𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝. - 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

I just wanted to say Happy Birthday.

content warning: major talk of ed, mental illness, etc.

Two weeks.

Two weeks of Ravenna and Mattheo ignoring each other. Two weeks of their silent but lethal glares that spoke volumes.

Two weeks of Draco and Primrose getting closer and closer as the days went by. Throughout the first pairs immature avoidances, Draco and Prim's bond had only grown stronger.

Two weeks of Lynx having sleepovers with Astra and Ravenna, the Lestrange girl growing more and more fond of the boy as the weeks passed.

Two weeks of Tom and Astra in the Chamber, doing Merlin knows what.

Two weeks of Teddy listening to Ravenna rant. Two weeks of Ravenna listening to the list of people Theodore was trying to bed.

Two weeks of Quidditch games, Slytherin winning and losing. Gryffindor and Slytherin had made it neck and neck, the two houses being the finalists for the Quidditch Tournament.

Two weeks that were the last days of Ravenna of being 17. And Ravenna didn't know it at the time, but these were also Mattheo's last days of being 17.

Now one day before her birthday, she stood in front of her mirror turned to the side, examining her waist, collarbones, arms, legs; every bone that poked out of her skin. She had gained some weight. Almost half a stone, to be exact.

She still looked like a skeleton. Unhealthy. Ill. To put it quite plain, she looked sick.

Ravenna hadn't even noticed how she had no energy, she could only see the tiny bit of weight she had gained.

And she stared. Stared at herself hard. The scales. Her weight. It all stressed her out.

She felt indifferent to her birthday, because she had no reason to get excited. She never received gifts. No cake made with "love", decorated with beautiful designs or intricate details was brought out of a white box. And she never saw her family, the places she grew up in couldn't have cared less if it was her birthday, it was just another day.

Now she had Theodore, Astra, Draco, Lynx. But it still didn't change the way she felt about her birthday. All it was, was a number. Nothing more. No big deal in it.

She remembered what her last birthday was like.

She woke up at 5:30, standing by the window, the one window she had in her room, as she watched the sun in all it's glory, rising, peaking over trees. She remembered that "at-ease" feeling she got watching the sun, the only bit of calm she had in the day.

Because to everybody else, that day was nothing special. That day held no valued meaning or special occasion. It was simply a day. Another day to break Ravenna, another day to make her "stronger". And eventually, after years of not celebrating, after years of being treated as if she was nothing, that day became nothing to her.

Just like everybody else.

Ravenna sighed, taking one more look before getting ready. It was November 15th, the day before her birthday. It's Saturday. The Lestrange kissed her cat on the head, noticing how he was getting bigger. Her Samael. He purred at her touch. She picked him up, carrying him in her arms. Grabbing the book that was on her bed.

Walking out as she walked into the common room, Astra attacked her with a hug. She squealed.

"Okay, so 18, that's great! I already have presents lined up for you. It's gonna be so exciting!" she said walking with her. Ravenna just nodded, knowing how useless it'd be to try and change her mind. Maybe it was Astra's way of making up for the curly-headed girl's 17th, an age of actual significance.