Hermione's Birthday

When Hermione had traveled to Hogwarts, she had expected her twelfth birthday to pass by unnoticed. For practical reasons, she had received her presents early. Most of them had been related to school.

That's why she was surprised when her roommates wished her a "Happy Birthday!" on the 19th of September.

Just the previous night, Hermione had lain awake and thought about the train ride. She had remembered that Mary had asked about her birth date. She had thought that it would be nice if Mary remembered it. But she had not expected her to do so.

When Hedwig landed on the breakfast table, Hermione grew a bit suspicious. The large owl carried a small package and she instantly wondered whether it might be a present for her. Mary had received packages from her mother before so the timing might be a coincidence.

That had happened before though.

Hermione refrained from asking about it. Last time Mary had curiously opened a package it had been candies and she then had to share them with everyone.

When afternoon rolled around, Hermione had half forgotten the package and half argued it away.

And somehow she was also a little dumb. When Mary wanted to go back to their dorm under the pretense of a forgotten book, Hermione totally failed to see the signs. Mary was a very obvious liar. Her face, the way she spoke, just about everything gave her away.

So against all odds, Hermione was actually surprised when she entered her dorm.

"Happy Birthday!" Hannah and Susan called once more. They stood left and right of a table which had been placed in the center of the room. Four chairs were arranged evenly around it.

"Thank you!" Hermione was so very happy, it almost hurt. Never before had other girls her age cared about her.

They all sat and ate a small cake the girls had somehow gotten from the kitchens. They were barely done when a very excited Mary held a small package out to her.

Blue paper and a yellow ribbon had been wrapped around something of the general size and shape of a small ball.

"Thank you so much!" Hermione squeaked. "You didn't need to get me a present though."

"We're friends now," Mary said happily. "It's what friends do."

It was rare for Hermione to have this kind of insight but somehow that day was different. Maybe it was because she had been free to watch Mary from up close for the past two weeks? Whatever it was, she noticed Hannah and Susan looking uncomfortable. And somehow she even realized that they had most likely known nothing about her birthday before this very morning.

Hermione looked at Hannah and Susan and said, "You had barely time to come up with anything. And I really didn't expect any of this."

Hannah and Susan relaxed visibly and gave her shy smiles.

Then Hermione weighed the present in her hands. It was rather light. "I wonder what might be inside?"

A big smile was plastered onto Mary's excited face. "I won't tell. You'll have to open it to find out."

Hannah nodded in excitement.

And Susan even urged her, "Yes, let's see."

Carefully, Hermione pulled on the yellow silk ribbon. She was one of those people who unwrapped everything meticulously. She put the ribbon aside. Then she carefully unfolded the blue paper. It crinkled promisingly.

Once the paper was undone, Hermione ran into something very strange.

Her present was a fluffy white blanket.

"Oh, it's so soft," Hannah cooed after she had leaned around the table to touch it.

What had caught Hermione's attention was that the blanket was way too big to be wrapped into the packing paper. When she held the blue paper against the blanket, it wrapped barely halfway around the blanket.

It was Susan who asked, "What are you doing?"

"This does not fit!" Hermione exclaimed in confusion.

"Because Mary's mother shrunk your present?" Hannah said in a duh-tone.

The black-haired witch who had been silent so far chimed in, "Yes, she always does that so Hedwig can carry everything easier."

"Oh." Hermione felt a little bit dumb but she hadn't known you could also shrink thinks. She turned towards Mary, "Thank you!"

"You're not done with unwrapping yet," Mary said with a smile.

The three other girls shared an awkward look. Their blind dorm mate often failed to keep track of what was going on.

Hermione demonstratively rustled with the packing paper. "I've unwrapped the blanket. Thank you." Then she hugged Mary.

Once she let go of the smaller girl, she saw that her smile had turned into a mischievous smirk. "There is something wrapped into the blanket."

"There is?" Hannah asked and they all stared at the neatly folded blanket.

"Only one way to find out," Hermione said and started to unfold the blanket on the table.

She had only unfolded it twice when Hermione came over her present.

Hannah and Susan reacted with girlish squeals.

On the snow-white blanket sat a black stuffed animal. It was a significantly larger-than-life kitten. Hermione thought that it was just the right size for cuddling. The kitty was jet-black except for the inside of its ears, its paws, and the tip of its tail which were snow-white. It also had green eyes.

Hermione touched it to find out whether it was as soft as it looked.

"Meow?"

Hermione was so very surprised when a soft paw was placed in her wrist that she pulled her hand back.

Susan gasped.

"Where did you get that?" Hannah asked, clearly mesmerized.

Forgotten, the blue piece of paper fell to the ground. Hermione needed both her hands to pull the kitten to her chest. Her arms wrapped around the stuffed animal and her cheek rubbed the top of its head. The fur felt so soft. And the kitten was also warm! And after a moment of hugging, the kitten started to purr.

"Do you like it?" Mary asked in a small voice.

Hermione realized that she had yet to make any sound.

This time it was Mary who squeaked as Hermione hugged her hard. "It's the best present ever!"

After the briefest moment of surprise, Mary hugged her back.

The stuffed kitten meowed happily from in between them.

Once Hermione had let go of Mary, the girl told them happily, "It's a white kitten with black ears and paws. And its eyes have the same color as mine!"

Hermione, Hannah, and Susan wordlessly agreed to not correct Mary on the mixed-up color scheme or how awkward it was to state something as basic as a color.

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing with the stuffed kitten. They found out that it would only move if one of them touched it. And also that it liked to be pet very much.

"What will you name her?" Hannah asked eagerly.

"Or him?" Susan added.

Hermione did not even need to think about it. "I'll name her Velvet."

"That's such a nice name for a cute kitten," Susan said enthusiastically and tickled Velvet behind the ears.

"But where did you get something like this?" Hannah repeated her earlier question.

"I asked Mom to make it," Mary told them like it was nothing special.

If the look Hannah and Susan exchanged was anything to go by then this was not the case.

"This is so much better than anything you can buy at Taylor's Magical Toys," Hannah told them. "Look at its ears!" Hannah scratched the kitten under the chin. The cat closed its eyes in relaxed delight, and even turned its ears downward in contentment.

"My aunt told me stories about Mary's mom," Susan said absentmindedly.

"Your aunt who is the Head of the Aurors?" Mary asked.

Susan nodded. "Yes, that's her. You heard about her?"

"Yes, dad mentions her sometimes when he talks with mum."

"What do they say?" Susan asked curiously.

Mary frowned as she thought the question over. "That she's really good at her job? It's always, 'she got that one' or 'Madam Bones found out that so-and-so' such things."

Susan was smiling

"And what has your aunt told you about mum?" Mary asked curiously.

"Oh! Right. Aunt Amelia told me that your mom sometimes helps out in the other departments and fixes broken stuff nobody else can."

"Like a handyman?" Hermione asked curiously.

"A what?" Hannah asked. Susan and Mary looked equally as confused.

Hermione decided that she should have not interrupted the other girl and said, "Never mind."

"Anyway, the Auror Corps has this really advanced Sneakoscope. I saw it once. It's as tall as a full-length mirror there are carvings all over the wooden frame. It's one of a kind really. It was supposed to show all spies who enter the Ministry of Magic. And it had been broken for eighty years. Nobody had been able to fix it. So, aunt Amelia filled out a ton of forms and waited for two months to get an appointment."

"And?" Mary asked curiously.

"Your mom took it home. She returned it one week later and it worked."

"Wow."

"Did Dumbledore ever try to fix it?" Hermione asked.

"Who knows?" Susan shrugged her shoulders. "It was broken a really long time ago. And aunt Amelia is not as old as Dumbledore. I got a picture."

Susan darted off Hermione's bed to go and fetch a photograph from her nightstand. It was a moving picture and showed only her and a tall and very strict witch. Hermione arched an eyebrow since she was wearing a monocle.

"What does she look like?" Mary asked.

Hermione told her.

Meanwhile, Hannah—who apparently knew Susan's aunt—went to fetch a moving picture of her own family. It showed her parents and two brothers. One was a grown man the other a little boy.

Hermione described that picture as well.

"I'm sorry, I've not brought a picture because… you know. But I'll ask mom to send me one." Hermione placed the kitten on Mary's lap.

Then it was her turn to show the unmoving picture of her parents. It was surprisingly hard to describe them accurately to Mary. After all, her parents were always just...there.

All in all, it was Hermione's favorite birthday ever. The friends talked all afternoon then went to dinner together and afterward resumed talking until it was time to get to sleep.

Hermione did not even notice that she forgot to do her homework for Friday.

A/N: Many thanks to xfireandpowderx for beta-reading!