether Designs more than almost anything - my favourite store in the Plaza was, naturally, Inertia Sports; I planned to duck in there if there was a little more time after getting my new robes.

"Twofold Bay, girls?" the saleswitch asked us as we entered, and we both nodded. "Excellent; this way please." She led the way towards the right-hand side of the store, toward the sign lettered 'Twofold Bay School of Magical Arts'. Rack upon rack of maroon-coloured robes, pale blue blouses and shirts, maroon skirts, dark grey trousers and dress slacks, maroon pullovers and maroon cloaks packed the back right corner, adjacent to the dark green and pale yellow uniforms worn by the students attending Southern Cross Academy. In one practiced motion, Melania and I stepped up onto the low wooden stools to have our respective measurements taken, and in turn to have our robes fitted. This was the part that I hated most, partially because it took what felt like forever, and partially because I knew that my knee was going to start protesting about fifteen minutes into the process.

"Isn't there a quicker way to do this?" I asked as the magical measuring tape started measuring from my left hip to my ankle. It was only five minutes into the fitting and my knee was already starting to ache like crazy.

"Is your knee hurting again?" Mum asked, and I nodded. "Oh dear," she said worriedly. "All right, we'll go to St. Althea's tomorrow morning. I think you need to have it looked at again."

"Thanks Mum," I said gratefully, and shifted my weight onto my right leg.

Thankfully, the fitting didn't take much longer, and we left the store with our new robes in boxes. "I should head home," Melania said as we stepped out into the sunlight. "I promised my aunt that I'd baby-sit this afternoon."

"All right," Mum agreed. "We'll see you in Bomaderry next week, then?"

"Definitely," Melania said happily. She gave me a quick hug, and hurried off to the Floo station.

Dad, Selena, Riley and Candace caught up with us soon after Melania had left; Riley was toting a new broomstick, wrapped in brown paper, and I rolled my eyes. It seemed that my brother was never going to learn that he hadn't a speck of Quidditch skill - I had the current family monopoly on that, having played for my House team since Grade Seven.

"Are we all ready to go home?" Dad asked, and we kids nodded. "How's your knee, Morgan?"

"Hurts like a bitch," I replied bluntly, earning me a slap upside the head courtesy of my mother. "Ow!"

"I told you to watch your mouth, Morgan," Mum said.

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, rubbing the back of my head as I followed my parents to the Floo station. Selena went first, followed quickly by Mum and Candace, and by Dad and Riley. I rifled through my bag, looking for my personal stash of Floo powder, finding the medium-sized, corked terracotta jar right at the bottom. I uncorked it, took a decent-sized pinch and tossed it into the fire. Emerald green flames roared into life, and I stepped into the fireplace. "Twenty-nine Holmden Place!" I yelled, and Absconditus Plaza spun out of view.