The Sun, Moon & Stars

54. March 10th, 1994

The house-elves had pitched in to make him a special birthday breakfast; which was sprawled on silver platters on the coffee table - stacks of perfectly golden brown toast, dozens of flavours of jams for him to choose from and various fresh berries. Enough to feed eleven, though if he was really hungry she was positive he could finish it all himself (wolf tendencies at their finest, you see).

It wasn't all that hard to convince the elves to help her out; everybody loved Remus and was willing to pitch in. On top of that, a number of students had given her gifts to pass on to him; with the majority of them being sweets, she knew he would appreciate the sentiment immensely.

Her gift this year, perhaps, was not as special as years past. The majority of it being chocolate, along with a handmade card, did not exactly compare to previous birthday presents she had gifted him. Not being allowed to go to Hogsmeade limited her options, but Hermione and Ron were (like usual) ever-so willing to buy whatever she pleased for her. Hence the assortment of chocolates she had wrapped individually was the best she could do; but chocolate was, perhaps, his favourite thing in the world (apart from her and Ginger, of course) so she didn't see it posing a problem.

'You haven't gone back to sleep have you?' She called, teasing, after a couple moments.

'How could I?' Remus mumbled back, somewhat bitterly, to which she let out a bark of laughter.

She heard the soft patter of his footsteps and the continued mumbles of protest that streamed out of his mouth until he turned the corner and was in view; crimson flannel pyjama pants hung low on his hips, and a forest green jumper pulled lazy over his body.

He pulled a hand through his sandy brown hair as he yawned and made his way towards the sofa she sat on, eyes still not fully open, 'Alright, alright, I'm here.'

When his eyelids flickered open fully, and his brain began to comprehend everything, his face registered a couple of expressions; but the most prominent perhaps, was surprise.

Dozens of gifts were sprawled around the coffee table, accompanied by the special breakfast she had requested herself. Even a parcel Ginger had sent in via owl was nestled somewhere within the pile (which she knew to be knitted socks she had crafted for him) and her lips curved into a smile as she watched his honey eyes trail over the view he was faced with.

'This is too much.' Were the first words that streamed out of his mouth, which was slightly agape in surprise.

Ophelia rolled her eyes as she tugged on his wrist and forced him to sit next to her,

'You're the only person I know that complains when you get gifts.'

'I don't deserve this-' He started, to which she cut him off.

'Okay, now that's enough. We are not wallowing in self-pity on your birthday.' She sighed, as she sprung up off the sofa and moved to collect the first parcel - the one from her.

'Besides, you do deserve it.'

She tossed the parcel to him and he barley caught it, smiling as he read the handwritten tag that was addressed to him and signed from her. His eyes flickered up again, eyebrows quirked upwards,

'All of this is for me?' He asked, confirming, while still in utter disbelief - as if the prospect of such an extravagant set up couldn't possibly be for himself.