"This day just gets better and better!" I exclaimed, throwing an arm around each of the twin's necks.
I was known at Hogwarts for being a pretty friendly person, so I had a lot of friends back at school. But among those friends, none of them were closer to me than Siara Snape and Fred and George Weasley. Siara was my roommate, and a fellow Hufflepuff, so despite being three years younger than me, we had always been close. Fred and George on the other had, were in the same year as I was. I'd met them on the Hogwarts Express my first year, and we'd been inseparable ever since.
I remember this distinctly, because, throughout the entire train ride, Fred and George had convinced me that they were each other. They even went as far as to have George step up to the Sorting Hat when his brother's name was called. The Hat quickly worked out who was who, and ended up telling them off in front of the entire school. I think we all knew from day one what we were going to be in for for the next seven years.
"Happy Birthday, Sen." George said as I pulled away from them. "How's it feel, finally being 16?"
"Exactly the same as 15." I said with a shrug. I had kind of an isolated birthday, as everyone else was born during the school year. Fred and George were already 16 and were set to turn 17 in April, while Siara had turned 14 at the very end of term. The three of them being here was an especially pleasant surprise, as I was the only one with a summer birthday, which meant that I was the only one of us who didn't get to celebrate it together with my friends.
"Just wait until you see what we've brought you." Fred added. I shot him a suspicious look.
"I swear, if you two are going to use my birthday as an excuse to test your experiments on me-" I started.
"I'm offended!"
"Positively insulted!"
"We would never do such a thing, would we Fred?"
"Not to our dear friend, George."
Siara and I shared a skeptical expression.
"Ok, so we did bring you some products," George admitted, "But only the ones we've already tested. We had some extras since...Mum burned all our order forms."
"What?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows. "Why would she do that?"
"She thinks we're wasting our time. She wants us to go to work in the ministry like Dad and Percy." Fred explained.
"Senicka!" Mum called. "You can chat with your friends later! Come greet the rest of your guests!"
"Right, of course," I said, looking at the rest of my family members, all waiting patiently to give me their well-wishes, "Well thank you so much for coming guys. I really appreciate it. I have to go make the rounds, but I'll be back later."
"Take your time. Its your day after all." Siara told me.
"Besides," Fred stated, "We'll have plenty of time to catch up."
"That we will." George agreed. I furrowed my eyebrows at their smug tones before slipping between them and following after my mother.
~~~
I spent the next hour or so following my parents around the park, getting kissed, hugged, and measured up to past memories. I loved my family, and I was grateful they all came here just to see me, but outside of my friends, there was one relative in particular that I was positively itching to talk to.
"If it isn't my favorite granddaughter."
I beamed, rushing away from my mother's side and into my grandfather's arms, inhaling the ever-present scent of old leather and freshly cut grass that I'd come to associate with him.
"I don't need to remind you that I'm your only granddaughter," I said, pulling away from him.
"I don't imagine it would make any difference." He replied.
My grandfather was none other than world-famous magizoologist and author Newt Scamander. It was his love of magical creatures that inspired my father, as well as witches and wizards everywhere, to reconsider their stance on Magical Creatures and actually take the time to learn about them. He literally wrote the book on how we can respect them, while also using their unique abilities to our advantage.
You can imagine my sheer excitement when I discovered that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was an assigned textbook at Hogwarts.
"I've got a special present for you," He said, "Two presents actually, but one is more in the form of a favor. We'll start with the present."
He handed me a parcel wrapped in wite parchment and tied up with twine. I smiled, sitting down on the nearest picnic table bench and unlacing the twine, taking care to neatly unfold the parchment rather than tear it.
"Oh, Grandad...its beautiful." I said sincerely.
It was a special edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. One that, as far as I know, was not available for purchase. This was a special edition made just for me, with a deep red cover and golden brackets on the corners. It also had a claw mark emblem on the front, with the same gold shining through the streaks.
"Its the original manuscript," He told me, "It contains my personal notes, and all of the additions that were left out of the final product. I had it organized and bound just for you."
I smiled, opening the cover to see an inscription on the inside cover, written in his messy handwriting.
To my favorite Grandaugter,
Never forget who you are.
"This is perfect, Grandad, thank you so much. I couldn't have asked for a better gift." I isaid, hugging the book to my chest. He smiled before shoving a hand into his coat pocket.
"I glad you like it. I thought you would," He said, "And as for your second gift, well...he's been talking my ear off for months wondering when you would visit my personal collection again, and quite frankly, I don't think I can stomach anymore questioons."
I gasped as he pulled a small, dark green bowtruckle out of his pocket, holding it in the palm of his hand. It was a creature I knew well, as in all my visits to my grandfather's personal sanctuary, he was by far my favorite.
"Bay!' I exclaimed, holding out a hand, allowing the small, stem-like creature to climb into it. He wound his limbs around my finger, crushing my hand into a hug and squealing happily. "Oh, its so lovely to see you!"
"I thought you might keep him company for a while, give me a break," Grandfather said, "Over this next term at Hogwarts maybe?"
"I would love to," I said, hugging Bay to my chest, "But is that allowed?"
"Professor Dumbledore is an old friend," He stated, "I've already spoken with him, and he has agreed to make an exception, as long as you don't let him roam the castle or go around picking any locks."
"No, of course not." I said, knowing full well that I couldn't promise that. I was best friends with the two most notorious pranksters at Hogwarts. "Grandad, I swear, you're my hero, this is the best birthday ever."
"Good," He said, "Enjoy your youth while you've got it, Senicka. You never know when the tides will change."
I smiled, nodding in agreement and glancing down at Bay who scurried up my arm and was making himself comfortable in the breast pocket of my jacket.
"Now, Thalia," He said, grabbing my mother's hand, "Your girl has been plenty polite, and I know everyone feels most welcome. Let her go spend time with her friends."
"Go ahead," Mum said, taking my book and nodding to the corner of the park, where Fred, George, and Siara were all chatting and laughing amongst themselves, "I'll hold onto your gifts for you."
"Thank you, Mum!' I exclaimed, wrapping my arms around her neck and leaning my head against hers. "Thank you all for coming, I can't tell you what it means to me!"
I let go of her, taking off running towards my friends again.
~~~
Night had fallen and the park was filled with light due to the lanterns that my parents conjured. Everyone was still talking, eating, laughing, and generally having a good time. Fred and Siara had wandered off to get more food, leaving George and I sitting in the grass overlooking a small pond. The moonlight was reflecting beautifully off of the water, and I was in the process of letting Bay use my hands as a jungle gym, shifting one hand over the other as soon as he ran out of space.
"I'm surprised you haven't asked about our gift." George said, his eyes focused on the small creature in my hands.
"It doesn't matter," I said with a shrug, "I mean, obviously, I appreciate it, whatever it is, but you're here. That's all I care about."
"That's all you care about?" He asked. "So you wouldn't care about, say...a ticket to the Quidditch World Cup final?"
I screamed, gently dropping Bay into my lap and grabbing a fistfull of George's sleeve.
"You're joking," I said with wide eyes, "You are, aren't you? You're messing with me."
"I'm not," He said through a laugh, his eyes glinting with amusement, "Dad got tickets from some connection at the ministry. The final's next Monday, and you can stay the rest of the summer at the Burrow."
"George! That's fantastic!" I exclaimed, shoving his arm. "But why me?! I mean, how did he secure enough tickets for all of the Weasleys, much less anyone extra?!"
"I don't know how he did it, but he got tickets for all of us, except Mum," He said, "Harry and Hermione are coming too."
I laughed, pressing my hands over my cheeks.
"Its perfect," I said dreamily, "I mean it, it...its all perfect, everything. My birthday, my family and friends, my life, I...I've never been happier than I am right now, in this moment."
"Well, hold on now," he said, laying back on his elbows, "You're only 16. Its all downhill from here."
I rolled my eyes, laying down in the grass and looking up at the stars.
"Seriously though," I said, picking Bay up and putting him in my breast pocket again, "If this is what the rest of my life is going to be like...if every day from here on out feels like this then...I will die happy."
I turned my head to glance at George, only to find him smiling down at me. He laid back fully, laying his head in the grass and looking up at the sky as well.
"Well...it is your birthday," He said, "Everyone gets one wish on their birthday."
I chuckled, turning my head to look at him. He did the same, meeting my eyes. My smile faltered slightly as I remembered something, sitting up and turning towards him.
"What happened with your Mum, George?" I questioned. He shook his head, propping one leg up and folding his arms under his head.
"Nah, we don't need to talk about that now. Your life is perfect right now, don't let me ruin the moment."
"George..." I insisted. He sighed, sitting up and leaning back on his hands.
"She's upset about our O.W.L.S," He said, "We didn't get as many as she'd hoped, and she's worried about our future. We tried telling her about Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and how we want to open a joke shop, but she just doesn't get it. She thinks we're just goofing around, refusing to grow up."
"But you're not," I said, turning towards him, "George, I've seen you and Fred's inventions. The things you guys think up are incredible, there could be a real market for what you both do."
"That's what we're trying to tell her," He replied, "But once she found our order forms and figured out we were selling our products to students rather than preparing for our OWLS, she lost it. Burned up all of our order forms, left us with boxes of products that won't make it to their buyers. We're gonna have to go around and get all of the orders again once school starts."
"I'll help you however I can," I said, "I can help you re-take the orders, or-I can talk to your Mum! You know how much she adores me, maybe I can convince her to see the value in it!"
He smiled.
"Aw, you're a sweetheart Sen," He cooed, half-joking as he shoved my shoulder, "But trust me...once Molly Weasley gets a thought in her head, there is no convincing her otherwise. We'll just have to win her over the hard way."
"What's the hard way?" I asked warily. He smiled, reaching up and plucking a piece of grass from my hair.
"Proving her wrong." He said simply. "Which reminds me, we promised you products."
He turned away from me, reaching to the bag on his left and returning with a thin black box. He presented it to me dramatically and I smiled, taking the box and removing the lid.
Inside the box, nestled beautifully in a cushion, was a gorgeous yellow quill with an ornate golden handle.
"Its self-inking, and has a spell-check charm on it," He explained, gesturing over to it, "We finally perfected a way to make the charms virtually undetectable, so the Profs won't be able to tell. We're even workshopping a smart-answer charm that can take exams for you."
I shook my head, tearing my eyes away from the quill to look at George.
"You're brilliant, the both of you," I said, "Seriously George, I...this is genius."
"You called?" Fred asked, dropping into the grass beside his brother as Siara appeared on my other side.
"Oh, that's lovely." She said, taking the quill from my hand.
"Right?" I asked. "Self inking, and spell check."
"No way!' She exclaimed. I nodded, looking back at George with a proud smile. He smiled back.