Moon Dust | Mattheo Riddle

Chapter 29: Dance with me?

"Happy Birthday!"

Nova opened her eyes, blinking as Magnolia sat above her, with a huge grin on her face.

Yellow banners were hanging from the ceiling, as well as a never-ending pour of confetti that covered the room, falling like drops of golden hailstones. The other girls were getting ready for school with a grumble, glaring at Magnolia with heavy eyes before they left for the common room.

Magnolia waved at them sarcastically, before turning back around with confetti dripping from her hair.

Nova giggled and reached out to pull the small golden flecks from her friend's hair, smiling sweetly as she took in the rest of the decorations.

"Aww Mags, you didn't have to go to so much trouble," she said, holding back a yawn as she brushed through the pink-haired girl's hair. Magnolia pushed her hands away with a jaunty expression, standing up and offering her hand out.

"Nonsense. You only turn 16 once, come on, we've got places to be," she grinned as Nova accepted her hand, pulling the girl up and spinning her around with a giggle as the confetti poured down around them.

After getting changed and brushing most of the confetti from her hair, Nova made her way into the common room, with Magnolia in tow, arms linked together as they moved toward the staircase. The pink-haired girl had a huge grin on her face, one splintered with mischief as she skipped them closer to their destination. Nova glanced at her sceptically, raising an eyebrow before a sweet harmonic sound filled her ears.

They moved through one of the tapestries hanging over the Hufflepuff dorms and stepped into the open common room. Instruments were floating in the air, playing by themselves as a small crowd gathered below, watching in muffled excited whispers. As Nova and Magnolia stepped into the room, the tune changed slightly, picking up a beat before descending into a grand orchestra style version of Happy Birthday. Nova grabbed onto the railing with a bemused inhale and glanced down, letting out a small giggle as she noticed Cedric below, controlling the instruments with his wand.

He grinned up at her, mouthing a quick happy birthday as the orchestra continued to play.

The whole morning was very sweet. Harry had been waiting outside of the Hufflepuff common room, ready to greet her with a bouquet of sunflowers–ones he knew would remind her of home–while Ron and Hermione had gone in on a joint present, a paint your own chess-set, equipped with it's own built in music box. All of her friends had put in the effort to make it extra special and she was filled with warmth, deep in her bones. Although, she couldn't help but feel a pang in her heart, wishing her father were there. Nova had never spent a birthday away from Remus in her whole life, not even the full moon could have pulled them apart, and it was her sixteenth. She couldn't help but think how he must be feeling, how sad he would have been knowing they couldn't be together. Sirius too, she'd never even got the chance to spend a single birthday with him, not that she could remember.

Luckily, no one seemed to catch onto her underlying sadness as they sat around the great hall. Fred had insisted on gathering Nova's breakfast, making her sit still while he grabbed her food and George poured her drinks, even as she tried to detest, especially as the whole table started to sing happy birthday, at an extravagant volume.

Nova's face burned the colour of a beetroot, giggling beneath her palm as she hid herself in Magnolia's shoulder, trying to hide the embarrassing pale colour that had taken over her irises. Most of her friends knew of her metamorphic abilities now, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Magnolia too. After sharing a dorm for a whole year there wasn't much she could keep from the girl... well, apart from the obvious.

Magnolia chuckled at the shy shade in her eyes, lifting Nova's head as an owl flew through the room, dropping off a few gift-wrapped boxes.

She reached for them, thankful that her friends had quietened down from their fourth rendition of the birthday song to allow her to open some presents. There were some things from her grandparents, as well as a muggle book from her aunt Mary and a couple new dresses and jewellery from her mother.