Ivy had always thought that a birthday can be sweet without gifts, cake or surprises. As long as she had her friends, she would rather spend her day drinking butterbeer and playing games under the stars. She always wondered what it feels like to have a bunch of friends, enough people to go on a trip to somewhere else. Perhaps a road trip, or a beach week, maybe fly to another country.
But what she didn't expect was her friends coming up with excuses ever since she had waken up, saying they hadn't had the time to prepare anything for her. School season had started a week ago, which meant they weren't stacked with exams or many homeworks. The only thing they were supposed to be doing at the moment was Snape's essay assignment.
Chenle dragged Jisung to a phone shop, complaining how the guys didn't own something that represents the 21st century. The pair managed to escape as soon as they set their eyes on Ivy, who was looking for Yeji.
Yeji, however, did not have any plans. But she forced a smile and lied about being confused about the modern world, locking herself inside her dorm room so she could avoid the birthday girl.
Ivy's birthday was only a few hours away, once the clock strikes twelve, she would be turning twenty. None of her friends seemed to be aware of her expressions, her excitement. They always expressed their thoughts the day before, even Donghyuck was silent, smiling and paying attention to another girl who seemed to be caught his eye.
"Hyuck, wanna go get some butterbeer?" Ivy asked him.
The Gryffindor boy turned around with a small sigh, annoyingly staring at her while holding hands with the new girl.
"Hyuckie has plans with me, sorry." She smiled innocently.
"Yeah, Jinhee and I are having a date today and tomorrow. Sorry." Donghyuck turned back around, leaving his friend almost speechless.
When she saw Jeno, his arms wrapped around his new girlfriend Yuhwa, Ivy assumed that it was for the best to not interrupt them like she did with Donghyuck. She wanted someone to talk with and plan her special day, so she went to the next person.
"Renjun, are you busy?" She asked the Ravenclaw boy who was laying in the grass with no books in sight.
Renjun hummed a yes before closing his eyes. "Go find someone else to bother, Ivy. I'm going to have my nap, right now."
"Here? In the wet grass? Middle of the courtyard? Surrounded by loud stu—"
"Yes."
"Fine." She huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest and rushing towards Mark Lee.
"Mark, don't tell me you're busy too." Ivy spoke with a loud sigh.
"I was meaning to ask you about tomorrow. Isn't it your birthday?" Mark asked casually while stacking up books in the library shelves. "I wanted to ask if a small gathering in The Three Broomsticks sounds nice? I know it's not big but everyone else seemed to have forgotten."
"I'm glad you're keeping up with our birthdays, Mark." Ivy smiled. "I'm mad at them so let's spend it together."
Mark furrowed his eyebrows. "What about Jaemin? Did he forget too?"
Ivy nodded. "He left Hogwarts early morning with a guy named Johnny, saying he wants to pick up a nice gift for his sister Yuhwa. Can you believe that guy? Jaemin, my boyfriend, left me for two whole days so he can buy something great for someone else's girlfriend. Why can's Jeno go? Huh? I saw those two in the Hallways—"
"Calm down, Miss Zhong." Mark chuckled placing his hands on her shoulders and pulling down to take a seat. "I promise you, tomorrow is going to be a nice day okay? Cause I'm paying for whatever you want to buy."
Ivy squinted but then a small smile found its way to her lips. "Prepare your wallet."
"Oh my cheesus." Mark whispered, grabbing his school blazer and swinging it over his shoulder. "Let's go look for a nice spot in Hogsmeade. We don't have to pick The Three Broomsticks."
"Sure, I need to kill time today." She stood up and walked side by side with Mark, slowly disappearing out of seven pair of eyes from behind the shelves.
"Mission accomplished." Jaemin smirked, squeezing himself out and stretching his upper back. "She took the bait."
"Thank goodness, I thought I was being suspicious." Renjun mumbled, wiping the wet grass stains from his white shirt. "I had to drop to the ground and pretend I was having a nap where no one dares to lie down after a rainy day. She probably thinks I'm a weird freak."
"You are." Chenle snickered.
"Shut up, you'd barely managed to escape too." Renjun snapped, throwing an angry glare. "We already have phones."
"She's either really distracted or stupid." Chenle answered after smacking Jisung's palm.
"Who cares, what's important now is that we prepare our extraordinary midnight party. This is going to get tough but I hope no teacher catches us." Yeji chuckled, pulling Donghyuck out of the shelves as well.
"I feel so bad. Did you see the look on her face after I said no to her? I should've gone with her instead of Mark." Donghyuck sulked, earning groans from everyone.
"It's more believable when Mark's the one who's in charge of distracting her away from Hogwarts." Jeno spoke. "I can't trust you after three of my cookie cans were stolen by some Gryffindor thief."
"Lee Jeno, it's evil to hold a grudge." Hyuck pouted, hooking his arm with Jeno's while clinging onto him cutely. "Your cookies are aways mine to steal."
Jeno smiled through the pain.
"Enough chit chat, let's get to work." Jaemin clapped his hands but ended up getting kicked out of the library after causing a loud mess.
"It's ten o'clock, you should go to sleep." Mark said, offering her a smile at the Dungeon's entrance. "Goodnight, Ivy and a happy early birthday."
"Thanks Mark, sweet dreams."
When Ivy had came back, exhausted from walking around Hogsmeade while hunting for good shops to celebrate her birthday, she spotted Yeji fast asleep on her bed.
Smiling to herself, she walked towards her bed and adjusted Yeji's blanket. "Goodnight."
The exhaustion itself was enough to knock Ivy out, so Yeji didn't have to worry about walking on tip toes. Ivy was a heavy sleeper and Yeji took advantage of that fact as she casually rose up from her bed to dash out of the Dormitory.
After an hour, a few minutes apart from midnight, Yeji returned wearing a baby blue satin dress which complemented her figure. Her heels barely made a sound as she made her way towards Ivy's bed, where the Slytherin girl lay, drooling.
Chuckling to herself, Yeji did her best to wake Ivy up. After minutes of trying, the girl finally opened her eyes.
"Why are you dressed up?" She mumbled, her brain failing to properly function after being waked up randomly before midnight.
"No questions, darling." Yeji smirked. "Hurry. I need you to get ready in the bathroom. I will do your hair and make up, don't worry."
Just as promised, the pair managed to exit their Dormitory, wearing matching satin dresses but in different colours, Yeji in baby blue, Ivy in black (Jaemin's pick). As soon as they were facing the doors of the Great hall, Yeji turned around to face her best friend with a bright smile.
The bell struck 12 am, signaling the beginning of a brand new day.
"Happy birthday, love." She pecked Ivy's cheek before opening the doors, completely mesmerising the girl.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Chenle cried.
Eight pair of eyes shot glares at the black haired boy, but he continued to ignore them and pulled his sister in for a hug. "Happy birthday, Ivy."
"Chenle my man, share your sister." Donghyuck complained as Chenle kept pulling Ivy for hugs. "He's gone soft."
"Soft? Him? Pffft" Jisung snorted. "Move big head, it's my turn to hug."
Everyone took their time to wish their friend a Happy Birthday and when it was Jaemin's turn, he spun her around before giving her a loving kiss on the lips.
"You and me after the party in my private bedroom, my gift is waiting there." He whispered in her ear, leaving the others curious of what he said.
While Mark was busy walking around with Ivy a few hours ago, the rest had snuck out after their curfew into the Great Hall to create the biggest ball. They created a huge dance floor, emptying the hall and placing a round table in the center.
Decorated lavishly with the lead of Renjun, the ballroom of the night shone brightly under the infamous enchanted ceiling. As expected everyone came dressed up, the boys in suits while the two girls in dresses.
It reminded them of the old times, back when the future wasn't one of their slightest concerns.
The second reason why they wanted a ball was to properly say goodbye to their past with Ivy's birthday being the first. Even though after a few weeks of getting used to their new world, they missed their home dearly. Their parents, siblings and old friends, they kept wondering about them, hoping they were living somewhere in the world, well off and healthy.
As the music started, it was to them, like turning back the clock. Rewind, and get lost in the moment, even if it wasn't ever lasting, they yearned for home. Letting the music take control, they found themselves in their world, waltzing through with a smile dancing on their lips.
Jaemin pulled his dance partner closer to his body, studying her like crazy. That was when he realised, he was already home in her arms and nothing else mattered. With each stride he made, it was obvious how this dance was important for him.
Noticing the tears roll down his soft round cheeks, Ivy questioned him if he was okay. The boy could only nod, watching everyone dance with each other, enjoying their little trip to past.
During the time of their grand feast, Jaemin stood upright, raising his wine glass for a toast. "To Ivy, the birthday girl and to us."
The rest followed, happily cheering and finishing their glass before continuing to eat.
"I'm ready for change." Jisung said. Chenle patted his back with a nod, silently adding that he's there for him.
"No more rewinding the time." Jeno smiled, "We've come so far, let's enjoy our lives now."
"No more mischief!" Renjun added.
"Or trouble." Mark spoke up.
"Let's finish school peacefully, boys." Yeji agreed.
"And get drunk today." Donghyuck poured himself another glass of wine.
"Hundred points from Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin!!!" The Headmistress groaned, leaning against the wall as she watched her students clean the Great Hall. "You lot used this place without my permission, gotten drunk on a school night, forced the kitchen goblins to stay awake so they could make you a feast, played loud classical music..."
And the list went on.
"Detention for a month!!! All nine of you."
After the Headmistress assigned them their punishments, Chenle threw his head back, whining that he wasn't going to clean toilets in the dungeon.
"Where are Jaemin and Ivy?" He muttered, wiping the windows with a cloth. "They should be here, helping all seven of us. They should be suffering too!!!"
"Um." Jeno whistled, sending Chenle a wink. "Give them a few more hours. They need time to...recover."
"Recover, my ass." Chenle mumbled before focusing on cleaning.
Asleep in his arms, Ivy turned around, muttering some gibberish in her sleep. Her eyes fluttered open once she felt a pair of soft lips on her bare back, slightly giving her the tickles.
"Stop it." She whispered sleepily. "You're tickling me."
"No." Jaemin answered with his deep morning voice. "Good morning to you."
"Morning." Ivy turned back around to face him again. Noticing how Jaemin was looking at her fondly, as if she meant the world to him, Ivy scooted closer, snaking her arms around his torso and resting her head on his bare chest. "We should get ready."
"Let the guys suffer a bit more." Jaemin smirked. "I know Headmistress Zhong is punishing them at the moment. Let's stay away for a bit and enjoy our time together a little more."
"I don't want to-"
"It's your birthday. I'm not going to approve of you doing chores." Jaemin shook his head, leaving a kiss on her forehead.
"Fine, as you wish." Ivy whispered into his ear, biting his earlobe teasingly.
Hands roving all over her bare body, Jaemin buried his head into her neck. "So you want to do this again?"
Ivy didn't answer. She couldn't. Like the finest of silk, their skin moved together. Every kiss felt desperate and passionate, their heart rates fastening. The cool room felt warm and it was difficult to hold back.
Before Jaemin could continue, he broke the kiss forcefully. "Do you really want—"
"I love you too." Ivy answered. She remembered never saying it back whenever Jaemin had said his I love yous. And suddenly she made up her mind to finally respond.
"Ivy," Jaemin breathed heavily. "I love you, I always will. Just promise me to never leave me again?"
"I promise, Na." She smiled genuinely, leaning up closer and continuing where they had left off.
"Shouldn't we go help?" Ivy asked again, causing Jaemin to groan annoyingly.
"Stop thinking about them." Jaemin spoke, "Today I won't share you."
"Where were you two?" Renjun asked, throwing his infamous glare towards the pair.
"They were doing the thing." Jeno answered innocently, wearing his eye smile.
"Ew." Chenle gagged. "I'm not going to complain today, only because it's your birthday. And Jaemin, I will kill you for real if you hurt her."
"Let's stop talking about this, I feel single." Yeji groaned, leaning against the balcony railing and watching the sun go down.
"Yeji, hurry up and sit down." Ivy patted the spot beside her.
Yeji took her seat. "I can't believe we're having a birthday picnic in the Astronomy Tower and at sunset, this idea is amazing."
"It was our plan." Donghyuck spoke, pouring himself lemonade. "Last year, me, Chenle and Pang wanted to watch the sunset with Ivy as well but things fidn't go as planned."
"Oh yeah, my birthday curse." Ivy giggled. "Every year my birthday ends up in chaos because of you guys. At least this year, I'm glad it's peaceful."
"You sure about that?" Mark asked. "We had to clean up the whole school today."
"Peaceful for me." Ivy bit her lip from smiling.
"What happened to Pang? Did she...die?" Jisung asked before stuffing his mouth with strawberry pies.
"Who knows? She's out of our lives now." Jaemin said, glaring at Jisung as the younger one tried to feed him some strawberry pie. "I hate those, you know it."
"I want to plan Jaemin's birthday party." Chenle spoke randomly. "Strawberry theme, what do you think? Strawberry smoothie, strawberry yogurt—"
"Continue and I will shove a real strawberry up in your ass." Jaemin threatened.
"No thank you berry much." Chenle smiled.
"Hah nice pun." Jisung high fived his best friend.
"Children." Renjun tsked. "I feel like I'm babysitting eight kids."
"Daddy~" Donghyuck fake giggled and then moaned to piss him off even more.
"I'm going to end up killing him one day." Renjun growled, ready to throw the picnic basket.
"You say that everyday, Jun." Jeno said. "But you never do it. Tell me when you're up for it. I can join."
"Me too." Jaemin said.
"Same." Chenle and Jisung chorused.
"No Homiecide here, please. Let me live, you psychos." Donghyuck pulled his tongue out mockingly.
And so on, they started their journey as a family and promised to protect each other from danger. Although life could be dangerous sometimes, the risks were greater than anything else and they had eachother's backs, and that was what mattered the most.
The End.