Thursday passed quickly, four flowers appeared in Dumbledore's hand as he passed Angelina and I on the way to the staff table that morning and no one could suppress their surprise or smiles as he handed them down to me. "It would appear, Miss Black that these are for you." He winked and glided up to greet the other teachers. Umbridge snarled as she looked down at me and I waved happily up at her, but she turned from me and began to converse with Professor Sinastra. I didn't get a chance to talk to Severus and before I knew it Harry and I had finished our colossal mountain of homework, his hand was bleeding badly again and Hermione had used up all of her reserves of the healing sap we'd been using, so we had no way to treat it. She'd had him writing for hours tonight and with every letter he scrawled on the parchment, his face crumpled with pain. Eventually I sent him to bed and climbed into mine.
The house elves had been good to us tonight and had placed heat plates under the sheets and I snuggled down against mine peacefully, dreaming not tonight of dead bodies and blood, but instead of presents and smiley faces, I knew would be greeting me in the morning.
Shrieks and laughter woke me, my head shooting up to find hundreds of petals fly off my face, and looking up into the canopy of my bed I could see what the girls were laughing at. Hundreds of flower petals rained down from the canopy of my bed and lay over my sheets. It wasn't only peony petals today, however, and instead I was covered in soft rose petals and sweet bright tulip petals. I rubbed one between my fingers, enjoying the feel of its waxy surface between my fingertips. Looking up at Angelina and Charlotte, I felt a wide grin spread across my face and I sunk back down onto my pillows and the petals continued to rain down on me. I couldn't control my laughter and I spread my arms wide, enjoying the feel of the soft petals against my skin. Angelina jumped down on the bed beside me and suddenly my bed was a mass of giggling teenage girls, catching the flower petals between their fingers and throwing them at each other happily.
"Happy Birthday Lena!" I hugged Angelina tightly and she laughed, "How is anything we do today going to stand up to this?" She pulled a rose petal from her dark hair and threw it into my face, "I have no idea." I laughed and fell back down onto my pillows.
The boys were meeting us downstairs and as I opened the door to the common room I was welcomed by fireworks and glitter explosions, the boys cheering loudly and hugging me tightly before passing me a brightly wrapped present. I fell to the floor in-front of the fireplace and ripped the paper away to reveal a large bottle of Madame Rosmerta's best red wine and a large bag of chocolate and candy from Honeydukes. I hugged them again and took Angelina's present from her hands. I unwrapped the paisley wrapping paper carefully and a soft cotton scarf fell from the paper folds. It was covered in a dark green ivy pattern and I stroked it tenderly, "It's beautiful Angelina, thank you" She hugged me and sat down beside me as Harry and Ron tumbled down the stairs to the boys dormitory, their arms laden in presents of all sizes. They fell down to the floor before us and we all hugged as they wished me happy birthday, Ron thrust a small package in my direction and unwrapping it found a pair of large gold hoop earrings with soft emerald feathers falling from them, I thanked him and took the larger present from Harry. I felt it and it was hard against my fingertips. I pulled back the paper carefully and found myself looking into a beautifully carved, ornate gold mirror. "Harry," my breath caught in my throat and I grabbed him with the hand that didn't hold the mirror. It was one of the things we'd found in the attic this summer that we'd actually liked, but it hadn't looked like this a few weeks, back then it was brown and rusty, the mirror face scratched and dusty, but now it's frame glinted up at me brightly and the mirror itself looked new. "I had to get it cleaned up, sent it to some goblins Mundungus knows, didn't think I was getting it back at one point actually." I placed the mirror down gently and grabbed Harry, squeezing him tightly, "Thank you Harry, I love it." He pressed another present into my hands, muttering quietly into my ear, "From Remus, don't open it now." I nodded into his shoulder and I slipped it inside my robes as he passed me a softer, squidgy present. I saw Dads unruly scrawl on the card and pulled the present open quickly, a note falling down to the rug at my feet, "Molly said it would look good on you," I pulled out the dark parcel and it unravelled itself with a soft thud as it glided over the floor. A thin black lace dress hung in my hands, and although its neckline was rather low, it seemed quite long as I hugged it against me. There were a few more presents from Dad, a couple of muggle books and some muggle clothes I'd been begging for, a thick navy blue cardigan and some new leather boots, aswell as a miniature bottle of Firewhiskey, accompanied by a small note, "I noticed my bottle was nearly empty, though you might want your own supply now." I laughed and put all the presents into a pile, deciding it was time for breakfast.
As we all piled down into the great hall, Professor Dumbledore caught my eye and he and Professor McGonagall called down birthday greetings to me. We sat and ate large helpings of pancakes and bacon, washed down with litres of pumpkin juice. I looked up at the staff table and Severus sat watching me, his goblet already between his fingers. I smiled up at him and he smile down at me nervously. Angelina sat beside me, fidgeting as she waited for my admirer's next surprise and was not to be let down, when moments later Iris flew in through the windows above. She was being supported by several other of the larger school owls and Pig flew happily below her, whistling up, trying to catch her attention by diving down to the Slytherin table and gliding back up, but my snooty little owl flew straight for me, a large bouquet of peonies hanging from her talons. She dropped them into my lap and flew up to my shoulder, hooting happily as I fed her some pancake which I smothered thickly in maple syrup. Pressing my face into the peonies, they heavy scent filled my nostrils and my head seemed to fill with thick smoke. As I lifted my head, the flowers shook, and tiny little golden winged butterflies and dragonflies swarmed up and glided above my head. I laughed, pulling the tiny card from the ribbon where it was tied tightly.
Happy birthday my love.
Tonight couldn't come sooner,
I love you more than you'll ever know.
My chest became tight and tears swelled in my eyes, the whole day starting to set in. I was eighteen, finally an adult. And tonight, I would lose all that tied me to my childhood, and become a woman. I held the card tightly to my chest and slipped it down into my robes with the present from Remus. Knowing I had a study period this morning meant I could open it then and as I watched Angelina trod down to the quidditch pitch with Fred and George for a little practise, I felt for the present in my robes. I walked down the slope and edged around the forest before collapsing in my favourite spot beside the lake.