She Saved Me | Tom Riddle

Birthday Wishes

"You were in the spirit division right," Ava asked after she took a bite of the muffin. She was momentarily distracted from their conversation at the decent flavor. It was her sister's first attempt at making them herself.

Gwen nodded, "I was." She smiled at Ava's impressed expression towards the muffins. "Lizzie was very proud about how these turned out."

"They're really good," Ava said in amazement. She finished another bite before setting the muffin down. "Would you ever go back?"

Gwen quirked a brow in question. "To the Ministry?" Ava nodded. "You know, I've given that thought and I don't think I could."

"Really," Ava stated in surprise, "why not?"

Gwen shrugged, "it's been so long now that it wouldn't be the same anymore." She grabbed a muffin herself and picked at it before taking a bite. "Would you want to return to a job after eleven years of not being there?"

"Probably not."

"Exactly," Gwen said matter-of-factly. "Maybe I'll get into something else though, you never know." She smiled at Ava then, silently telling her to end the subject there. "So, you and Tom were up pretty late last night," she then mentioned to change topics.

Ava bit her lip and looked down to avoid her mother's gaze. "Yeah, we just weren't ready to go to bed yet." She glanced up to see her mother giving her a skeptical look. "We were only talking about the gifts we gave each other."

"That's all?"

"Of course," Ava said with feigned disinterest.

Gwen huffed in amusement, knowing her daughter was purposely being tight-lipped. "Did he like it?"

Ava choked on her tea as she was taking a drink. "What?"

"Did Tom like the journal?"

"Oh," Ava exclaimed after clearing her throat, "yes he did."

Gwen leaned back and crossed her arms, still with a slightly amused expression on her face. "I'm glad to hear that."

Ava flashed a quick smile and took a big bite of her muffin to avoid responding. She felt her face warm up when her mother just smirked at her. It was obvious her mother knew something more happened, but thankfully she didn't say anything more. She took comfort in knowing she was safe from admitting to what happened last night out loud. For now at least.

...

December 31st

All day Tom had been anticipating an ambush from the Merins; They were not the type of people to skip celebrating a birthday. But things had been unnervingly quiet. Of course he was wished a happy day, and Ava had written him a note in his journal to look at when he needed uplifting. At least that's how she explained it to him when he initially refused her. It was nice to relax and act like the day wasn't a special occasion. Until that evening at the New Year's party.

They were all gathered in the sitting room talking when Gwen called for their attention. "Happy New Years Eve everyone. But not only are we celebrating that, we also have another special reason to celebrate." She looked at Tom and smiled brightly. "Tom, I know you don't like celebrating your birthday. But unfortunately we aren't skipping it."

Ava then came back to the room, after leaving unnoticed, carrying a cake. It was a small round cake with white frosting and multi-colored candles littering the top. "Happy Birthday Tom," Ava said sweetly as she stopped in front of him.

Tom looked from Ava to the cake and back. "I'm not sure what to say." He had never had a traditional cake before. Regardless of his dislike for celebrating, it was an appreciated gesture. "Wool's hardly acknowledged birthdays, so this is...surprising."