Once again, I am sorry it took me so long to update this story. I am trying to catch up I promise. Thank you again for the people that are reading along, and I am looking for a beta since mine has dropped off the map. Thank you again
Happy Birthday to me...
"Up up up up," Lucy's voice penetrated my sleep as I felt her crawling into my bed. She started to bounce next to me when I didn't move immediately. "Wakey Wakey Emmy!"
"Mmmph," I replied, wrapping my covers around me and rolling over. Something clattered to the floor when I moved over a bit more to give Lucy some more room to bounce on my bed. I scooted over a little bit more and peered bleary eyed off the side of the bed to see some parcels scattered next to my bed. I loosened the covers to sit up slightly and looked at the foot of my bed. There was a mound of colorful parcels at the foot of the bed and spilling onto my trunk. Lucy bounced out of the way of my clock and I let out a groan before covering my head back up with the blankets. "Lucy! It is only five in the morning."
"Come on! We don't have much time! Get dressed!" she giggled before bouncing off the bed.
"I don't have to be up for hours," I whined playfully as I uncovered myself to roll out of bed myself. Lucy was arms deep into my wardrobe, digging through my clothes, as I gave her a pat on the back on my way to the bathroom. When I was done with my morning business, Lucy presented me with an outfit. I had to shoo her out of the room for me dress, so by the time that I had everything on she was vibrating with excitement. Her hand clutched mine as she giggled all the way to the common room. She shushed me when I tried to ask her what was going on as she dragged me through the tunnels and the entrance hall. The cool air shocked me as we scampered down the steps. Her laughter grew louder as we ran toward the lake, her joy infecting me as my mouth grew into a smile at the sight of jack-o-lanterns on one of the hills with someone standing, waiting for us. By the time we were halfway up the hill, the two of us were a mess of gasping laughter.
"I see you two are in a good mood for being up this early," Potter said as he lit another jack-o-lantern, illuminating his face.
"She jumped on my bed till I woke up," I grumbled, giving Lucy a wink.
"Well, let's get this picnic started I suppose," he said, bringing a basket and a couple of pots. "You still like your apple bread Lucy?"
"Did you get it from Gram?" she asked breathlessly.
"Who else would I get your Halloween breakfast from?" he replied with a smile. She clapped her hands as he used his wand to float our various baked goods and other sundries out onto the orange and black blanket. He poured from one of the pots a steaming cup of liquid and put a large dollop of whipped cream on top of it before handing it off to a beaming Lucy. He poured a mug of a mixture from both pots and put some whipped cream on top, then handed it to me. I could smell the coffee on the wind as it picked up.
"Thank you," I replied.
"Please, eat something. I don't want to have to explain to my family why I have all this," he said as he poured a full cup of what I assumed was coffee from one of the pots.
"The sun will be up soon," Lucy told me around a mouthful of pastry.
"The sun? We are up for the sunrise?" I asked, confused as to why I was up this early. The mug smelled delicious, a mixture of coffee and chocolate, and tasted just as good.
"It's a tradition," Potter told me quietly.
"I have to make sure that the sun comes up," Lucy said earnestly.
"Albus and Hugo told her one year that because she was the youngest at the time she was the one that wouldn't see the sunrise that Halloween, some sort of stupid legend they made up," James sighed.
"Dad gets up with me every Halloween with breakfast now, and now it is James," she chirped.
"Albus did that?" I chuckled.
"Why? Because you think he is so sweet?" Potter asked, giving me a knowing look.
"No, I can imagine him doing something like that," I sighed. The picture in my head of Hugo and Albus sitting with Lucy in one of the bedrooms at the Potter house, whispering to her a tale spun on the spot to scare her. It was actually an endearing picture once you got beyond the fact that she was being told a scary story.
"Uncle Percy figured it would be a nice thing for her to have on the first year away from home," he told me with a whisper.
"It's coming!" she said, pointing to the lightening sky on the other side of the lake. We sat in silence, munching on the various baked goods spread out in the candlelight of the pumpkins.
"So, sunrise huh?" I whispered to James.
"Shh, it is her moment let her have it," he whispered back.
"The clouds are going to cover it up," Lucy pouted.
"Nah , will just make the colors different," Potter told her.
"Ooooo look at the red!" she gasped as the sky started to turn red and orange. Potter topped off my cup as the sky's reflection on the lake gave it a mystical quality, two sunrises at the same time. Lucy's smile was so wide I bet her cheeks were hurting from being so happy. The flash of light burst into the sky as the sun peeked over the horizon, setting off the red in Lucy's hair as it blazed over the world. Her laughter carried over the lawns as bats flew back into the corners and crevices of the castle and creatures I couldn't quite identify on the edges of the forest started to mill around. When it was finally over the horizon, Lucy turned to look at us with rosy cheeks. "That was awesome!"
"Why don't you take some of these and go back to the castle so the others can partake of the goodies?" Potter said as he used a levitation charm to collect the rest of the goodies into the basket. "However, I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to try to sneak back into the castle and hide them in your trunk."
"OH! Trunk trunk trunk!" she screamed, snatching the basket and running back to the castle at top speed.
"You know, if she didn't have red hair I would swear that she is Colin's sister instead of one of the Weasley Clan," I laughed.
"If I knew she was bringing you, I would have requested more pumpkin stuff," he told me softly as he snuffed out all the jack-o-lanterns with a lopsided smile. "And maybe some birthday cake."
"Don't tell anyone," I mumbled, waving my wand at the blanket. I sighed when it flew off the hilltop and into the lake. James smirked and summoned it back, using a spell to dry and fold it before tucking it under his arm.
"Still having problems with Charms I see," he snickered.
"I can't help it!" I whined. "I try and I try and I try and all I get is something like that."
"Well, if it helps your day, you are relieved of all Prefect duties for the day," he told me as he started down the hill. I walked beside him, shocked.
"No one ever gets out of Prefect duties, except if they have a note from Madame Pomfrey," I sputtered. I have been told Potter was the harshest Head Boy in years, ruling the schedule with an iron fist and making sure everyone pulled their fair share. Merlin, the boy even made someone with a broken arm do rounds because "If you can walk, you can round" if the rumors were correct.
"Let's just call it a mercy, since I have a feeling your day is about to get difficult," Potter sighed.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Do you really think my father and your uncle would let you get by having a chance at a real birthday?" Potter asked, giving me a sideways glance.
"Wait, did they…" I thought back to the hazy glance of parcels at the foot of my bed, and groaned.
"Yea, and I suggest you get back to your house before my brother wakes up and finds you-"
"EMMY!" Albus yelled as he ran down the castle steps. James and I both stopped, only halfway up the walk, and watched as Albus, Scorpius, and Colin all piled out the door and down the steps to get to me. There were elbows into bellies, shoves, and literal tripping to see who could get to me. Colin slid to a halt centimeters in front of me in held out an arm.
"My lady, let me escort you to the Great Hall where we will partake of the best breakfast you ever had in your life," he said. Albus and Scorpius both looked disappointed as I took his arm before giving Potter a pleading look.
"Have fun guys," Potter said as Colin led me away.
"Emmy, have I ever told you that you look refreshing in the morning?" Colin said, patting my hand on his arm.
"And your hair, so shiny," Scorpius said.
"And your eyes are so blue," Albus gushed.
"What is going on?" I asked with a smile. I could tell they were barely containing their excitement as they lead me through the doors.
"We got an interesting owl this morning," Albus told me. "Something about today being your birthday."
"Well, I didn't want to overshadow the celebrations," I fibbed.
"It is the whole day of celebrations, so one more wouldn't be that much of a difference," Colin said while basically forcing me onto the bench at our table. A plate piled high with eggs and bacon appeared in front of me with a rather large cup of coffee.
"We have the scavenger hunt at nine," Rose said as she slid a sealed envelope in front of me. "The seal breaks at nine, and we have to find the various items on the list and bring them back first to win points for our Houses."
"Then it is time for the games on the front lawn!" Lucy chirped. "Teddy told me that the prizes for the games were awesome."
"And the feast tonight always seems to outdo the year before," Colin told me around a mouthful of food.
"Please tell me you won't hide all day using school work as an excuse just because it is your birthday," Scorpius said with large pouting eyes.
"But I like doing Herbology," I said, picking at my eggs. It felt weird after having no one to fuss over me on my birthday all these years to suddenly be thrown into celebrations with gusto.
"You may like it, but today school work will have to take a backseat to the celebrations ahead," Louis said as he slid a small box in front of me.
"What is this?" I asked, shaking it with a smile.
"I just got it in the post," Louis replied with a shrug. "Call it a token of our friendship. Welcome to the family."
"Oooo pressie!" Lucy squealed.
"And I have a ton more up in my room," I sighed while untying the bow.
"We will pick them up before the party this evening," Albus said, vibrating with excitement and his eyes glued on the box in front of me. The box opened up with the barest push of my finger. Rose shaped confetti spewed out of the box and a delicate melody fan fared. I gave Louis a questioning look before reaching into the box and pulling out a small card.
"This says I have an appointment next week to have a custom made dress robe consultation," I told everyone.
"Where?" Dominique asked, picking up the box and shaking out more of the flower shaped confetti as if it held the answer to her problems.
"The card is signed Tabitha Rosier," I told her.
"ROSIER!" I heard screech from behind me. I turned to see four faces of Ravenclaws in various states of disbelief. Melody Peakes was standing closest to me, her hands clenched at her sides with a face so red it could have doubled as a tomato. "You have an appointment with Rosier?"
"Um…"
"They owe my mother a favor from her school days," Louis said with a smirk. "She had a cancellation at the last minute and I decided that for the Yule Ball that Emmy should have a wonderful dress robe for her first year."
"I couldn't even get Rosier to answer my letters!" Melody screamed. She grabbed the card out of my hands and read it, her face turning a shade of purple before handing it back to me. "You are a lucky bitch Moren," she spat as she turned on her heel and walked away. Her entourage followed her away, sashaying over to the Ravenclaw table to the group of guys who were having a heated argument over some sort of experiment they were trying to Transfigure and Charm at the same time. Melody's shrill pitch carried over to our table, causing snickers all around.
"How much you wanna bet that she is dying to say some rather awful things alluding to what exactly our relationship status is?" Louis chuckled as he stood, giving me a kiss on the top of my head.
"Thank you Louis," I said shyly.
"Tabby told me that you could bring a couple girls along to help you out with your dress if you like," he murmured. "Do let that bit be quiet. I rather not have to push my luck with Sprout. I can only get away with what I did a few times a year. And you're welcome." He walked away, leaving wake of swooning girls so comical that I laughed to myself behind my cup of coffee.
"Attention students!" Professor Sprout shouted, using magic to make sure that her voice was heard in all corners of the hall. "The scavenger hunt will begin shortly. This year, it will be House against House. We had a small problem last year with certain groups having an unfair advantage, so the only way to level the playing field is to make it by House." The entire Clan groaned, Albus dramatically banging his forehead on the table.
"Looks like we are on our own," Scorpius sighed.
"At least James isn't allowed to participate this year as Head Boy," Fred quipped.
"And Emmy is an Herbology whiz, which mean we will beat at least one of the Houses," Colin said as he pushed a pumpkin muffin to me.
"So, in about 15 minutes I want everyone who is going to participate to head out to the foyer and everyone will break up into Houses," Sprout continued. "When the seals break, remember that Prefects will have the job of keeping the game honest and fair. You will be permitted to play this year Prefects, but next year if there are problems you will be on watch duty instead."
"Damn," Albus said.
"Now, finish up your meals and start to the foyer if you are going to participate!" Sprout shouted before striding out of the Great Hall.
"Come on Emmy, I want you to get a good start on the Herbology stuff," Edmund said with a tug on my arm. I slapped some eggs and bacon on some toast for a sandwich to take with me and followed after everyone.
"Moren, you are going to be in charge of the Herbology portion, and I believe I will join you," Goyle said smugly with a tug on his cuff sleeves. "After all, we don't want you making off with all the glory since that is the hardest part."
"Actually, as Prefect she is going to be taking the First Years with her," Albus told him, stepping between me and the large ugly boy. "You are going to be in charge of the flags. We only have three hours, and as much as I hate to admit it you are the best at finding those. So grab Martin and get going. You two are a menace when it comes to the flags."
"That is quite true Potter," Goyle sniffed. "I suppose since it is her duty I can let her babysit the Firsties I will see her at the Feast tonight."
"Of course Greg," I said through clenched teeth. "After all, everyone has to eat."
"The seal is about to break!" Lucy's squeal rang through the hall.
"Okay, so Emmy, you and the Firsties are in charge of the Herbology, Greg, Ed, and I will do the flags, Albus and the Second years can take the Beast portion, and Scorpius and Colin can split the rest so you guys can do the Lake, Dungeons, and the Owlery. Remember the Owelry from last year and try not to spook the owls!" Martin shouted as a large gong sounded. The seal suddenly broke open with an audible pop, and the commotion started. I snatched the parchment with the Herbology list and gave the nervous looking First Years a grin.
"Ready to kick some ass?" I shouted.
"Ummmm yea?" one of the first years I recognized as one of the Wilkes kids.
"How many herbs you think you can get from memory?" I asked them as the entire foyer emptied out.
"But, everyone is already heading to the greenhouses," Keith Bletchley said with a smirk. "We won't be able to get everything before everyone else."
"Wanna bet?" I told them with a jerk of my head toward one of the side doors. We all ran out and down toward the Whomping Willow. "Look along the path, over half the list is there."
"Shit, she's right," Bletchley said. I watched them as I called off the list and they picked over half the list. I knew that half of these herbs probably wouldn't be in the greenhouses, but the others didn't know that. We found almost all of the herbs on the list in an hour, and when I was sure we wouldn't find anymore, we started to head toward the greenhouses.
"So, you aced out of Herbology in Third Year?" one of the First Years asked me.
"Well, I was kind of a shut in most of my summers so-"
"You didn't go to camp like the rest of the girls?" Bletchley asked.
"All of the pureblood girls go to Salem for the summer!" Wilkes said.
"My family isn't as wealthy as people think," I mumbled.
"But you are part of the Malfoy family," Bletchley sputtered. "You guys have more money than anyone else I know. Hell, the Potter-Weasley money is the only one that comes close to having the amount of money that you guys have."
"My mother refused to take the family money," I lied smoothly before skipping off the path to pick an herb that we didn't have.
"Wait, you grew up without money?" Wilkes squawked.
"Off the path," I said quietly and we watched as the groups came rushing past us. It thankfully made the First Years forget about my admission because seeing the Sixth and Seventh years in a panic were more important. The all laughed and made fun of them the whole way to the greenhouse. It took me a minute to get them back on task, but eventually we had all of the herbs on the list. We trooped back up to the castle with our arms full and handed it off to Professor Longbottom with smiles on our faces. He sent us away without telling us if we were the first ones to turn in our list, which with as many houses I saw out of the window searching for herbs on the lawn I assumed we were the first.
"Emmy, can we go look with the others for the other stuff?" Wilkes asked, shifting from one foot to the other.
"Yes, of course. Go go," I laughed with a shooing motion. The boys scattered in several directions, till the only one in the foyer left was Bletchley. "Can't make up your mind where to go, Bletchley?" I chuckled.
"I just want you to know," he said quietly, "that you aren't the only one whose family doesn't have money." With those words, he darted off up the stairs and left me in the foyer to wonder if he was talking about himself, or some of the other boys.
"Merlin, this food is better than I have ever had," I groaned as I folded my hand over my stomach and leaned back in my chair. "I couldn't eat another bite."
"Pumpkin pies are coming out next," Colin said as the plates and platters in front of us emptied out.
"Ooo pumpkin pie!" I replied, suddenly feeling ready for more food. Scorpius sighed and slid a large slice onto my plate from the pie that just appeared in front of him.
"There are now days I am wondering why you had a problem eating at all," he said.
"It is your fault you know," Albus chuckled. "Now that she has an appetite I have to fight her for the last pieces of bacon in the morning."
"And because you like to have all your fingers I let you keep them since you let me have the last few pieces of bacon every morning," I told him around a large mouthful of pie. Colin held up his hand for a high five and I obliged. He and I had a mutual of bacon, which made breakfast at our table interesting when there was a small amount of bacon to fight over. I usually won because I ate faster than he did in the mornings once I had my coffee.
"And now, we shall announce the winners of the scavenger hunt," Professor Sprout said at the teacher's end of the Great Hall. "I want all of you to know that it was a very close race this year, and that all of you did a fantastic job. With that being said, I am pleased to announce that Hufflepuff is the winner of the Halloween scavenger hunt." The cheer that went up from the Hufflepuff table was so loud I thought I saw the jack-o-lanterns above the Slytherin table shake from it. The head Prefect went up and collected the prize, which looked to be a large box full of candy from Honeyduke's. Colin poked me and pointed to the kid taking the box from the Prefect.
"That's my brother, Harry," he told me. "I don't often see him or spend time with him, but he is a good bloke."
"Why doesn't he spend time with us when we are all together with the rest of the family?" I asked. Colin gave me a look, and I felt myself go cold when I realized exactly why he wouldn't spend time with Colin. "He won't talk to you because of that? Because you are not…"
"He found me kissing my last attempt at a love life a couple summers ago," Colin told me softly. "After that, he wouldn't speak to me, and he even tried to have my parents send me to one of those camps one summer. When he threatened to out me to everyone Mom modified his memory to forget exactly why he won't speak to me, but I am pretty sure that he didn't like me much before the incident."
"Your parents are all right with your feelings?" I asked, taking a large swig of my pumpkin juice.
"They are supportive of whatever I want in life," Colin replied.
"Hey, do you not want anyone in particular to come to the party?" Lily asked me breathlessly. "Aria and Myrina would like to attend if you don't mind."
"They can come of course," I told her. "Just make sure we have enough for everyone to eat."
"Oh, no worries on that," Lily laughed before walking back to her House table.
"Hey, you ready to come upstairs?" Albus asked. "We have everything set up and I want to get this done before I have to do some rounds."
"I am stuffed," I said with a smile. "Does it matter what I wear?"
"Considering you just changed out of the outfit you wore to the games this afternoon I think you will be fine," Scorpius told me. "I would love to find out exactly how you managed to get mud on the inside of your jeans as well as outside."
"I cannot help that I fell into the largest mud puddle that sucked me down into it to almost my waist," I sighed. The games were great fun, even though I was not picked for many of the games. Lucy was the closest to my height and picked me for the three-legged race, which was the one I ended up in the mud. Lucy was somehow spared, and the Ravenclaws looked a bit smug as I walked past them on the way back to the castle. It took my house elves a bit to get me out of my cloths since the mud dried on my long walk back, but they told me that they should be able to salvage them.
"All right, up we get Miss Emmy," Edmund said as he lifted me up under the arms. "Let's get back to the common room and you can see what we have had made up for you."
"I thought we were gonna have it somewhere else?" I asked.
"We figured that since Goyle will be busy with his cronies up in the Room of Requirement setting up the party that we said would be there for you when the real party will be in the Slytherin common room with us," Martin chuckled.
"Won't they be curious when we don't show up?" I asked as we walked into the foyer.
"We told Goyle that it might be a while since we left such specific instructions that should take enough time for us to have you open your pressies, have some cake, and be back in your room to enjoy your gifts before they realize that they had been had," Scorpius chuckled. "I figured you would like to celebrate with most of the Slytherin House."
"You were right," I said as we entered the dungeons.
"The rest of the family is coming down shortly," Albus told me.
"Good, I want to make sure Lucy and Alice see all of my presents," I replied as one of the others opened the door to the common room. A gasp went up from everyone at the sight of the floating green candles and gray streamers hanging from the skulls. Colin guided me to my favorite seat by the fire and everyone gathered round.
"Okay, so we need to hurry before Goyle realizes that he has been fooled, so bring out the presents!" Scorpius said as Albus used a levitation charm to float presents from the entrance to the girl's dormitory so they were stacked prettily in front of me. Sweets were passed around on trays and butterbeer was placed on the table next to me as presents were passed to Lucy who was vibrating with excitement as I opened each one. Of course, hers was first, which was a case of the hair cream that I had been using in large quantities to tame my hair that decided it was going to go wild in the humidity of the dungeons. The boys from the Slytherin House all chipped in and somehow purchases a couple of the books I was coveting that I didn't see the point in spending money on until I absolutely needed them. It also made me curious as to how long they had really know about my birthday, because they would have had to have help from Professor Cresten to get these books. I didn't have long to think about that before more presents were shoved into my lap. A book on plants from Albus, from Colin an extremely large box of Chocolate Frogs, Scorpius was kind enough to remember I wanted some new Quidditch gloves since I seem to go through them like no one's business, and various amounts of books and potions supplies from Astoria and Mr. Malfoy. I was opening the box of Triple W products that the rest of the Clan chipped in on when Potter walked in with a large crate.
"Goyle is now up in the Astronomy Tower waiting for the fireworks that I told him you guys would be setting off for her birthday," he told us plaintively. "I suggest you wrap this up in the next half hour or you are going to have to deal with him." He set the crate in front of me and walked out without another word. I looked after him in shock, hands frozen deep in the package of joke candy and banned products that he should have confiscated on the spot.
"Em, it's your birthday. He won't take your presents until you use them in front of him," Albus laughed as he took the box from my hands. "I think that present is from Gran."
"Your Gran?" I asked.
"Yes, our Gran," Rose laughed as she helped Fred open up the crate. I sat back, completely baffled that their Gran would send me a birthday gift so large. It surprised me even more than the lid came off and I saw that she sent me a plethora of gifts. There was a large homemade cake with my name on it, various baked goods that smelled apple and pumpkin flavored, and even some apple cider she must have made at home. The biggest shock was the knitted scarves and hats in Slytherin colors.
"She must really be hating the free time she has now that George got her a housekeeper if she is knitting that much," Hugo snorted.
"She made me these?" I breathed as I hugged the pile close to my chest.
"She makes everyone stuff," Albus told me as he started handing off the gifts I had opened to the house elves. "Now hurry up with the rest of the presents before Goyle and his crew return." I handed over the knitted items reluctantly and took the next present. A flurry of books on the history of Quidditch, Hogwarts, and autobiographies on famous philosophers piled on the table as well as more candy from the magical world. Once the presents were taken away, a large cake with sixteen candles was brought in by house elves. I couldn't help but tear up at the sight of it.
"Scor, I have never had a cake before," I told him softly as everyone sang "Happy Birthday".
"Maggie told us that you never let anyone celebrate your birthday," Scor replied with a hug around my neck. It was true, and it hurt it was true. Every time Maggie tried to get me a cake or try to plan a party for the few people that were pretending to be our friends to help pass the class, it was just too much effort I thought. So, for the past four years we pretty much just participated in the Halloween stuff at AMA and then went to bed after she gave me my present, which was usually Galleons that I used to purchase some of the supplies the school couldn't provide. I wished Maggie was here to see the celebration, but I figured I could send an owl with pieces of my cake and the other party favors to her to make up for it. I blew out the candles and made a wish as everyone applauded.
"Cake for all, then we must escape to our dorm before-"
"Don't tell me I missed out on all the fun," Goyle interrupted Colin as he muscled his way through the crowd. The smile on his face was forced, and I could tell he was not happy with the way we duped him. "I see we are here just in time for the cake."
"I am sorry that you missed out Greg," I said politely. I may not like him, but at least I knew being polite would be the better way to get him to go away. "However, I was just about to eat my cake then hit the sack. It has been a long day."
"Well, while they are cutting up the cake I want you to open up my present at least," he said smugly as a couple of his cronies set a large package in the floor in front of me. His grin grew wide as they took the top off and he lifted out a cage with a flourish. Inside, was a large owl. "It is a great gray. I saw you using that wretched raven for your mail, and figured that you would like to have an actual owl to deliver your mail. You can give that stupid bird to someone else and use this method that is far superior to what you have been using."
"You are so thoughtful," I said, trying to sound pleased, but he insulted Vincent and Mr. Malfoy in the same sentences. It was my first real gift from Mr. Malfoy, and someone insulting it was not cool. "However, did you know that ravens were faster at delivering packages and mail overseas?"
"Ummm, I never heard, I mean…" he trailed off, looking around at everyone expectantly.
"My family across the pond hates to wait so long for the mail, and Vincent has been very efficient in making sure they are informed of my goings on in a timely manner," I told him with a smile. "I am sure you understand the need for my family to keep up with everything I have going on."
"Of course!" Goyle gushed desperately.
"In fact, I think there are many of the kids here whose family doesn't have an owl, and you know that the school provided owls are usually taken up or too tired from being overworked," I said as I saw some of the other boys looking at the owl wistfully. "Maybe you would consider letting it be the owl for the entire dorm so we can our news to them sooner." Goyle looked around at the others in the room, clearly at a loss because he could tell everyone was being so hopeful that he would agree. After a moment, he sighed and handed the owl to one of his cronies.
"Just take this to the owlery and we will figure out his name later," Goyle grumbled. Everyone gave out a cheer and reached out to shake his hand. It gave me enough of a distraction to grab the cake Albus held out for me and make a run for my dorm. I heard Goyle call out after me, but I ignored his calls as I made my way through the girls' dorm hallway. The cake tasted delicious as I ate one piece while writing a letter to Maggie. Vincent cawed and watched me while I packed a parcel of cake and various candies they didn't have in America for him to take to her. I tied it to him, and gave him a treat.
"Now, remember to take it to her and rest for a while before coming back. I don't want you to get too tired," I said to him. He picked through my curls with his beak affectionately before taking off up the tube that came out to who knew where for him to deliver my mail. I grabbed the pile of clothes off my bed and headed to the bathroom. After I brushed my teeth and put on the large sweater with the letter "J" on it and leggings, I walked into my room and pulled my blankets back to find a box. Curious, I looked for a tag on the outside to indicate who it was from as I sat on the bed. Placing it in my lap, I carefully opened it. I peeled back the tissue paper, and almost cried when I saw the contents. All kinds of American candy was in the box as well as some of my favorite soda in bottles. I handed off the candy and soda to my house elves to put away with the other candy I got today. I removed the tissue paper, and found a large card at the bottom. I was shocked to find a note from James inside.
I figured you would be homesick for some of the things you used to eat, so I asked your friend some of your favorite candy. I also included some reading material that you might enjoy. Happy Birthday, J.
I set the card aside and removed another layer of tissue paper and gasped in delight. Several fictional novels from the muggle and magical world that were popular were nestled in the box. I don't know how he found out I wanted to read some of them, and it was kind of strange that he would take such an effort for me. However, I was too tired to question it. I put the crate on the floor next to my bed and covered up with a yawn and a smile.
