[Chapter Eleven]
The next week until break ended was one of the best of my life, but it unfortunately had to come to an end.
On the first of January, Fred, George, and I stood waiting the entrance hall for our returning friends.
“TERRY!” I shouted the moment he walked in, bounded right up to him and glomping him.
“It’s good to see you too,” he said, hugging me back and laughing.
“Come on, let’s go to the common room,” I said.
We bade goodbye to Fred and George who were still waiting for Lee and went up to the common room.
“Oh, gosh, I spent the Christmas with the Weasleys and it was so fun!” I babbled on. “McGonagall and Flitwick gave me permission to stay in Gryffindor tower for the holidays so I stayed in Fred and George’s dorm since all their dorm mates were gone and stuff, and we had snowball fights, we played pranks on Percy, and we snuck into the kitchens late at night. It was so fun!”
Terry smiled. Apparently my happiness was contagious.
“So what all did you get for Christmas?” he asked.
“Eh, candy from Fred and George, a book from Hermione, a Weasley sweater from Fred and George’s mum, CDs from my aunt and uncle, and some family stuff from the Malfoys,” I said, counting it off on my fingers.
~x~
The next month just flew by and really nothing happened, unless you counted the Quidditch match. Ravenclaw against Slytherin – it wasn’t pretty. In the early weeks of February, the air began to warm up and the snow melted away, showing the green grass of the grounds.
“Guess what today is,” said Fred as he sat down next to me one Friday morning at the Ravenclaw table.
I glanced around the Great Hall uncertainly. Nothing in particular stood out aside from the sun shining in from the ceiling and windows.
“Er, bright?” I asked.
Fred sighed.
“You don’t pay attention to dates, do you?” he said.
“Not really.” I shrugged.
“It’s the fourteenth!” Fred exclaimed.
I stared at him, still not understanding.
“It’s Valentine’s Day!”
I gave him a strange look as I turned back to my breakfast.
“Are you serious?” Fred demanded.
“I don’t know what you want me to tell you,” I said. “I really don’t understand why you’re making such a big deal out of it.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? I need someone to be my Valentine!”
I glanced at him, an eyebrow raised.
“Then go find someone to be your Valentine,” I said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“You! I want you to be my Valentine!”
“What?” My fork slipped from my hand and clattered onto my plate.
“George?”
George handed Fred a heart-shaped box and a single red rose. Fred shoved the box into my hands and tucked the rose in with my hair behind my ear, and then kissed me gently on the cheek.
I said something really intelligent along the lines of, “Uhhhh?”
“I’ll see you at lunch,” he said, and he and George left, leaving me still dumbstruck.
“Terry, what just happened?” I asked bleakly.
He just snorted into his pumpkin juice.
~x~
On Monday, Terry and I made it to the Great Hall just as post arrived. When we sat, a large eagle owl landed in front of me, a parcel tied to it’s legs.
“The heck…” I muttered, noticing it was addressed to me. I untied at and pulled off the envelope taped to the top.
“What’ve you got there, Lu?” George asked as he sat next to Terry and Fred sat next to me.
“I dunno,” I said, ripping open the envelope.
Lucy,
Mum and dad told me that it was your birthday today, so I figured I would get you something since I missed Christmas. I sent an owl to Uncle Teddy asking sort of things you like and he told me about how you like the Muggle shoe shops and stuff.
Happy Birthday,
Draco
“Lucy, it’s your birthday?” Fred poked my shoulder.
“Erm… what day is it?” I asked, unable to remember the date.
“February 17th,” George replied.
“Oh, yeah, it is my birthday…”
“What? How could you not tell us?” Fred demanded.
“Well, I kind of forgot,” I admitted, cutting the Spellotape off the sides of the box with a butter knife.
I peered inside and was completely shocked to find a narrow box that read “Converse” across the top.
I flick open the box and sighed in almost a dreamy way.
Sitting in the bloody box were the same pair of navy high tops that I had been eyeing for the longest time.
“How’d he…?” I shrugged and closed the box. I turned to see Draco just walking to the Great Hall with Crabbe and Goyle. He shot a subtle glance in my direction, his gaze meeting mine for a fraction of a second before he turned away.
I sighed and put the box inside of my bag.
“Let’s go to the library, I need to turn in a book,” I said.
Terry stood up and we left the twins at the Ravenclaw table.
“I don’t understand why he’s suddenly being nice!” I exclaimed as we walked toward Transfiguration (returning the book took no time of ours at all). “This whole year he’s been acting like he hates me, and then ‘oh, I think I’ll get her something for her birthday.’” I sighed. “That boy is moodier than Tonks during puberty.”
Terry chuckled.
“Don’t expect me to suddenly know why Malfoy’s acting this way,” said Terry.
~x~
The next morning, the twins, Lee, Hermione, Ron, and Harry ambushed Terry and me in the entrance.
“Close your eyes,” Fred commanded.
Terry grinned.
“What? Why?” I demanded.
“Because I said.”
“No,” I said.
George covered my eyes with his hands and I sighed.
“Okay, fine,” I muttered.
They led me into what was probably the Great Hall.
“Okay, now sit – okay, good,” said Fred. “George.”
George removed his hands and my eyes nearly popped out of my head.
In front of me sat a round cake with blue icing and the words “Happy Birthday Lucy” were written in brown. There was a design on the top traced in the icing that was obviously meant to be an eagle.
“We wrote a letter to mum and told her that your birthday was yesterday and she immediately sent a cake,” said Fred, lighting the candles with his wand. “Now make a wish and blow out your candles.”
I stared hard at the small flames for a moment.
What wish did I want to make? I didn’t want to wish for Fred, which would just be dumb… I thought of my family and how Sirius was innocent.
I closed my eyes.
I wish I could find a way to get Sirius out Azkaban, I thought as I blew out the candles.
“Now let’s have some cake!” George cried.
Fred cut the first piece and put in on plate.
“First piece for the birthday girl,” he said, smudging a dot of blue icing on my nose.
We ended up handing off the rest of the cake to the rest of Terry and mine’s housemates.
I think it was one of my best birthdays.
~x~
On Saturday, the whole school was in the cheery mood. There was a Quidditch match to day – Gryffindor against Hufflepuff.
Terry and I stood up in the stands with Ron, Hermione, and Neville, merrily waiting for the match to begin.
Ron and Hermione were bickering about something, but I didn’t bother to ask what though. Neville and I were debating who we thought would win.
“I know how good the Hufflepuff the Chasers are good, but the Gryffindor’s are better,” I said. “And Diggory may be older and more experienced, but Harry’s a natural with a faster broom and less weight.”
“I’ve never seen Snape look so mean,” I heard Ron said. “Look – they’re off. Ouch!”
Ron, Neville, and I wheeled around to see Malfoy standing behind us, grinning maliciously.
“Wonder how long Potter can stay on his broom this time? Wanna bet? Weasley?”
Ron didn’t answer, and I turned around just in time to see Snape awarding Hufflepuff a penalty because George had hit a Bludger at him. Git.
“You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?” Malfoy continued loudly.
I glowered at the field – Snape had just awarded Hufflepuff a penalty for no reason.
“It’s the people they feel sorry for. See, Potter’s got no parents, the Weasley’s haven’t got any money,” Malfoy said. “Hey, Longbottom, you should be on the team – you’ve got no brains!”
Neville when red, but turned to face Malfoy, his chin raised high.
“I’m worth twelve of you, Malfoy,” he said bravely.
Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle all laugh.
“You tell him, Neville,” said Ron.
“Longbotton, if brains were gold you’d be poorer than Weasley, and that’s saying something,” Malfoy said.
I turned around.
“I’m warning you, Mafloy – one more word and I’ll –”
Terry clapped a hand over my mouth.
“You’re in luck, Weasley, Potter’s obviously spotted some money on the ground!” Malfoy sneered.
With that, Ron jumped over the seat and was wrestling Malfoy to the ground. Neville then clambered over the back of his seat to help.
“Oh, what the hell?” I said before hopping over too, tackling Goyle to the ground before he could try to hit Neville.
As Ron and Malfoy rolled under the seats, I pummeled Goyle in the face, though it really had no affect, and he hit me back. I staggered back, looking around and seeing Terry clutching a book in his hands. I grabbed it from him and smashed it into Goyle’s face.
“HAZZAH!” I shouted through a swollen lip as he collapsed into his seat. I then turned to Neville, who was miraculously fending off Crabbe. “You go Neville!”
WHAM! I cringed as Neville took a straight hit to the face and crumpled on the ground.
“YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE!” I screamed as I hit Crabbe over the head with the book as well.
The crowd erupted in cheers and I looked around to see Harry waving the Snitch around in his hand.
“Yeah, Harry!” I shouted, tossing the book back to Terry and crouching down to help Neville. “Hey, Longbottom.”
He didn’t move. I put my hand in front of his nose. He was still breathing.
With Terry’s help, I was able to stand him upright, but we had to lean him against ourselves since he was still out cold.
“Let’s get him to Madam Pomfrey,” I said.
We half dragged/half carried Neville to the castle and when we walked into the hospital wing Madam Pomfrey gave us a disapproving look.
“Been fighting, have you?” she asked.
“I had to defend him from those Slytherin boys,” I said. “They were going to hurt him.”
“Well, put him on a cot and I’ll fix up your lip,” she said.
When I sat down, I opened my mouth a pulled out a tooth.
“There goes my last baby tooth,” I said.
Madam Pomfrey quickly healed my lip and stopped the bleeding in my mouth. She assured me that Neville would be fine, and then shooed Terry and I out.
“Well that was an interesting match,” Terry said, chortling.
~x~
So it seems a bit rushed to me, and I'm sure that it is. I'm just wanting to get this book done so I can start on the second one.