Lily in the Shadows

Chapter 15

Waking up on the morning of her 12th birthday Lily rolls out of bed, shrieking as she hits the floor. She sits up and grabs her slippers and a light blue shower caddy. She jumps in surprise as Snuffles shuffles his way out from under her favourite quilt Mrs Weasley sent with Ginny to give her to make up for her birthday the year before. Rising from the floor she pets him on the head and grabs Claude from his little basket before entering the washroom. Putting some warm water and soap in the sink, Lily dips Claude in, keeping him half in she begins to brush him with his little brush, cleaning between his spikes. She cleans under his talons and in between his toe pads. Putting it away she scoops water out of the sink, rinsing him off. Pulling out an even smaller brush she puts some paste on it, brushing his little teeth. Once Claude's weekly bath is over she dries him off and puts him in his Halloween jumper. It's orange with a little black pumpkin on it. She sets him outside the bathroom before showering herself, she pulls on her fluffy blue robe and some slippers. Walking back into their dorm room she sits at one of the four vanities the girls set up and begins her curly hair routine. As she combs her hair she watches Ari yawn and rub her eyes.

Ari throws her covers off before screaming, "It's your birthday!!" The rest of their dormmates darted up in surprise. Ari wraps around Lily, shaking her in joy. "You're twelve now! I am so excited to celebrate you today, and it's Halloween, the like two of the best holidays there are combined!"

They laugh together as Astoria and Grace groggily crawl out of bed. The three girls sprint towards their friend, Lily shrieks as they tackle her onto her dorm bed. They begin tickling her, ignoring her gales of laughter. Finally, they heave her from her bed and push her towards their collective vanities.

This school year they've decided to change things up in their dorm, instead of just their four beds spread out with their chests at the foot. However, over the summer, the three pureblood girls's parents decided that they all needed somewhere bigger to do their hair and makeup. The three sets met up during the annual Malfoy summer get-together and discussed things before coming up with a plan to buy them all matching vanities. During their conversation, they talk about how their girl's fourth roommate, a Potter, lived with her aunt and uncle and won't be able to get one so they just bought her one too. When the girls arrived at Hogwarts that year they were pleasantly surprised to find all their beds closer together with their four matching vanities deked with mirrors lit with fairy lights side by side by side by side against the back wall.

This is where Ari has Lily sit as she pulls a large box out from under her bed, garnished with a sparkly pink bow and a card. "Arty sent this to me at the beginning of the month for you. It's positively precious."

Opening the card Lily laughs out at the little swan dancing around on it with the words Happy Birthday spelt out. He wrote her a little note that practically brought her to tears. Once the card is carefully placed back inside its envelope Lily rips apart the wrapping paper and opens the large box. All four girls gasp and crowd around the beautifully done costume.

They set it to the side and suddenly everyone is in a flurry of hair a makeup, they pull on their costumes and gather their things before heading down to breakfast.

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The four walk to the great hall, turning eyes the whole way there, though they are unsure if it is because they look so good or because of their unconventional outfits for breakfast. As they get closer to the Slytherin table they can see Draco and Theo coughing as Blaise pats them on the back.

Ari links her arm with Lily's and they strike a pose. "Hello boys, how do we look?" Blaise is the only one capable of speaking.

"You all look like little angles, and if I were less cultured it is what I would assume. A light and dark angle, but I recognize a black and white swan when I see them."