Chapter 15

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLIE!"

I was awakened from a very pleasant dream by seven voices screaming in my face and the sudden burst of sunlight that came from my bed curtains being quickly pulled aside. My first reaction was to scream. But then the meaning of the words came through to me.

Sitting up and grinning, I said, "Thanks, guys!" All the girls in our dorm were crowded around my bed, even Arianne White and Emily Freeman, with whom I had never been particularly close.

"We have a surprise!" sang Rose, pulling something out from behind her back.

"Ooh! A birthday cupcake! Thanks!" She handed it to me , and after they all sang happy birthday, I blew it out.

"Can I have the candle?" asked Kailey. I obliged, and she proceeded to lick it clean of any icing it might have had.

"This is so sweet, guys! Thanks!" I beamed.

"You're very welcome!" said Rose cheerfully. "Now hurry up and get dressed. We're going to miss breakfast." With that, the girls dispersed. I quickly ate my cupcake and got dressed. Rose appeared in front of me again, this time holding a wrapped present.

"Happy fourteenth," she said, smiling.

"Aw, Rose," I said, hugging her. "Thanks! You didn't have to get me anything."

"Well, I did anyway, so are you going to open it or not?"

"Of course!" I released her and she gave me the present, wrapped in a bright Gryffindor gold. I unwrapped it carefully to save the paper and put the bow in my hair, which made Rose roll her eyes. "Oh my gosh! It's so pretty!" In my lap was a large book bound with deep purple cloth. On the front in gold lettering the words Allie Lancaster were embossed. I opened it and found that the pages were blank. "Is it a diary?" She nodded, and I hugged Rose again. "Thank you so much!"

"No problem," she said, smiling. "I ordered it from that store in Hogsmeade, Scrivenshaft's. Now come on, we really are going to be late."

It had been two weeks since Will's and my fight about Dimitri, and it was all but forgotten. We had gradually returned to being friendly, and as such, I sat next to him at breakfast.

"Happy birthday, Sis," he said, hugging me.

"Thanks, Will," I replied.

"Now, on three," he said to James, who sat across from him.

I looked up. "What?"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ALLIE…" I sank down as far as I could go in my seat and buried my face in my hands until it was over. By that point, however, James and Will had not only drawn the attention of everyone in the Great Hall, but they had also gotten almost the entire Gryffindor table and even a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs to sing along.

"You know we love you, Allie," James teased when I finally lifted my head.

"I'm sure," I muttered, blushing hard and attempting to go back to my breakfast.

"Aw, c'mon Al," said Will, tossing an arm around me. "Here, does this make up for it?" He pulled a small present out of his robes.

I perked up immediately, smiling. "Yup!" He handed it to me and watched as I unwrapped it.

"Yum! Thanks, Will!" It was a box of Honeydukes white chocolate with bits of candy cane embedded in it. "Here." I broke off a chunk and gave it to him.

"I was hoping you'd do that," he said as he popped it into his mouth.

"What about me?" James pouted.

"Fine," I grumbled, handing him a small piece. "And don't you lot start with me," I said to the girls, all of whom had been staring hungrily at the chocolate. "You'll get some later."

The rest of the day went by quite normally until Potions, my last class.

"Happy birthday," said Dimitri, coming up beside me while Professor Slughorn was preoccupied by some Slytherin's exploded cauldron.

"Thanks," I said, momentarily abandoning my Deflating Draught.

"I have a gift for you," he said, "but I do not have it vith me. Can you meet me after class by the hippogriff statue in the fifth floor corridor?"

"Sure," I said, excitement fluttering in my stomach. "See ya there."

"See you." He returned to his cauldron.

Lysander, who had been quietly attending to his potion throughout the conversation, grinned evilly. "Hmm… I really should inform Will of this…"

I gasped. "You wouldn't!"

"Would too. And I also think your best friends ought to know."

"Ly, I hope you know I'd have to hex you if you did."

"But it just might be worth it…"

"Rose just taught me how to do the Bat-Bogey."

He laughed, just a hint of panic in his eyes. "Fine, fine. But you're going to tell them anyway; what difference does it make?" He glanced at something over my shoulder and his eyes widened. "Allie, you should probably check your draught…"

I did, only to find it was about to overflow. "Shoot," I muttered, turning down my fire and desperately trying to return it to the gentle shade of cerulean that it had been before.

"Beautiful," said Lysander smugly, meticulously adding rat spleens to his draught.

"Shut up."

Slughorn chose that moment to pass by our table. "Miss Lancaster, what on earth-"

"Sorry, Professor," I mumbled, blushing. "I must've left it over the fire too long."

"No need to apologize, Miss Lancaster, just-" He turned to Lysander. "Lysander, my dear boy, you wouldn't mind giving Miss Lancaster here a hand, would you?" Lysander happened to be one of Slughorn's favorites, mainly due to his excellence in Potions and his famous father.

"Of course, sir," he said, ladling some of his draught into a small bottle and handing it to Slughorn. "And here's mine, Professor." He smirked at me.

"Ah, excellent as usual, m'boy." He waddled off to someone else's table, leaving Lysander snickering quietly and me on the verge making true my threat of hexing him.

Fifteen minutes later, my potion was passable and class was over. I slipped out before Rose and the others could find me and started towards the fifth floor. By the time I had reached it, I was panting and had to take a moment to catch my breath and mentally curse Dimitri. Really? The fifth floor? And naturally, the hippogriff statue was all the way at the end of the corridor.

It was a sort of menacing thing, that statue. At least seven feet tall and constantly glowering down at me with a cruelly sharp beak and one razor-like claw extended. It looked as though it could eat me at any point that it wished, and the only reason I was still alive was because it decided to let me be so. Try me, it seemed to say. See how long you'd last.

"Hello."

I shrieked, pulling my wand out instinctively, only to find myself practically jamming it up poor Dimitri's nose. "Sorry!" I blushed profusely and stuffed my wand back into my pocket. "I just- the statue- I mean, I thought-"

He chuckled. "There is nothing to be sorry for."

I couldn't help but smile. He was so sweet!

"Anyway, here is your gift. Happy birthday." He reached into his robe pocket and pulled out a small gift wrapped in deep blue. Handing it to me, he stepped back and looked rather awkward.

I unwrapped it curiously, finding a small velvet box. Upon opening that, I saw what might be one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.

There was a delicate silver chain on which hung a small pendant: an owl in flight with a letter clutched in its beak. Its tiny eyes were glittering, green tourmalines, my birthstone. Every detail was perfect right down to the last feather, and it even looked a bit like Quicksilver.

I looked up, eyes watering. "Dimitri… it's gorgeous."

He smiled the biggest smile I'd seen on him yet. "I am very glad that you like it."

"Are you kidding? I love it! Would you help me put it on?" He took the necklace and hung it around my neck, his warm fingers clasping it in the back. I turned, a bubble of elation rising inside of me. "Thank you so much. This is probably the best birthday present anyone's ever given me." I stepped in and hugged him, my head only a little bit higher than his shoulder. Stepping back half a step, I found his deep brown eyes gazing down at me, and I instinctively leaned in. Half a centimeter from my face, he murmured, "Happy birthday, Allie," and closed the distance between us.