The Light in the Dark | Neville Longbottom

Chapter 32: Ziggy Stardust

June 6th, 1996 - 7:30am

Today was a very important day, probably one of the best days to exist in my personal opinion. It was important because it was my birthday. I turned sixteen today. Sixteen was a very important age for girls, which was unfortunate for my brother, who had to share a birthday with me.

Mother and father usually sent the two of us something by owl, but thanks to Umbridge, I would have had to travel to her office to obtain my present, if I even received one. My parents and I left on a bad note after the holiday, so I didn't expect them to shower me with gifts today.

When I awoke, the entire girl's dormitory was empty. I knew that they were probably downstairs setting something up for me as this happened every year. I was going to be bombarded with cameras and lots of noise; I wanted to look decent before they ought to snap pictures of me.

I jumped out of bed and made my way to the empty loo. Thankfully, I had no classes today, so I didn't have to wear my typical school robes. I put on my favorite blouse with a pair of trousers, and brushed my hair. I also took time to try putting on eyeliner today as it was an important day. It took me multiple tries, but each time looked even more horrible than the last.

"UGH!" I exclaimed, throwing the tube of eyeliner against the counter, "FUCK THIS!"

I scrubbed the eyeliner off of my eyes, starting from a fresh slate. I decided to go with my usual makeup look: coverup, blush, mascara, eyeshadow, and lipgloss. I looked decent even though the bottom of my eyes were red from the amount of scrubbing I had done.

Once I finished putting makeup on, I went back into my room to grab my favorite pair of trainers. When the entire look was finished, I admired it in the mirror before heading downstairs. I was greeted by many cheers and loud noises when I walked into the common room. There were also two bright flashes that came from a camera - I was right to get ready beforehand.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAWN!" everyone shouted.

There was an overwhelming amount of joy that I felt as I entered the common room. They had decorated the common room with a couple of balloons and streamers, and in the corner stood a table containing a plethora of wrapped gifts.

"You have to open my gift first!" Hermione beamed, grabbing me by the arm and leading me over to the presents table.

"No, mine!" Ginny protested, "Open mine first!"

"We all know that the best present goes last," Ron scoffed, "So open mine last."

"No, mine goes last!" Neville spat.

"I already called dibs, Longbottom!" Ron scoffed, "You can go second-to-last."

"NO WAY!" Neville scoffed, "If you're going last right now... I'm doing mine later then!"

I laughed at them, standing in front of the presents table. There were so many that I was unsure of where to start. I decided to open Hermione's first since she asked. I searched through the gifts until I found a medium-sized box wrapped nicely with a bow on top. I pulled the gift out from the pile, placing it in front of me. Everyone either sat on the sofas in the common room, or stood around the area; I sat on the ground with my legs crossed.

"Impressive wrapping, Granger!" George complimented.

"Thank you, thank you!" Hermione beamed jokingly.

I ripped the wrapping paper off of the present, exposing a large brown box. I opened the flaps of the box, a huge smile appearing on my face.

"'MIONE!" I exclaimed, grabbing the present from the box and holding it into the air. She had gotten me another Queen t-shirt.