MONTHS PASSED BY SINCE THE YULE BALL and spring arrived to Scotland. Michael's birthday was nearing and Wendy was searching for an idea for a gift. She assumed being in a world filled with magic and wonder, it would have been easier to find something for him. Her brother never asked her of anything and this made things so hard for her when his birthday and Christmas would come.
"I'll love whatever you'll give me," he always says.
She even asked Cedric for help, but just like a broken record, all he could tell her was, "he's going to love anything you'll give him."
Which is true, but she did love giving gifts, and she reigned in the thought of being the best at it. Except, when it came to Michael.
She laid down on the green grass outside the castle and watched the clouds fly by, hoping they'd take form of anything that would help her.
"You don't want to spend time with Diggory during your free time?" Draco asked sitting down beside her.
Wendy was glad he was finding himself more comfortable around her, as she didn't have to invite him to sit beside her for him to do it anymore. Baby steps but still steps.
"I'm not that dependent on him," she said, "and I like my time alone."
"Should I leave you then?"
She eyed the boy, he didn't even move an inch from his position, no sign that he was getting ready for a positive answer. She chuckled, "we can be alone together."
The boy tried to hide his smirk by laying down beside her, hoping she didn't see, "what were you doing anyways?"
She thought before answering, "thinking of ideas."
"For?"
"Birthday gift."
The boy chuckled, "for?"
"Michael," she said still looking at the soft spring clouds, "my brother?"
Draco didn't say anything back and Wendy just felt the peace in their silence. One of the beautiful things with him was that they didn't need to make small talk. Just enjoying each other's company without the need of saying much. So there they stayed, heads beside each other and looking at the sky.
"Why not bring something from your childhood?" He suggested.
Wendy thought about it for a second and the best idea came to her. Because their names were based on the Peter Pan characters they would often told stories and did adventures themselves. To bring that back in a world of fantasy itself was going to be so much fun!
"That's a great idea, Draco!" She said sitting up from enthusiasm, "he's gonna love it!"
Draco pushed himself up and rested on his elbows, too lazy to get up fully, "don't tell him it's from me— he'll automatically hate it."
Wendy laughed and shook her head at him, "actually, he's quite fond of you."
Draco's left eyebrow shot up, incredulous of her statement. A Gryffindor fond of him was such a ridiculous idea, although, he had to admit that he was glad this one Gryffindor girl was the exception to the rule.
"I'll be fixing it later then," she said.
"Later?"
"Yes," she said laying back down on her spot, "for now, we can stay here and do nothing until later comes."
Draco studied the girl. She often was confusing and part of the reason why he was intrigued by her was her weird attitude and views of life. But he wasn't going to debate against it and laid back down too, both enjoying each other's company.
"Weasleys!" Wendy called out.
"Stone!" The two greeted her and she immediately regretted calling them like that.
The two were chilling in the common room, probably the quietest they've ever been. She wasn't sure if it was because they just finished the month long of detention and actually learned something from it, or because they were planning something even bigger.
For some reason, something in her told her it was the latter.
"I need your help with something," she said sitting down in between them.
The twins normally found comfort in being just the two of them. Lee would join in from time to time, but their original duo was unbreakable. But for some reason they didn't mind having Wendy with them.
Fred thought that it was better than wondering what kind of danger she was getting into.
"What can we help with this time, Princess?" Fred asked.
"Remember New Years?" She started and the two nodded with grins from the memory, "how did you do the memories fireworks?"
The two exchanged a look before George asked, "what do you need it for?"
"Michael's birthday gift."
"It's his birthday?!" They asked.
"April 5th."
"But that's next week!" Fred pointed out he looked over at George, "will we make it, Georgie?"
He took a while before answering, "yeah, we will make it—what do you need exactly?"
The girl smiled grateful for the two, "I need it to be smaller and more concentrated... enough to fit in a box, but still powerful enough to bring back memories like you did with the fireworks."
George brought out his personal muggle pen and some parchment and the two started rationing the ingredients for the potions they'll have to make. Having that spell in the fireworks was one thing, as it was explosive on its own, but to bring such big and powerful effect into a small doze was gonna be hard. Especially if they wanted to keep the same effect. However, they were determined to help the girl, and possibly bring back that beautiful smile she had at New Years.
The three worked together in secret, not wanting anyone to find out about their plan. Although, most of the work was done by the twins, Wendy was always there to answer their questions about her preferences.
One day, they didn't even let her know they were gonna work on the little project. The two just met in a secluded bathroom in the seventh floor of the castle to recreate a better batch of the potion.
Wendy decided to bring them some snacks to have in there, as they were refusing to take a break. Pretty much like she did when she was preparing for the Yule Ball. She entered the bathroom where Fred and George were fixing their potion with hair all up and dirt on their face.
"What happened to you?" She said putting down the tray with cupcakes and tea.
"A few batches exploded on their own," George explained.
"Guess they couldn't take that much into such small volume," Fred chuckled. "Is that for us?"
"Yes," the girl pushed they tray forward, "thought of making you something since I've been so useless."
The two cleaned their hands with a random piece of cloth they had around and grabbed a cupcake each. Their faces glee and mouthful.
"This is delicious!" Fred said, "did you make it?"
"Yes, with Dobby helping me out," she smiled, happy they were enjoying her baking. Then she brought out two packages and handed them out. "Also these."
"What is this for?" George asked, still with cupcake in his mouth.
The girl laughed lively, "You forgot it's your birthday!"
The two looked at each other and their eyes glittered, "Happy Birthday—"
"—Georgie!" Said Fred.
"—Freddie!" Said George.
Wendy laughed at the two and they grabbed their gifts. The wrapping was brown and badly wrapped altogether with a tie, the two laughed again, at least they knew she tried her best. Weird to think that that was the same girl who made a whole dress and suit from scratch for the Yule Ball.
Opening them up they found a book. They were used to getting gifts from their family members and normally it would be their mother with knitting wear. So to receive a book was quite new for them, but out of curtesy, they looked at the girl and smiled, "thank you, Wendy!"
The girl laughed even more, knowing their confusion "they're muggle notebooks—we call them bullet journals—they're very handy when you write down stuff for business and to remember things. I used one when I started my company, I had so many things to think about and my journal helped me put them in place, so I thought it would have been useful for you and your great ideas!"
The two looked at the cover, Fred had a orange one while George had a green one but both had papers filled with dots inside and at the first page a dedication from their dear friend.
To help you find your way, like you helped me find mine.
Love, Wendy
The two couldn't express how happy they were with their gifts with words, so they hugged the girl and laughed. As a celebration for that day, they decided it was time to take a break and go to Hogsmeade instead. Being a Saturday they could have a small celebration at the Three Broomsticks, as the twins didn't want to make such a big fuss over their birthday, since they forgot about it themselves.
However, everyone else didn't think the same thing. Michael and all their friends met at the pub where they stayed late hanging out and singing songs that are yet to be released but learned by heart. Even people they weren't really close with ended up coming. Knowing it was the twins' birthday they knew it would be nothing less than extraordinary.
In fact, they all had the best of times, even without the fireworks or a party planned by Weasley's. Planned or not, with the right group of people fun can be guaranteed.
"When's your birthday anyways?" Cedric asked at some point, with his butterbeer in hand and elbow on the counter.
Wendy looked over at him, a small and almost bitter smile appeared on her face, "I don't think this is the time for anyone to know."
"Why?" He asked.
"It's too early," she said.
Somehow Cedric knew that she didn't mean too early in the year, but he still couldn't understand what she meant by those words, "when then?"
"After I graduate from Hogwarts," she said, "we will celebrate at grand."
notes:
can you guess when is wendy's birthday?