Chapter 13: Bill's Birthday
Kenna, Tonks, and a few other first years were sitting at their normal table in the library quietly doing their own work. The silent companionship made getting work done a lot easier Tonks had told her once. Kenna wasn't totally sure how true that felt because more often than not someone would ask a question and they would get off-topic.
The young girl saw Bill before he saw her. Her eyes had wandered to look for Madam Pince but instead caught the flash of ginger in the doorway. His eyes scanned the room a bit before falling on their table. When their eyes met he smiled and started walking toward them.
One of the girls across the table noticed that Kenna was looking at something. She followed her line of sight and yelped. "Bill Weasley is coming!" She whisper-yelled.
The others at the table straightened up and by the time Bill arrived everyone was looking between him and Kenna. Tonks rolled her eyes. He was cool, but it was obvious he didn't really care about anyone except for little Kenna.
He slid into the bench next to Kenna, making everyone on their side adjust to give him a little room. He ignored the looks from across the table and looked directly between the Metmorphmagus and Kenna. "Don't know if you heard but I'll be having a few friends meet up in a classroom for my birthday next Saturday. You all should come," Bill smiled at the two of them specifically but also nodded toward the small group. Kenna had noticed that Bill was kind to everyone he interacted with, and while she didn't have the confidence for it yet, she hoped one day she could be the same.
"All of us?" Tonks asked, pointing to herself and then the ones who's jaws had dropped at the invitation. She knew Bill in passing, just about everyone did, he was a popular second year, but they were not friends.
"Yeah. We'll just be eating snacks and playing a few games. Nothing too exciting."
Kenna stared at him wide-eyed for a second. What did a birthday party include? No one had ever invited her to a birthday celebration. She couldn't remember any of her own. Some of the books she'd read had mentioned birthdays but never man details. Weren't you supposed to bring presents? How did you know what to buy for a present?
Bill could almost see her internal struggle and shrugged it off.
"Ask Dumbledore and get back to me. Okay?" He told her. He adjusted his back on his shoulder and gave them both a wave before making his way out of the library. Kenna offhandedly noted that it was likely they were the only reason he had entered in the first place.
Once the library door swung shut the girls all began talking excitedly at the same time to each other about who would be there and what they should bring as a gift. There was a round of 'shh's before they calmed down. Kenna didn't really understand the hype.
Walking to the great hall Tonks leaned over to her and whispered, "they think Bill is super cute," she laughed, "I don't think they understand he mostly wanted you to come."
While she wasn't sure how true the statement was, she did feel the warmth spread over her when she thought of the invitation. The fact that he had even thought about her solidified their standing as friend-siblings. Friblings. What a funny combination of words.
She waved goodbye to the Hufflepuffs as they entered the great hall, bouncing up to her spot beside Minerva. The older woman didn't always come to dinners, but when she did Kenna enjoyed her company. She didn't want to tell Dumbledore, but the Transfiguration Professor had a much better taste in sweets than he did.
Kenna told her about her day and how her handwriting practice was going, she asked the definition of four Latin words (vitro, culpa, verbatim and invicta), and they were halfway through the main meal when Dumbledore took his seat.
He smiled down at her. Like many Wednesdays, he had left the castle in the morning for a short trip to a meeting at the ministry of magic, and then he'd returned just after lunch to paperwork and sending letters out and delivering a few items from Diagon Alley. After joining their conversation about the turkey, he noticed that Kenna looked a little more antsy than normal.
"What is it, Kenna?" He asked gently. The young girl's eyes moved out over the House tables, which were just about full.
"Bill Weasley is having a birthday party."
McGonagall raised an eyebrow from the girls' other side and made eye contact with Dumbledore. This was the first time she was hearing of such a thing. Although it was common for students to get together in their dorms or at lunch for birthday celebrations, a party had a little different of a connotation.
Dumbledore wasn't too worried though, he knew Molly and Arthur well enough to know their son was probably inclusive to a fault, "Is that so?"
"Yes!" Kenna smiled. "He said I can come if you say yes. It will be in an empty classroom. On Saturday." Both the adults logged the information in their heads for future reference. Kenna had gathered quite a few friends at Hogwarts, several in their first and second years of school, and one or two who were older and walked her in between classes. Dumbledore gave her little bouts of freedom with them, but she still had to ask permission for most of her activities, and they had rules about where she could and couldn't go. She didn't seem to have any sort of rule-breaker tendencies in her at this point of time. She was more responsible than a large portion of the students. Even her choices in friends were largely positive influences.
"I guess we will need to make a quick trip to get a gift then." Dumbledore pondered.
McGonagall was not surprised by his response. Just as the young girl had when Dumbledore picked her up off the streets of Knockturn Alley, she had one of the strongest wizards in the world wrapped around her finger. Her eyes seemed to glitter in the candlelight from above the tables.
"What does Bill Weasley like?" She asked Kenna, trying to keep her talking and distracted.
"He likes Astronomy and Quidditch!"
Together they began their brainstorm of gifts.
When she arrived carrying her small boxed gift the first thing she noticed was that the party was lively. Dumbledore let her walk to the classroom on her own and she found herself in the doorway almost stunned. Suddenly being around so many people, all of whom were friends with one another felt a lot more daunting when she was alone. Most of Gryffindor tower was in and out of the small classroom, coming in waves of laughter.
It didn't look like any of the Hufflepuffs had arrived yet, and Kenna was early. Was it okay to come in if she was early?
"Kenna!" She felt a bit of relief as Emari spotted her, waving her toward him and taking the present. He walked with her over to the table. Most of the gifts were small like her own and wrapped a lot less neatly. She couldn't help but be grateful that Dumbledore had helped her with making hers presentable. It had been their craft the previous evening.
Emari introduced her to a few of the Gryffindors and given her a plate with cookies on it from a table stacked with sweets. The cake had candles on the top that looked like they might stay lit forever they were so long.
Bill was on the other side of the room, but he spotted the smallest invitee and walked over.
"I'm glad you could come!" He smiled down at her. Kenna was glad to have her plate in her hand and a cookie in her mouth, because she wasn't sure what to say.
One of the Gryffindors said "Happy Birthday!" which Kenna wanted to smack herself- of course that's what you're supposed to say!
"Happy Birthday Bill!" She smiled. "I brought a present!" She added, pointing over at the table.
"You didn't have to, but thanks! I'm excited to see what it is." Bill eyed the table. He nodded to Emari. "I have a feeling whatever Emari got me is going to blow up in my hands," the group all laughed.
The Hufflepuffs arrived not long after. They quickly made their way to Bill to wish him a happy birthday. After doing such, Tonks lead them straight to Kenna. About half an hour after the original time Bill had given everyone, they started the activities that had been planned and set up. A ton of the games included balloons and sweets and the occasional competition came up. There were a few that included magic and Kenna had to sit out on, but Bill was constantly trying to make sure she was included in as much as he could.
When Bill started opening his presents on a chair set on top of a table for all of them to watch, Kenna couldn't help but hear a conversation to her right. "Why'd he invite Dumbledore's kid?"
"Dunno, I think they're friends or he feels bad for her or something,"
"Bet that's why he invited the younger kids too, to keep her busy so she wouldn't bother him," the first girl said. Kenna tried not to think too much about it. She wasn't good at reading people, but did he think she was a bother? Did he not actually want to spend time with her? She had heard people complaining about their younger siblings, was that what he meant when he said she was like a sister to him on Halloween?
"Your gift was so much better than mine," Tonks whispered to Kenna on her other side, bringing the young girl back to the present opening. Bill was moving through the presents pretty quickly, and Kenna realized she'd missed the moment he'd open her own. It had been added to the pile of opened presents which mostly consisted of sweets and pranking materials from Zuko's Joke shop.
Kenna's eyes wondered to the people egging him on around the room. She did wonder about the invites herself though. The majority of the group was Bills close friends, with the occasional person from his classes, a Hufflepuff here and a Ravenclaw there. He was already a popular student. Someone had even tagged him to be a potential Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. It explained the Broom cleaning set and the strategy book he was just then passing on to the 5th year girl in charge of stacking the gifts.
He looked happy, which made Kenna feel happy. Any chance she got to make others feel good she wanted to take. She liked how a smile could spread into other smiles, and she was sure on a day to celebrate one person, the person who's smile mattered the most was theirs.
After the cake had been blown out and was being cut up, Kenna and Tonks both stood watching the second and third-year boys standing on tables trying to burp the alphabet. Kenna wasn't sure what the purpose was, but when one boy got to R everyone cheered.
Waiting for their pieces, Kenna's attention was drawn to the person behind them, "I'm surprised he invited you at all," said the Ravenclaw- she recognized the voice from earlier, it had a tone that Kenna wasn't sure she could identify.
"He said I am like his little sister now," Kenna said albeit a little unsure.
"You get adopted by the best people don't you," laughed Tonks, who swung her arm over Kenna's shoulder. The Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw seemed to size one another up for a second and it made Kenna a bit uncomfortable, not totally sure about what it meant or why they were doing it. Kenna didn't comment but she was inclined to agree. Emari seemed to jump into the fray as he handed Kenna her cake and looked at the two other girls.
"Everything okay?" he asked.
Kenna shrugged and Tonks turned with a big smile, nodding her head. Emari gave the Ravenclaw a quick glance over and turned his attention to The Metmorphmagus and Kenna, telling them to follow him to an open table. Once they sat down, Kenna relaxed a little. Bill eventually joined them, the yellow birthday boy crown from his presents still sitting on his head. He easily slipped into the conversations happening at the table, almost like he'd been there the whole time. Kenna munched on her cake and listened to the conversation. She learned a lot more when she listened. She was quiet, and so she couldn't stop the surprised look on her face when the attention turned to her.
"When is your birthday Kenna?"
Kenna wasn't sure how to respond to Emari. She didn't even know her birthday. Hell. She wasn't even totally sure if she was 7 or 8. She figured she'd get her Hogwarts letter and then she'd know she was actually 11. But until then… She was okay not having one.
As a response she shrugged in a 'no idea' fashion. She could still celebrate everyone else's birthday. She couldn't help but note that her response seemed to go over almost everyone's head. It didn't seem like they were listening to that close to her answer anyway. Most of the school was aware that she was a child of few words, and Kenna got a feeling that some of the kids thought it wasn't cool or interesting to hang out with people younger than them or people who weren't their friends.
It was always weird to her how different students interacted with her in the first place. Some treated her like she was just learning to walk, and others treated her like she was a peer. Very few found the happy medium that indicated she was somewhere in between.
She noticed it, even more, that afternoon when they had broken up into groups for games. They tended to put her on the team with the most older kids, because she was the youngest, and sometimes they explained the rules to her or avoided letting her play. Especially when things got competitive. Kenna felt lucky to have a few people who were active in making sure her voice was heard and she got to play.
After the cake, the party was beginning to wrap up and Bill glanced around at his friends. He briefly left their table and walked around saying thank you to everyone. After doing a big loop he finally ended back at Kenna and Tonks. Tonks was showing a few others her impressions of other people, her likeness to Madam Hooch was uncanny and had at least two people on the ground in tears laughing.
Kenna was the first to spot him re-joining the group, finding him looking at her already. She gave him a smile as he approached her.
His hip bumped her side a bit and he smiled down at her, "We're starting to finish out the night. I'll walk you back to the Headmaster's office." He motioned to Tonks to get her attention and tell her the same thing. A few of the other kids groaned at the idea of the party ending. Honestly they didn't have to leave, but he knew that Dumbledore would be expecting Kenna to return soon. While he did like most of the Hufflepuffs there, including Tonks, he still felt hesitation letting Kenna go places on her own.
She was much older than Ginny (who was nearing two years old) but she had an innocence about her. Bill also was very aware she was a smart kid and probably already knew the castle, but even the other professor hesitated at letting her go places alone, and Bill was inclined to trust their judgment. He hadn't seen her arrival at the party, but he was glad Emari and Tonks were there to hang out with her and make sure she had a good time. He'd done his best splitting his time with the people there, but the struggle came down to the fact that more people had come than he'd expected. Birthday parties were not the most common thing to happen on weekends at Hogwarts, but it also turned out the weekend he had chosen was not a Hogsmeade weekend, which left a lot of the upperclassmen bored out of their mind and prepared to 'crash his party'.
Kenna walked beside him as they snuck their way out and into the corridor toward the stairs. She hopped up them, and he could hear her counting under her breath. He didn't realize what she was doing until she skipped the invisible step and his foot almost went right through it. Right. She turned to check on him and he winked.
When they reached the hall to Dumbledore's office, Bill felt a wave of curiosity. He'd been fortunate enough to never be called there, but he couldn't help but be a bit curious as to what it looked like. "Are the living quarters attached to the office?" He asked Kenna.
"Yes! They are hidden!" She put her finger to her nose and gave him a wink similar to the one he had given her moments earlier.
"I haven't been up to Dumbledore's office, does he really have a pet phoenix?"
Kenna nodded her head very quickly. "His name is Fawkes. Wanna meet him?"
Bill bit his lip and considered it.
"It's your birthday!" Kenna nudged. She approached the Griffin and said aloud clearly "Huffkin Popcorn!" She jumped on the first step and motioned for Bill to take the next one. He hesitated and jumped on the stair two or three down from her. When they reached the top Kenna slowly opened the door for them both, although it took a bit of a push. It was thick wood.
The eldest Weasley boy felt his head lift toward the ceiling of the office. It was much higher up than a normal room and reminded him of the dorms. The walls were lined with bookshelves and trinkets and it felt so full. Bill's eyes were brought back down to the red and orange bird Kenna was walking toward him.
"Bill this is Fawkes, Fawkes this is Bill."
"Nice to meet you, Fawkes"
The bird squawked at him, it's sound much different from an owl's. It almost seemed to hold a tune. The bird let him pet it a few times before climbing further up Kenna's arm to her shoulder and turning around so It could make it's way back to its perch. It was then that Bill realized the Headmaster was watching the three of them interact with a careful eye and small smile.
Kenna saw his line of sight and followed it to the headmaster who moved around his desk. She ran over and he swung Kenna into his arms. The headmaster noted that she was, in fact, growing, though not as much as he would like. She still fit into his arms too easily. The young girl buried her head into his shoulder as a half hug and then grinned up at him. He'd noticed that in the past few weeks she'd been a little more touchy. Or, perhaps she was more comfortable asking for physical affection.
His attention turned to Bill Weasley, the boy stood awkwardly in the office, his eyes wandering around the room.
"Happy Birthday Mr. Weasley," He said aloud, catching his attention once more.
"Thank you!" Bill blurted out, his face reddening. "Kenna wanted to introduce me to Fawkes and- uh-" There was a moment of silence, "Uh- I had a question-" Bill started, running a hand through his hair. His interactions with the headmaster were minimal. Dumbledore didn't say anything but nodded his head for the young man to continue, "When is Kenna's birthday?"
Surprised Dumbledore also stood puzzled for a moment, glancing down at Kenna. Bill couldn't help but feel like they were having a silent conversation without him, only their eyes connecting. In that brief moment, it made him a bit uncomfortable. It reminded him a lot of Fred and George, who he was sure had a connection that included reading each other's minds.
"We don't know the day she was born. However, I do believe the official day of her adoption was August 2nd. So that will likely be what we celebrate every year."
Bill pouted for a second, realizing that it'd be in the middle of the summer and make it a bit hard to have a party for her. He could still talk his mom and dad into sending something for her.
He'd told them about her in letters as many kids had. They'd both seemed extremely surprised and had asked a ton of questions on how she fit into Hogwarts life. His mom had even sent him letters with advice on how to make sure she was included in the things he did- not that he needed it.
Shaken out of his thoughts at Dumbledore's chuckle, he looked at them to see Kenna's head resting on the old man's shoulder.
"Big Brother Bill?" he winked at Bill. Bill didn't catch when she told Dumbledore that and felt a bit more of the pink creep upon his cheeks. He did see her like a younger sister, but it sounded weird when she called him her brother aloud. "We'll have to see about your birthday. It's still a long way away. Did he like your gift?"
Bill grinned and nodded his head "Yes! The chocolates were fantastic and I am very excited to have a go with the muggle board game! My dad will want to play with me nonstop once I get home for the holidays."
Kenna seemed surprised that he remembered exactly what she had gotten him, but she smiled.
"I'm sure you will get the use out of it." Dumbledore chuckled knowingly. At least the game would be something that Arthur Weasley could play with his children rather than experiment with. "Well, Mr. Weasley. Enjoy the rest of your evening. Thank you for bringing her back up here."
"Of course! I hope she had fun."
"The Dumbledore glanced at each other and Kenna enthusiastically nodded her head. "Thank you for inviting me," she said. Her voice was still small and he could see the weariness set in.
"It's not a party without family." Bill winked at her. Hopefully, Dumbledore was okay with his sudden affection for the brunette. The older man had a twinkle in his eyes when he nodded his head, so Bill took that as a good sign. With another wave and short goodbye, he walked down the hall and back towards the stairs.
AN: Thanks for reading! Leave a review- they really help keep me motivated!