build me up buttercup [s.black]

[34] Birthday

The next Friday Aisling was awoken rather suddenly as someone pulled the curtains on her four poster bed open and she felt two objects fall heavily onto her mattress. She opened one eye and looked blearily around to see Lily and Alice sitting at the foot of her bed, beaming at her. Lily was wearing a pink nightshirt which clashed spectacularly with her red hair, and Alice was dressed in pyjamas which were so large they looked as if they were about to swallow her; Aisling assumed that they belonged to Frank.

"Happy birthday!" They said in unison, passing Aisling a large present which was wrapped in gold paper.

"Thanks guys, wow. You really didn't need to get me anything." Aisling said, pulling the gift towards her and blushing.

"Of course we did, you only come of age once." Alice replied as she enveloped Aisling in a hug.

Aisling peeled the wrappings off the present and found something spherical wrapped in midnight blue cloth. Her curiosity mounting, she pulled the cloth away to reveal a glass orb which seemed to be full of blue sparkling mist. However, upon closer inspection, she saw that it was filled with tiny moons, stars and planets which were all moving around inside the glass. She stared back up at Lily and Alice, open mouthed.

"You didn't." She stated plainly.

"Oh but we did." Said Lily, smiling.

"We saw you admiring it when we were in Diagon Alley this summer. And we know how disappointed you were when you couldn't fit Astronomy into your N.E.W.T. timetable."

Aisling blinked rapidly, unable to comprehend what her friends were saying. It was true that she loved Astronomy, and she had been eyeing up the miniature model of the solar system in a shop window that summer. But she couldn't even begin to imagine how expensive it must have been. Placing the model carefully on her bedside table, she threw herself across the bed and onto her friends; hugging them so tightly that after a few seconds Lily was only able to croak her next sentence.

"It's not just us you have to thank, Ash. We all chipped in for it."

And, right on cue, the door swung open to reveal four boys.

"Ooh, can we join in the cuddle?" James asked, grinning mischievously.

"Piss off." Lily mumbled through a mouthful of Aisling's hair. "How did you even get up here?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets." James replied, tapping his nose.

"We're all magicians, you tosser." Lily shot back, sitting up straighter as Aisling finally released her from the death grip she'd been holding her in.

"We just wanted to say happy birthday." Remus cut in.

"Yeah, happy birthday McCawley." James said to Aisling.

"Happy birthday." Peter repeated.

The group all turned towards Sirius, who was leaning against the doorframe and smirking.

"Breakfast then?" Alice asked.

The others all mumbled in agreement before quickly vacating the dormitory. In recent weeks, Lily, James and Remus had all been unfortunate enough to walk into what they thought was an empty room, which had turned out to be very much occupied by Aisling and Sirius. None of them were keen to repeat the experience.

"Happy birthday, Buttercup." Sirius said, sitting down next to her and pulling her closer to him.

Aisling tucked her head into the space between his neck and his shoulder, slightly embarrassed by her overlarge pyjamas which were about as flattering as a hessian sack.