oxford comma // h.s o.u

15th Birthday vs 21st Birthday (drabble)

A/N: They may be six years apart, but Harry finds himself being just as nervous to invite Suzy to his 21st birthday party as he was to invite her to his 15th birthday. So, here's a little drabble of how he felt both those times and how those damn butterflies just keep getting worse. Enjoy!

PS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARRY! 💖

***

Fifteen.

Harry doesn't really know when he first saw Suzy as more than just a classmate — or even more than just a friend, though he's certain she would never call him that in the first place — but every time he sees her, every time he even thinks about her, his heart thumps hard in his chest and he prays she has that pretty smile on her pretty face. He may only be fourteen — fifteen in a week, though! — but there's just something about Suzy Lestrange, something that he really can't put his finger on, that keeps drawing him in and wanting to know more.

Sometimes he feels almost pathetic when he sees her walking down the hall, either by herself or with friends, and a smile spreads across his lips in an instant. Seeing her makes him happy, and he's heard that's what happens when people have romantic feelings for someone, but to him and his classmates... It's almost unheard of. There are a few people in his classes who are girlfriend and boyfriend, but most of his mates are always having a laugh about which girls they find proper fit and which ones they'd like to snog the living daylights out of — not that even half of them have had their first kiss.

But when it comes time to inviting people to his fifteenth birthday party, he almost tells Jonathan, his best mate, that he wants Suzy on the list in an instant. He remains calm and collected, though, naming off a few of their close friends first — Jonathan, of course, and then people like Jasper and Will and Alice. Harry makes sure to suggest a few other people he likes from his classes before suggesting Suzy, since he's trying to be inconspicuous and all.

Come the following day, he lets those invited of the informal gathering — there's no physical invitation, because it's more of a verbal invite than anything — and as soon as he walks into his English class, he spots Suzy near the front immediately. She always sits in the same seat, though, so maybe he only spots her instantly because he always tries to find her to keep the fluttering in the pit of his stomach alive.

Harry thinks about making his way over to her straight away, ready to invite her to his birthday, but that seems a little desperate, he thinks, so he decides to hold off just a little bit longer. He takes his own usual seat beside Jasper, and is entirely thankful that he's got the perfect view of Suzy — but maybe it's not really a good thing, because often he finds himself getting distracted in class and is left wondering the things they could do if left alone. Jasper greets him straight away, throwing ideas at him for the party and the kind of games they could play, but Harry doesn't get to say much more because their teacher walks in and class begins not long after.

Over the course of the lesson, Harry knows he should be focusing on all the class notes and the essay that's due soon — he should also find out what it's actually on, but that's something to worry about later — but he can't help it. He's only got one thing on his mind, one thing that is causing the butterflies to swarm in his stomach, and that's when and how he's going to ask Suzy to his birthday. It seems so silly to him — he's liked girls before, but it's never been like this. He can't even imagine how he would feel if he ever were to actually ask her out; the thought alone almost makes him want to throw up. Maybe he should save it for when he's drunk and a lot more confident.

As class eventually comes to an end, Jasper bids Harry goodbye and jets off to his next class, and while that happens, Harry almost misses Suzy as she leaves the class in a similar fashion — she's never been one to be late to class, Harry notices. He calls out her name, though she doesn't hear him, so he tries again a little louder, gaining the attention of a few classmates surrounding them, but she stops and spins on her heels to where the voice is coming from this time.