A Life Rewritten

Part 16 - Birthday Butterbeers

Laurie had trudged through the deep snow to The Three Broomsticks on that freezing winter's afternoon. She entered the warm, smoky pub and found her three friends gathered around a small, low table in the corner by the crackling fire, the buzz of witches and wizards chattering and laughing made her ears hum as she left the silence of the outdoors.

Lowenna and Mortimer were snuggled up on a loveseat while Elend sat in a brown leather wingback chair, with an empty one in between his chair and the fireplace as they all sipped from their large tankards of butterbeer.

Laurie cautiously sat down next to Elend and gave him a weak smile as Mortimer and Lowenna greeted her excitedly,

'How did your Potions O.W.L go, Morty?' Laurie asked, it was the first thing she said to the group as she'd been dying to know all morning. Mortimer tried to hide his excitement poorly; his huge grin gave the news away immediately,

'I got an Outstanding, Laurie, Snape was pretty annoyed about it, but I did it! All thanks to you!' he exclaimed raising his drink and clinking it with Laurie,

'That's amazing, Mort, I'm so happy for you! And it was pretty much all your doing, give yourself some credit at least!' Laurie smiled as Lowenna gave Morty a tight squeeze of appreciation.

'My Morty's a genius and a Quidditch Beater, how great is that?!' Lowenna practically squealed, Laurie grinned at the couple as she realised just how happy Mortimer was making her friend; she'd become practically a different person over the few days they'd been dating, Laurie hoped this would last a long time.

The four sat for a moment, silently sipping their drinks before Lowenna started giving Elend a stern look which caused him to clear his throat awkwardly,

'Erm, so yeah, happy birthday, Laurie... have you had a good day?' Elend muttered, his eyes not leaving his butterbeer once as he spoke. Laurie looked at Lowenna and Mortimer who were both wincing at the awkwardness of Elend's comments,

'Apart from getting detention this morning, yeah I guess it was good, thanks, Elend,' Laurie replied gracefully, adding a small laugh at the end, trying to dissipate the sudden awkwardness of the conversation. Elend faked a laugh and nodded,

'Yeah... it's unlucky isn't it?' he breathed, giving Laurie a quick glance before turning his attention to the flames across from him.

'Wait, what did you both get detention for?" Lowenna asked. Laurie looked at Elend before realising he didn't want to respond,

'McGonagall caught us arguing and Snape gave us detention for it... the next two weekends,' Laurie explained, sighing glumly,

'Oh, is that why he had to leave my exam?!' Mortimer asked, putting two and two together, 'I'm so glad that happened because I smashed a beaker and set my textbook on fire while he was out!' he explained giving a sheepish grin as the other three looked at him shocked,

'I... I don't even want to know how you managed that, Morty, but I'm glad we could help you!' Elend chuckled rolling his eyes, Laurie laughed too,

'A couple of detentions is worth it if it means you pass,' Laurie added giving a smile to Elend, who smiled back tentatively; at least not all hope was lost.

The group sat chatting and drinking for a few hours in the small pub, they ordered an early dinner and Elend paid for Laurie by way of a birthday present, to which she much appreciated.

'You really didn't have to buy me this, El,' Laurie said as they ate their hearty meals of steak pie, Elend shook his head and smiled,

'Speaking of birthday presents, Laurie, did you get to open that present from this morning?' Lowenna asked, leaning in with interest. Laurie had completely forgotten about the secret gift from Severus, how was she going to explain this one? Her mind raced for a response,

'Uh, no, I didn't have time, I actually forgot about it, to be honest,' Laurie replied quickly,

'Yeah you did have time, Laurie,' Elend interjected, 'You skipped Herbology this morning, remember?' Laurie's cheeks burned at this,

'Laurie you really are a terrible liar!' Lowenna laughed, 'come on, you did open it, what was it?!' this was causing the boys to become very interested as Laurie squirmed under the pressure,

'I-I don't want to say... It's... It's a secret... and I don't think anyone should know what it was...' Laurie eventually replied, blushing furiously by that point. Lowenna narrowed her eyes with a devilish smile,

'You've got a secret admirer, haven't you?' she said slowly, smile getting larger,

'No way, who is it?!' Mortimer exclaimed excitedly, Elend started to become uninterested in the conversation; he clearly didn't want to know about the next romantic interest of Laurie's,

'I can't say... And to be quite honest, I won't say either, you'll just have to drop it and forget about it, please!' Laurie begged, nerves beginning to make her voice sound shrill,

'Wow, okay, if that's what you want,' Lowenna said putting her hands up defensively,

'Yes, it is, thank you!' Laurie breathed, leaning back in her chair, bringing her plate up to her chest and taking a bite of food.

With the interrogation over, Laurie let out a silent sigh of relief and the group quickly found a different subject to discuss, although Laurie felt her friends' trust in her fall slightly after that moment.

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