The Kind Hufflepuff

Chapter 20: Calista's 12th Birthday

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The Kind Hufflepuff - First Year
Chapter Twenty: Calista's 12th Birthday
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February came in a blur as Cali finally felt like she recognized the castle enough to not get lost every time she turned around and found herself in a routine that was fairly easy. The worst part was the constant staring due to the rumors regarding her werewolf transformation. It was on Valentine's Day when the rumors finally began to relax as it was the first full moon following the entire fiasco.

Cali had found humor in the fact that everybody had kept a close eye on her, stares and whispers had filled any room she entered despite the romantic connotations of the holiday. She seemed to be an easy topic to discuss for the newer couples, the ones that had no idea what being in a relationship was like and assumed that sitting beside each other in the Great Hall was fitting enough and that going to Hogsmeade if they were old enough was simply a given. Those relationships, the younger ones with little else to talk about besides awkwardly staring at each other and looking for any excuse to break the silence, were most invested in her.

Following dinner, she entered the Great Hall and accepted the many invitations of spending time in the common room. She studied while a third year read a romance novel, she played exploding snaps and wizards chess with a group of second years who were particularly convinced about her affliction until it was clear that she would not be turning into any sort of monster as the night progressed and students with deflated expressions finally released her.

After her Astronomy class, she wished everyone a cheery goodnight that everyone tried to match in excitement as they began to relax around her.

The following morning, Cali was overjoyed to wake up to Greta jumping on her bed as she screamed "Happy Birthday" before proceeding into a muggle song that she had heard out in public. Her roommates surprisingly jumped in, singing with various out of tune voices that mingled in the worst possible way but still brought a smile onto the birthday girl's face.

Cali sat up from her bed, watching in happiness as her roommates fumbled around the room as they got dressed for the day before getting out of bed, belting out the song along with them and giggled when they all abruptly stopped to give her an odd look. "I wanted to sing too," Cali shrugged, yanking on her knee- high socks before pulling up her skirt. She grabbed her Niffler tie, quickly tying it.

"Our little animal lover," Greta cooed, smiling at the tie. She threw an arm around her friend's shoulder, giggling as she smiled at her friend. "So, what are you planning to do for your birthday?"

"Class?"

"Oh, come on, it's your birthday!"

"So?"

"And a Tuesday, so you're just gonna get in a fight," Greta argued.

"I am not going to end up in a fight with McGonagall."

"But you knew who I was talking about," She reasoned.

It wasn't long before they headed to breakfast, John meeting them at the entrance of the Great Hall where he promptly threw his arms around the birthday girl. "Happy birthday!" Cali laughed, feeling her feet leave the ground for a moment before he put her down.

The three of them walked in after, Cali smiling brightly at everyone who wished her a happy birthday as they passed and even giggled when she saw a single yellow balloon at her seat. Her eyes gravitated towards the Gryffindor table, frowning when she didn't see Sirius or his friends before shrugging it off.

Her first two classes went by surprisingly well, especially considering her worst class was Transfiguration, however that went surprisingly well considering the fact that the class changed topics to the switching spell, meaning Cali could finally prove to everyone in that class that she wasn't incompetent.