metanoia

Chapter Sixty-four

"Happy birthday, love." 

Charlie looked up from her heart shaped waffle, smiling as her boyfriend pressed a tender kiss on her forehead as he sat between her and Sirius, "Thank you. And Happy Valentine's Day."

Alex finally entered the Great Hall for breakfast, only having woken up five minutes ago to the sound of fourth year girls running down the spiral staircase, giggling about their supposed Valentines. Already irritated by the abundance of cheap Valentine's Day decorations that plaster the Common Room and the tabletops, she sat at the only vacant seat amongst their friends beside Remus, "Happy birthday, Charles. Can I go on record saying that I absolutely hate Valentine's Day? And Tuesdays, I hate Tuesdays." 

"Why do you hate Valentine's day?" 

"Why do you hate Tuesdays?" James curiously asked, baffled by the latest thing he'd learned about his cousin, not understanding why someone would hate Tuesdays. Mondays he understood, but Tuesdays didn't make sense to him.

Fabian, Gideon and Letti shared a look, chuckling at the explanation that Sirius and James' questions cued, "Oh no." 

Alex ignored her best friends' muttering about how they shouldn't have asked, seizing the opportunity to explain herself, "I'll tell you why. Valentine's Day originated in the passion of love, that a priest believed in love so much that he would marry people in secret to save the husbands from war. Defying the emperor and letting true love prevail. Now it's just an excuse for people to shower the person they love one day a year, rather than showing that same degree of love the whole year. And not to mention that it's not just driven by consumerism."

"Alex." 

The blonde snapped out of intense gaze with Sirius, looking up at Remus as she took a mental note of the hand he'd laid on her arm, "What?" 

Remus couldn't help himself and he started laughing at her, squeezing her forearm gently before taking a bite of his bacon, "Breathe. Please, you're going to run out of air." 

"Okay, so why do you hate Tuesdays?" 

She caught her best friend's eye briefly from across the table, looking away as she piled bacon and eggs onto her plate and answered her cousin's inquiry, "That was the day my mother and Noah died."

"Oh, shit," breathed Sirius, now understanding her dislike for Tuesdays and taken aback by how nonchalant she divulged the root of such hatred.

All her friends stared at the blonde in disbelief, not knowing what to say or do. Nor did they know if they should comfort her. Eddie was the one to break the silence, genuinely concerned about her and her comfort, "Do you need a hug or something?"

"No, I'm fine. I've completed my daily rant for the day. Now, Charles, what are we doing for your birthday?"

Charlie cocked an eyebrow at Alex, hesitantly moving past Alex's distaste for the holiday attached to her birthday, "Okay, I was just going to say let's just have a Valentine's Day party in the Hufflepuff Common Room, but now I'm starting to think that was a bad idea."

Remus shook his head, assuring the Hufflepuff Prefect, "No, that's a brilliant idea. She'll be fine. It's your birthday, your party, and you get to decide how we celebrate it. Isn't that right, Al?"

"Yes. If that's what you want, then that's what you'll get," Alex agreed, glaring at Remus' patronizing tone as she led them to Potions.

"Hey, Charlie?"

Charlie turned to look over her shoulder,  meeting the eyes of the mousey Marauder seated behind her, "Yes, Peter?"

"What was it you said you wanted to do when you graduate?"