TEACHER'S PET ━ 𝓡. Lupin

8. Dies Natali

—NOVEMBER HAD FLOWN away, faster than ever before, and so had the Christmas holidays -but they were always fleeting, she thought-.

The ravenclaw girl particularly enjoyed that time of the year, with all the lights, the Christmas decorations, her mother's famous cinnamon biscuits -she really wasn't a good cook, but those biscuits were extremely tasty-, if she closed her eyes and focused she could almost feel that sweetish flavor on her tongue. She also enjoyed having lunch at the Burrow on Christmas Day, that place was even more warm and cosy during the holidays.
Plus, she had been able to see Charlie again, with his messy red hair, his newest hand knitted sweater, made by Mrs. Weasley with all her love and care, and his cheeks turning slightly pink with embarrassment. She had loved kissing him again, caressing the sweater's soft green fabric covering his chest, while he was waving mistletoe over their heads, lightheartedly laughing.

She wanted Christmas to last forever.

Not surprisingly, her name was Natalia, from late latin "natale domini", meaning "birth of the lord", or also "dies natali", simply meaning "birthday". She had been told that by her grandmother when she was eight years old, when the eldest Mrs. Zabini -his father's mother- had also told her that "Natalia" was a name usually given to those little girls that were born during the Christmas season.
And, well, she was born on the 28th of December.

Her mother particularly cared that her first born always spent her birthday with her family, despite Natalia trying everything to convince her that it was a good idea to let her spend her birthday with her friends -which also meant going back to Hogwarts a little earlier-.

That year, though, it was different.
The previous 28th of August -when Natalia had said goodbye to her parents, as they were leaving her and her brother at The Burrow, where they would have spent their last days of summer before going back to school- the seventeen year old had made her mother promise that she would have allowed her to spend her birthday at the castle with her friends that year.

It was never too early to ask, especially if it was Gwenaëlle -Mrs. Zabini-.
Her mother was an extremely stubborn, often insufferable and tipically adamant woman -Mr. Zabini often said that his wife wonderfully embodied all the flaws of a perfect Gryffindor, in fact, Gwenaëlle had been the only person in Natalia's family to wear the red and gold colors during her school years-, therefore convincing her had been a long and challenging process but, with her father's help, she had eventually got what she wanted.

So, on the 27th of December, Natalia and her brother Iosif were riding the train back to Hogwarts.
She was extremely excited, she didn't particularly care about her birthday, she had never been very fond of celebrating it anyways, what she was excited about was the idea of seeing her friends again, spending that day in their company for the first time ever, and she also liked the idea of experiencing the life in the castle when it was almost empty, before everyone got back from their holidays.

"I can't wait for you to see my present"
Had suddenly said Iosif, fiddling with his multiple silver rings.

"You've got me a present?
Natalia turned her gaze on him, raising an eyebrow. They usually never got each other presents.

"Yeah, I mean, I would want you to get me a present too for my 18th birthday."
He simply stated, making Natalia loudly laugh.

"That explains everything, you only did it so you could get something in return, you snake!"

[...]

On the morning of December 28, Natalia woke up early and in a good mood.
It was her birthday, therefore she deserved a nice and hearty breakfast.