The Raven's Call

The Birthday Boy

Monday, January 20th 1992

I'm finally 11.

I throw on my knitted 'A' sweater and my matching hat with Bandit, along with some warm pants and shoes, before heading out of the common room, my little buddy on my shoulder. "Alex?" I ask, seeing him on the floor just outside the commons. "There's the birthday boy!" He exclaims, as a huge grin appeared on his face. He pulls a neatly wrapped parcel out of his robes and hands it to me, his grin only growing wider. "Aw, Ally! You didn't have to get me anything!" I say, as my fingers tear into the paper. "I know my birthday is pretty close to Christmas, after all." "Yeah, I know, but that doesn't take away from it at all! I'd get you two sets of presents if you were born on the 24th of December, too!" He chuckles, and I pull the paper away from the gift. "So? What do you think?" He asks eagerly, as I hold two pretty thick books in my hands. 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' by Newt Scamander and 'Guide to Advanced Occlumency' by Maxwell Barnett. My eyes light up at the books. "It took me forever to find that second one!" Alex exclaims with a giggle. I pull him into a one-armed hug, holding the books against my chest with the other arm. "I love them, thank you!" I say warmly. "Of course, nothing but the best for my little buddy!" He beams. I pout playfully. "You just watch, I'll outgrow you one day." I say, determined. "Just remember me, when you make it big!" Alex says with a soft giggle. "Now let's go have some breakfast! I'm starving!" He demands, taking my free hand as he leads me to the Great Hall.

"Happy Birthday!" Hermione greets me with open arms as we arrive for breakfast, and as she hugs me, I can smell a hint of licorice and quill ink coming from her. "Is that Amortentia?" I ask, sniffing the air quietly. "Just as sharp as ever, Atticus." Hermione says with a grin, looking over at Alex. "Alex gifted me this necklace for Christmas." She spoke, showing me the chain with the Hogwarts Crest attached. I look over at Alex with a cheeky grin as he avidly avoided eye contact. "What are those books?" She asks, noticing the two hefty weights in my hands. I smile wide and place the two books on the table, she almost squeals in excitement. "OH! You must let me borrow these one day!" She pleads. "Maybe you'll get something nice like that for your birthday this year, Hermione." Alex speaks up, still looking away from us. I could see the smile on her face grow at Alex's obvious adoration for her. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanywho.. shall we eat?" Alex chirps up before taking a seat at the table. Hermione and I giggle before sitting opposite him. 

***

After a day of classes, we have a free period before dinner, and Alex has one more surprise left in stock for me. He leads myself and Asteria.. Somewhere, I'm not sure where because he told me to close my eyes, to which I trusted him blindly. Quite literally. "Okay, you can open your eyes in 3... 2.. 1!" I hear a thud as I open my eyes, Gryffindor's Quidditch captain Oliver Wood had just dropped a case in front of me. I take a look around me, to gather my bearings. We're on the Quidditch Pitch! And the case was the one which contained the Quidditch balls. I was gob smacked, bewildered, speechless. "I asked Aunt Minerva if we could use the pitch to practice for the afternoon, and she said if I kept my head out of trouble until the next term started she could swing it for me, so here we are!" Alex explained, his grin widening. "Asteria, if you would be so kind?" He says loudly as Asteria holds out my Nimbus 2000 for me. "You guys are the best!" I giggle as I climb on my broom, resting my feet on the little foot rests and holding on tight. I watch as Alex calls his own Nimbus 2000 and Asteria grabbed a spare school broom, both mounting them. "Oliver has volunteered to do some light coaching with us for your birthday, Atti!" Alex tells me, cheerfully.  "Do you know what position you'd like to play?" Oliver asks me, as he opens up the case, the balls each in their own compartments. I blush a little as I whisper out the word; "Seeker." It had been a dream of mine to follow in my brother's footsteps and since we're in different houses, that dream could possibly become a reality. "You look up to your brother Cedric, do you?" Oliver asks, snapping me out of my thoughts. "He's a damn good seeker, Gotten the better of us a few times now!" He grins, I can't help but to smile back. "Well, then. You're going to be after this." He tells me as he opened up the casing of the Golden Snitch, taking the small ball out and handing it to me. "Slippery little bugger, but I'm sure you'll be a natural. And with a broom that fast, it can't but hope to get away." I admire the shiny little ball in the palm of my hand. I didn't even know how detailed this little thing was, I had never seen one this close before. And now, I was going to try and catch it! I lay my hand flat and watch as the ball sprouts wings, it was almost majestic in the way it stretched. I hear a soft buzzing sound as its wings speed up, propelling itself out of my hand and around my head. I can't contain my smile.

"Shall we begin?" Oliver asks, loudly. I nod as I hear the snitch fly out of earshot, the other two nodding along with me. We take our positions and wait for Wood's whistle.

He allows the Bludgers to fly into the air before taking the Quaffle in his hand. "In three.. two.."