𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐑 ✭ascendance to power

35- birthday |h|owls

Everyone from the Gryffindor team's euphoria at finally winning the Quidditch Cup lasted at least a week before everyone busied themselves with the pile of assignments and parchments.

Aaliyah mindlessly swirled her fork whilst playing with the spaghetti on her plate, as she looked at the teacher's table waiting for her father to arrive. Little known to her that her other two best friends too were eagerly waiting for Severus' arrival. As it was not every day that someone celebrates their birthday.

In his almost thirteen years of teaching, never had he told anyone of his colleague or students the date of his birth, and nobody was bothered enough to even care to ask him that, and he didn't want it any other way. Nevertheless, his daughter's meddlesome friends used their quirky brains to figure the date out during their 3rd year of schooling.

Aaliyah remembered the first cake she ever made him or made for anyone in that matter.

"You're not stirring it properly!" Xena complained as she watched Amelia whisk the sugar and butter.

"I don't see what's the point of us baking a cake when there are kitchen-elves to do it for us" the blonde suggested as she tried to balance the bowl on her hips.

"It's called being thoughtful" Aaliyah retorted, "besides, the elves are asleep it won't be nice of us to wake them up, seeing that we sneaked in."

After putting the cake inside the oven to bake, the trio sat down on the kitchen floor while eagerly waiting for the cake to bake. But, unbeknown to them, they need to sleep plagued their minds as this had been their first time out of bed past curfew.

Aaliyah, with her keen sense of smell, was the first one to notice or was the first one to whom the smell of burning fumes had reached. Her eyes sprang open in panic causing her to yell "Shit!"

Without further ado, the remaining two woke up. For the next few minutes, the trio just watched the burnt cake trying to figure out what went wrong. A synchronized yelp escaped their lips when they felt their collar being pulled up by Filch.

"You filthy little scoundrels" Filch spat "Well, take a good look! This might be the last you spend in this castle!!"

"You won't take us to Dumbledore for such a thing, will you?" Xena questioned, only for Filch to give a nasty grin, flashing his clattery yellow teeth.

Groaning softly, Severus tried to blink away his sleep when he heard a knock on his door. Straightening his robes, he got to his feet, ready to hex anyone who was on the other side of the door at such an ungodly hour, that too.

His anger morphed into that of confusion, then to worry, then again to that of anger when he found his daughter being manhandled by Filch; Aaliyah just sheepishly smiled up at him.

"Let go of her!" Severus ordered as he pulled her away from his clutch "And them too!"

Filch, hastily yet reluctantly let go of the other two's collars.

"What is the meaning of this?" Severus glared at the squib, demanding an answer.

"They were trying to burn the castle down!"

"Did not!" Amelia retorted.

Severus then noticed the gloomy expression conjoining her dusty face, he heaved a sigh "Take them back to their dormitory, I will speak upon this issue with Minerva tomorrow." He gently pulled his daughter's shoulder, nudging her inside the room before he turned back at the retrieving caretaker, "And if you manhandle them or anyone again, I might just strangle you"