Chapter Eleven:
Coming of Age
Even with N.E.W.T. classes being far more challenging and a war brewing outside the castle walls, Elizabeth found herself falling into a familiar routine at Hogwarts. The only difference was that Elizabeth didn't have as much free time, even with the fact she was only taking a fraction of the classes. Every moment outside of class was spent doing homework—either with Susan, Justin, and Ernie, or with Harry, Ron, and Hermione—though she found herself also spending more time with Neville. She wasn't pushing the issue about his self-confidence again yet but the idea was always in the back of her mind. She hated seeing how little self-confidence her friend had.
One month into the term brought Elizabeth's birthday, though this year was more important than others: Elizabeth was turning seventeen. She was now of-age. Elizabeth woke up the morning of October fifth to the sun shining weakly through the small windows near the ceiling of their dormitory. There was already a small pile of presents at the foot of her bed, brought during the night by house-elves most likely. As Elizabeth pushed on her glasses, she was greeted with wishes of a happy birthday from Megan and Susan—though Megan was heading out the door. Megan tended to spend as little time as possible in their room lately.
"Here, open mine first," Susan said, tossing Elizabeth a small package, "Get it on out of the way."
Elizabeth grinned as she caught the present, working through the wrapping. Inside, she found a small teddy bear, barely half a foot in length. Its fur was a swirling mix of two colors: a pale green and a light purple—Elizabeth and Susan's favorite colors. Elizabeth grinned softly, studying the small bear.
"Seventeen's a big year," Susan said, a slight flush rising in her cheeks, "I wanted to do something special. Something that represented our friendship and all...I couldn't ask for a better friend."
Elizabeth was incredibly touched at this. She and Susan were definitely close. In fact, she considered Susan as close a friend as Harry, Ron, and Hermione. In some ways, Susan was almost a sister to her. This teddy bear was so small, but what it represented was a lot more.
"Thank you," Elizabeth said softly, grinning at her friend, "I wish I had something as important for you."
"Hey, this is your birthday not mine," Susan said with a laugh, getting up and coming over, "So how about I help you with the rest of these gifts?"
Elizabeth laughed, putting the small bear on her nightstand next to the picture of her Aunt Ginger that now held a place of honor among her frames.
"Sounds good to me," she said, "I expect most of this is jewelry or candy anyway."
"Oh, don't pretend you don't love jewelry," Susan teased. Elizabeth laughed. She definitely did have quite the collection. Only a small selection made it to Hogwarts with her each year.
"And I definitely love my Pepper Imps," Elizabeth added, starting through the presents.
As she guessed, most of her gifts were indeed candy and jewelry. Though from Hermione, Elizabeth was surprised to find a nice, lilac jumper rather than some new book or quill set. There had been a hope through the back of her mind that there would be something, anything from Lewis among the gifts. She'd even settle for a simple birthday card. Yet as Elizabeth reached the last present—a small box wrapped in a ribbon from her mother—there had been nothing from her brother. Elizabeth tried to hide her disappointment in front of Susan, but she couldn't help but feel her eyes sting with tears. Lewis hadn't sent anything.
Trying to distract herself, Elizabeth picked up the letter that came with her mother's gift, deciding to read it first:
My Little Pumpkin,
Elizabeth almost groaned. Her mother hadn't called her 'Pumpkin' since she was a child. It had been a nickname due to the fact that Elizabeth was born in October. She had always found it rather embarrassing and was glad when the nickname faded by the time she started Hogwarts.
My Little Pumpkin,
You'll have to deal with an emotional letter. I'm your mother and you're my baby girl. And now you're an adult. No matter how old you are, however, you will always be my Pumpkin. Even if I don't call you by that name anymore. Why did I stop? I shouldn't have, even if it did always embarrass you.
You have grown into a remarkable young woman and I am endlessly proud of you. We've been through hard times together and we've had our disagreements, but I hope that you can always rely on me the way a daughter should rely on her mother. I may not always say so, but there is no one I'd rather share a late-night cup of tea or hot cocoa with.
You'll soon be done with Hogwarts. It's hard to believe you only have two more years at that school. Then, you'll be off on your own, getting your own job and living your own life. One day, you'll be getting married and having children of your own. I hope that I will always be someone you can go to with problems.
No matter how much time passes, you will always be the little girl asking questions about my work or begging for one more bedtime story. Yet you'll also always be the remarkable young woman you have become. I am so proud of you and that is something that will never change. I hope this gift will help remind you of just how special you are to me.
Looking forward to seeing you at Christmas.
Mum
There was no holding back any longer. The letter from her mother mixed with the absence of anything from Lewis now had Elizabeth crying in a mix of both hurt and touched at the words her mother had sent her.
"Elizabeth? What's wrong?" Susan asked quickly, but Elizabeth just grinned at her.
"Mum's being sappy," she said softly, "Don't worry."
Elizabeth put away the letter in a drawer of her nightstand, then turned to the present itself. She already knew what would be in it before she even opened it. Tradition for all wizards and witches coming of age meant parents giving them a watch. Elizabeth remembered Lewis getting his a couple of years ago—a silver pocket watch with delicate engravings on the front.
Elizabeth's watch turned out to be a wrist-watch, but no less impressive. It was silver with a plain face, but it was the band of the watch that was special. Delicate pictures were engraved along the band, each something special to Elizabeth's life:
A pumpkin—self-explanatory with her old nickname—a badger—obviously for Hufflepuff—a quill perched on parchment—Elizabeth's interest in being a journalist—a tulip—her love of flowers, the tulip being her favorite—a whisk—she did enjoy baking—and a broom in flight—she might not play Quidditch, but she loved flying.
"Elizabeth, that's gorgeous," Susan said softly as she leaned over to study the watch. Elizabeth grinned, slipping the watch on her wrist and studying it.
"It is, isn't it?" she asked, "Mum must have gone through a lot to get it made..."
"I hope my parents put that much thought into mine," Susan said with a laugh, no trace of envy in her voice as she grinned at Elizabeth, "I'm heading on up to breakfast. Be warned, Megan and Oliver are going to try and talk you into spending the day out by the lake for your birthday."
Elizabeth felt her face flush as she started digging through her trunk for a change of clothes.
"I don't like people making a fuss," she said.
"I know," Susan said, glancing to the door before turning back to Elizabeth, "Honestly, I think they're just using your birthday as an excuse. With everything that's happened, I think we could all use a day off. The first Hogsmeade visit is still a few weeks away and if it's anything like Diagon Alley, it might not be that much of a break..."
Elizabeth had a feeling Susan was right. She might not like attention on her, but they did need a break from the work they've been doing. It had only been a month and Elizabeth's brain was already starting to feel like mush.
"All right, sounds good," Elizabeth said, "But I'm inviting Harry, Ron, and Hermione along."
"Of course! The more the merrier," Susan gave Elizabeth a grin before heading out of the room.
Elizabeth quickly got changed, deciding to wear her new jumper from Hermione. After brushing through her hair, she headed on into the common room and on up the stairs to the Great Hall. Like Susan had predicted, Megan and Oliver had plans for a day of relaxation by the lake—including a picnic for lunch. Elizabeth glanced at the sky overhead. A blanket of cloud obscured the sun, but Elizabeth still thought a day outside would be wonderful. They all needed the break from lessons. Ron and Harry agreed instantly, which was unsurprising because it meant a day without work. Hermione, however, took more convincing.
"Come on, Hermione," Ron said, "Elizabeth is right. We need a break."
"You have Quidditch practice for that," Hermione responded.
"That's not a break! That's work, too!"
"Besides, you don't play Quidditch," Elizabeth pointed out, "It'll be fun. We're all going to spend some time down at the lake and talk about whatever, just enjoying the day. Justin and Wayne are even getting some food from the kitchens to have a picnic out there—"
"Taking advantage of the House Elves?" Hermione asked sharply, her eyes narrowing. Elizabeth fidgeted. Maybe that was the wrong thing to say.
"No, of course not," Elizabeth said quickly, "We're always respectful to the elves. And I'm sure Justin will make sure to only take from the food already prepared for lunch—no extra work for the elves!"
Hermione was still glaring. Elizabeth sighed.
"It'll be no different than eating lunch in here. We're just taking it out to the lake instead," Elizabeth said, "Come on, we all need the break."
It took more convincing, but Hermione finally relented on the condition that she could at least bring a book. Elizabeth made her promise, however, that it would be one that was in no-way related to schoolwork. Hermione wasn't happy but reluctantly agreed, mainly because Elizabeth said the picnic was for her birthday. Elizabeth didn't like using her birthday as blackmail but if it got Hermione to take a break for one day, it would be worth it. Elizabeth invited Neville along as well and it took very little convincing to get him to agree. Once breakfast was done, the group headed out to the lake where the Hufflepuffs were already waiting—Elizabeth noticed Sarah Bones wasn't there. She had finally begun making friends with a Ravenclaw girl in her year.
The day was definitely a much-needed break. There was no talk of future careers, N.E.W.T. classes, or the war brewing around them. Instead, Elizabeth joked with Susan and Megan about the latest completely-unbelievable gossip in Witch Weekly while Hermione sat nearby, occasionally commenting with a roll of her eyes that gossiping was not for her. Harry and Ron playfully argued with Ernie, Justin, and Oliver over whether Hufflepuff or Gryffindor would be winning the Quidditch cup this year while Wayne and Roger chatted about Herbology with Neville nearby—not about the class itself, but just the subject in general. Given Neville's passion for Herbology, Elizabeth thought she'd let it slide as they technically weren't talking about work.
As the afternoon wore on the group turned into a large game of Exploding Snap, made much more complicated because they were playing with teams in twos rather than everyone against each other. The card game was already exciting enough with the fact that a mistake could cause the cards to explode, but when you made it to where each player was two people working together things became far more interesting. They were even able to drag Hermione away from her book to play a few rounds.
They had become so engrossed in their game of twelve people playing something typically meant for six at most that no one had been paying attention to the darkening clouds overhead. It made for a very wet interruption when the rain began to fall. It was a mad scramble as everyone tried to gather the increasingly-dampening cards and hurried for the castle. As Elizabeth stumbled into the entrance hall, Susan and Megan right behind, all three of the girls were giggling hard. Ernie was laughing as well, but Harry and Ron had sour looks on their faces and Hermione had her robes gathered tightly around her, protecting her book.
"Next time you want a day-long break," Ron said, "How about we pick a day we won't get rained on?"
"Yes, because we can all control the weather," Justin said with a roll of his eyes, but he was grinning brightly, "We should do this again, though."
"My birthday is in December!" Roger offered. Elizabeth laughed brightly, turning to the Gryffindors as Neville pushed the hood of his robes back.
"I'm in, whenever it is," he said brightly.
"As long as it doesn't rain again," Ron added.
Elizabeth grinned as she told Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville goodbye. She followed her fellow Hufflepuffs back to their common room, feeling in a better mood than she'd been in a long time. This had definitely been one of her best birthdays she'd had.
