I managed to focus on my school work for the rest of the week, despite Cedric being a distraction every time I saw him in the hallways. My birthday was this Saturday too, which had me even more distracted and excited. Finally, it was Friday, and once my friends finally got out of class we all met down by the lake to hang out by the water while the weather was still nice enough.
I was laying on my back in the grass, the sun warming my face. I could hear the water of the lake lapping against the shore, and I felt totally at peace.
"ALEXA!"
That didn't last long.
Just as I was starting to open my eyes, a massive bubble of water crashed down on top of me. I shot up, gasping and looking around wildly for the culprit. Of course it was the twins, standing at the edge of the lake and cackling at me.
"Oh you two are gonna get it!" I yelled, tearing across the grass towards the twins. They scattered, so I could only get to one of them. For now.
George was a few seconds slower, so I went for him first. I grabbed him around the waist and tackled him backwards into the water, pulling him under with me and making sure he got soaking wet. I popped up and found Fred, pointing an accusing finger at him.
"You're next!"
Fred, not being an idiot, ran for it. I came out of the lake like a rocket after him as he ducked and dove around our friends. I kept pace with him pretty well, but then he grabbed Cedric and shoved him in my way, the little cheater.
I crashed into Cedric, and we ended up chest to chest, our faces barely an inch apart. I smiled at him, and my heart started beating a little faster, but then I remembered Fred and the fact I'd been disturbed from relaxing by a massive bubble of water.
"Nice try," I said, leaning around Cedric and fixing Fred with a death stare. "Sorry Ced."
With that quick apology, I was off like Pietro after Fred. After another few seconds of failing to catch him, I decided I was making this way harder than it needed to be. I stopped and let Fred keep going, giving him a second before making a sling portal right in front of him. I dropped him a few feet into the lake, and that was it.
Fred popped up next to George, and I just stood on the shore grinning at them.
"Mess with me at your own risk!" I called, still smiling as I waved. Apparently getting dumped in the lake wasn't enough to deter them. They waved their hands around frantically, and I didn't understand why until Lee was suddenly dragging me towards the lake. I debated digging my heels in and resisting, but I decided it would be more fun if I just dragged other people in with me.
I grabbed Cedric as we passed him, and I nodded to Myrah. Cedric got the hint and roped her into our chain of people heading for the lake, and we all crashed-landed right next to the twins.
"Ah... hey, everybody else, get in here!"
Angelina and Alicia headed right over, but of course Jackson hesitated. To my surprise (and extreme delight), Adrian actually grabbed his arm and helped drag him in! Last year, Adrian would have been the one refusing to have fun without being forced into it, but now he was actually helping us!
I must have been rubbing off on him.
We stayed in the water for a while, relaxing and splashing a little, before we finally headed back inside. None of us wanted to miss dinner, and I for one couldn't wait to get to bed. When I woke up tomorrow, I'd be seventeen! Thanks to Hogwarts, a normally boring birthday between driving a car and being an adult had a whole new exciting milestone: as of tomorrow, I could officially do magic outside of Hogwarts.
Stephen Strange better watch his back.
****************
I woke up the next morning for my run, only to find all my Gryffindor friends waiting for me in the Common Room. Every single one of them looked like they were dying to go back to bed.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEXA!" They all shouted at full volume anyway.
"Awww, thank you guys!" I bounced over to them and wrapped them all in tight hugs. "You really didn't have to wake up early for me."
"You would've woken up early for us, even before you somehow got good at functioning before eight," said Alicia.
"Besides, we didn't celebrate last year, and we want to make up for it," agreed George, giving me a wide smile.
"Oh guys, you didn't have to do that! You didn't even know it was my birthday last year, I pretty much just worked through it. We'd barely known each other a month and I was super busy!"
"Doesn't matter," Fred decided. "We're going all-out this year."
"Alright, well, do me a favor then?" Everyone nodded. "Take a nap while I go for my run. I can't skip my training, even today, as much as I want to, and you guys will be more fun if you've actually gotten enough sleep. Just meet me at breakfast, okay?"
My friends were so tired they didn't even protest as they dragged themselves back up the stairs. They really were the sweetest friends I could have asked for.
I got down to the Entrance Hall to find Cedric waiting for me, a massive smile on his face.
"Happy birthday Alexa!" he called as I came down the stairs to meet him. He gave me a big hug as soon as I was close enough, and I suddenly felt like I could run twice the distance I normally did with all the electricity buzzing through me.
"Thanks Ced."
"You know, I half expected you to take the morning to sleep in," he said as we started towards the lake.
"Not a chance. I'm a little worried that if I ever break this routine I'll never go back to it. And besides, I like getting to start my day with you."
Cedric was positively beaming at my words. The smile dropped a little as we started running, but it came back when we fell into our normal rhythm of talking and laughing between strides.
After our run we met the rest of my friends for breakfast. I shouldn't have been surprised, but as the owl post came in my jaw dropped at the sea of red letters coming at me. My family sent me well wishes and video called me last year, but apparently this year they'd decided to go with Howlers.
It took forever to open all of them. Each one of my family members decided to send one individually, and after the first two exploded and read their messages to the entire Great Hall I managed to get the rest into a secret passage where I could listen to the messages without them being broadcast to the entire school.
My family found a way to be sweet and annoying at the same time, which was exactly like them.
After I'd listened to all the Howlers (which actually took a while), I joined the rest of my friends on the Hogwarts lawn. I got lucky, and the weather was still nice, so we were able to relax and hang out in the sun and fresh air.
"So, Alexa, we were thinking we'd have a muggle movie marathon tonight, if you're up for it," said Lee, sitting up in the grass to look at me. No one had gone in the water yet, thankfully, so we were all sitting in a loose circle just outside the shadow of a big tree.
"Oh my gosh, that sounds like the best idea ever. Where are we gonna watch them though? We can't do it in the Common Room, since then almost half of our group wouldn't be able to come."
"We were thinking we'd use the Astronomy Tower," said George.
"We've never really been up there much, but after you and Jackson turned it into a fighting ring we realized it has untapped potential," Fred agreed.
"You guys are geniuses," I decided, giving them all high-fives. I was already planning out movies to watch in my head.
Despite the temptation to just spend the day relaxing with my friends, I still did my normal workouts. I left my friends for a few hours to do lunges and squats, and I practiced the Mystic Arts earlier than usual so I wouldn't have to interrupt our movie marathon. Jackson and I even squared off and sparred a little before dinner.
I thought the competition would have calmed down a little, since I'd already won and it was my birthday, but I was wrong. He actually kicked it up a notch, and although I managed to beat him again, I was soaked with sweat as we trudged out of the Astronomy Tower.
"I only let you win because it's your birthday," he panted.
"Ha. Nice try, but that's a load of crap. Two-zero."
We parted ways, and I went back to the dorm to take a long, hot shower before heading down to dinner. I sat with my Gryffindor friends as always, but we ate way faster than normal. We all waned to get to the 'watching movies in the Astronomy Tower' part.
As soon as we finished, we headed for the doors. Cedric, Adrian, Jackson, and Myrah met us on the way out, and we started heading upstairs together.
"We'll meet you up there!" called Fred, breaking off from our group with George.
"We need to pick up a few things," George explained. They took off without another word, and I just shrugged as the rest of us kept walking up the stairs.
We got to the Tower and my friends used magic to set up some comfy beanbags while Cedric helped me hang a sheet to make a projector screen. I used a sling portal to grab the projector from my room (I decided to keep it from last year for occasions just like this), and I was just setting up our first movie when the twins showed up with popcorn and candy galore.
"Oh my goodness you guys are the best!" I said excitedly. Everyone got comfortable, and then I pushed play before plopping down between Cedric and Angelina.
We started with Mulan, since it was just such a good movie. My Gryffindor friends had seen it last year, when we had our all-House movie marathon, but Cedric, Adrian, and Myrah were completely new to it. Jackson, of course, had seen more muggle movies than anybody in the room but me.
Mulan was a big hit, and we moved on to Lilo and Stitch, which of course everybody loved. Finally, I decided it was time for a new movie.
Well, new to everybody but me and Jackson, at least.
"Alright guys, nobody's seen this one," I said, standing up and going over to my laptop. Jackson looked like he wanted to correct me, but I glared at him and he stopped. I pressed play, and the classic Universal Pictures logo started spinning as I sat back down next to Cedric.
Back to the Future had begun.
The science in that movie was beyond ridiculous, but it was fun and funny, so the science didn't matter. Jackson scoffed a few times at the things people said anyway, but for the most part we just enjoyed the hijinks with Marty McFly. The screen faded to black as Marty flew off with the Doc again, and everyone was smiling tired smiles as the credits rolled. After watching three full movies, it was getting a little late. I woke up early enough this morning that there was no way I'd make it through another movie, so I didn't start another one after Back to the Future ended.
My friends agreed with me, and we took a few minutes to clean everything up. I put the projector away, then turned back to my friends to see they had left a few blankets out and were looking to the window.
"Alexa, come look at this!" said Lee excitedly, staring out the window towards the sky. I walked over to see what he was talking about and found a gorgeous night sky. It was a clear night, with no clouds to obscure the view, and the moon was shining over the grounds.
"That's Venus!" Alicia piped up, pointing to a light shining brighter than the rest.
"Absolutely beautiful," agreed Myrah.
"Why don't we stay and look at the stars for a bit?" Angelina suggested. "It's not as much of a time commitment as movie."
"That's a great idea!" I said. "I'm pretty tired, but I could do with a little stargazing.
"Sorry Stark, but I think I'm for bed," said Jackson. "I'm exhausted, and as much fun as it would be to give you an excuse to use the Iron Man suit, I don't feel like falling off the Astronomy Tower tonight."
"Fair enough," I laughed.
"Alexa, I think we're gonna head to bed too," said Adrian, speaking for him and Myrah.
"No worries! Thank you guys for making today so awesome."
I gave each of them a big hug, then waved as they headed out of the Tower. The rest of us moved to window of the Astronomy Tower, but we weren't there long before Lee and the twins yawned and stretched and rubbed their eyes too.
"You know Alexa, I think we'd better head to bed too," said George.
"We're just not cut out for waking up early," agreed Fred.
"Alright, no problem..." I hugged each of the three of them, then waved as they headed out of the Tower.
"Happy birthday again!" Lee called over his shoulder, looking wide awake and full of energy.
I was starting to get a little suspicious, but I didn't get the chance to say anything about it as Angelina and Alicia moved us to the window ledge. We all sat on the ledge, our legs hanging over the edge of the Tower as we looked at the night sky. Cedric was on my left, and Angelina and Alicia were close on my right, but not for long.
We'd barely been sitting and chatting for five minutes when Alicia cut herself off with a yawn that I'm 90% sure was fake. Just like everyone else, the two declared themselves too tired to stay up any more, wished me happy birthday, gave me hugs, and then headed to bed.
"You guys should stay a bit though!" Angelina said as a parting remark, officially confirming all my suspicions. "It's a nice night, and we wouldn't want to ruin it for you!"
She and Alicia practically sprinted away from the Tower, and I squinted at them as they went. I was plotting revenge in my head, until I turned back to Cedric to see him smiling at me with look on his face that hatched a million butterflies in my stomach.
"It really is a beautiful night," he said, never taking his eyes off mine.
"Yeah..." I wanted to say something else, something less stupid, but I couldn't seem to thing of a single other word, English or otherwise!
Cedric took a deep breath, looking down like he was nervous. He slowly reached out and grabbed my hand, holding it in his own before looking back up at me.
"Alexa... uh, you know, I really like spending time with you... and you're... absolutely gorgeous—" I glanced down, then looked back at Cedric. I could feel my cheeks heating up, but as I looked at his gray eyes and sweet smile, I couldn't bring myself to care. "—and you know, I've actually been trying to ask you this for a while, but it never seemed like there was a good time..."
I grinned, remembering a conversation in the stands last year that had been interrupted by Jackson's magical storm bullshit. This really had been a long time coming.
"And anyway, what I'm trying to say is... would you like to go out with me?" Cedric had the most hopeful expression in his eyes as he looked at me anxiously, waiting for my reaction. My already massive grin almost double in size, and it slowly spread to his face too.
"Cedric, I would love to go out with you."
"Really! Ha! Thank God!" Cedric laughed in relief, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as his whole posture relaxed. "You have no idea how nervous I was to ask you that."
"Well, I'm glad you worked up the courage. I think our friends may have actually killed us if we didn't stop beating around the bush."
Cedric laughed again as we both turned to look back at the night sky. The only difference was now we were alone, and I was tucked under his arm and leaning against his chest.
"You know, I actually had nothing to do with that? They set this up on their own."
"Oh, I believe it. We have three cunning Slytherin friends and Angelina, who gives off some of the most 'dangerous if I want to be' vibes I've seen from anyone not in my family."
Cedric nodded. We stayed like that for a while, just being together and looking at the stars. Finally, when I almost fell asleep and would have slipped off the Astronomy Tower without Cedric there to catch me, we decided to call it a night.
"Thanks again for making this such an awesome birthday," I said at last as Cedric and I came to a stop at the bottom of the Astronomy Tower. He needed to go down to his Common Room, and I needed to go up to mine, but neither of us wanted to say goodnight.
"Any time. I'm glad you had a good day."
"I had a great day." We grinned at each other, and I felt those butterflies rushing around in my stomach again. "So... I'll see you for our morning run tomorrow?"
Cedric grimaced, then quickly tried to hide it. My eyebrows shot up.
"Wait a minute, I thought you liked our morning runs!"
"I liked being alone with you on our morning runs," Cedric corrected, giving me a guilty look. I just laughed. It was insanely sweet that he woke up early and did physical exercise every day just to spend time with me; I couldn't get mad at him for the lie with that kind of a reason.
"Alright, well, we'll find something else we can do to spend time alone together," I said.
"Are you sure? I really don't mind getting up if it's important to you..."
"Yeah, Ced, I'm sure." I leaned in closer to him and kissed his cheek, and when I pulled away even something that small had left a dumbstruck expression on his face. "We'll hang out around the castle or go for a walk or something tomorrow instead of the usual run."
"Great," he said, a massive smile on his face. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Alexa."
"See you tomorrow Cedric."
We started walking towards our own Common Rooms slowly, walking backwards at first and then glancing over our shoulders one last time before calling it a night. Needless to say, this had hands-down been the best birthday ever.