A/N: Ahhhh...*ducks raw tomatoes* I know, I deserve to be slaughtered for not updating this in so long! I officially loathe writers block! But here, finally, is Chap. 8. Hope you enjoy!
Chapter Eight: Two Presents
I woke up on my tenth birthday with Rose and Liana grinning at me from the edge of the bed, and they threw themselves into a jolly chorus of 'Happy Birthday' as soon as they caught sight of my opened eyes. Smiling, I slipped out of bed to hug both of them, and we quickly dressed together. When we entered the kitchen downstairs, we found an entire breakfast composed of my favorite foods – sausages, eggs, and all sorts of treats.
"Happy birthday, Allie!" my father bustled into the kitchen, his face lit up with excitement. "Imagine – your last birthday that you're not preparing for school!"
Mum came to breakfast with similar words. "Happy birthday, darling. It's strange how people celebrate a birthday, isn't it? They never mentioned the pain a mother has to go through to bring her child here…" Her voice trailed off, and she glanced sideways at me. When I merely grinned, Mum laughed, and bent down to hug me.
As we were finishing our meal, wrapped parcels emerged from their hiding places – behind the stove, under the couch cushion – and found their way near my plate. I tore off the paper to find great wonders – such as a new camera from Daddy, a hairbrush from Mum, and an illustrated picture book of mythical creatures from the Scamanders and Luna As people slowly began dismissing themselves from the room to take on other matters, I was surprised when Michael came up to me with a thin, clumsily wrapped gift.
"Here you are, Alice," he handed it to me blankly. "Happy birthday."
"You got me something, Michael?"
"Why not?"
With a nosy Liana looking on over my shoulder, I carefully unwrapped the gift paper to reveal a simple photograph of a waving Michael in his school robes, with the Hogwarts Express in the background. When I looked up at the gift giver quizzically, he opened his mouth, "To make up for the picture you tried to get of me at Uncle Rolf's wedding. I know how you like to take pictures of everyone you know, so…"
Although I hadn't shared this with anyone, I had ended up keeping the horrible photo I had taken of Michael at the wedding reception, and had pasted it into my scrapbook immediately when we returned to London. Inspecting this new picture of him – obviously taken by Rolf on Michael's first day of school back in September – I found I didn't like it as much as I did the other photo. Perhaps he never looks good in photos, I remember thinking.
"Er, thank you," I shared an unreadable look with Liana, and then turned embarrassedly back to her brother, 'I'll put it in my scrapbook as soon as I get home."
Michael nodded and left. Liana quickly dissolved into a fit of giggles when he was out of earshot. "My brother is such a fool! Thinking that you actually care about that crummy photograph!"
I managed to laugh along with her. "Yeah, stupid, isn't it? But I guess this means he sees me as a friend, eh?"
Liana shrugged. "I wouldn't know. He may talk to girls at school, but I've barely seen Mike talk to them here." She giggled again, and then continued, "What do you say we go outside and join the boys in Quidditch? I hear you have to take flying lessons your first year at school, so we might as well start practicing."
I agreed to her proposal, and the two of us headed out to the fields where Michael, the Potter boys, and Fred and Louis Weasley were, trying to come up with a solution to the odd number of Quidditch players. Liana sounded out our arrival loudly, "Hullo, boys! Mind if we make things more uneven?"
Michael groaned annoyingly, but James answered her, "One of you can play while the other's a substitute. Then it'll be three on three."
Liana pushed me ahead. "Go on, Alice, you're the birthday girl."
I stumbled over my feet as she pushed me, to trip my way over to James. He stared at me unresponsively and held out a faded broomstick. "You remember how to play, right?"
I snatched the broom away from him determinedly. "Of course."
Michael grinned musingly, calling out to his teammates, Fred and Albus. "Let's go easy on her, right then, boys? It is her birthday."
"You won't need to be easy on her!" Liana called out from the sidelines. "She'll need to go easy on you!"
I shot my friend a look that thankfully shut her up. James and Louis mounted their brooms and levitated, and Michael's team and I followed suit. Liana hurriedly launched the Weasleys' old set of Quidditch balls into the air – we were only playing with a Quaffle to be safer and not worry our parents about being hit with Bludgers or losing Arthur Weasley's ancient and much-loved Snitch. Michael and Louis took over the positions of Keepers, using the branches of two oppositely-placed trees as goalposts, while Fred. Albus, James and I played the spots of Chasers.
The game started off in Fred and Albus's favor, them scoring twenty points off of Louis quite quickly. Soon, James received control of the Quaffle, and he and I continued passing it between us until I was close enough to Michael's goalpost to try to score. I missed, but James quickly grabbed hold of the ball to toss it successfully through the branches.
He and I continued this system of unspoken teamwork throughout the game, to lead to a two hundred to one fifty victory. Liana never got a chance to play, but she was bouncing on the grass excitedly as we returned to ground. She rushed forward to hug me as I got off my broom, and exclaimed, "That was amazing! You and James were amazing!"
Michael slipped off his broom breathlessly, scowling to himself. Glancing away from him, I said to Liana, "It was mostly James, I swear. I missed most goals when I tried to score."
James looked over, smiling graciously. "Thanks, Allie." Once again with my nickname, my eyebrows rose questioningly. "But you were pretty good yourself defending Louis's posts. Not bad for a girl."
Remembering him calling me 'just a girl' so long ago, I beamed happily at this comment. "Thanks."
We were then called in for a buffet lunch at the Burrow. After filling our plates and sitting at assorted spots in the Weasleys' living room, Liana and I found ourselves conversing with the boys more than usual. Michael had exiled himself from us "younger kids" and was sitting with Teddy Lupin and Victoire Weasley, trying to get a word in among their two-sided conversation. We didn't mind, and I grew more and more excited when James and I talked together almost as freely and openly as we had back in Godric's Hollow as neighbors and best friends. I began seeing it as a birthday miracle, although there was still a certain barrier there between our exchanges of words.
When birthday celebrations ended that evening and the Potters left for home early because of another obligation, James smiled friendlily at me before he left. "Happy birthday, Alice. I'll write you soon about those Quidditch techniques I was telling you about, okay?"
"Sure!"
I felt like I was on the top of the world that day. I had received two unexpected birthday presents – Michael's picture and James's quasi-friendship. And somehow, I knew which one I valued more.
A/N: Review for the poor, guilty author? I promise to update sooner, I've started work on chapter nine already!
