when i saw her standing there -- louis weasley

chapter eleven

Before they knew it, it was the morning of Ava's birthday, November the sixteenth. Ava actually woke up on time and took a shower while the rest of the girls still slept. After she stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel, she wiped away the fog on the mirror and stared at herself. 

"Happy birthday," she said to her reflection. Then once she was dressed and ready for the day, Naya and Emory were getting up, while Ava sat on her bed and wrote letters to her parents that she would mail out that day. Emory came out of the bathroom, fully dressed and proceeded to tackle Ava on her bed, nearly spilling the ink she had been using in the process. 

"Em! What was that for?" She blew her hair out of her face. 

"Happy birthday!" The two girls hugged while Saylor and Hadley, who had still been asleep, grudgingly got out of bed and joined Naya in getting ready. 

Once they were all ready and had all given birthday hugs to Ava, they headed down to the common room together, where the boys were waiting for them. They each wished her a happy birthday and gave a smile before all of them paraded Ava to the Great Hall, making sure everyone around them knew that it was her birthday, Ava laughing the entire way there. 

The rest of the day passed, and in every class, one of her friends made it their duty to inform the professor of the fact that it was Ava Mackenzie's seventeenth birthday. Most, like Flitwick and Binns, wished her a solemn 'happy birthday' and returned to teaching. But Professor Darrow came over, gave her a hug, and declared that they would do something fun that day instead of rigorously preparing for their exams as they had been doing all year. By the end of the day, she was exhausted, between her classes and having fun with her friends, so she went up to her dorm right after dinner and took a nap, which unbeknownst to her, was the perfect time for her friends to set up her party. 

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"Ava, time to wake up," Naya gently shook her friend awake. 

"Nooo," she groaned, rolling over and covering her face with a pillow. 

"Come on, we've got a surprise for you!" She turned the light on and pulled her friend out of bed. Luckily, Ava was still fully dressed.

Naya took her hand and made her cover her eyes before leading her out of the dormitory and down the stairs to the common room. 

"Alright, open." Ava opened her eyes to see the common room completely decked out and all of her friends grinning at her. 

"Surprise!" They all chorused. "Happy birthday!" Ava stood there in shock, a smile forming on her lips as she looked around at them. Louis, Emory, Hadley, Finley, Rowan, Saylor, Caspian, and Torryn were all there and it felt very special. Even Lucy was there, along with...

"Roxanne! Dominique! Alice!" She rushed down the stairs to give them all hugs, prompting laughter from Louis. 

"Hey, we're the ones that planned this," he teased. She rolled her eyes and gave him a quick hug as well and saw the table full of sweets. Her eyes lit up and she grabbed a Sugar Quill. 

"Thank you guys, so much!" 

"Oh, Alice has something for you, too," Naya added. Alice stepped forward and held a handful of letters out to her. 

"These came in through the Owlery not too long ago. They're from your Mum and Dad and other relatives." She took them from her and quickly tore the envelopes open, eyes scanning the pages. 

"Thank you," she hugged the letters to her chest and tucked them into her pockets. 

"Well, let's get this party started!" Roxanne exclaimed. Everyone cheered and someone put on soft music. 

Once the crowd around Ava had dispersed, Naya linked arms with her and took her over to the candy table. 

"Alice told us about how you missed your parents, so we wrote them and made sure you had letters from them on your birthday," Naya confessed. "We also considered getting firewhiskey since you can legally drink it now, but none of us are old enough to get it and having someone else get it is kind of illegal." 

Ava's eyes shined as she laughed, "Of course you did. Thank you for going to all the trouble of planning this, it means a lot."

"Of course, what else would be appropriate for my best friend on her seventeenth birthday?" She squeezed Ava's hand and went to go grab them drinks. Ava stood there for a moment, reveling in the fact that Naya had just called her "her best friend". A warm feeling spread in her chest and she smiled widely. She was lost in her thoughts and didn't even notice when Caspian came to stand next to her, sipping his drink. 

"Happy birthday, Ava."

"Oh, thanks!"

"So this might not be the best time to do this, but I've liked you for a couple weeks now, and if it's okay with you, I'd like to take you on a date the next Hogsmeade trip."

She stared at him, completely taken aback, "Huh?"

"You're really great, Ava, I'd like to-"

"No, no, I heard you. Uh, let me think about it, okay?" He nodded and smiled at her, rejoining the twins near the fire. She stood there for a minute, shaking off the shock, before Emory called her over to a group to play a game. She spent the rest of the evening playing card games, laughing, and snacking on her favorite Honeydukes treats with her friends. 

In fact, she didn't give Caspian a second thought until weeks later, when she saw the bulletin board, announcing the next Hogsmeade trip for right before the Christmas holiday. Even then, she forgot it in a moment as she was busy preparing for her exams. Naya and Torryn were easily the smartest in their year, so they were busy helping everyone fix their study habits and organize their notes.